Blavity brought their annual conference, Blavity Fest, to Atlanta for the very first time this weekend at Lee+White in the Historic West End. Blavity Fest highlighted discussions on Black-owned community building, financial literacy, mental health, entertainment and entrepreneurship. The key sessions featured conversations with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon of The Village Market.
While the Trump administration attempts to take a meat cleaver to the Minority Business Development Administration (MBDA), Dickens highlighted Atlanta’s efforts to support minority businesses. That includes a 35% minimum contract allocation and $370 million in minority contracts.
“[Mayor] Maynard Jackson said 25% of every contract that the city of Atlanta does has to go to a minority-owned business,” Dickens explained. “And that was important. Back in 1974, this man said that now we’re above 35% is our minimum, and we keep growing to 40% is my goal, even as right now the federal government threatens to take away these programs.”
Meanwhile, Hallmon sits on the board of Invest Atlanta. Although it’s not a non-profit, its aim is to advance Atlanta’s global competitiveness by growing a strong economy, building vibrant communities, and increasing economic prosperity for all Atlantans. The key is creating a holistic, supportive environment that provides resources, opportunities, and a strong community network for minority entrepreneurs.
“It takes will. Fill your cup, fill your hearts, and fill your spirit with people of like minds who can see you during days in which you look in the mirror and you cannot even recognize the person you see,” Hallmon says. “You need some friends to hold a mirror up and affirm you, girl or dude, remember what you’ve already done. Remember that you are given a vision that nobody else was given.”
Investing Strategies
Teri Ijeoma shared trading strategies, stressing the importance of selecting the right brokers, companies, and using stop losses to protect investments. She also advised on the benefits of margin accounts and active trading in the current economic climate.
“When you open up your brokerage account, instead of selecting a cash account, select the margin account,” Ijeoma explains. “There’s usually somebody in the audience that is going to write me a letter afterwards, they say, ‘damn it: I cannot believe that you told them to invest in a margin account’, because the margin account is a little more risky, but here’s what it does. One, it gives you more buying power.
Through her company Trade and Travel, Ijeoma has taught 40,000 people how to actively invest. Plus, she also showed hundreds of thousands how to invest in other ways, including passive investing and opening savings accounts.
“But another thing a margin account lets you do is it lets you trade faster,” Ijeoma continues. “In a cash account, when you sell your stocks, you have to wait three business days for money to come back. But in a margin account, when you sell your stocks, the money is available to you the very next day.”
Blavity will return to Atlanta in 2026
This year, Blavity featured influencers like Keith Lee, actresses like Marsai Martin, and the multi-hypenate creative David Quarles IV. Also, 2 Chainz and Kirk Franklin performed to close out the weekend. In addition, more than 30 vendors were featured at Lee+White during the event.
“We picked Atlanta because Atlanta is such a mecca of the intersection of culture, politics, creatives and entertainment,” explains Morgan DeBaun, CEO and Founder of Blavity. “We also wanted to pick a city that was a destination. So many people in our community have Atlanta because they’re connected to somebody there. Whether they attended Spelman or Morehouse, or their cousins or friends live there. Or, they want to go to concerts that are there.
So Atlanta is just a great Black city that allows us, as a national brand, to make sure it’s accessible to people. And it’s just a great time. Springtime in Atlanta is the best. So much to do, so much to see. We also wanted to pick a city where if you’re coming to our conference for one or two days, you’re going out at night, there’s things to do, there’s people to see.”
In the end, culture has an economic value and an intrinsic value as well to the Black community. Blavity Fest is a must-attend event that offers both professional development and cultural celebration.
”And let me tell you, if the only connections you make are the people that’s sitting on the stage, you miss the gift of being in a room and sitting left and right to people who are who can be stewards of the very thing that you are trying to pivot from right now,” said Hallmon. “So look around this room and see the people, and also sit in your seat and know that you are deserving.”
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