The activist MC and Danny Glover will no longer address the graduating class at University of California, Berkeley.
Boots Riley, the Marxist, activist leader of hip hop group The Coup, has backed out of plans to deliver the keynote speech at at UC-Berkeley’s Black Graduation Ceremony on May 12.
Actor Danny Glover has also decided not to participate in this weekend’s commencement. Both men have withdrawn their services in order to show solidarity to the University of California’s Custodians Union, which has been embroiled in a year-and-a-half-long struggle for higher wages.
Riley, who was given the theme of “Revolution: Command Change” for a speech, said that he would deliver the address as planned if both sides agreed on a contract in time. The custodians at the Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and Irvine campuses allegedly make four to six dollars less per hour than neighboring institutions.