Shaun King

Street Gang or Group of Black People - According to the RICO Act, Courts See Little Difference
Black American Rappers Young Thug & Gunna face an absurd number of charges over the claims that their established record label is actually a hybrid gang.

Young Thug performs onstage at SXSW Conference and Festivals 2022 (Photo by Amy E. Price/Getty Images for SXSW)
“We looking like some loitering street youths” my group of Black and brown friends wold nervously joke whenever we found ourselves crowded at a corner after school, trying to decide where to hang out.

All of us were Black and brown kids from Brooklyn and the Bronx, attending a specialized performing arts school in the very white midtown Manhattan. Anytime we left school grounds, we were hyper aware of our bodies - their height and width, of our skin, it’s shade of brown.

If there were more than three of us together, you could feel the awareness of the white people in the vicinity heighten. Police radars began to peak. Once we congregated, we just had to be smoking, drinking, stealing, jumping, or hurting somebody.We knew we weren’t dangerous, that the only real danger in this entire exchange was their fear of us, because white fear ends Black life every single day.

And the only thing that scares white people more than Black people, is a group of Black people.

The RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organization) of 1970 was one of many racist laws passed to alleviate this white fear, by discouraging Black people to hang out in groups.


Rapper T.I. via Instagram
Essentially, the law enhances certain criminal charges if they are thought to be done in association with an “organization”.

For instance, if I steal a candy bar, courts could sentence me to a year in prison (an incomprehensible punishment, but far from unheard of). But if I steal that candy bar and they suspect I’m in a gang, I could now get over 20 years in prison. Unsuprisingly, RICO laws are applied almost exclusively to cases of Black and brown men - something highlighted in recent years as ludacrous charges are levied against Black American rappers.

“I can hear echos from feds on this beat from informants

I think they recording…

We might just get hit with the RICO”

- MEEK MILL, R.I.C.O.

Rapper Meek Mill has lost millions of dollars to and faces continous harassment from law enforcement, following his arrest at just 19-years-old on possession charges. He spent the next 12 years on probation, struggling the entirey of his 20’s to not be brought down by the powerful forces of this countries structurally racist criminal justice system.

Mill’s experiences have made him an advocate for Black men abused by the system, coming to the aid of popular rappers Gunna (Sergio Kitchens) and Young Thug (Jeffery Williams) who now face RICO charges.

The prosecution claims that Williams’ music label “YSL” (Young Slime Life, OR Young Stoner Life), established in 2016, is actually a front for a “…hybrid gang here in Atlanta and it’s an affiliate of the Bloods gang” according to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Williams has been denied bond and remains in prison today, awaiting further action at the mercy of our slow, overcrowded criminal justice system.

“I was already sentenced before I came up out the womb

Streets done already sentenced me, before them crackers could”

- KODAK BLACK, DAY FOR DAY.

This case highlights the chief complaint RICO - the key term “organization” remains subjective, meaning it is left to the prosecutor's discretion whether or not a group of people are friends, or in Williams’ case an established record label, or a gang.

Of course, it is rarely assumed that a group of white teenagers, even if they have all committed a crime together, did so in association with an organized gang. If anything, they were just kids being kids. Whereas my friends and I, who spent the majority of our time in musical rehearsals and tap dance classes, were routinely treated with the hostility of potential criminals.

From the moment we were brought to this country as enslaved Africans, white people have tried to prevent us from congregating. It was literally illegal for Black people to meet in groups under the Black Codes of the 19th century, which were changed during the Jim Crow era to appear more progressive, then again in the late 1960’s when the government discovered they could still police marginalized people if they called their hanging out “loitering”.

White people fear what we say in rooms where they are not - the fear that centuries of committing some of the most egregious crimes in human history will finally catch up with them.

Kendi is currently a student at New York University and is the author of multiple award-winning poems, short stories, stage, and screenplays.

1 year ago, right outside of Philadelphia, in a town called Sharon Hill, local police shot and killed an 8 year old girl named Fanta Bility, and tried to claim it was in a shootout.

But there was no shootout. And police have offered no credible explanation on why they unloaded their guns into the car of Fanta's family - killing Fanta, shooting her sister, and injuring other innocent bystanders.

Now, police are saying that since it can't be proven which of their bullets killed Fanta, that none of them should be convicted. So we MUST take action to stand up for this family.

ACTION STEP: CLICK HERE to automatically email everybody involved in this case THEN call 610-854-9464 and I will be on the line talking you through everything step by step. WE NEED ALL HANDS ON DECK!

(This from an email)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Shaun King is one of the most followed and shared activists and journalists in the world. In addition to being the Founder and Editor in Chief of The North Star, he also leads the Grassroots Law Project and the Real Justice PAC and recently became the Contributing Editor for Newsweek. A historian by training, Shaun King is the New York Times bestselling author of Make Change: How to Fight Injustice, Dismantle Systemic Oppression, and Own Our Future. Shaun’s daily news podcast, The Breakdown with Shaun King, has been heard and shared hundreds of millions of times in almost every country in the world and is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere podcasts are heard. Shaun has been with his brilliant wife, Rai, for nearly 25 years, and they are raising their 5 kids in Brooklyn, New York.


Shaun King

Shaun King

I honestly think that I am one of the single most misunderstood men in the world.
Everything about me, from my literal birth, to my childhood, to my college years, to my intentions, to my impact, to my work, to my family - they are all shrouded with viral misinformation and lies that were created to discredit me.
While millions of you are still here, still in my corner, still fighting for justice and change alongside me, millions more bailed because of the lies.
And that's why I decided that my next book, Lemons and Stones, will be a memoir... so that I can tell you my own story. My way. Without interruption or misinformation.
As of a few minutes ago, over 3,000 of you have already pre-ordered your copy @ https://LemonsAndStones.com. That's the only place we are making it available.
Our goal is to get to 10,000 pre-orders, then 25,000, and our dream is to eventually cross 100,000 pre-orders but we CANNOT get there without YOU!
Please join us now @ https://LemonsAndStones. com ok?
After I wrote a New York Times Bestseller with MAKE CHANGE:
I opted out of my book contract with my publisher.
I oped out of the contract with my literary agent.
And my talent agency.
And every other writing contract I have.
And decided that for this next book, I needed to be fully independent so that I can share my story the way it needs to be told.
Here's what's wild: If you ask ANYBODY who actually knows me, they will tell you that I am warm, soft-spoken, loyal, hardworking, thoughtful, introspective, principled, and courageous. Each of those words came directly from reviews I've received from colleagues across the years.
I married my high school sweetheart and have been a faithful partner and husband to her for 25 years.
I am a loving father to five wonderful kids that are in elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. I pick them up from school 5 days a week and they are the pride of my life.
I lead multiple successful organizations and businesses that have employed over 100 people and impacted the world in countless ways.
My reputation does not match my reality. It's not even close.
And that's why I am asking you to please pre-order Lemons and Stones today @ https://LemonsAndStones.com.
100% of the proceeds go back to The North Star and The North Star Publishing so that we can tell new stories that simply aren't being told anywhere else!
I love and appreciate each of you!

Inflation is Obvious, Segregation is Subtle: A Black Girl’s Way Home - By Ava Emilione
Despite the “We believe black lives matter” signs peppered across trimmed lawns, Montclair, New Jersey has two zip codes, 07043 and 07042. One rich, one poor. One Black, one white.

The North Star

School buses didn’t run to my apartment.

On hot spring days after school in Montclair, New Jersey, waiting for the public bus with my friends, my backpack weighed heavy on my aching shoulders. If the public bus’ unreliable schedule failed us, we walked thirty minutes home.

Across the street, wealthy students loaded into yellow buses and air-conditioned SUVs that glinted harshly against the midday sunlight. I felt that afternoon’s lunch curdle in the pit of my stomach — a sticky, familiar feeling. I watched white students speed past us, rolling the windows down, and playing rap music. I wondered if they’d sing the n-word once they got on their quiet street.

I swallowed the feelings I did not yet have words for.

My friend and I gossiped but fell quiet after thirty minutes.

The school entrance emptied.

On the walk home, we passed an Urban Outfitters, an organic dog food shop, and a LuluLemon. Three hundred feet down, we passed a Popeyes and a vacant parking lot before reaching home. One of the few black girls in advanced classes in my grade, I realized my white classmates. with their quick commutes, had an extra hour to study for the next day’s AP Literature exam than I did.

Now, as an NYU senior, the MTA is more reliable than my hometown bus, but the economy I’m preparing to graduate in is uncertain.

The ongoing pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and the war in Ukraine have created an inflationary environment, laying bare social divides despite the recent Inflation Reduction Act.

“Even before the pandemic and economic collapse — which are disproportionately hurting the black community — the national black poverty rate of 22% was more than double the white poverty rate of 9%”. NPR reminds us.

Yet again, black people must bear America’s freshest bruise.

Inflation is defined as a sustained, broad increase in prices and is marked by the falling value of money. Higher prices of basic necessities may not be felt much by high-income folks, as they hold savings and assets to weather economic storms. However, the wages of lower-income Americans haven’t increased with inflation. They have little to no stockpiles to fall back on, and lower-income workers are often the first to be unemployed if stagflation — a vicious mixture of inflation and high unemployment — gets out of hand.

As the value of a dollar plummets, the struggles of the lower class rise.

I worry about how inflation will affect my town. Home to Stephen Colbert and other VIPs, Montclair is a self-proclaimed liberal, charming mountain city. With over forty thousand people, 62% of residents are white, 25% are black and 10% are Latine. The town’s median salary is north of six figures.


Wage Distribution, NJ vs. US
Despite the “We believe black lives matter” signs peppered across trimmed lawns, Montclair has two zip codes, 07043 and 07042.

While 07043, or “Upper Montclair'' hosts mansions with wrap-around porches and tree-lined streets, 07042, or the “South End” contains a rapidly gentrified downtown scene, black and Latine-owned establishments. Montclair’s lower-to-middle working class is made up of people like my mom and grandma — hard-working business owners and entrepreneurs. The South End is also a food desert — the closest grocery store is Whole Foods over a mile away. There have been multiple shootings on my block while fifteen minutes away, Upper Montclarions shut off their porch lights and added a flippant “BLM” to their Instagram bio.

The chasm between the lived experiences of Montclarions is long-standing.

Last year, I directed a short documentary on inequality in my hometown for a film class. I interviewed a black mom down the street about being evicted from her long-time home on false claims of not paying her rent, despite a lack of basic building maintenance. Residents in the South End often rent apartments and homes, placing them at the mercy of exploitative landlords in a commuter town with rising rents.

“The person who owned the building had me and my daughter living there without no heat, no hot water,” she recounts.

Afterward, the local police, who guided a diverse crowd of Montclarions through a black lives matter protest in summer 2020, raided her home and accused her of dealing drugs. With an eviction notice on her record, she experienced housing insecurity as punishment for “something that [she] didn’t do.”

When I asked her to describe Montclair in three words, she chose “racist, uneasy, and uncomfortable.” When my mom and I drove ten minutes away to ask a white mom the same question, she chose “diverse, inclusive, and challenging.” These challenges will only worsen for black, brown, and lower-income residents as the U.S. economy flirts with a recession.

This story is not a wail of misery, but a cry for conservation. I love my side of town. For black people, my end of the avenue is a page ripped out of Dante’s Paradiso — a hair braiding shop, a Dominican doobie parlor, a barber, a fried fish restaurant, and a family-owned Jamaican joint all in 500 feet. We boast of minority-owned businesses, a well-maintained park with a bustling basketball court, and an entrepreneurial community of color threatened by higher prices, insufficient public services, and gentrification.

A new apartment building has replaced the black church next to my building. Thirty-something white dog moms in enviable leggings have replaced black grandmas in their Sunday best.

While most Americans will notice homes and fuel are more expensive, few will recognize what this means for black and brown kids on the other side of town trying to get home. Inflation on this level makes big news, but the segregation it fuels is subtle and sharp, digging into the lived experiences of those who must bear the brunt of marginalization. Tragically, oppression lies in the mundane.

Racial and socioeconomic conditions cannot be fundamentally improved until policymakers and citizens alike understand how macroeconomic turmoil manifests on a black girl’s way home.


Ava Emilione is a senior and AnBryce Scholar at NYU studying Film/TV and Economics. A former Staff Writer for Washington Square News, Ava is also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Ebony Tomatoes Collective, a multi-media publication for black women and non-binary folks. With a passion for social justice and finance, Ava considers herself to be a witness in eternal search of how to set down and share all they have seen and felt. Ava is passionate about the power of storytelling to empower underserved communities. In their free time, she loves to explore the outdoors and visit cafes in NYC.

Shaun King
@shaunking
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1h
Even today, as Israel has finally admitted to murdering American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, their explanation makes ZERO sense.

It wasn't an accident or an errant shot. It hit her directly in the head from 400 yards away.

Then the men that tried to save her were shot at.

The main reason for the lies and vilification of SK.

I loathe what Russia is doing to Ukraine. It's wrong. It's criminal. They've forced millions of people to become refugees while killing thousands of people and leveling entire cities. Countries should be supporting Ukraine. That's not the rub.

The rub is that Ukraine has now received $15.2 billion (not the $8 billion people keep quoting) while it would cost just $1 billion to completely solve the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi. It would cost $1.5 billion to do the same in Flint, Michigan.

And it continues to seem, in the words of Tupac, that this place has money for war, but won't feed the poor.

It's despicable and dangerous that ANY American city would be without clean water. People in Jackson are literally being told to shower with their mouths closed. What are we doing here? How could that be?

Yes, every single statewide official in Mississippi is a Republican, but this is more than a partisan fight. The US government needs to own problems like this and just pay what's needed to permanently fix them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Shaun King is one of the most followed and shared activists and journalists in the world. In addition to being the Founder and Editor in Chief of The North Star, he also leads the Grassroots Law Project and the Real Justice PAC and recently became the Contributing Editor for Newsweek. A historian by training, Shaun King is the New York Times bestselling author of Make Change: How to Fight Injustice, Dismantle Systemic Oppression, and Own Our Future. Shaun’s daily news podcast, The Breakdown with Shaun King, has been heard and shared hundreds of millions of times in almost every country in the world and is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere podcasts are heard. Shaun has been with his brilliant wife, Rai, for nearly 25 years, and they are raising their 5 kids in Brooklyn, New York.

The Breakdown with Shaun King
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Racist and conservative white people all over the world are LOSING THEIR MINDS over the new Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones television shows. And in doing so, they've really told on themselves.
They keep saying that these new shows are "too woke," but what's wild is that the shows aren't really woke at all. They are the same shows they've always been, but simply with new Black characters. And what's wild is that these new Black characters, in these mystical, fictional lands, aren't even the lead roles.
White folk are going CRAZY that Black folk even have bit roles in fantasy lands that they clearly preferred to be "whites only."
But it's all actually VERY revealing and insightful. Over and over again, they keep saying these shows are super woke - when it's obvious they simply mean the shows are now a little Black.
Now, when you hear white leaders talk about how much they hate wokeness, just know, they mean Blackness.

Nearly 2 years ago my team at the Grassroots Law Project took on the case of Marvin Guy - who was wrongly arrested for shooting and killing a police officer over 8 years ago in a horrible no-knock raid.
Wanting to see blood, they charged Marvin with murder and have been pursuing the death penalty. And for the past 8+ years, Marvin has been sitting in a local jail cell in rural Texas without ever being convicted of a crime. It's outrageous.
Well, yesterday, prosecutors finally decided what we knew all along - that they never should've pursued a case to execute Marvin - and they dropped that pursuit altogether.
This means we will still likely go to trial, but it also means they know they have a weak case.
THANK ALL OF YOU who've supported Marvin all these years.
You can still join us now @ FreeMarvinGuy.com

Shaun King
18h
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🚨 BREAKING: Philadelphia DA @LarryKrasner just got the FIRST COP EVER convicted for a murder in the entire history of the city. THIS IS WHY THEY HATE LARRY and hate me and our work.

Can you actually name a single victim of police brutality from 2022?
Mainstream media has moved on, but police brutality rages forward, as bad as it has ever been.

Shaun Kiing

Do you see that image above?

That’s 15 year old Savannah Graziano. She was unarmed earlier this week when she was shot and killed by police as it appeared she was running toward them to be rescued from a violent kidnapping in San Bernardino County, California. At first, police claimed she was shot and killed in a shootout, but they have since admitted that the only gun found on the scene of the shooting was a rifle that was in the trunk of the car. In other words, police murdered an unarmed child in cold blood that was running toward them for help. But police are so terrified of their own shadow that instead of rescuing her, they killed her instead.

That was THIS WEEK. I can literally tell you a thousand more stories just like this from 2022, but you would hard pressed to see them trending on social media or getting serious coverage on the news. The nation, by in large, has moved on from the crisis of police violence. It’s no longer en vogue. But believe me, the crisis is as bad, if not worse, as it has ever been. As we stand, 2022 is on pace to be the deadliest year ever measured for police violence - topping the new record set just last year.

But when I ask most people, including friends, family, and even people I’d expect to be able to name a single victim of police violence from 2022, 100% of the people I’ve asked can’t name a single soul. I’m not disappointed in them, of course, but why it’s happening this way is something I need us to address.

Kanye West, Candace Owens, & the Paradox of African-American Celebrities
Famed rapper Kanye West has a scattered history of Black activism, countered more recently with deeply conservative rhetoric. This drastic switch can be seen as a "double consciousness" of sorts.

Kendi King

Kanye West & Candace Owens
By now, you’ve likely seen the image of Kanye West standing alongside famed conservative Candace Owens, adorned in “White Lives Matter” shirts of Kanye’s creation.

Over the past few months, the world-famous rapper and fashion designer has ramped up his social media presence with a series of posts attacking close friends, business partners, ex-wife Kim Kardashian, and whomever or whatever else he wants.


Recent Instagram story post from Kanye West
Long-time fans of Kanye have seen a sharp change in his political ideology similar to that of Candace Owens, whose initial journalistic endeavors were extremely critical of Trump and the Republican Party. In 2015, her marketing agency Degree180 included a blog Owen’s ran that frequently voiced anti-conservative views. But by 2017, a mere two years later, she was a full-fledged conservative, stating -

“I became a conservative overnight ... I realized that liberals were actually the racists. Liberals were actually the trolls”

Previously, Kanye was an advocate for the Black community, both in his music and in everyday life. Who can forget the viral news clips of his criticizing George Bush’s lack of response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, ending with the infamous line “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people”

But during the 2016 election of Donald Trump, the first inklings of Kanye’s switch-up became apparent when images of him wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, Donald Trump’s slogan, started to surface. He then began making campaign appearances with Trump, often serving as the token Black person in nearly all-white crowds.


The truth is - in America, to be a celebrity of Kanye West’s magnitude requires the support of white people. As Kanye grew in recognition, and net worth, his willingness to say anything that would push away his growing white audience dwindled.

Conservatives embraced him.

Such is the paradox of the African American celebrity; one finds themselves betraying their core identity, or reducing the role their identity plays in their life and work, in order to gain a high ranking celebirty status.

This sentiment is one famed visual artist Jean-Michel Basquiat often wrestled with in his work, fascinated with the idea of “double consciousness”. A concept put forward by intellectual scholar W.E.B DuBois in “The Souls of Black Folk”, DuBois defines double consciousness as,

“The struggle African Americans face to remain true to black culture while at the same time conforming to the dominant white society”

Much like Candace Owens, Kanye found wealth and recognition in catering to white audiences - ensuring his name stayed in the headlines everytime he betrayed his OG Black fans with harmful conservative rhetoric.

I would be remissed to not mention that Kanye West has been extremely vocal about his mental health struggles, having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder some years ago and put on medications to treat the symptoms, though he has spoken out against using the medication due to negative reactions. Many of his sporadic social media posts seem to directly stem from periods of experiencing mania (mental illness marked by periods of great excitement or euphoria, delusions, and overactivity), a major symptom of bipolar disorder.

All of that to say, there are multiple factors at play when it comes to Kanye’s decision to lean heavily into this conservative identity he’s adorned.

Kendi is currently a student at New York University and is the author of multiple award-winning poems, short stories, stage, and screenplays.

The Breakdown with Shaun King
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When an argument is completely based on a lie or a false premise - nothing else you say in defense of it matters. I needed to preface what I am about to say with that.
Of the hundreds of millions of people that demanded justice and accountability for the brutal murder/lynching of George Floyd, I don't think a single person fought for him because he was our hero. I never heard anyone say this. I never heard about anyone saying this.
We fought for George Floyd because he was a human being that was killed, in broad daylight, in one of the single most depraved and inhumane acts in modern American history. We fought for George because he was a victim and because he did not deserve a single thing that happened to him.
I did not care then and do not care now if George Floyd struggled with drugs or alcohol. In fact, it breaks my heart for him even more - because it means he was denied the chance to overcome his struggles in his own time - which I am sure he would have.
Nothing anyone can ever say about George Floyd will EVER make me feel like his life wasn't worth fighting for. NOTHING.
All Black Lives Matter to us.
And I can think of nothing more despicable than trying to tear down the humanity and memory of a man that already died such a horrible death.

Facebook! I’m pausing my book campaign for 48 hours for us to help this young brother, OK? 100% of what you give goes straight to his family. ⁣
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You all remember Trevon? He was assaulted last week by that mangy old white man in Milwaukee for no reason at all. Trevon would never hurt or harm a soul. ⁣
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Well, my dear brother Trae Tha Truth is with him right now and we told Trevon’s mother we’d raise some funds to support her, support Trevon, and give them some real financial relief.⁣
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➡️ Click here: https://gofund. me/772eecd3 to chip in and support this sweet young brother, OK?⁣
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Love you all! Let’s blow past this goal. ⁣
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Shaun

Growing up, it seemed to me that the Freedom Riders of the 1960s were some of the bravest people in history.

I couldn’t imagine boarding a greyhound bus, which by itself can already be a hazardous journey, heading into the heart of the deep south well aware that mobs of angry white people are waiting to beat and possibly kill them.

I don’t know how they sat through that whole ride.

I don’t know how they got off that bus.

While many schools omit to teach about The Freedom Rides, the ones that do tend only to champion it as a story of Black and white people working together during the Civil Rights Movement - keeping in line with the typical white-washed narrative of the movement, that “good white people” came together with MLK and all them and ended segregation and later Obama was president and racism is over. Oh yeah, and at some point in between, Rosa Parks was on a bus.

So of course, no public school curriculum is ever going to teach about what came immediately after the Freedom Rides, something I’ve only just learned about and is still going on today - The Reverse Freedom Rides.


In 1962, Southerners executed a precise retaliation against Northerners by tricking over 200 African Americans, mostly low-income, into moving up North with the promise of jobs, housing, and even a welcome from President John F. Kennedy. Many of them were single mothers.

The white men and women behind these were a combination of regional groups called Citizens’ Councils - which were essentially sanitized Ku Klux Klan groups. Clive Webb, who published the first and only major academic article on the Reverse Freedom Riders, writes,

“The Citizens' Councils attempted to cloak their racism in respectability…They held meetings in fancy downtown hotels and wore suits and ties. They could be members of the police force…bankers, businessmen and the like."

They advertised using flyers and radio commercials, targeting single Black mothers with multiple children and formerly incarcerated Black men - those they viewed as straining their city’s economies and abusing the limited social welfare, promising them a fresh start in the shining North.

In reality, these white supremacist gangs made refugees of them.


When they arrived up North, it was the NAACP and local churches that stepped up to aid them. Most arrived with little more than the clothes on their backs, usually their Sunday best as they expected to be greeted by JFK. But it was members of the Black community who took them in.

Nearly six decades later, a new form of these Reverse Freedom Rides is being weaponized today against mostly Mexican and South American migrants. It was a near identical scam, this time paid for by the state of Florida, promising vulnerable migrants secure job and housing opportunities if they took a plane relocating them up North.

Of course, upon arrival, there were no housing or work resources in place.

It was a government-funded human trafficking scheme that displaced hundreds of innocent people, all in the name of making a political statement.


The white man’s tools of oppression have not changed - only shifted shape, switched their colors. This gravely important piece of Black history has been kept from us for many reasons, one of them being to prevent us from recognizing the heinous tactics that continue to be utilized against Black and Brown bodies today.

This is the second installment of a recurring series shedding light on the Black history they don’t want us to know. Click here to read the first installment.

Kendi is currently a student at New York University and is the author of multiple award-winning poems, short stories, stage, and screenplays.

Contact: kendi@thenorthstar

The North Star with Shaun King is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Shaun King
18h
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Thank you for exonerating this man @gasconforlada. This is why elections matter and why we fought so hard to elect George Gascon as DA of Los Angeles and to protect him from the foolish recall. These exonerations are the single most important work of my life. Whenever I’m down, I reflect on how many innocent men are free because of the work we’ve done @RealJustice & @GrassrootsLaw

Shaun King
10m ·
🚨 IMPORTANT UPDATE. ⁣
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The 3 Pennsylvania police officers, Brian Devaney, Sean Dolan, and Devon Smith, that shot and killed 8 year old Fanta Bility outside of Philadelphia have agreed to plead guilty to 10 counts of reckless endangerment and face up to 20 years in prison. These men will go to prison and will never be cops again. ⁣
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I just spoke to the family and they are supportive of this decision. I have also spoken to the District Attorney on this case, Jack Stollsteimer, and the family and I are very pleased with his work. ⁣
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The family simply did not want to risk these men being found not-guilty at trial. And frankly, this has been so brutally painful for them that they were just ready to close this door. ⁣
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➡️ The family asked me to thank each of you for your support. ⁣
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➡️ I also want to thank our donors, staff, and volunteers @GrassrootsLaw for all of their work on this case. ⁣
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Here’s a statement from the family,⁣
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"After much prayer and discussion with our family, we determined that it was in our best interest for the district attorney to ensure that the police officers take responsibility for their action, admit to their reckless conduct endangering many and killing our Fanta." Abu Bility, Fanta’s uncle said Thursday. ⁣
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“We pray that as a result of police officers being held accountable we can, as a family and as a community, finally have some closure and begin the healing process.”

Shaun King is at San Quentin State Penitentiary.
29m · Mill Valley, CA ·
This is an actual photo of a “group therapy” session at San Quentin prison. ⁣
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Many of you may know that I worked in about a dozen jails and prisons full time as a traveling teacher in Georgia. I also worked as a full time counselor in a residential mental health hospital. ⁣
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Alone, I regularly entered cells and dorms of boys, girls, men, and women convicted of some of the most heinous crimes you could ever imagine. ⁣
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And I soon learned that they were all so used to being treated like animals that they were disarmed when someone looked them in their eyes, shook their hands, called them by their names, and listened to them. And valued them. ⁣
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When you treated humans like animals, you get out what you put in. ⁣
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In about 60 seconds, at 1am in the morning, I thought of 6 ways this group therapy session could happen, that was still safe for everyone, that didn’t look like this.