Resolution 220432

..Title Recognizing May 15-20, 2022 as the inaugural Multicultural Media Professionals Week in the City of Philadelphia. ..Body WHEREAS, Multicultural Media Professionals Week is a weeklong series of ticketed events and free educational workshops for individuals and organizations in media, public relations, and other communications-adjacent fields; and WHEREAS, For attendees, Multicultural Media Professionals Week presents ample opportunity to connect with other media professionals, discuss trends, share skills, float new ideas, strategize, form partnerships and leverage resources, all in the spirit of fellowship and camaraderie; and WHEREAS, The seed of Multicultural Media Professionals Week was planted in 2018, when Afea Tucker, a Philadelphia-based journalist and strategic communications consultant, proposed a "United PR Week" to fulfill these industry-specific needs - an idea that was gaining momentum and attracting partners in anticipation of a May 2020 launch; and WHEREAS, The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting closures and restrictions forced the launch's cancellation and threw the entire project into a yearslong period of uncertainty; however, after an overwhelming positive response from the original supporters, new life was breathed into the project, and in March 2022, the Multicultural Media Professionals Week Association was formed to build out customized programming and activities; and WHEREAS, One such early partner is the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists ("PABJ"), the oldest professional association of Black journalists in the United States, whose past and current Presidents - Manuel Smith and Ernest Owens, respectively - were early believers in the purpose and potential of Multicultural Media Professionals Week; and WHEREAS, This Council thanks and welcomes the organizers of, and participants in, Multicultural Media Professionals Week, and expresses its hope that, while you are here, you have many opportunities to avail yourself of the many rich and unique experiences that our fine City has to offer; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Recognizes May 15-20, 2022, as the inaugural Multicultural Media Professionals Week in the City of Philadelphia. FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be forwarded to Afea Tucker, founder of Multicultural Media Professionals Week, as evidence of the sincere sentiment of this legislative body. ..End