Benefit Concert: Erykah Badu and Teena Marie

Hello World:

On Thursday evening I had the task of going to the Erykah Badu and Teena Marie Benefit Concert at Ferrara Theatre. At the beginning of the event, LaToya and I managed to get into the backstage. We quickly realized that its not all its cracked up to be. lol. Inside the backstage we met the host of the event whose name escapes me at this very moment. We also posed and took pictures in front of the NUL background. Shortly after we went to the first floor to get a better view of the people coming into the event. We took pictures and noticed that it took no time for the theatre to get packed. We stood around for awhile watching people come in and looking at the stage being set up. It really was amazing to see a thought come into fruition after seeing it in the Conference Bible, to watching the event up close and personal.

After a while, we went up to the third floor to watch the event from our seats. While sitting in anticipation I thought of who Erykah Badu was; her lyrics are highly personal urban philosophies which give emotional challenges to any listener. She has an unusual musical sounds with songs like Bag Lady and Call Tyrone that captivates her audiences.

It was funny because while we were waiting for her to come to the stage, the band must have been playing the instrumental to her song for at least ten minutes. But, when she did come out, the audience raved and you could tell who all the Erykah Badu fans were in the building. One song that I really like that she did was Bag Lady, it has always been one of my favorite songs of her's and whenever I hear it, it puts me into that hip hop soul kind of mood. She had a wondeful preformance and I had almost wished that she would have just headlined the show by herself.

That was until Teena Marie came to the stage, I have heard a few songs in the past, but she really did her thing during her preformance. Her vocals were amazing and really topped off the whole event, making it one of my favorite events thus far. The only thing I wish I could have done over would prabobly be to knock on their dressing room doors to possibly get a picture with either one of them.

Plenary Session III: Presidential Candidate John Edwards

To start off my morning, I ended up oversleeping a little because I attended the YP Social the night before. Nevertheless, I managed to wake up at 7:00am and be at the event at 8am. As soon as I walked up to the event I noticed the massive line of people waiting to get in along with the people already seated. I managed to get into the VIP section, by saying I was an NUL summer intern (the many perks of being a summer intern). When I entered the theatre I couldn't find a seat. It was a good feeling though, because it meant that so many people were interesting in hearing these presidential candidated speak. People were truly interested in who will be leading our future and our country in 2009. After my endless search for one seat I chose to sit in the back, because I knew I wouldn't have a problem finding a seat there.

John Edwards was the second candidate to step up to the platform, and was recieved by a warm welcome from the audience. Not as warm as Hillary Clinton or Barack Onama but one could tell that he did have supporters. I clearly remember him from the last presidential race and one thing that always stood out was his ability to remain calm in debates and not look flustered. When he came up, he spoke articulately about a universal healthcare plan, strengthening schools so every child can succeed, and ending the poverty in America. One topic I wish that he could have spoke more on was helping to save young african american males ages 18-24, because it is such a serious issue and a priority for the urban league. After his speech had ended and when he was asked questions by NUL President and CEO Marc H. Morial, I think he became a little flustered when asked if he supported the NUL Opportunity Compact. He took a few seconds to answer yes and when he did he gave no reasons why he supported it and why is was so essential in empowering minorites.

However overall, I felt like he did a good job and had some valid points for his campaign. One thing I would like to see more of when he speaks again at an event like this is connecting a little bit more how his policies and strategies will coincide with the NUL objectives in helping to improve the state of Black America.

I really enjoyed myself during the event because this is the first time that I have seen these candidated speak since thier declaration to become the next president. I also thought to myself throughout the event, that this was a wonderful opportunity and allowed me to thoroughly analyze what John Edwards spoke about during his speech.