Ebonne Ruffins: Celebrating the Impact and Legacy of Civil Rights Champions

Ebonne L. Ruffins is VP of Local Media Development (LMD). Her teams enhance Comcast’s local reach, relationships, and impact through economic impact reporting, public programming, and civic engagement initiatives across the company’s footprint. LMD’s broad portfolio of assets includes the Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (VOCRM) platform, which celebrates its 10^th anniversary this year. Learn more about VOCRM and Ebonne in the conversation below. 

Q: The 10^th anniversary of Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (VOCRM) is this year. What does this milestone mean? 

A: “This milestone is significant for several reasons. First, it is an incredible honor to have earned the trust of more than 200 civil rights leaders whose stories we’ve been privileged to carry forward to millions of viewers around the world. It’s also emblematic of the company supporting a novel idea and then expanding and growing that good idea, at the request of employees and customers.  

The original plan for Voices of the Civil Rights Movement in 2013 was to interview 50 attendees of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and to host a celebration in Philadelphia to honor what was then a celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the March. I attended the event as a fairly new Comcast employee, with no connection at that time to the LMD team. I was struck by the guests in the room, and the presence of the highest levels of leadership of our company, who took time to celebrate a seminal moment and honor the incredible sacrifices of those who made it possible for people of all backgrounds to compete for jobs and to make workplaces everywhere — including Comcast — more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.  

The resounding feedback from that event, and from our employees and customers who viewed the original 50 interviews, was a consistent three words: we want more. 2023 marks our 10th year of offering firsthand accounts from civil rights champions from across the United States, some well-known and many stories that are lesser known. It’s more than 18 hours of incredibly poignant free content, and the platform is among the largest and most viewed of its kind.”   

Q: Why is it important for Comcast to carry this content for free to customers?

A: “Digital equity is the centerpiece of our company’s effort to bridge socioeconomic gaps. At Comcast, we see the challenges facing our communities and we are uniquely positioned to help solve them. Our efforts include direct involvement, investment in local communities and partners nationwide who are on the frontlines of change, and supporting digital learning tools, including VOCRM, that help to supplement education in the classroom.  

We continue to expand our VOCRM interview collection and will release 10 new civil rights profiles in 2023 on the Freedom Rides, civil rights history in sports, and more.”

Q: Why is VOCRM important to you and the voices you’re sharing?  

A: “By 1955, half of all U.S. homes had a television, and during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s, it introduced visual examples of the crises firsthand — from economic crisis (consider the Montgomery Bus Boycott) to terrifying and tragic violence (such as Freedom Summer Murders and the Orangeburg Massacre), and widespread voter disenfranchisement.

While broadcasting the real, raw footage to millions of homes impacted hearts and minds and compelled outrage and action, most of the participants in the civil rights movement did not have the opportunity to share personal accounts or experiences. Many were teenagers and the focus was on their collective mission to advance access and equity everywhere — with a heightened focus on education, transportation, restaurants, hotels, public spaces, and the polls. The risks of violence and death increased exponentially for voices that were raised to the forefront.

VOCRM is an opportunity to capture and share — through Xfinity and Xumo platforms, streaming, social media channels, and at physical museum exhibits — firsthand accounts of civil rights experiences from those who lived it and those who benefitted.”  

Q: Is there a common takeaway that you’ve found in the narratives of the speakers on VOCRM that inspires you?  

A: “When it comes to Black history, the general conversation is often narrow and incomplete: Lincoln freed the slaves, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the speech, and eventually Obama became president. But in between these milestones are rich contributions made by everyday people who never had the kind of scale Dr. King had, but who laid the groundwork for fair housing, for access to equitable education, for greater ethnic diversity in medicine and politics. That work sometimes requires a picket sign and sometimes it requires a different action. The VOCRM collection reflects that and gives a voice to those heroic actions.”

Q. How is the work both challenging, yet fulfilling? 

A: “Our official work includes production, content delivery, and commemorative events. Unofficially, we intentionally deepen connections with our VOCRM participants by calling or visiting with them in their homes to read them the social media comments they’ve received. We also host private dinners, often to present content to the VOCRM honorees for the first time.  

Every single time we have a dinner — whether it’s a Tuskegee Airman or a former Black Panther — when we do our presentation, there is a mix of emotions. My team, we hold our breath. The participants have trust in us to get the story right. For the people we interview, it is a different experience to see themselves and to watch family and friends react to their stories — hearing it told in great detail sometimes for the first time. There’s gratitude throughout the room that these stories will keep living, that the record of their work will continue to resonate indefinitely.”

Q:  What brought you to this work and what drives you forward?

A: “I gravitate toward big, often complex roles that have authentic connections to the community. I started my career as a journalist and now have the privilege of leading teams responsible for delivering assets that magnify our company's values to our workforce and to the public. My responsibilities include enterprise economic impact reporting, public programming (including VOCRM), and headquarters campus content and experience. Fundamentals I embraced at the foundation of my career in news — accuracy, connection, research, rigor, and relevance — heavily influence my approach to leadership, to my teams' work, and to our delivery of VOCRM as a first-person narrative platform. Elevating their authentic voices is also deeply gratifying as I know that my work is the active yield, the living dividend of incredible sacrifice. That clarity, and the responsibility of my accepting a hard-fought inheritance comes with an expectation that I, too, will pave a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive path for others. Delivering on that expectation drives me forward.”