Lawrence Bell is the Founder and President of the National Black Anti-Defamation League. The immediate objective of the NBADL is to defend the public image of Black people as individuals and as a group. The organization aggressively challenges mainstream media defamation of people of color on the local, national and international levels.
Lawrence Bell is a strong advocate for the advancement of African-American progress in the new millennium. He has spoken to audiences across the United States about the current crisis of the exploding Black underclass, and the media’s promotion of negative images of Blacks across America.
Mr. Bell received his B.A. degree from the University of Maryland in College Park, where he served as President of the campus Black Student Union.
In 1988 Ebony Magazine named Bell as one of “30 leaders of the future.”
Mr. Bell later served in the Baltimore City Council for 12 years. He distinguished himself in 1995 when he became the youngest person ever elected City Council President.
In 1991 he sponsored and passed Baltimore’s law banning the free distribution of cigarettes to minors and a year later Mr. Bell developed Baltimore’s Drug Padlock Law to fight the use of neighborhood houses for the sale of illegal drugs.
While he represented Baltimore’s 4th Councilmanic District, Baltimore Magazine named Lawrence Bell, “Baltimore’s Best Councilman,” in its 1994 edition.
In 1996 Mr. Bell sponsored and passed the city government’s first affirmative action ordinance for African-American healthcare providers. This law provides for the inclusion of Black physicians and dentists in Maryland’s health insurance firms.
After leaving public office he worked briefly with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Atlanta Georgia under the presidency of Martin Luther King, III.
Today Mr. Bell hosts the popular radio talk program, The Lawrence Bell Show, heard locally weekdays on Radio 860 AM WBGR.
Widely recognized as an expert on the Black civil rights movement and its evolution into the 21st century, Mr. Bell works relentlessly to promote the concept of group empowerment.
His motto is Working Together Works.
