Keith Boykin | |
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| Born | St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
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| Children | 2 |
| Website | keithboykin |
Keith Boykin is an AmericanTV and film producer, nationalpolitical commentator, author, and formerWhite House aide to PresidentBill Clinton.[1] He has made much of this public in his 2022memoir,Quitting: Why I Left My Job to Live a Life of Freedom.[2]
Boykin was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and later attended Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida.[1]
During his time in St. Louis, Boykin primarily resided in the mostly whitesuburb ofFlorissant. Early on, he developed an interest in government and leadership. He participated in student government and several sports includingtrack-and-field andwrestling.[1]
At the age of fifteen, Boykin moved toFlorida with his father, William O. Boykin, who relocated to the state to start a beauty supply business.[3] Despite the move, Keith became the president of his school's student government as well as an editor of the school newspaper.[1] He was also a debater and varsity track-and-field athlete.[1]
Keithmatriculated atDartmouth College in 1983.[1] In 1984, he was awarded theWilliam S. Churchill Prize for outstanding freshman. Then, in 1987, he won the Barrett Cup for the most distinguished member of the graduating class.[1]
After graduating from Dartmouth, Boykin worked forMichael Dukakis's presidential campaign from June 1987 to November 1988.[4] Later, he began his studies atHarvard Law School in 1989.[1] While at Harvard, he edited theCivil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review journal.[1] He also participated in The Coalition for Civil Rights, a student group dedicated to diversifying the law school's faculty.[5] While a member of that group, he joined ten other students in aracial discrimination lawsuit against the law school.[6][7]
After graduating from Harvard in 1992, Boykin began working at aSan Francisco law firm where he had previously interned. However, he left that position in order to work forBill Clinton's presidential campaign as the Midwest Press Director.[1]
Following Bill Clinton's victory in 1992, Boykin joined theClinton White House as aSpecial Assistant to the President. He also served as Director of News Analysis. After some time in that role, he was promoted to Director of Specialty Media.[4] In April 1993, Boykin helped to arrange the first meeting between an acting U.S. president and representatives from theLGBTQ community.[1][8] That meeting included 8 members drawn from three LGBTQ organizations: TheNational Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership forum, and theMarch on Washington Committee.[1]
Boykin left his role at the White House in January 1995 in order to write his first book,One More River to Cross: Black and Gay in America, which detailed the special burdensblack LGBTQ people experience.[1] Later, he would writeBeyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies, and Denial in Black America, a New York Times bestseller.[1]
In late 1995, Boykin became the executive director of the National Black Gay and Lesbian Forum, a national non-profit dedicated to the uplift of Black Gays and Lesbians.[1] InQuitting, Boykin describes his time with the organization as an important professional experience. He writes: "we organized a historic contingent in theMillion Man March, held 3 national conferences, opened an office in the nation's capital, hired a small staff, and hosted popular community events in Washington."[4]
Boykin spoke at the Millennium March on Washington for LGBTQIA rights in 2000.[9]
From 1999 to 2001, Boykin taught Political Science as an adjunct professor atAmerican University in Washington, D.C.[1] In 2001, Boykin left American University to move toNew York City where he co-founded theNational Black Justice Coalition in 2003.[1] According to the NBJC website, the organization's mission is to "end racism, homophobia, and LGBTQ/SGL bias and stigma."[10]
In 2004, Keith Boykin and his partner at the time,Nathan Hale Williams, made television history as the first openly black gay couple to appear on a reality television show, when they appeared on the Showtime reality TV series "American Candidate."[11][12]
In 2005, MinisterLouis Farrakhan invited Keith to speak during the tenth anniversary commemoration of theMillion Man March.[2][13] At the last minute, however, the invitation was rescinded without a clear explanation. One of the leaders of the March, the Reverend Willie F. Wilson, objected to Boykin's presence.[2][14]
In February 2006, Boykin became co-host of the TV series "My Two Cents" on theBET J channel.[1] My Two Cents was promoted as an "urban current events" show which explored topical issues relevant to black audiences.[1] He also worked as an associate producer of the 2006 film "Dirty Laundry."[15]
From 2008 to 2016, Boykin served as a contributor forCNBC.[1] From January 2017 until January 2022, Boykin served as contributor forCNN.[1] He has appeared on several other broadcast news outlets such asVH1,BET,MSNBC,Fox News,NPR.[1]
In addition, Boykin has made appearances on numerous other television shows such asThe Montel Williams Show,The Dennis Miller Show,The Tom Joyner Morning Show,Tony Brown's Journal, andAnderson Cooper 360.[1] He has also been featured on the cover of several publications including A&U,Out andThe Advocate, and he was selected as one of Out Magazine's "Out 100" in 2004.[16] He has also been featured or quoted in articles inThe New York Times,The Washington Post,USA Today,VIBE, andJet.[1] He has also appeared on BET's "Being Mary Jane" in 2014.[17]
Some of the publications he has written for include The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Village Voice, theSan Francisco Chronicle,the St. Petersburg Times,The Advocate,Black Issues Book Review, andThe Crisis.[1][18][19] His syndicated column appeared in several newspapers across the country, includingThe New York Blade,the Washington Blade,Southern Voice, and theHouston Voice.[1]
Boykin's great-great-grandfather, Rev. John H. Dickerson an A.M.E. Pastor, served as the grand master of the Prince Hall Affiliated Masons of Florida from 1899 until 1916. He led the erecting of the Masonic Temple on 410 Broad Street.[20] He was also the chairman of the 1912 Florida State Republican Convention.[21] Boykin's great-grandfather, Horatio Dickerson, served in an all-black military infantry known as theHarlem Hellfighters (The 369th Infantry Regiment, originally formed as the 15th New York National Guard Regiment ) from 1917 until 1919.[22] Boykin's grandfather, John H. Dickerson Sr., served as principal of Campbell Street Elementary School in Daytona Beach, Florida.[23]
In 1996, Boykin revealed his sexual orientation in the bookOne More River to Cross: Black & Gay in America.[24]
In 2006, Boykin won a gold medal in wrestling at the 2006 Gay Games.[25]
Boykin met hisbiological father, John Dickerson, a chemist for Miami-Dade Pollution Center, in 2015.[26][27]
After the death ofCuban leaderFidel Castro in December 2016, Boykin attended Castro's funeral procession inSantiago de Cuba with his Cuban partner and watched the remains of the leader pass through the Plaza de Marte.[28][29]
In 2022, Boykin moved toLos Angeles but he also maintained his residence inNew York City. He has two godsons whom he considers his 'sons'.[4]
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