John Legend, Irving Azoff, Kai Cenat Honored at Black Music Action Coalition Gala: ‘Equity Is Not Charity. It’s Smart Business’

“Five Years of Impact.” That was the celebratory vibe reverberating wrong the jam-packed ballroom during the Black Music Action Coalition’s (BMAC) 5th yearly gala astatine Los Angeles’ Beverly Hilton connected Thursday evening (Sept. 18). Presented by Live Nation, the dinner/awards ceremonial saluted 5 euphony manufacture honorees: John Legend (BMAC Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award), Irving Azoff (BMAC Icon Award), Sherrese Clark of HarbourView Equity Partners (inaugural BMAC Harry Belafonte Change Agent Award), Kai Cenat and Apple/Apple Music (BMAC Social Impact Award) and Primary Wave Music (BMAC 365 Award).

Grammy-nominated state creator Mickey Guyton, who co-hosted the gala alongside multimedia entertainer Kenny Burns, opened the gala with an impactful show of “Black Like Me.” Then, BMAC CEO/co-founder/president Willie “Prophet” Stiggers acceptable the code for the evening — celebrating the organization’s accomplishments since its inception 5 years agone portion besides emphasizing there’s inactive much enactment to beryllium done erstwhile it comes to manufacture diversity, equity and inclusion, societal justness and different issues.

“BMAC is successful it for the agelong haul,” said Stiggers. “We don’t conscionable stitchery to celebrate; we stitchery to measurement progress, to grant the shoulders we basal on, to recommit ourselves to the combat for equity, justness and accidental wrong the euphony concern and beyond. We’re gathering an infrastructure to marque definite that alteration lasts portion inactive pushing our civilization forward. We’ve seen corporations marque large promises astir justice, equity and inclusion … But today, excessively galore of those aforesaid corporations person pulled back. They chopped budgets, walked distant from partnerships, abandoned the precise question they claimed to champion close erstwhile the combat got hard.”

Before the grant presentations got underway, Stiggers besides noted, “Equity is not charity. It’s astute business. Tonight, arsenic we grant those who person utilized their platforms to thrust existent societal change, let’s admit this truth: BMAC is nary longer conscionable an organization. We are successful information a question rooted successful accountability and action, an unwavering content that the aboriginal of euphony indispensable beryllium arsenic conscionable and arsenic escaped and arsenic almighty arsenic the euphony itself.”

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3. John Legend, Irving Azoff, Kai Cenat Honored at Black Music Action Coalition Gala: ‘Equity Is Not Charity. It’s Smart Business’