Jami Floyd
Interracial Marriage still illegal in half of U.S. states.
The only child born to Jim & JoAnn Floyd.
U.S. Supreme Court declares all laws criminalizing interracial marriage unconstitutional.
Jami is 3-years-old.
Multi-Culti party on the Lower East Side.
"My parents really saved up for that party. My friends were all dressed up and all the parents came, too. I still think this was the best party I've ever had."
Greenwich Village, New York City
Editor in Chief, student newspaper, The Trumpet, and first Black Class President, class of 1982.
"There were only two Black girls in the entire school. When I was a senior, a new African American girl came into the freshman class, so there were three of us. But this was New York City, so where were all the Black kids? There was a lot of racial tension at school. But I had friends. And teachers who believed in me —they changed my life."
Ombudsperson & contributor, student newspaper, The Pipe Dream
Teaching Assistant, World Politics & Model UN
Resident Assistant, College-in-the-Woods
Disc Jockey, WHRW
Jami graduates with honors from the U.C. Berkeley School of Law (then Boalt Hall), delivering the salutatory address to her graduating class at the Greek Theater:
"It is for us to regain the human spirit of the law. It is for us to deal with problems on a human scale. It is for us to realize that to be a real lawyer is to concern ourselves with people and with the things that hold people together or drive them apart. The law must be for us a human profession."
"Justice Broussard was like a second father to me. He believed in me and took me under his wing. In 1992 he even performed my wedding ceremony. I think of him every day"
Practices criminal, first amendment, and death penalty litigation.
State Bar of California
Marries the love of her life, Kurt Flehinger.
They start their new life together in Oakland, CA.
Joins the Clinton White House and works for Hillary Clinton on health care communications and Al Gore on crime policy, judicial vetting, and community empowerment.
Visits South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, as well as the Mozambiquan border to meet child refugees of the civil war.
As a teaching fellow at Stanford, Jami receives masters in law and develops a new interdisciplinary curriculum around law and communications.
Jami lands first full-time television job at the new cable news outlet Court TV. From there, she moves to CBS News working with Ed Bradley, Dana King, and Dan Rather.
Jami reports on the Mississippi retrial of Byron de la Beckwith for the murder of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. She still considers her interview with Medgar's widow, Myrlie Evers-Williams, the most meaningful in her career.
Legal Analyst for CBS News and the only Network Analyst to predict Simpson would be found Not Guilty. Jami covered the criminal trial,1994-1995, and the civil trial,1996-1997, in which Simpson is found liable for the murders of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.
Jami joins ABC News, first based in Chicago and then New York. Early stories include the Capitol Hill Shooting, the Columbine school shootings, and the plane crash that killed John Kennedy, Jr., his wife and sister-in-law.
Jami and her husband, Kurt welcome their first child, a daughter, Joelle into the world.
At ABC News Jami And her colleagues start the Law & Justice Unit serving all shows and platforms at the network on major stories such as Bush v. Gore and the September 11 attacks.
Jami and her husband, Kurt welcome their second child, a son, Jax into the world.
Legal & Political Analyst
Weekend Anchor
2010-2013
Begins a decade of co-hosting the annual MLK Celebration at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, sharing the stage with the Rev. William Barber, Rep. Jim Clyburn, Bishop Michael Curry, Professor Nikole Hannah-Jones, rapper Talib Kweli, activist-journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, linguist John McWhorter, Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, and the American artist Carrie Mae Weems.
Founding member of Al Jazeera America in New York City where Jami serves as Chief Legal Contributor covering the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Ferguson, and the disappearance of Malaysian Flight 370.
Jami's father dies and she is heartbroken.
Jami works to expand the program's reach to new audiences whose experiences are not represented in public media.
Jami launches a new project on in collaboration with celebrated American artist Carrie Mae Weems.
O.J.: Made in America wins the 2017 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Jami serves as Consulting Producer for director Ezra Edelman.
WNYC / New York Public Radio
Jami launches WNYC's Race & Justice Unit after a visit to the Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL.
Embarks on a new project to support Gina Belafonte as she celebrates the life and legacy of her father Harry Belafonte and Sankofa.org.
Little Brown announces book deal with Jami Floyd for the forthcoming book, Dream Interrupted: Searching for Thurgood Marshall and the Soul of a Nation.
Launches a media company that seeks to tell diverse stories that champion Black excellence, in which women are the focus, and narratives that explore the LGBTQ+ experience. Our stories our projects span social justice, politics, investigations, and crime, and we run the gamut from television, and film, to theater and print.
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