ADVISORY: Media 2070 Announces Full Slate of Events for Black Narrative Power Month

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Free Press’ Media 2070 team announced a full schedule of events in honor of Black Narrative Power Month. Presented in collaboration with MediaJustice and the Movement for Black Lives, the series honors the legacy and future of Black narrative power by highlighting the different contributions that journalists, storytellers, activists and others are making to achieve media reparations and create a more just and equitable media system.  

The series kicked off on Tuesday evening with “The Things We Carry With Us,” a Zoom discussion of what the future of media will look like when media reparations are secured for centuries of harm inflicted on Black people. The event was preceded by a Twitter storm in which people used the hashtag #BlackFutureHeadlines to share headlines from a future where Black reparations are real.

The full list of upcoming events appears below:

Tues., Feb. 16:
Clubhouse chat: “The Resistance: Black Journalists Uprising in Media”
WHAT: Anti-Blackness is encoded in the U.S. media system but Black media-makers have consistently fought back. Join a conversation on the lineage of today’s newsroom uprisings featuring a panel of journalists who have helped spark meaningful change.
WHEN: 6–7:30 p.m. ET
WHO: Erin B. Logan (Los Angeles Times)
Alexis Johnson (VICE)
Tauhid Chappell (Media 2070)
Moderator: Chenjerai Kumanyika (Rutgers University and the NPR podcasts Uncivil, Seeing White and Louder Than a Riot)
HOW TO JOIN: RSVP here.

Tues., Feb. 23:
Facebook Live roundtable: “Reclaiming Our Story”
WHAT: Movement journalists and activists discuss narratives that have perpetuated oppression and highlight narrative shifts that have helped make justice real.
WHEN: 6 p.m. ET
WHO: Presented by Media 2070 and MediaJustice
Panelists:
Mia Birdsong (Economic Security Project)
Anoa Changa (The Way With Anoa)
Diamond Hardiman (Media 2070)
Tia Oso (ACRE)
DaLyah Jones (Texas Observer)
Bridget Todd (UltraViolet, host of There Are No Girls on the Internet podcast)
HOW TO JOIN: RSVP here.

Fri., Feb. 26:
Clubhouse Chat: Afrofuturism Readings
WHAT: A reading of Afrofuturist works by movement organizers and leaders. Movement for Black Lives will read selected pieces and solicit original pieces by members of its ecosystem and beyond. Read a passage from your favorite Octavia Butler novel, a poem, a rap lyric, a recipe for a dish that you know will make it into future Black households, etc.
WHEN: 6 p.m. ET
WHO: Media 2070 and the Movement for Black Lives
HOW TO JOIN: Sign on to the speakers list.

Media 2070 is a project of Free Press, a nonpartisan organization fighting for people’s rights to connect and communicate. For more information about Black Narrative Power Month or to speak with leaders of the Media 2070 team, please contact Chelsea Fuller at chelsea@teamblackbird.org.