Hackerman Best & Next Series: Devin Allen & DeRay McKesson (Online)

FREE tickets for Zoom Webinar and Facebook Live go on sale October 27 at 9am through Eventbrite. Click here to register.

Join us as we honor Devin Allen's work, lead in conversation with DeRay Mckesson.

Devin Allen is a self-taught artist, born and raised in West Baltimore. He gained national attention when his photograph of the Baltimore Uprising was published on the cover of Time in May 2015 – only the third time the work of an amateur photographer had been featured. Five years later, after the death of George Floyd, Tony McDade, and Breonna Taylor, his photograph from a BlackTrans Lives Matter protest was published on the cover of Time magazine for 2nd time in June 2020. His photographs have also appeared in New York Magazine, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Aperture and in the permanent collections of the National Museum of African American History & Culture, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. He is the founder of Through Their Eyes, a youth photography educational program, and the winner of the 2017 Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship. In 2017 he nominated for an NAACP Image Award for debuting author for his book "A Beautiful Ghetto, and Award from The Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture for dynamic leadership in the Arts and Activism. 

DeRay Mckesson is a civil rights activist focused primarily on issues of innovation, equity and justice. Born and raised in Baltimore, he graduated from Bowdoin College and holds honorary doctorates from The New School and the Maryland Institute College of Art. DeRay has advocated for issues related to children, youth, and families since he was a teen. As a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter Movement and a co-founder of Campaign Zero, DeRay has worked to connect individuals with knowledge and tools, and provide citizens and policy makers with commonsense policies that ensure equity. He has been praised by President Obama for his work as a community organizer, has advised officials at all levels of government and internationally, and continues to provide capacity to activists, organizers, and influencers to make an impact.

Send questions for Devin Allen to events@prattlibrary.org by November 9, to be answered during the live program.

Presented by Enoch Pratt Free Library. Thank you to our program supporters: Anne Arundel County Public Library, Charles County Public Library, Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Calvert Library, Carroll County Public Library, Howard County Library System, Talbot County Free Library, Worcester County Library, Cecil County Public Library, Wicomico Public Libraries, and Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County.

ASL interpretation will be available for attendees.

This lecture is made possible by the Hackerman Foundation.