Indiana Black Expo’s 43rd Annual Summer Celebration started off with a promising bang featuring an ecumenical service that was not only uplifting, but also insightful and a call to action of sorts from the various speakers.
While most of those in attendance offered great remarks including Gov. Mike Pence, host Pastor David Hampton, keynote speaker Dr. Frank Thomas of Christian Theological Seminary, Elder Anne Henning Byfield of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and City-County Council President Maggie Lewis; the standout speaker who most resonated with the crowd was Min. Nuri Muhammad of the Nation of Islam Mosque 74.
Muhammad’s remarks were harsh realities, incorporated with humorous analogies and realistic suggestions to enhance the lives of African-Americans in this city. He did a fantastic job!
The Corporate Luncheon earned Expo another gold star. Awards were distributed to well-deserved individuals, the program flowed smoothly, and I kept hearing people comment on how great the food was this year. The only down part of the luncheon was when one of the screens kept malfunctioning, preventing many on that particular side of the room to miss key aspects of the awards presentations. I’m not sure who is to blame for that, but I suspect the Convention Center is most responsible. Perhaps Expo can get some sort of a credit for the inconvenience.
While I was unable to personally attend the symposium on autism, members of my staff as well as folks in the general community praised the effort. The public was very happy to have such a relevant topic that affects so many minorities candidly discussed by individuals who outwardly appear to “have it all.”
One woman stopped by the Recorder booth and told me, “I have two sons who are on the autism spectrum and it was refreshing for me to hear that others experienced some of the challenges I do. It was also good to hear some of their strategies for successfully dealing with autism.”
My hat goes off to IBE board member Kristian Little who was the brainchild of the initiative. Little has an autistic son and she has been a champion for bringing awareness about autism to the forefront of the local minority community. For years now, she has helped to raise Blacks’ consciousness about autism, while also dispelling myths and unfair characterizations that those on the autism spectrum endure on a regular basis.
Now to the not so good things about this year’s Summer Celebration.
The first and most obvious was the tremendous decrease in attendance – a decrease that has steadily been increasing in recent years.
As I walked downtown throughout the weekend, I was surprised by the easy access to the Convention Center. There was no traffic. Walking into the Convention Center, gave me a sad, empty feeling as each day saw the low attendance. Even during generally high-traffic times, there were no lines of people entering the Convention Center. In addition, there were drastically fewer sponsors and vendors.
It is all incredibly disappointing because Summer Celebration is one of the premier events offered to and by the African-American community. It was disheartening to see what I knew years ago would soon be a reality.
The irritating thing about Expo officials is that they continuously insult the public’s intelligence by trying to “spin” things a certain way – as if we are not astute enough to see the real picture. Here’s an example: at the start of the big weekend, Expo officials touted that they are “expecting record high numbers.”
Get real, Expo! Stop offering that “sales talk” and just speak the truth or don’t say anything at all. Constantly acting as if everything is perfect when it is anything but that is not the route to take.
Another thing, Expo cannot blame the increased violence in the city as the primary reason for the decline in attendance. That’s another spin tactic that simply is not true. The blunt reality is that people – community and corporate – have been turned off by Expo officials for quite awhile and that has equated to a decrease in attendance and corporate participation.
Indiana Black Expo needs to get real about the true challenges the organization faces and why those challenges keep occurring. Until the staff and board realistically look at the man in the mirror, things won’t turn around.
This week, I’ve heard some Expo officials mention that Summer Celebration was a success because no violence occurred that was directly connected to the weekend festivities.
Reality check: absence of shootings or violence is not a proxy for success!
Get real, Expo!
You can email comments to Shannon Williams at shannonw@indyrecorder.com.
