On today’s episode of What’s Next? Thomas O’Neil White and Angelea Preston sit down with the new President of the National Association of Black Journalists I’Jaz Ja’ciel. The three have an in-depth conversation about the state of black journalism in WNY, Buffalo Media, and the obstacles black journalists face in WNY and beyond.
More from I'Jaz Ja'ciel
After the episode, we continued our conversation with I'Jaz Ja'ciel to find out what she's reading, listening to, and more.
Books:
"W.E.B. Du Bois's Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America" by Britt Rusert and Whitney Battle-Baptiste
"The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story" by Nikole Hannah-Jones
Movies:
"The Haunting"
"When I was a little girl, I used to watch that movie when I came home from school every day. I thought that was a perfectly normal thing for a child to do."
What aren't people talking about enough:
"On a local level, I think there needs to be a greater conversation about improving the quality of housing. Housing is one of the most detrimental things that many residents within the city of Buffalo are facing. We get lauded and praised for our affordable housing, but the standard in which many people have to live is not up to par. So in terms of rentership and homeownership, we have to do better.
On a social level, I think there's always room for conversations around equity no matter what industry or field you're in. Just really being an advocate for people - even if they don't have your shared experience or come from where you're coming from - allyship is the most important part of any fight for any form of justice. I think we should be talking about how we can work together. There's so much divisiveness that has been fueling the world, politics, and the people. We just have to bring it back together. We're all working toward a common goal, I feel. As different as we all are, I think at the core, we all want the same things."
