Baltimore City school officials appointed a prominent Black Lives Matter activist to a cabinet position Tuesday.
DeRay Mckesson, a Black Lives Matter activist and former Baltimore mayoral candidate, received the interim chief of human capital position from the Baltimore school’s incoming CEO Sonja Santelises, reports the Baltimore Sun. In his position, Mckesson gets a yearly salary of $165,000 and will be overseeing 56 employees and a $56 million budget.
“He has the depth of knowledge of the system, and he has proved that he can lift the work in a short amount of time. And he has proven his dedication to the children of Baltimore,” Santelises said to the Baltimore Sun.
Mckesson is best known for taking a break from his job to join the Ferguson protests and later protesting Freddie Gray’s death in Baltimore. He founded We the Protesters, a movement dedicated to “planned protests”of Ferguson and other “racial injustices” around the nation. The website declares it will “secure the blessings of freedom for all black lives” and “dedicate ourselves to this movement of radical liberation.”
He recently ran and lost for Baltimore mayor on a platform that called for a $15 minimum wage and called for police officer to be taken from neighborhoods with the highest level of law enforcement activity, the Baltimore Sun reports.
“At its core, this role is about finding great people, matching them to the right role, and helping them to develop and experience careers in the service of our kids,” Mckesson said to the Baltimore Sun on his new role. “I am excited to return to city schools … and to continue doing the work to ensure that every child in Baltimore City receives a world-class education.”
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