Huntsville Leader

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, has announced Ben O’Keefe, social change activist and political commentator, will highlight the 2023 UAH Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration as keynote speaker this year.

This annual reflection and celebration of the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is hosted by the UAH Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (ODEI). The event will take place on Thursday, Jan. 12, from 3:30 - 5:30 PM in the UAH Student Services Building, Room 112. This event is free to all UAH students, staff and faculty. General admission is open to the greater Huntsville community for a minimum donation of $12 to further support the department’s efforts to meet their $25,000 endowment goal for the Dave McGlathery Trailblazer Scholarship Fund. This scholarship seeks to empower first-generation UAH students to build a more just society and establish their own trailblazing legacy.

O’Keefe is a public speaker and Forbes 30 Under 30 award-winning Chief Executive Officer of Chaotic Good, a social impact company promoting diversity, anti-racism, social justice and conversations on LGBTQ+ equality and masculinity. He is head of Diversity & Impact Production at Creator+, a next-generation content studio and distribution platform for digital-first storytellers and creators. His work there involves the intersection of entertainment and politics, and the activist has worked with top organizations, brands, politicians, celebrities and industry showrunners to build campaigns, provide content and execute strategies to make a lasting impact on diversity and social change.

The speaker is perhaps best known for the viral campaign to combat discrimination of plus-size consumers within clothing companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, helping to contribute to the body positivity movement. O’Keefe’s work also includes the #TakeDownTheFlag campaign to remove the Confederate Flag from the South Carolina Statehouse and from companies like Amazon and Wal-Mart, as well as Alicia Keys’ Vote Love campaign, as well as the digital movement to save death row inmate Richard Glossip from execution.

O’Keefe served as Senior Creative Lead and Advisor for Senator Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign and as the Impact Producer for the film ALL IN: The Fight for Democracy from Amazon Studios, featuring Stacey Abrams and her movement against voter suppression.

His 2021 podcast “Anti-Racism at Work” premiered on the Himalaya Network. With this podcast, O’Keefe explores the power individuals have to drive lasting human rights improvements and combat racism in the workplace and equips listeners with tools to build a workplace that gives all employees the opportunity to thrive.

O'Keefe is an alumnus of MoveOn.org and of MTV News where he served as head writer of DECODED, a series on race and pop culture. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Media Project, a multifaceted organization that provides support and funding to documentary films and filmmakers.

For more information on the 2023 MLK Commemoration, contact diversity@uah.edu, or visit Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Program to register.

Original source can be found here.