Conrad Worrill

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Conrad Worrill was born in Pasadena, California on August 15, 1941. His father was active in the NAACP and the YMCA, and played a large role in influencing Worrill to become an activist on his own. Conrad moved to Chicago when he was nine. He became a serious athlete, but was awakened to the prejudice and racial segregation that was present when his swim team faced heckling. Despite racial hardships, Worrill didn’t give up on his athletic talent and pursued football, basketball, and track. In 1962, Conrad was drafted into the army and stationed in Okinawa, Japan. While abroad, he read much about African American history, culture, and politics. He returned to America in 1963 and attended George Williams College, majoring in Applied Behavioral Sciences. While at college, his past experience overseas of seeing many African Americans sent to war led him to become active in the Black Power Movement. One of the organizations he was involved with was the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which was one of the first African American civil rights groups against war.

Conrad graduated in 1968 and was hired by a West Side YMCA as a program director. He didn’t last long at this job as he left to pursue his Ph. D at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison. His focus was on “Curriculum and Instruction in Secondary Social Studies”. He wanted to help students understand the relationship between institutions and power. Upon receiving his degree from Wisconsin, Worrill returned to his roots to teach two years at George Williams College. In 1975, he transferred to the faculty of Northeastern Illinois University, where he became active in the Center for Inner City Studies.

In addition to his teaching duties, Worrill was involved with the National Black United Front. The organization deals with addressing political, social, economic, and cultural forces that impact people of African descent in America today. The NBUF has been known for pushing a program of study that emphasizes the role of Africans and African Americans.

Worrill is the elected economic development commissioner of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. He was a special consultant of field operations in the Million Man March, which took place on October 16, 1995. Conrad writes a weekly column entitled, “Worrill’s World”, which has a wide fan base.