I tell non-fiction stories across a range of platforms, including radio, print & film. Also: Cut off all of my hair under quarantine. donnellellisalexander@gmail.com
In This Teen Book Club, “The Outsiders” Leads to Talk of Boys and ICE
It’s the third Wednesday of the month, and that means it’s time for book club. Seven students gather in a small-town Oregon church to discuss The Outsiders.
An Oregon Canyon | Oregon Humanities
A short film on "how racism is literally inscribed on our geography." Directed with Sika Stanton. An official selection of the 2019 Portland International Film Festival.
New Edition’s Neighborhood Secret
Hearing the name New Edition is likely to conjure a lot of thoughts. Bobby Brown, those sweet dance moves, and the recent BET biopic to name but a few. Usually not too high on that list is the fact that they’re from Boston, but New Edition’s Boston roots run deep. So when they filmed a music video in Los Angeles with the Lakers during the height of the 1980s Celtics/Lakers rivalry, it was quite a shock to their hometown supporters. Find out how it happened, and how an assist...
How This African-American Pot Grower Is Mastering California’s Green Rush
After graduating from historically black Prairie View A&M University, just outside of Houston, the son of a cop, he received an MBA from the University of Chicago. Mitchell flew around the U.S. pointing out to corporate executives who to fire, telling his clients the time while using their own expensive wristwatches to do so.
Restless Valley: Can Devin Nunes Hold His Seat in November?
The eight-term congressman could not be less visible to locals if he wore a magic cloak. Some visiting constituents have had to interact with Nunes’ people through an outdoor intercom.
The conversations swirling around at Pride Visalia blended in with feathery dance beats from a drag contest, here in Tulare County’s largest town. Southern Central Valley LGBT people and their allies had taken cars, trains and buses out of map dots from miles around to gather in fellowship at Visalia’s Old Lumb...
Undrinkable water
The California Water Resources Control Board reports that 360,000 Californians don't have access to clean drinking water. A state senate bill would set aside money to deal with the problem, which mostly affects the rural poor living in the Central Valley. Reporter Donnell Alexander goes to Cutler, California in Tulare County to find out what it's like to live with dirty water and what's being done about it.
Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No: A Short Film
The animated doc has been hailed as one of the great baseball films. Neille Ilel produced the audio narrative with me.
'We wanted to work the land with our kids': the Black US farmers reclaiming the soil
Malcolm Shabazz Hoover is rattling off his vegetable varieties to two potential customers from a local restaurant.
“It’s called Brassica juncea, a west African mustard green,” Hoover says to Marissa Lorette and Ian Watson, co-owners of BeesWing, a local restaurant looking to work with Black businesses. He picks some from the ground and offers it to them. “Taste it.”
“It’s sweet and spicy,” Watson says, looking pleased and happily confused, and Black Futures Farm bags another client.
The Darkness in Burns, Oregon
During the 45 minutes I spend inside the occupied refuge, I experience a calm and acceptance that is utterly unlike the vibe back in Burns. The occupiers ask me to stay, and invite me to eat. I talk to several other people in addition to Ehmer, and at no point do I feel racial animus.
Still, I ask Ehmer the question...
How I Learned to Be Hungry
When you suffer from physical hunger there’s a terrible discomfort: dizziness, headaches, and an inability to focus. A hollowness echoes through the self.
Donnell Alexander's GHETTO CELEBRITY
Ghetto Celebrity named one of the San Francisco Chronicle's Best Books of 2003!
Brought to Mexico in chains, Gaspar Yanga and his followers rebelled
The first and, arguably, only African Middle Passage rebel to win a fight against his captors and be granted land worked out of the palenques, renegade communities in the part of New Spain, that we now know as Mexico’s Gulf Coast.
Green Goblins | UnFictional | Radio Documentary and Storytelling | KCRW
A story of baseball, fatherhood and what it's like to be the black team.
Crate Diggers — Ep. 36 – Donnell Alexander 2
We’re a music / interview podcast using vinyl records as a jumping off point for conversations between artists and other cool people! Crate Diggers is hosted by veteran Portland DJ, Verbz and is engineered by his brother, hip-hop producer, Steez.
Episode 36 is our first ever exclusive returning guest, Donnell Alexander. Donnell is an incredible writer with credits in Time, Rolling Stone, ESPN, an...