Social Activism (U)

<p>Author of <em>On A Move </em>and Star of HBO documentary <em>40 Years A Prisoner,</em> Mike was born in a jail cell and freed his innocent parents from 40 years of incarceration. He pushes his revolutionary message with his dynamic stage performances mixing music with speeches.</p><p>Mike is the son of 2 political prisoners who were sentenced to 100 years in prison. Mike was secretly born in a Philadelphia prison following a police raid on his family’s home.

<p>Lual Mayen is the founder of Junub Games. He has a rich story from growing up as a refugee to becoming a game developer. </p><p>For 22 of his 24 years of life, Mayen lived in a refugee camp in northern Uganda. A few years back, Mayen saw a laptop computer at a registration station for the refugee camp. He told his mother he wanted one. She saved money for three years to get the $300 to buy it for him. He discovered Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and the joy of playing at an internet cafe.

<p>As a social activist, Monica Lewinsky’s passion is to advocate for a safer social media environment. As a public speaker, writer, producer and contributor to Vanity Fair she addresses such topics as survival, resilience, digital reputation and equality.  </p><p>Lewinsky became known to the public in 1998, when it was revealed as part of a federal investigation that she had had an intimate relationship with then President Bill Clinton.

<p>Majora Carter is a real estate developer, urban revitalization strategy consultant, and a MacArthur Fellow and Peabody Award winning broadcaster.

<p>On October 7, 1998, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, son of Judy and Dennis Shepard, was brutally attacked, tied to a fence in a field outside of Laramie, Wyoming, and left to die. In the aftermath of Matt’s death – an anti-gay hate crime - Judy and Dennis Shepard started the Matthew Shepard Foundation to honor his life and aspirations.

<p><span style="color: rgb(124, 131, 137);">Sohaila Abdulali was sexually assaulted as a teenager in India, promised to remain silent in return for her life, and has not stopped talking since. Her work as an activist, a counselor, and an author has taken her around the world. </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(124, 131, 137);">Drawing from her own experiences and those of thousands of other survivors, Abdulali inspires audiences to reconsider the way we talk about sexual assault and gender roles in society.

<p>Rachel Elizabeth Cargle is an Ohio born writer and lecturer. Her activist and academic work are rooted in providing intellectual discourse, tools, and resources that explore the intersection of race and womanhood. </p><p>Her content continues to launch meaningful conversation amongst her community of over 230k followers on IG. In addition to her talk on the TEDx stage, her public lecture Unpacking White Feminism has been featured on campuses around the country including American University, Yale, and Harvard.

<p>Scott Harrison spent a decade entertaining his darkest vices as a nightclub promoter until he finally realized he was creating a meaningless legacy. Spiritually and emotionally bankrupt, Scott volunteered as a photojournalist on a hospital ship off the coast of West Africa. There, he saw the devastating health impact dirty water has on communities. </p>

<p>Cameron Kasky is an American activist and advocate against gun violence who co-founded the student-led gun control advocacy group Never Again MSD.</p>

<p>He is also the co-founder of March for Our Lives nationwide student protest in March 2018. Kasky is a survivor of the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He’s been featured in <i>Time Magazine</i>, and has appeared in dozens of talk shows, podcasts and news station throughout the U.S.</p>

Richie Reseda is a music, film and content producer, who was freed from prison in 2018.

He co-created and co-hosts the Spotify Original podcast “Abolition X.” While in prison he started Question Culture, the independent media collective that houses his projects, and cofounded Success Stories, the feminist program for incarcerated men chronicled in the CNN documentary, "The Feminist on Cell Block Y."