Black History Today 2024: DeRay Mckesson, reminding us that a revolutionary life is an act of love
/Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond and recognizes the people among us who are boldly shaping the future.
DeRay Mckesson (right) poses with Matt Halvorson (left) and Lindsay Hill and their kids in Ferguson, Mo., in August 2015. Zeke really loved chewing on that phone…
“If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected — those, precisely, who need the law’s protection most! — and listens to their testimony.”
By Marcus Harden
Rarely do we get to choose our purpose. More often it seems the purpose chooses us – or perhaps the purpose is offered to us like an open doorway, and we are asked simply to step into it, to carry it forward.
Many times these pathways to purpose are illuminated in moments of need, and the people who heed the call tend to come from the most unsuspecting places. Yet, if we knew where and how to look, we would see that these people have been cosmically preparing for the moment, so that when called, they are ready not just to answer, but to leave their imprint on history.
DeRay Mckesson is one who has not only answered the call, but has helped reshape what the conversation is all about. Well-known nationally for his leadership in the Black Lives Matter Movement, his podcast (Pod Save the People), his book (“On the Other Side of Freedom”), and his Twitter account and his infamous Blue Vest, DeRay was already working passionately within the education space when the doorway to his deeper purpose opened in front of him.
Proudly representing Baltimore, DeRay has found himself as a learner, teacher and leader since his teens. After graduating from Bowdoin College and spending time as a classroom teacher through Teach For America, DeRay was working as the senior director of human capital for Minneapolis Public Schools in 2014 when Michael Brown was murdered by police in Ferguson, Mo.
DeRay drove down to Ferguson that August, and soon he began spending more and more of his time there, diving headlong through that doorway to purpose that had opened before him. By the next spring, he was living in the St. Louis area full-time, having quit his job in Minneapolis. In April 2015, he founded “Mapping Police Violence” along with Johnetta Elzie, Brittany Packnett and Samuel Sinyangwe, and in August the same group launched Campaign Zero.
By the end of 2015, just a year and change after his first drive down to Ferguson, DeRay and Netta had received the Howard Zinn Freedom to Write Award for their activism.
In a time of division, many leaders become cynics, pushers of propaganda and pain. It becomes the norm as the polarization of our issues divides across lines that are more imaginary than authentic. To see those like DeRay who walk the fine line between radical accountability and radical love is an inspiration to ourselves love and act with greater strength and depth.
While many want fame, men like DeRay seek to be effective – effective while in the streets campaigning for social equity, in the boardrooms and policy-making offices pushing for long-standing change, and alone for late nights reviewing policing contracts to ensure that we are truly being protected and served.
When the momentum slowed in Ferguson, DeRay didn’t just stop and congratulate himself for a job well done. He pressed on harder than ever. He was invited to meet with President Obama. He ran for mayor of Baltimore. He wrote a book and started a podcast. He continues to be a presence nationally at the center of the conversation around systemic racism and police violence, both in person and in the media.
To know DeRay is to understand that his heart for people and service isn’t for the cameras. You can hear it and see it in his conversations and posts about his days as an elementary school teacher, when he speaks glowingly about the power of education and the dedication of educators. It's apparent in the pride he has in so many of his former students, whether sharing their accolades as adults, sharing an insight into the mentoring connections he’s built or just holding space for them now – in the same way he once did in the classroom.
You experience it when he joyfully shares the creative works of his friends and colleagues, utilizing his platform to magnify the many great people and things in the world. DeRay is the definition of a champion for anything he gets behind.
While we tend to romanticize the fight for justice, we all know that true change happens step by step, day by day and piece by piece. DeRay embodies that daily fight for justice, through his everyday thoughts and actions, seen and unseen. If justice is truly about balance, then he tips the scales to create a better world for all of us.
As a person I’d now consider a friend, DeRay continues to inspire on his personal journey, regularly going to great lengths to value and celebrate friends and loved ones. DeRay’s life is a beacon of what it means to truly live authentically and honestly as a Black male who holds multiple identities, truths and convictions – all while always service as a voice for the voiceless. From the streets of Fergurson, to the steps of the White House, to deciding that he’s going to be a Black man who learns how to swim, his showcasing of freedom is as fierce as his fight for freedom.
DeRay Mckesson is more than just a champion, more than just an advocate. DeRay is a genuine curator of love, hope and possibility. He is Black History Today!
Original artwork created by Devin Chicras for the South Seattle Emerald.
