Tadi Abedje, project contributor, is also a contributor with Black News & Views. In addition, he is a freelance digital writer/editor for WTOP News in Washington, D.C. Abedje has experience in radio, print, web, and social media. Journalism has been his No. 1 passion of mine since he was a kid. He says he is blessed to be around people telling their stories and sharing it to the world.

Allison Davis, project contributor, is also a contributor with Black News & Views. She is a broadcast veteran who has been a producer and investigative reporter for network news (NBC News) and local news (WBZ-Boston and KDKA-TV-Pittsburgh). Davis led a team of “cyber-journalists” who pioneered the first original journalism on the internet that ultimately became the foundation of MSNBC. Davis is a cofounder of the National Association of Black Journalists. She served as its first parliamentarian and first elected vice president. 

Melanie Eversley, project co-editor, is also executive editor of Black News & Views. She is a former Washington correspondent for Cox Newspapers/the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Knight-Ridder/the Detroit Free Press. She also covered race for USA Today. Eversley is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School. One of the best experiences of her career has been covering the late John Lewis, traveling with him to Selma, Alabama, and other places, and taking him as her guest to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Jason Gonzalez, project contributor, is also a contributor with the New York Amsterdam News. He is a 2021 graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, City University of New York, and has worked as the culture and diversity reporter for the Courier Journal in Louisville, Kentucky. He has freelanced for the New York Amsterdam News, the Chattanoogan, and Al Día En America. Among his most memorable stories: covering the passing of hip-hop legend DMX.

Amber Hudson, project graphics editor and administrative assistant, is also administrative coordinator and graphics editor for Black News & Views. She is a graduate of the University of Rochester and Syracuse University in New York. She has served as the business manager for many organizations and worked most of her career in advertising, developing and executing digital campaigns. She is passionate about all things design, beauty and fashion.

Damaso Reyes, project co-editor, is the executive and investigative editor at the New York Amsterdam News. He founded the Blacklight, the award winning first investigative unit at a legacy Black newspaper. The purpose is to both expand the New York Amsterdam News’ ability to serve its community and to provide opportunities for journalists of color who are all too often shut out of investigative work.

Tonya Rivens, project contributor, is an award-winning journalist who works in radio, TV, and print. She received the 2023 National Association of Black Journalists Angelo B. Henderson Community Service Award, the 2021 and 2022 Chan Zuckerberg Grant, and is a North Carolina Equity Fellow. She is a feature reporter for WCCB-TV and her show, “Sounds of Inspiration,” is featured on Radio One Charlotte’s Praise 100.9. She is an adjunct professor at Johnson C. Smith University and president of the Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists. 

E.R. Shipp, a project contributor, is a Pulitzer-winning journalist who has worked for The New York Times, The New York Daily News, and The Washington Post, where she was the first Black person to serve as ombudsman. In 1996, she became the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer in the commentary category. Today, Shipp is a founding faculty member at the School of Global Journalism and Communication at Morgan State University. She writes a column for the Baltimore Banner and is an occasional commentator on public radio.