On August 7-11, 2019, two of Alcorn State University’s (ASU) Mass Communications students, Ren-Nessa Maulseed and RaShunda Veals, attended the 2019 National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Annual Convention and Career Fair in Miami, Florida.
The NABJ is an organization of African-American journalists, students and media professionals. Founded on December 12, 1975, it’s purpose is to provide quality programs and services that advocate to black journalists. Alcorn was granted a NABJ Chapter in the Spring of 2019 under the tutelage of Toni Terrett, Associate Professor of Mass Communications and Maulseed.
Veals, a Woodville, Mississippi native, is a Senior Mass Communications major. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Gamma Phi Chapter, the Mass Communications Club, a Thurgood Marshall Leadership Institute Scholar, and the Lambda Pi Eta Chapter of Alpha Chi Alpha. Veals has been an active member of the NABJ since Spring 2019. To attend the convention, she was awarded the Pro Publica scholarship. “I enjoyed the NABJ experience because I was able to visit Miami on a full scholarship and meet many professionals. Networking is a very important part of building a journalism career. Besides networking, there is always room for improvement and time to enhance your skills and learn more about the field of journalism,” stated Veals.
Veals recommends that any student who is pursuing Mass Communications as a major should remain steadfast and seek out opportunities that will help them in reaching their ultimate goal in the media industry. She states, “I encourage any Mass Communications student looking to find themselves or pursue careers in the media field to join the NABJ. This organization isn’t limited to just broadcasting or journalism, it is a broad field that includes Public Relations, photography, and even teaching. Therefore, joining the NABJ and attending conferences are extremely beneficial.”
Maulseed, is also a Senior Mass Communications major hailing from Houston, Texas. She is a member of the Sigma Chi Iota Academic Honor Society and the Mass Communications Club. She has been a member of the NABJ’s National Chapter since January 2018 and vividly recalls, “After learning about the NABJ my Freshman year, I made it a habit to keep tabs on their website which is how I found out about the conferences.”
While attending the conference, Maulseed spoke of how comforting yet learning the experience was for her. She went on to emphasize, “how being around fellow African American journalists just as hungry as she was gave her a since of belonging.”
Not only did Maulseed get to attend the NABJ Conference but she was invited to attend a CNN workshop as well. She pointed out that the workshop was quite challenging but reminded her of the bigger picture at hand.
If the NABJ sounds like something you’d be interested in partaking in you can contact Larry Sanders, Instructor of Mass Communications, at (601) 877-6632 or lsanders@alcorn.edu.