Lamar White

Lamar White
Born Frederick Lamar White, Jr.
(1982-05-05) May 5, 1982
Alexandria, Rapides Parish
Louisiana, USA
Occupation Activist, writer
Political party Democrat[1]

Frederick Lamar White, Jr., known as Lamar White[2] (born May 5, 1982)[3] is an American disability rights advocate, investigative journalist, and blogger from Alexandria, Louisiana, whose blog is named "CenLamar."[4] He is also a contributing writer at The Independent Monthly,[5] Acadiana Business,[6] and Salon.[7]

Blogging activity

White reported the allegation that U.S. Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana's 1st congressional district and the House Majority Whip, attended an international white supremacist conference in 2002.[8]

White advocated on behalf of Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, who was defeated in 2014 by Republican Greg Abbott.[9] Davis featured White as a speaker about disability rights and Governor-elect Abbott's record on the Americans with Disabilities Act. White has also written for The Houston Chronicle about his disability and the identity politics surrounding disabilities.[10]

White was the last person to communicate with the conservative new media mogul Andrew Breitbart, minutes before he unexpectedly died.[11]

Additionally, White is a co-founder of the Second Giant Leap for Humankind, a political action committee created and conceived by Zack Kopplin, a well-known science activist from Louisiana, in order to keep creationism out of public school science classrooms and promote separation of church and state causes.

White has been interviewed on BBC's World News Tonight, on which he discussed the enduring legacy of Solomon Northup, the protagonist of the Academy Award-winning film, Twelve Years a Slave.[12] White's works have also been featured and referenced in The New York Times, The New Orleans Times-Picayune, and Wonkette.

White first exposed problems in Louisiana voucher schools, including Light City Academy, which was led by a self-proclaimed "prophet" who taught students how to become "prophets." Light City Academy was closely associated with several questionable nonprofit organization; there were questions about the financing of the school.[13] Following White's report, Light City Academy was prohibited from accepting any additional voucher students.[14]

Personal life

White was born in Alexandria, Louisiana to the former Carol Marie Rhodes and Lamar White, Sr., a successful real estate entrepreneur before his death at the age of forty-one.[15]

Lamar White graduated in 2000 from Alexandria Senior High School and then attended Rice University in Houston as an English and Religious Studies major for four years. After returning to Louisiana to work for Jacques Roy, the mayor of Alexandria, Louisiana, he enrolled at Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law.

He is the grandson of Joanne Lyles White, a philanthropist, and the great-nephew of the late historian Sue Eakin, whose lifelong work on Solomon Northup resulted in the Oscar-winning adaptation of the film Twelve Years a Slave.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Frederick White, May 1982". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Rice University Faculty Minutes". Rice University. January 26, 2005. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  3. ↑ "Lamar White, Jr.". Facebook. May 1, 2005. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  4. ↑ "Cenla Blogger Helped Break Story on Cassidy Controversy". The Town Talk. Dec 3, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  5. ↑ "The Ind". The Independent Monthly. Dec 3, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  6. ↑ "A Biz". Acadiana Business. Dec 3, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  7. ↑ "I am A Human Being, Not a Campaign Prop". Salon. Oct 24, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  8. ↑ "How Louisiana Blogger Lamar White, Jr. Landed the Steve Scalise Scoop". Huffington Post. December 30, 2014. Retrieved 2015-01-15.
  9. ↑ "Disabled Speaker At Wendy Davis Event Slams Conservatives Who Mocked Him on Facebook". Raw Story. October 13, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  10. ↑ "White: Abbott Backers Wrong About Wheelchair In Ad". The Houston Chronicle. October 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  11. ↑ "Andrew Breitbart's Last Public Insult: The Putz Says It Was a Fluke". ABC News. March 1, 2012. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  12. ↑ "Louisiana Grapples With '12 Years' History". BBC News News. March 1, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  13. ↑ "Vouchers Sending $700K to Prophet". August 2, 2012. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  14. ↑ "State Begins Voucher Applications". Associated Press News. January 20, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-17.
  15. ↑ "Meet Lamar White, Jr.". The Advocate. January 1, 2014. Retrieved 2015-01-15.

External links

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