Inspired by a similar program launched by the national news outlet Mother Jones, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism has launched a creator-in-residence program for Memphis creatives. The program seeks to empower community members to produce innovative work aligned with MLK50 values that contextualizes policies, amplifies marginalized voices and drives action toward justice and equity. It is a yearlong, paid non-staff position. While our creators-in-residence will not be on staff, we do hold their content to the same editorial standards as the rest of our published work.
The inaugural creator is policy organizer Amber Sherman. For MLK50, she will serve as a policy educator. Sherman will develop short-form civic education pieces that help illuminate policy and government accountability. Too often, the complexities of public policy and governance alienate the very communities most affected by systemic inequities. So, Sherman will help translate the ways of city, county, state and, when it impacts our local communities, federal policy and governance, by creating accessible and compelling educational content for MLK50’s audience, ensuring that key issues are understood and community members are equipped to act as they see fit.
We understand that our creators-in-residence may have an independent public presence and/or roles in our community that exist beyond MLK50, as does our current creator-in-residence. In fact, this is what we hope will make this collaboration meaningful and impactful — authentic connection between community and creators. Given this independence, work, conduct and content created outside of this partnership belong to the creator and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or values of MLK50. This nonpartisan project is meant to increase and strengthen civic engagement, not advocate for individual candidates or promote a particular stance.