Journalism and Media Academy Students Interview U.S. Ambassador James A. Joseph

HARTFORD, Connecticut - Students from the Journalism and Media Academy met and interviewed former U.S. Ambassador James A. Joseph at their satellite campus in the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network (CPBN) Learning Lab on May 12. Ambassador Joseph took the time to meet with the students a day ahead of his keynote speech at the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy’s annual conference and luncheon held in Trumbull.

Six juniors from the Youth Radio apprenticeship at CPBN had the opportunity to conduct two 30-minute interviews with Ambassador Joseph in the Learning Lab’s radio suites. Split into two groups, the students spent two weeks preparing for their conversations with the Ambassador; reading and researching Joseph’s new book Saved for a Purpose, developing questions, writing introductions and defining unique story angles. The interviews with the Ambassador were the capstone of the students’ semester-long project on radio talk shows.

Saved for a Purpose, Joseph’s autobiography, details his vast personal and professional experiences. Beginning with his childhood growing up in Louisiana’s Cajun country during the “Jim Crow” era, the book covers his incredible life, including Joseph’s contributions to the Civil Rights movement, as well as his service to four United States Presidents and his work with Nelson Mandela during his U.S. Ambassadorship to South Africa from 1996 to 2000.

From their research, the student teams framed their interviews around two distinct themes “What it takes to be a leader” and “Exploring differences in generations.” For the former, the team focused on the Ambassador’s work with notable leaders such as Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. According to Joseph, he found early on that “The best leaders start out to serve, but then he/she are called to lead.”

The second interview focused on race relations over the generations, and dove deep into the Ambassador’s experience growing up in the South during a time of segregation, his experiences with racism, and his thoughts on religion. Junior Osval Mendez asked how racism affected the Ambassador as a child. “We didn’t talk a lot about it as racism. We talked about the conditions we faced,” Joseph explained. “I went to a segregated school in which we studied from books that were handed down from the white school when they considered them no longer fit for use. I started in a building that was a hand-me-down that had been condemned as a white school and then made available to blacks. Those were the kind of ways racism affected me in this sort of way.”

After the interviews, the Ambassador signed copies of his book for the students and congratulated them on a job well done.

For students, the experience was a learning process and they found it to be amazing overall. According to Danny White, “The whole process was challenging, yet exciting.” Tikeyah Whittle, education specialist, saw the process as transformative for her students and her role very inspiring. “The students in my group are extremely inquisitive and intelligent, but sometimes they just don’t realize how great they are.” Whittle said, “Being able to prepare them with the skills and then stand back and watch them perform so outstandingly with no tutelage from myself or my intern Le’Qentez Brow was amazing and extremely fulfilling. I think interviewing someone as prolific as Ambassador Joseph, and doing such a phenomenal job at it, helped the students to solidify a belief in themselves. Something I’m always trying to instill in them.”

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding communities. In 2015, the Foundation celebrated 90 years of grantmaking in the Greater Hartford region, made possible by the gifts of generous individuals, families, and organizations. It has awarded grants of more than $650 million since its founding in 1925. For more information about the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888. 

 Click here to view our photo gallery from the event