DeRay McKesson, civil rights activist and frequent public face of the Black Lives Matter movement, spoke to attendees of FORBES' Under 30 Summit in Boston Tuesday morning about racial justice and political activism. In a conversation moderated by Adam Foss, founder of legal nonprofit Prosecutor Integrity, McKesson touched on an array of topics ranging from the growth of BLM to the national anthem protests spearheaded by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Following the discussion McKesson spoke to FORBES for an exclusive follow-up interview. Below are highlights from the two conversations.
On his role in the protest movement started by Colin Kaepernick:
McKesson emphasizes that he didn't take part in Kaepernick's initial decision to kneel during the national anthem, but he's since spoken regularly with the 49ers quarterback to offer guidance on BLM's mission and strategic objectives. He thinks that engaging visible public figures like Kaepernick is key to broadening awareness of racial injustice. The effort, McKesson believes, is working. A year ago many people thought that the issues in Ferguson "were a Ferguson problem, not a national problem," he says. "We won that battle."
Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson (R) speaks to nonprofit founder Adam Foss at FORBES'... [+]
When asked about the response to Kaepernick and other protestors, who have generated a considerable amount of controversy, McKesson is firmly supportive. "People are more afraid of black unity than black rage" he says. "[Colin]'s created this moment, and what I think it has shown is that we are continuing to build this critical mass of people willing to put things on the line for this [movement], and I think that that frightens people."
On how BLM has taken a different approach to organizing than the Civil Rights Movement:
Initially, McKesson admits, he was frustrated by the lack of institutional support for BLM activists in Ferguson and elsewhere. "We thought the churches and institutions were coming to support us," he told Foss. When they didn't, "That was really tough for a lot of us."
Even without consistent establishment backing, though, McKesson and other leading organizers have used their social media platforms to build grassroots support. (He has over 500,000 followers on his personal Twitter account.) In contrast with the Civil Rights Movement, which took place in a pre-internet world, BLM can use technology to reach huge audiences. "We can talk to 100,000 people or more in a way that they just couldn't," McKesson acknowledges.
On the personal toll of being among BLM's most visible public faces:
"People often confuse visibility with a lot of other things," McKesson vents. "Sometimes I become a proxy for things that just aren't true about me. People will say, 'DeRay got millions of dollars in grants.' That's just not true... I'm broke." Worse, he must regularly deal with a constant onslaught of vitriol, including a host of death threats he has received in the past few years.
Still, McKesson remains optimistic. To conclude Tuesday's conversation, he implored members of the audience to get involved. "This is your movement too," he said. And "people have to dream big."
