TEDxCrenshaw Returns to South Los Angeles for Its Third Year
For the third year in a row TEDxCrenshaw is bringing new and innovative ideas to South Los Angeles. On Saturday, Oct. 7, six speakers will present to a sold out crowd at Rave Cinemas in Baldwin Hills. They will share their expertise on a variety of topics relevant to the community including youth development, gentrification and using design thinking to solve problems.
TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, is a nonprofit organization that puts on short talks by experts on a myriad of subjects. TEDx events are independently organized and follow the TED presentation model.
For three consecutive years roughly 15 community members, from young adults to seniors age 66, have used their free time to plan TEDxCrenshaw. The event was founded in 2015 by Zaneta Smith, a social worker who lives in the area. Earlier this year Smith was named an “Impact-Maker to Watch” by City Impact Lab for her positive contributions in Los Angeles.
She organized the creative speaker series “because I wanted to go to innovative events within 20 minutes of where I lived with people who looked like me. I also knew so many people doing dope things in the city and wanted them to have a platform to talk about it,” Smith was quoted on the TEDxCrenshaw Facebook page.
Rashunda Rene, the TEDxCrenshaw sponsorship coordinator, grew up in South LA. She said this is great event for the community.
“It shows that we are able to come together and talk about important issues in the community, things that we can work on to further ourselves and just move forward as a community as a whole,” Rene said.
Karim Webb, a speaker at this year’s TEDxCrenshaw, is a 25-year veteran of the LA restaurant industry known for bringing the Buffalo Wild Wings franchise to South LA.
Webb said he’s passionate about recognizing the potential in every individual, regardless of their background. He wants to encourage people “to take another look at what they see when they go through the Drive-Thru at McDonald’s or they are getting a coffee at Starbucks. There is a human life there that has limitless potential if we activate it.”
Webb hopes to emphasize the positive impact entry-level employment can have in the community.
“I was born and raised in the restaurant business and I’ve really seen how transformative any employment can be for young people, especially some disadvantaged young people who maybe have been under-parented or under-loved or under-educated,” Webb said.
He’s looking forward to using the TEDx platform to help young South LA residents find positive role models.
“If the leadership is right then there are people that will gravitate to it, and can create whatever future they want for themselves,” Webb said. “They [Young people] just need a platform, and sometimes an entry level job can be that platform.”
The sold out venue proves there is a demand for events like TEDxCrenshaw in South Los Angeles. Rene, the event sponsorship coordinator, said she knows why.
“TEDxCrenshaw is actually the first TEDx event to be in Los Angeles. It’s something different, it’s very innovative and we are talking about the social issues that are literally happening right now in our community. So people are just interested in a different approach to these types of events.”
Five more speakers will be joining Webb at TEDxCrenshaw this weekend. They include wealth coach Jarim Person Lynn, author of “Brass Knuckle Finance” and “This is Why You’re Broke”, and Vincent Scatliffe, a multi-disciplinary designer with more than 10 years of experience. Scatliffe’s bio on the TEDxCrenshaw website describes him as “a visionary with a keen ability for assessing an idea’s potential and bringing its possibilities to life.”
Civil rights attorney Areva Martin and playwright Brandon Rainey will also be speaking on Saturday. Martin’ TEDxCrenshaw bio describes her as “America’s go-to expert, host and commentator on compelling legal, political, women’s, children’s and celebrity issues.” Rainey directs his own theatre company, Brandon Rainey Productions.
Earlier this year speaker Kiana Lowry was part of the winning team at the SOLA Hackathon X TEDxCrenshaw competition. They used design thinking, which Lowry will be speaking about at this weekend’s event, to develop a concept app the helps connect people who are homeless or previously incarcerated with potential employers.
Roughly 200 people are expected to attend TEDxCrenshaw at Baldwin Hills Rave Cinemas this Saturday, Oct. 7, from 11a.m. to 1p.m. Tickets are sold out.
For those didn’t manage to snag a seat, all of the TEDxCrenshaw speeches are expected to be online in a couple of months.
