BlavityU had the honor of chatting with renowned journalist, activist, and brand new actor, Jemele Hill. Hill has always exhibited authenticity, whether it was on ESPN, her work with The Atlantic, or through her very own podcast Jemele Hill Is Unbothered. She brought that same candor while recently speaking with our BlavityU audience.
During our discussion, we touched on everything from her inspirations for her podcast, to her rankings of the best Black sitcoms in history. But more specifically, we were able to get a response to a piece penned by BlavityU Student Ambassador, Haley Taylor Schlitz.
Schlitz took some exception to an exchange on Twitter between Jemele Hill and Denise Oliver-Velez. Oliver-Velez, who is elder to Hill, disagreed with a point that Hill made regarding voting issues in this country and how they impact Black people. Oliver-Velez went on to tell Hill to "stick to sports," which caused a momentary and contentious exchange to ensue. In response, we asked the Unbothered host how can we close generational gaps among Black people politically to help understand each other's philosophies better.
"Well, once we understand that we're on the same side, that we both desire freedom, empowerment for Black people, justice, and humanity. There's common ground established there in terms of how we get it," she said. "I mean, I don't disagree with her totally but my frustration is that we just, we keep getting told to wait (for certain rights to be levied for us as Black people)."
Hill went on to say that continuing to respectfully challenge one another is imperative in gaining more understanding.
Much more is contained in our conversation below.