Tusk Magazine is proud to launch our Black Voices vertical and honored to uplift Black joy, Black power, Black pride, Black resilience, and Black struggle for liberation.
As journalists, we bear witness to history as it plays out daily. Black voices in media are crucial during this pivotal epoch of compounding pandemics (the Coronavirus, anti-Black racism, economic recession, and the climate crisis) to challenge the status quo and lead the movement for social change.
However, on campus and in broader media, there persists a dearth of Black perspectives to accurately cover the Black community and provide critical discourse to dismantle racial injustice. Moreover, mainstream media representation of Black stories acts as a form of violence against Black communities by discrediting radical movements while perpetuating anti-Black myths and images that normalize anti-Black violence.
In response, Tusk Black Voices champions Black expression to empower and enrich Black narratives in the media. Transforming Black narratives also transforms our collective narrative and creates a space for more inclusive and just stories about us. Because Black voices and Black narratives are very much a part of CSUF, the United States, and the world’s story of who we are. We hope Black Voices empowers the Black community and strengthens community at CSUF.
Tusk Black Voices will be developed by two talented Black writers on our staff: Bethany Whittaker and Darius Faulk.
Bethany is a Communications major with a focus in Public Relations and an Afro-Ethnic Studies minor who served as the 2019-2020 president of the Black Student Union.
Darius is returning for his first semester in the American Studies (AMST) master’s program after graduating in 2019 as an AMST major and Liberal Studies minor.
We are so thrilled to tell Black stories through their lens and pens.
As stated in our letter to the Black community, we are committed allies in the fight for Black liberation. And so it is our immense honor to introduce Tusk Black Voices.
