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Revolt TV’s State Of The Culture stage would be an intimidating space for most people, but Eboni K Williams filled the empty host seat with both range and grit. The Charlotte native started her career in law before taking a leap of faith a decade ago to transition to media in Los Angeles.
She started making her rounds through the talk radio circuit, and within a few years, scored correspondent positions on cable news channels. Her voice and much-needed perspectives on platforms such as The Breakfast Club, CBS News, Hannity, and The O’Reilly Factor eventually caught the attention of Revolt execs and earned her a spot on the popular show.
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“For professional reasons, Revolt TV was important to me,” Williams told theGrio.
“I had a relationship with them because of my Breakfast Club interviews. A lot of people know me from my frequent appearances on the Breakfast Club, where I talk about politics, but mostly social justice. So working with Revolt through the Breakfast Club, I was having a conversation and was a big fan of the show, State of the Culture, but never in a million years thought about co-hosting it.”
Even though Williams didn’t anticipate the opportunity, she understands she is now in a prime position to reach a specific, traditionally underserved, audience through the platform.
“It was an opportunity to participate with Joe Budden, Remy Ma, Jinxs, who were already talking to such an important audience, which is our culture,” she said.
As the 2020 presidential race looms in front of us, Williams wants to use her mic to focus on encouraging Black people to be very discerning about who deserves our trust.
“I don’t necessarily see a singular candidate,” Williams explained.
“I won’t speak to that. But what I will speak to is the need for us in this moment to understand, not to hustle backwards politically. What I would love to see our people do this election cycle differently, decide what’s important to Black people when it comes to economics, when it comes to housing, when it comes to education, when it comes to healthcare, when it comes to social justice and mass incarceration, then decide which candidate is already speaking to that.”
Williams challenges herself and our people to lean into the power of choice politically, personally and professionally. While historically, our ancestors were left without options and decisions were made for them, this generation is in an advantaged position to decide for itself what the future holds. Williams doesn’t want anyone to take that freedom for granted.
“We all come from a background of strong, resilient people that have done a lot of things right. But because of their sacrifices, because of what they’ve already set us up to do, we sit in privilege, all of us on some level,” the attorney turned media maven told TheGrio.
Continuing, “I’ll speak for me. One thing I’m able to do because of the sacrifices of my lineage is I’m able to be way more intentional about romantic partnership, for instance. Right? I’m able to be way more intentional. My mother raised me as a very confident, very business savvy, brilliant, single Black mother. It’s a beautiful thing, but I am in a position now where I can choose to do that or I can choose to do it a different way. So that’s an opportunity there for me.”
Eboni K. Williams has lived her life unafraid to chart an unmarked path, and she wants her listeners to not let fear or subscribed notions around Blackness to discourage them from doing the same.
She left the Grio fam with some affirmations she’s following for 2020 and hopes others do the same.
“Alignment is a big mantra for me in 2020”, says Williams. “Is it aligned with our long term goals and our long term ideals for the life we want to have? Just deciding what kind of life you really want to live. If it’s not, I have to exercise some discipline around that. And if it is, I’ve got to reinforce it.”
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