We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments
Society & Culture
DeRay Mckesson and his instantly recognizable blue down vest have become synonymous with advocacy for victims of police violence and an end to mass incarceration.
A civil rights activist, community organizer and former middle school teacher, DeRay came to national prominence as a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter Movement when he documented – and participated in – protests following the deaths of unarmed black men by police or in police custody in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland.
With his one million twitter followers, a best-selling book (“On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope” on Penguin Random House), and his hit podcast “Pod Save the People,” DeRay, who also is co-founder of the police reform initiative Campaign Zero, is creating space for conversation and action. He has harnessed the power of both traditional and digital media in enormously effective ways.
“Protest is speaking the truth out loud,” DeRay tells “We Can Be” host Grant Oliphant. “The inconvenience that you feel sitting in traffic while protesters march is just a slice of the pain that a mother feels because she’ll never see her loved one again.”
DeRay shares the funny moment when his younger self first realized white people could be wrong, his experience as an out gay man in the civil rights movement, what the X-Men’s Storm imprinted on him, and the easily confused – but consequential - differences between justice and accountability.
“We are fighting for a world that we have not yet seen, but that we believe is possible,” DeRay says. “And I will never be afraid to tell the truth.”
Listen today at heinz.org/podcast, or on leading podcast sites including Stitcher, Podbean, GooglePlay, iTunes and Spotify.
“We Can Be” is hosted by Heinz Endowments President Grant Oliphant, and produced by the Endowments and Treehouse Media. Theme and incidental music by Josh Slifkin. Guest image by Josh Franzos. Guest inquiries can be made to Scott Roller at sroller@heinz.org.
Breaking down the hydrogen hub hype w/ Joanne Kilgour, exec. dir. Ohio River Valley Institute (We Can Be S04EP16)
Groundbreaking Post-9/11 veterans data w/ Dr. Daniel Perkins, founder Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness @ Penn State Uni.(S04EP15)
Black Urban Gardeners’ Raqueeb Bey is growing food, minds & leaders (S04EP14)
PBS NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown: Yes, the arts are essential & here’s why (S4E13)
”Your dreams are possible” w/ Dr. Kathy Humphrey, trailblazing pres. of Carlow University (S4E12)
Grant Oliphant on gratitude, speaking truth to power & making room for everyone (We Can Be S4EP11)
Facing America‘s crisis of connection w/ Jenn Hoos Rothberg, Einhorn Collaborative Exec. Dir. (We Can Be S04EP10)
The New Climate War author Michael Mann & the fight to take back our planet (We Can Be S04EP09)
Appalachia‘s battle b/w wish & hope w/ energy industry researcher Sean O’Leary (We Can Be S04EP08)
Environmental Health News investigative reporter Kristina Marusic uncovers hard truths & arms public w/ facts (We Can Be S04EP07)
The true cost of military service w/ War Horse founder/journalist Thomas Brennan (We Can Be S04EP06)
Reinventing Social Change author Nell Edgington on embracing abundance, joy & power of “yet” (We Can Be S04EP05)
Dr. Barry Kerzin, personal physician to Dalai Lama & Altruism in Medicine Institute founder on power of compassion (We Can Be S04EP04)
Rebuilding Appalachia for a new energy economy w/ Coalfield Development CEO Brandon Dennison (We Can Be S04EP03)
How & why radical generosity works w/ GivingTuesday co-founder Asha Curran (We Can Be S04EP02)
“Diversity Explosion” author/demographer William Frey on where America is headed & why it's good for us (S04EP01)
Bridging gap between university & community: The Center for Shared Prosperity (WeCanBeSpecEp)
Designing cities for justice w/ Toni Griffin, “Patterned Justice” co-editor & Harvard’s Just City Lab lead innovator (We Can Be S03EP12)
“Reach” author & BMe co-founder Trabian Shorters on the astounding power of asset framing (We Can Be S03EP11)
"White Fragility" author Robin DiAngelo: why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism (S03EP10)
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