ABOUT THE WINNER: For seven seasons, comedian, writer, and filmmaker W. Kamau Bell traveled across the country on his CNN Original Series to highlight the stories of diverse but under-covered communities, such as Black Appalachians, trans Texans, struggling gig economy workers, Venezuelan asylum seekers, and homeless members of L.A.’s Skid Row.

Throughout its tenure, the series, produced by Zero Point Zero Production, also devoted many hours to AAPI issues and communities: Chinatowns across America, native Hawaiians, Sikhs, Hmong immigrants, and the rise of Asian Americans in the spotlight, all the while challenging stereotypes and showcasing the diversity within the Asian American experience – a rarity on primetime commercial television.

Bell has jokingly described himself as “the Anthony Bourdain of racism,” but humor aside, the show – greenlit years before the “racial reckoning” of 2020 – occupied an important and unique place in television. As the only program of its kind devoted to illuminating the complexity and humanity of America’s diversity, Bell and his team won five Primetime Emmy® Awards – three for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program and two more for Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program.