Behind the Scenes with the Second Draft Project
By Myah Genung
The USC Charlotta Bass Journalism & Justice Lab has collaborated with the USC Digital Repository for a second installment of The Second Draft Project.
In early October, we recorded our second interview in the series with Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz, an author, community organizer, social activist and the third daughter of civil rights icon Malcolm X. The Charlotta Bass Lab’s founding director, Dr. Allissa V. Richardson, interviewed Dr. Shabazz at The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center in New York. The interview site marks the location of the former Audubon Ballroom, where Dr. Shabazz’s father notably drew his final breaths.
The Second Draft Project highlights the voices of Black Americans who are connected to pivotal moments in our nation’s fight for social justice, offering them a chance to illuminate history’s often skewed record. This project employs voice-to-text and machine learning technology to produce an “interactive interview” that allows users to engage with the subject’s pre-recorded testimony as if they were participating in a two-way conversation.
Students from Dr. Richardson and Professor Jameela Hammond’s “JOUR 499: The Second Draft Project” course were invited to join the New York interview via Zoom. The students, who spent their semester conducting research and producing a podcast related to the project, contributed to roughly 250 interview questions for Dr. Shabazz.
For more than five hours, Dr. Shabazz recalled Malcolm X’s message and mission. She was just two years old at the time of her father’s death at the age of 39. Dr. Shabazz also addressed how his legacy has been shaped and reshaped by historical accounts and traditional media narratives.
In addition, Dr. Shabazz shared reflections on the legacy of her mother, Dr. Betty Shabazz, whose social justice advocacy persisted well beyond the tragic assassination of her husband on February 21, 1965. The USC Charlotta Bass Lab looks forward to welcoming Dr. Ilyasah Shabazz to campus on February 13, 2024, when she will premiere her interview at an event in honor of Charlotta Bass Day.
