Variety & Rolling Stone Truth Seekers Summit presented by Paramount+, explores the art of documentary and investigative storytelling. Exclusive keynote conversations and panel discussions with leading documentary filmmakers, journalists, and cultural trendsetters making an impact and effecting change.
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00:00I know, Amara, specifically, you've talked a lot about how you started in true crime.
00:05And specifically in the genre, it's often viewed as, you know, not only just a white space,
00:10but a space where oftentimes the stories of people of color are continuously overlooked.
00:15So for you, how have you used your platform to kind of counter that narrative or change it?
00:21So yeah, I, like you said, it's a space that is, you know, kind of people think is dominated by these certain types of stories, and it is.
00:29And that's why I started.
00:30But what I've tried to do is tell these stories in the same exact way.
00:35Why are people listening to true crime?
00:38Is it the storytelling?
00:39Is it the, you know, you want to know about the victim if you want to know about the crime?
00:43I come at it from that.
00:45So when you're listening to these stories about these missing and murdered black women or girls, it's, you know, the podcast is called Black Girl Gone.
00:52There's stories about missing and murdered black women.
00:54I want you to be able to close your eyes.
00:55If you never saw this woman, how would her story resonate with you?
00:59Can you relate to her story?
01:01Because there's this notion that the stories of black victims are not relatable to masses or everybody, but people can't relate to these stories.
01:09And what I found is that's absolutely not true because their stories are relatable.
01:13They're mothers, they're daughters, they're sisters, they're students.
01:17You know, they had dreams, they had aspirations, they had all the things that, you know, we all have.
01:20And if we elevate these stories and tell them in a real way and not just make it about, you know, the sensationalism of what happened to them or they were shot or they were, you know, all of these, you know, details that people sometimes, you know, want.
01:32If you don't just focus on that and focus on the whole story, the whole picture of who this person was, the families that they left behind.
01:40That's also a really important part of what I do is making sure that if a family member is listening or they hear this story, they, you know, it's not this sensationalized story of all these terrible things that have happened, but they, it's nostalgia for them in this way.
01:56They're like, oh, somebody is talking about her like a real person.
01:59They're talking about, you know, when she graduated from high school and how she wanted to go to college.
02:03So, you know, I use my platform to just try to elevate these stories and humanize these women in spaces where their stories are not being heard and give their families that, you know, that outlet.