Kevin Jenkins
Kevin D. Jenkins is an American social media influencer and former CEO of Urban Global Health Alliance (dissolved). He has been identified as a major promoter of misinformation about vaccines, especially targeting the African-American population.[1][2][3]
Jenkins has been called one of the "Disinformation Dozen", twelve individuals collectively responsible for 65% of COVID-19 anti-vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories on the internet and social media, according to a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) in 2021.[4][5] The CCDH report said Jenkins berated octogenarian Black civil rights leaders Hank Aaron, Billye Suber Aaron, Andrew Young, Xernona Clayton, Louis Wade Sullivan, and Andrew Young, for participating in a COVID-19 vaccine event on January 5, 2021, to show Black Americans that the shots were safe.[6][7] Jenkins posted on Facebook, "I told you all from the beginning they were going to pay off Black so-called leaders to trick you into becoming permit slaves! They are our modern-day slave catchers!!!!"[5] The following day, Jenkins spoke on stage at the January 6th rallies and told the crowd that "Black people are being targeted with the vaccine."[5] He was also a speaker at a large anti-vaccination rally on January 23, 2022, in Washington.[8]
In 2021, Jenkins co-produced a video — Medical Racism: The New Apartheid that promotes conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines[9] — alongside Nation of Islam's Tony Muhammad. The film promotes "conspiratorial claims about a government-sponsored depopulation plot that targets Black people."[10]
References
- Zadrozny, Brandy; Adams, Char (March 11, 2021). "Covid's devastation on Black community used as 'marketing' in new anti-vaccine film". NBC News.
- Jarry, Jonathan (March 31, 2021). "A Dozen Misguided Influencers Spread Most of the Anti-Vaccination Content on Social Media". Office for Science and Society - McGill University.
- Marchman, Tim (25 January 2022). "At DC Rally, Anti-Vaxxers Claim the Legacy of Slavery and the Holocaust (Again and Again and Again)". Vice. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- Salam, Erum (17 July 2021). "Majority of Covid misinformation came from 12 people, report finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- "The Disinformation Dozen". Center for Countering Digital Hate. 24 March 2021.
- Warren, Michael; Harris, Ron (January 5, 2021). "Hank Aaron, civil rights leaders get vaccinated in Georgia". AP News.
- "Aaron gets COVID vaccine, promotes its safety". ESPN. January 5, 2021.
- Mettler, Katie; Johnson, Lizzie; Moyer, Justin; Contrera, Jessica; Davies, Emily; Silverman, Ellie; Harmann, Peter; Jamieson, Peter (23 January 2022). "Anti-vaccine activists march in D.C. — a city that mandates coronavirus vaccination — to protest mandates". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
- Stone, Will (June 8, 2021). "An Anti-Vaccine Film Targeted To Black Americans Spreads False Information". NPR.
- "Nation of Islam Pushes Anti-COVID-19 Vaccine Message, Alongside Conspiracy Theorists". Anti-Defamation League. November 8, 2021.