Arts and Entertainment Summit - Part A

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Arts and Entertainment Session A | 1-3 p.m. 

VRBO Panel: Empowering Black Journeys: A Panel Discussion Celebrating Black Travel and Culture 1 p.m.
Location: Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D., Academic Center Auditorium

Empowering Black Journeys: A Panel Discussion Celebrating Black Travel and Culture
Featuring Naismith Hall of Fame inductee Allen Iverson, world-renowned Chef Kwame Onwuachi, Women's wellness champion Tai Beauchamp, C'2000, and Media + Cultural Journalist Brandon "Jinx" Jenkins

Moderated by Expedia Group's Kira West (Inclusive Marketing)

What to Expect
An empowering, insightful conversation on Black travel, with special travel-themed giveaways from Vrbo.

Summary
Join Vrbo for Empowering Black Journeys, an inspiring panel that spotlights key culture-shapers sharing their personal experiences in travel, identity, and community-building. Whether it’s navigating travel challenges or embracing the unsupervised freedom of Vrbo’s host-free stays, these trailblazers will discuss how their journeys foster a deeper connection to Black culture and uplift the broader Black traveler community. By celebrating Black travel’s impact, we’ll explore how homecoming traditions and global experiences alike create spaces for belonging, solidarity and growth within the Black community.

Session: Recording Techniques and Computer Music Production with  Derek Linzy, Spelman Professor of Music Technology
Location: Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D., Academic Center, Room 206

Multi-instrumentalist virtuoso, music producer, audio engineer, and educator Derek Linzy is a two-time Grammy-nominated engineer and producer who worked hand-in-hand with prodigy and legendary recording artist Prince at Paisley Park Studios in 2013.

Known to be personally requested by Prince to guide, build, and develop music and audio projects through Pro Tools and Logic Pro, Prince’s mentoring and work ethic had a profound and in-depth effect on Linzy's navigation and understanding of the music production process, recording techniques and musicianship as a keyboardist and guitarist. As an educator at Spelman College and an AVID-certified instructor for Pro Tools, Linzy is grateful for the opportunity to share his gifts with future industry leaders who are choosing to change the world through the recording arts and music.

Session: Culture/DEI with Nzinga Shaw, C’2001
Location: Beverly Daniel Suites, After Dark Lounge

Nzinga “Zing” Shaw is the president and CEO of Attack the Glass LLC, which was founded in 2019. ATG is a small organization with a big mission. It aims to serve as the umbrella for amplifying dimensions of diversity across every facet of the human experience. Through educational tools, facilitated trainings, executive coaching, and the identification of unexpected talent, ATG is the connective tissue that helps clients realize their full potential.

Additionally, Shaw is an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee and concurrently serves the Board of Trustees at Bennett College. She created curriculum for both the University of Tennessee and Fisk University’s DEI Centers of Excellence. Shaw is an experienced C-suite executive with extensive hands-on experience and knowledge spanning DEI, human capital management, change and crisis management, employee relations, talent acquisition, organizational and strategic planning, branding and community engagement. 

She is known for her pioneering DEI work with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, launching the MOSAIC symposium (Model of Shaping Atlanta through Inclusive Conversations) and making the Hawks the first professional sports team to celebrate the LGTBQ and Differently-Abled communities. Shaw is also a professional public speaker and is represented by Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Notably, she was the first chief DEI officer at four blue chip organizations: Edelman, Starbucks, Marsh McLennan, and the National Basketball Association, representing the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena franchise.

Shaw has been recognized with numerous “40 Under 40” awards from the likes of Sports Business Journal, Atlanta Business Chronicle, The Network Journal, and PR Week. She is on the Board of Trustees of Bennett College, the Board of Directors of ColorComm, Rising Media Stars, and the YMCA of Metro Atlanta.  She was appointed by 39th United States President Jimmy Carter to serve a six-year term on the Board of Councilors of The Carter Center. Shaw received her master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her bachelor’s degree from Spelman College and was a study abroad scholar at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. She has also received two honorary doctorate degrees in humane letters from LeMoyne-Owen College and Morris Brown College, respectively. In her free time, Shaw enjoys interior design, international travel, cooking, and spending time with her husband, Keith, and three children, Lacy, Hudson and Trey.

Session: The Pulitzer Center With Journalists Fredrick Mugira and Ann Neumann
Location: Giles Hall, Room 203

About the Pulitzer Center: The Pulitzer Center is an award-winning journalism and education non-profit that supports quality international journalism on underreported global issues, engaging diverse audiences through educational and outreach programs. The Pulitzer Center’s Campus Consortium network connects students and faculty with the most pressing global issues of our time. The Center’s campus partnerships spark conversations across disciplines, inspire curiosity and compassion, and prepare the next generation of journalists. We accomplish these goals by organizing campus visits with Pulitzer Center-supported journalists who share their work and encourage students to examine and question the role of the media. We also offer reporting fellowship opportunities to students and graduates of our partner universities.

Journalists Fredrick Mugira and Ann Neumann have reported on conflict and environmental systems in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia erupted into civil war in 2020, with the Ethiopian and Eritrean federal forces against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed, and an estimated 13 million required humanitarian aid before parties reached a cease-fire in November 2022. Yet tensions remain high, and the Tigray region is isolated. Meanwhile, East African leaders also are preoccupied with another pressing issue: water. In the Nile Basin region, despite access to one of the world’s largest rivers, much of the population in the lower and middle basins live in areas of water scarcity and drought. The Nile is crucial to the health, economy, and cultures of 11 African countries, but land grabs and agribusiness investments threaten its accessibility. The construction of at least one major dam project has additional implications. They will discuss their reporting and explore the conflicts of origin, why the Nile River Basin is in danger, and how the region will grapple with these internal struggles.

Mugira is a Ugandan environmental journalist. He has reported on multiple projects with support from the Pulitzer Center, including Sucked Dry: Land Grabs and Water Access in the Nile River Basin, Coronavirus in Nile Basin: Dual Dangers of a Pandemic and Water Crisis, and Investigating and Mapping the Role of Indigenous People in the Conservation of Congo. His work has received numerous awards. He also heads Water Journalists Africa, a network of over 700 journalists in 50 African countries who report on water, and he co-founded InfoNile, a geo-journalism platform mapping data on water issues in the Nile River Basin.

Neumann reported from Egypt and Ethiopia with Pulitzer Center support. Her project "Who Owns the Nile? Ethiopia's War Against Itself" examines the country’s geopolitical ambitions, which may be jeopardized by internal conflict between the minority Tigrayan population and President Abiy Ahmed’s government. Neumann published “Hydropower” in The Baffler and “Falling Like Leaves: The War in Ethiopia and its Crimes Against Civilians” in Harper’s Magazine. Neumann’s work has also appeared in The Guardian and The New York Times.

Session: Journey Beyond the Gates With Tayari Jones, C’91
Location: TBD 

New York Times best-selling author Tayari Jones is the author of four novels, most recently "An American Marriage." Published in 2018, "An American Marriage" is an Oprah’s Book Club Selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list as well as his year-end roundup. The novel was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize), Aspen Words Prize and an NAACP Image Award. It has been published in two dozen countries. Jones, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, has also been a recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, United States Artist Fellowship, NEA Fellowship, and Radcliffe Institute Bunting Fellowship. Her third novel, "Silver Sparrow," was added to the NEA Big Read Library of classics in 2016. Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, University of Iowa, and Arizona State University. She is an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University and the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Creative Writing at Emory University.

Session: Journey Beyond the Gates With Avery*Sunshine (Denise White, C’98)
Location: Sisters Chapel

Avery*Sunshine takes no detours in creating melodious music for the masses. She makes the kind of music that undeniably satisfies the soul, leaving her audience full and invigorated. Born Denise White in Chester, Pennsylvania, with her roots grounded in the church, the singer, pianist, and composer has created a signature sound that mixes soul, jazz, R&B and gospel. Avery’s sound is uplifting, vibrant and exactly as her namesake suggests, full of sunshine. She brings people together through her riveting performances, candid and often humorous stage banter, and optimistic anthems about love and life.

Avery’s newest album, "Four Songs & A Bootleg," showcases her captivating and euphonious voice. The lead single “Lucky” has climbed the charts making it to the Billboard Top 30 Adult R&B National Airplay. Fans will be pleased to soak in the live portion of her album recorded in Atlanta in 2019, just before the pandemic. The quintessential artist that Avery is, she continued to work during the pandemic with the thought of mind that this project would raise spirits in a much-needed way. Avery and her musical partner, guitarist, and husband, Dana “Big Dane” Johnson, empower and encourage audiences through their platforms.

Besides the stage, the “Hey Sunshine Show” is another offering for fans who can join by visiting averysunshine.com. The collaborative brings exclusive content to fans wanting to delve further into the inspiration that is Avery*Sunshine. In addition to Avery’s music, her creative spirit extends to her illustrious cosmetic line Lou*Mack Beauty. This endeavor is simply another way to connect and encourage, specifically women of color; to celebrate who they are and their lineage unapologetically. Avery is currently rocking it out on stages all over the U.S. as she has done at multiple international venues in Asia, Africa, Australia, and the UK.

“I am always striving to fill the space that I was created to fill. And I pray that the small space that I occupy in this world reminds everyone to SHINE no matter what," said Avery.

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