My first All Black National Convention

If not us, then who?

LOMBARD, Ill. — Eight minutes before getting swooped to the main stage to deliver his opening remarks, Dr. Boyce Watkins stopped to chat and pose for a picture with our girls.

Parker and Tiffany wore their newly gifted Money Talks hoodies. Parker stood to Watkins’ right in her pink hoodie. Tiffany, in her purple, stood to his left. Watkins wore a plaid, three-piece suit sans jacket.

All three smiled from ear to ear like he was the favorite uncle, hootin’ and hollerin’ after busting in the house on Thanksgiving morning.

But they had never met. And before this weekend, we weren’t family.

That all changed following this weekend’s ninth annual All Black National Convention (ABNC).

As gracious as he was, you never would have guessed that Watkins is the host and mastermind behind the event.

His beam set the tone for a beautiful and rejuvenating weekend surrounded by intelligent Black people. Approximately 400 of us convened just outside of Chicago, in the west suburb of Lombard, Ill., for three days of fun, fellowship and financial literacy. Watkins calls it a family reunion, and now I understand why.

We met successful and aspiring Black businesspeople from all corners: New York to Portland, Georgia to Seattle, Louisiana to California, South Carolina to Michigan.

Everyone shared Watkins’ warm, welcoming smile.

Everyone had love for Black people and passion for the Black community. The ABNC is about unapologetically unifying to make us better.

Watkins and his Black Business School’s mission is to uplift, empower and protect the Black community. The goal is considered radical by some, but it’s the people’s top priority. And who else can say that about the Black community?

So, yeah, me and my family are now part of the B1 family.

And we couldn’t have enjoyed our first convention more.

We were introduced to Black people who are doing wonderful things in business and our communities. They are thriving, with or without corporate dollars and mainstream media recognition. Black-owned vendors offered everything from health juices to jewelry to S.T.E.M resources for kids and family financial planning services.

We bumped into Watkins on our way to drop off the girls at the convention’s BMOT Kids camp. I had to ask one of the camp instructors what the acronym stood for. My heart skipped when Mr. Joe informed me: “Black Millionaires of Tomorrow.”

The event is so family friendly we were treated to a live children’s skit about the importance of investing Sunday afternoon. And just before Watkins delivered his closing remarks, he presented each camper with a certificate on the main stage.

“These kids are now all of our kids,” Watkins told the audience.

My eyes welled for the third time Sunday.

The first sign of precipitation came during the day’s first panel discussion. It was titled “I’m not your superwoman: A refined approach to mind, body and soul.”

Panelists included Dr. Lanee Javet, Constance Carter, Aisha Virzi and Madam PreZident and was moderated by Tiara Williams, or Ms. Black Hollywood.

The women are all successful entrepreneurs. As they took the stage, my mind drifted to my lady friend Triest, who sat to my right, and how limitless her possibilities can be. The room grew colder. Goosebumps dotted my arms under my black Money Talks hoodie.

We listened for one hour as the women openly shared their perspectives on being mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, girlfriends, working women, homemakers and more.

Their candor, shaped by years of frustration from being forced to figure everything out with minimal support from men, made me think about my mother. My mind then shifted back to Triest. The women’s truths allowed me to connect some dots about the hardship stories so many Black women have in common generationally.

But sitting in the room felt like we were truly breaking the cycle.

Minister Nuri Muhammad followed the panel discussion with a powerful keynote speech that made my eyes moist all over again. He titled it “From colony to community: God’s plan for God’s people.” He has a gift as an orator and is profound as an intellectual and scholar.

“If service is beneath you, leadership is beyond you,” Muhammad said.

I was first in line to buy Muhammad’s books, “The Mathematics of the Mind” and “The Black Woman: The Second Self of God.” He signed one each for me and Triest.

We bumped into Watkins again after walking away. I politely asked him to sign my copy of “The 10 Commandments of Black Economic Power,” and he did. Neither signature is legible. But both men couldn’t have been kinder to us.

We also bumped into Andre Haynes again. He’s the man who has inspired my vision for real estate. Haynes spoke on a wealth through real estate panel and was happy to connect with us afterward.

There were so many other experts to learn from and connect with. I also loved hearing from Lamar Tyler, a business coach and speaker, Aysia Kamiliah, a personal branding expert, and Ace Chapman, an entrepreneur and business coach.

I took nine pages of notes.

As speakers stepped on stage to drop one gem after another, me and Triest would look at each other each time we heard a familiar line. There’d be a twinkle in our eyes and the unspoken was understood. Many of those gems we had heard, said and shared over the past two years.

We knew then that we were in the right place.

And we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we’re on the right track.