INTRODUCTION

In the news, Vondale Singleton, founder and CEO at the Champs Male Mentoring Program, sees Black bodies portrayed as “inferior, negative, barbaric and ignorant.” Josh McGee, a now former reporter at Injustice Watch, said he receives “a lot of negative perceptions about my community, people who look like me and people who remind me of me” from the news, which he considers a vital resource. The news portrays Black and brown youths as violent, said Yaseen Abdus-Saboor, a former coordinator for My Brother’s Keeper Chicago, who claims that he never sees stories about positive things happening in the communities.

When his grandfather sits and watches the news all day, Kenneth Nole, now the former MBK Chicago founding program manager, said, “He just wants to see what’s happening, but then also you see that negativity that flows through the television changes the tone in the house. It changes the tone in the neighborhood. It also gives us negative images about what’s happening with our Black and brown young men.”

When asked about portrayals of boys and young men of color compared to the reality of their lived experiences, participants in conversations with Public Narrative on behalf of MBK Chicago and Public Narrative didn’t have many good things to say.

Participants said “success stories” tend to focus on one-in-a-million examples, such as the experiences of celebrity athletes LeBron James or Anthony Davis. And even those types of stories are overwhelmed by negative stories about crime, violence and gangs. Overall, portrayals of men and boys of color in the media tend to be overly skewed toward simplified narratives: angels or devils, stars or criminals, they said.

Participants suggest that these tired narratives have a real-world impact, with fewer role models leading fewer boys and young men to see their potential. “We will see coverage over obviously the death of a young man, or [young men] being perpetrators of violence. We will see stories that cover men that are incredible athletes, and … that cover the young men who may do something really, really, really extraordinary, and those are rare,” said Adeshina Emmanuel, the now former editor-in-chief at Injustice Watch. “But we don’t see stories around the everyday humanity of boys and young men of color.”

And that’s important. “I see our young men as the assets that we need for this city, and I have seen them thrive in spaces where their humanity is celebrated,” he added. Showing other role models and paths for success, rather than only “very singular instances of Black people having success,” could help more Black boys find opportunities for themselves but could also help influence or change their communities for the better, said Matt Harvey, a writer for The TRiiBE.

More media education could bring more men of color into media and, ultimately, into leadership positions in which they can expand the narratives about their communities; or it could help others, in all professions, succeed in getting their stories told, participants said. What’s needed, they said, is more capital, more training and better mentorship to enable people of color to tell their stories and those of their community, which are currently missing from local coverage.

Methodology

Intending to grow truer, more representative narratives about boys and young men of color in media, Public Narrative facilitated a series of three conversations (listening sessions) on behalf of MBK Chicago with the support of the National Association of Black Journalists Chicago Chapter on June 16, 2021, to understand:

1. How boys and young men of color are portrayed in Chicago media

2. How that compares to the lived experiences of those in communities of color

3. What Public Narrative and the MBK Chicago community can do to grow representations and narratives that better reflect reality

Eleven people participated in the conversations, including male journalists of color and people working to improve the lives of boys and young men of color. Transcripts of these conversations were the basis for the observations and conclusions included in this report.

Participants included:

Group 1:

Chris Goins, impact leader at MBK Chicago, now former since the publication of this report/listening session facilitator

Adeshina “Ade” Emmanuel, editorin-chief at Injustice Watch, now former since the publication of this report

Carlos Ballesteros, reporter at Injustice Watch

Matt Harvey, writer at The TRiiBE

Group 2:

Yaseen Abdus-Saboor, DePaul University graduate and MBK coordinator, now former since the publication of this report/listening session facilitator

Brandon Pope, president of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago, a My Brother’s Keeper Alliance’s Narrative Change Committee member; a writer for Ebony magazine and a reporter at CW26 and WCIU in Chicago, now former since the publication of this report

Judy Touzin, founder of the ExceptionAL Project and a former educator

Evan F. Moore, reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, now former since the publication of this report

Group 3:

Dr. Kenneth Nole, founding program manager at MBK Chicago, now former since the publication of this report/ listening session facilitator

Josh McGhee, reporter at Injustice Watch, now former since the publication of this report

Vondale Singleton, founder and CEO at the Champs Male Mentoring Program in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood in Chicago

Olivia Obineme, manager of partnerships and local content at Better Government Association, now former since the publication of this report

Bradley Johnson, director of external affairs at Build Chicago, now former since the publication of this report

It may also be useful to consider how participants get their news, as news consumers, to contextualize their perceptions of media portrayals. The most common way that participants get their news is through social media, with seven referencing social media. But participants represented a range of news consumption, including legacy (print and broadcast), new media, local, national and international outlets. Some follow much more news, while other participants say they don’t seek out the news at all.

Two participants said they intend to follow individual reporters, rather than their news organizations. Judy Touzin, founder of the ExceptionAL Project and a former educator, doesn’t follow the news, relying instead on referrals from trusted friends and family, rather than from social media.

A Note About Terminology

Participants used the word “media” in different ways throughout these conversations. Some used it to mean journalism in all mediums, while others used it more broadly to include movies, TV shows and streaming, among other platforms. Participants also used the word “news” differently, with many equating “local news” specifically with “network TV news.”