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*Earlier this month, Shaun King attempted to squash talk that he’s a scammer and a fraud by releasing a 72-page report that contained a break down of his finances since he began fundraising for social justice issues.
But civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson ain’t buying it.
In a lengthy blog post published to Medium Thursday, Mckesson points out that the report was “not independent” as King claimed, but was actually written by his friends and associates.
McKesson is calling for King to step away from both organizing and fundraising for victims of police brutality and social injustice.
“I wrote about Shaun King in an effort to bring clarity to a set of issues that continue to be a topic of conversation re: fundraising, organizing, & activism. I rarely engage in these discussions publicly, but felt compelled given the observed pattern.” Mckesson explained in a tweet.
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Since the #BlackLivesMatter Movement began, I’ve helped raise over $34.5 million for families, charities, causes, & campaigns.
A 7 person expert review board inspected every penny – including the past 5 years of my tax returns.
Their 72 page report…https://t.co/cmxkK8AKRE
— Shaun King (@shaunking) September 3, 2019
The post also recounts King’s alleged long history of problematic leadership and bullying.
“It is my hope that Shaun refrains from attempts at organizing and fundraising,” Mckesson wrote.
Both DeRay and Shaun worked together until they had a public falling out, with King ultimately blocking McKesson on Twitter.
Here’s an excerpt from DeRay’s piece(via Love B. Scott):
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.
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