Journalist and AIDS activist Kai Wright was the keynote speaker at a town hall meeting on black men’s health and sexuality put on by the AIDS Action Committee during its World AIDS Day commemorations Dec. 7. Wright has been writing about sexual health for over 10 years, and spends much of his time going around the country, speaking before both people of color and LGBT communities.
View the video interview here
I originally caught up with Kai Wright, senior writer at TheRoot.com, for another video interview I did with him about his appearance at a World AIDS Day event in Boston. I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk to him about his online endeavors as well.
Many of the things he mentioned in our interview are right on point. For the last 10 years, I have worked as a freelance print journalist, and now I have found that I have to reinvent myself in the digital world.
I was an early adapter to online journalism; I have been blogging for over six years, and Twitter has recently become my new best friend. This summer I started writing for the new African American-centered online news site TheGrio.com. But I never thought in a million years I would have to shoot and edit video for work, but for the last year I have been doing it with little chagrin.
I am still in the “trial and error” process, but I am having fun with my self training, mostly from watching other online videos and playing with my video editing system. My digital efforts have paid off so far. In addition to vlogging (a form of blogging using primarily video) for WGBH, the PBS affiliate in Boston, I was also hired recently to do short video interviews with authors at my local black bookstore, Jamaicaway Books & Gifts. So, yes, I guess you can say I am an entrepreneurial journalist taking advantage of the new online frontier.
Check out my latest interview with renowned Boston historian Anthony Mitchell Sammarco.
By Talia Whyte
The Grio
Health care reform has been a hot topic for months, but abortion rights might now actually be the deal breaker in whether or not health care legislation passes. This fight comes to a head this week on Capitol Hill, with Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson introducing a proposal that would tighten restrictions on coverage for abortions, including a ban on coverage for any health plan using federal funds.
Read the full article here