On the Record

On The Record #30: Interview with activist Brittany Packnett

April Ryan
April 5, 2018

FILE – In this July 13, 2016 file photo, Brittany Packnett, of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing, participates in a meeting about community policing and criminal justice with President Barack Obama and activists, civil rights, faith, law enforcement and elected leaders at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. A pair of testy exchanges between high-profile black women and white men in the political spotlight Tuesday, March 28, 2017, launched a tweetstorm under the hashtag BlackWomenAtWork. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

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FILE – In this July 13, 2016 file photo, Brittany Packnett, of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, participates in a meeting about community policing and criminal justice with President Barack Obama and activists, civil rights, faith, law enforcement and elected leaders at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. A pair of testy exchanges between high-profile black women and white men in the political spotlight Tuesday, March 28, 2017, launched a tweetstorm under the hashtag BlackWomenAtWork. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

This week April talks to Brittany Packnett about Black Lives Matter, acitivism and the 50th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King Jr. Brittany is vice president of national community alliances for Teach for America, a co-founder of Campaign Zero, and a member of President Barack Obama’s 21st Century Policing Task Force.

April Ryan has a unique vantage point as the only Black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House, a position she has held with AURN since the Clinton era. Her position as a White House Correspondent has afforded her heightened insight into the racial sensitivities, issues, and attendant political struggles of our nation. April has written three books; The Presidency in Black & White: My Close-Up View of Three Presidents and Race in America, At Mama's Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White, and Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House. Twitter: @aprildryan