Annenberg Conversations on Race: Taking Race Seriously in Contemporary Content Distribution

Featuring Jeanine D. Liburd, Maori Karmael Holmes, Jasmine E. Johnson, and Aymar Jean Christian (Ph.D. '12)

About the Conversation

This conversation will address taking race seriously in contemporary content distribution. What are the challenges of marketing black content? What difference does gender/sexuality make to filmmakers trying to reach audiences? Is there a difference in such discussions between film, TV, theater, and/or online venues?

About the Speakers

Jeanine D. Liburd

Jeanine D. Liburd is the Chief Social Impact and Communications Officer for BET Networks, a unit of Viacom Inc. and the leading provider of quality entertainment for the African-American audience and consumers of Black culture globally. In her role, Liburd leads and elevates a portfolio of multiplatform social change initiatives that empower BET Networks' audience to have an impact on the critical issues facing the Black community today, while also leading the network’s corporate communications, social responsibility, and events teams. Read more about Liburd.

Maori Karmael Holmes

Annenberg School Mediamaker-in-Residence, Maori Karmael Holmes is a curator, filmmaker, and writer. She is founder and Artistic Director/CEO of BlackStar Projects, which produces the widely-acclaimed BlackStar Film Festival and Seen: A Journal of Film and Visual Culture as well as other programs. She has organized programs in film at a myriad of organizations, and her films have screened internationally, including her feature documentary Scene Not Heard: Women in Philadelphia Hip-Hop (2006). Read more about Holmes.

Jasmine E. Johnson

Jasmine Elizabeth Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment at the Annenberg School. Her work explores the politics of black movement including dance, diasporic travel, and gentrification. Johnson's interdisciplinary research and teaching are situated at the intersection of diaspora theory, dance and performance studies, ethnography, and black feminisms. Her first book project, Rhythm Nation: West African Dance and the Politics of Diaspora, is a transnational ethnography on the industry of West African dance. Read more about Johnson.

Aymar Jean Christian (Ph.D. '12)

Annenberg alum Aymar Jean "AJ" Christian is an associate professor of communication studies at Northwestern University, a Fellow at the Peabody Media Center, and an alum of the Annenberg School. His first book, Open TV: Innovation Beyond Hollywood and the Rise of Web Television on New York University Press, argues the web brought innovation to television by opening development to independent producers. He leads OTV | Open Television, a research project and platform for intersectional television. Read more about Christian.

About Annenberg Conversations

A new series at the Annenberg School, Annenberg Conversations engage Communication research and scholarship on topical issues together with a wide variety of individuals outside of Annenberg — including academics, activists, artists, and many others. During the 2020-21 academic year, the topic will be race in America.

Annenberg Conversations on Race events are dialogues designed to examine the current state of anti-Black racism in various sectors of society. Each conversation will feature a member of the Annenberg Community together with one or more interlocutors from outside the school, drawing upon diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise that highlight the role of communication and mass mediation in processes of racism and racialization.   

These conversations will provide space to speak and listen together to engage the myriad tensions and intersections of communication themes and racial formations.

Future conversations include:

• April 2: "Re-imagining Connections between Academia and Activism" — Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Jessa Lingel