On World Book Day, Florida A&M University’s School of Journalism & Graphic Communication (FAMU SJGC) salutes alumna, author, scholar, educator, and journalist Meredith D. Clark, Ph.D., a two-time graduate of FAMU (bachelor’s in political science, ‘02, and master’s in journalism with a concentration in newspaper journalism, ‘06).
Clark is an associate professor of race and political communication in the Hussman School of Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned a doctorate in mass communication in 2014.
She was named one of The Root’s Most Influential Black Americans after authoring the first academic study on Black Twitter in 2014. She was subsequently dubbed the “go-to person about Black Twitter” by National Public Radio. Through the years, Clark has garnered national acclaim for her expertise on the documentation and study of Black Twitter, which led to her being featured in the Hulu docuseries “Black Twitter: A People’s History” in 2024.
This year, she celebrated the publication of “We Tried to Tell Y’all: Black Twitter and the Rise of Digital Counternarratives.”
Her book marries powerful interviews and timely analysis with lived experiences, offering the first in-depth look at how Black Twitter became a digital front line for truth-telling, cultural critique and real-time commentary—often filling in the gaps of coverage of the Black community left by traditional media.
Since the debut of Freedom’s Journal in 1827 to the present day, Clark powerfully unveils how the Black community has consistently used the media tools available to them to tell and preserve their own stories. Word by word, Clark sheds light on how Black social media users flipped the script by pushing back against the ongoing and historical erasure and media misrepresentation of Black culture and Black voices.
Clark recently reflected on the role FAMU played in her career as an accomplished writer, researcher, professor, and truth-teller.
She said, “I’ll tell anyone that FAMU was the second-best decision I ever made, right after ‘Black Jesus,’” which is symbolic of the intersections of Black faith, identity, liberation, and strength often discussed on Black Twitter.
“At FAMU SJGC, I was able to connect my love for news with what we were learning in class, and to take advantage of opportunities like our internship program with the Tallahassee Democrat,” Clark added. “The years I spent and relationships I built in SJGC laid the foundation for the career I’ve had in journalism and academia. I pray that one day I am able to return to serve the school that made me.”
Learn more about the book here.
