Date/Time: Wednesday, July 1st at 1 pm EDT
Panelists: KeShaun Pearson and KD Minor
Moderator: Dr. Meredith D. Clark
Join moderator Dr. Meredith D. Clark alongside panelists KeShaun Pearson and KD Minor as they discuss their organizing efforts in Tennessee, Louisiana, and other southern states. KD and KeShaun will discuss their work advocating on behalf of local communities against the environmental pollution, utility disruptions, and other health risks caused by the building and maintenance of infrastructure powering AI innovation. Their stories will highlight the real human costs of data center development being suffered by our neighbors and they will also share what they believe are effective political and community solutions that can address these issues.
KeShaun Pearson is the first-born son of teenage parents. His mother, Kimberly Owens-Pearson, is a Doctorate of Education candidate. His father, Jason C. Pearson Sr., is the Pastor of Community of Faith Christian Church and Chaplain at a prominent hospital in Memphis. In 2022, Pearson served as the Project Director for the Poor People’s Campaign Moral Mass Assembly and March on Washington, which assembled more than 25,000 advocates for equity and social justice. His environmental justice journey began with the Byhalia Connection Pipeline fight, during which he helped lead the charge against two multi-billion dollar oil companies that planned to build a pipeline through predominantly Black communities in South Memphis. He continues that fight now as the Executive Director of Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP). In this role, Pearson is leading MCAP’s movement to eliminate air pollution and enforce a new EPA rule to reduce ethylene oxide emissions linked to increased cancer rates in South Memphis. Pearson is a graduate of Old Dominion University, where he obtained two degrees, one Bachelor of Arts degree in Information Technology and another Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration. He also earned a project management certificate from the University of Virginia.
Believing in responding to social shifts by acting in creative ways that generate new solutions, Kadesha “KD” Minor, practices innovation to her core. After feeling stifled by unprogressive policies and industries, the Southwest Louisiana native made an impromptu move to New Orleans, where she worked her way from the front desk of a small boutique hotel to becoming an area 5-diamond hotel’s first Content Marketing Manager, all while grassroots organizing and attending classes at Tulane after hours. A former Americorps Public Ally, KD has a wide range of experiences that have shaped her fluid worldview. From reconnecting opportunity youth to education and employment to managing the buildout of many movement-based organizations’ websites and databases, she is guided by the hopes and courage of those who have fought before and beside us. A mutual aid organizer, KD has worked in solidarity with her impacted hometown to crowdfund and disburse over $100,000 cash and resources to people impacted by Hurricanes Laura, Delta, and Ida. When not serving as the Community Solutions Manager for The Alliance, KD finds herself mothering one little person, gardening, and wikipedia research tangents.is a data worker and Programs Lead at the Data Labelers Association. Since 2018, he has worked inside the hidden human labor that teaches machines how to see, interpret, and decide, translating complex realities into structured data that powers artificial intelligence systems worldwide. His work grows from that lived experience, shaped by the discipline, emotional weight, and quiet expertise of data workers. Today, he focuses on creating space for visibility, dignity, and historical recognition for African workers whose contributions sustain the digital age yet often go unacknowledged.