What does it take to be a writer if you are a black woman in Britain?
Media & entertainment can feel like a lonely world if you are black, female & British. The British Journalism Industry is 55% male & 94% white according to City University. Black people make up just 0.2% of British journalism, making us 15x unrepresented in media when compared to the overall UK population statistics.
However, there are a number of amazing black women that are blazing their own trails in British media & entertainment & on 6th July, we’ll have three of them sharing their journeys & their tips at Black Girls’ Writing Workshop.
Who you will hear from on the night:
Danielle Dash: Dear Jesus Creator & Writer at Danielle Dash
Danielle DASH is the 28 year-old creator of the multi-award winning web series “Dear Jesus” and its spin-off “The Alexis Show.” Educated at the University of Arts, Danielle graduated with a BA Honors degree in Broadcast in 2010. Inspired by the success of web series “Awkward Black Girl”, “Venus Vs Mars” and “Brothers With No Game” in 2012, Danielle created “Dear Jesus.”
Produced by her production company WONDERLONDON FILMS “Dear Jesus” ran for 4 seasons while “The Alexis Show” ran for two. Having won Best Short Feature at the Jamaica International Film Festival in 2013, after 42 episodes, “Dear Jesus” won Favourite Web Series at the Screen Nation Digital Awards in 2015.
Currently Danielle works as a Development Executive at Balloon Entertainment an independent production company founded by Bryan Elsley, creator of “Skins” and Harry Enfield. She writes regularly about race, gender and popular culture on her website DanielleDASH.com and you can find her work on The Huffington Post, Shadow & Act and Teen Vogue.
Victoria Sanusi: Reporter at Buzzfeed UK
Victoria Sanusi is a 23-year-old reporter for BuzzFeed UK, is based in London. She studied Journalism (NCTJ-accredited) at Brunel university and graduated in 2015, during her time at Brunel, she frequently wrote for the student newspaper and became Culture editor in her final year. During uni, she was awarded Student Media Person of the Year [2015] and Editor of the Year [2015]. She’s interned at Look and Pride Magazine and has been published in The Voice, Pride and Uxbridge Gazette.
During Victoria’s time at BuzzFeed, she often reports on social news, mainly with a focus on young people in the UK especially black people. She’s profiled Victoria Secrets model, Leomie Anderson and wrote a feature on black Women who are breaking into Britain’s very white publishing industry.
This event is open to all black women, with preferential pricing for Black Ballad members:
– Non-members – £15
– Black Ballad members – £5
– Black Ballad premium members – Free