On Wednesday, we took a trip out of the District and headed to one of the greatest cities on earth – New York – and attended The One Club’s annual event, Here are All the Black People. The event was started as a way to celebrate and promote diversity in the advertising industry.
The conference kicked off at 9am with a dryly hilarious keynote address from Issa Rae, a writer, director, producer, actress, and soon to be author. Rae spoke honestly about her position as a woman of color in an industry that often does not celebrate or represent her and reminded the audience, “You’re in an industry where you have an opportunity to shape the minds and change what people’s perceptions are.” Her speech was a poignant and shrewd kick-off that set the tone for the rest of the day.
Throughout the rest of the day, in-between mentoring sessions and portfolio reviews, top creatives in the industry participated in panel discussions about living creative lives and breaking into the industry. The idea that prevailed throughout HAATBP was to have passion for the creation and perpetuation of excellent work. No matter the level of creative listening, it was a need-to-hear message.