We Can Be Podcast - The Heinz Endowments

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 th