Tribeca Talks X Blackhouse: Ben Crump and the Movement for Social Justice

Tribeca Talks

60 MINUTES |

TRIBECA TALKS X BLACKHOUSE: BEN CRUMP AND THE MOVEMENT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and documentary filmmakers Nadia Hallgren and Kenya Barris join Rashad Robinson, President of Color of Change in conversation about the current state of racial justice in our society. Moderated by Blackhouse Foundation founder Brickson Diamond.

To purchase tickets for a screening of CIVIL please click here.

The Blackhouse Foundation was founded in 2007 to expand career opportunities for Black multi-platform content creators and executives within film, television, digital, and emerging platforms.

This year TriBeca is working with the Blackhouse Foundation to provide space for POC storytelling and have thought provoking conversations with creators in the Indeed Lounge.

Part of the Juneteenth programming. Sponsored by:

Co-hosted by:


PANELISTS

Nadia Hallgren

Nadia Hallgren

Nadia Hallgren is an award-winning filmmaker from The Bronx, New York. Nadia directed BECOMING (2020), the Netflix feature documentary about former First Lady Michelle Obama. BECOMING was nominated for four Emmys and Nadia is the first person in Emmy history to be nominated in both the directing and cinematography categories on the same film. She was also awarded the NAACP "Outstanding Breakthrough Creative in a Motion Picture" award for her work on the documentary. Nadia’s most recent documentary THE SHOW (Showtime, 2021), featuring The Weeknd, received the “Best Director” award at the Sundance Branded Content Storytelling conference. Nadia’s short films include the academy-award shortlisted AFTER MARIA (Netflix, 2019 Tribeca Film Festival), and OMNIPRESENCE (The New Yorker, 2021). She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and an alum of the International Center of Photography.

Brickson Diamond

Brickson Diamond

Brickson Diamond is a partner in the Technology, Media, Telecommunications and Services practice of the leadership advisory firm, Spencer Stuart. He has a specific focus on supporting media clients and advising across the firm’s Americas region on client-facing diversity equity and inclusion efforts. Brickson also serves on the board of Gentreo, an early-stage private company that provides technology-enabled solutions for estate planning sold to businesses as a benefit to employees, members and affiliated individuals. Prior to joining Spencer Stuart in late 2021, Brickson was CEO of Big Answers, LLC, an independent human capital advisory firm focused on helping leaders evolve enterprises by setting diversity strategy, sourcing senior-level diverse talent and instituting governance excellence in the fields of entertainment, technology, investment management and philanthropy. He previously served for five years as COO of The Executive Leadership Council, the preeminent member organization of Black executives in the Fortune 1000. Brickson began his career and spent 15 years as a marketing and client services executive with The Capital Group Companies, a $2.6 trillion global asset management firm. Brickson is a founding board member and chair of The Blackhouse Foundation, which provides pathways for Black multi-platform content creators into career opportunities within film, television, digital and emerging platforms. Brickson is a trustee of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the Middlesex School and Tides. He serves on the investment committee of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, is an advisor to VC Include, a platform that was created to accelerate investment into diverse emerging managers, and Smashcut, an online education platform for the visual arts. Brickson is a graduate of Brown University and the Harvard Business School.

Benjamin Lloyd Crump

Benjamin Lloyd Crump

Listed amongst the Most Influential People of 2021 by TIME100, Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 Most Influential African Americans, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, and the 2014 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year, Attorney Ben Crump is referred to as “Black America’s Attorney General.” Through a steadfast dedication to justice and service, renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Benjamin Crump has established himself as one of the nation’s foremost lawyers and advocates for social justice, winning a number of record settlements and verdicts for victims and families that have faced injustice. He has worked on some of the most high-profile cases in the U.S., representing the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, the residents of Flint, Michigan, who were affected by the poisoned water of the Flint River, as well as the family of Henrietta Lacks in a landmark reparations case. In 2021, St. Thomas University College of Law announced the Benjamin L. Crump Center for Social Justice in his honor, which will open doors for minority students pursuing law degrees. His book, published in October 2019, Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People, reflects on the landmark cases he has battled, and how discrimination in the courthouse devastates real families and communities. He is the founder and principal owner of Ben Crump Law.

Rashad Robinson

Rashad Robinson

Rashad Robinson is President of Color Of Change, a racial justice organization with more than 7 million members who demonstrate the power of Black communities every single day. Color Of Change uses innovative strategies to bring about lasting change in systems and sectors that affect Black people’s lives. Under Rashad’s leadership, Color Of Change has developed winning strategies for leading the $7 billion advertiser boycott of Facebook, changing how crime, policing and race are represented on TV, winning net neutrality as a civil rights issue, and holding decision-makers accountable to Black communities — from local prosecutors to multinational corporations.

Kenya Barris

Kenya Barris

Kenya Barris is an American film and television writer, producer, director, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the ABC sitcom black-ish. The award-winning series also has two spin-offs, Grown-ish and Mixed-ish, and a third potential spin-off Old-ish. Barris co-created and produced America's Next Top Model with Tyra Banks. He also penned the film Girls Trip, co-produced the 2019 film Little, and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2019 theatrical release Shaft. In 2020, Barris made his acting debut in #BlackAF, a series he developed for Netflix, co-starring Rashida Jones and Iman Benson. In October 2020, Barris announced that he will write, produce and direct a biopic on comedian Richard Pryor for MGM. His Khalabo Ink Society company is currently eyeing a deal with ViacomCBS. In 2019, Black-ish won several NAACP Image Awards. It was named best comedy series and Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson took acting honors. Black-ish was the winner of the Entertainment and Children's Peabody Award in 2016. Barris and Black-ish also won the 2017 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. Barris was nominated for the same award in 2018. He was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021, a Gold Derby Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television Comedy in 2016, and a PGA Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy for Black-ish in 2014. In 2016, Barris won the Rod Serling Award for Advancing Social Justice Through Popular Media.