The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

KAUFMAN: Student attendance at Shaun King event lacking

KAUFMAN%3A+Student+attendance+at+Shaun+King+event+lacking

Members of the Marquette and Milwaukee communities came together to hear civil rights activist Shaun King speak on campus last week. King played a vital role in the Black Lives Matter movement and currently serves as the senior justice writer for the New York Daily News.

King spoke about many different issues, including police brutality, mass incarceration and how we can create real change in our systems and communities.

At one point, King asked all the students in the crowd to raise their hands. From what I could tell, it would be generous to say even a fourth of the audience was students. I was surprised that more students, regardless of personal and political opinions, wouldn’t take advantage of an opportunity to hear someone so involved in our nation’s current events.

Perhaps we allow violence and injustice to overwhelm us and make us feel as if we can’t make a difference, but refusing to remain passive is often easier than we may think. As King noted, frustration can be a major source of inspiration and signal a growing passion within us.

Utilizing our voices can take many different forms. As Marquette students, we’re lucky to have opportunities like service, community discussions and speakers such as King to show activism and solidarity. King’s speech was a conscious reminder to engage in opportunities that help us see beyond our comfortable Marquette bubble.

Introducing King, local civil rights activist and writer Reggie Jackson expressed these exact sentiments. He reiterated the current injustices in our city and urged the audience to stay informed to be an active voice for change in Milwaukee. The first step in creating change in society is promoting change in our local community.

We live and learn in a city that has experienced many of the issues that plague people all across our nation. The worst thing that we can do as students is be indifferent about the issues. For these four years of college, we are given the chance to see and hear people like these two very influential activists and participate in discussion with them and our peers. We need to seize these opportunities now while we have the chance.

King was quick to dispel the common misconception that humanity, like technology, has experienced a bar graph-like positive growth throughout time. Instead, he argued that human development is not a steady progression, but a series of peaks and valleys.

He used examples like the Holocaust and the transatlantic slave trade to show how throughout history, humanity can experience setbacks and declines, even as our world keeps improving as a whole.

This was a humbling but important realization to understand. After all, awareness is the first critical step in recognizing we as a society are stuck in a valley. Only then can we organize in hopes of rising out of it.

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    Carl DavisFeb 25, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    He’s an extremely narcissistic and confused white guy who’s falling further and further into lunacy with each passing day. Way better things to do on a campus than listen to a mentally ill (objectively, not an insult) hustler.

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    Chris_1791Feb 22, 2017 at 10:42 am

    Shaun King wants to be refeted to as TALCUM X. Since he is White pretending to be Black for personal financial gains.

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    Tyler James ColbyFeb 21, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    I find King’s writing to be severely lacking and unimaginative, esp as a “senior” writer. It’s just not very good when compared to other contemporary writers.
    I also personally find his race hustling and identity politic grievance-ing off-putting, so I for one am satisfied to hear that students just weren’t very interested in hearing him speak and pander to the lowest common denominator of student activists, esp because I live in Milwaukee.
    P.S. Go Google Shawn King’s pictures as a child – he has reddish hair and pale white skin. I mention this because he ididentifies as African American. (No, really. I’m serious. Look it up. And then look at that picture of a clearly Caucasian child.)

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