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Conrad Tillard

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The Reverend
Conrad Tillard
Tillard in 2022
Born
Conrad Bennette Tillard Sr.

St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic

Conrad Bennette Tillard is an American politician, activist, minister, and radio host. Tillard was a prominent member and minister of the black nationalist group known as the Nation of Islam until 1998.[1] While with the Nation of Islam, Tillard dubbed himself "the hip-hop minister" and became known for his outspoken opposition to the promotion of gangsterism in hip-hop music.[2][3]

Tillard ran for New York State senator in 2022, as a Democratic primary campaign for the New York State Senate against incumbent Senator Jabari Brisport. Tillard was endorsed by New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, on August 15, 2022. Brisport won the election for State Senator of New York.[4]

During that campaign, Tillard became the subject of renewed controversy over his history of anti-Semitic, anti-choice, and anti-LGBTQ remarks.[5][6][7][8][9]

Early life and education

Tillard was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up in Washington, D.C. His biological father was a tailor and part-time jazz musician, and when his parents divorced, his mother then married a Baptist minister.

Career

In the 1980s Tillard joined the Nation of Islam — designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — and became known as Conrad X, and later Conrad Muhammad. He was appointed minister of Mosque No. 7 in 1991,[10] but stripped of the position in 1997, reportedly over charges of financial mismanagement and internal politics.[11] Tillard resigned from the Nation of Islam the year after losing his position as minister.[1]

While with the Nation of Islam, Tillard promoted anti-Semitic views, including a conspiracy theory that Jewish people were the cause of the hole in the ozone layer.[12]

In 1995, Tillard was a facilitator for a fundraiser to support Qubilah Shabazz. Quibilah had admitted to her involvement in a plot to kill Louis Farrakhan. The event was at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. The event was organized to address a 30-year rift between the Shabazz family and the Nation of Islam.[13]

After the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996, Tillard organized a "Day of Atonement" to advocate against violent themes in hip-hop music, inviting rap group A Tribe Called Quest, Chuck D with Public Enemy (group), Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, model Bethann Hardison, actor Malik Yoba, Bad Boy Records president Sean Combs, rapper The Notorious B.I.G.[14]

In the 1990s and early 2000's Tillard was an outspoke critic of hip hop for what he perceived as negative and corrupting imagery. He started an organization called A Movement for Change to advocate for "conscious hip hop activism", and social empowerment for black youth.[15]

In 2001, Tillard criticized the Reverend Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders calling them "hired guns" for not condemning rappers Sean Combs or Shyne Barrows.[16] Tillard organized another summit in Harlem at the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building on 125th Street over what he perceived as negative imagery in hip hop. Russell Simmons, founder of Def Jam Recordings, organized a counter-summit, urging the public not to "support open and aggressive critics of the hip-hop community".[17]

In 2003 he became a Christian preacher at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Manhattan.[18] Tillard went on to become Senior Clergy at The Nazarene Congregational United Church of Christ in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.[19] After Tillard returned to Christianity, he began working on a book about his early life and ministry, titled "In My Father's House: The Spiritual and Political Memoir of the Man Once Known as the Hip Hop Minister, Conrad Muhammad".[2]

In 2002, Tillard ran for Congress against Democrat Congressman Charles Rangel in Manhattan. He initially sought to run as a Republican but was unable to secure the party's nomination.[20] He ultimately ran and lost in the Democratic primary. During this time he began moving away from his adopted name Conrad Muhammad and reverting to the name Conrad Tillard.[20]

After relocating to Brooklyn, he ran for an open seat in 2013 in the New York City Council's 36th Council District against Robert Cornegy Jr. — who won the election — as well as Kirsten John Foy, Akiel Taylor, and Rev. Robert Waterman.[21] Tillard received 13% of the vote which amounted to 1,912 votes.[22]

In 2022 Tillard launched a campaign for State Senate in District 25 against freshman State Senator Jabari Brisport. During the race, Reverend Tillard became the subject of controversy over past anti-Semitic, anti-choice, and anti-LGBTQ remarks, including referring to Jewish people as "snotty-nosed" and "bloodsuckers" while a member of the Nation of Islam, as well as vocally opposing both abortion rights and same-sex marriage as recently as 2005.[5][6][7][8][9]

Tillard was endorsed by several moderate Democrats including Mayor Eric Adams and State Senator Kevin Parker.[5][23] His campaign received significant funding from the real estate industry, including from the Republican and real estate industry-funded PAC, Striving for a Better New York.[24][25][26] Brisport won re-nomination in the three-way race with 70% of the vote to Tillard's 16%.[27][28] [29]


References

  1. ^ a b Peter, Noel (September 1, 1998). "Escape from the Nation of Islam". The Village Voice. Retrieved August 19, 2002.
  2. ^ a b "Conrad Tillard - From hip hop minister to community reverend". amsterdamnews.com. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  3. ^ https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2022/08/19/from-the-hip-hop-minister-to-the-state-senator-i-have-grown-but-kept-my-integrity/
  4. ^ https://moguldom.com/418471/new-york-city-mayor-cop-eric-adams-endorses-conrad-tillard-for-state-senator-cites-30-years-of-community-activism/
  5. ^ a b c "Adams endorses N.Y. Senate candidate with a history of anti-Semitic, anti-abortion, anti-gay rhetoric: 'I believe the Rev. Tillard of today is a lot different than the man who said those things decades ago'". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  6. ^ a b Williams, Zach (August 17, 2022). "Adams' state Senate pick Conrad Tillard has history of bigoted remarks". The New York Post. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Mena, Kelly (August 17, 2022). "Mayor endorses state Senate candidate with history of controversy". NY1. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Senate progressives aim to stave of establishment challengers". Crain's New York Business. 2022-08-19. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  9. ^ a b Durkin, Erin; Gronewold, Anna; Rosenberg, Georgia. "Adams' trash problem". Politico. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  10. ^ Noel, Peter (2007-12-27). Why Blacks Fear 'America's Mayor': Reporting Police Brutality and Black Activist Politics Under Rudy Giuliani. iUniverse. ISBN 978-0-595-91920-8.
  11. ^ "Escape from the Nation of Islam". The Village Voice. 1998-09-01. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  12. ^ New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 1994-02-07.
  13. ^ Jones, Charisse (6 May 1995). "After 30-Year Rift, Farrakhan's Meeting with Dr. Shabazz Stirs Hope". The New York Times.
  14. ^ http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rappers-peace The Notorious B.I.G.-summit-article-1.748414
  15. ^ "Escape from the Nation of Islam". www.villagevoice.com. September 1998. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Taking the Rap". 9 January 2001.
  17. ^ George, Robert (May 8, 2001). "THE NEW HIP-HOP FEUD: BATTLE LINES ARE BEING DRAWN IN THE EFFORT TO CLEAN UP RAP". The New York Post. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  18. ^ Feuer, Alan (2003-06-16). "Keeping the Faith, Differently; A Harlem Firebrand Quietly Returns to Christianity". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  19. ^ "Nazarene Congregational Church (UCC)". www.brooklynchurches.org. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  20. ^ a b "Will "Hiphop Minister" Conrad Muhammad Go from N.O.I. to G.O.P.?". www.chelseanewsny.com. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  21. ^ "Council race to replace Albert Vann in Bed-Stuy too close to call after primary". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  22. ^ "2013 City Council District 36 Democratic Primary, NYC Election Maps". NYC Election Maps. 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  23. ^ Samar, Khurshid (August 11, 2022). "New York State Senate Races to Watch in the August Primary". Gotham Gazette. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  24. ^ Brian, Pascus (August 19, 2022). "Senate progressives aim to stave of establishment challengers". Crain's. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  25. ^ Lacy, Akela (June 10, 2022). "New PAC Backed by Bakari Sellers Plans to Spend $1 Million to Unseat Rep. Rashida Tlaib". The Intercept. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  26. ^ "Tracking the contested state Senate primary races in New York". City & State NY. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
  27. ^ "New York Primary Election Results". The New York Times. 23 August 2022.
  28. ^ https://nyenr.elections.ny.gov/
  29. ^ https://nypost.com/2022/08/17/adams-state-senate-pick-conrad-tillard-has-history-of-bigoted-remarks/
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