Marie Runyon

Marie Runyon is a lifetime housing activist, unafraid to speak out and tell people who abuse power to go to hell. She’s not afraid of politicians or countries. Born in North Carolina in 1915, she went to college in Berea, Kentucky, and arrived in New York in the early ’40s. She’s been fighting for social justice ever since—at demonstrations, at rallies, and in poor neighborhoods everywhere. She established the Harlem Restoration Project in 1978. She served one term in the State Assembly and was arrested dozens of times for demonstrating for peace and keeping people from being evicted.