#TBT: Women In Media Conference

Alexia and Imani (aren't they lovely!)

To say last weekend's Women In Media Conference surprised me was an understatement.

Amidst all the craziness that was my life last week, running to and from Philly Fashion Week shows and press gatherings, I had the chance to be refilled and to be restored by some very wonderful sisters in ways that I did not expect.

The conference was held in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia at WeWork (which is an Instagrammer's heaven, if you ask me).

I linked up with the winners of my Instagram contest, Imani and Alexia, and prepared for a full day of melanated girl power, which I definitely got. It was the expected day full of women (and men) sharing their expertise on media, and their lessons on life with us in very candid and powerful ways.

What most blessed me about the conference happened during its keynote. Attendees were ushered in to the conference experience with the opportunity to sit at the feet of the historic and prolific Sista Sonia Sanchez and listen to her words she drafted for an upcoming project.

She had a lot to say, as we writers tend to, but it wasn't the amount that she spoke, but it was the power and wisdom conveyed in the gems of her words that most captured me and the other attendees.

About the current political climate, "People laugh at Trump. You can laugh all you want to. Laugh, but organize. Laugh and organize so he won’t get re-elected. That is a dangerous man. You look at him and you understand the 1 percent, the 1 percent that put him in power. Fascism is what’s in their eyes."

She also spoke on the divide of the ethnicities, saying "The people that will end up in a sorry condition will be Black and Puerto Rican, Black and Brown people and working-class whites who have not recognized what has happened to them in this country... It’s about time we look at each other and say, ‘We need to really come together and work together." (emphasis added).

About the decline of urban communities of color, Sista Sanchez said "No one is going to cure our poverty but ourselves...An edifice that produces beggars needs restructuring."

About our purposes, Sista Sanchez said "You got to know why you are put on this Earth, people! You are put on this Earth to make sure change occurs."

She said so much, I could hardly write it all down. Sista Sanchez showed me in an hour and a half that the struggle of women (especially those of color) didn't just begin with the advent of television, it begins with our own representation in literature, in the press, in the eyes of others who are both alike and not like us, and in our own hearts. Through Sista Sanchez, I now fully grasp how much telling our own stories really matters.

She shared life with us, life in her words and stories that shook us from our comfortable news feeds and awoken a deep sense of purpose and direction in us. She shared her life with us, so transparent that we could not only see her more clearly, but we could also see ourselves. I am forever changed.

And I am so grateful to the Women In Media team for this amazing opportunity.