Students in the Young, Gifted and Black Braintrust. Photo Contributed
Alexandria was represented at the 45th Annual Black Congressional Caucus Foundation To Be Young, Gifted and Black Braintrust with students and faculty from NOVA Community College. To be Young, Gifted and Black Braintrust is the brainchild of U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters and sponsored by Nielsen and every year it delivers on its promise to divulge the much-needed information about the ever-evolving role of hip hop within the African American community.
Always a crowd pleaser at the Congressional Black Caucus, the room, per usual, was filled to capacity with eager participants to share in the joy of hip hop, the messages of the panelist and learn how to speak the business of success.
The room permeated with the air of possibility and promise. The event was designed to provide an opportunity for participants to interact and display their talents with today’s most popular rappers, singers, poets and various hip-hop industry professionals.
“The Young, Gifted, and Black Braintrust was created at a time when national political figures and the hip hop community were at odds, “ said Waters during her opening remarks of the Young, Gifted, and Black Braintrust. Waters saw this rift as an opportunity to create a space where young people, members of Congress, and the hip hop community could come together to discuss their experiences. Discuss, they did. Brainstorm, they did. Shared, they did.
One of the more popular sessions on the emerging leaders track of the overall programming, the Young, Gifted and Black session is annually standing room only with perennial panelist MC Lyte, who helps to draw an interested and engaged crowd. She tweeted during the session, “Beautiful energy in the room here at the Young, Gifted, and Black Braintrust.” Indeed.
Additional panelists were equally engaging and informative about how to stay informed and hungry for progress, and they were Bomani Armah, poet and educator, Zakee Kuduro, educator, and Kokayi Issa, Grammy-nominated producer. Kokayi Issa was adamant about reiterating how important it was to network and not to be afraid of speaking up for yourself in business and life. He held up the much anticipated African-American Consumer report by Nielsen. “Hey, Nielsen is in the room right now. They are the gatekeepers of information you need to know.” Waters, panelists and Rebecca Roussell, Nielsen’s senior director for the Diverse Intelligence Series kept referring to some of the highlights of the report: the advancing household incomes; the upswing in Black immigrants; and the increased rate of college attendance among African-American students.
Nielsen released the 2015 African-American consumer report, “Increasingly Affluent, Educated and Diverse, African-American Consumers - The Untold Story,” and made sure that everyone in the room had a copy of it. At the end of the session, it was clear that it was good to not only be Young, Gifted, and Black but also informed.