Allissa Richardson. Photo by DaJuana Jones.
The Annual Morgan Lecture
Richardson will explore how in the last five years Black smartphone witnesses launched the largest social justice movement in American history. In her new book,
Bearing Witness While Black: African Americans, Smartphones and the New Protest Journalism, Richardson explains why we cannot ignore the mobile testimonies of the afflicted and what is at risk when we do.
Richardson is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her research focuses on how African Americans use mobile and social media to produce innovative forms of journalism, especially in times of crisis. She is considered a pioneer in mobile journalism (MOJO), having launched the first smartphone-only college newsroom in 2010. She expanded the MOJO Lab curriculum throughout Africa, creating classes for allied nonprofit organizations in Morocco and South Africa.