Shaun King to Deliver Social Justice Keynote Address at Holy Cross

On Tuesday, Feb. 7, Shaun King, senior justice writer for the New York Daily News and political commentator for The Young Turks, will give a keynote speech titled “Civil Rights Today” as part of Black History Month at Holy Cross. The speech, which will cover topics surrounding social injustices and modern day civil rights, will be followed by a Q&A session with King and a reception. The event is sponsored by Holy Cross’ Black Student Union (BSU).

The event will be held in the Hogan Campus Center Ballroom at 7 p.m.; doors will open at 6:15 p.m. and introductions will begin at 6:45 p.m. Tickets for the Holy Cross community are available at Eventbrite, where they will be made available to the Worcester Consortium and general public on Feb. 1.

King, who has become a prominent voice in the Black Lives Matter movement, has written extensively about discrimination, police brutality, the prison industrial complex, and social justice in the wake of violence in New York, Baltimore, Cleveland, Ferguson, Charleston, and other cities. King has also gained recognition through his active voice on Twitter and Facebook, which he uses to tell stories of injustice and generate awareness for those most affected by racism.

He is also known as an articulate speaker who draws from history when discussing the pressing problems of today, and who challenges his audience members to see their place in the modern movement for a more equitable world.

"In light of the growth of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement and the growing number of highly publicized shootings of unarmed African-American men and women by the police, we felt that the Holy Cross community could benefit from hearing the perspective of one of the nation's premier journalists who covers such matters,” said Jared Boone ’17, co-chair of the BSU, a student organization that promotes unity among the black community at Holy Cross. “There are many students of color at Holy Cross who are hurting because of social ramifications of these shootings and the effect it has had on our day-to-day lives. We felt we owed it to our fellow students to invite a keynote speaker who is an expert in this field and understands both the historical and contemporary social structures which allowed for such injustices to continue.”

In addition to his work at the New York Daily News and The Young Turks, King is a regular political commentator on the Tom Joyner Morning Show and was previously a contributing justice writer for Daily Kos.

King was as the CEO and founder of both TwitChange, which was launched in August of 2010 in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti to raise funds for those in need, and HopeMob, the first platform dedicated to resourcing leaders and communities of color. King is the author of “The Power of 100!” (Howard Books, 2015), and has spent much of the last 15 years raising nearly $10 million for charities and causes across the globe. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Epoch Humanitarian Award, and the Hometown Hero Award from the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He was also included in MSNBC’s The Grio Top 100 History Makers.

For more information about King, visit www.thelavinagency.com.