Trone L. Dowd

Video Work

01/21/2026

2026 Social Reel

A look at my social video work. All videos were written, performed, and edited by me.

https://www.tiktok.com/@/video/7205953128552762670?_r=1&_d=secCgYIASAHKAESPgo8uuB%2FrImzYRbu9WpkZHyG7DSdL14eFt9D7iugVl4wkoNCmaphXSi%2Bmr3GKOahZc70QdRXK04foKuWiFt1GgA%3D&u_code=db5ajj050b13cd&share_item_id=7205953128552762670&timestamp=1722894472&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_source=short_fallback&share_app_id=1233

Vice News

03/02/2023

Teachers Are Quitting Their Jobs On TikTok

Hundreds of educators have details their exit from the profession they once loved. But why is this happening and what impact will this have on the future of education in the U.S.?

https://youtu.be/lWil3GJVKm8?si=TxoWYoSxrPbpHJpR

Vice News

06/18/2022

Buffalo Is Still Reeling From Racist Massacre

After a white supremacist attacked an East Buffalo supermarket, residents found that it was up to them to pick up the pieces. With the neighborhood’s only grocery store closed for the foreseeable future and the loss of 10 of its community members, activists and volunteers spent weeks filling the void by identifying the needs of the people, knocking on doors, organizing food giveaways and speaking to the city’s youth. But many of the issues they saw weren’t just a result of the recent...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH9wpehDiJU

11/01/2018

Queensbound: Telling the Stories of Queens

In 2018, I tailed Queens-born poet KC Trommer and her troupe of creatives on their collaborative audio project, "Queensbound." The group rode the 7 train and cited poetry related to the wonder of the World's Borough to strangers. This is their story.

Gaming and Tech

Inverse

10/09/2025

'Battlefield 6' Review: A Terrible Campaign Can't Drag The Game Down

A disappointing campaign reflects everything wrong with modern military shooters, but the long-awaited sequel also has 2025's best competitive multiplayer.

IGN

02/28/2024

The 'Killmonger Cut' Is Everywhere In Games, Here's Why the Industry Needs to Fix This - IGN

Since the movie premiere of Black Panther, the 'Killmonger Cut' hairstyle sported by Michael B. Jordan's character has taken over video games, reducing black characters to a single template.

Time Magazine

10/14/2024

How YouTubers Keep The Game Spicy

With more than 1.5 trillion (!) views to their credit, Minecraft's viral video stars inspire and shape players' experiences.

Inverse

08/22/2025

Solid Snake's Voice Actor Sure Wishes He Could Redo His Metal Gear Solid 3 Performance

David Hayter, Lori Alan, and Cynthia Harrell, three of the most iconic voices from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, spoke with Inverse about the game's legacy and what it means to come back to the franchise two decades later.

Inverse

08/10/2025

15 Years Ago, The Only Thing Better Than 'Scott Pilgrim's Movie Was His Retro Video Game

'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game' blended fun brawler mechanics, gorgeous pixel art, a banger soundtrack, and a healthy dose of nostalgia in one of the best licensed games of all time.

Inverse

09/29/2024

25 Years Later, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Director Reveals How Star Wars Broke the Game

Few games have had the cultural impact of Neversoft's seminal skating franchise.

Time Magazine

10/14/2024

The Mastermind Reflects On 15 Years Of Minecraft

Jens Bergensten, Chief Creative Officer of Mojang, talks about how far the game has come, and where it will go.

Inverse

05/07/2025

20 Years Later, A Star Wars Writer Tells Us What Would Happen If Darth Vader Ruled The Galaxy

Jeremy Barlow, who wrote the 2005 'Revenge of the Sith' video game, talks about the game's bumpy production and its memorable alternate ending.

Inverse

04/23/2025

30 Years Ago, Nintendo Made Netflix For Games Before Anyone Else Could

Nintendo's groundbreaking Satellaview was the first device to let players download games via satellite, paving the way for today's digital gaming landscape.

VICE

07/22/2022

Video Game Voice Chat Is So Toxic, Two Black Gamers Are Taking On The Issue Themselves

The founder of "Melanin Gamers" wants to pressure developers into addressing their toxic communities more seriously, starting with Call of Duty.

Kotaku

09/08/2024

15 Years Ago, The Beatles: Rock Band Made Me A Fab Four Fan For Life

It's been 15 years since the iconic rhythm game wowed both gamers and Beatles diehards alike

Inverse

04/13/2025

15 Years Ago, Gaming's Most Thrilling Espionage Series Had Its Assassin's Creed Moment

'Splinter Cell's fifth game pulled the series kicking and screaming into a new era for better and for worse.

Race and Civil Rights

VICE

01/07/2022

Black Hair in Video Games Is Terrible. These 3D Artists Are Changing That.

The Open Source Afro Hair Library, slated to launch on Juneteenth 2023, will be the gaming world's first free database of 3D-modeled Black hairstyles.

VICE

11/23/2021

The Brutal Racism in the Trial of Ahmaud Arbery's Killers

From tossing around "colored people" like it was the 1960s to describing Arbery's "long, dirty" toenails, the trial itself put racism on display.

VICE

02/04/2022

Racist Bomb Threats at HBCUs Are Demoralizing Black Students: 'It's a Brutal Realization'

The recent wave of bomb threats are a stark reminder that race will be a major factor in how the world sees the student-regardless of where they are.

VICE

03/04/2021

The Deadly Consequences of Carrying a Cell Phone While Black

The police officer who shot and killed 47-year-old Donnie Sanders won't be charged. Before him, there was Andre Hill, Stephon Clarke, and Flint Farmer.

VICE

01/14/2021

2020 Took a Heavy Toll on Black Mental Health

We spoke to Yasmine Jameelah, CEO of wellness company the Transparent and Black Collective, about what happened this past year-and how to cope.

VICE

01/14/2021

Leader of Not Fucking Around Coalition on Capitol Riots: If That Was Us, 'There'd Still Be Body...

Grand Master Jay-and the people who follow him-are furious over what they see as government hypocrisy.

Justice And Policing

VICE

05/25/2021

Why Black Cops Quit

"The 'Blue Wall of Silence' is so real and so pervasive that people outside of it don't have a clue of what it's like," one former officer told VICE News.

VICE

09/07/2022

The Violent, Racist History of K-9 Units

Police dogs were invented by slavers. Now they're used by cops.

VICE

04/28/2022

The Community Where Patrick Lyoya Was Killed by Cops Saw It Coming

"If people would have paid more attention to the situations we've been talking about here, he'd be alive," one Grand Rapids resident told VICE News.

VICE

11/02/2021

The Great Cop Vax Mandate Apocalypse That Never Happened

The Police Benevolent Association claimed as many as 10,000 NYPD officers could resign over the vaccine mandate. It didn't happen.

VICE

07/29/2022

Prison Cells Can Reach Nearly 150 Degrees in the South

Heat waves can be deadly for prisoners, especially in the South, where many prison cells do not have air conditioning.

VICE

10/13/2021

The First Black Sheriff in Wyoming Is Fighting for Reform

"I've been Black a lot longer than I've been a cop," Albany County Sheriff Aaron Appelhans told VICE News.

VICE

06/10/2021

This Is How Hard It Is to Vote After You've Left Prison

Over 5 million Americans have lost their right to vote because they've served time in prison.

VICE

03/03/2022

It's Totally Legal to Yell 'Fuck You' at Cops. Why Are People Getting Arrested?

So why do people keep getting arrested?

VICE

03/30/2022

Why Are WNBA Players Being Told Not to Talk About Brittney Griner?

Silence is a common tactic when negotiating for the return of politically sensitive detainees. And Brittney Griner is exactly that.

Local And National Stories

VICE

04/06/2022

NYPD Started Making Arrests After 6-Hour Standoff at Homeless Encampment

When the NYPD and sanitation workers showed up to clear the homeless encampment in Manhattan's East Village, the residents refused to go.

VICE

01/26/2022

An Election Police Force Is an Absolutely Terrible Idea

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis essentially wants to create his own police force to fix a nonexistent problem: voter fraud.

VICE

01/07/2021

'It's Just Beautiful': What the Georgia Runoff Means to Black Voters

VICE News talked to voters about the Black community's critical role in defining the state's political standing.

VICE

04/20/2021

No, Nancy Pelosi, George Floyd Didn't 'Sacrifice His Life' for America

Floyd didn't opt in to becoming a martyr for America's larger issues around criminal justice.

VICE

09/16/2021

His Son Was Shot by Cops 17 Years Ago. Now He's Suing to Get the Bullet.

Michael Bell Sr. thinks that having a ballistics expert review the bullet could reveal the police aren't being truthful about his son's death.

VICE

01/14/2021

The Guy Who Flew a Confederate Flag in the Capitol Has Predictably Surrendered

His son allegedly bragged about being part of the riot.

VICE

02/24/2022

Ukrainians Abroad Are Going Back to Their Country to Fight

As central Europe braces for an influx of Ukrainians fleeing their country, some Ukrainians living abroad are choosing to go back, to fight or to be with family.

Crain's New York Business

10/14/2019

Nonprofits fill census funding gap as federal government lags

With the 2020 census a little more than six months away, state government agencies and local nonprofits are pouring money into additional resources in hopes of offsetting growing concerns about the upcoming count.

Courts And Trials

VICE

04/06/2021

Derek Chauvin's Murder Trial Is Smashing Cops' 'Blue Wall of Silence'

Cops are testifying against a cop. That almost never happens.

VICE

04/20/2021

Derek Chauvin Found Guilty of Murdering George Floyd

Floyd's death last year sparked a national reckoning about police brutality in the U.S.

VICE

11/24/2021

Ahmaud Arbery's Killers Were Just Convicted of Murder

Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael, and William "Roddie" Bryan have been found guilty of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

New York Minute

The David Prize

10/14/2024

No Guts, No Glory: 5 Years of The David Prize

Celebrating the personal journeys of five David Prize winners, one from each year since the Prize began. A published coffee table book.

THE CITY - NYC News

05/18/2020

From avoiding TV to finding refuge in books, video games and family, people grappling with added...

From avoiding TV to finding refuge in books, video games and family, people grappling with added stress shared how they're dealing with trying times.

THE CITY - NYC News

08/11/2020

The talented folks who provide the soundtrack for commutes strike notes of hope and despair while...

The talented folks who provide the soundtrack for commutes strike notes of hope and despair while waiting for the crowds to return. But one nascent MTV star is finding fans everywhere.

THE CITY - NYC News

03/29/2020

Employee shortages, long lines and lots of Lysol are signs of changing times for the essential...

Employee shortages, long lines and lots of Lysol are signs of changing times for the essential staffers at one Queens grocery store.

THE CITY - NYC News

05/11/2020

With ridership plummeting on commuter lines and subways, officials and transit advocates renew...

With ridership plummeting on commuter lines and subways, officials and transit advocates renew calls for expansion of MTA's "Atlantic Ticket" program.

New York Daily News

03/18/2019

NYC moves to turn basement apartments into legal, safe, affordable housing, but renters worry...

Marlene Hernandez moved from her two-bedroom apartment in Bushwick to an illegal basement apartment in East New York two years ago out of necessity. "I simply couldn't afford Bushwick a...

Journalist, Editor, and Videographer