The two-night special OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here? that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey Tuesday and Wednesday night was remarkable. It aired across 19 different Discovery-owned networks simultaneously in primetime, which means on outlets like OWN, HGTV, Food Network, Animal Planet, and the Travel Channel—in other words the channels that program content that people typically flock to in order to escape the harsh realities of the news and the world. But, even if only for an hour, it was significant that programmers rallied and said, “No cooking competition, no home makeover specials. Tonight we’re going to confront and […]
Oprah
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“What matters now? What matters next? What do we want? What are our demands? Where do we go from here?” These questions from Oprah Winfrey introduced OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here?, the unprecedented two-night town hall event that premiered Tuesday on OWN and across Discovery’s 18 other U.S. networks. Airing the same night as the funeral for George Floyd, the Minneapolis black man whose death at the hands of a white police officer has sparked global protests, part one launched Winfrey’s conversation with black thought leaders and activists including director Ava DuVernay and Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams. Together, […]
It’s ridiculous writing about celebrities right now. It’s ridiculous being a celebrity right now. The nation is alight with people demanding justice, dignity, equality, and life for black people in our country. The attention, for once, is not on the rich and famous. Nor should it be. But the fact remains that these are people with platforms, whether they deserve them or not and whether we want them to have them or not. For once, they seem to be using those platforms correctly. It’s always complicated when it comes to these things. And the praise isn’t uniform. CNN anchor Don Lemon […]