For Ashley Allison, community is everything. The CNN political analyst and former Obama alum had Black and brown communities in mind when she conceptualized her new media company, Watering Hole Media.
Much like the collaborative work it took alongside thousands of campaign staff and volunteers to elect America’s first Black president, Barack Obama — knocking on countless doors and talking to neighbors — her new venture targeting Black, brown and Indigenous people seeks to bring everyone together for a common good.
“Watering Hole is the place where everyone can come and be nourished and still go back to their communities and thrive,” Allison tells theGrio of her endeavor that is 15 years in the making.
The political pundit initially launched Watering Hole as a news and opinion blog when President Obama entered office in 2009. However, due to law school and a lack of entrepreneurial experience at the time, the venture didn’t totally take off. But after filming a live August 2023 segment on CNN about the Montgomery Riverboat Brawl, Allison decided to revisit her desire to create a media company for marginalized voices.
During the Alabama incident last summer, a group of white men physically attacked a Black boat crew worker who informed them that their pontoon was improperly docked. A group of Black men jumped in to defend the worker, resulting in a viral melee that reignited a national conversation about the dark history of racism in the South.
The CNN panelist with Allison described the Montgomery brawl as a case of vigilantism. However, Allison understood the incident was far more pointed and cultural – as any scroll through Black Twitter at the time showed.
“This is not about vigilantism. This is about protecting,” Allison explained to her colleague while sharing reactions from Black people on social media platforms. “The conversation on CNN that night was different because people used the microphones they had…
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