Who is Shaun King? Civil Rights activist urges public to pray for daughter as she suffers a brain injury from being hit by a car

Civil rights activist Shaun King’s daughter, Kendi, is reportedly hospitalized for brain injury after being hit by a car. The writer took to Instagram to share the devastating news with his followers and mentioned that the 19-year-old was struck by a vehicle while walking towards Manhattan.

He also shared that Kendi suffered severe brain, head and body injuries and was being treated at the ICU. He further asked the public to pray for his daughter’s health and said that the family believes she will recover in the days to come:

“Please pray for Kendi. That she heals 100%.That she has no setbacks. I’m watching her like a hawk. Please say a special prayer for my dear @MrsRaiKing who has had an incredibly hard time with this.”

News of his daughter’s accident comes days after Shaun King was released from hospital after undergoing neck surgery. Following Kendi’s tragic life update, several followers and celebrities flocked to King’s comments section to send their good wishes to his daughter.

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Shaun King is the co-founder of Real Justice PAC

Shaun King is an American civil rights activist and author (Image via Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images)

Shaun King is an American civil rights activist, writer, journalist and humanitarian. He is the co-founder of Real Justice PAC and is an advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement.

He was born on September 17, 1979, in Kentucky and raised by a single mother, Naomi Kay King. He studied at Huntertown Elementary School and Woodford County High School and went on to attend Morehouse College in Georgia.

The 42-year-old received the Oprah Winfrey scholarship during college and was also elected president of the Student Government Association. He graduated in 2002 with a major in history and began a career as an educator in Atlanta.

He taught civics in high school for a year and also worked for Atlanta's juvenile justice system. He later left teaching and started working as a pastor at Total Grace Christian Center in Georgia. He later earned a master’s degree in history from Arizona State University in 2018.

Shaun King calls himself a biracial individual and started writing about his experiences in several publications. He serves as a columnist for The Intercept and writer-in-residence at Harvard Law School’s Fair Punishment Project.

According to his website, King previously served as a senior justice writer at the New York Daily News and has written nearly 1,500 articles on injustice since 2014. He also hosts the Tom Joyner Morning Show and also serves as a speaker.

The Kentucky-native reportedly spoke in 35 states, on over 100 college campuses as well as in jails, prisons and corporate boardrooms. He gained national attention for his activities in the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown in 2014.

Following the tragic event, he became a contributing blogger for Daily Kos and started writing against violence and police brutality in the African-American community. Shaun King launched the Justice Together organization in 2015 but put an end to the group in 2016.

In 2017, King was appreciated for heading a social media campaign leading to the arrest of three men for assaulting DeAndre Harris. He went on to co-found the Real Justice PAC in 2018 to help elect prosecutors who support criminal justice reform.

King also played an active role in the protest movements for Jazmine Barnes and Tamir Rice. However, he previously came under fire for allegedly organizing a crowdfunding fundraiser for the latter without informing his immediate family.

Several of his fundraising projects came under scrutiny but Shaun King denied all allegations made against him. In 2010, he founded aHomeinHaiti to raise $1.5 million for buying tents for Haiti earthquake victims and also launched a charity auction site called TwitChange.

On the personal front, Shaun King is married to his high school partner, Rai King. The pair share five children together and currently live in Brooklyn, New York.