Press kit

Charles Belk is an entertainment industry executive, producer and active citizen, and a Durham, NC (USA) native. After a 2014 mistaken-identity arrest, he founded #AutoErase™ and worked with lawmakers across the country; seven states have passed laws from that work. He has given 300+ speeches and presentations and visited 86 countries.

Please read aloud · About 1 minute

Our next speaker is Charles Belk, a producer, a former IBM engineer and a proud native of Durham, North Carolina (USA). He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from USC and an MBA from Indiana University, and he was a Ford Freedom Unsung Award finalist.

In 2014, on his way to a pre-Emmy party in Greater Los Angeles, Charles was detained because he “fit the description” of a tall, bald Black man involved in a bank robbery. He was handcuffed, held in a jail cell and released without charges. But the arrest record stayed.

So he started #AutoErase and worked with lawmakers across the country to clear records like his. North Carolina passed the first law in 2015. South Carolina’s became law in 2026, after 11 years.

He has given more than 300 speeches, including at the NAACP National Convention moments before President Obama, and he has visited 86 countries.

Please welcome Charles Belk.