Shaun King

Jeffery Shaun King (born September 17, 1979) is an American writer and activist. King uses social media to promote social justice causes, including the Black Lives Matter movement. King was raised in Kentucky and received his undergraduate degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. After briefly teaching high school civics, he became a pastor. King founded a church in Atlanta in 2008 called Courageous Church, which he led for four years. During this time, King launched a number of internet campaigns, including HopeMob.org. He later received a master's degree from Arizona State University. As a writer, King has previously been a regular contributor to Daily Kos, the New York Daily News, and The Young Turks. In 2018, King co-founded the Real Justice PAC, and launched The North Star website. In 2020, King founded the non-profit group Grassroots Law Project. King has repeatedly faced accusations of fiscal mismanagement and of raising money from donors which does not reach its intended recipients. In addition, the Grassroots Law Project has been questioned for the high compensation paid to King and his associates, and its lack of progress on its main initiative. Early life and education Jeffery Shaun King was born in Franklin, Kentucky and raised in Versailles, Kentucky. Although his birth certificate names Jeffery Wayne King, a white man, as his father, King stated in 2015 that his mother told him his actual biological father is a light-skinned black man. By second grade, King's mother, Naomi Kay (Fleming) King, was raising King and his brother as a single parent. King attended Huntertown Elementary School and Woodford County High School.