Fort, arrested while covering a protest, calls it what it is: “an attack on press freedom”—and continues her work to amplify Black voices in media, insisting, “My arrest will not detract from this mission.”
The leaflet in Emmy-award winning journalist Georgia Fort’s inbox was vague, stating only that an event to honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s memory would be taking place on Jan. 18 and asking people to assemble promptly at 10 a.m. Although Fort did not know the specifics about what was going to take place, she knew that she wanted to report on whatever was about to happen in her Minnesota community.
According to the press release, the action was being sponsored by the Racial Justice Network; Black Lives Matter, Minnesota; and Black Lives Matter, Twin Cities.
On the morning of the Jan. 18, Fort joined protesters in a car caravan that ended up at Cities Church in St. Paul. The site, she learned, had been selected because one of the church’s pastors, Rev. David Easterwood, was rumored to be working as the acting head of a local office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
It was 11 days after the ICE murder of poet and parent Renee Nicole Good. Tensions were high, and once inside the sanctuary, the protesters disrupted the service, chanting, “ICE out now” and “no more ICE.” They also called for Easterwood to resign from the immigration enforcement agency.
Fort, with camera and mic in hand, recorded everything that was taking place and live-streamed the action as it was unfolding. This, she told Ms., was a routine part of her work as an independent TV and radio journalist.
But that routine was upended 12 days later, on Jan. 30, when she was arrested—along with seven others, including former CNN reporter Don Lemon, and charged with “conspiracy to deprive the church’s congregants of the right to worship.”
Fort has pled not guilty and is currently awaiting a still-unscheduled trial.
She spoke to Ms. reporter Eleanor J. Bader in mid-April about her work as a multimedia reporter, mentor for Black and brown youth, and critic of the government’s “strategic attack” on press freedom.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Eleanor J. Bader: Let’s start with your background. How did you become a TV and radio journalist?
Georgia Fort: When I was a teenager growing up in Minnesota, I decided I wanted to own my own radio station. In 2009, I got into professional radio by interning at KMOJ, 89.9 FM, which is Black-owned. Before this, I had my own program at my college station.
Both experiences taught me about the business, and I came to understand that it was really expensive to buy the equipment necessary to run a radio station. Still, through my pursuit of radio, I fell in love with on-air community conversations. At KMOJ, I had a program called ‘Middays with Miss Georgia’ which ran from Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
It was powerful to be a Black woman at a Black-owned radio station. Other stations exclusively featured white personalities, and as a Black person, that never sat right with me. But this is Minnesota, and KMOJ was the only real urban station we had.
I later left the state and went to work for Davis Broadcasting, Inc., a Black-owned commercial company that had a hip-hop station in Columbus, Ga. I worked there from 2013 to 2015, then worked at an R&B station, also in Columbus, WKZJ, 92.7. While working there, I periodically filled in at an Atlanta radio station before eventually transitioning into TV news.
That transition was not as big a leap as it sounds like it was, because throughout my time doing radio, I did my interviews on camera. I’ve always had a significant social media presence, and I would post the interviews I did online.
I eventually got a job at Columbia Consolidated Government Television, a public access station, and began hosting a public affairs program there. I developed a reel at that job. It basically took me two years, but I succeeded in making the transition from radio to TV.
Bader: What did these experiences teach you about the media and your role as a Black woman journalist?
Fort: I learned that authenticity as a Black professional goes a long way. Many Black and brown people code-switch to climb the ladder, but I learned that being bold would allow me to build my audience, live with integrity and be authentically me.
Bader: Did you know Don Lemon before the Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church?
Fort: No. We’d never met, but he’d invited me to be on his program a few days before the protest to talk about some of the reporting I’d done. But we did not know one another.
About two dozen federal agents, including personnel from the Drug Enforcement Agency, arrived around 6 a.m. and pounded on the door to my home. … They were really aggressive. … My 17-year-old has been having nightmares, and my 8-year-old cries every day.
Georgia Fort
Bader: What were your expectations when you showed up for the Jan. 18 MLK event?
Fort: I knew that the people organizing the event had a long-standing history of organizing non-violent actions, and I wanted to be there to cover what was happening in our community. I had no idea what was planned because it was a “pop up” protest.
I am still facing federal charges, so I have been advised by my attorneys to not speak about that day or about our legal strategy. But I want to stress that I was there as a journalist covering an event that was taking place in my community. It’s the same thing I do, and have done, every other day that I am working. I see the arrest as an attack on press freedom.
Bader: Can you describe the arrest?
Fort: It was terrifying. About two dozen federal agents, including personnel from the Drug Enforcement Agency, arrived around 6 a.m. and pounded on the door to my home. It sounded like they were going to break the door down. My mom was the person who went out to see what was going on and the agents told her that they were looking for me. They were really aggressive. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can prepare you for dozens of agents coming to your home.
My mom demanded to see the warrant and quickly got on the phone to my attorney and sent him a photo of the warrant.
The feds eventually went before a grand jury and got an indictment against me and several others, including Don.
… I was there as a journalist covering an event that was taking place in my community. … I see the arrest as an attack on press freedom.
Georgia Fort
Bader: I can’t imagine how horrible this must have been. I read that your daughters were traumatized by your arrest. How are they doing now? And how are you and your mom?
Fort: My mom is still recovering from the experience. My 17-year-old has been having nightmares, and my 8-year-old cries every day.
It’s also impacted my ability to do my job since as a co-defendant, there are people I have been told not to talk to or interview including school board members, community leaders, candidates for public office, clergy and the two cofounders of the Target boycott. This has limited my ability to cover the news.
I also worry that if I return to Cities Church to cover the ongoing protests taking place there, I will be arrested again.
Bader: At the same time, you’re continuing to work with BLCK Press, which you founded, and are continuing to work as vice president of the Minnesota chapter of the Association of Black Journalists. You’re also mentoring Black and brown youth through the Center for Broadcast Journalism and radio station, Power 104.7.
Can you say more about these efforts?
Fort: I started BLCK Press in 2020, during the pandemic. The Black community is not well represented, or is misrepresented, by the Minnesota media and BLCK Press exists to fill a gap. For three years, I ran a TV news program through BLCK called ‘Here’s the Truth‘ on the CW. It won three regional Emmy awards and was nominated for 12.
Corporations and businesses were initially eager to advertise with us. But that advertising dried up after Trump was reelected because companies were afraid of being seen as supporting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. During its short lifespan, ‘Here’s the Truth‘ created jobs for many Black and brown creators, and I am proud that it was a catalyst for a lot of people who got their start with us.
The work, of course, continues, despite this roadblock.
I’ve had a lot of great teachers in my life, and I am passionate about mentorship. Through the Center for Broadcast Journalism, another group I co-founded, we donated $5,000 to a scholarship for aspiring journalists administered by the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.
In addition, my passion has led me to create the Center for Broadcast Journalism as a place for youth of color to get resources, education and access the equipment they’ll need to be on-air reporters. The Center now runs a summer program for 10 kids that provides them with cameras, mics and audio equipment and helps connect them to internships and jobs. It’s for people ages 15 to 24. We created the curriculum to incorporate our own best practices.
Right now, less than 3 percent of newsroom staff in Minnesota are Black or brown, so we are doing what we can to promote more cultural awareness and diversity in the profession.
Finally, the Center owns a nonprofit radio station, Power 104.7 FM, and we’ve created an eight-week hybrid training program that offers a $3,000 stipend to participants. The training is hands-on, teaches journalism ethics, and helps each participant find their own authentic voice. Journalism is not a one-size-fits-all profession. Some people want to be hardcore investigative reporters and others want to cover music and entertainment.
Our mission is to advance a spectrum that represents Black and brown voices in media and prepares them for a range of roles that will diversify the industry, from ownership, to media management, to the newsroom itself.
My arrest will not detract from this mission.
