The Data Center Revolution Will Be Televised
Join us on Sunday, September 20, as we discuss how data center fights can make their way to storytelling and create culture shift, with a community-centered focus. As big tech and AI data centers continue to expand in communities, sentiments regarding what can be done have developed from stories on the ground and everyday people highlighting what this issue means to them. TV and film have long been utilized to shift public perception and policies around key issues. We have an opportunity to engage on a topic that resonates on the ground and moves people to act.
The NAACP has been a leader on this through its 'Stop Dirty Data Campaign' and is building a comprehensive strategy to ensure communities are not left behind. We have the unique opportunity to help ensure that films center this strategy.
Join us as we explore the best ways to offer insight with individuals leading data center fights, storytelling efforts, and filmmakers who have mastered utilizing film to shift perceptions and move people to environmental advocacy.
Confirmed Speakers:
Abre’ Conner, Esq., NAACP Director, Center for Environmental and Climate Justice
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Founder and CEO, Hip Hop Caucus
Logan Coles, Film Producer
Abre’ Conner is an environmental justice and civil rights attorney and the Director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at the NAACP. She oversees strategy and collaboration across the NAACP to dismantle environmental racism. She also leads the Association’s Stop Dirty Data Campaign and started its first climate film and storytelling program, Climate in Color. She has taught Education Law and the Environmental Policy Clinic at the University of California, Davis. A native of Lakeland, Florida, Abre’ previously served as Directing Attorney of Health at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, as a staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, and at the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment. Her career also includes work with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, Capitol Hill, and the Obama Administration’s White House Office of Presidential Personnel. She sits on the ABA Board of Governors and Earthjustice’s Board of Trustees and was appointed to the EPA’s first HBCU-MSI Advisory Council. A graduate of American University Washington College of Law and the University of Florida, she has received numerous national honors for her advocacy and was named a 2026 honoree on TIME’s The Closers list.
Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. is a dynamic leader, strategist, and advocate for racial and climate justice, blending culture and activism to drive transformative change. As President and CEO of Hip Hop Caucus, he spearheads initiatives that amplify marginalized voices, mobilize communities, and challenge systemic inequities through innovative campaigns like Think 100%, Respect My Vote, Good Trouble Dept., and Justice Paid In Full. Recognized globally for his impactful work, Rev Yearwood also serves as a Senior Advisor for Bloomberg Philanthropies and sits on multiple environmental and social justice boards, while hosting award-winning media platforms that inspire solutions and reimagine a thriving, equitable world for future generations.
Logan Coles is a film & TV writer, producer, director, and the Co-founder of X•ception Content - an independent media company formed in 2018 by longtime writing & producing partners Chadwick Boseman and Logan Coles – producing Netflix’s Message From the King and STX’s 21 Bridges, while also leading development on projects for HBO, Universal, Warner Brothers, Netflix, STX, Disney, and Paramount. In 2017, Logan helped launch the NAACP's Cinematic Shorts Competition, which he executive produces with NAACP+ Studios & the Hollywood Bureau. He is also currently the NAACP’s Climate in Color Consultant and member of the Advisory Council for the program.
By attending, you consent to being photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded. Your entry constitutes your consent to such photography, filming, and/or recording and to any use, in any and all media, in perpetuity, of your appearance, voice, and name for any purpose whatsoever in connection with the event.