A Path Forward

Photo of four people holding signs for Black Lives Matter and racial justice

As an academic community, the most important thing we can continue to do is to fill this moment with the strength of our collective voices.

We must not only condemn the killing of Black Americans and the continued violence against and harassment of people of color, we must use our voices to demand change and take actions to ensure that change begins — and does not stop — with us. Reporting, witnessing and analyzing networks of communion and community, while speaking truth to power, is what we do. And this has never been more important than right now. 
 
We have created this page to provide the USC Annenberg community with a space to come together — to actively, openly and compassionately engage with issues of racial justice. 

To begin, we have a growing body of work that Miki Turner, assistant professor of professional practice, has started with our students to help them seize this moment and to elevate their voices. We are also including the work of our faculty, staff, alumni and wider community, who are using their research, practice, teaching and scholarship to navigate this ongoing crisis.

Photo by Miki Turner.

 

Community Voices

Photo of a Black Lives Matter protest on the street where a person sits on top of a car with a sign that says #BlackLivesMatter

Signs of the times

“These, my friends, are the signs of the times. America is under arrest — literally and figuratively. The senseless slayings of Black people by policeman and ordinary citizens; a president who’d rather deflect than reflect and do his job; a contagion that is killing us physically and spiritually and a nation that can’t get out of its own way long enough to heal from all of wounds of the past and present. These shots were taken in downtown Los Angeles and the Miracle Mile/Fairfax district.” —Miki Turner, assistant professor of professional practice

Photo of a Black police officer in front of a crowd of protesters

The mornings after the nights before

“I decided to do a photographic, journalistic essay as a way to process, highlight and reflect upon some of the aspects of the current crisis. Following scholars like Les Black, the idea is to develop a sociological lens through which to better understand the social world, using our ethnographic eyes and ears. All photos were taken over many, many hours between Friday, May 29 and Sunday, May 31, 2020, in downtown Los Angeles, using a Samsung S8 phone. No filters, cropping or adjustments have been made to the images other than my decision as to what to photograph, when and from what angle.” —Ben Carrington, associate professor of journalism and sociology

In the Media

Los Angeles Times
L.A. police killings: Tracking homicides in Los Angeles County since 2000
June 9, 2020

Los Angeles Times data journalists Iris Lee and Andrea Roberson, both of whom teach as adjunct instructors at USC Annenberg, helped build a webpage tracking police killings in L.A. County over the last 20 years.

Deadspin
Colin Kaepernick tried to save George Floyd. They called him 'son of a bitch' and took his career.
May 30, 2020

Rob Parker wrote an essay for Deadspin on how the killing of George Floyd proves that Colin Kaepernick was right to protest police brutality — a protest that cost him his job.

The Conversation
Why cellphone videos of black people’s deaths should be considered sacred, like lynching photographs
May 28, 2020

Allissa Richardson wrote an article for The Conversation that explores how technology complicates Black witnessing of police and vigilante violence.

Public Books
The Big Picture: The Promise of Sanctuary
November 20, 2017

Hector Amaya wrote an article in Public Books on the erosion of liberalism and the rise of nativism in the United States.