ABS 2018 – Jesse Washington: Navigating Discourse on Race Within the Politicized Landscape of Journalism

“Navigating Discourse on Race Within the Politicized Landscape of Journalism” is a talk delivered by Jesse Washington at the Association for Baha’i Studies Conference in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) in August 2018. In this talk, Jesse Washington talks about the benefits of maintaining an open mind and conversing with those who hold opposing viewpoints to your own. He discussing the effects of spiritual principles on journalism and offers some experiences of how he deals with deeply flawed and racist ideals with love as a journalist. 

Jesse Washington has worked for The New York Times and The Associated Press (AP). At the end of 1996, Jesse became managing editor of Vibe. In 1998, he was named founding editor-in-chief of the Vibe spinoff Blaze, the largest magazine launch of the year and the biggest music magazine launch ever. In 2003, Jesse returned to AP as Entertainment Editor, supervising a team in New York and Los Angeles covering film, television, music and celebrities. Jesse’s first novel, Black Will Shoot, was published in 2008. Later that year—three months before the election of the first black president — he began covering race for AP. In 2011, Jesse won a National Journalism Award from the Asian-American Journalists Association and was named Journalist of the Year by the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. At the end of 2015, Jesse left AP to work for ESPN’s The Undefeated, a platform for exploring the intersections of race, sports and culture.

This talk was filmed at the Association for Baha’i Studies Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in August 2018.

The Association for Baha’i Studies (ABS) promotes the advanced study of the Baha’i Faith and its application to the needs of humanity, it holds an annual conference and sponsors seminars and symposia, engaging participants from all over North America. It publishes a peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Baha’i Studies, occasional books and monographs, as well as other publications. It is also engaged in a number of initiatives to advance Baha’i studies among students and young adults and to stimulate broader interest in Baha’i studies.

You may also enjoy this Baha’i Blog video about the ABS conference: Baha’i Blog Attends the Association for Baha’i Studies Conference

For more Baha’i-inspired talks you can check out our Soundcloud playlist, and our Youtube channel.

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Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.