Shaun King
Shaun King | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Morehouse College |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, civil rights activist |
Shaun King is an American writer and civil rights activist noted for his involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement. Since September 2014, he has been a contributing writer for Daily Kos. In August 2015, a Breitbart writer claimed that he had misrepresented his biracial identity based on alleged public records; King responded that his biological father, a "light-skinned black man," was not the person listed on his birth certificate as his father.[1][2][3]
Education
King received a scholarship from Oprah Winfrey to attend Morehouse College, a private liberal arts school for black men located in Atlanta, Georgia.[4][5]
Activism
King has written extensively about incidents in the Black Lives Matter movement, gaining prominence during the Shooting of Michael Brown. King wrote an article analyzing the Brown crime scene, and argued that the evidence suggested that officer Darren Wilson's life was not in danger during the shooting.[6]
King became a contributing blogger for the politically liberal website, the Daily Kos, in September, 2014.[7] His contributions to the website have centered around civil rights issues and violence in Ferguson, Missouri and Charleston, South Carolina as well as allegations of police brutality toward the black community.[8]
King started Justice Together, an organization whose stated goal is ending police brutality.[9][10]
Fundraising
King has raised money for multiple causes including relief work in Haiti, the Tamir Rice shooting, and various incidents where the Black Lives Matter movement has been involved. He has started HopeMob.com as a crowdfunding site for charity as well as Twitchange.com, a fundraising site where celebrities auction tweet mentions for charity.[11][12][13]
Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, King raised $540,000 for relief that was designated to build the Miriam Center, a home for disabled Haitian orphans.[13][14]
Controversy regarding funds
Through the fund-raising website, YouCaring.com, King raised $60,000 for the family of Tamir Rice. Rice, a 12-year old resident of Cleveland, Ohio, was killed in 2014 by two Cleveland city policemen after they responded to a complaint "of a male black sitting on a swing and pointing a gun at people".[15][16][17] After learning the child had not been buried as of five months after the the shooting and the child's mother had moved into a homeless shelter,[18] King started the fund to assist the Rice family. The family's attorney, Timothy Kucharski was alerted to the existence of the fund, however, neither he nor the Rice family had heard of King or the fundraiser nor had any money been received.[19][20] Eventually, the money raised was seized by the court and placed into a trust for the Rice family. King and Benjamin Crump then started a second charity drive for the Rice family, with the proceeds going directly to the family. An additional $25,000 was raised.[20]
Personal life
 | This article is about a person involved in a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
King is biracial[1]and has written extensively about his experiences as a minority, including an alleged hate crime assault.[11] Describing the alleged assault, King stated a "dozen 'rednecks'" had beat him and the injuries caused him to miss a portion of two years of high school due to multiple spinal surgeries.[21] The detective who investigated the case in 1995 described King's injuries as "minor". The associated police report noted that the incident revolved around a fight involving a student who defended his girlfriend after being allegedly threatened by King.[22] Two fellow students from King's high school, as well as King's wife, posted their recollection of the event to Facebook, backing King's account.[23][24] An unnamed family member told CNN's Don Lemon that the fight was because King was a white guy dating a black girl.[25]
Questions regarding race
In August 2015, a Breitbart writer claimed that public records indicated both of King's parents were white. In response, King issued a statement that his biological mother has told him he is the child of an extramarital affair with a man not listed on his birth certificate and was a "light-skinned black man".[1][26][3][27][28][3][29][30]
References
- ^ a b c Activist Shaun King says man on birth certificate isn’t his biological father. Lowery, Wesley & Michael E. Miller. The Washington Post, 20 August 2015
- ^ Doug Criss and Dana Ford (August 20, 2015). "Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King addresses race reports". CNN. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
- ^ a b c Southall, Ashley (August 19, 2015). "Activist Shaun King Denies Claims He Lied About Race and Assault". The New York Times.
- ^ "Morehouse College - Mission". Morehouse College. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
- ^ "Ripple Effect of One Act of Kindness - Oprah Scholarship". Oprah.com.
- ^ Thomas, Dexter (22 July 2015). "Suspicion over 'glitches' in Sandra Bland arrest video shouldn't surprise us". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Kos (October 1, 2014). "Meet our newest writer, Shaun King". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
- ^ "Search results from Daily Kos". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
- ^ Ross, Chuck (17 August 2015). "More Damning Details Emerge About Black Lives Matter Activist's Hate Crime Claim". The Daily Caller.
- ^ "Justice Together". Justice Together.
- ^ a b Thorpe, Devin. "Shaun King Brings Hope(Mob) to Crowdfunding". Forbes.
- ^ "Pay for celebs to tweet for you (and charity)". CNN.
- ^ a b Audi, Tamara (23 September 2010). "Celebrities Auction Tweets to Raise Money for Haitian Orphans - WSJ". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "TheGrio's 100: Shaun King, leveraging social media for greater good". theGrio.
- ^ "Tamir Rice Shooting - Cleveland Police Dispatch Radio". YouTube. 24 November 2014.
- ^ Izadi, Elahe; Holley, Peter (26 November 2014). "Video shows Cleveland officer shooting 12-year-old Tamir Rice within seconds". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
- ^ Tom McCarthy in New York, Tamir Rice: video shows boy, 12, shot 'seconds' after police confronted child Guardian.com. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
- ^ Lowery, Wesley (May 4, 2015). "As investigation enters fifth month, Tamir Rice's mother has moved into a homeless shelter". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
- ^ "Funds Raised for Rice Family Get Caught in Legal Morass; New Fundraising Effort Under Way". Cleveland Scene.
- ^ a b Wesley Lowery (May 5, 2015). "Online activists raised $60K for Tamir Rice's family — so where did all that money go?". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
- ^ Anderson, Troy (March 2012). "Innovative entrepreneur Shaun King has mastered the art of using social media for social good". Rebel Magazine. Mediabistro.
- ^ "Ferguson Activist's Hate Crime Claim Disputed By Police - The Daily Caller". The Daily Caller.
- ^ German Lopez. "The Shaun King controversy, explained - Vox". Vox.
- ^ "Black Lives Matter activist, Shaun King, might be white". NY Daily News.
- ^ Cris, Doug (20 August 2015). "Is Black Lives Matter's Shaun King lying about his race?". CNN.
- ^ Race, love, hate, and me: A distinctly American story. King, Shaun. DailyKos, 20 August 2015
- ^ Trotter, J.K. "Activist Shaun King Criticized for Allegedly Misrepresenting His Race". Gawker. Gawker Media.
- ^ Joy Reid: Shaun King’s Biological Father Is Black, but Not on Birth Certificate. Mediaite, 20 August 2015
- ^ WKYT News Staff. "Woodford native, Black Lives Matter activist questioned about racial identity". Wkyt.com.
- ^ Markus, Bethania Palma (19 August 2015). "#BLM activist Shaun King denies lying about his race after conservatives insist he's white". The Raw Story.