Amber Payne
publisher/GM @the_emancipator | @Niemanfdn ‘21 | TiltShiftMedia | Formerly @TeenVogue @them @NBCNightlyNews. Founded @NBCBLK. Old Bay all day. 🦀 Wahoowa 🇯🇲
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Articles by Amber Payne
A publisher’s final dispatch from a modern abolitionist newsroom
These turbulent times remind me of how I first felt when I took on the challenge of helping transform a bold vision into a modern abolitionist newsroom. I knew from the start that I wanted to create a platform to inform, engage, and agitate; to braid history and social context with evocative storytelling. This was my chance to disrupt and renounce legacy mainstream newsrooms’ perpetuation of racist narratives, problematic framing, and formulaic approaches to covering communities of color.
The Emancipator is moving to Howard University
We have some big news to share. This summer, our co-founder Dr. Ibram X. Kendi will be moving to Howard University to be a professor of history and build the Institute for Advanced Study, which will be dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of racism in the global African Diaspora. The institute will revolve around a competitive Residential Fellowship Program where an annual international class of fellows will pursue impactful projects across disciplines and fields.
Persevering in a world on fire
This story was first published in Critical Thinking. Four years ago this month, many of us came to grips with a politically fractured nation and a shredded democracy as a violent riot engulfed the U.S. Capitol. We feared the threat to burn it all down was in fact, literal. Four years later and just one week into 2025, the fire is here. All week we’ve watched apocalyptic wildfires consume Southern California.
Election Day is not the end
Today is Election Day, and we’re all tired. As journalists who work for a magazine that seeks solutions to racial inequity, we get it: Bigotry is exhausting. Donald Trump’s third run for the presidency has been enough to make anyone want to crawl under the covers until it’s over. Once again, his campaign rhetoric and policy proposals have been rife with racism, sexism, antisemitism, and apologia for autocrats and plutocrats alike.
Ken Burns film reveals what you don’t know about Jackie Robinson
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson stepped onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn as the first African American player in Major League Baseball. He broke the color barrier and began to transform the face of sports. But filmmaker Ken Burns is on a mission to show that Robinson is far more than an athlete, and Robinson’s story begins long before and extends far after that day in 1947.
#ReclaimYourVote: How Black Youth Can Do Its Part In Bringing About Political Change
Published 20 hours ago Written by Amber Payne It’s long been stereotyped that Millennials and Generation Z are apathetic and will not show up at the polls, even though combined they are by far the biggest voting block. At META:2020 in Los Angeles, artists, entertainers and politicians discussed how important it is for Black and Brown youth to mobilize this election.
'We really f-ed this one up': Shea Moisture apologizes for ad
Shea Moisture was forced to deliver a swift and blunt apology after a new campaign fell flat with their key demographic and sparked outrage on social media.
Tribeca Film Festival to Screen Inmates' Partnership With High School Students
With the Tribeca Film Festival kicking off this week, there is one project that stands out for being produced inside a place known less for the cinematography and more for the pervasive violence: Rikers Island jail complex.
Rachel Dolezal on how her identity challenges white supremacy
After years of passing for Black, Rachel Dolezal's truth was very suddenly exposed in 2015. Living in obscurity in Spokane, Washington, the head of the local chapter of the NAACP was forced to resign after her story was unraveled by a local news reporter who asked her point blank, "Are you African American?" Dolezal didn't have an answer. She infamously left the frame, caught off guard.
8 questions my Facebook friends have for Rachel Dolezal
Two years ago Rachel Dolezal was mocked, shamed and cast aside when she was exposed for being born a white woman who had spent years passing for Black. She stood her ground, stating that race was just a social construct. Dolezal insisted she had every right to identify herself as a Black woman, saying she had lived the "Black experience." These days, the former Spokane NAACP president unapologetically identifies as trans-Black but distinguishes between that term and transracial.
Creator of Emmett Till 'Open Casket' at Whitney Responds to Backlash
A painting of Emmett Till hanging alongside in the prestigious body of work in Whitney Biennial has stirred conversation on cultural appropriation, artistic ownership and Black bodies as a spectacle, culminating in a critical question: Do white artists have the right to depict Black pain? The painting by Dana Schutz, entitled, "Open Casket," reimagines the photo of Emmett Till following his horrific murder on August 28, 1955.
Sisters in journalism reflect on the #BlackExcellence of Gwen Ifill
Gwen Ifill reports for PBS during the Republican National Convention on September 1, 2008.Washington Post/Getty Images You didn't have to meet Gwen Ifill to be inspired by her integrity. As many Black women journalists mourn her passing, we also remember this: Gwen Ifill was more than a brilliant Black journalist. She was simply a brilliant journalist, period.
Trauma Surgeon Who Treated Dallas Cops: 'This Killing, It Has to Stop'
In an emotional press conference that touched on the complex issues of race, policing and guns, a trauma surgeon who cared for the officers killed in the Dallas ambush, confessed his complicated relationship to the deadly week as a Black man in America. "I want the Dallas PD to also see me, a black man, and understand that I support you, I will defend you, and I will care for you," said Dr. Brian H.
Key and Peele Talk 'Keanu' and Dynamic Duos
Key and Peele Talk 'Keanu' and Dynamic Duos NBCBLK's Amber Payne caught up with Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael Key about their relationship as a dynamic duo and how they managed to cast the perfect kitty in their new film "Keanu."
NBCBLK28: Jessica Williams: Seriously Hilarious Feminist
Comedian and Correspondent on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah I am a black woman and I am a feminist and I am so many things. I am truly honored that people love my work. But I am not yours. This unflinching declaration has been pinned to the top of Jessica Williams' Twitter profile for over a year now.
Introducing the NBCBLK28
Create your free profile or log in to save this article Feb. 1, 2016, 11:01 AM UTC / Updated Feb. 1, 2016, 11:01 AM UTC By NBCBLK is using the 28 days in the month of February to honor 28 of the nation’s most talented innovators and game changers — all ages 28 years and younger.
Inspired by Mizzou Protests, Students Across Country Focus on Being #BlackonCampus
Nov. 11, 2015, 11:32 PM UTC / Updated Nov. 12, 2015, 12:02 AM UTC By and Inspired and emboldened by their peers at the University of Missouri, where protests this week led to the resignation of the school's president, activist students are following suit at Yale University, Ithaca College and beyond — and taking to social media to talk about being #blackoncampus.
New Novel 'All American Boys' Gets Students Talking About Race
"All American Boys" is a new book inspired by the national firestorm over police brutality. It tells the story of Rashad Butler and Quinn Collins, two kids in high school, one black and one white, whose lives are forever changed by an act of extreme police brutality. Rashad wakes up in a hospital and it's Quinn who sees how he got there.
Meet Nick Mosby, One Half of Baltimore's Young Power Couple
The man who wants to become Baltimore's next mayor has always had strong women in his life. Nick Mosby grew up with six women in his household, including aunts, a sister, and his grandmother. He credits his mother — a single parent who rose every morning at 4:30 a.m. for work — with teaching him everything from how to catch a football to the importance of voting on Election Day. Now Mosby, a Democratic councilman since 2011, hopes to become the leading man in the struggling city of Baltimore.
Trevor Noah Will Bring 'A Different Perspective' as Daily Show Host
NBCBLK Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. SUBSCRIBE Sept. 23, 2015, 8:21 PM UTC / Updated Sept. 23, 2015, 8:25 PM UTC By Amber Payne Trevor Noah is poised to take The Daily Show throne next week and the South African comedian says his biracial and cultural background will impact and inform his perspective as host. "It just gives me a different perspective.
Prince Releases Freddie Gray Tribute Video For Song 'Baltimore'
Prince wants 2 make sure U haven't forgotten what happened 2 Baltimore. Tuesday Prince released a docu-style music video for "Baltimore," the protest song he wrote in honor of Freddie Gray and the good people of the Charm City. Directed by Ralston Smith, the video opens with a montage of newspaper headlines and news footage of the rallies and protests that followed the death of Gray at the hands of the Baltimore police force.
Who Took Video of Baltimore Mom Beating Would-Be Rioter Son?
Baltimore native Tommy Bourne happened to catch an angle of the infamous video of Toya Graham. The image of Graham literally laying the smack down on her son and beating him away from a joining rioters has been celebrated as a mother who did what she had to do to get her son off the streets. "It was probably a life-saving thing for that kid, it probably saved a lot of grief," said Bourne, who grew up in West Baltimore and says a lot of the looting took place near his childhood home.
Baltimore Riots: Violence Scarred a City Dealing With Decline for Decades
It's not just about the police. The riots in Baltimore have been blamed on anger and frustration over the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who suffered a spinal cord injury in police custody earlier this month — the latest flashpoint in the national debate over law enforcement tactics in African American communities. But the unrest in Baltimore also sprang from decades of economic decline and a dearth of opportunity for those left behind.
Fifty Years Later - Malcolm X's Fight for Equality
Malcolm X in Oxford with Eric Abrahams, right, the Student Union president, before addressing university students on the subject of extremism and liberty, Dec. 3, 1964. On that day Malcolm X gave arguably one of his most important speeches, just months before his assassination. During Malcolm's pilgrimage to Mecca in spring 1964, he shifted to an international human rights perspective.
Pussy Riot addresses Eric Garner, police tactics in new video
Pussy Riot, the Russian punk protest band, is out with a new song inspired by Eric Garner, the New York man who died last year after police put him in a chokehold. The song, “I Can’t Breathe,” is the band’s first in English. The title refers to Garner’s gasping words as he was taken down by officers who suspected him of selling illegal cigarettes. A grand jury declined to indict the officer who used the hold.
Ebony Seeks Buyer for Photo Archive Worth $40 Million
Secured in a climate-controlled archive in Chicago are five million images of the African American experience dating back to the '40s. Inside rest rare images of black business owners and professionals, and intimate photographs of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., singer Billie Holiday and boxer Muhammad Ali, among others. Now Johnson Publishing, parent company of struggling Ebony and Jet magazines, is seeking a buyer for the archive, which it estimates is worth more than $40 million.
Welcome To NBCBLK, A Letter From the Editor...
NBCBLK covers stories by, for and about the black community. Our product is meant to elevate America's conversation about black identity, politics, and culture. We share positive, solution-based journalism and report on challenging issues that communities of color face today. NBCBLK taps NBC News journalists around the world to tell these stories, and we curate reports from NBC News platforms -- Nightly, Today Show, Dateline, and local affiliates among other NBC outlets.
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