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Professor and Executive Director for Presidential Communications Michele Foss-Snowden is posed pointing at an image of her family and reflects on her time in Sacramento while inside her office in Mendocino Hall Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. Her office holds collectibles of her favorite movie franchise \u201cStar Trek,\u201d reflective of her discussions of the complex impact the movies have had on race and media. (Nykeriyah Brown<\/a>)<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taking ownership of storytelling<\/p>\n
Michele Foss-Snowden is a professor of rhetoric and media in the Department of Communication Studies and current executive director for presidential communications at Sac State. Her research focuses on television, movies and rhetorical criticism, specifically related to race and culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe biggest challenge facing us right now is media literacy. But it\u2019s the unique combination of media literacy plus hegemony,\u201d Foss-Snowden said.<\/p>\n
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She explained how the suppression of Black history, culture and identity through media is intentional, but it is not always the fault of the audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s almost like an IV drip of damaging content but doing so in a way that you don\u2019t see it coming, and you consent essentially to your own oppression,\u201d Foss-Snowden said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Many Americans spend their free time consuming media such as movies and shows, with an average of 15.5 hours a day according to Scholars Strategy Network. Foss-Snowden said entertainment and media can also hold racial misconceptions and prejudices that begin to form and embed within society.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The Scholars Strategy Network <\/a>also said that \u201cracial images packaged as entertainment can skew the way all viewers understand and categorize people,\u201d which has an impact on both Black and non-Black audiences.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Foss-Snowden emphasized how storytelling is crucial to understanding the human experience, including why it\u2019s important to recognize how fictional and factual media can be damaging to marginalized communities.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe, as humans, crave stories,\u201d Foss-Snowden said. \u201cWe learn a lot of that very fundamental part of humanity through media storytelling. It doesn\u2019t feel fair to blame the audience for accepting this food, even though it\u2019s rotten, when we\u2019re starving.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n She said that racism is unavoidable because of how deeply rooted it is in the foundations of our country\u2019s history and media. However, she added that there are still ways for all people to begin to dismantle these structures with this in mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI really think that the answer is taking more control of our storytelling,\u201d Foss-Snowden said. \u201cSo the more that we can be a producer of our knowledge, instead of just a consumer of knowledge, the better off we\u2019re going to be. And we are definitely seeing movement in that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Although Foss-Snowden said there is some overemphasis in mainstream media to push for representation, she hopes that communities begin to take ownership of their storytelling to make meaningful change within the world of media.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy recommendation is that we absolutely flood all corners of the production landscape with our own storytellers,\u201d Foss-Snowden said. \u201cNot just being the ones who tell our stories but then also knowing what to do with those stories as individuals, once they\u2019ve been produced.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Lean into your curiosity\u00a0<\/p>\n Clarence George III is an assistant professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies in the Pan-African Studies Program and director of the Cooper-Woodson College Enhancement Program<\/a>. His desire to learn about his ancestry has driven his scholarly career, inspired by his experience as an undergraduate student at Sac State, graduating with a bachelor\u2019s in communication studies in 2010.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think for me, Black History Month is something that should be celebrated outside of Black history because it\u2019s talking about the foundations of human history,\u201d George said. \u201cCreated by Carter G. Woodson, [the program]it laid the foundation for all the other heritage months that we celebrate and appreciate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n He said that Black History Month is a moment to recognize all of American history, and how it displays the beauty and uniqueness of American multiculturalism.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
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The outside of ethnic studies assistant professor Jasmine Wade\u2019s office inside the Ethnic Studies Department in Amador Hall on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. She designed an Afrofuturism class for the department that she hopes to teach that focuses on how the Black community can thrive in the future. (