The McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute (MPJI) hosted Hamil R. Harris to speak on “Jesus, Justice and Journalism” on Friday, Feb. 10.
Harris is a longtime minister and award-winning Black journalist in Washington D.C. He has written for The Washington Post, The Washington Informer and Religion Unplugged. He currently teaches journalism at Howard University and serves as the pastor at the Glenarden Church of Christ.
During his lecture, Harris spoke about his work in journalism and ministry and how that work has affected his thinking on racial reconciliation, love and forgiveness.
As a churchgoer for much of his life and as a pastor, Harris has noticed the change in church culture in our present day.
“As an African American, I went to a building with people who looked like me,” said Harris. “At the other corner was a Church of Christ with people who look like you all. So that was my Jesus, going into buildings and doing stuff.”
As the church becomes more digital, Harris reminded the audience that the church is the body of Christ as described in John 3:16.
“He didn’t say for God so loved white people or that He loved black people,” said Harris. “He loved the world.”
Photo by Leocciano Callao
This notion of “we” continues from Scripture to the U.S. Constitution. The document begins with the preamble reading “we the people” and promising justice, the focus of the second part of the lecture, to all.
“We know historically that some folks came over here on the top of the ship and some folks came on the bottom,” said Harris. “What happened is that it was separate and unequal.”
Harris explained that the Founding Fathers established laws to protect rights such as free speech and freedom of the press. However, some people are not ensuring that right, especially regarding journalists.
“I had some of my colleagues that were arrested and we thought we had a constitutional right to take pictures,” said Harris.
Regarding justice, Harris urged the audience to know who they are before dealing with such justice. Harris’ previous view of the church, as a place to go and do things, changed to a whole new perspective.
“I say Jesus is who I am, justice is what I am and journalism is what I do,” explained Harris. “The Spirit is empowering me to do something.”
With that in mind, Harris challenged the student journalists present in the audience.
“God would take you out of your comfort zone,” said Harris. “Are you prepared as journalists to go to places where it’s not familiar territory?”
Harris’ heroes growing up were John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King. When they were both assassinated, he had a strong feeling that he wanted to be close to the scene. When he moved to Washington DC, Harris was willing to risk his life to do his job as a journalist well.
“You need to take whatever your past is…and use it as a stepping stone for your success,” said Harris. “Make that part of your comeback story.”
Hamil Harris | Photo by Leocciano Callao
“I am sure [with] all of the stories you do, you often get comments or opinions and a lot of people tearing down your work,” said Jada Camille, a reporter for the Brooklyn Paper and NYCJ Semester alumnae, to Harris at the end of his lecture. “How do you discern if you should respond or when you will respond and if you do respond, how to do so in a professional and godly manner?”
In response, Hamil said, “First of all, you have to ask yourself: Does their criticism have any merit?”
He recounted a crime story he covered that created an issue due to miscommunication of Harris’ story angle.
“Even if somebody is a scoundrel and does something wrong, it's not my job to convict anybody,” Harris said. “My job is to report the facts. And even if I report the facts, did I misrepresent myself in terms of having pseudo-empathy just so I could get the story?”
The purpose of the tale was to outline the responsibilities of a journalist to report correctly and avoid receiving criticism for poor reporting.
Myrian Garcia is the Editor in Chief at the Empire State Tribune. She is a senior studying Journalism, Culture and Society.