Lillie Marshall honored for service to Red Hook, by Brian Abate

People who know and have worked with longtime community activist and leader, Lillie Marshall, gathered at the Miccio Center to honor her on March 19th. Representative Nydia Velazquez and Councilwoman Alexa Aviles came up with the idea for the event.

Marshall, who is originally from Georgia, moved to Red Hook in 1966. She served as the president of the Red Hook West Tenants Association and as Vice President of the New York City Tenants Association. She also joined New Brown Memorial Baptist Church in 1968.

“It’s not where you’re going, it’s what you do when you get there,” Marshall said. “I love it here, people are very friendly, and I’m still advocating for seniors, children, and families now. I may no longer be the president of the Tenant Association but I still have the same number so anything you need, I’m here.”

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Musician and author James McBride, whose family founded New Brown Memorial Baptist Church hosted the event. Everyone in attendance had the opportunity to grab the microphone from him to speak about Marshall.

“That woman is no joke,” said Marshall’s son. “She taught me how to be a man, a good person, and how to survive.”

A friend of Marshall said, “We’ve known each other for 40 years, and I was a little scared of her at first but she has a heart of solid gold.”

Aviles also spoke about Marshall and praised her for continuing to engage with and serve the community even though she is no longer president of the Red Hook West Tenants Association.

“From our first conversation together, I knew she suffered no fools, and that she was giving it her all” Aviles said. “We wanted to celebrate and honor you [Marshall] with you here, because this is often a thankless job, and you’ve done so much for the community.”

Velazquez promised to continue working with Aviles and also promised that she would continue to work to make Marshall proud.

“Let me say to you, Lillie, thank you,” Velazquez said. “You have always been a fighter and you will continue to be a fighter. It’s an honor and a privilege and it has inspired me that real people are bringing communities together and making them stronger, which is exactly what you’ve done.”

The event also featured music from New Brown Soul, a band of teenagers from New Brown Memorial Baptist Church, who worked with and learned from McBride in Red Hook. They covered (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman and then Tito Puente’s Oye Cómo Va, which got everyone out of their seats and dancing.

“I started learning from James [McBride] when I was around seven or eight years old,” said Helen Lingaard, who was the lead singer. “I found out about this from a friend and I always loved music and he helped bring the best out of me. I remember we started off playing drums using buckets, so we’ve come a long way.

“I grew up in Red Hook and I’ve lived here most of my life but I moved with my family to New Jersey during the pandemic. It’s a long commute back to the neighborhood but I love it here. It’s a community where people will appreciate you, never judge you, and take care of you.

“James has always helped me out when I’m down and so has Margaret [Saunders, who works with McBride,] so I’m really grateful. This was a great opportunity for me to perform and I think this was a great event honoring Lillie Marshall.”