April Reign on #OscarsSoWhite, Racial Justice and Social Media Activism

As she watched the Oscars from her living room, attorney April Reign tweeted a single hashtag that would change the conversation around diversity and inclusion in Hollywood forever. #OscarsSoWhite started a movement that led her to devote her life to activism, working to amplify traditionally underrepresented voices in the entertainment industry. In this episode, April discusses how social media is propelling conversations around race, discrimination and social inequity to greater national attention, and how this phenomenon is playing an essential role in the recent resurgence of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. As an equity advisor for Sephora, April also offers valuable insights into how corporations can support the Black community both now and in the future, starting from within. Featuring: April Reign (@ReignOfApril)Host: Fred Cook (@fredcook), Chairman of Golin, a global PR firm. Author of “Improvise - Unorthodox Career Advice from an Unlikely CEO” and Director of the USC Center for Public RelationsFollow us: @Center4PR (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram)Newsletter: News from the USC Center for Public RelationsVisit our website: https://annenberg.usc.edu/research/center-public-relations Production CreditsA production of the USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations at the University of Southern California.Host: Fred CookExecutive Producer: Ron AntonetteSeason 7 Producers: Joe Carreon and Anvi MahajanProduction: Camille Culbertson, Jack Gisler, Toma BattinoEditorial: Joey Cha, Ivan Feng, Natalie Lopez, Grace AnSocial Content: Angelina Tran, Hailey Evans, Arushi Purkayastha, Chris ApyGrowth: Van Luu, Shaan DhaliwalLinksFollow the USC Center for PR (@usccenterforpr) on Instagram and LinkedIn. Follow Fred Cook on LinkedIn. Find all our reports at annenberg.usc.edu/cpr.Download the 2026 Relevance Report atannenberg.usc.edu/relevance