JALEESA LASHAY
By January 2018, after three years in Los Angeles as a correspondent for BlackTreeTV, Jaleesa Lashay had grown frustrated with an industry that often privileges mainstream news outlets over smaller outlets, including those that cater to black audiences.
Her usual coping mechanism involved a text message group of other black oncamera talent where they could “complain about how we’re treated on red carpets and just have these types of conversations,” she said.
“I said, ‘Well, I’m gonna start talking to the actors,’ because we just always complain that they walk past us, especially black people,” the Spelman College graduate from the South Bronx said. “We’re, like, ‘You’re black. Why are you walking past us? There has to be a reason.’ So I said ‘I’m gonna start talking to them about it.’ And, literally, the SAG Awards was that day.”
The first opportunity she had to do so was after “This Is Us” star Sterling K. Brown became the first black person to win SAG’s actor in a drama series statuette. Lashay was selected to ask the first question of the actor backstage in the press room. She admits that she “didn’t intend for it to be Sterling and I didn’t even intend to bring that question up in the press room,” but knowing Brown had been an outspoken advocate for inclusion and diversity, she thought “maybe he can be an advocate for us.”
“As he’s walking to the press room, I’m reciting the question in my head because I know this is a big moment for our brother and I don’t want to take it away from him or put him in a position where he’s caught off-guard and he has to be defensive,” she continued.
Lashay asked Brown if he was aware of the disparities in opportunity for black journalists in comparison to their white counterparts and what could be done to have the media room reflect the increased diversity Hollywood appears to be experiencing. The actor stopped to look around the room.
“I never paid attention, and shame on me for not having done so, but maybe this conversation is the beginning of something taking place,” he said.
Since then, other black celebrities including Lil Rel Howery, Tessa Thompson and Lakeith Stanfield have spoken about how black press are treated. Howery pointedly made speaking to black media a priority at the MTV Movie and TV Awards red carpet in June.
When asked why she thinks so few journalists of color have spoken up about the difference in treatment, Lashay attributed it to “a fear of ‘if I speak up about this, the publicist definitely isn’t gonna invite me back.’”
“It’s, like, ‘Let’s just be happy we’re in the room. Let’s just shut up and not piss anyone off because it’s hard enough for us to even get in the room. Let’s not complain about what happens when we’re in there,’” she said. “But I just want people to feel empowered to share their experiences … because if you have a film or project that is marketed toward people of color or marginalized groups and you’re not inviting us to cover or talk about those films or TV shows, you are doing a disservice to your company.
“You want us to talk about it because we’re the black reporters and critics, but you’re not giving us what we need to do our jobs successfully. We need to put our foot down and speak about it.”