Taste Of Soul creates a nation!
October 25, 2012
First, I want to THANK BRENDA MARSH-MITCHELL, my Loyal & Committed Special Assistant and the 1st President of Taste of Soul.
SHE MADE IT HAPPEN!!!!
BRENDA, I CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH!!!!
I also want to acknowledge The Taste of Soul Nation, more than 300,000 strong! Last Saturday, October 20th, you enjoyed a peaceful day, demonstrated pride for your community, respect for one another and enjoyed a day of fun, pleasure and economic empowerment as you moved up and down Crenshaw Blvd, the heart and soul of Black Los Angeles from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m..
By 1:00 p.m. there were more than 175,000 Taste of Soul attendees! YOU SHARED THE LOVE from the early morning until the early evening hours.
There are many to THANK, so let me start by thanking the Taste of Soul Nation (the 300,000 in attendance) for sharing their love all day. Thanks to the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles’ Chief of Police, Chief Beck; thanks to the Los Angeles Fire Department and LA Fire Department Chief, Brian Cummings; thanks to the Brothers from the Nation of Islam under the leadership of Brother Steve Muhammad, President of Security Measures, who provided security in partnership with the LAPD; thanks for the superior media coverage from 94.7 The WAVE, CBS 2, KCAL 9, Radio FREE 102.3 KJLH and NBC 4. Our media partners allowed Taste of Soul to extend Bakewell Media Newspapers (BMN) primary market ten-fold. And, thank you to our Major Sponsors - Chevy, Broadway Federal Bank, SEIU ULTCW, Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt and Brotherhood Crusade.
A very, very special THANKS goes out to all the Taste of Soul Chairs - City of Los Angeles Council President, Herb Wesson; City of Los Angeles Council Member, Bernard Parks; City of Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Co-chairs - City of Angeles Council Member Jan Perry; City of Los Angeles Treasurer, Wendy Greuel; Channel 2 News Anchor, Pat Harvey and Los Angeles Unified School District Board Member, Marguerite Poindexter Lamotte. Thanks Marguerite for sending the Crenshaw High School Band to open the Taste of Soul. They were a sight to behold……Thanks for the love!!!!
Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. ... Brother, Thank you for your support.
And, to our community as a whole - Sponsors, Vendors and Attendees, Thank You for your support and participation in the 2012 Taste of Soul. It was an outstanding display of Economic Empowerment, Political Empowerment and Social Empowerment. To have 300,000 of you SHOW UP to display your talent and your products and display social responsibility by educating others to vote and register voters, you also made it happen. I AM SO PROUD OF OUR COMMUNITY AND APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT!!!!.
The promise I made you was that this year’s Taste of Soul would be the BIGGEST and HOTTEST Taste of Soul ever! It was!
In closing, I want to invite YOU, YOUR FAMILY and YOUR FRIENDS to keep the Peace, Pride, Respect, Pleasure and Love of the TASTE OF SOUL NATION with you until we gather again on October 19, 2013!
See you next year!
Danny J. Bakewell, Sr.
Creator & Founder of Taste of Soul and StarQuest
Executive Publisher & of the LA Sentinel & the LA Watts Times