COLORLINES - Channing Kennedy

Channing Kennedy

New Media Producer / Community Manager
Oakland, CA

Channing Kennedy is the new media producer for Colorlines.com, tending the site's community and social media presence while managing larger social media campaigns. He's responsible for most of Colorlines' original video content, working with reporters, researchers, advocates, and community members to tell the human stories behind the news — from net neutrality, to the Asian model minority myth, to Detroit's foreclosure crisis, to racial profiling by police. Channing is also an enabled media-analysis junkie; he's written for Colorlines on the agendas of right-wing pundits and the politics of anti-racist internet jokes.

In 2010, he co-wrote and edited the half-hour TV special "Colorlines: Race and Economic Recovery," which met with viewer acclaim and which still airs on stations across the country. Channing came to Colorlines from the world of no-budget guerilla art — making videos, running a record label, and performing in touring bands, while using existing technologies to criticize art's role in society and to explore new methods of artist-audience interaction.

Channing served in Americorps*NCCC in 2000, where he and his team worked hands-on with housing, education, and environmental projects. He trains nonprofits on how to use social media and video in strategically goal-oriented campaigns, and has written at length on the need for a proactive approach to cultural privilege in the internet's still-forming status quo. He enjoys exploring the intersection of nerd culture and social issues, in comics, video games, and comedy.

Channing has written for the American Prospect, and has been a guest on the PostBourgie podcast; his work has also appeared on The Root, Alternet, and Feministing.

Channing is @thatssochanning on Twitter, and is the human behind @colorlines.

What Does Paul Ryan Tell Us About What Romney Thinks? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on August 20 2012, 9:37AM

Readers talk about Mitt Romney’s choice of running mate, and what we can deduce about his views of women and people of color.

Topics: Paul Ryan, Politics

What Does the Sikh Temple Tragedy Tell Us About White Men’s ‘Deep Crisis’? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on August 13 2012, 7:45AM

In the wake of this tragedy, can we have a real conversation about what’s happening with our white men? Readers discuss.

Topics: Sikh Murders

Getting Serious About Jokes with the Writers of FX’s ‘Totally Biased’

by Channing Kennedy on August 9 2012, 9:56AM

Colorlines.com visits the star and staff of the only late-night show hosted by a black person, premiering tonight on FX.

Topics: Arts & Culture

Should Young Black Women Strive to Be Steve Jobs—or to Do Better? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on August 6 2012, 9:16AM

Colorlines.com readers discuss an exciting program that’s giving young black women the tech skills that nobody else will, and how few truly positive tech-sector role models these kids have.

Topics: Schools & Youth

Why is the 2012 Farm Bill Punishing Single Moms for Being Poor? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on July 30 2012, 9:08AM

Readers discuss Akiba Solomon’s explainer on the impact of the proposed cuts in 2012 food-assistance programs.

Topics: Economy, Gender & Sexuality

Welcome to Colorlines.com’s New Commenting System

by Channing Kennedy on July 25 2012, 11:03AM

We’ve made a few changes will make the experience more rich, encouraging respectful debate and making it easier to share your thoughts with your broader networks. So chime in!

Topics: /NOW Blog

Are For-Profit Schools the Next Subprime Crash for Communities of Color? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on July 23 2012, 9:27AM

Students of color are being left little choice but to flock to for-profit schools — a section of the education industry with increasingly lax oversight. Could this be the next subprime crash in the making? Here’s what you had to say.

Topics: Schools & Youth

Who’s Got Their Eye on Your Right to Vote? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on July 16 2012, 9:18AM

Readers discuss the dirt Brentin Mock and crew have dug up in their nationwide coverage of voting rights and voter suppression. Also, a note that our site comments will be offline for maintenance this week.

Topics: Voting Rights 2012

How Will Frank Ocean Change Our Conversation About Coming Out? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on July 9 2012, 9:01AM

Last week, R&B star Frank Ocean went public about his sexuality, marking a watershed moment in popular culture. The Colorlines community brings its support and discusses the risk of political exploitation.

Topics: Gender & Sexuality

Beyond the ‘Single Story’: 3Bute Turns African Lit Into Crowdsourced Comics

by Channing Kennedy on July 6 2012, 9:24AM

Bunmi Oloruntoba and Emmanuel Iduma say the African literary scene needs to write its own rules. Their innovative annotated comics adaptations are a big first step.

Topics: Arts & Culture

How Do We Fight For Mental Well-Being (While Preserving Our Own)? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on June 4 2012, 9:29AM

The Colorlines.com community discusses how to work towards real mental health — both for communities of color, and for the activists who fight.

Topics: Health

Undocumented Artist Gives American Apparel’s Farmer Ad a Political Twist

by Channing Kennedy on June 1 2012, 9:35AM

Undocumented ‘artivist’ Julio Salgado, who’s been blowing up your Facebook with his parodies of American Apparel ads, talks with us about destroying the dangerous myth of the perfect immigrant.

Topics: Arts & Culture, Immigration

Can Whites Honor People of Color Without Making Them Objects? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on May 29 2012, 9:15AM

A white second-grader celebrates Dr. King — with blackface. American Apparel puts a farmworker in an advertisement. Colorlines readers discuss all of the above.

Topics: Media

Why Didn’t Florida’s Stand-Your-Ground Ethics Apply to Marissa Alexander? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on May 21 2012, 8:57AM

Readers discuss the race politics of Alexander’s 20-year sentence for firing a warning shot at her abusive ex-husband.

Topics: Criminal Justice, Trayvon Martin

Life’s ‘Lowest Difficulty Setting’: John Scalzi Explains Privilege to Nerds

by Channing Kennedy on May 18 2012, 9:00AM

Science fiction can be a tool for social justice — or it can sneak the status quo back in. John Scalzi talks about holding other straight white dudes accountable, and how his genre is evolving.

Topics: Media

At San Francisco’s Latino Comics Expo, Artists Create Their Own Heroes

by Channing Kennedy on May 15 2012, 8:40AM

Confessionals about family and tattoos? A Mesoamerican answer to Game of Thrones? E.T. in a sombrero? These comic artists are doing it all, and doing it for themselves.

Topics: Arts & Culture

What Will Be The Legacy Of Obama’s Embrace of Marriage Equality? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on May 14 2012, 9:00AM

The Colorlines.com community reacts with mixed feelings to Obama’s historic statement.

Topics: Gender & Sexuality, Marriage Rights

How is Occupy Los Angeles Working With Communities of Color? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on May 7 2012, 9:09AM

Colorlines.com readers talk about how immigrant rights groups and Occupy Los Angeles came together on May Day.

Topics: #Occupy