Published May 04, 2015 by Doug Cook

Deray Mckesson '07 on 21st Century Activism in Jay Caspian King '02 'New York Times Magazine' Piece

DeRay Mckesson ’07
DeRay Mckesson ’07

Writer Jay Caspian Kang ’02 spent five months following social-media activists DeRay Mckesson ’07 and Johnetta Elzie to protests across the country. Kang’s New York Times Magazine article, “Our Demand is Simple: Stop Killing Us,” mentions Mckesson’s time at the College, including his stint conducting campus tours, which, Kang notes, Mckesson kept tweaking until his delivery was honed to enthusiasm-inspiring excellence.

“There was a whole generation of Bowdoin students who came to the college because of the campus tours DeRay would do,” says President Barry Mills in the article. “He’s always known how to inspire a group of people, so it doesn’t surprise me that he’s become a thought leader for what’s going on out in Ferguson.” Read the article.