An Interview with
LIZ PLANK To watch and listen to the full sit down with Liz Plank click here.
You cover a range of topics: Human Rights, Gender Equality, Racial and Cultural Equality and Awareness, Mental Health, Politics and International Relations; how do you keep up to date with all these topics and stay on top of developments and research in all these areas? I’m very lucky to have a community of very informed activists and informers. I trust my feed because I’ve spent years building it following a wide range of academics, social change movers, experts and artists that offer me a wide range of perspectives on issues pertaining to human rights, racial justice, gender equality and reproductive rights as well as disability rights. One of my favourite sources of information is actually a community on Twitter called #cripthevote. That’s where I find some of the most interesting
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and under-reported stories from the disability community. Where did your passion for journalism come from and how has journalism and reporting changed from when you started in the profession till now? I actually entered journalism through the back door. It’s when I was completing my masters in gender theory that I got irritated because the vibrant and engaging conversations that we would have about gender equality would remain within the small academic community and I wondered how could we make this very important conversation more accessible to more people? That’s when I started writing and using the internet to find other writers and activists who were also trying to shift power structures, not just talk about doing it.
You’re accolades are numerous, yet your most proudest accomplishment is being blocked online by the recent American President who has left office in 2021; what makes this accomplishment stand out from the rest? It’s of course a joke that I’m prouder that I was blocked by Donald Trump on Twitter than being recognized in my field, however it is a badge of honor! I spent a lot of time on the campaign trail while I was working for Vox, reporting from Trump rallies, and pressing him on women’s issues at Trump Tower press conferences, but I never thought my persistence would eventually end in him blocking me. But would I do all those things again knowing I would be blocked by a world leader? Absolutely.
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