Creativity, Content, and News
/ Policy Agenda / Issues
It’s not just BET and Univision anymore….
Communities of color appreciate the important programming that our iconic channels have brought (and continue to bring) to our television screens for years. But we know that it’s going to take a lot more space to contain our boundless creativity, the diverse stories we are longing to tell, and the expressive work that many of us are already driving on new platforms including Blavity, Mitu and YouTube. From the “black Netflix” to “Cholos Try,” to the rags to riches story of Issa Rae’s Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl to HBO’s Insecure, we are proving that we have an audience hungry for our content.
And it’s not just entertainment, we’ve been fighting for media representation that allows us to share information accurately and completely since our nation’s beginnings.
It was the WLBT-TV case brought by the United Church of Christ Office of Communications and the NAACP, arguing that there is a public interest in the ownership and content of broadcast television. It was the rise of the ethnic printed press. It was the birth of associations to represent the journalists of color who needed support to flourish in the newsroom.
Today it’s all of that, but it’s also the Angry Asian Man, and the VerySmartBrothas, and Latina.com. It’s Politically Re-Active, and Stuff Mom Never Told You, and Black Joy Mixtape. The internet has opened up unprecedented means for communities of color to share news and information in a culturally-relevant, rich and whole manner.
