“Essentially, all expression has two noble intentions: to try to say what is unsayable and to bear witness to what is.”
-Mark Nepo
Author and Journalist
A former educator, publicist and editor, Lanier Isom is an author and journalist living in her hometown, Birmingham, Alabama. She wrote, Grace and Grit: How I Won My Fight at Goodyear and Beyond, the life story of Alabama native Lilly Ledbetter, the namesake of President Obama’s first piece of legislation, The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act. The film had its World premiere at the 2024 Hamptons International Film Festival. The filmmakers hope LILLY will be released in theaters next year. Isom’s articles, editorials, and essays have been featured in numerous publications, including Al Jazeera, The Lily, LA Times, Huffington Post, and The Bitter Southerner. She's a frequent contributor to al.com and the recipient of the Alabama Library Association Nonfiction Award and a 2023 Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. She’s currently writing her next book while working with CHILD US Advocacy to pass statute of limitation reform legislation for child sex abuse in Alabama. Isom is a cum laude graduate from Tulane University where she ran long distance, which taught her the perseverance needed for a justice seeker in the marathon for equality. She and her husband Hugo split time between Birmingham and Mentone, Alabama, atop Lookout Mountain, where she’s most inspired to write. You can find her on Twitter @lanierisom and on Instagram and Facebook.