Thursday, March 28, 2024

2015 Essence Festival Honors Black Lives Matter Movement

sabrina fulton*The Black Lives Matter movement will be among the topics of discussion at this year’s Essence Festival as Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, will be on hand to speak at the annual four-day event.

Fulton will deliver the keynote address at the Essence Empowerment Experience. In addition to Fulton, the Empowerment Experience will include a prayer vigil and a Mayor’s Panel featuring representatives from communities around the country.

“There are so many moms like Sybrina Fulton who have figured out how to bring positive outcomes out of tragedy and we want to highlight that,” Vanessa K. De Luca, Essence’s Editor-in-Chief, told the Post.

The Empowerment Experiment is among the programs that will be held at the Essence Festival. The annual event, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year with more than 500,000 people, will take place July 2-5 in New Orleans, La.

In light of recent issues affecting the black community in the last year, the festival will take a serious note as it holds a “Peace, Power and Purpose Rally and examines the purpose behind the Black Lives Matter movement.

“This is a moment where we really have an opportunity to serve our community in a very different way and we’re taking it,” De Luca, said. “What better place than the festival to bring harsh conversations to light and deliver solutions?”

The purpose of the rally is to garner support and raise awareness of issues facing black women, black men and their families, according to The Huffington Post.

Those expected to attend the festival include Iyanla Vanzant, Donna Brazile, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Deepak Chopra, Steve Harvey, Kendrick Lamar, Common and Erykah Badu, among others.

We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!

YOU MAY LIKE

SEARCH

- Advertisement -

TRENDING