To see more photos from the event, click here.
Victoria Andler ’18
On March 27, Siena College’s Real Talk lecture series brought activist and journalist, Shaun King to speak to students, faculty, and community members. King has made a name for himself as a writer for the New York Daily News, a featured guest on CNN, and a political commentator for The Young Turks. He is also very active on social media where he promotes his social, political, and cultural causes.
King’s lecture explored time and how humans have changed throughout history- for better or worse. He centered himself around the common notion that human beings get better and better over time. However, citing German historian, Leopold von Ranke, King disagreed with this notion. He argued that, “people often confused humanity getting better with technology getting better.”
Using images of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide, King framed a few major horrific historical events on a timeline of humanity. This illustration highlighted that, in the grand scheme of things, these atrocities are not as far back in time as they may seem when reading about them in a history textbook. This posed a larger question, if these events are fairly close to the present day, can we say we are getting better and better as humans?
King continued on to connect today with some images that have been showcased in the media in the past few years. “We do not live now in the era of awesome,” said King, while showing videos of racial violence, abuse and hatred.
During the Q&A session, when asked how does one fight for injustice during the time that we are in today, Shaun King said to “stay consistent” on calling out injustices in our society regardless of who is in power. He explained that even when he supports an elected official, he does not shy away from criticizing things that they decide to pursue that he does not agree with.
Social Work major Sam Urbino ‘18 commented, “I was most inspired when King mentioned it’s alright to have white privilege because everybody has some kind of privilege and it’s what we do with our privilege to make a difference in the world is what matters.”
This event was sponsored by the Damietta Cross-Cultural Center, Student Activities and Leadership Development, Student Events Board, Student Senate, Black & Latino Student Union, Diversity Action Committee, Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Women, Student Life, international studies minor, Philosophy Department and the Sociology Department.
