Civil Rights Activist Shaun King to Speak at CWU

Central Washington University will host civil rights activist Shaun King at 6:30 p.m., Feb. 25

King is best known for his large social media following where he has garnered 4 million followers across multiple platforms. King uses social media to highlight injustices and social issues facing African Americans in the United States.

Aside from social media, King who has a bachelor’s degree in journalism is a columnist for The Intercept and the writer-in-residence for Harvard Law School’s Fair Punishment Project.

Katrina Whitney, assistant director of the Diversity and Equity Center at CWU first learned of King while attending a white privilege conference. After doing some research she became interested in getting the activist to speak in Ellensburg.

“I started looking him up and said ‘Wow’ This person is really trying to create a voice in a way to educate folks on a variety of different topics,” Whitney said.

In addition to the messages found in his content, Whitney also was interested in having King speak at Central because of his savvy use of social media.

“I think that’s the way millennials really communicate with each other nowadays,” Whitney said.

Due to his popularity on Instagram and Twitter the decision to bring him to campus was unanimous among the DEC and the Associated Students of Central Washington University.

“We felt like his speech civil rights movement and civil rights today is so poignant with our current national environment and this notion of what it means with marginalized identities and students of color and people of color,” Whitney said.

Read this article in its entirety at the Daily Record.