The network will air twelve hours of programming in black and white on Monday to spark conversation about race.
- Jan 19, 2015
AceShowbiz - MTV is going black and white on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The network will turn off the color for 12 hours on Monday, January 19 as part of its #TheTalk campaign to encourage people to talk about race.
During the 12-hour programming, MTV will feature commentary from stars such as Kendrick Lamar, Common, Big Sean, Pete Wentz, Jordin Sparks, Penn Badgley and David Oyelowo, "Selma" director Ava DuVernay, as well as politicians like U.S. senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Rep. John Lewis who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s.
"Millennials believe strongly in fairness, but they can also find it difficult to talk openly about race - to be not simply 'color blind' but 'color brave,' " says Stephen Friedman, president of MTV. "Our audience is looking for a way to bring the national conversation on race into their homes and this campaign will give them a forum to express true color bravery."
Lamar told MTV News, "My father definitely talked to me about [race] early on. He's from Chicago, you know, he came from Chicago to Compton and that's where I was born. And he dealt with it his whole life. And he knew the moment I was born, the color of my skin was going to be put to the test. And that's just how it is, you know. We have legacies, people who died for it."
#TheTalk begins Monday at 9 A.M. ET/PT.
