When They Refuse to See Me: Blackness, CRT, and the Politics of Identity and Media Representation

In this talk, Ronald Jackson explores the racial tensions and sociopolitical considerations associated with Black identities in both intercultural and media contexts and then challenges us to contemplate what we must do next as an increasingly well-intentioned society.

Ronald L. Jackson II is past president of the National Communication Association and the Eastern Communication Association, Distinguished Research Professor, and former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Cincinnati. He holds a PhD from Howard University. An internationally renowned identity scholar and sought-after speaker, Jackson was inducted as an International Communication Association Fellow in 2021 and a National Communication Association Distinguished Scholar in 2020.

Dr. J, as students affectionately know him, is an award-winning author of more than 85 publications related to the study of masculinity, identity negotiation, race and culture.  He is a past co-editor (with Kent Ono) of "Critical Studies in Media Communication." He has published 17 books including "African American Communication and Identity," a book about the popular TV show "Scandal entitled Gladiators in Suits: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Representation in Scandal" (with Simone Puff and Kimberly Moffitt), and the International Comic-con Will Eisner award-winning book "Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation" (with Sheena Howard).