Watch: April Reign and more play ‘This or That’ at ‘Byron Allen Presents: A Seat at the Table’ gala
TheGrio's Natasha S. Alford caught up with some of the attendees on the red carpet at the "Seat at the Table" event in April.
For the second year in a row, Byron Allen punctuated the White House Correspondents dinner with the “A Seat at the Table” gala. Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group and owner of the Grio, said the goal of the event, which this year honored broadcast journalist Gayle King, is to celebrate Black excellence.
TheGrio’s Natasha S. Alford took a moment on the red carpet for a game of “This or That” with some of the attendees April 29 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Playing along were “Sherri” executive producer Jawn Murray, equity adviser and DEI advocate April Reign, “Dear Culture” podcast host Panama Jackson and political scientist Cynthia Greer.
The following is a transcript of the exchanges:
Alford: Really quick, we want to play a little game. It’s called ‘This or That.’ So if you had to choose between a physical hard copy of a book or audiobook, what are you going with?
Murray: I’m gonna go with a physical hard copy of the book. I just order Chef Melba’s cookbook, and I ordered a hard copy.
Reign: I am physical, hard copy unless I’m traveling. So I like to pack light. And so I’ll do an audiobook if I’m on the move. But if I’m home, there’s nothing like sort of peeling open that first book, that paper copy.
Alford: If you had to choose between ’80s, ’90s or the early 2000s, what are you going with?
Jackson: Nineties all day. Every day.
Alford: Why?
Jackson: I’m a ’90s kid and I grew up with the hip-hop of the ’90s. Like I’m a Pete Rock, CL Smooth, Biggie, Tupac. That’s my era. That’s who I am. That’s what raised me.
Alford: Streaming or live TV.
Reign: Oooh, I mean, Shonda Rhimes famously said that Black Twitter saved ‘Scandal’ because we were live-tweeting it. So that’s really important. But I never catch things live. And so I have to stream and catch up. I got to be right in the middle of that one.
Alford: Do you like a phone call every now and then or text me first?
Greer: Can I say, I like to write long letters.
Alford: Oh, wow. I wasn’t expecting that one.
Greer: I keep the U.S. Postal Service in business. I write about 10 letters a week to different friends of mine.
Murray: It depends on the person. Some people I don’t want to hear from at all, but there are certain voices I like to hear. It makes me happy to answer the phone and catch up with someone that I haven’t talked to in a while. Yeah, you can call me anytime.
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