Welcome
Award-winning Writer, Journalist, Entrepreneur, Content Creator & Influence
Multi-hyphenate - a person with several professions or skills.
Translation: Don't put a ceiling on my capabilities.
24 Years of Connecting the Classroom to the Community
The Professor is in...
A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle. - Khalil Gibran
I've been shaping hearts and minds at JCSU, UNCC, Goucher College, Clark Atlanta University, UGA and Emory since 2001.
Expertise: Intersectionality and Media, DigiThe Business of Entertainment, New Media Production
Producer, Line producer and BTS Producer
Brainwashed - line producer
https://www.brainwashedmovie.com/
Shaft - BTS Producer
https://vimeo.com/322096327
Little - BTS Producer
There's More to Me
Multi-Hyphenate: Writer, Editor, Producer, Entrepreneur, Thought Leader and Influencer
Dr. Nsenga K. Burton (she/her) is a global entrepreneurial leader, content producer and ecosystem builder. Nsenga is the founder and EIC of The Burton Wire, an award-winning news site covering news of the African diaspora. She has taught journalism, film studies, media studies and digital production for nearly 24 years at small liberal arts colleges including two HBCUs, in addition to R1 institutions. Nsenga has served as an inaugural editor-in-chief, editor-at-large, editorial director, managing editor, breaking news editor, cultural critic and media critic in legacy news and digital media. She is also a host and producer, producing podcasts, livestreams, behind-the-scenes content, and documentaries for a number of media companies including BBC, NNPA, USA Today and The Burton Wire Media Group. Digital storytelling is her passion and elevating news that would otherwise be overlooked is her mission.
My Recent Academic Publications
Black Women’s Mental Health: Balancing Strength and Vulnerability (anthology), Eds. Stephanie Y. Evans, Kanika Bell Lewis and Nsenga K. Burton, SUNY Press, 2017 (Hardcopy; Soft copy released in 2018). In addition to serving as an editor, I have contributed a chapter on the representation of black women’s mental health in Being Mary Jane. (Editor and contributor – In addition to co-editing responsibilities, I wrote a chapter on The Representation of Black Women’s Mental Illness in HTGAWM and Being Mary Jane)
“Mad Men: Draper, Double Consciousness and The Invisibility of Blackness,” Mad Men (anthology) Eds. Ann Duncan and Jacob Goodson, Cascade Press, 2016. (Book chapter)
”Bert Williams: Lime Kiln Club Field Day.” Article written for the 20thAnniversary of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2015.
“South African Soap Operas: A Rainbow Nation Realized?” appears in the anthology, Watching While Black: Centering the Television of Black Audiences. Rutgers: Rutgers University Press, 2013. Winner: 2013 Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award.
My Recent Media Appearances
A Closer Look with Rose Scott
Should A.I. Be Incorporated into Journalism
ATL & Co:
The Dr. Phil Show
The Burton Wire - NNPA Black Press USA Livestream
Discussion with Filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper about her documentary, "Twenty Pearls."
The Burton Wire - NNPA Black Press USA Livestream
Discussion with filmmaker Booker T. Matthison about his latest film, The Sound of Christmas.
WABE 90.1 FM (NPR) - Closer Look With Rose Scott
After Days of Intense Protests, What's Next for Atlanta
AfroComicCon Livestream
Discussion on the Rise of AfroFuturism in Television and Film
Rolling Out Magazine
A Seat at Table: Black Filmmakers and Hollywood
WABE 90.1 FM - Lois Reitzes Show
My Public Intellectual/Influencer Work
Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D. (she/her) is an award-winning entrepreneur, creative, writer and media influencer. She is founder and editor in-chief of the award-winning news site The Burton Wire, which covers news of the African Diaspora. An expert on the intersection of race, class, gender and sexuality with film, media and technological industries, the thought leader has contributed to CNN, Huffington Post, The Grio, The New York Times and USA Today. She currently serves as editor-at-large for Black Press USA’s News Wire. Nsenga is a former editor-at-large for The Root, inaugural editor-in-chief for HealthPlus digital magazine powered by the Atlanta Voice and cultural critic for Creative Loafing. Dr. Burton’s writings appear in more than 200 print papers weekly reaching 22 million readers per week and more than 3 million people online daily.
Nsenga also has a long career in film and new media production. In 2019, she served as a behind-the-scenes (BTS) producer on the major motion pictures Shaft and Little. In 2022, she contributed to a short film entitled, “Flash Here and There Falling Stars: The Life and Work of Pellom McDaniels, III” and in 2022, served as a line producer on Brainwashed, a documentary about sexism in Hollywood, which received a theatrical release (2023). Most recently, Dr. Burton worked as a producer/fixer on the BBC podcast, "The Arts Hour (ATL)" and an episode of the BBC's "The Travel Show," exploring travel throughout Georgia and Alabama, 60 years following passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In addition to continuing to work in film, television and podcasting, Dr. Burton has over 20 years of experience as a college professor and has written numerous academic articles on the topic of race, gender, class, sexuality and media. Nsenga has written on South African Soap Operas, race and the character of Don Draper in AMC’s “Mad Men,” among other topics.
She has served as chair of Communication Arts at Johnson C. Smith University, Chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Goucher College and Interim Chair of Mass Media Arts at Clark Atlanta University.
Most recently, Dr. Burton co-edited a book on Black Women’s Mental Health: Balancing Strength and Vulnerability, where in addition to editing responsibilities, she contributed a chapter, “Representation of Black Women’s Mental Health in Being Mary Jane and How to Get Away With Murder,” for SUNY Press. A passion project, Nsenga has presented on this topic and the book, which is the only edited volume of its kind, at numerous conferences. Nsenga is the former Co-Director of Film and Media Management in the Department of Film and Media at Emory University, Director of Grady Newsource Digital at the University of Georgia, and inaugural Southeast Regional Director of the Howard University x PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship where she worked with 28 HBCUs in Georgia, Alabama, Florida and the U.S.V.I.
Dr. Burton is a well-known commentator on radio, TV, and new media having recently appeared on WABE 90.1 FM (NPR)to discuss entrepreneurship, the use of A.I. in journalism, film icons Sidney Poitier, Cicely Tyson, protest films, The Little Mermaid controversy and teaching race in college classrooms. Nsenga was also featured on The Dr. Phil Show discussing the “Karen Phenomenon,” and CourtTV to address racism and media coverage during the 25th anniversary of the O.J. Simpson trial.
Dr. Burton contributes regularly to NNPA Black Press USA Newswire and hosts a livestream interviewing subjects about entertainment, media and HBCU related topics. Dr. Burton was featured in Deborah Riley Draper’s award-winning documentary Twenty Pearls, which explored the history of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the nation’s first sorority founded by and for Black college women.
Nsenga's civic contributions mirror her professional accomplishments. She is immediate past chair of the Black Caucus of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies and the Atlanta Youth Commission. She is a member of the National Communication Association, American Studies Association, NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee, Women in Film and Television Atlanta, Atlanta Film Critics Circle, Northwestern University’s Council of 100, National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), Jack and Jill of America, Inc. (Greater Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter) and a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She is also a member of the Camellia Rose Chapter of The Links, Incorporated. and serves on the board of the League of Women Voters Georgia.
The former Executive Director of the National Association of Multicultural Digital Entrepreneurs, Nsenga was awarded the NABJ Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2013), News One’s Top Black News Site (2015) and is the recipient of the Scripps-Howard Fellowship at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. In 2023, she received the UnSung Heroine award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women for her community service. She is a recent graduate of the National Leadership Academy of the Links Incorporated, where she has served as a member of the National Communications Committee. Nsenga was recently certified as a Small Business Health Advisor during the recent pandemic and partnered with TheTrtuthCheck.org to raise awareness about media literacy and the Covid-19 vaccination.
Dr. Burton holds degrees from Northwestern University (B.S. Radio/TV/Film Production), New York University (M.A. Cinema Studies), University of Pennsylvania (M.A. Communication) and the University of Southern California (Ph.D. Critical Studies in Film and TV). She recently obtained a certification in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging from Cornell University.
A Virginia native, Nsenga currently resides in Atlanta with her sweet daughter Kai and small but mighty fur-sons Mr. Miyagi and Mr. Surprise.
Follow Nsenga on Instagram @Ntellectual. Check out more of Dr. Burton's work below:
The Burton Wire - Founder & Editor-in-Chief
American Theatre Magazine: Theater Futures (Ford Foundation/TCG) – Guest Editor
https://www.americantheatre.org/theatre-futures/
BBC Worldwide’s “The Arts Hour in Atlanta” (producer/fixer – Nsenga Burton)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct5qjy
Black Press USA HBCU Presidents Livestream Series (produced and hosted by me)
https://blackpressusa.com/dr-david-s-wilson-10th-president-of-morgan-state-university/
USA TODAY WOMEN OF THE CENTURY TRANSMEDIA PROJECT (writer, curator, editor, juror)
HEALTHPLUS MAGAZINE (Inaugural Editor)
https://issuu.com/theatlantavoice633/docs/healthplus_issue_1
https://issuu.com/theatlantavoice633/docs/healthplus_issue_2
https://issuu.com/theatlantavoice633/docs/healthplus_issue_3
NNPA Black Press USA - Editor-at-Large
CNN: "What the Calls to Boycott 'The Woman King' Are Really Saying" Op-Ed)
USA Today Women of the Century Project
Creative Loafing (Cultural Critic for 7 years)
https://clclt.com/author/nsenga-burton
Huffington Post - Columnist/Contributor