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Shout out to Russell Simmons for bringing the Hip Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment to Texas Southern University on Saturday 17, 2009. This is a great opportunity listen and learn from one of the great businessmen of our generation. This is a FREE event and I encourage you to come out and bring your friends because its never too early to learn how to start baaaallllliiiinnnn! Because broke is NOT the business....
Visit
http://www.hsan.org/ for your free tickets. Doors open @ 12pm.
Texas Southern University
3100 Cleburne Street 77004
Houston, TX
***UPDATE***
I was so excited about this... Its not everyday that you have the chance to attend a free event and be able to receive from influential and successful people,
that look like me, in an open conversational setting. It seemed like a really diverse panel that I would be able to grab some insight from. But to my untrained eye, this financial summit was a sweeping success of spreading knowledge to help young African Americans flourish into becoming financially smart and aggressive CONSUMERS.
Don't get me wrong... there is an art to handling maneuvering, and multiplying the money and resources that you have and I recognize the fact that Russell Simmons and others have contributed in such a way to help educate, inform, and ultimately empower my people.
I dig that. I only had one issue...
You would think there would've been a greater emphasis on entrepreneurship. I mean damn... every 5 minutes "someone" aka Russell Simmons was plugging some a clothing line
(FYI... We'll never stop wearing Polo this side of the Mason Dixie, homie...) or syndicated column or whatever is lining their pockets at the moment. I understand that is to be expected since entrepreneurship is what the majority of this panel represented. Taking stake in yourself, Building your own brand, your own entity... Being in control of your destiny. When u come from an entrepreneurial perspective, then u can understand the relevance of Aleshea Renee, who is an independent contractor for BET, Bun B, who helped create the underground southern sound and movement, and even Russell Simmons, who has historically and will continue to predictably go against the grain (in reference to traditional mainstream American society) in every aspect of his life, participating in this event.
The primary people of recognition on this panel were self made. They didn't go to college, get a job, work for 40 years and then retire. And probably never plan to a day in their life. I'm pretty sure the thought of waking up and punching a time clock repulses them, the way it does me and other people that are cut from a certain cloth. Which is why I was confused...
The intent didnt match the message. Am I really supposed to believe that Slim Thug can teach me how to balance a checkbook??? I mean really...
Maybe they just missed their "niche", ya know? This type of event could have been geared more towards high school students. Maybe then one of the smart mouth, condescending ass female panelists (I don't remember her name because you KNOW I would have called her ass out...) would have a legitimate reason to feel compelled to explain the definition of the word "consolidated" to a group of capable and intelligent college educated people that elected to take time out of their Saturday morning to attend a
financial summit. (She ran me hot....)
But at the end of the day, I feel that the intention was in the right place. Uncle Russ is getting his tax write off and I gotta blue plastic Walmart bag full of capitalist propaganda. :) Gotta love it... after all this is a
financial summit.
There is no doubt that Russell Simmons and others on that panel are leaders in our community. They are examples of success some people are only willing to dream about. But you have to wonder in which direction are they leading??
In this time of greed and materialistic values, we need to be very aware of how we SPEND our money... not only in the practical sense of the word but in the moral sense as well. KNOW where your money GOES. Spend your money with companies that you believe in and ideals you support.
Just because Russell Simmons wants to teach you how to spend YOUR money, doesn't mean you have to spend it with him. Which at the end of the day, was a big part of what this financial summit seemed to be about.
