Author Meets Critics: Pioneering African-American Women in the Advertising Business

This book discussion centered around Judy Foster Davis' book Pioneering African-American Women in the Advertising Business: Biographies of MAD Black WOMEN (Routledge, 2017), which provides an in-depth look at four Black women's remarkable stories of reaching success in the advertising business: Caroline Robinson Jones, Joel P. Martin, Barbara Gardner Proctor, and Carol H. Williams. This recorded talk explains the book's biographical narrative approach, archival materials, and central concepts: structural oppression, intersectionality, entrepreneurship, and inclusivity. The participants reflect on the advertising industry's barriers to entry, efforts to overcome problems of inclusivity, and the future of multicultural perspectives in a digital age. Ultimately, the participants agreed that more stories like the women featured in this book need to be uncovered and told. Moreover, more academic-industry bridges are necessary to build authentic programs that increase inclusivity and address covert racism and structural oppression.