Forman was raised in Chicago and Mississippi.
In the 1960s he was a leader of the Black Panther Party.
Late in life, he taught at American University in Washington, D.C.
After his two marriages, Forman's longtime common-law wife was
Constancia "Dinky" Romilly, the daughter of the writer and activist
Jessica Mitford. The two had two sons,
James Robert Lumumba Forman, a lawyer and activist, and
Chaka Forman, an actor.
