On Shaun King medium article By DeRay Mckesson ... Integrity. A movement is only as strong as its integrity. Part of our collective work is to protect this integrity, even when, or especially when, doing so is uncomfortable or hard. It is in this spirit that I write, to address a lapse in integrity within the activism community so glaring that to be silent is to be complicit. We never aim to replicate the power dynamic of the system we are up against — a system that embraces a devious lack of transparency, willingly sacrifices the vulnerable to protect itself, and replaces truth with convenient lies. Yet Shaun King has done just that. Shaun has followed a uniform pattern over the years, a pattern that has compelled me to speak up, again. This is not the first time I have done so, and I am not alone. Johnetta Elzie and I were in a previous public disagreement with Shaun about issues of transparency and ethics that ended in his apology. Shaun also deleted all of his tweets and noted that he would focus on journalism and would not engage in attempted organizing or fundraising. Importantly, he made this commitment to others both publicly and privately. It is clear now that he did not keep those commitments and after a brief hiatus, re-emerged and began engaging in the same behaviors that caused the last public conflict. It is important to note that Shaun’s journalism has done some good by bringing attention to stories that may have gone under-reported or overlooked. But the person who paints your house before he steals your car has still committed theft. This is also not a demand or desire for purity, the mythical status of flawlessness that does not exist. Integrity, on the flip side, means that we model relationships rooted in trust, consistency of values, and a demonstrated willingness to grow. I tried previously to engage offline to resolve these tensions, but his behaviors did not change. There is a formula that he employs when people ask questions or highlight contradictions: issue an unconditional denial, attack the character of the person asking questions, argue that white supremacists are attacking him or his family, respond only to the least salient of all points raised, then issue a statement akin to an apology. But he does not often answer any of the questions or offer any resolution of contradictions raised, but instead, deflects. What’s more, he often bullies and intimidates those who ask questions at all, turning his ire especially at Black women, attempting to scare inquirers into silence. When asked about the repeated organizations and lack of transparency on funding, he has replied noting that “failure is not fraud,” as if to suggest that questions raised do not warrant serious responses simply because he may have been an ineffective leader. But at a point, those who attempt to lead but consistently demonstrate that they cannot effectively lead should stop. We have reached that point with Shaun. I have seen many people, against their better judgment, defend Shaun. I know because I was once one of those people. We are all apt to defend own decision-making, especially about people. But the love for our people must be greater than the love of any one person. Shaun has continued to thrive because many people cannot believe that they have been duped, used, or taken advantage of. I have also seen people know the truth and choose to be silent, defend actions they know are indefensible, or suspend all logic in order to not disrupt previous public statements. When behaviors and actions are no longer exceptions but a pattern, we have to question motivations, judgment, and intentions. His choices are so sweeping and brazen in their manipulation that they compromise others, compromise the collective work, and compromise a shared sense of integrity. With few exceptions, I have largely stayed out of public disagreements within activism and organizing, even when I have been the focus of people’s frustration. In general, I now realize that many have mistaken my silence for surrender or support. My reticence stemmed from the advice from elders that told me that disagreeing in public would distract the collective space from the work at hand and only empower those against whom we fight, notably white supremacists. But I also now realize that shying away from public conflict does not end the conflict — it often just replaces public disagreement with private contempt, empowers and expands space for perpetrators to continue to do harm, and distracts considerable energy from important work that may be underway. I believe that our public discussions and disagreements, especially when rooted in a larger commitment to the work at hand, are things we can all learn and grow from and that we should make few, if any, decisions based on the reactions of those who will never likely be on our side. It is my hope that Shaun refrains from attempts at organizing and fundraising furthermore, that he will keep the commitment he made in 2015. [Understanding The Patterns] The goal is to provide an analysis of the demonstrated patterns that Shaun has used over the years to garner trust, build a following, and attempts to organize. Fundraising Justice Together (2014/2015) Shaun invited me to be a board member of Justice Together, one of the first organizations he began after the initial 2014 protests, focused on ending police violence. I accepted, while noting that we needed to have a conversation about fundraising and finances because Johnetta Elzie, my friend and colleague, and I were mindful about anything we attach our names to that included fundraising. Shaun led the organization, its chapters, and had primary communication with its members.  There were no regularly scheduled updates and the board did not interface consistently with organization volunteers or finances. Shortly after the launch phase, I began to get emails from volunteers/members, who expressed a range of concerns about Shaun’s leadership: being silenced within the organization slack group(s) or removed wholesale when they disagreed or challenged him, slow or no communication regarding plans, and being asked only to amplify his specific ideas and no others. I forwarded the specific concerns to him so that he could address them. He told me he’d addressed the concerns and largely dismissed them as little more than the opinions of disgruntled volunteers or trolls who had infiltrated the groups. Findings: Then, two former classmates of mine reached out to me separately, that I did not know were in chapters of Justice Together. They relayed similar concerns and also asked me where was the money going that had been raised. When I asked Shaun, he again dismissed the concerns as those coming from trolls. I told him that I would be stepping down from the board. Concerned members of Justice Together began e-mailing board members directly which created a board-wide e-mail thread where it became apparent that no board member knew about the financials of the organization. On July 24, 2015, Shaun sent out an email that said that Justice Together had raised “a little over $11,000” in two hours. A few months later, on November 9, 2015, in the midst of questions about the funds, he e-mailed volunteers saying that Justice Together only raised “a little more than $9,000” online; a $10,000 donation from a board member; and a grant for a podcast for $17,500 In a post on November 20, 2015, he says that he returned 100% of the donations raised, a total of $9,723. But what about the $10,000 donation and the $17,500 grant? These amounts suddenly stop appearing in all records. When asked to provide the organization’s IRS Employee ID Number in July 2015, he simply did not reply. He did, however, supply it in November 2015: 47–3708562. To date, it is not clear that Shaun filed the appropriate taxes for Justice Together, as there is no 990 form available for public review from the IRS website. These were not isolated experiences. The majority of the State Directors of Justice Together wrote an Open Letter explaining their thoughts on the end of the organization and it can be read here. After questions began to surface, Shaun sent an email officially disbanding Justice Together with no notice to the board members. He then removed all names of board members from the site. The Board learned of these actions as everyone else did — publicly. Former members of Justice, That’s All wrote an Open Letter detailing their experiences.  You can read it in full, here. August 30, 2019 Accounting Report Shaun noted that he would make a public accounting on March 1, 2019. He, however, waited to release any statement re: finances until August 30, 2019. This statement raised more questions than answers. Read the rest of the article here: https://medium.com/@deray/on-shaun-king-351bd812318c