Black activist Shaun King is coming under fire this morning, after many on Twitter are claiming that he’s trying to “profit” off the death of actor Chadwick Boseman.
Just hours after news of Chadwick’s death broke, MTO News learned that Shaun King sent out an email to his followers, “checking up” on them. In the same email, he appears to be promoting his book, and asking his followers to purchase it.
It’s not unusual for people to send email blasts to their subscribers, especially around a big news event. But some are questioning the optics of doing so, around the death of a person as revered as Chadwick Boseman.
Here is some of the criticism:
Shaun King is a writer, civil rights activist and co-founder of Real Justice PAC. King uses social media to promote social justice causes, including the Black Lives Matter movement.
Shaun is currently a writer-in-residence at Harvard Law School’s Fair Punishment Project and contributes to The Intercept and The Appeal. Previously, he contributed to the New York Daily News, Daily Kos, the Tom Joyner Morning Show and The Young Turks.
In 2018, King co-founded Real Justice PAC, which supports progressive candidates running for district attorney offices, and launched The North Star website.