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Bully and the Pulpit

DeRay Mckesson
DeRay Mckesson (b. 1985) is an American social activist who
Changing the World
became a strong supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement
through protests against police brutality in Ferguson, Missouri
and Baltimore, Maryland. He is the host of the podcast Pod Save Paras Griffin/Getty Images
the People, and the author of On the Other Side of Freedom: The
Case for Hope (2018), from which this excerpt is taken.
KEY CONTEXT In this piece, Mckesson refers to a literal bully who traumatized him as a child, as
well the metaphorical bully of white supremacy. Mckesson describes white supremacy’s bullying
influence throughout American history, during slavery and the legal oppression of the Jim Crow Era
(late 1800s through mid 1900s), as well as its modern manifestations. Keep both the literal and the
metaphorical representations in mind as you read Mckesson’s discussions of bullying.

The less you think about your oppression, the year since then, especially after teaching sixth
more your tolerance for it grows. —Assata Shakur grade and seeing the way children are taught
about power — about who has it and who doesn’t;
hen I was nine years old, my babysitter how to wield it and how to share it; and how one
Wput water on a grease fire and our house gains or loses it. And most important, what it is.
burned to the ground. My father, sister, and I’ve thought a lot more about the role of the
I moved to Grandma’s house then, to a bully too — about how he moves, adapts, and
different part of town — leaving our small but survives over time; about his source of
separate bedrooms to now share a bed in her legitimacy; about the impact of his power. Of late,
living room — about fifteen minutes away. And I’ve thought about the bully in the context of our
my sister and I started going to a new school. present world versus the world that we aim to
The thing that I remember most vividly from create for the future, and considering him has
that year is the walk home from school. transformed the way I think about both.
I remember the sweaty palms, the dry mouth,
the bravado, the focus, the running. THE CURRENCY OF the bully is fear. It is 5
I remember Uncle Barry sometimes meeting what he trades in and what he feeds on — fear
us at the top of the hill. and confusion. He is violent in the obvious ways
And I remember the fear. that we see and feel, in the physical assaults, but
There was a bully on our block on the walk also in the quieter ways, the belittling and the
home, always present even when I couldn’t see taunts, the mental assaults. His goals are
him. And every day, the ten minutes between the straightforward: to harm you and then convince
school parking lot and my grand mother’s yard you that no damage was done or that you
were full of anxiety. I’ve thought a lot about that deserved it. He aims to strip you of your power,

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Copyright © Bedford/St. Martin’s. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter.
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