Changing the Face of Publishing with Jamia Wilson
Hello fabulous listeners of Spilling Chai! Welcome to Episode 9 of season two of the show. You guys have such great taste in podcasts and I am so happy to have you with us!
It is no secret that publishing in America, much like Hollywood, is not the most diverse business. In fact, a 2016 Diversity Baseline Survey examining race and gender in book publishing found that 79% of the industry is made up of white women.
The nationwide protests against racial injustice over the summer set off conversations in nearly every industry about the treatment of Black workers– and book publishing was no exception.
Jamia Wilson is a feminist activist, writer, and speaker. She joined Random House as vice president and executive editor in 2021. As the former director of the Feminist Press at the City University of New York and the former VP of programs at the Womenβs Media Center, Jamia has been a leading voice on womenβs rights issues for over a decade. Her work has appeared in numerous outlets, including the New York Times, the Today Show, CNN, Elle, BBC, Rookie, Refinery 29, Glamour, Teen Vogue, and The Washington Post.