# Khymani James

Khymani James (born circa 2004) is an undergraduate student at Columbia University and a former student representative to the Boston School Committee. He is most known for leading the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupation as a spokesperson for Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD). He gained notoriety for a video in which he made inflammatory and hateful remarks about Zionists.

## Personal life

James spent most of his childhood in Dorchester and a South Boston housing development. After his mother, who was Jamaican, died when he was 12, he lived with a number of family and friends. One of them abruptly kicked him out on Easter morning in 2016. He was 12 years old at the time. He was then raised by an aunt where he lived with two cousins. He identifies as "a first-generation African-Caribbean gay Black male."
He attended Dever Elementary, UP Academy Boston, and Boston Latin Academy. His sixth grade teacher described him as gifted but someone who struggled with authority, and that he frequently had detention. While a high school student, he said that "the ultimate destination is Congress." James was also vice president of Latin Academy's Black Student Union and captain of the school dance team.

## Boston Public Schools

While a student at Boston Latin Academy, James was elected by his peers to be a non-voting member of the Boston School Committee. His approach was described as "more confrontational" than that of the adults he served alongside. He said he "chose not to practice respectability politics because it wasn’t getting anyone anywhere." His Twitter following grew to 1,500 during this time and he led press conferences.
He served on the School Committee from the fall of 2020 to March 2021. He then resigned, saying that the district was trying to disrespectfully silence him and was using "adultist rhetoric." He also resigned from the District Student Advisory Council. In June 2021, he attended a virtual meeting of the School Committee where he ended his remarks by saying "I, too, hate white people."

## Columbia University

James matriculated at Columbia University in the fall of 2021. He majored in economics and political science.

### Call for the death of Zionists

As a student, James posted on social media that "Zionists in my DM wanting to meet up and fight. I don’t fight to injure or for there to be a winner or a loser, I fight to kill." University officials called him into a disciplinary meeting in January 2024 to discuss the post, and James recorded it.
At that meeting he made a number of incendiary comments, including "Zionists don’t deserve to live" and "Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists." When an administrator asked "Do you see why that is problematic in any way?" James responded with "No." He added that Zionists were like Nazis and said "I feel very comfortable, very comfortable, calling for those people to die."
Joe Biden's administration condemned the remarks. James apologized when the remarks were publicized in April 2024. James said on X: "I affirm the sanctity of all life and the movement for liberation."
Columbia then suspended him and banned him from the campus, saying that "calls of violence and statements targeted at individuals based on their religious, ethnic or national identity are unacceptable and violate university policy."

### Gaza Solidarity Encampment

James was a leader of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on campus in April 2024. When three Jewish students visited the camp, James used a human microphone to assemble a crowd of 75 other students to push the Jewish students out of the camp. James first announced that "We have Zionists who have entered the camp." He then asked the crowd to link arms and then take steps forward "to push them out of the camp." One of the Jewish students said that James "put a target on our back."
When a Columbia alumnus jumped the fence surrounding the encampment, unfurled an Israeli flag, and tried to speak with those in the encampment, James blocked his efforts. James is quoted as saying in regards to the matter that "We don't engage with Zionists."