Interview with David Lott, February 21, 2011

Partial Transcript: This is Amber Duke..

Segment Synopsis: Introduction to the interview. Mr. Lott gives information on his birth location and places.

Partial Transcript: So your family is from Louisville?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott describes the background and personalities of his parents and their racial attitudes. He also talks about his time attending Seneca High School, which was integrated physically, but segregated socially.

Partial Transcript: And so, how did your parents make their - how did they end up here in Louisville?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott gives background on how his parents came to Louisville and he discusses how his parents where able to purchase a home using white privilege (using the GI Bill).

Partial Transcript: You talked a little bit about Seneca.

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott discusses attending Jefferson County Community College, hitchhiking (which he considers to be part of his education), and meeting Ira Grupper, a member of the KY Alliance board. He tells that the rest of his schooling became intermittent as he became more involved in social justice. Though, he did complete an undergrad degree in his mid-30's and a Masters in Social Work in 1995.

Partial Transcript: This is sometimes hard for people to sort of remember...

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott says deep awareness of race and racism was a process, and he became really aware once he started working with the the Marxist organization, Line of March, in the 1980s. He also discusses his first focused, anti-racism work, which was with the Rainbow Coalition in 1984 and 1988.

Partial Transcript: Who were some of the people who were inspirational to you as you were growing up?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lotts says some of his ministers inspired him, and so did his mom. As an adult, he indicates Anne Braden as an inspiration.

Partial Transcript: Tell me about the first political or social issue that really interested you.

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lotts talks about events in his childhood that moved him. As an adult, some of his first social justice actions were taken during his time working for the mill in Massachusetts, when he saw the unfair treatment of Portuguese immigrants.

Partial Transcript: Moving now to talk about the Alliance specifically...

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott believes he started to learn more about the Alliance when he began attending Front Line Forums at the Braden Center in the 1980s. He helped initiate The Greater Louisville Human Rights Coalition (the precursor to the Fairness Campaign) and through this work to find allies and support, he turned to the Alliance to get an endorsement in the early 1980s.

Partial Transcript: How did you make that more formal step into...

Segment Synopsis: Several years before the interview, Mr. Lott became a board member at Alliance. Three years before the interview he was elected as a co-chair of the Alliance. After he finished up his schooling, Mr. Lott became active with the Alliance in two major efforts: Citizens Against Police Abuse in the late 1990s and the Coalition for a People's Agenda in the early 2000s, both of which he describes in detail.

Partial Transcript: Can you talk a little bit about how organizing happens at the Alliance?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott points out Anne Braden and Mattie Jones as the "movers and shakers" of the organization, but that they were not the only ones making decisions. He talks about the community's involvement on the issues the Alliance addresses and the strengths and weaknesses of this connection. He also discusses the organizational structure since Anne Braden died in 2006, including some of the key committees.

Partial Transcript: We're looking at how best, at this point, to respond to situations when people bring us issues of discrimination and racism in the community.

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott says the Alliance is looking at how to respond to individual community members who bring them issues of discrimination, without being too focused on this (since there are so many cases). He also talks about the Carl Braden Memorial Center and how it affects the Alliance.

Partial Transcript: How do you summarize the mission or the overall goals of the Alliance?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott says the Alliance is about building an anti-racist majority that is led by people of color since repression has been most targeted at people of color and building an anti-racist understanding among whites. He also says it supports issues around women's rights and LGBTQ rights.

Partial Transcript: Just for someone who doesn't know what the Braden Center is...

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott discusses the Carl Braden Memorial Center, including its role in the Alliance, how it transformed from the Southern Conference Educational Fund to the Alliance, and some of its characteristics and impact on the community.

Partial Transcript: Can you describe the racial makeup of the Alliance?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott asserts that he believes it is important to consider racial and gender makeup of the Alliance, since he believes the Alliance has been most effective when African American women were leading the organization. He also talks about some of the challenges at the Alliance, including some tensions about leadership and the difficulties of reaching out to brown communities.

Partial Transcript: Talking about these things that can stand to divide us...

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott says overcoming challenges is most successful when the members stay focused on the goals and objectives of the Alliance. He discusses why he believes the oral history of the Alliance can help the current and future members of the Alliance to overcome some of the challenges there.

Partial Transcript: Have you made friends while organizing at the Alliance?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. David talks about how the Alliance has allowed him to make friendships he may never have made and exposed him to new worlds and places.

Partial Transcript: Historically, the Alliance has often been associated with communists or Communism...

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott says his family life has not really been affected by his work with the Alliance, though he is always careful to balance the peace in his family without denying his feelings.

Partial Transcript: Okay, David, before we took a break, I was asking you about...

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott talks about how Anne Braden was the face of the Alliance and how she was able to keep the Kentucky Alliance alive while other alliances have failed. He also discusses her strengths, her role as a mentor to white activists, and her health.

Partial Transcript: You've mentioned the term anti-racist...

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott describes his definition of racism and what it means to be racist, including institutionalized racism and the historical aspect of racism and oppression. From there, he talks about what it means to be anti-racist.

Partial Transcript: Stepping back a little bit to talk about Mattie Jones.

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott says Mrs. Jones was one of the first African American women he had met that took an uncompromising stand against racism and he recounts one of his encounters with her. He believes the Alliance had one of its strongest periods under the leadership of Mrs. Jones.

Partial Transcript: Is there anything you'd like to share that you haven't had the opportunity to yet?

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Lott's closing thoughts about the importance of the Alliance in the community and why it has become even more important today to have something like the Alliance in the community.