Media 2070: An Invitation to Dream Up Media Reparations

Alicia Bell — A child of ancestors from Mississippi and the Carolinas, Alicia works at the intersections of afrofuturist imagination, journalism, land, food and all the spaces in between. With Free Press, they organize communities around information equity and power sharing in an effort to transform the future of journalism to one that’s more community rooted. Alicia learned community building and changemaking through electoral organizing in North Carolina; parent, student and youth organizing in New York; and housing, health and police-accountability organizing in Oakland. Outside of work, Alicia finds joy in raising their three niblings, laughing with their family, throwing down with their gardening collective, Angelou House, and spending time with big bodies of nature.

Joseph Torres — Joseph advocates in Washington to ensure that our nation’s media policies serve the public interest and builds coalitions to broaden the movement’s base. Joseph writes frequently on media and internet issues and is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media. He is the 2015 recipient of the Everett C. Parker Award, which recognizes an individual whose work embodies the principles and values of the public interest. Before joining Free Press, Joseph worked as deputy director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Born and raised in New York City, Joseph is Puerto Rican.

Collette Watson — Collette is a native of Gullah country, South Carolina, who has worked with Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) and now Free Press to channel the power of creative and cultural arts for Black liberation. Collette’s practice is informed by over a decade as an award-winning indie soul musician and communications strategist. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and graduate of Howard University, and her favorite pastimes are nature walks with the hubster, red rice-eating and dancing it out to a fonky beat.

Tauhid Chappell — Tauhid is a project manager for Free Press’ News Voices project, focusing on the program’s Philadelphia initiative to reimagine how the city’s local newsrooms approach their coverage of crime, violence and the criminal justice and carceral systems. An eight-year veteran of the media industry, he most recently worked as a social-media editor at The Washington Post before joining The Philadelphia Inquirer as an engagement editor. Tauhid is also an executive board member of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ), the first and oldest association of Black journalists in the country and founding chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Diamond Hardiman — Diamond works as a manager for Free Press’ News Voices: Colorado project in collaboration with community members to envision a transformative local news. She aims to participate in the creation of a world where freedom is noncontingent — but rather, an inevitable necessity. In service of this vision she has worked as a tenants’ rights advocate and bail abolitionist in St. Louis and as an advocate for people sentenced to execution by the state in Jackson, Mississippi. Diamond earned a B.A. in African American studies and political science from Saint Louis University. In her free time, she enjoys pondering womanist and liberation theology, listening to Megan Thee Stallion and admiring beauty wherever it appears.

Christina Pierce — Raised in the Midwest by two Carolinians, Christina coordinates all things operations, specifically IT, database management and special projects. Before joining Free Press, Christina served as an AmeriCorps member with City Year at a high school in D.C. Christina supports logistics in several aspects of her life, including local Black-owned restaurant events and church. Outside of work, Christina can be found long-distance running, imagining new apps and learning the ukulele.