I tell non-fiction stories across a range of platforms, including print, podcast & film. donnellellisalexander@gmail.com
Amplifier of Black Art
“We outside!” Chance the Rapper exclaims into his microphone. The sky is near black at maybe seven minutes after 8 p.m. in Downtown Los Angeles. Third weeknight of October. Chance had been and would be again, soon, rhyming his way through a song. The Chicago MC had been in the midst of vocalizing about his heart and his God and the shifting tides of life.
Chano—as more ardent fans might call him—stood on top of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s roof while he did his thing.
It’s our inside-out ...
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.
Cannabis, Corruption, and Adam Craig Hill’s Unfinished Poem in SLO
Adam Craig Hill left Rockaway, New Jersey, to become a famous writer in California. He wound up a polarizing and infamously fallible county supervisor in San Luis Obispo. Through it all, Hill’s big personality and addiction to shortcuts put him on an unpaved road to the Dead Poets Society.
At his Shell Beach home two Augusts ago, the Fresno State English Department product took his own life — months after winning election to a fourth term. SLO is a place that Oprah once called “the Happiest P...
Set and Setting – Madison Margolin – Ep. 13 – Cannabis, Psychedelics, & Spirituality with Donnell Alexander
Cannabis journalist, Donnell Alexander joins Madison in dynamic conversation around this cultural moment in psychedelics, spirituality, and the cannabis industry.
Alexander is a journalistic storyteller based in Los Angelos and a Fellow at the University of Southern California’s Center for Health Journalism where he’s reporting on fairness in cannabis. He has contributed to and been featured in TIME, NPR, Rolling Stone, Al Jazeera’s Inside Story, Leafly, and KCRW.
'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.
Donnell Alexander's GHETTO CELEBRITY
Ghetto Celebrity named one of the San Francisco Chronicle's Best Books of 2003.
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...
Weekend America: An LSD No-No
The four-and-a-half-minute public radio narrative from 2008 that helped the world rediscover MLB pitcher Dock Ellis.
Green Goblins | UnFictional | Radio Documentary and Storytelling | KCRW
A story of baseball, fatherhood and what it's like to be the black team.
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...
WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE - ESPN The Magazine
From ESPN The Magazine's debut issue.
Spree had one set of rules. P.J. had another. The clash was inevitable.
Crate Diggers - 23 - Donnell Alexander
Welcome to episode 23 of Crate Diggers!
Crate Diggers is a music / interview podcast using vinyl records as a jumping off point for conversations between artists and other cool people. Hosted by veteran DJ, Verbz and produced by his brother, hip hop producer Steez.
The guest for episode 23 is writer, Donnell Alexander. Donnell is currently working as a facilitator for Oregon Humanities and has written for a list of premier publications from ESPN, Huffington Post, Time, and many others. Donnel...
Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No
The animated doc short. Audio narrative co-produced with Neille Ilel.