Last Wednesday, I had the wonderful opportunity to hear Roland Martin speak at Howard University.  My play “auntie” Madeline asked me to attend with her (but I had to drive-go figure).  I am glad that I was able to go because I learned a lot.  The one thing I can say that was my biggest take away had to do with my faith.   I am a Christian, and in my effort to not offend any of my readers or turn them away, I stayed away from talking about that.  But after listening to Roland, I learned that I need to embrace my Christianity via my blog.  So from now on if I have a praise report or anything of the like, I’m going to share it! 

Now, for my assessment of the event.  All in all, I thought it was a wonderful engagement, and I’m glad I went.  I had seen Roland last summer when I caught a sneak peek of “Black in America 2”.  I wish this event had been better attended, but as Madeline and I were late, it’s probably a good thing it wasn’t crowded as we were able to get a seat.  I will also say he was very engaging, is an excellent public speaker, and was able to keep the audience’s attention.  I’ll share a few quotes that I thought were poignant. 

“If people of faith are afraid to say something, who will”

“When you understand who you serve, you have nothing to fear.” (My favorite)

“In entertainment, you have a to stand out; it sets you apart from everyone else.” – in regards to wearing his signature ascot

“I am not a public representative of Black folk.  I am a Black journalist.  I speak for me.”

“My job is to talk public policy through a faith prism.”

“Where does God want to send me to use me in an appropriate way?  In religion, we have people who are out of their lane.”

As you can see, he said some very important things.  The one thing he did that Madeline and I had concern about was the story he told regarding his parents, particularly his mother.  While we totally understood why he praised his father, he sort of downplayed the importance his mother had on his life.  He stated most famous black men (i.e. athletes, entertainers, and the like) always praise and thank their mothers, they really don’t talk about their fathers.  So while he thanked his father for everything, he didn’t really give his mom kudos.  As a mother I think that rubbed Madeline the wrong way.  After he finished speaking, Mr. Martin stuck around and took pictures with audience members.  I can’t wait to attend my next speaker engagement.  I’m not sure who it will be, so stay on the lookout, because you know I’ll blog about it.   Until next time, I’m just  a Southern girl…in the city!