Malkia Devich-Cyril

About

American Black genderqueer activist, writer, public speaker, and movement strategist whose work focuses on media justice, digital rights, Black liberation, narrative power, and collective grief. They founded MediaJustice and the Radical Loss Project and helped develop the media justice movement.

Biography

Malkia Devich-Cyril is an American activist, writer, public speaker, and movement strategist whose work connects media and technology rights with racial justice, Black liberation, narrative change, and collective grief. Raised in Brooklyn by parents who were involved in the Black Panther Party, they became involved in movement organizing at a young age.

Devich-Cyril founded the Youth Media Council in Oakland and helped coin the term “media justice” in 2002. They later helped establish the Center for Media Justice, which became MediaJustice in 2019, and served as its founding executive director before becoming a Senior Fellow. Their work has included organizing for media accountability, digital rights, communications access, and racial justice.

In recent years, Devich-Cyril has focused increasingly on grief, healing, and movement strategy. They founded the Radical Loss Project and co-direct the Healing, Sustainability and Culture Strategy at the Movement Innovation Collaborative. They are also Principal of CultureJedi Consulting.

Selected work

• Youth Media Council

  Oakland-based Black-led media accountability organization that organized young people of color to challenge harmful media narratives.

• Center for Media Justice / MediaJustice (2008)

  Organization established from the Youth Media Council that became MediaJustice in 2019, advancing communications rights, media access, and racial justice.

• Mismatched: Philanthropy’s Response to the Call for Racial Justice (2021)

  Report examining philanthropy’s response to racial justice movements and the structural challenges facing grassroots organizations. Co-authored by Malkia Devich-Cyril, Vonna Kan, Megan Maulbeck, and Rachel Villarosa.

• Radical Loss Project

  Change lab exploring grief, loss, healing, and collective power within social movements.

Sources

• Radical Loss 

  Current biography and overview of Devich-Cyril’s work on collective grief, movement strategy, and narrative change.

• MediaJustice: Founders of MediaJustice 

  Institutional history documenting Devich-Cyril’s role in founding MediaJustice and developing the media justice movement.

• Columbia University: Malkia Devich-Cyril 

  Institutional biography covering their media justice leadership, writing, and advocacy.

• Instagram: @culturejedi 

  Devich-Cyril’s Instagram account.

BQW Impact

Devich-Cyril has connected media justice, racial justice, Black liberation, narrative power, and collective healing through decades of movement organizing and public writing. Their work has helped expand conversations about communications rights, technology, movement strategy, and the experiences of Black queer communities.

Profile details

• Fields: Social Change
• Roles: Movement Building, Rights & Justice
• Pronouns: They/Them
• Gender Identity: Nonbinary
• LGBTQ Identity: Lesbian
• Nationality: American
• Ethnicity: African American
• Topics: Media Justice, Digital Rights, Racial Justice