The Latest News

Fundraiser for South Sudan Books for Girls

Tamara had the honor of speaking at the "Girls With Books" fundraiser in Denver. The organization raises money and awareness for girls education in South Sudan. An African Proverb says, "If you educate a boy, you educate a person. If you educate a girl, you educate an entire nation." Micklina Kenyi is the new Executive Director. She is Sudanese American and an amazing woman, leading an important organization making an impact!

NABJ 2023 Founders’ Reception - August 2023

Tamara had the honor once again this year to produce the NABJ 2023 Founders’ Reception in Birmingham, AL. Every year the Founders of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) receive a unique gift from the organization. This year they were given handmade, painted and designed coasters by Atlanta-based artist, Marcia Stafford. They were a hit! https://www.mstaffordcollection.com/

Pictured here are Founders Sandra Dillard, Francis Ward, and Sandra Weaver

NEW DOCUMENTARY COMING SOON!

Tamara is working on a film called "Resisting" (working title), directed by donnie betts. The documentary profiles a number of victims of police brutality around the country. In Atlanta recently, the United Nations listened to testimony by Black family members who've lost loved ones who were unarmed and killed by police for minor infractions. This epidemic has gotten so bad the UN wants to take action against over policing in the US. Stay tuned for more details about this important documentary, coming soon!

Images, from left to right: Cinematographer Kenneth Johnson films testimony by family members who have lost their children to police brutality in the U.S.; an audience at Auburn Avenue Research Library listen to heartbreaking testimony, mostly from mothers whose sons were killed by police; and United Nations representatives listen to testimony from loved ones who have lost family members to over-policing.

One Person Can Make a Difference

(The following article is an interview by Sheila Smith with Tamara Banks, reproduced with permission of Body of Christ News, May 2023, bocnews.com)

If you live in Colorado, you have seen her face on television. She has been in the forefront hosting award ceremonies and programs in Denver. She has done talk shows. She has been seen nationally from the documentaries she has reported on and produced.

That is Tamara Banks.

An Emmy-award winning icon journalist and documentary filmmaker who continues doing her own thing and being out in the trenches bringing stories to the people.

“I know what I am called to do. I know what needs to be done,” Banks says as you hear her passion and calling in being a journalist of integrity.

Banks graced the television network stage as an anchor/reporter for almost 13 years for WB2 News Channel 2 News back in the day. She then went to work for former Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper as one of his policy advisors and “neighborhood liaison.”

“I connected him with neighborhoods and communities in the City and County of Denver,” says Banks while still using her communications talents to engage with people throughout the city.

Later, Banks left Denver to expand her career to work on a national and international level, researching and reporting on genocides and crimes against humanity. She quickly became widely known and recognized for her work producing documentaries and long format pieces, reporting on what was going on in Sudan back in 2008.

“I realized our people, Black people, are still being enslaved in different parts of the world. And I specifically started focusing on the southern part of Sudan and Darfur,” she explains. Slavery was being used as a tool of genocide. It was not until July 2011, South Sudan seceded from Sudan, becoming the world’s newest country.”

However, today, South Sudan has been battling severe droughts, flooding, and internal conflict. It has become a battleground of religious spiritual and warfare as the enemy of Jesus leads powerful military factions in the fight to take control of the country.

And despite hundreds of people killed, thousands wounded, and diplomats from different countries, including those from the United States, scrambling to evacuate the unrest in the city of Khartoum, in neighboring country, Sudan, South Sudan continues to strive to stand strong and independent.

The power struggle is real.

“It’s about religion, race, and resources that started the Civil War. There is a lot of oil in South Sudan and Sudan.”

Banks has not been back to South Sudan since the COVID-pandemic hit and restricted travel. But she plans to go back this year as well as to the Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia to continue reporting on genocide and crimes against humanity. Banks is also working on an assignment in Uganda and Rwanda.

She says before traveling to conflict zones she makes sure she is “prayed up,” done her homework, and connects with people in the area who know the language and culture, as well as notifying the state department and the Committee to Project Journalists.

Meanwhile, Banks is enjoying married life in Atlanta and still working on different projects – from a film on excessive police brutality across the U.S. to her talk show, “From Moment to Movement with Tamara Banks.”

While she may love Denver, Atlanta is the place to be now.

“Atlanta is the birthplace of Civil Rights. Black Lives Matter has really taken a foothold in front of a global audience. It’s a place where Civil Rights was born and has evolved with a different generation taking up the mantle.”

An admirable superstar journalist like Banks sets the bar high for others in the field. She has faith in God leading her to continue utilizing her gifts.

So, whatever you do in life to help to support, inform or even pray for others, remember:  I Corinthians 12:4-6 “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”

Tamara Banks discusses Media Literacy

On May 6, 2023, Tamara served on a panel hosted by Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light, an international peace NGO founded to promote global peace and cessation of war.  The topic of discussion was the importance of Media Literacy - the ability to evaluate media content critically in order to form positions on political candidates and policy issues.

Tamara was joined by distinguished panelists Craig Brown, president of the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists, the incomparable Lyn Vaughn, former CNN reporter/anchor, and the incredible Dawn Montgomery from the Atlanta Voice. Get Media Literate today! Know who's delivering the news you read, watch, and listen to!

Tamara Banks serves as Documentary Film Consultant to Telluride Film Festival 2022

“Wood Hood” is a great film which debuted at the mountain film festival in Telluride. The story follows a 15-year-old from one of New York’s inner-city neighborhoods on a weekend-long group camping trip with Camping to Connect, a Black-Indigenous-and People of Color (BIPOC) -led mentorship program that teaches leadership, brotherhood, and inclusion in the outdoors.
The film weaves between the city and the woods, a place that is unfamiliar and historically inaccessible to these kids. Well done!

Black Women’s Influence in US Politics Explored by Australian Media

Tamara Banks recently helped produce a documentary for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation focused on how Black women in America have made a seismic shift in the path of U.S. politics. She describes "Give us the Vote" as “one of the most important pieces I've worked on."

TazMedia Again Produces Video for Annual Dr. MLK Jr Business Awards Ceremony

How do you enhance a special event while at the same time memorializing it as organizational history? Tamara Banks’ Video Production Company, TazMedia, interviews the principals, sponsors and honorees ahead of time, to make a special media presentation at the event itself. TazMedia has been producing the video for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Business Awards for a number of years, which includes interviews with each of the awardees. This year the event will be held virtually on January 15, 2021. Visit https://www.mlkbusinessawards.org for details.

Virtual Conversation with Judy Woodruff

On December 15 at noon, join an exclusive Rocky Mountain PBS virtual conversation with PBS NewsHour anchor, Judy Woodruff, and Emmy Award-winning journalist, Tamara Banks. Attendees will hear Judy’s insights on our post-election environment, the current state of broadcast journalism, and her path to becoming one of the most trusted anchors in primetime television. Register here: http://member.rmpbs.org/JudyWoodruff

New PBS Documentary: Driving While Black

Tamara had the honor of being interviewed for a new documentary by Gretchen Sorin and Ric Burns, 'Driving While Black: Race Space, and Mobility in America.' The storyline tracks what it is and what it has been like to be Black while driving in this country. From the need to reference a "Green Book" which listed places African Americans were safe to eat, stay and patron to being pulled over by police because you don't look like you belong in a certain neighborhood. Tamara said, “Jim Crow laws are gone, and segregation and lynching are illegal, but it is still dangerous for Black men and women to move around in this society. This film is a must see by the entire family."

Project Education South Sudan

At the beginning of October, Project Education South Sudan connected people from all over the world to hear directly from scholars in South Sudan. The fundraiser, moderated by acclaimed journalist Tamara Banks, featured women discussing how education has impacted their lives. https://tinyurl.com/PESSDonate

Tamara Banks nominated for EMMY Award

Tamara is nominated as producer for Street Level Startups: Sistahpreneurs, Colorado Public Television.The segment features Makisha Boothe, founder of the organization which is known as the business haven in Denver for Black female entrepreneurs.Heather Dalton, who edited the piece, was co-nominated.Winners will be announced July 25.

The Killing of George Floyd: the Aftermath and Reflections with Colorado African-American Leaders

Tamara joined other African-American thought leaders on a panel hosted by Nadeem Ibrahim of the Multicultural Mosaic Foundation.

Another Glass Ceiling Breakthrough

History was made on November 20, 2019 for Democratic Presidential Debate in at the Tyler Perry Studios when four female journalists served as moderators: (L to R) Rachel Maddow (MSNBC), Andrea Mitchell (MSNBC), Ashley Parker (Washington Post), and Kristen Welker (NBC). Tamara was one of 500 credentialed journalists to cover the event in Atlanta.

Social Justice as Volunteerism

Tamara often covers stories of people in need. She is a journalist who also values being in service to the community. For 20 years she has volunteered at Denver Rescue Mission greeting homeless clients with comfort and preparing meals. This Thanksgiving season, please help put a turkey on every table! https://denverrescuemission.org/a-turkey-on-every-table/.



Tamara Covers Obama on Climate Crisis

In his Keynote address at the Greenbuild Conference today at the Georgia World Conference Center in Atlanta Fmr. President Barak Obama said his daughters are focused on environmental issues and strategies and he learns a lot from them. Previous Greenbuild keynote speakers include Ret. Gen. Colin Powell, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, human rights activist Amal Clooney, former Vice President and climate activist Al Gore.

Voyage Denver Interview

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tamara Banks.

For Emmy Award-winning journalist, Tamara Banks, the statement, “One Person Can Make a Difference,” is more than just words.

Tamara is a freelance journalist, talk show host, and documentary filmmaker, focusing on social justice and dedicated to creating transformative social change through excellence in journalism.

Her areas of expertise include: social justice and political issues, nationally and internationally, particularly in South Sudan and Darfur, and other parts of the globe where there is little or no news coverage about crimes against humanity and genocide. Her documentary short film, “The Long Journey Home,” was accepted into the 2009 Hollywood Film Festival, “HollyShorts.”

Her work has been featured on numerous news networks including PBS, CNN, ABC News, HDNet’s World Report, BBC, NPR, Al Jazeera America, Al Jazeera, WB 2 News, FOX News, as well on as a number of radio stations and newspapers over the past 20 plus years.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
While my mom, a single parent, made sure our house was filled with love there were many times when food was scarce. But she always taught my brother, sister and me to believe in ourselves and know that we can do anything as long as we work hard and do our best to make the world a better place.

She instilled in me, us, that it’s important to find out what my passion is (everyone is passionate about something), do the work and research it takes to learn more about it and then go do it! And do it the best I can. When I got frustrated or discouraged, she’d say, “If it were easy then everyone would be doing it.” (Whatever it is.)

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I’m a freelance journalist, primary TV news, but I also work in radio and produce documentary films. In addition, I produce videos for clients whom I’m aligned with regarding social justice issues.  I’m so honored to have reported on and produced a number of stories and events that have garnered recognition by the journalism profession and my peers. However, while I’m honored to win Emmy’s, even getting nominated is an honor, I’m not a correspondent and producer to win awards. This is my calling. My passion. Nikki Giovonni says this about her passion to write poetry, “Writing is what I do to justify the air I breathe.” Storytelling through excellence in journalism is what I do to justify my place on this earth. 

To answer your question about what I’m most proud of, it’s difficult to point out just one story. But I can say that I love going to South Sudan, Sudan, and the Nuba Mountains to not just report on crimes against humanity but more importantly report on the people who are making a difference. I’ve learned that people who have the least tend to be the people that will give you the most. This was also true in Iraq. I met people who were struggling to survive during the war and would take time to tell me their stories about their lives, their families, the dreams of a better future.  

Recently, in Haiti I worked on a story about an American doctor and a Haitian American nurse who gave up the comforts of the U.S. to provide health care to Haitians who would otherwise not have the means or access to quality medical treatment.

People like that are showing up in the world in a way that is, well, brilliant! Which brings me to my BE BRILLIANT initiative.

1.2 billion people around the world live without electricity. 173 million live in urban areas. As a way to give back to the world as well as get viewers to engage and connect with the people and places I tell stories about I encourage people to help me light up the world. BE BRILLIANT is a call to action. You don’t have to go to South Sudan, Haiti, Uganda, Latin America or anywhere. You, your family and friends can connect with families across the globe by taking one meaningful step: purchase portable, solar-powered lamps for them. https://www.tamarambanks.com/be-brilliant

I’m truly blessed to have this career. 

To further share stories about people and places, I’m also a keynote speaker and emcee for numerous events.

Any shout-outs? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My mom was my biggest cheerleader. Without her believing in me I know I’d not be where I am today. Also, my brother and sister are always supportive, although they worry that I go to too many dangerous places far too often. And my girlfriends, my BFF’s have been my lifeline over the years.

My boyfriend is also one of my greatest supporters. First and foremost, God has blessed me tremendously. I’ve only accomplished so much and reported and continue to report in conflict zones and come back home to tell the stories because of the grace of God.

(Reproduced with permission from Voyage Denver, a platform that fosters collaboration and support for small businesses, independent artists and entrepreneurs, local institutions and those that make our city interesting.)

Sistahbiz Spotlight on Tamara Banks by Danielle Kym

Emmy Award winning journalist Tamara Banks is a pillar in the Denver community and our Sistahbiz Spotlight for this week. We appreciate her light, depth and commitment to truth and justice. She has been making waves as a Black Female entrepreneur, creating transformational social change through excellence in journalism.

Tamara is a former anchorwoman for WB2 News, and has been featured on numerous news networks including PBS, CNN, ABC News, HDNet’s World Report, BBC, Al Jazeera America, FOX News, as well as on a number of radio stations and newspapers over the past 20+ years. The shift to freelance journalism and consulting is one that requires boss moves and Tamara dropped a few of those gems in this interview for sure.

What’s the #1 piece of advice you have for black women starting new businesses?

Believe in yourself! That doesn’t mean you can’t have moments of self doubt, butterflies, or an uneasy stomach. Just don’t let them consume you. Get your prayer warriors and support team behind you and keep moving forward! Get a mentor or a few mentors.

Has your product/service gone through iterations and changes? What was your strategy for learning from customers and improving the product?

I’ve learned to do as much pre-planning as possible for a client needing a video produced. The flip side is I’ve learned how to manage a client’s expectations. This is not always easy since clients will sometimes change their minds in the middle of a production.

How did you acquire the necessary capital required to scale your business and get to this level?

I put money aside before I stepped completely in to the freelance world.

What is a strategy (or two) that you use to ensure that you meet your annual goals?

I have to write my goals down.
Secondly, I put benchmarks in place to stay focused and on track.

How do you recharge and restore and how often?

I don’t recharge and restore often enough! But when I do I spend time laughing with my BFF’s. I also meditate, and EVERY DAY, several times a day I pray, thanking God for all of my blessings.

What area of your business did you have the least experience in when you started? How did you handle the learning curve and ensure the business succeeded in that area?

I’m a creative… I get bored with numbers and had no experience in bookkeeping. I had to learn how to do at least the basics. And when I was able to afford it I hired a great accountant.

What is your morning routine?

1. I thank God for another Day and ask Him whom I can bless that day.
2. Read my daily devotional.
3. Read the news headlines.
4. Go for a run.

Tell us about your first big deal and how you achieved it? (This can be a retail distribution deal, large-scale contract, sponsorship or funding round)

Every job I have been hired for I felt was a “big deal” because I knew it was a right where I was supposed to be. With that said, when I got my anchor/reporter contract I felt I was really on the path I wanted to be on. Later, each time I’m able to work for a national or international network I’ve landed a “large-scale” contract in the TV journalism world.

What advice do you have for women trying to cross cultural lines to grow their business? Can you speak to this from both a race and class perspective?

First and foremost, be yourself. If you wear your hair natural then wear it that way when you give a presentation, pitch a story to network, or approach a client. Just like any relationship, you need to be authentic from the very beginning. With that said, meet potential clients where they are. In other words, find something you do have in common like sports, activities, family. This will make you relatable to (almost) anyone. Again, don’t hide your light!

How have relationships impacted your business? What advice would you give entrepreneurs about how to manage business relationships? What relationship skills are most important for business success?

Relationships are the key pillars of success and those strong relationships are built on a foundation of integrity. This looks like keeping your word, following through, and calling your client regularly just to see how they’re doing. Much of my work now comes from referrals from people who trust me and my work.

Can you tell us about a great failure or disappointment that you learned or benefited greatly from in your business?

One of my shows was cancelled with no real explanation. I was surprised but not shocked when I learned the money for the show would go toward someone else’s. But, I learned that other doors were opening… bigger, better doors… once that one closed! I needed to leave that job but hadn’t. They blessed me by discontinuing my contract!

If you can share one message to inspire black women in business, what would it be?

It’s important to find your passion and follow it! Get the support and resources you need. Ask questions. Get a mentor(s). Be thankful for the good and tough times.

Rocky Mountain PBS: Arts District - Answer the Call

Tamara Banks reports on the multi-faceted musical performance, "At the Table With Dr. King," which explores his life of challenges and victories, and how answering the call for a deeper life purpose can serve our community and promote peace.

Support Black Churches Destroyed by Arson

From Tamara: Here's info on where you can send donations to help rebuild black churches torched in Louisiana. The campaign was posted on GoFundMe last Wednesday by the Seventh District Baptist Association, which includes 54 Baptist churches in southwest Louisiana, including the three that were burned.