Larry Bagneris Jr.
 | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (September 2020) |
Larry Bagneris Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 15, 1946 New Orleans, LA |
| Alma mater | Xavier University of Louisiana B.A., Political Science and History St. Augustine High School (New Orleans) |
| Occupation(s) | Former Executive Director, Human Relations Commission |
| Employer | City of New Orleans |
| Term | 1999–2018 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Relatives | Gloria Diaz Bagneris (Mother)
Lawrence Bagneris Sr. (Father) Vernel Bagneris (Brother) |
Lawrence "Larry" Bagneris Jr. (born September 15, 1946), is an American social and political activist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Bagneris’ career has focused on improving government relations with the African American and LGBT communities. Bagneris served as the executive director of the City of New Orleans Human Relations Commission from 1999 to 2018.[1]
Early life
Larry Bagneris is the son of Gloria Diaz Bagneris and Lawrence Bagneris Sr., who had four children. Bagneris's brother, Vernel Bagneris, is an actor, playwright and musician. His father was a postal clerk and a veteran who served during World War II. Bagneris’ mother was a strongly dedicated mother and manager of the Bagneris house.[2]
Bagneris and his family initially resided in the Creole Seventh Ward neighborhood of New Orleans. Due to a U.S. Federal program of "Urban Renewal" of the 1960s, the Bagneris family relocated to the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. The move came after the family experienced the detrimental impacts of unchecked legislative initiatives that adversely impacted neighborhoods of color. The program was referred to as "The Negro Removal," which saw the creation of a highway overpass through the community that invited crime and drove down the spirits of property of the once vibrant Seventh Ward.
Bagneris and his brother attended St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. St. Augustine H.S. is an iconic New Orleans parochial school[3] for boys that was founded with the intention of providing the segregated black-male students of New Orleans with a better education than that which was then provided by the New Orleans Public Schools.[4] It was at St. Augustine that Larry began to realize that he could have a voice in transforming the segregated culture.
Early activism
Bagneris's first involvement in racial activism was at the age of 16. He participated in picketing Maison Blanche Department Stores in New Orleans for their usage of Jim Crow style policies. The pickets that Larry participated eventually led to practices such as sit-ins. Bagneris participated in these events which eventually led his arrest when sat-in at locations such at FrosTop, Walgreens and Woolworth's. Because he was only sixteen when these events occurred, he was only held as a juvenile.[5]
While in high school, Bagneris participated in the 1963 Nation Conference for International Justice in Memphis, Tennessee with faculty and students from St. Augustine High School.[5]
References
- ^ "Office of Human Rights and Equity". Retrieved 9 Oct 2022.
- ^ Wendi Berman: Interview with Vernel Bagneris, 2 March 2007 for The African American National Biography (Oxford 2008).
- ^ "St. Augustine High School · 2600 A P Tureaud Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119". St. Augustine High School · 2600 A P Tureaud Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
- ^ "Northwest alumni of New Orleans high school savor its lifetime influence | the Seattle Times".
- ^ a b Oral interview with Larry Bagneris Jr. by Cameron Sasnett, Dec. 2013