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DeRay McKesson

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The Resume

Why he might be annoying:

    He wears his trademark thermal vest during all appearances (even in the summer).
    He looks like that guy who accused his girlfriend of sleeping with the Wu-Tang Clan on Divorce Court.
    His involvement with Teach for America has been criticized as counterproductive to the cause of racial equality in the education system.
    He played a prominent role in the civil unrest of Ferguson following the shooting of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson.
    His carpet-bagging to Charleston in the aftermath of the Emmanuel Church shootings was checked by local activists who started the #GoHomeDeray Twitter campaign, basically telling him and his posse to hit the road.
    Some have questioned his status as a grassroots activist by pointing out that his residency is a posh estate owned by Open Society Institute-donors, James and Robin Wood.
    His visit to The White House was dogged by a conspiracy theory that he and BLM were part of a plan devised by Loretta Lynch to enact Martial Law in the lead-up to the 2016 election (which proved to be untrue).
    He failed to translate his burgeoning 'activist' status to a career in politics, losing the 2016 Baltimore Mayoral race with only 3% of the vote.
    He was arrested in Baton Rouge on charges of obstructing traffic while livestreaming protests of the Alton Sterling killing (Jul. 9, 2016).
    His Twitter account was hacked, resulting in his walking back an 'endorsement' of Donald Trump for President (in actuality, he endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders, later supporting Hillary Clinton after Sanders' campaign ended, despite having been extremely critical of her policies).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He has openly disagreed with the more confrontational methods of Shaun King.
    One of his first jobs after graduating was with the Harlem Children's Zone.
    He quit his job with the Minneapolis Public School system to devote time to his activism.
    He claims to have experienced discrimination within the black community for identifying as gay.
    The 'Mapping Police Violence' project he spearheaded yielded results showing nearly three police-related killings on a daily basis.
    He and fellow activist Johnetta Elzie topped Fortune's World's Greatest Leaders List, in 2014.
    He was honored with fellow activist Brittany Pickett with the Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership (2015).
    He was awarded the Howard Zinn Freedom to Write Award in recognition of his activism (2015).
    He was named in Foreign Policy Magazine's 'Leading Global Thinkers of 2015' listing.
    He offered council to Colin Kaepernick at the beginning of his National Anthem protest (despite admitting to having been initially skeptical of it).
    His arrest in Baton Rouge, which occurred on his birthday, sparked widespread outrage on Twitter, prompting his release less than 24 hours later with charges later dropped.
    There was a blatant attempt spearheaded by Mark Dice and others to blame him and BLM for the Chicago Facebook Live Torture video, when no such connection existed.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 96 Votes: 65.62% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 118 Votes: 55.93% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 114 Votes: 45.61% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 115 Votes: 53.04% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1265 Votes: 78.81% Annoying