Benjamin Crump — the renowned civil rights attorney who has represented high-profile victims of police brutality and wrongful death, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Trayvon Martin — delivered a rousing lecture at Stony Brook University, telling the story of what inspired him to become an attorney.
“An Evening with Benjamin Crump,” held on April 7 before a nearly full house at the Student Activities Center, was sponsored by Campus Residences, the Office of Student Life, Student Athlete Development and the Alumni Association. The talk was moderated by Ric McClendon, assistant vice president and dean of students at Stony Brook.
Crump, who has been named one of Ebony magazine’s Power 100 Most Influential African Americans, a Top 100 Lawyer by the National Trial Lawyers, and in 2026 was named National Newspaper Publishers Association’s Top Black Newsmaker of the 21st Century, also spoke about his recently released book Worse Than a Lie (Bantam), a New York Times bestselling legal thriller exploring race, class and justice.
“Tonight is an opportunity for reflection, learning and connection,” said Unity Watts-Bailey, director of residential education for apartments, suites and Southampton campus. “We gather in community to engage with a leader whose work has not only shaped conversations around justice, but has moved them further.”
“I first knew that I wanted to be a lawyer when I was nine years old,” said Crump, who described his early experiences in Lumberton, North Carolina, that shaped his view of justice. “If you remember the Supreme Court decision and Brown vs. the Board of Education, you know they said they would integrate the schools, but they didn’t give a precise date when that had to happen. That ruling happened in 1955, but for Lumberton, integration didn’t happen until 1980.”
As he was bused literally across the tracks from predominantly Black South Lumberton to predominantly white North Lumberton, Crump, then in the fourth grade, saw newer schools, newer facilities, newer technology and newer books on the other side of town.
“I remember asking my mom why one side of town seemed to have it so good, and on the other side of town it was so challenging,” he said. “And my mother said, ‘The reason you get to go to the new school with the newer books is because of Brown vs. the Board of Education and a lawyer named Thurgood Marshall.’ And right then and there, I said, ‘When I grow up, I’m going to become a lawyer like Thurgood Marshall. I’m going to fight for people who live in my community and people who look like me to have an equal opportunity at achieving the American dream.’ And every day I wake up, and I’m never confused about what my mission is in life. I’m fighting for marginalized people.”
Marshall was a civil rights lawyer and jurist who became the Supreme Court’s first African American justice, serving on the Supreme Court from 1967 until 1991.
Worse Than a Lie explores systemic injustices faced by marginalized communities, and Crump highlights the challenges young civil rights lawyers face, including voter suppression, environmental racism and the school-to-prison pipeline. It centers around a Black police officer who is shot 10 times by four white police officers on the evening of the historic election of 2008 when Barack Obama became America’s first Black President.
“When the main character, Beau Lee Cooper, takes this case against the Chicago machine, he understands early on that to beat a broken system, he’s going to need more than just the truth,” said Crump. “He has a Puerto Rican woman as his co-counsel, and his two investigators are returning citizens. I did that intentionally, because we have to be able to show people in our community that ‘the machine’ doesn’t get to define our legacy or our destiny.”
In the book, the investigators are young Black men who got caught in the system and were convicted of drug dealing when they were young, ultimately serving their time and getting out. Crump said he wanted to illustrate the possibility of humanity and redemption.
“I tried to say, ‘even though society has written them off as convicted felons with no redeeming qualities, couldn’t they still become constructive citizens?’ That’s one of the things I tried to create in the book. I was trying to say ‘we can do this together.’”
When asked about the title, Crump said, “What’s worse than a lie is when you are telling the truth and no one believes you.” He also spoke about the influence legendary civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson, who passed away in February 2026, had on his career.
“Jesse Jackson was not just a mentor, he was an engaging human being, and we fought a lot of campaigns all across America,” said Crump. “About five years ago, we were working on a case where Black insurance agents brought a class action lawsuit for pay discrimination, because they were making less than their white colleagues. We were in Chicago, and I asked Reverend Jackson if he would come to court with us.”
Four hours into arguing a difficult and draining motion, Crump’s team had a break, and his co-counsel commented, “This isn’t turning out well for us.”
“Reverend Jackson sensed it,” remembered Crump. “He pulled me into the corner and said, ‘Attorney Crump, you must always remember you don’t drown because the water is deep; you drown because you stop kicking. Our people can never see their leaders stop kicking. Our people can never see the people who inspire them stop kicking. Whatever you do, keep kicking. I don’t care what the circumstances are; you keep kicking. If you keep kicking, I promise you, you will make it to the other shore. If you keep kicking, we will overcome.”
The words proved pivotal not only to the case but to the way Crump would approach his legal defenses.
“I couldn’t believe I had just gotten a pep talk from Jesse Jackson,” he said. “But we went back into that courtroom renewed, and we kept kicking. And the judge denied their motion to dismiss, and those Black insurance agents got to have their day in court. And that’s the legacy of Reverend Jesse Jackson. We just got to keep kicking.”
— Robert Emproto
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