Judi Moore Latta, Ph.D
…is a storyteller who is one of the “GRITS” (Girls Raised in the South). A native of Tallahassee, Florida, she is an award-winning journalist and retired professor of communications. For more than three decades she worked at Howard University in Washington, DC, serving on the faculty and in the administration in various roles including as Executive Director of Communications and Marketing.
As a veteran media professional, she has worked in public and commercial broadcasting as a manager, writer and producer. She served as National Public Radio’s first education reporter and earned the George Foster Peabody Award as senior producer of the 26-part documentary series, Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions. For dozens of productions, she has received recognition from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, American Women in Radio and Television, National Education Association, National Association of Black Journalists and others.
She lives with her husband Joseph Latta, D.D.S. in Silver Spring, Maryland.
A Few Selected Creative Works
Latta, J.M. (2015). God Ain’t Sleep: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Latta, J. M. and M. Cummings (2008). “When They Honor the Voice: Centering African American Women’s Call Stories.” Journal of Black Studies [Fall/Winter, 2008)
Latta, J.M. and M. Cummings (2003). “Jesus is a Rock: Spirituals as Lived Experience.” in Jackson, R. and Richardson E. (eds.) Understanding African American Rhetoric; Routledge Press: New York, New York.
Latta, J.M. (2002). “When The Spirit Takes Hold, What the Work Becomes!” Harley S. (ed.) Sister Circle: Black Women and Work;Rutgers University Press; Rutgers
Latta, J.M. (2004). “Confessions of an Acting Chair, ” Battle, C. and Doswell, C. (eds.) Building Bridges for Women of Color in Higher Education. Univ Press of America
Multimedia
Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions; National Public Radio and the Smithsonian Institution, 1994.; senior producer
WHUR-FM, 96.3, The Journey, (144 weekly episodes) 2014-2018; researcher, producer, director, co-editor
WHUT-TV. @ Howard”– (weekly series of one hour programs) 2002-2004; series creator, executive producer.
Interviews
“The History Makers” - interviewed by Larry Crowe (oral historian); 2014 and 2017
Various interviews on commercial and public broadcasting (2015-2018)
Education
University of Maryland College Park — American Studies; Ph.D. (with highest honors)
Boston University — English; Master of Arts (with highest honors)
Hampton Institute (University) — English; Bachelor of Science (summa cum laude)