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Photo & Caption: Zaire Saunders and Robbie Jackson 060323 Photo: Tam Vu
by Zaire Saunders
On Sat, June, 3, 2023, I was afforded the pleasure of attending the Black New world media awards, where I was to experience a validating evening.
The event was held at the African American Art and Culture Complex, a space dedicated and filled with radical Black thought. a newcomer to experiencing a Black New World media awards night, I was curious yet uncertain of what to expect.
“It’s a way to celebrate ourselves, congratulate each other, as well as network with each other. Hopefully we will work together if we know each other more. We won’t be as intimated to approach each other – Because the awards is a safe environment,” said JR Valrey, editor in chief of the SF BayView.
Major figures in Black media, artistry and politics attended. All dressed to their best, eager to applaud and congratulate one another. I admit I felt underdressed for the occasion. To the left of the lobby a live band played jazz.
Once all were seated in the AAACC theater, the ceremony began. Queen Iminah entered the stage for libation. Pouring water, she blessed the theater and ancestors whose presence made possible our being there gathered. “ Ida B. Wells,” the audience called out in honor of our kin, “ George Floyd, Nat Turner, Banko Brown!” On and on the names came smothering us in remembrance.
Oakland Police Commission Inspector General Michelle Phillips and Alameda DA Pamela Price both took the stage at different times, speaking on their allegiance to the Black community and their respective roles to better serve the community. Inspector General Phillips is head of Police oversight and DA Price is charging multiple officers and hoping to persecute more. If both follow through, it will be a valuable shift in power for the Black community.
“It’s a night of Black Power to honor the people doing the work right now,” said Allyssa Victory, the night’s master of ceremony. “ To give the flowers of those deserving, especially giving the lifetime achievement award to Emory, was an honor. I’ve studied so much about the Panthers. I’m from oakland. I’m raised in the legacy of the Panthers and he’s a living legend. It was an honor and hopefully the community looks more into his breadth of work.”
Walking onstage to a standing ovation, Emory talked about his days as a member of the Black Panther Party, working with Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale on the Panther paper.
Though fed well with food, numerous speeches, decadent attire, and big names who walked in and out of the auditorium, I was stunned to be pulled aside onstage to be awarded as a graduate of the SF Bay View’s community journalism program.
The Keynote speaker, Lateefah Simon gave a fiery speech. I was transfixed. She urged the importance of Black journalists and media-makers in our society, feeling relieved to see a younger generation of grassroot writers rise. Hopeful, inspiring and righteously affirming to us.
Seen and celebrated by and alongside my peers at the Black New World Media awards was an honor and one I’m grateful to have shared.
After the evening, as I walked home from the AAACC, staring at the glass award inscribed with my name, I proudly reflected on my own brief and recent writing career and duty as a Black writer. Finally, with a fire inside of me, I landed on the words of Kanye West, reciting: “I take my chain, my fifteen seconds of fame and come back next year with the whole fucking game.”
