Over 50 years ago, the Kerner Commission was convened by President Lyndon Johnson after protests and rebellions in over 150 American cities in the 1960s. The Commission concluded that the cause of the disorder was “white racism.” In the words of the Commission, “It is time to make good the promises of American democracy to all citizens – urban and rural, white and black, Spanish surname, American Indian and every minority group.” Over the last 50 years, we have assembled considerable evidence on what works to reduce racial injustice and economic inequality – yet we have not implemented all of those policies in part because we have not fully achieved what the Kerner Commission called “new will” from the American public.

Please join The Norman Lear Center’s Hollywood, Health & Society as our panelists discuss these issues and the way forward. The webinar is being co-presented by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Trustees of the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation, the Writers Guild of America, and Harvardwood. There will be special remarks from Alan Curtis of the Eisenhower Foundation, and Norman Lear.

Panelists:

• Jelani Cobb (moderator): staff writer at The New Yorker magazine; editor of The Essential Kerner Commission Report; professor of journalism at Columbia University.
• Kenya Barris: creator/former showrunner of ABC’s comedy Black-ish; executive-producer of #BlackAF (Netflix), Grown-ish (Freeform), and Mixed-ish (ABC).
• Elle Johnson: TV writer and author, with credits including police procedurals such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, and The Glades, as well as her first book, The Officer’s Daughter: A Memoir of Family and Forgiveness.
• Tara Duncan: president of Freeform channel; creator Onyx Collective committed to inclusive storytelling from creators of color and underrepresented voices.
• Franklin Leonard: film and TV producer, cultural commentator and entrepreneur; founder and CEO of the Black List supporting screenwriters.

RSVP