On one hand, The Guardian’s acknowledgement this past March of its founders’ links to the transatlantic slave trade as part of its Cotton Capital special series and the NYTimes’ publication last year of “The Ransom,” a special series on the reparations that Haiti was forced to pay to France for its independence. On the other hand, a 500 % increase in the use of a racial slur on Twitter following the platform’s take-over earlier this year.
Traditional news media and online media alike have a clear influence on not only drawing and raising attention to the debates and discourses around racial justice, whether in the Global North or South, but also on shaping them. They can also serve as a platform for protest and for the denunciation of racial injustices and they can also vehicle racist discourses, stereotypical narratives, and even enable rising extreme right-wing groups to spread their racial hatred and ideology. Indeed, media today - as ever - are doing more than merely relaying information; they are actors in the fight for reparations and racial justice more broadly.
For its second live Twitter discussion on June 29th at 8:30 pm, the African Futures Lab invites you to a conversation about the role of media in orienting the discourse about race and racial justice in and across Europe and Africa today.
Our discussion will feature two distinguished guests:
Natasha Kimani, Head of Partnerships and Research at Africa No Filter. Africa No Filer is an organization working to shift stereotypical narratives about and within Africa, by investing in creative & media storytellers, narrative research and advocacy efforts. Natasha leads the organization’s efforts to connect and build the field of narrative changemakers to make narratives evidence-based and relevant to African conversations.
Joseph Harker, Senior Editor for diversity and development at The Guardian. Joseph drives the diversity and inclusion strategy within the editorial department of The Guardian, a British newspaper covering political, economical and cultural international actuality. He also contributed to The Guardian’s recent special series Cotton Capital, which analyzed the meaning of reparations for the communities and descendants of transatlantic enslavement. Before joining The Guardian in 2022, Joseph was editor and publisher of the newspaper Black Briton.