Hundreds of movement leaders, activists, organizers, funders, and journalists gathered in Atlanta in June 2023 at Alight, Align, Arise, an invitation-only conference on reparations organized by the Decolonizing Wealth Project. As the conference’s media partner, YES! Media spoke with more than a dozen prominent organizers, activists, and leaders, among them, actor and activist Kendrick Sampson, known for his work on television shows like Insecure and The Vampire Diaries. He has been active with Black Lives Matter and is the founder and president of BLD PWR, a nonprofit organization that engages with athletes and entertainers to use their platforms to advance radical social change and dismantle systemic oppression.
Sampson spoke with YES! Racial Justice Editor Sonali Kolhatkar in Atlanta about how Hollywood has begun to include Black voices but needs to do much more in terms of supporting and funding Black-led storytelling that fosters racial equity and reparations.
This video is part of Realizing Reparations, an exclusive digital series exploring the leading edges of the reparations ecosystem—and revealing a path toward healing and reconciliation.
This series was funded by a grant from Liberated Capital, a fund of the Decolonizing Wealth Project, which is led by Edgar Villanueva, of the Lumbee tribe, and works globally to disrupt the existing systems of moving and controlling capital using education and healing programs, radical reparative giving, and storytelling. Reporting and production of the series was funded by this grant, but YES! maintains full editorial control of the content published herein. Read our editorial independence policy.
Inspiration in Your Inbox
Sign up to receive email updates from YES!