WLWT talks importance of Black representation, talent in media

SHEREE: AS WE CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER BLACK STORIES ARE AMERICAN STORIES. THE MEMBERS OF THE PAST HELP SHAPE THE REALITIES OF THE PRESENT AND FUTURE. ASHLEY: ALL MONTH LONG, WE’VE BEEN LOOKING AT THE EVOLVING HISTORY OF BLACK AMERICANS IN THE U.S., WHILE CELEBRATING BLACK VOICES IN OUR COMMUNITY. ASHLEY: OUR DIGITAL PRODUCER KENDRESA COCKRELL, DECIDED TO SIT DOWN WITH OUR WLWT TEAM MEMBERS TO DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF BLACK REPRESENTATION AND HOW IT CAN ENCOURAGE, INSPIRE AND UPLIFT GENERATIONS. >> I HAD DECIDED NOT TO RETURN TO MY JOB. I WAS SITTING ON MY BROTHER’S COUCH WATCHING SPORTS CENTER. SAGE STEEL WAS ON THERE. SHE IS AN INDIANA GRAD AND I SAW THIS BLACK WOMAN TALKING ABOUT SPORTS AND I WAS LIKE, THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO DO. >> ONCE I GOT TO HIS SCHOOL, I WAS PART OF A JOURNALISM BOOT CAMP FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. THAT IS WHEN I WAS LIKE, 100% LOVE THIS. >> MY JOURNEY TO A PROBABLY WENT DIFFERENTLY THAN MANY FOLKS. I WAS TERRIBLE IN MATH. I WANTED TO FIND A PROFESSION THAT I THOUGHT PRESUMABLY DID NOT HAVE TO DO A LOT OF MATH. I WAS SADLY WRONG. >> I HAD KNOWN I WANTED TO GET INTO BROADCAST JOURNALISM SINCE I WAS 11. WHICH IS CRAZY. >> I GOT A CHRISTMAS PRESENT FROM MY PARENTS. THEY GOT ME A TV IN MY ROOM. I STARTED WATCHING SPORTSCENTER EVERY MORNING, DOWNLOADING ALL OF THE SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE, WATCHING STUART SCOTT. FROM THERE, I KNEW I WANTED TO BE ON TV IN SOME FASHION. >> HONESTLY, OPRAH AND ELLEN. THEY HAVE HAD SUCH A BIG IMPACT. THEY HAVE IMPACTED SO MANY PEOPLE’S LIVES. I FEEL LIKE THAT IS WHAT REALLY WAS INSPIRING. >> I ENJOY WATCHING MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTORS PUT TOGETHER CERTAIN PIECES. I ALSO LIKE WATCHING STUFF FROM RADIO AND PODCAST INTERVIEWS LIKE BREAKFAST CLUB TO SEE HOW THEY PUT THAT TOGETHER. >> WHAT PUSHED ME TO GO TO SCHOOL FOR IT, TO FURTHER MY EDUCATION WAS THE DEATH OF MY FATHER. WITH HIS DEATH, GOING ON SEVEN YEARS THIS YEAR, HE PUSHED ME TO DO SOMETHING THAT I WANTED TO DO. AND I WAS DOING A WHOLE BUNCH OF OPEN-ENDED JOBS. NOT REALLY GETTING NOWHERE. REALLY NOT GROWING. I CAN HONESTLY SAY WHEN I MADE THAT CONSCIOUS DECISION, YES IT HAD TO TAKE A TRAGEDY TO DO IT, BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT BENEFITED. >> I TOLD EVERYONE I AM THE NEXT OPRAH. I KEPT SAYING IT OVER AND OVER AND SPEAKING LIFE INTO THAT PRAYER. >> MY PARENTS WATCHED ALL OF THE DIFFERENT STATIONS. THAT WAS COOL. THERE WAS ONE NAME DARIUS CHISHOLM, THE EVENING ANCHOR AT THE NBC STATION WHO I ADORED AND WAS FASCINATED BY. THE FIRST TIME I MET HER I WAS WIDE-EYED, BUT INSPIRED TO MEET SOMEONE FACE-TO-FACE. SHE WAS ANOTHER BLACK WOMAN I COULD LOOK UP TO. >> EVEN HERE WHEN ASHLEY AND I WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO ANCHOR TOGETHER FOR THREE YEARS, THAT WAS SOMETHING. TWO BLACK PEOPLE ANCHORING A PRIMETIME NEWS SHOW. I DO NOT KNOW IF WE WERE THE FIRST, IT FELT LIKE IT, BUT HER AND I, ESPECIALLY WITH KEVIN, THE THREE OF US TOGETHER, WE TOOK THAT SERIOUSLY. >> WHEN I MEET OLDER PEOPLE OF COLOR, OLDER BLACK PEOPLE, THEY ARE SO PROUD. I ALWAYS SAY, MY GRANDMOTHER WAS BORN IN 1922 IN JIM CROW MISSISSIPPI. I AM HER WILDEST DREAM. SHE NEVER GOT TO SEE ME LIVE OUT MY DREAMS ON THE NEWS, BUT WHEN I SEE THE OLDER BLACK WOMAN IN THE GROCERY STORE, I KNOW SHE IS PROUD OF ME LIKE MY GRANDMOTHER WOULD BE. >> FURTHER BROADER AUDIENCE, IT’S THAT THESE ARE NOT BLACK STORIES, THESE ARE AMERICAN STORIES. >> BEING MYSELF, BEING ABLE TO EXPRESS WHO I AM AND WHAT I AM AND HAVING THAT FREEDOM WITH NO BOUNDARIES AND LIMITATIONS. >> I LOVE THAT I AM IN A POSITION TO DIG INTO STORIES AND TELL IN-DEPTH STORIES. THAT MATTERS. MAYBE EVERYBODY DOESN’T SEE THE VALUE, BUT I SEE THE VALUE. OR I CAN GET IT SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE THEY FEEL LIKE THEY CAN TRUST ME. THAT IS SO IMPORTANT TO BE. I DO NOT TAKE THAT RESPONSIBILITY LIGHTLY. SHEREE: THIS IS JUST A SNIPPET OF THE GREAT CONVERSATIONS WE HAD. YOU CAN WATCH ALL OF THEM ON WLWT.COM. YOU’LL FIND IT RIGHT ON OUR HOME PAGE. AND ALSO, HUGE KUDOS. ONE OF OUR WEB PRODUCERS. THIS WAS HER BRAINCHILD. SHE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS AND WHAT A GREAT IDEA. IT WAS ABLE TO DELVE INTO THE MINDS OF PEOPLE HERE IN OUR STUDIO INSTEAD OF JUST GOING OUT AND INTERVIEWING PEOPLE. ASHLEY: SHE IS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE BEHIND THE SCENES, AND YOU SAW MANY OTHERS BEHIND-THE-SCENES THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME OR IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA TELLING THEIR STORIES. IT IS AN AMERICAN STORY. I KNOW IT IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH AND YOU GET TO HIGHLIGHT STORIES OF BLACK AMERICANS MORE SO DURING THIS MONTH, BUT IT IS SO IMPORTANT. I ALMOST TEARED UP JUST NOW WHEN I SAW THAT STORY ABOUT MY GRANDMOTHER. MY GRANDFATHER SERVED IN WORLD WAR II. THEY WENT BACK TO MISSISSIPPI AND HAD A STORE AND A BARBECUE RESTAURANT AND THEN LIKE MANY BLACK AMERICANS WHO WERE TRYING TO ESCAPE THE JIM CROW SOUTH, THEY MOVED TO NORTH TO CHICAGO AND RACED THEIR FAMILY THERE. I FEEL SO PROUD TO BE ABLE TO SHARE HER STORY BECAUSE SHE IS ONE OF THOSE STORIES THAT WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BE SHARED. SHEREE: WE LOVE YOU FOR SHARING. IT IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE WE SIT NEXT TO EACH OTHER EVERY DAY AND YOU FEEL LIKE YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT EACH OTHER AND USUALLY WE KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT OUR DAY-TO-DAY LIVES, BUT NAPE -- MAYBE NOT ABOUT OUR HISTORY. I AM GLAD YOU SHARED THAT WITH US. ALLISON: YOU ARE AN INSPIRATION TO ALL OF THESE PEOPLE. I WASN’T PLANNING ON GETTING EMOTIONAL EITHER. [LAUGHTER] ALLISON: IT IS NICE TO HEAR EVERYBODY’S STORY. FOR EVERYBODY BEHIND-THE-SCENES YOU MIGHT NOT GET THAT SHE MIGHT NOT GET TO SEE AT HOME. ALL OF US HERE SAY IT LIKE A FAMILY HERE. IT IS NICE TO GET TO HEAR THESE DIFFERENT STORIES IN-DEPTH AND HEAR DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND HEAR THESE CONVERSATIONS BECAUSE THEY ARE SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE NOT JUST IN FEBRUARY, BUT ALL YEAR LONG. SHEREE: I HAVE BEEN IN THIS BUSINESS NOT -- BUSINESS LONG ENOUGH TO KNOW 30 YEARS AGO, I STARTED -- WHEN I STARTED, WE DIDN’T DO THIS. WE DIDN’T TALK ABOUT IT. THAT DIDN’T MEAN THAT OBVIOUSLY WE DIDN’T HAVE DIVERSE NEWSROOMS, WE DID, BUT IT STILL WAS NOT A TOPIC THAT PEOPLE FELT -- THAT WHITE PEOPLE FELT COMFORTABLE TALKING ABOUT. I FEEL LIKE NOW I LOVE THAT ABOUT US AS A SOCIETY, THAT WE TALK ABOUT IT AND WE ARE NOT AFRAID TO SAY LOOK, THESE THINGS