David A. Wilson is a journalist, filmmaker and managing editor and founder of TheGrio.com, the first video-centric news community site devoted to African Americans created by Wilson in cooperation with NBC News. Wilson is also director and subject of "Meeting David Wilson" the highly-acclaimed documentary film seen on MSNBC about the African-American journalist who journeys into his family's past to find answers to America¹s racial divide.
ABOUT THEGRIO.COM ‹ Our Lives...Our World...Our Stories
TheGrio provides stories and perspectives that appeal to the African American community but are underrepresented in existing national news outlets. TheGrio is brought to you through the cooperation of NBC News and the production team that brought you the documentary film "Meeting David Wilson." TheGrio features aggregated and original video packages, news articles, and blogs on topics from breaking news, politics, health, business, and entertainment, which concern its audience.
The goal of TheGrio is to be the news portal that satisfies the desire of African Americans to stay informed and connected with their community.
TheGrio's editorial mandate is to focus on news and events that have a unique interest and/or pronounced impact within the national African Americans audience.
ABOUT "MEETING DAVID WILSON"
David A. Wilson, a 28-year-old African-American journalist, travels deep into his family's past to find the answers to America's racial divide.
David¹s journey resulted in the feature length documentary "Meeting David Wilson", which he wrote and co-directed. In researching the project, David learned of a plantation in North Carolina where his family was once enslaved, and subsequently discovered that the plantation is owned by a 62-year-old white man -- also named David Wilson -- who is a direct descendant of his family's slave Master. This discovery leads to a momentous encounter between these two men who share the same name, but whose ancestors were on the opposite sides of freedom.
In his interactive, multimedia lecture, David will display pivotal moments from the film, including his conversation with the white David Wilson, and he will initiate a discussion with the audience about a question that is prominently featured in the film: "What's Wrong With Black People?"
As he does in the film, David will open up an honest dialogue with audiences, and will shed a light on the cultures of violence, drugs, imprisonment, and anti-intellectualism that are plaguing many Black youth.
Dave will also examine the role that media -- including the music industry
-- plays in shaping the negative self-images of young Black Americans.
David reflects on how his journey altered his view of those who overcame slavery and discrimination, who went from victims to victors, and how this outlook can help reverse the downward spiral of the Black community. While much of his presentation focuses on the racial dilemmas of today, David demonstrates how the country's history played a role in creating the problem, and more importantly, how it is in the interest of America's future that we all play a part in the solution. He also draws from the stories featured at TheGrio.com to bring an up-to-the-minute perspective on race in America and the realities lived today by African Americans.
ABOUT DAVID A. WILSON
David A. Wilson is the managing editor and founder of theGrio.com. David began his career at the assignment desks for local news. He worked on the award-winning CBS News program 48 Hours, where he researched and developed content for the news magazine show. He also served as lead producer and oversaw newsroom operations for NNS (Network News Service), a national news gathering service, and an ABC, CBS, and FOX News conglomerate.
David also directed and wrote the critically acclaimed MSNBC documentary, Meeting David Wilson, a film that chronicled his personal journey to find answers to today's racial disparities in America.
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