Description
The first big uprising against police violence in Los Angeles came in 1965 in Watts. Today’s Black Lives Matter protests are broader and more promising, but the challenges are no less daunting. Moderated by USC Annenberg School of Communication Director Josh Kun, this seminar shares stories and perspectives from the authors of Set the Night on Fire (Mike Davis and Jon Wiener); N•gga Theory (USC Gould Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law Jody David Armour); and Bearing Witness While Black (USC Annenberg Assistant Professor Dr. Allissa V. Richardson).
Who Will Benefit
– Those looking to explore the role that protest history plays in today’s Black Lives Matter uprisings
– Writers and journalists looking for advice on how to capture these historical social movements
– Those wanting to learn more about the resurgence of independent Black storytelling and reporting on social media
About Our Featured Faculty
Allissa V. Richardson is an assistant professor of journalism at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She researches how African Americans use mobile and social media to produce innovative forms of journalism — especially in times of crisis. Richardson is the author of Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones and the New Protest #Journalism (Oxford University Press, 2020). Her research is informed by her award-winning work as a journalism innovator, and she is considered a pioneer in mobile journalism (MOJO), having launched the world’s first smartphone-only college newsrooms in 2010, in the U.S., Morocco and South Africa. Richardson holds a PhD in Journalism Studies from the University of Maryland College Park, a master’s degree in magazine publishing from Northwestern University’s Medill School and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Xavier University of Louisiana, where she was named a “Top 40 Under 40” alumna.
Jody David Armour is the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at the USC Gould School of Law. He has been a member of the faculty since 1995, and his expertise ranges from personal injury claims to claims about the relationship between racial justice, criminal justice and the rule of law. Armour studies the intersection of race and legal decision-making as well as torts and tort reform movements. A widely published scholar and popular lecturer, Armour is a Soros Justice Senior Fellow of The Open Society Institute’s Center on Crime, Communities and Culture. Armour earned his AB degree in sociology at Harvard University and his JD degree with honors from Boalt Hall Law School at UC Berkeley. Prior to joining USC, he was an associate at Morrison & Foerster, Kirkpatrick and Lockhart and taught at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall, Indiana University and the University of Pittsburgh.
Josh Kun is a professor and director of the USC Annenberg School for Journalism and Communication, where he is also Chair in Cross-Cultural Communication. He is an author and editor of many books and anthologies, and the curator of numerous art, music and public humanities projects. Kun’s research and practice focuses on the arts, music and politics of cultural connection, with an emphasis on archives, global migration and Los Angeles. He has worked with The Getty Foundation, SFMOMA, the Grammy Museum, the California African American Museum, The Vincent Price Museum of Art and more. He co-curates CALA Crossfade Lab and directs The Popular Music Project of the Norman Lear Center.
