Black Lives Matter talk to take look at the media

Journalists and activists from across the nation will talk at a Little Rock forum Friday about how the media covers the Black Lives Matter movement.

Shaun King, a senior justice writer for the Daily News in New York City, is the keynote speaker.

Malik Saafir of Little Rock, founder and president of the Janus Institute for Justice, will moderate a panel discussion. He teaches at Philander Smith College in Little Rock and serves on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Institute on Race and Ethnicity Steering Committee. Scheduled panelists are: Shahidah Jones, a representative of the Black Lives Matter Memphis chapter. Jones is a member of the Memphis Feminist Collective and the Memphis Grassroots Organization Coalition.

Rae Nelson, co- founder of the Black Lives Matter Little Rock chapter. Nelson is a socialjustice advocate and organizer from Pine Bluff, and serves on the board of the Arkansas Transgender Equality Coalition.

Richard Thompson, founder and lead writer of Mediaverse, an online publication that covers media in Shelby County, Tenn. Thompson is a veteran journalist and media analyst, as well as past president of the Memphis Association of Black Journalists.

Ashley Yates, an early on- theground organizer in Ferguson, Mo., after the shooting death of Michael Brown. In 2015, Yates was listed as one of The Root’s Top 100 influencers of the year. The Root is an online news site.

The forum, set to begin at 5: 30 p. m., will be in the M. L. Harris Auditorium of Philander Smith College at 900 Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive in Little Rock.

Admission is free, and the forum is open to the public.

The evening is sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists Arkansas Pro Chapter and the National Park Service/ Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site in partnership with the Philander Smith College chapters of Phi Beta Sigma and Zeta Phi Beta.