#BlackLivesMatter leader to teach Yale Divinity School course

Deray McKesson, one of the most vocal leaders of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, will be teaching a one credit course at Yale Divinity School this fall as a guest lecturer.

McKesson, whom the university describes as a “civil rights activist and social media leader” will teach a course titled “Transformational Leadership in the #BlackLivesMatter Movement,” as part of Yale Divinity School’s “ Transformational Leadership for Church and Society” program.

“A young leader of the Black Lives Matter Movement,” a syllabus for the course reads, “DeRay McKesson will present case studies about the work of organizing, public advocacy, civil disobedience, and social change, through both Leadership of Presence, and Leadership in the Social Media.”

Reading material for the course will consist of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book Between the World and Me, a Huffington Post article titled “How The Black Lives Matter Movement Changed the Church,” author Derrick Bell’s book Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfilled Hopes for Racial Reform, Leah Gunning Francis’ book Ferguson & Faith: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community, and a New York Times article titled “Our Demand Is Simple: Stop Killing Us.”

McKesson last worked in Human Resources for the Minneapolis public school system before becoming a self-described civil rights activist with the Black Lives Matter movement.

His LinkedIn profile still lists his current position as “Senior Director, Human Capital at Minneapolis Public Schools,” in the field of “Education Management.”

According to McKesson’s LinkedIn profile, his only previous teaching experience took place from May 2007 to June 2009, during which time he worked as a middle school math teacher.

The Transformational Leadership for Church and Society program, which is organized by Assistant YDS Dean William Goettler, consists of three different one-credit courses, each of which will be taught by a different guest lecturer.

Each of the three twelve-hour courses will take place over an intensive two-day class period, rather than spanning the course of the semester.

U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and the Rev. Nancy Taylor will teach the other two one credit courses in the Transformational Leadership for Church and Society program, which is funded through a $120,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

McKesson is the only guest lecturer who is not an alumnus of Yale Divinity School.

Neither Goettler nor McKesson responded to Campus Reform’s requests for comment.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @peterjhasson