TV Host Shaun Robinson Talks Black Female Representation In Leadership

The media industry hasn’t always been the most welcoming to Black women. According to Women’s Media Center, women of color make up less than 8% of print newsrooms, 12% of local television stations, and 6% of local radio staff in the U.S. Television host and philanthropist Shaun Robinson has been pushing the envelope in this white male dominated space since graduating from Spelman College and landing her first job at Detroit’s WGPR-TV (now WWJ-TV), the first Black-owned television station in the U.S.

Since then, she’s served as a host on NBC’s Access Hollywood and written a book, Exactly As I Am: Celebrated Women Share Candid Advice with Today’s Girls on What It Takes to Believe in Yourself, featuring candid advice from women including Grammy award-winning singer Alicia Keys and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who draw from the challenges they faced navigating media as Black women. Through her S.H.A.U.N. Foundation For Girls, founded in 2016, Robinson is also creating pipelines for girls interested in the STEM fields.

In January, the Emmy award-winning journalist returned to reality television’s 90 Day Fiance franchise and hosted the series’ 90 Day Bares All.  “I get to show another side to my personality and the viewers love it,” she says.

For(bes) The Culture spoke with Robinson about how she’s advocating for representation in media, the Black women who are paving the wave for change and the momentum behind HBCUs in facilitating the next generations of leaders of color. 

For(bes) The Culture:  How do you view the current state of Black women representation within the media industry?

Shaun Robinson: I posted a picture of a woman named Beverly Payne on my social media at the beginning of Black History Month. She was the first African-American woman  I saw as a news anchor when I was growing up in Detroit. After my cartoons, my grandmother would turn on the evening news and there was Beverly Payne. I knew that she was different because she looked like me and I didn’t see anyone on television like myself. Even though I never met Beverly Payne, she was the first person who really set me on the path to becoming a journalist. 

I’m very blessed to have had longevity throughout my career. So many young women come up to me and tell me that seeing me on the red carpet or TV has made them feel and know that they could accomplish something too. It’s important at the core of it to see ourselves and know that we are valued and protected. That’s something that’s very close to my heart and I will use my platform as long as I can to promote that.

For(bes) The Culture: How do you think the media industry can truly put meaning behind the words ‘diversity and inclusion’?

Robinson: A girlfriend of mine that I grew up across the street from on the Northwest side of Detroit, who I also went to high school with and is my Spelman sister, Rosalind Brewer, was just named the CEO of Walgreens. As we were texting and celebrating her, we talked about the importance of seeing ourselves. But we need to ask ourselves why it is that in 2021 she’s such an anomaly and we’re surprised. Why is this something that is unique? It is about our talents being recognized. It’s not special that we’re trying to achieve diversity; this is what we’re supposed to be doing. 

We’re supposed to have a society that reflects all people. If we’re looking in corporate America and we’re not seeing what’s reflected in society, that’s a problem. When we talk about striving for diversity and inclusion, we have to make sure that we understand this is what we’re supposed to be doing. It’s something that should be required. For too long we have left out talented people because those who make the hiring decisions only pick from the pool of people that look like them. Opening our eyes and understanding that there is a world outside of our tiny bubble and recognizing the talents of all of our society is what we should be striving for.

For(bes) The Culture: Stacey Abrams, another Spelman alumna, was a driving force in the 2020 election. What does this mean to you as a Spelman alumna?

Robinson: I went to a fundraiser for Stacey when she was running for governor of Georgia and I was so impressed with her. Stacey Abrams is an extraordinary woman, but we should all be Stacey Abrams. The brunt of getting people to vote should not be on the back of one Black woman. Thank goodness for her, but we all need to participate in this process. We know our value and we know that our voice has value. We all need to be part of this effort and not depend on one single sister to save democracy. She needs our help and that’s what we need to do.

For(bes) The Culture: Vice President Kamala Harris is a Howard University graduate. How has the visibility of HBCUs increased during the election cycle?

Robinson: It’s moving in the right direction, but the numbers in 2021 do not reflect what they should be. We can count them and probably have some fingers left over but this is something that we need to recognize, especially with HBCUs and educating people on the tremendous education you can get at HBCUs. Kamala’s appointment has increased the visibility of HBCUs and hopefully we will see numbers of people looking to get an education at an HBCU. We still have a long way to go.

For(bes) The Culture: How did your HBCU experience shape you into the woman you are today?

Robinson: Going to an HBCU, and specifically Spelman, there were extraordinary women who came to our campus like Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou and Coretta Scott King. In the four years, there were just so many incredible women who came through the doors of Spelman to speak to us. We were looking at history and there was never a time when I was at Spelman and thought that I couldn’t achieve something because of the color of my skin. I knew that because of the incredible teachers we had there at the school, the civil rights leaders that came through and the poets, I knew that it was possible. I really wish that every child of color who doesn’t see themselves could have that experience because many don’t. The most important lesson that I got from Spelman was that I could achieve it because I can see it.

For(bes) The Culture: Tell me about your work as the founder and philanthropist for S.H.A.U.N. Foundation for Girls. 

Robinson: When I left my job with Access Hollywood after 16 years, I had time to focus on my passion project which was creating this foundation. With the S.H.A.U.N. Foundation for Girls, what we do is support small nonprofits doing work in five key areas of girls’ issues and those areas are represented in the acronym of my name: STEM, health, art, unity and neighborhoods. If there’s a nonprofit doing work in one of those key areas, we could possibly be a resource for them. 

Helping them know that they can achieve something if they really put their mind to it, it’s something that I work on every single day. Right now, the foundation is working on a documentary about implicit bias towards Black girls. The things that we just uncovered in the documentary have been heartbreaking but we really need to shine a light on how we view Black girls. We just had this horrendous video of this 9-year-old girl being tased by police. What is that? It’s quite interesting and I can’t wait to bring it to the audience.

For(bes) The Culture: How did your personal journey with confidence and self-esteem assist you in your professional journey as a personality, author, actress and journalist?

Robinson: For my book Exactly As I Am, I interviewed Oprah Winfrey, who said, ‘You are valuable because you are born.’ That’s one of the quotes she gave me for the book and the journey to self-esteem is a lifelong one. You don’t just open up your eyes one day and say you’ve got it all together. I was blessed with parents and grandparents who believed in me and told me that I could do what I put my mind to. Every single day is a moment where I go, ‘Oh gosh, that’s gonna be hard. Can I do it?’ and I just stay the course because it’s about perseverance and keeping your eyes on the prize. It’s about knowing that if I have faith and work hard that I can achieve it.