With his famously sultry voice, syndicated radio personality Walt "Baby" Love proclaimed, "I don't know you, but I love you because you are my people." Stemming from this exact feeling of community and connection was the 15th annual Howard E. Mitchell Memorial Forum held at the University City Sheraton Hotel on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. This weekend's forum -- which attracted students from schools like Penn, Harvard and Bucknell universities -- brought to campus over 20 African-American leaders from diverse career paths, who sat on panels to share their experiences in the workplace. "Our community, the African-American community, we need to learn how to get ahead -- in financial services, in fashion, in technology, in all fields -- and this is the key way to learn that we are able to compete and strive in these industries," said the forum's Marketing Committee Chairwoman Nicole Andrewin, a Wharton freshman. Keynote speaker Bernard Anderson, assistant secretary of Labor, used his address as a tribute to Mitchell -- the namesake of the event -- who in 1955 became the second black faculty member hired at Penn. Mitchell also later founded Penn's Human Resources Center, where he remained as director until 1985. "He really moved the crowd. It was an excellent speech," College junior Kwasi Asare said of Anderson's speech. Following Anderson's speech, leading African Americans in their respective fields conducted eight different panels in fashion, journalism, entertainment, financial services, technology and urban development. Among those present were Senior Vice President of R&B; Promotions at Def Jam Recordings Johnnie Walker, who catapulted the careers of the likes of Jay-Z and Dru Hill; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The Philadelphia Inquirer Acel Moore; Essence magazine publisher Edward Lewis; and fashion designer Karl Kani. "I hope what the audience got from this panel is a more realistic view of what the industry has to offer -- what it is and what it can be," said Walker, who was part of the five-member panel entitled, "Breaking Out of the Box: Black Success in Music, Radio, and Entertainment." "The music panel was the most exciting one in this whole conference," Penn Music Professor Guy Ramsey said. In addition to offering advice on breaking into the music industry, the panel discussion also focused on the direction of rap, hip-hop and R&B.; "I am disturbed with the direction of the way our music? is going, with the way it's holding our culture," Harvard freshman Julian Breele said. The conference was sponsored by the Black Wharton Undergraduate Association.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.
