Shaun King – Giving a Tour of Morehouse College the Place that Shaped Him More Than Any Other
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AI: Transcript ©
Assalamu alaikum.
It's good to see all of you.
I want to really welcome you to my
home.
This is a place that made me.
You would not know me.
I would not be half the leader I
am today.
Not only if I wasn't in this very
room, I'm going to tell you all about
this room and this campus, but I'm on
the campus of Morehouse College.
This is where I came to go to
school in 1997.
You know, I grew up in a very
racist small town in Kentucky that really never
even allowed me to be a leader.
When I came to this school and you're
going to see me walk around campus here.
It was the first time I really ever
felt fully welcomed and embraced.
This is a school for young Black men
who come not just from all over the
United States, but all over the world.
And right now we are standing in my
very favorite building.
This is what's called the Sale Hall Chapel.
And for a long time, not now, this
was the main meeting place on the campus
of Morehouse College.
And right here on this front row, there's
a very famous picture of Dr. Martin Luther
King, who was not a doctor.
He was just a student here.
And he used to attend sessions in this
room, Sale Hall, every single day.
And so there are pictures of him as
just a young teenage boy, just learning and
growing.
And I had so many important moments.
I gave multiple speeches from this mic.
I really honed my speaking.
And as a matter of fact, I'm almost
100% sure this is the very podium
that I spoke from 25 years ago.
I can't even believe it's even longer than
that.
That's how old I'm getting.
But this stage was where I gave one
of my most important speeches from my time
as a leader here on campus.
I was in this speech contest, the Otis
Moss Oratorical Contest.
And the first round was in this room.
And I so badly wanted to make it
to the finals.
But I didn't even finish my speech in
time.
They cut off and I was like, oh,
I'm done.
I'm toast.
I nailed my speech, but I didn't even
get to finish it.
But they let me into the final.
I made it to the finals anyway.
And I'm going to show you where I
gave that speech.
But in this room, so many brilliant thinkers
and leaders came and spoke to hundreds of
young brothers from all over the world.
Eventually, while young Martin Luther King was a
student here, his dad attended sessions in here
when he was a student.
Later, Dr. King gave a speech from this
podium.
He gave so many speeches in here.
For those of you who are scholars or
students of African-American history, W.
E.
B.
Du Bois spoke in this room.
As a matter of fact, there was a
time where he had an office in this
building.
And some of my first classes were here.
And so I just wanted to start here.
I'm going to take you all over the
campus.
This building and this space, it's where I
always bring guests because so much history happened
here.
This space has had 10,000 meetings.
I mean, thousands and thousands of important speeches
and classes have been held here.
This is on the top floor of Sale
Hall.
This is kind of right on the kind
of historic older part of the campus that
I'm about to show you around.
I took classes in this building.
I didn't have a class in this session,
but in this chapel here.
But I did so much.
I did organizing here.
I had, when I was a leader, I
would bring guest speakers to this space.
And I've always just loved it.
So I'm going to take you around the
Morehouse campus.
I've never done this on film, but when
I was a student, I used to give
tours for families.
When I was a student leader, I would
give tours of families and tours for donors.
And so it's cool now being able to
come here as a graduate, as a leader,
and show you this place that meant so
much to me.
I'm old enough to remember when we used
to have to go to a computer lab
because we couldn't own computers.
And so my computer lab was downstairs.
I took a class in this room right
here with Dr. Aaron Parker, a religion professor
that was a mentor to me.
I had classes all up and down this
hallway, and I used to go to the
computer lab.
But I'm going to show you around this
campus that made me.
And I'm going to talk a lot about
my own story and history.
But I'm going to talk to you about
some of the beautiful history that's happened here.
New students are just arriving.
I hear a band.
I hear a marching band practicing out in
the distance.
That's over in that direction is Clark Atlanta
University.
But all around me and behind me, this
is sacred ground to me.
And if you respect me or know me,
you have to know this place.
This place not only built leaders like Dr.
Martin Luther King, this place has built some
of the best leaders in the world.
It's built leaders who've gone on to serve
in the United States Senate and the United
Nations.
It's built civil rights leaders, humanitarians, business leaders,
and leaders, you know, like people, you know,
like Spike Lee or Sam Jackson.
But right now, this is the campus green.
And right here, this is where we have
our graduation right here on the campus green.
And there's just so many important buildings.
This is a cell hall behind me where
where I just showed you.
And so this is I don't know very
many people that would tell you that that's
their favorite building on campus.
It's far and away my favorite building.
I'm going to show you in front of
me is a building that I stay far
away from.
This is a science building.
I think I might have had a biology
class or the band is the band is
killing it.
That's that's Clark Atlanta University out in the
distance and probably the CAU marching band.
But just a beautiful science building.
But I'm taking you now to this is
the campus green.
I'm taking I'm going to show you Graves
Hall.
And I just love, love, love this building
so much.
And at one time, what I want you
to understand, I'm going to walk on the
grass here.
What I want you to understand is that
at one time, this was Morehouse College, this
building here that I stand in front of.
This was the entire college.
This was everything.
This was the classrooms.
This was the administrative building.
I'm going to be speaking here at Morehouse
on Sunday, but at the top of this
building, Graves Hall, which is the most historic
building on our campus.
I stayed in this building.
I stayed in room 104.
It was my finger.
I stayed.
There's like a little deck right there, but
like a balcony or porch.
I stayed.
I stayed right there in room 104 in
Graves Hall.
It was one of the honors of my
life.
I think my dear brother, Jeff Bennett, hooked
me up with that room.
I had a single room in there.
But, you know, brothers would use this building.
And at the top, there is like a
lookout tower.
And this building is on the highest piece
of land in all of Atlanta.
And during a period of lynching, brothers would
go up to this lookout tower and basically
look out all over the campus just to
make sure that they were safe.
And so, I mean, this place has just
deep historic significance.
And in front of Graves Hall here is
the tomb of one of our dearest leaders,
one of our most beloved presidents, Dr. Benjamin
Elijah Mays, and his wife, Dr. Sadie Mays.
Not only was Benjamin Elijah Mays famous for
being the president of Dr. Martin Luther King,
he was president for nearly 30 of the
most important years this university ever had.
And so many of our most beloved graduates,
he was their president.
And so, he's not a graduate of Morehouse,
but you would not find almost anyone that
is more revered on this campus than our
dear brother, Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays.
I'm going to take you and show you
some of Graves Hall where I stayed.
I'm not going to go in because brothers
are moving into the building, but I love,
love, love this building.
These steps, when I first learned, you see
a student coming out of the building.
When I first learned about Morehouse College, this
is when they had to send you a
brochure in the mail.
And so, I had to call somebody and
say, here's my address.
Can you please send me an application and
a brochure?
There was no applying online.
And there were brothers that were standing on
those steps right there.
And I remember just thinking, I got to
get to those steps.
And I grew up in a small town
in Kentucky where I had been mistreated and
harassed and assaulted.
And I had just missed my entire sophomore
and junior year of high school.
I had three spinal surgeries after I was
assaulted.
And I saw these brothers on those steps.
I was like, I have to find a
way to get out of this small town
that did me so much harm and make
it to these steps.
And being able to live in this building
and call this building home, that where thousands
of men, Dr. King lived in this building,
and so many of our most beloved graduates
lived here.
But for a while, this was the only
building.
This was right here.
Students are moving in, so there's a lot
of cardboard boxes and stuff.
But every classroom was here.
Every administrative office was here.
This was Morehouse College.
So, let me tell you a few places
that mean a lot to me.
There's a building here on the other side
I'm going to show you that I lived
in.
I used to actually work at Morehouse.
I was what we call RD, a resident
director.
And me, let me show you.
So, this is Robert Hall.
And it's been a dormitory for 100 years.
And I had an apartment.
And those four windows were our apartment, where
me and my wife and our two oldest
daughters actually lived here.
We were the only family that lived here.
And at the time, the only women and
girls that lived on the campus.
It's an all-male school.
But we lived right here in Robert Hall.
It was rough.
But we actually loved it.
We had such good memories because they would
come out here, like this was like their
front yard.
And because they were the only kids on
campus, like everybody loved them so much.
But this building, it matters to me.
It's now, I think it's an honors dorm
now.
And the rooms are so small.
Forever, they were doubles.
And two people should not stay in these
rooms.
But now they've made them into singles.
But we had a very tiny apartment here,
even though it's got four windows, it's way
smaller than it looked.
But we were super happy.
It's still Graves Hall, the historic building behind
me.
And I, man, I gave, I'm just trying
to, as I walk, I'm remembering things like
when I was running for student government president,
we had an outdoor debate.
My brothers weren't ready, you know, because outdoor
debate is a unique kind of thing.
And a matter of fact, we had this
outdoor debate right here.
And let me see if you can see
it.
Right here on, we just had to, you
just had to stand up here.
And we were debating each other, candidates back
and forth.
We gave speeches.
People could, you know, ask us questions.
And how are you, brother?
Yeah, I'm Sean.
How are you?
Oh, yeah.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Good to see you.
You're a freshman.
Yeah.
Congratulations, man.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Good to see you.
Oh, sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Come on.
Come on.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love you.
Yeah, absolutely.
I had to pause for a minute to
take some photos, but man, I used to
go down these steps so much.
This is, it's where our little raggedy post
office is.
And, you know, my wife, Dr. Ray, we
weren't married back then, but we were dating.
And we would send letters to each other.
And I'm not, I'm not just trying to
be sweet, but like there was nothing I
look forward to more than getting a letter
from her.
And when I started here, when I first
started here in August of 1997, about half
the dormitory had girlfriends.
But this is a hard, hard place to
have a girlfriend somewhere far away.
We're Muslims now, so we don't talk about
boyfriends and girlfriends in the same way.
But back then we weren't Muslims.
And so, you know, my wife and I
were dating.
And by Christmas break, I think there were,
instead of there being like a hundred guys
who had girlfriends, there were two because everybody
had gotten their own local girlfriend.
But Ray and I were writing each other
letters.
And this post office, this post office was
like my, my favorite place.
And sometimes I would get little gift packages
or something from my mother or somebody else
that cared about us.
But man, everywhere I walk, I remember this
is, this is a place called the Kilgore
Campus Center.
It's just kind of like a central hub
to the campus.
When I was, when I was student government
president, I was actually like sworn in and
inaugurated.
Politics are a big deal here, student politics
and student leadership.
So when I became student government president, I
was sworn in and inaugurated right here on
the steps.
I mean, I had a dashiki who was
doing the black power fist, you know, that
we were into it, but yeah, right, right
here on these steps.
And so many people that worked hard to
elect me were here and, but it was
a cool moment.
A few more places that I have to
show you that just really mattered to me.
There's a video playing in the background here,
just like a little, a little documentary about
Morehouse, just showing it to, to the students.
There's a cafeteria right there behind me.
When I was a student, it didn't look
like this.
Like when I was a student, everybody ate
the same meal and it just was what
it was, what it was.
Now they've got choices and options and you
know, pizza and hamburgers and salads and desserts.
We didn't have all that.
Like every day it was like a, it
was like a high school cafeteria.
And I don't mean a new school.
I mean like old school on, on this
day you ate this and that's what everybody
ate.
I'm going to take you to the dorm
that I went to, my freshman dorm.
It's, it's called LLC now.
It used to be called Thurman Hall, but
these dorms are the quad and I got
to say something about the quad.
So these dorms are not known to be
fancy or they're, they're not even nice.
Okay.
I'm just going to be real about it,
but I love these dorms the most because
they're so simple and so basic that when
you stay here, all you're focusing on, all
you're thinking about is class and your social
life growing and getting better.
Like it's a very, very simple place to
live.
And I mean, we, I grew up, you
know, me and my roommate who was my
best friend from high school, Willis you know,
he used to spend the night at my
house as a kid.
And so we never minded staying with each
other, but we both grew up simple anyway.
And so, you know, it wasn't like it
was like, we didn't come from, you know,
wealth, but even for us, we're like, Oh,
we're sharing a bathroom with 80 dudes.
Oh, I'm sleeping, I'm sleeping in the same
room with somebody, even though this was my
best friend.
So I want to show you my dorm.
I'm not going to go up to my
room.
I, I do, I don't want to go
there and barge in, but maybe I'll go
up there and check and see if somebody's
there.
But this is, this is LLC, a super,
super simple dorm.
And all of these dorms called, we call
them a quad because there are four of
them, but I stay all the way up
in the top corner in 325.
And, uh, we were so, we were so
dumb.
We called, uh, we called 325 and we
called the third floor LLC.
We call it the penthouse.
It was nothing fancy about it.
Okay.
It was the least penthouse of all penthouses.
It was nothing penthousey about it, but, um,
no, man, I love being there.
Um, it was a simple, a simple way
of life, a simple way to do things.
But, uh, I, you know, I was president
of my dorm, um, freshman year.
And it's where, you know, before I was
student government president of the whole campus, I
was just president of that small dormitory.
It's about, about 150 students.
And that that's where I built my base.
You know, it's like, it's where I built
my crew.
Those students I'm friends with so many of
those brothers to this very day, 25 years
later, it was like my, my homies.
In some ways you feel like Morehouse, Morehouse
is listen, if you've seen black Panther, I
don't want to say that Morehouse is like
Wakanda, but for black men, this is the
closest thing we have to Wakanda in America.
I mean, a place that's built just for
black men, where like, even on this campus,
even our police officers love us.
Do you understand what I'm saying on this
campus?
We actually get along with the police on
this campus.
Police come here because they love and respect
black men and want to protect us.
And so, I mean, it was just a,
a beautiful experience for us to be in
a place that was literally imagined and constructed
and built with us in mind.
And so, Morehouse, I mean, it, it's shaped
us in so many ways.
I'm, I'm walking down the campus.
I wish I could, there's some meetings going
on in some of the buildings.
There's, there's one major place left that I
have to show you that just meant a
lot to me.
We're going to go to King Chapel.
It's the, the largest auditorium in the entire
Atlanta University Center.
But so much of who I am as
a young man happened in, in that space.
There's a, a building here called Brawley Hall
that I'm about to show you.
First, thank you all for being here with
me, for letting me just walk and talk
and show you the place that means so
much to me.
And so many of you all treat me
with so much love and respect.
I wish you could be here with me
and feel my heart and feel, you just,
it's beautiful because there are hundreds of students
that are moving here on campus.
You know, black families from all over the
world that are bringing their young men here
to really show us the next generation of
leaders.
Behind me is a building called Brawley Hall.
And this was where my department, I was
an African American studies major and that's in
the history department here.
I took maybe half of my classes in
this, this simple building.
I mean, I probably took 30 classes in
this building, every English class, every history class,
every language class that I took, I took
here.
I used to work in this building.
I was a work study student in the
African American studies department.
I was a part, we founded the African
American studies club here called the William Tucker
Society.
But this building behind me, it meant as
much to me as, as any other building.
Like so much of my knowledge base came
from this space here.
Let me show you real quick.
Off in the distance is our football stadium.
And right here is the building I really
wanted to show you.
This is King Chapel.
And this is a monument to one of
our most famous and beloved graduates, Dr. Howard
Thurman, who was a mentor to Martin Luther
King.
He has a book called Jesus and the
Disinherited.
He's passed, long ago passed away.
A very beloved theologian.
He had a book that Dr. King was
said to actually have with him when he
was assassinated, called Jesus and the Disinherited.
So I'm going to show you in this
building and show you around.
It looks like there's some sessions going on
in there right now.
But I'm going to show you.
I mean, this building is beautiful to me.
I'm going up the steps.
I'm speaking here on Sunday night at a
very special program.
I might be able to film it.
I don't know.
There's a video going on in the background,
but let me show you this beautiful statue
of Dr. King.
One second.
So a beautiful statue of Dr. Martin Luther
King.
That's one of the most famous monuments on
our campus.
I love this statue of Dr. King.
But let me take you inside.
Okay.
Hello.
Hi.
Good to see you.
Good.
Let me take you inside.
Okay.
I love this building so much.
Hey, brother, how are you doing?
Good.
All right.
So we're walking into King Chapel.
Just a beautiful, beautiful space.
And I want to show you all around.
Okay.
So here's a statue of Gandhi.
And this is his wife.
Beautiful portrait of Dr. King.
Also see Malcolm X there in the portrait.
Portrait of Nelson Mandela.
I'll tell you more about that in a
minute.
Another portrait of Gandhi.
But this space, this is we're in the
the foyer of King Chapel.
And I want to show you a sign
real quick.
These are families and parents that are here
for their children.
I'm gonna show you a little sign real
quick.
Okay.
I'm gonna tell you a story.
So on this sign, it says, notice how
many people can fit into the building.
2,501.
So let me tell you the story about
that.
2,501.
And so they decided.
So I'm here in King Chapel.
Okay.
Just every time I walk in here, it
gives me so many memories, but it holds
2,501 people because not 2,500, but
2,501 because Dr. King said there's always
room for one more.
So I'm inside of King Chapel.
Good to see you, man.
You all right?
Yeah, good.
Good brother.
Good to see you.
So look, these are, these are student leaders
who are preparing new student orientation.
Good brother.
You all right?
So these guys are working, preparing for programs
here tonight, but I'm gonna come up from
the stage.
Hey, how are you doing brother?
Good.
I want to show you this from up
here.
So this is, this is where I learned
to speak for real.
Okay.
I don't know if there is a harder
place to speak in all of America than
this auditorium there.
It's one, it's enormous.
It's beautiful.
Even in the, in the balcony upstairs and
down here, it seats 2,501 people.
So just beautiful.
And so just wanting you all to see
it and you know, hello.
Hi, how are you?
Hey, how are you?
Good to see you.
Yeah.
I cannot believe you have a kid in
college now.
I'm still bugging off of that.
Salaam alaikum.
I'm back.
This campus, you know, I was a leader
here.
I worked here.
So I've had to stop several times as
people recognize me, but it's, it's beautiful.
I'm on the stage, this stage.
There's probably no stage I've ever been on
in the world that has meant more to
me than this one.
They've, I see this floor is new or
new-ish.
This isn't the same floor I used to
speak on.
I knew that floor well, but this stage
where you could speak to 2,501 Black
men from all over the world.
I mean, there's no place like this place.
And I mean, I've seen speakers here, like
if you're old enough to know what Showtime
at the Apollo is, like if you don't
do well here, it's rough.
It's really rough.
I've seen speakers get heckled or laughed at,
or people just start murmuring and talking like,
if you don't nail it here, it's not
a, it's not a great place to speak.
And so I really, really learned how to
keep an audience, how to, how to engage
people from this stage.
You know, I gave, I'm trying to think,
you know, I won the Otis Moss oratorical
contest here on this stage and winning that
contest is what eventually helped me run and
become student government president.
I was well-known as a student leader,
as an activist, but when I won that
oratorical contest here, I immediately became maybe the
most known student on campus.
And I won $500, which in 1999, I
think that was March of 1999, that $500
changed my life.
I bought my first laptop with that.
And I had that laptop for like four
years.
And, and so, so many people have spoken
on this stage.
Nelson Mandela spoke on this stage.
Funerals of so many beloved civil rights leaders
and heroes happened on this stage.
So many dignitaries and humanitarians have spoken on
this stage and every chance I ever got
to, to speak here was just one of
the biggest honors of my life.
Even this, this podium is new.
Like, I don't know if the old podiums
are still here.
I hope they didn't throw them away.
But this space is just so special to
me.
And I can't wait to speak here on
Sunday night.
I'm speaking at something called spirit night.
Tonight is welcome to the house.
I was the, I was the lead speaker
at welcome to the house one, one year,
maybe two years, just a powerful moment for
students and parents.
Um, but parents leave on Friday night.
And so on Sunday, after all the parents
are gone, uh, I'm going to speak here
to all of the students.
And, uh, if I can film it, I
will, but it's, it's a private, a private
moment.
So, um, King chapel, there's, I mean, you
know, as a student leader here, um, they
really just let you like, not feel like
you own the campus, but they just allow
you to go anywhere, you know?
And so, um, um, you know, being back
here, Oh, okay.
I'm going to show you.
I'm glad this is back here.
Okay.
Um, this, I knew they wouldn't throw it
away, but this, uh, so I'm backstage and
this is, this it's like a podium, a
pulpit, uh, that they can wheel back.
And, uh, this, uh, this pulpit, I spoke
from, uh, this may be remodeled.
I don't know, but I remember, I remember,
I remember these bars, uh, very well.
And, uh, and yeah, I think they've just
remodeled this, but, uh, I spoke from this
platform out there many times.
There's a, a picture of, uh, of John
Lewis back here behind me.
Uh, I remember these chairs.
Well, I know you don't care about chairs
and pulpits, but these things are like sacred
to me.
I have so many memories here and, uh,
this place just makes me, uh, just makes
me happy.
And so, uh, you're seeing a place that
really helps shape and mold me and make
me into, uh, the man and leader that
I am today.
Um, it's good to see this, uh, this
building is such wonderful shape and condition.
Um, I love this space.
It's this place was, uh, an incubator for
me.
It was like a hospital for me where
I not only healed, but I healed and
grew and developed.
Uh, it was like a cocoon for me
where, uh, it really showed me how to
become a man, a leader.
It showed me how to, how to speak,
how to lead meetings.
I mean, I, I could take you, I
could do this tour for, for a day,
like to show you where to show you
my office when I was student government president
to show you where I first learned how
to lead a meeting, how to set an
agenda, how to manage a budget.
Uh, these are all me, all the basic
things that, uh, that I learned, uh, back
in the back, there's like a, uh, a
private library.
Uh, I think I may have heard a
meeting going on in there, but it's a
beautiful, beautiful space.
It's one of my favorite buildings on campus,
but, um, I love this place.
And again, you know, what I was telling
you earlier is you, you wouldn't know me
if I had gone anywhere else, I wouldn't
have been embraced like this.
I wouldn't have had the same opportunities that
I've had.
And so just wanted to give you a
real glimpse into, you know, the place that,
that really made me and developed me into
a leader.
Um, they're having a meeting upstairs, but, uh,
just, you know, to be in a place
that's meant for you, uh, that was imagined
with you in mind that was crafted with
you in mind.
I can't, I can't tell you how valuable
that is.
And so, uh, if I get a chance
to film some more, I will, uh, but
it's just, uh, a beautiful, beautiful place.
And this, this campus just means the world
to me.
So, uh, my wife is here.
So I'm gonna go see her and, uh,
I'll see if she wants to be on
film that I might put that up later.
All right.
Salaam alaikum.
Take care of you all.