Chicago Ideas speaker DeRay Mckesson made an impactful and winning appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Monday night, when the two discussed race, police violence and privilege. 

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The Black Lives Matter activist, with a mission of ending police violence, was named one of Fortune’s “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” in 2015.  He sat down with Colbert to talk about systemic issues of race and the, “comprehensive platform to end police violence” called Campaign Zero as well as the incremental progress in America’s current political landscape towards addressing these issues.

Mckesson also spoke on the discomfort around talking about race, the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and how people in positions of privilege might extend their access.  Taking the latter topic to heart, Colbert asked Mckesson to switch places and encouraged him to interview him on his own whiteness. 

Race was a central topic at the 2015 Chicago Ideas Week as well. Last October, Mckesson joined one of the most tense and illuminating Talks, Race in America, where the panelists shared uneasy yet timely thoughts on race, privilege and the role of language. 

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