@brandkells

🏆Emmy award-winning journalist and film director | ✍🏾: @ProPublica @CBSNews @MSNBC @Essence | 🎓: @UNC @NewhouseSU 🐘: #DST1913 ✉️: [email protected]

brandikellam.com
Joined July 2010
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Uprooted won a regional Emmy last night!!! 🏆 It’s my second Emmy and first as a film director.‼️ THANK YOU!!! This past year has been incredible, and I’m grateful for it all! 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿 Congrats to our team at @thevcij @WHRO and @propublica.
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With budget increase the commission goes into its second year with $228, 760.
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🗞️ New for @virginiamercury: After operating on just $28K last year, Virginia’s commission probing Black community displacement by public universities got a big boost—$200K in new state funding. These efforts are rare. Link: virginiamercury.com/2025/06/…

State probe into Black communities’ displacement surges forward with infusion of funds • Virginia...

The commission will divvy its work among subcommittees with an additional $200K in resources as it moves further into its inquiry of university led-displacement of Black communities

virginiamercury.com
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3️⃣ Subcommittee recommendations are expected this fall ahead of the 2026 legislative session.
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📍Worth noting: In Newport News, concerns linger over a lack of transparency w/ a local task force reviewing @CNUcaptains role in displacing the Black community unofficially known as “Shoe Lane.” Though said to be in the works, no public meetings held yet, a year+ in
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Here's where things stand: 1️⃣ Four subcommittees are underway—focusing on outreach, reparations research, displacement history, and coordination with public universities. 2️⃣ Nearly all 45 public higher-ed institutions in Virginia have been contacted
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Exciting news! Thrilled to share that I’ll be joining the 2025–2026 class of Spencer Fellows at Columbia University’s Journalism School as a non-residential fellow. I’m looking forward to expanding my investigative work alongside an incredible group of journalists and scholars.
Columbia Journalism School@columbiajourn29 Apr 2025
📚 Columbia Journalism School is proud to announce the 2025–2026 Spencer Education Journalism Fellows: Colette Coleman, Tara García Mathewson (@TaraGarciaM), Brandi Kellam (@brandkells) and Eleni Schirmer.
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"Uprooted" uncovers a long-buried history of displacement, loss, and resistance. Through archives & firsthand accounts, it traces how a Black community in Newport News was uprooted for a university. These BTS moments show the people & stories that brought this history to light.
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Join me in Newport News on March 20 for a special screening of my Emmy award-winning documentary Uprooted and a discussion on community displacement! I’ll be joined by two impacted community members and a historian for a powerful discussion! @HOMEofVA @CanHeadquarters
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Now, turning to another item of business: 1/During the task force’s update they were asked whether I was specifically contacted to inform their research. Since this was in a public forum, I'm sharing that I have sent a direct response to the council regarding those questions.
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2/As far as I'm aware, there was not an invitation to participate. Moreover, I remain deeply grateful for the impact of "Uprooted." As evident in my ongoing work, I’ve consistently contributed to discussions that seek to meaningfully address it and related subject matter.
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At several points yesterday,my name and reporting were mentioned in a public city council gathering. I've since addressed the council.I'll share a 24-hour update in the next thread.First, the latest from the Newport News task force examining the displacement of a Black community:
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8/@QuentinKidd, co-chair of the task force: We’ve never deviated from the goal of essentially telling the whole story and nothing but the whole story.
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9/For more details on task force updates, and other questions asked, you can watch the full presentation on my YouTube channel here: youtu.be/OXmxxNVuk5M?si=bE1R…
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