Danielle Reid: The first time I spoke with CBC producer and Shadd Cary Fellow, Nur Qorane was on the first day of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention. We were seated in a hall at Chicago Hilton Hotel. Hungry and a little impatient waiting for former US President Donald Trump to arrive. The wait lasted over an hour; So, to pass the time, I asked Nur to give me three words to describe his feelings ahead of the week’s events. Without much hesitation, he answered: anticipation, excitement and camaraderie. At the close of the convention, I caught up again with Nur to see if NABJ lived up to the hype.

Nur: Hi, my name is Nur Qorane. I’m a producer and audio technician at CBC News. And yeah, I’m one of the inaugural recipients of the Mary Ann shadd Cary fellowship, also a member of the newly minted member of the NABJ.

Danielle: How are you feeling after the conference, with your first day being back home?

Nur: really feeling a little bit on cloud nine, like today is Monday, so I’m jumping into the emails and kind of getting into reaping the rewards of the connections I made at the conference. So after this interview, I’m going to be messaging people and setting up meetings and sending out some of my work. Um, so, yeah, coming back, like, speaking with you know, my wife and my friends and family, just telling them, like, how much I enjoyed it. Um, meeting fellow Black Journalists talking about their work from all across the country, like I met people from Miami, Las Vegas, from like, Minnesota. It was, it was crazy. And they were all doing interesting things, and they were all interested to hear what I was doing as well. I mean, obviously, once they heard that I was from Toronto, they would ask about Drake versus Kendrick. But after we got that out of the way, it was really great talking about journalism. And then the panels, you know, the panels I went to, the day that really stands out for me was the ABC Storyteller Summit that I went to. It was one of the ones you had to apply in advance for. But you had like Rachel Scott, who was just coming off the Donald Trump interview, talking about her mindset, talking about her preparation, why she decided to take that interview, you know so combative. Then there was a panel on that same day on producing. How to get the most about our stories, how the different angles and methods people use at ABC to better produce and create good stories. That was really good. And then finally, there was a panel on mental
health, specifically for Black Journalists and with the news lately. Especially with what’s happening in Palestine. It’s really been hard to be at work and to see these images day after day, and in a way that colleagues that don’t have a connection to like that don’t share the faith as those people or don’t have a similar connection, doesn’t affect them in the same way.

So having that pain commiserated with. You know, with our fellow journalists was also highlighting and just learning about that all people also go through these things and the way to take, you know, different ways to tell how we can take care of ourselves. I was also really valuable.

Danielle: During the the Trump Q and A, when it started, I asked you three words that you had to describe how you were feeling on that first day before any NABJ experience, and you said excitement, anticipation and camaraderie– which I can now spell… which is good. Did you think the convention lived up to that expectation?

Nur: Oh, yeah, 100 per cent. I mean the anticipation, because that was the first day, and, you know, kicking it off with Donald Trump was truly something else. Still talking to people about that. It’s crazy. I think coming now back home, it’s like it’s settling in. How crazy that was. Talking to different people from work. I talked to my neighbor, and he was just like, you were there. Like, that was wild. Yeah… anticipation. I didn’t know what kind of exactly, to expect. Like, I knew it was a Journalism Conference. I knew that there was going to be really seasoned people, and that we would be attending these panels. But I’d never been to a Journalism Conference, so didn’t exactly know what to expect. Lived up to those expectations and surpassed it. And then camaraderie. Yeah, met a lot of great people. My LinkedIn is booming, and the camaraderie I have with my fellow fellows. So that also came to past. And then excitement, yeah, self explanatory. It was a really exciting time. Learned a lot, had a lot of great experiences. And, yeah, it’s always cool being in a in a really fun city. For the first time.