On the 2025 Nationwide Affiliation of Black Journalists conference in Cleveland, a panel of distinguished Black males in media shared tales starting from the significance of mentorship to how rejecting limitations has contributed to their success.
“Individuals instructed me to chop sure scenes or matters,” mentioned Jordan Cooper, reflecting on his method to creating the award-winning BET+ collection “Ms. Pat,” starring comedienne Ms. Pat. “I mentioned, ‘That’s the present. That’s the recipe.’”
Jordan credit the present’s reputation, not less than partly, to ignoring requests to tone down his storytelling.
Jordan was joined on the panel hosted by the Nationwide Affiliation of Black Journalists Black Male Media Challenge by Louis Carr, President of BET Media Gross sales, the rapper/activist/entrepreneur Vic Mensa, and Brian McIntosh, host of BET’s unique collection “For the Fellas.” Cooper and his fellow panelists shared particulars on the important thing steps and dangers they’ve taken to get the place they’re.
McIntosh mentioned he left what he as soon as thought of to be his dream job as an ESPN affiliate producer to freelance in BET’s social media division, a job with no medical insurance, different advantages, or actual monetary safety for him and his son.
Nonetheless, he mentioned, “I rolled the cube on myself.”
Inside six months, he was promoted to a full-time position. Six years later, he created, launched, and began internet hosting “For The Fellas,” a collection that includes notable Black males in actual dialog.
Earlier than he began climbing the music charts, Mensa, a teen on the time, fell 30 ft from a bridge onto a 15,000-volt transformer, injuring his arm and neck whereas making an attempt to sneak into Chicago’s annual Lollapalooza competition to observe rapper J. Cole.
“I’m not saying go fall off a bridge,” Mensa instructed the viewers, laughing. “However being that decided to get the place you need to go issues.”
A 12 months after that harmful fall, Cole carried out at Lollapalooza. He went on to tour with Cole.
Beginning and sustaining careers
The NABJ panel held on Friday, August eighth, sought to encourage extra Black males to attain success in media jobs and, when mandatory, defend their proper to be there.
This week marks 39 years at BET for Louis Carr, who started as the corporate’s thirty third worker and is now its president for media gross sales.
From the bounce, networking has been key for him. “My greatest buddy from highschool gave me each job I’ve ever had,” he instructed the viewers.
These jobs have included roles at Ebony and Black Enterprise magazines. Carr mentioned he has carved out an extended and profitable profession as a result of he has stayed curious, tailored to alter, seen and seized alternatives.
“I’m a kind of folks,” Carr mentioned. “I like change for the sake of change.”
He additionally loves giving again and serving to to place folks in an expert pipeline.
Right this moment, Carr pays that ahead by way of The Louis Carr Internship. Based in 2003, it has positioned over 70 college students in media jobs, together with positions at BET, Paramount, and Viacom.
Giving again can also be what impressed Mensa to launch the Black Star Line program that pairs youth in Chicago and Ghana with mentors in music, vogue, and the movie business.
“Typically you need to incentivize children to study what they want by giving them what they need,” he mentioned, recalling his interactions along with his personal mentors.
The panelists agreed that BET is a platform the place Black creatives can lead and innovate. Carr described it as a “model of alternative” that has launched many careers.
Cooper mentioned BET has allowed him to construct his personal profession, although he needed to show himself. Initially, media executives there have been skeptical that Cooper, then a school senior, may create the sort of present he was proposing. However he saved on. Right this moment, “The Ms. Pat Present,” on which Cooper is the manager producer, author, and present runner, is a success, praised for tackling delicate matters with honesty and humor.
“The place else can I write, direct, produce, and act in my very own sitcom and have the community say, ‘Do no matter you need’?”
Following the panel, Carr added that new school graduates and different younger media professionals ought to be clear about what they need and the way they plan to get there.
“Whenever you stroll into somebody’s workplace, you may’t simply say you’re on the lookout for a job,” he mentioned. “You need to know the chance you need and the place you’re prepared to begin to get there.”
McIntosh inspired aspiring media professionals to review business traits and regulate to what’s working. “You’ll be able to change into a dinosaur on this business in the event you refuse to study new tips,” he mentioned.
Cooper inspired listeners to lean into their uniqueness and the personal-professional manufacturers they already ought to be constructing. “All people else is taken,” he mentioned. “Be your self.”