{"id":7844,"date":"2016-10-20T17:06:58","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T17:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/?p=7844"},"modified":"2016-10-20T17:06:58","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T17:06:58","slug":"jsu-celebrates-the-legacy-of-the-black-press-at-jackson-state-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/2016\/10\/20\/jsu-celebrates-the-legacy-of-the-black-press-at-jackson-state-university\/","title":{"rendered":"JSU celebrates the legacy of the black press at Jackson State University"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Panelists discuss the importance of black in the media. Photo: Chelsey Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Special to the Flash<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mississippi Humanities Council partnered with Jackson State University to host a symposium, Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Press on JSU\u2019s main and downtown campuses.<\/p>\n

The symposium is a part of a yearlong, national observance of the Pulitzer Prize centennial, designed to inspire the next generation of journalism and humanities students to understand and examine the values exhibited by Pulitzer-worthy work.<\/p>\n

Stuart Rockoff, the executive director of the MHC, said the symposium and the MHC each \u201ccreate opportunities for Mississippians to learn about themselves in a larger world and to enrich communities through civil conversations about our history and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rockoff said the MHC wanted to hold an event acknowledging the importance of black journalism in the struggle for equal rights in Mississippi.<\/p>\n

Author and black press scholar LaShonda Katrice Barnett gave the keynote address. Barnett is a visiting professor at Northwestern University and the author of the award-winning novel \u201cJam on the Vine\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Jam on the Vine\u2019 is what I would like to call a valentine for the black press,\u201d Barnett said, going on to laud Mississippian Ida B. Wells as the founder of investigative reporting for her coverage of lynching\u2019s throughout the southeast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought to myself: if I ever write a novel, I\u2019m going to write about the black press,\u201d she said. \u201cIn my mind, the black press is the most important racial self-help institution to emerge in black America,\u201d said Barnett.<\/p>\n

After her keynote speech, Barnett joined a panel comprised of educators and students interested in the black press, intersectional media and the power of journalism. The panel included JSU senior mass communication majors Gerald Harris and Deirdra Harris Glover.<\/p>\n

Will Norton, dean of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi, said he was inspired by John Perkins to stay and effect change in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of our problems in the United States have to do with what we\u2019re used to, what we get acculturated to. We have to be exposed to one another to understand each other\u2019s worlds or this culture will be in serious trouble. It is in serious trouble,\u201d said Norton.<\/p>\n

Harris, a Nashville, Tenn. native said, \u201cAs an African-American, will I have the same opportunities to story-tell in a market or to show what I can do rather than chase crime, knocking on doors? The media matters, I matter and we need to support each and every real journalist out there,\u201d said Harris.<\/p>\n

Harris Glover, a native of Jackson, Miss. agrees. \u201cI believe journalism is public service… I want to be a part of a press that is cognizant that we all have bias, that we are gatekeepers and shapers of perception.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elayne Hayes-Anthony, dean of the JSU School of Journalism and Media Studies said that black media ought not wait for an invitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a place for us at the table. I don\u2019t think we need to figure out where that place is: I think we just need to take that place and become the journalists that we can become,\u201d said Anthony.<\/p>\n

Chelsey Jones contributed to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Special to the Flash The Mississippi Humanities Council partnered with Jackson State University to host a symposium, Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Press on JSU\u2019s main and downtown campuses. The symposium is a part of a yearlong, national observance of the Pulitzer Prize centennial, designed to inspire the next generation of journalism and humanities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-events","7":"category-campus-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7844\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}