Andrea Williams is The Tennessean's newest columnist and Black Tennessee Voices curator

On Dec. 20, journalist, author and documentary producer Andrea Williams joined The Tennessean as the new opinion and engagement reporter and curator of the Black Tennessee Voices initiative, which includes a weekly newsletter and an annual live Storytellers event.

After award-winning columnist LeBron Hill, the founding curator, moved on to a new opportunity in July, we had several guest curators from The Tennessean staff and I who also took very seriously the great responsibility of continuing to share with readers stories of consequence for, by and with Black authors and the community -- a commitment that began in 2020.

The second annual Black Tennessee Voices Storytellers Live took place on Sept. 21 at the National Museum of African American Music.

Andrea learned about the job opening in the newsletter and reached out. She will be writing and editing columns and bringing her own style and experience to build on the work.

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Williams wrote a book with LeBron James and produced a film on country music for Amazon

As a journalist and essayist, Andrea has been published in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, among other publications.

Her writing has established her as a leading voice on the intersections of race, gender, and sports/entertainment; as a result, she's been asked to share her perspective on numerous platforms, including NPR's "All Things Considered" and "Here and Now," "Nightline," "CBS This Morning," and more.

She is also The New York Times bestselling author of "We Are Family," written in collaboration with NBA icon LeBron James, and "Baseball's Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues."

In April 2022, Andrea made her film debut in "For Love and Country," an Amazon Music original film about the experiences of Black artists in country music, for which she also served as writer and producer. Additionally, Andrea was featured in the History Channel documentary "After Jackie," highlighting the lives and legacies of Black MLB icons Bill White, Curt Flood, and Bob Gibson, and "The League," a Negro Leagues documentary film executive produced by Amir “Questlove” Thompson and directed by the award-winning Sam Pollard.

She is a graduate of Georgia Southern University and started her career working for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

Andrea has lived in the Nashville area for more than 14 years and looks forward to lending her unique perspective to The Tennessean, in addition to highlighting the many other important Black Tennessee voices. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @AndreaWillWrite. Email her at adwilliams@tennessean.com.

Editor's note: Bio information was provided by Andrea Williams and edited by David Plazas.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or find him at X at @davidplazas.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Black Tennessee Voices: Andrea Williams is a new Tennessean columnist