Zealous Hellions: Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Zealous Hellions

Charlayne Hunter-Gault

in conversation with Brandi Powell

Free Admission
February 17, 2023 \ 7pm CT
Mixed Blood Theatre Alan Page Auditorium \ & Livestreamed

For the first Zealous Hellions of 2023, Mixed Blood welcomes pioneering journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault in conversation with Brandi Powell of KSTP 5 Eyewitness News.

On the occasion of the recent publication of Ms. Hunter-Gault’s new book, My People: Five Decades of Writing About Black Lives, this conversation will trace her journey from desegregating the University of Georgia to her work on PBS’ NewsHour, The New Yorker Magazine, The New York Times and beyond. We will celebrate this eminent voice and hear some stories from a journalist who has committed her lifelong work to reporting on Black people in their totality, “in ways that are recognizable to themselves.”

And who better to be in dialogue with Ms. Hunter-Gault than Brandi Powell, herself a celebrated journalist of the in-depth series Conversations About Racism and the Road to Equality? This is a one-night, not-to-be-missed event!

Zealous Hellions is a project of Mixed Blood Theatre to provide our community with real-time, face-to-face conversations between artists, cultural provocateurs, politicians, and thought-leaders in an intimate setting.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Charlayne Hunter-Gault is an award-winning journalist with more than 50 years in the industry, and the author of five books. Her most recent book, My People, is a compilation of her five decades of reporting on people of color. It was deemed by Kirkus as one of the best non fiction books of 2022, calling it, “A wonderful showcase of the work of an invaluable 20th-century journalist.”

Ms. Hunter-Gault worked for 20 years with the PBS NewsHour as the show’s top national and international correspondent as well as doing duty as a substitute anchor. And she has now returned to the NewsHour as Special Correspondent, launching an unprecedented series called Race Matters, focusing on solutions to America’s enduring racial issues.

Ms. Hunter-Gault has won two Emmy awards and two Peabody awards—the first for her work on “Apartheid’s People,” a NewsHour series about South African life during apartheid; the second for her work in Africa for NPR, in which, according to the Peabody citation, she “demonstrated a talent for ennobling her subjects, and revealed a depth of understanding of the African experience that was unrivaled in Western media.”

Over the years, Ms. Hunter-Gault has been the recipient of numerous other awards for her work and in August, 2005, she was inducted in the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame.

She is married to retired businessman Ronald T. Gault, and she has two adult children, Suesan, an artist and singer and Chuma, an actor and director.

Brandi Powell

Brandi Powell is an Emmy award winning journalist anchoring weekday morning newscasts in Minneapolis/St. Paul on KSTP 5 Eyewitness News (ABC) 4:30-5:30am & KSTC 45TV 7-9am.

She is an on-air contributor for Minnesota Live & a contributing writer for Minnesota Monthly magazine.

In 2022 Brandi anchored a 5 INVESTIGATES special: Race. Reform. Reality. The team won a regional Emmy award for the program.

In 2020 Brandi launched and reported an in-depth series: Conversations About Racism and the Road to Equality. The 3-part series included Understanding Racism, The Talk and Youth Activists & Education. The team won a MN Society of Professional Journalists Page One Award for Special Project/In-depth Series in 2021.

She is a member of National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and Twin Cities Black Journalists.

Brandi lives in Minneapolis with her husband & their two young daughters.

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