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thumb|right|alt=larry portrait|Larry Watson"[[Larry".]]

Lawrence "Larry" Watson' (born October 26, 1952) is an American educator, singer, songwriter, and activist. His work merges activism and musical performance. He is an advocate for social justice. and he is best known for his controversial fight for affirmative action at Harvard University.

As of January 2016, Watson serves as Professor of Ensemble at Berklee College of Music and he is also the Resident Artist at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute of Race and Justice at Harvard Law School.

He co-hosts the television show Sing that thing on WGBH, the Massachusetts PBS channel.

Life and early career
Born Lawrence Watson in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York, Watson credits his strong family ties and the spiritual messages in African American music for his musical direction.

Gowing up the 1960s Watson listened to gospel music, rhythm and blues.. He remembers the music as satisfying and nourishing. The music connected with the flow of people's lives and raised powerful emotions. This music, he felt, saved him from a life in the streets and from the fate of many of the boys in the neighborhood,"I'm not being dramatic, but all of my childhood friends from junior high school and high school except one are dead. There was so much stuff going on in the streets". Music, he came to believe, could save and change lives.

He attended New York State University at Oswego. Jerry Seinfeld, Watson's college roommate, in an appearance on the Steve Harvey Show, called Watson “his first black friend". Watson considered the relationship unique, one that crossed racial and cultural divides during the social upheavals of the early seventies.

While an Assistant Dean at Cornell University, Watson was elected to the Board of Education, Ithaca, New York and served on the Tompkins County Human Rights Commission.

Arrest
In 1997, Watson felt he was unfairly arrested for a traffic violation. He spoke out and testified about his arrest before the Massachusetts' legislature.

The arrest was presented as a case study in The Presumption of Guilt: the Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Race Class and Crime in America by Charles Ogletree.

Harvard University and affirmative action
At Harvard University Watson served as the Co-chair of the Association of Black Faculty and Administrators. He and Derrick Bell authored, a report on the University’s lack of progress in appointing black professors to tenured positions. When the report did not produce the anticipated progress, Derrick Bell left the University in protest. Eventually, Watson was dismissed from his position and he alleged discrimination.

Watson’s activist work is cited in two of the late Derrick Bell’s publications: ''Faces at the Bottom of the Well. The Permanence of Racism (1993) and Confronting Authority. Reflections of an Ardent Protestor (1994).

Dinesh D'Souza mentions Watson's work on affirmative action at Harvard University in his book, Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus (1998).

Music career
Watson's performances support human rights and come with a message for social change. Through his music, he advocates for political and humanitarian causes and celebrates the African American experience.

He sang the lead in Langston Hughes Black Nativity (1990) and performed for Nelson Mandela on the Boston Esplanade (1990). In 1992 he sang for Amnesty International USA (1992).

To further his message of social change through music and advocacy, in 1993, Watson founded SaveOurSelves Productions and Consulting (SOS). Watson has been bold for quite some time. He has taken on racial profiling, misogynist rap lyrics and African dictators. He is unafraid to talk about the hip-hop generation and their ability to recite sexually graphic and violent lyrics while at the same time unable to sing "Lift Every Voice," the black national anthem. mothers intellet

In 1996 he performed for the Boston Dialogue on Race and Watson's CD, The journey debuted in 1997. The journey offers songs of the black experience. Anyone who has sat around the Hatch Shell or lounged in the Westin Hotel's jazz bar and heard Larry Watson blow away an audience with his baritone voice will appreciate Watson's new debut CD, "The Journey." After many years of making a name for himself performing on his own Boston turf in various venues, Watson has finally come out with a much anticipated CD. Appropriately titled "The Journey," he takes listeners all over the musical map on a joyous ride that touches on beautifully executed ballads (like the plaintive "September Love Song" about love and loss) to pulsating dance tunes (like "For the Rest of My Life," which has an infectious house music beat) and gospel songs ("God Answers Prayers,"). The songwriting, much of it done by Watson and co-writers, is fresh and meaningful. There is some excellent saxophone work by Larry Terry and Michael Steward. And the backup vocals are so good they threaten to take center stage. "The Journey" is a trip well worth taking. Watson will be performing at a CD release concert Friday at the Roxy.