This weekend I attended my first Essence Festival. It was definitely a great experience.
For me I was excited to attend the empowerment sessions. I had a chance to see many of the people who participated in my lecture series at Philander Smith, Bless the Mic. So folks like Dr. Steve Perry were a delight to reconnect with.
But just walking around the convention center I met all kinds of people, like Dillard alum Ted Ellis, who is an artist now living in Texas. He gave me a quick oral history of Dillard and the arts. Plus his work was fantastic.
And then we kept running into former students. I saw several from Albany State University in Georgia, and a few from Philander Smith, including Amber whom I recruited from San Francisco and who graduated 2 years ago. That made the event more special. I even ran into a friend from my undergrad days at UGA.
So it was a good event. As far as the concerts, Mary Mary and Mary J. Blige stole the show for me, and in the superlounges, Vivian Green was awesome.
The Prez
