Nikole Hannah-Jones ’03 (M.A.) talks with Carolina historian Jim Leloudis

by Kyle York

UNC Hussman Park Fellow alumna Nikole Hannah-Jones (M.A. ’03) of The New York Times Magazine joined Professor James Leloudis of the UNC Department of History in conversation on June 24.

The virtual webinar — “Up Close with Nikole Hannah-Jones” — was presented as part of the University’s virtual engagement initiative Tar Heels Together, with more that 1,300 people attending.

A 2017 MacArthur Fellow and 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winner, Hannah-Jones spoke with Leloudis, the UNC College of Arts & Sciences Peter T. Grauer Associate Dean for honors and Director of the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, about her career and her thoughts on the current social justice movement.

In addition to being an award-winning investigative reporter covering civil rights and racial injustice, she co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting along with the The Associated Press’ Ron Nixon and ProPublica’s Topher Sanders. The non-profit is dedicated to increasing the ranks, retention and profile of reporters and editors of color in investigative reporting. The society partnered with and moved to UNC Hussman from Harvard University in 2019.

The University described Hannah-Jones as a “passionate advocate for equality in truth-telling” in 2019, when she received a prestigious Distinguished Alumna and Alumnus Awards for her outstanding contributions to humanity.

She is the author of The New York Times Magazine’s “The 1619 Project,” for which she won the 2020 Pulitzer, and most recently "What is Owed: Without Economic Justice, There Can Be No True Equality."

To view a video of the conversation, visit the June 24, 2020 Carolina Up Close with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Jim Leloudis event page, click the play button on the video and “Register” for the event to get access.