Franchesca Ramsey

Franchesca Ramsey (born November 29, 1983), also known as Chescaleigh, is an American comedian, activist, television and YouTube personality, and actress, who has appeared on MTV and MSNBC.[1][2][3][4][5] She gained media fame quickly after her YouTube commentary on racial issues went viral, and she built a career as a writer, producer, and performer based on her unintended activism, being thrust into a role as an advisor or coach on social issues.[6][7]

Franchesca Ramsey
Ramsey in January 2017
Born
Franchesca Leigh Ramsey

(1983-11-29) November 29, 1983
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Alma materMiami International University of Art & Design
Occupation
  • Graphic designer
  • actress
  • writer
  • comedian
Years active2010–present
Spouse(s)
Patrick Kondas
​
​
(m. 2013; div. 2019)​
Websitefranchesca.net

Early life and education

Ramsey was born (1983-11-29)November 29, 1983. She is an only child who grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida. She was using computers early, having a website in high school during the 1990s.[7] She attended a performing arts high school, and studied graphic design in college, after trying acting but finding it emotionally painful, and even "abusive".[7] She moved to New York City in 2009 with her future husband when he got a scholarship to study law at St. John's University.[7]

Career

YouTube

Ramsey had been working in graphic design at Ann Taylor when her 2012 YouTube video "Shit White Girls Say...to Black Girls" went viral and led to interviews on the BBC, Anderson Cooper and NPR.[6][8] Ramsey's YouTube channel contains topical and socially conscious comedy sketches and song parodies among other videos.[9] Her chescalocs channel is about natural hair.[1] In 2008, Ramsey won the People/YouTube Red Carpet Reporter contest, which greatly increased her channel's popularity.[10] In 2015, Ramsey became the host of the MTV web series Decoded where she discusses racism and cultural issues.[11] Several of Ramsey's videos have appeared on MTV, The Huffington Post, CollegeHumor, Jezebel, and Glamour Magazine.[12][13][14][15][16] In 2017, the show won a Webby Award in the Public Service and Activism category.[17]

Online harassment

Ramsey has been a target of online harassment, trolling and doxing.[18][19] According to writer Ijeoma Oluo, Ramsey is one of a group of African-American women who "face regular, coordinated campaigns of abuse aimed at forcing them off of the internet."[20]

After winning the People/YouTube Red Carpet Reporter contest in 2008, Ramsey became the target of racist harassment, beginning with a comment thread stalker posting racial epithets. That person then started sending harassing emails to Ramsey's work email address, and then making malware attacks on her employer's email server. The stalker then began posting personal details meant to imply that he was physically tracking and watching her.[19]

Ramsey said she had a good relationship with YouTube personnel in attempting to prevent the harassment, and was selected to participate in a survey of YouTube creators about changes they would like. She said she wanted the ability to block users by IP address, and limit comments to channel subscribers. YouTube did not respond, and the harassment continued. Ramsey discussed minorities being targets of harassment in a 2013 SXSW panel, in which she said she tries to ignore trolls, or hold them up for ridicule, to laugh them off.[21]

Ramsey was one of five YouTubers to receive a US$25,000 grant from John Green's Creators for Change project, to "amplify the voices of people who are not traditionally heard".[22] Green's goal is to help those in a position to speak out and build online communities opposed to hate speech, xenophobia and harassment.[22]

Ramsey says her long experience online has helped her ignore online harassment.[23] She said that she has not hesitated to speak on issues, but has learned to avoid mention of YouTubers by name, speaking in "generalities" instead, knowing that angering a fan base will bring "100,000 twitter messages from children" calling her racial epithets or targeting her husband, or harassing her at work.[23] She advises girls to choose their battles when confronted with harassment or open prejudice, and to find ways to educate individuals in a work environment, and that it gets easier with practice.[23]

Television

In early 2016, Ramsey joined Comedy Central's The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore as a contributor and writer.[24][25][26][27]

Ramsey has also appeared in television series such as Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell[28][29] and Broad City.[27][30]

In April 2017, Comedy Central announced that they were developing a late-night comedy pilot to star and be executive produced by Ramsey.[31]

Podcast

Ramsey hosted a podcast with her husband Patrick called Last Name Basis where the couple talked about their lives and the world around them. The podcast began in January 2015 and ended as a result of their divorce in March 2019 with a total of 112 episodes.[32][33]

Book

Ramsey's 2018 book Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist is a collection of essays that describes her unintended role as an activist on racism and online harassment after the sudden media attention to her YouTube commentary.[6] She says the book is intended to help others navigate online world, including her own mistakes.[6] She admits falling into 'troll behavior' herself, and writes about why she and others have sometimes used destructive behavior online to deal with offline personal pressures and disappointments.[6] She offers strategies for surviving online abuse, encouraging logging off for a time, and regrets engaging rather than ignoring online harassers.[7]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2011 The One Restaurant Patron
2013 Jared Posts a Personal Eve Episode: "Pilot"
2014 Broad City Darcy Episode: "Destination Wedding"
2019 Helpsters Amazing Alie Episode: "Amazing Alie/Robbie & Rhonda Runner"
2020 Helpsters Help You Amazing Alie Episode: "Scavenger Hunt"
2020 Superstore Nia Episode: "California: Part 2"

Music videos
Year Title Artist(s) Role Ref.
2018 "Girls Like You" (Original, Volume 2 and Vertical Video versions) Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B Herself [34][35][36]

Works
  • Ramsey, Franchesca (May 22, 2018), Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist, Grand Central Publishing, ISBN 978-1538761038

Personal life

Franchesca Ramsey married Patrick Kondas in 2013[7] and then got divorced from Kondas in 2019.[33] Ramsey first publicly discussed being bisexual on National Coming Out Day, 2020.[37]

References
  1. "Franchesca Ramsey Uses Humor to Begin Critical Dialogues on Race for MTV's 'Decoded'". The Culture. September 17, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  2. Cohen, Noam (December 4, 2014). "Grand Jury Decision Leads to Twitter Confessions of 'Criming While White'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  3. White, Daniel. "Meet the YouTube Stars Who Asked Questions at the Democratic Debate". TIME.com. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  4. Dandy, Brittany (June 23, 2015). "Franchesca Ramsey to Host MTV's 'Decoded'". Black Enterprise. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  5. "Franchesca Ramsey on #BlackLivesMatter". MSNBC. September 4, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  6. Ekeledo, Ngozi, "'Accidental activist': How Franchesca Ramsey transformed her viral moment into a platform for social justice", Chicago Tribune
  7. de León, Concepción (May 10, 2018), "Why Franchesca Ramsey Is Done Feeding the Trolls", The New York Times
  8. Shit White Girls Say...to Black Girls on YouTube
  9. Soep, Elisabeth (January 24, 2014), Participatory Politics: Next-Generation Tactics to Remake Public Spheres, MIT Press, ISBN 9780262320214
  10. YouTube (August 27, 2008), YouTube and PEOPLE.com Announce Winner of Nationwide Red Carpet Reporter Audition (press release), Marketwire
  11. Dandy, Brittany (June 23, 2015). "Franchesca Ramsey to Host MTV's 'Decoded'". Black Enterprise. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  12. "A Parody of Beyonce's 'Countdown' Music Vid We Can All Relate To". MTV. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  13. Luippold, Ross (October 14, 2013). "'Don't Tweet' Brings No Doubt Classic to the Twitter Age". Huffington Post. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  14. "Turn Your Phone! "No Scrubs" Anti-Portrait Parody". College Humor. June 28, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  15. Beck, Laura (June 28, 2013). "What's Your Lipstick Story?". Jezebel. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  16. "You Guys, I Just Love This Lipstick Story". Glamour Magazine. August 1, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  17. "2017 Online Film & Video Public Service & Activism (Channels and Networks)". www.webbyawards.com. Webby Awards. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  18. Cueto, Emma (March 31, 2015), "'So You've Been Publicly Shamed' by Jon Ronson Delves Into "Internet Shaming," But Here Are 6 Women Who Would Write Smart Books About Online Hate", Bustle
  19. Hoffberger, Chase (March 6, 2013), "Escaping the trolls: Franchesca Ramsey's 4-year YouTube struggle", The Daily Dot
  20. Oluo, Ijeoma (July 19, 2016), "Leslie Jones' Twitter abuse is a deliberate campaign of hate", The Guardian
  21. Gross, Doug (March 14, 2013), "'Don't feed the trolls': Racism on YouTube", CNN
  22. Hamedy, Saba (December 13, 2016), "John Green hopes to 'amplify the voices of people who are not traditionally heard' through YouTube", Mashable
  23. Garrett, Camryn (February 1, 2016), "Franchesca Ramsey Discusses Trolls, Black History Month, and Courage", Huffington Post
  24. Obenson, Tambay A. "'The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore' Taps Franchesca Ramsey as Newest Contributor and writer". Shadow and Act. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  25. Wright, Megh (February 1, 2016). "Franchesca Ramsey joins 'The Nightly Show' as a writer and contributor". Split Sider. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  26. Surrey, Miles (August 23, 2016). "'The Nightly Show' star Franchesca Ramsey talks cancellation and comedy in 2016". Mic. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  27. Epstein, Michael (February 1, 2016). "Comedian and actress Franchesca Ramsey is the newest addition to 'The Nightly Show'". Flavor Wire. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  28. "'Cock block the vote' PSA discourages men from voting on 'Totally Biased'". Huffington Post. November 2, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  29. "W. Kamau Bell". The Frisky. November 4, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  30. Gutelle, Sam (February 4, 2016). "YouTube personality Franchesca Ramsey joins Comedy Central's 'The Nightly Show'". Tube Filter. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  31. Duster, Chandelis R. "Franchesca Ramsey Heads to Comedy Central With New Pilot". www.nbcnews.com. NBC. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  32. "Last Name Basis". Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  33. "It Was A Mutual Decision: Franchesca Ramsey Reveals She's Going Through A Divorce + Shares Coping Mechanisms". Madame Noire. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  34. Amatulli, Jenna. "Maroon 5, Cardi B's 'Girls Like You' Video Is a Star-Studded Dance Party". HuffPost. Archived from the original on May 31, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  35. Glicksman, Josh (October 16, 2018). "Maroon 5 Releases New Version of 'Girls Like You' Music Video: Watch". Billboard. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  36. "Maroon 5 – Girls Like You (Vertical Video) featuring Cardi B". Spotify. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
  37. Ermac, Raffy. "Franchesca Ramsey Opened Up About Being Bi on National Coming Out Day". Pride.com. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
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