Conrad Tillard

Tillard was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and then to Washington, D.C., when he was very young, and grew up in the Christian religion.[https://books.google.com/books?id=ansOAQAAMAAJ&q=%22conrad+tillard%22 Savoy], Volume 3, Issues 6-10, 2003. His biological father was a tailor and part-time jazz musician. After his parents divorced during his childhood, his mother married a Baptist minister.Richard Wormser (2002). [https://books.google.com/books?id=64l9X4KF0JEC&dq=%22conrad+tillard%22+%22divorced%22&pg=PA77 American Islam; Growing Up Muslim in America]{{Cite web |author=Megan Tench |date=February 27, 2005 |title=Heeding a new call; Former Black Muslim minister seeks change through Christianity |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/02/27/heeding_a_new_call/ |work=The Boston Globe}} In D.C., he attended Wilson High School and graduated from Francis L. Cardozo High School.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-MCAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22conrad+tillard%22&pg=PA40|title=New York Magazine|first=Jeffrey|last=Goldberg|date=October 24, 1994|publisher=New York Media|via=Google Books}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/resolutions/2009/j6526|title=J6526; Commemorating the pastoral installation of The Reverend Conrad B. Tillard of Nazarene Congregation Church United of Christ|date=October 2, 2015|website=NY State Senate}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nypress.com/news/will-hiphop-minister-conrad-muhammad-go-from-noi-to-gop-GANP1020020723307239999|title=Will "Hiphop Minister" Conrad Muhammad Go from N.O.I. to G.O.P.?|website=New York Press|date=February 16, 2015}}

Tillard attended Lincoln University, which was historically Black, transferred to Middlebury College in the fall of 1984, then to Wesleyan University. He then transferred in 1986 to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he became President of the Black Students League and earned a B.A. in African American studies in 1988.{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/mcht_a10_newfaces_1984|title=Middlebury College New Faces, 1984|date=December 5, 1984|publisher=Middlebury College Publication Department}}[https://almanac.upenn.edu/archive/v33pdf/n23/021787.pdf "Resolution Appealing for the Withdrawal of Charges Against Four Graduate Students,"] Almanac, vol. 33, no. 23, p. 6, February 17, 1987.

Tillard studied in graduate school at the Harvard Divinity School in the late 1990s, and at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government in public administration.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/16/nyregion/keeping-the-faith-differently-a-harlem-firebrand-quietly-returns-to-christianity.html|title=Keeping the Faith, Differently; A Harlem Firebrand Quietly Returns to Christianity|first=Alan|last=Feuer|date=June 16, 2003|work=The New York Times}} He earned a Master of Divinity degree in systematic theology and Christian social ethics at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with a Master of Theology in practical theology (with a concentration in congregational ministry).{{Cite web|url=https://hiphopwired.com/236173/former-hip-hop-minister-running-for-nyc-council-seat-photos/|title=Former "Hip-Hop Minister" Running For NYC Council Seat|work=HipHopWired |author=D.L. Chandler|date=May 23, 2013}}

In 1984, Tillard worked as a coordinator of the presidential campaign of Jesse Jackson, first in Philadelphia and then at Jackson's national headquarters in Washington, D.C.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130523/bed-stuy/former-hip-hop-minister-continues-evolution-with-city-council-run|title=Former "Hip-Hop Minister" Continues Evolution With City Council Run|website=DNAinfo New York|author=Paul DeBenedetto|date=May 23, 2013|access-date=December 5, 2022|archive-date=January 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111110257/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130523/bed-stuy/former-hip-hop-minister-continues-evolution-with-city-council-run|url-status=dead}} Years later he said: "I became discouraged and almost bitter against the political process, because I felt that he was disrespected, but that was in my immaturity."

At 19 years of age in 1984, while he was in college, Tillard converted to Islam and joined the Nation of Islam (NOI).{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/ny-metro-jumaane-therapy-public-advocates-20190302-story.html|title=New Public Advocate Jumaane Williams credits therapy for emotional success; urges other black men to seek help if they need it|date=March 3, 2019|website=Chicago Tribune|author=Leonard Greene}} He became known as Conrad X, and later Conrad Muhammad. He was attracted to the organization because it made him feel strong and proud of being Black, rather than due to an attraction to the religion of Islam; he also felt that racism and corruption were problems in the Arab world. He moved to New York City. At 25 years of age he was appointed minister of Mosque No. 7 in Harlem in 1991, as a successor to Malcolm X, and The Boston Globe described him as the heir-apparent to NOI head Louis Farrakhan.{{Cite book |last=Noel |first=Peter |url= |title=Why Blacks Fear 'America's Mayor': Reporting Police Brutality and Black Activist Politics Under Rudy Giuliani |date=2007 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-0-595-91920-8 |language=en}} While with the NOI, Tillard promoted antisemitic views (including in 1992 a conspiracy theory that Jewish people were the cause of the hole in the ozone layer),{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1992/3/6/the-foundation-for-intercultural-hypocrisy-pbybou/|title=The Foundation for Intercultural Hypocrisy | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson|website=www.thecrimson.com}} and in 1996 referred to Brooklyn assemblyman Jules Polonetsky as a "snotty-nosed Jewish politician," and to Jewish people as "bloodsuckers".{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/22/nyregion/slur-by-a-nation-of-islam-leader-stirs-anger.html|title=Slur by a Nation of Islam Leader Stirs Anger|first=Lizette|last=Alvarez|date=September 22, 1996|work=The New York Times}}{{Cite book |url= |title=New York Magazine |date=1994-02-07 |publisher=New York Media |language=en}} New York Magazine reported that sources said that some within the NOI became jealous of his ascent, and others disliked what they saw as a streak of moderation on his part. He was stripped of his position in 1997, reportedly after internal politics and threats of violence by NOI officials, or disagreements with Farrakhan, or over charges of financial mismanagement. Tillard resigned from the NOI that year, in a public break, when he was 32 years old. He later said: "I just became frustrated with the direction of the movement. I believe that as African-Americans we can be critical of this country, but we have to embrace our American-ness, and we have to embrace the process. I've really grown to believe that we have the best political system in the world. I've grown to appreciate democracy. And I think the Nation is challenged to embrace those ideas."

Tillard became known as the "Hip-Hop Minister," as he both criticized hip hop lyrics, and defused potentially violent feuds between rappers.Trumaine W. Mitchell (June 16, 2020). [https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2300&context=etd "The Underclass Culture Wars: Underclass Ideology And The Underclass Culture Wars: Underclass Ideology And Neoliberalism In The Era Of Gangsta Rap Censorship, 1993-2000,"] Theses and Dissertations.David M. Newman, Jodi O'Brien (2008). [https://books.google.com/books?id=TlIAzT5uT-IC&dq=%22conrad+muhammad%22&pg=PA369 Sociology; Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life Readings].Rahiel Tesfamariam (March 15, 2013).

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/superman-isnt-coming-grassroots-efforts-to-end-urban-violence/2013/03/15/c43e0f5e-8d9b-11e2-9838-d62f083ba93f_blog.html "Superman isn't coming: Grassroots efforts to end urban violence,"] The Washington Post.{{Cite web|url=http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2011/04/12/conrad-tillard-from-hip-hop-minister-to-community/|title=Conrad Tillard - From hip hop minister to community reverend|date=April 12, 2011|website=New York Amsterdam News}}{{Cite web|url=https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2022/08/19/from-the-hip-hop-minister-to-the-state-senator-i-have-grown-but-kept-my-integrity/|title=From The Hip-Hop Minister to The State Senator: I Have Grown But Kept My Integrity!|author= Conrad B. Tillard Sr. |date=August 19, 2022|work= New York Amsterdam News}} He appears in the documentary Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2007/02/20/7498468/a-look-at-hip-hop-beyond-beats-and-rhymes|title=A Look at Hip-Hop, 'Beyond Beats and Rhymes'|website=NPR|date=February 20, 2007}}

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Tillard was an outspoken critic of hip hop lyrics that he perceived as degrading and dangerous to Blacks. He said such lyrics suggested "that we are penny-chasing, Champagne-drinking, gold-teeth-wearing, modern-day Sambos, pimps and players." He believed that in seeking to emulate the lyrics in gangsta rap, young Black Americans became victims of mass incarceration, violence, sexual exploitation, and drug crime.

In the 1990s, he started an organization called A Movement for C.H.H.A.N.G.E. ("Conscious Hip Hop Activism Necessary for Global Empowerment"), to advocate for "conscious hip hop activism", voter registration and education, community organizing, and social empowerment for black youth.Manning Marable (2002). [https://books.google.com/books?id=bYN2AAAAMAAJ&q=%22conrad+muhammad%22 The great wells of democracy: the meaning of race in American life] He criticized hip-hop lyrics that portrayed American black communities as degenerate. He also criticized the businessmen who supported that approach. He feuded with Def Jam founder Russell Simmons in 2001, accusing him of stoking violence by allowing the frequent use of words such as "nigga" and "bitch" in rap lyrics.Yvonne Bynoe (2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ioKfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22conrad+tillard%22 Encyclopedia of Rap and Hip-hop Culture]

Tillard became a fixture in hip-hop after he arranged a meeting and a truce in a feud between rising bands Wreckx-N-Effect and A Tribe Called Quest.Sacha Jenkins, Elliott Wilson, Gabe Alvarez, Jeff Mao, Brent Rollins (2014). [https://books.google.com/books?id=sB3SAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22conrad+muhammad%22&pg=PA246 "Hit 'em up,"] Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists Tillard also counseled Sean "Diddy" Combs during his feud with rival Suge Knight, and criticized him for what he saw as his mistreatment of Shyne Barrow.Mark Curry (2009). [https://books.google.com/books?id=bqz8X2HFcP0C&dq=%22conrad+muhammad%22&pg=PA155 Dancing with the Devil; How Puff Burned the Bad Boys of Hip-hop]

After the drive-by shooting murder of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996, Tillard organized a "Day of Atonement" event to advocate against violent themes in hip-hop music, to promote unity, and to celebrate Shakur's life. He invited rap group A Tribe Called Quest, Chuck D with Public Enemy, Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, model Bethann Hardison, actor Malik Yoba, Bad Boy Records president Sean Combs, and rapper The Notorious B.I.G. There were an estimated 2,000 attendees.Sam Brown (2019). [https://books.google.com/books?id=MZuxDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22conrad+muhammad%22&pg=PT190 Tupac; A Thug Life], Plexus Publishing Limited.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/rappers-peace|work=The New York Daily News|title=The Notorious B.I.G.-summit}}

Tillard also served as a radio talk show host on urban adult contemporary FM radio station WBLS. In 1999, after studying at Harvard Divinity School, he moved to Harlem, in Manhattan.

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.{{Cite web |title=Taking the Rap|work=The Village Voice|author= Peter Noel|date=January 9, 2001 |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2001/01/09/taking-the-rap-2/}} Tillard later served as a spiritual advisor to Shyne.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/misrur/krs-one-condemns-negative-rap-imagery-at-hip-hop-summit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209161753/https://www.mtv.com/news/misrur/krs-one-condemns-negative-rap-imagery-at-hip-hop-summit|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 9, 2022|title=KRS-One Condemns Negative Rap Imagery At Hip-Hop Summit|website=MTV|author= Shaheem Reid|date=May 10, 2001}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.mtv.com/news/5vgg9o/shyne-sentencing-pushed-back-to-june|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229192155/https://www.mtv.com/news/5vgg9o/shyne-sentencing-pushed-back-to-june|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 29, 2022|title=Shyne Sentencing Pushed Back To June|date=April 16, 2001|author=Brian Hiatt|website=MTV}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,506526,00.html|title=Rhyme and reason|author=Gary Younge|website=The Guardian|date=June 14, 2001}} 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. Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons organized a counter-summit, urging the public not to "support open and aggressive critics of the hip-hop community".{{Cite news |last=George |first=Robert |date=May 8, 2001 |title=The New Hip-Hop Feud: Battle Lines are Being Drawn in the Effort to Clean Up Rap |work=The New York Post |url=https://nypost.com/2001/05/08/the-new-hip-hop-feud-battle-lines-are-being-drawn-in-the-effort-to-clean-up-rap/ |access-date=August 22, 2022}}

In 2002, having reverted to his birth name, Tillard sought to run for U.S. Congress in New York's 15th congressional district in Harlem in Manhattan against 32-year incumbent Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel. He initially sought to run as a Republican, but was unable to secure the party's nomination.{{Cite web |title=Will "Hiphop Minister" Conrad Muhammad Go from N.O.I. to G.O.P.? |url=https://www.chelseanewsny.com/news/will-hiphop-minister-conrad-muhammad-go-from-noi-to-gop-GVNP1420020723307239999|date=February 16, 2015 |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=Chelsea News |language=en-US}} He ultimately failed to qualify for a position on the ballot for the Democratic nomination for the Congressional seat, as he did not produce 1,250 valid signatures to qualify for the primary ballot; of the 1,652 signatures he filed, only 630 were deemed valid.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/17/nyregion/ex-farrakhan-aide-fails-in-primary-bid.html|title=Ex-Farrakhan Aide Fails in Primary Bid|date=August 17, 2002|work=The New York Times}}

File:Abyssinian Baptist Church Harlem1.jpg]]

After he left the NOI, while at Harvard, Tillard said he underwent a "powerful conversion experience" and "just one night became overwhelmed by the presence of God and Christ...I encountered Christ in a very personal way." Tillard returned to Christianity, and became a Baptist minister. In 2003, he became a preacher at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, in Manhattan.{{Cite news |last=Feuer |first=Alan |date=2003-06-16 |title=Keeping the Faith, Differently; A Harlem Firebrand Quietly Returns to Christianity |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/16/nyregion/keeping-the-faith-differently-a-harlem-firebrand-quietly-returns-to-christianity.html |access-date=2022-08-23 |issn=0362-4331}} He said: "It may have taken me a long time to get there, but I finally came home." He was ordained by the Reverend Calvin Butts, the senior pastor at the church.{{Cite web|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/longtime-abyssinian-baptist-church-leader-144500145.html|title=Rev. Calvin Butts, longtime leader of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church, dead at 73|website=Yahoo|date=October 28, 2022|author=Leonard Greene, Larry McShane}}

Tillard was selected in 2005 and 2006 by Beliefnet as one of "The Most Influential Spiritual Black Leaders" in the United States.

In 2009, Tillard went on to become the Senior Pastor at The Nazarene Congregational Church, a United Church of Christ in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, which is one of the oldest African-American congregations in New York City.{{Cite web |title=Nazarene Congregational Church (UCC) |url=http://www.brooklynchurches.org/directory/congregations/DQC2934.htm |access-date=2022-08-23 |website=Brooklyn Council of Churches}} He was selected that year as "Pastor of the Year" in Brooklyn by Church Women United.

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. The book was published by Atria Books in 2010.{{Cite book |last=Tillard |first=Conrad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N3-8kQEACAAJ |title=In My Father's House: A Memoir of the Man Once Called Conrad Muhammad |date=May 18, 2010 |publisher=Atria Books |isbn=9781439109281 |via=Google Books}}

After moving to Brooklyn, Tillard ran for an open seat in 2013 in the New York City Council's 36th Council District in Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights in Brooklyn against Robert Cornegy Jr. — who won the election — and three other candidates.{{Cite web |title=Council race to replace Albert Vann in Bed-Stuy too close to call after primary|author=Sasha Goldstein |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/council-race-replace-albert-vann-bed-stuy-close-call-primary-article-1.1452666|date=September 11, 2013 |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=The New York Daily News}} Tillard received 13% of the vote, which amounted to 1,912 votes.{{Cite web |date=2020-10-16 |title=2013 City Council District 36 Democratic Primary, NYC Election Maps |url=https://www.nycelectionmaps.com/2020/10/16/september-2013-city-council-district-36-democratic-primary/ |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=NYC Election Maps |language=en-US}}

In 2015, Tillard became host and executive producer of the radio show "Conversations with Conrad!" on WHCR 90.3 FM in New York City.{{Cite web|url=https://whcr.org/artists/conversations-with-conrad/|title=Conversations with Conrad|publisher=WHCR|access-date=December 5, 2022|archive-date=December 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205003005/https://whcr.org/artists/conversations-with-conrad/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2020/10/22/rethinking-ice-cubes-moves/|title=Rethinking Ice Cube's moves|author=Rev Conrad B. Tillard Sr.|date=October 22, 2020|website=New York Amsterdam News}}

In 2016, Tillard became an adjunct professor in the Black Studies Department of City College of the City University of New York.{{Cite web|url=https://patch.com/new-york/bed-stuy/mayor-endorses-conrad-tillard-over-jabari-brisport-bed-stuy-primary|title=Mayor Endorses Conrad Tillard Over Jabari Brisport In Bed-Stuy Primary|author=Kathleen Culliton|date=August 15, 2022|website=Bed-Stuy, NY Patch}}

In 2018, Tillard became the Senior Minister at Flatbush Tompkins Congregational Church in Ditmas Park in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-calvin-butts-dead-abyssinian-baptist-church-nyc-20221028-ebmpukuthzef5ass4f2urciixe-story.html|title=Rev. Calvin Butts, longtime leader of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church, dead at 73|author= Leonard Greene, Mark Stamey, and Larry McShane|website=The New York Daily News|date=October 28, 2022 }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.cccny.net/directory/congregations/DQC3938.htm|title=Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church|website=The Council of Churches of the City of New York}} The church is well over a century old.

In 2022, Tillard launched a campaign for New York State Senate in District 25 (covering part of eastern and north-central Brooklyn, including Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, Red Hook, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Sunset Park, Gowanus, and Park Slope) against freshman State Senator Jabari Brisport, a member of the Democratic Socialists.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/20/nyregion/eric-adams-endorsements.html|title=Adams Endorses Primary Candidates, Hoping to Defeat Left-Wing Democrats|first=Jeffery C.|last=Mays|date=August 20, 2022|work=The New York Times}} Tillard ran as a more moderate and centrist candidate than Brisport, and was critical of his support of socialism.{{Cite web|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/08/4-big-takeaways-from-new-yorks-weird-late-summer-primaries.html|title=4 Big Takeaways From New York's Weird Late-Summer Primaries|first=Errol|last=Louis|date=August 27, 2022|website=Intelligencer}}{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/cityandstate/docs/csny-web-issue-080122/s/16482673|title=State Sentate|website=City & State NY|date=August 1, 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://gothamist.com/news/ny-senate-voters-guide-what-to-know-about-the-2022-nyc-primaries|title=NY Senate Voter's Guide: What to know about the 2022 NYC primaries|date=August 12, 2022|website=Gothamist}} He also said: "I am running against someone who calls for defunding the police. I have gone to jail for advocating against police brutality, but I do not think defunding the police is the answer." During the race, Tillard became the subject of controversy over past antisemitic, anti-abortion, and anti-LGBTQ remarks while a member of the NOI in the mid-1990s, as well as vocally opposing abortion rights and same-sex marriage as recently as 2005; Tillard disavowed his former comments about Jews and gay people. Tillard said the comments were decades old, and did not reflect the man he now was.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2022/08/17/mayor-makes-key-endorsements-in-state-senate-races|title=Mayor endorses state Senate candidate with history of controversy|website=NY1|author= Kelly Mena |date=August 17, 2022}} New York City Mayor Eric Adams said "I believe the Rev. Tillard of today is a lot different than the man who said those things decades ago. Since then, Rev. Tillard has been a minister and pastored prominent churches."

Tillard was endorsed by several moderate Democrats, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York State Senator Kevin Parker, and former New York City Councilman Robert Cornegy, as well as rapper Chuck D.{{Cite web|url=https://politicsny.com/2022/08/15/mayor-adams-endorses-tillard-over-dsaer-brisport-in-bed-stuy-senate-race/|title=Mayor Adams Endorses Tillard over DSAer Brisport in Bed-Stuy senate race|first=Stephen|last=Witt|date=August 15, 2022|website=PoliticsNY}}{{Cite news |last=Samar |first=Khurshid |date=August 11, 2022 |title=New York State Senate Races to Watch in the August Primary |work=Gotham Gazette |url=https://www.gothamgazette.com/state/11515-state-senate-races-to-watch-august-primary |access-date=August 19, 2022}} His campaign received funding from the real estate industry, including from the Republican- and real estate industry-funded (in the amount of $7,500) PAC set up by an ally of Mayor Adams, Striving for a Better New York.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/02/nyregion/eric-adams-pac-cockfield.html|title=A Group Raised Money to Push Adams's Agenda. Much of It Went to One Man.|first1=Nicholas|last1=Fandos|first2=Dana|last2=Rubinstein|date=November 2, 2022|work=The New York Times}}{{Cite news |last=Brian |first=Pascus |date=August 19, 2022 |title=Senate progressives aim to stave of establishment challengers |work=Crain's |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics/new-york-senate-progressives-jabari-brisport-and-gustavo-rivera-fight-survival?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D26202081760741475030332509168884411493%7CMCORGID%3D138FFF2554E6E7220A4C98C6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1660956603&CSAuthResp=1%3A%3A864083%3A23%3A24%3Asuccess%3AAC98D71E77122B58E2529E22B136F473 |access-date=August 19, 2022}}{{Cite web |date=June 10, 2022 |first=Akela |last=Lacy |title=New PAC Backed by Bakari Sellers Plans to Spend $1 Million to Unseat Rep. Rashida Tlaib |url=https://theintercept.com/2022/06/10/rashida-tlaib-urban-empowerment-action-pac-bakari-sellers/ |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=The Intercept |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Tracking the contested state Senate primary races in New York |url=https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2022/08/tracking-contested-state-senate-primary-races-new-york/374098/ |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=City & State NY|author=Jeff Coltin and Sara Dorn |date= August 22, 2022 |language=en}} Brisport won re-nomination in the three-way race, with 70% of the vote to second-place Tillard's 16%.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/23/us/elections/results-new-york.html | title=New York Primary Election Results | newspaper=The New York Times | date=23 August 2022 }}{{Cite web|url=https://nyenr.elections.ny.gov/|title=NYS Board of Elections Unofficial Election Night Results|website=NY State Board of Elections|access-date=September 30, 2022|archive-date=November 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120174014/https://nyenr.elections.ny.gov/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2022/08/17/adams-state-senate-pick-conrad-tillard-has-history-of-bigoted-remarks/|title=Adams state Senate pick Conrad Tillard has history of bigoted remarks|work=The New York Post|date=August 17, 2022}}

He and his wife Tamecca have five children, Amir, Najmah, Conrad, Jr., Zuriel, and Barack. When his son Barack was born three months after President Obama's inauguration in 2009, Tillard said he and his wife were very excited, and "we couldn't think of a better name."{{Cite web|url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/obama-legacy-generation-young-baracks/|title=A Generation of Young Baracks|website=WNYC|date= January 19, 2017 |author= Yasmeen Khan}} As of 2022, Tillard lived in Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, having previously lived in New York City in Harlem, Fort Greene, and Clinton Hill.{{Cite web|url=https://ourtimepress.com/early-voting-aug-13-21primary-tues-aug-23/|title=Early Voting: Aug. 13-21; Primary: Tues., Aug. 23|work=Our Time Press|date=August 4, 2022 }}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.tillardforsenate.com/ Tillard for Senate page]
• {{IMDb name|2570862}}
• [https://www.c-span.org/person/?conradtillard "The Impact of Popular Culture on Politics in Literature,"] Tillard on C-Span, March 31, 2012.
• [https://wabcradio.com/episode/reverend-conrad-tillard-the-dick-morris-show-2-13-22-2/ "Reverend Conrad Tillard - The Dick Morris Show], WABC Radio, February 13, 2022.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tillard, Conrad}}

Category:Living people

Category:Activists for African-American civil rights

Category:Activists from Atlanta

Category:Activists from New York City

Category:Activists from St. Louis

Category:Activists from Washington, D.C.

Category:African-American Baptist ministers

Category:African-American former Muslims

Category:American former Muslims

Category:African-American male writers

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:African Americans in New York City

Category:American anti-racism activists

Category:American anti-poverty advocates

Category:American community activists

Category:American Nazarene ministers

Category:Baptists from Missouri

Category:Baptists from New York (state)

Category:Christians from New York (state)

Category:Christians from Washington, D.C.

Category:City College of New York faculty

Category:Clergy from Atlanta

Category:Clergy from New York City

Category:Clergy from St. Louis

Category:Converts to Baptist Christianity from Islam

Category:Converts to Islam from Christianity

Category:American education activists

Category:Harvard Divinity School alumni

Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni

Category:Hip-hop activists

Category:Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) alumni

Category:Middlebury College alumni

Category:Nation of Islam religious leaders

Category:Former Nation of Islam members

Category:New York (state) Democrats

Category:People from Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Category:People from Clinton Hill, Brooklyn

Category:People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn

Category:People from Harlem

Category:Politicians from Atlanta

Category:Politicians from Brooklyn

Category:Politicians from St. Louis

Category:Politicians from Washington, D.C.

Category:Princeton Theological Seminary alumni

Category:Radio personalities from Atlanta

Category:Radio personalities from New York City

Category:Radio personalities from St. Louis

Category:Radio personalities from Washington, D.C.

Category:Systematic theologians

Category:Union Theological Seminary alumni

Category:United Church of Christ ministers

Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni

Category:Wesleyan University alumni

Category:Writers from Atlanta

Category:Writers from St. Louis

Category:1964 births

Category:African-American activists

Category:20th-century African-American people

Category:20th-century American clergy

Category:20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States

Category:20th-century Islamic religious leaders

Category:21st-century African-American writers

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century Baptist ministers from the United States

Category:21st-century New York (state) politicians