- I'm going to just start throwing you questions.
- There are people who are chasing greatness and
I think I have a bit of that in me.
There are other people
who are just doing the work and fighting and
I have that side of me too.
? ?
I'm Deshawn McKinney.
I'm a ball of a lot of things.
I'm a student.
I'm a fourth-year student.
I'm here at UW, creative writing major.
I'm an organizer, an activist.
I'm a PEOPLE Scholar.
I'm a First Wave scholar.
So First Wave is a hip hop arts scholarship program.
We have dancers, rappers, singers, graffiti artists.
In a lot of ways, it's a gateway to college for students.
You don't have to major in art or creative writing
or music or anything.
Once you're here, you can major in anything you want,
but it allows you to one, come to college and
two, continue your art while you're in college.
Announcer: Deshawn McKinney from...
[applause]
...up to the microphone.
- So you don't have to sacrifice any piece of yourself
just to try to succeed in life.
[rapping at poetry slam] Star scholar that was me.
My momma was a nebulous.
She ain't never touched a college class.
She would clash with y'all
but maybe that's the reason we grew up without the wherewithal.
I think a lot of the reason
that I'm comfortable in the public eye in my convictions
is because of my training as a performer.
All of that stuff is wrapped up in First Wave,
so it was crucial for me.
[performing poetry] If it wasn't for these classes
in which I get distracted,
you wouldn't get these classics at all, yo.
[applause]
??
My hometown is Milwaukee.
I grew up on the north side of Milwaukee.
I have two older brothers.
Life was tough.
At times, you know, lonely.
We weren't really raised.
We just kind of grew up.
I grew up living with our grandmother and
we didn't get to experience a lot of things
that kids typically experience.
I don't think I'd ever been to a birthday party,
didn't get to hang out with friends too much.
We never had a family vacation or anything like that.
We mostly just knew the north side,
mostly just our neighborhood.
She was trying to shield us from the world.
Like dealing with my dad and alcoholism
or seeing my mother go through abusive relationships.
I know what the bottom is like.
I know what it feels like.
I know what it tastes like.
I know what it smells like.
Nobody likes being in the hood.
Nobody likes growing up in the ghetto.
We all want better.
It was a turbulent time.
But I think it --
through that fire I was forged into something really strong.
? ?
Life on campus is pretty good for me.
I have friends.
I have people who love me.
I'm doing things I want to be doing.
By and large it's--
my campus experience is really good.
?
I'm the president of the Wisconsin Union this year.
Historically it's been a white male dominated space
and the union is supposed to be serving all of its members.
And you look at the 43,000 students on campus,
they don't just look like the white students,
even if that is the majority.
It's been a lot of work but I think it's been rewarding.
If we can add the position and just add the...
I want to continue to diversify the space.
I think we did a really good job with that this year.
I feel pretty secure in the path that I'm on and
I think that good things are coming.
? ?
I applied for the Marshall to go to
the London School of Economics
for a master of public policy and administration and
a master of social policy.
I'm excited for it but I'm also a bit wary and
I'm kind of...
innately curious.
It's a very interesting time to be thinking about
studying aboard for graduate school.
It means people having to protect,
ardently protect,
the gains that have been made in the last eight years
for fear of them being...
like the rug being snatched from under you.
So I think now people see that and
they feel a sense of urgency of
"I need to get involved in the work."
"The country isn't going to save my community.
I have to do it."
So I need to push through.
The world didn't stop.
I still have responsibilities.
I still have dreams, which is most important.
I still have hope.
I still want to do these things.
I have lofty goals and expectations and
I want to live a beautiful life.
I want to be able to travel the world and
continue to see more and more things and
humanize folks all over.
I would like to look back and say that
I lifted my family out of those circumstances
that we come from.
I want to be able to look back and say,
"We finally got to have that family vacation."
What was it and when was the last time
you learned something from your students?
I do hope that my life can be an inspiration to folks.
I absolutely do.
I hope that me being in these positions
means that other people can then see themselves in the positions.
And know that it's okay to dream and to strive and fight.
So I hope that people can look at my life and see that.
I think
that's just a consequence of a life well lived.