Conference Presentations
2025 — AEJMC Annual Conference
“Where Institutions Fell Short: Black Media and the Work of Community-Centered Communication”
August 7–10, 2025
This presentation highlights the role of Black media outlets in filling information gaps during crises, particularly when mainstream institutions failed to meet community needs. It draws attention to how culturally grounded messaging builds trust and mobilizes underserved audiences.
2025 — NCA Annual Conference
“Misinformation, Disinformation, Malinformation, and Race”
November 16–19, 2024
This talk explored how race intersects with misinformation ecosystems, focusing on how racialized communities are uniquely targeted and impacted. It urges scholars to move beyond content accuracy and toward structural analysis of media systems.
2023 — NCA Annual Conference
“From Misinformation to Action: Lessons Learned from COVID-era Black Media on Communicating Public Health Initiatives to Black Viewers”
November 16–19, 2023
This session examined how Black media served as an effective bridge between public health campaigns and Black communities. It framed culturally specific communication as not just effective, but essential.
2023 — AEJMC Annual Conference
“Critical Race Media Literacy for Future Journalists: How CRML Equips Journalism Students to Change the Media Landscape”
August 7–10, 2023
This presentation positioned Critical Race Media Literacy (CRML) as a necessary framework for training the next generation of journalists to identify systemic bias and amplify marginalized perspectives in their reporting.
2022 — NAMLE Virtual Conference
“Power, Prejudice, and Portrayals in News: Teaching Representation from a Critical News Literacy Perspective”
July 15–17, 2022
This talk offered educators a framework for addressing racialized portrayals in broadcast news. It pushed the boundaries of traditional news literacy by asking not just whether stories are credible, but whether they are just.
2021 — Popular Culture Association Virtual Conference
“Empowering Marginalized Creators through Counternarratives”
April 13–16, 2021
This session examined how marginalized communities use digital platforms to produce counternarratives that disrupt dominant media portrayals and claim space for alternative perspectives.
2021 — Mozilla Festival Virtual Conference
“Developing Agency over Media and Media Technologies”
March 7–11, 2021
This presentation unpacked strategies for teaching students how to critically engage with, and push back against, the structures behind media platforms—not just their content.
2021 — NCA Annual Conference, Seattle, WA
“Pop Culture Podcasts: Exploring Black Historical Narratives through a Critical Race Media Lens”
November 18–21, 2021
This session used popular podcasts to demonstrate how Black historical narratives can be embedded in media analysis, helping students connect identity, culture, and power in accessible formats.
2021 — ICA Virtual Conference
“VBStrong: How Local News Stations Created a Platform for a Community to Mourn Victims of a Mass Shooting”
May 27–31, 2021
This talk analyzed how local news responded to the Virginia Beach mass shooting, exploring how the media can serve as a conduit for collective healing.
2021 — Popular Culture Association Virtual Conference
“Out of the Streaming News Silo: Using Participatory Learning to Teach News Literacy”
June 2–5, 2021
This presentation centered on a participatory model that encouraged students to analyze their own news consumption habits while confronting the echo chambers reinforced by algorithmic media.
2020 — Far West PCA/ACA, Las Vegas, NV
“The Role of Mediated Black Hair Portrayals among HBCU Students: A Thematic Analysis”
February 21–23, 2020
This early project investigated how HBCU students perceive and internalize media representations of Black hair, highlighting the psychological and cultural weight media narratives carry in shaping self-image and professionalism.