HomeHUMAN INTERESTMeKiyla Brown: The Epitome of Excellence

MeKiyla Brown: The Epitome of Excellence

MeKiyla Brown, born to Tameka Brown and Troski Matlock, is a young woman with an extremely bright future.

As a Camden, Mississippi native, Brown’s passion for video work began at her former high school, Velma Jackson in The Academy of Multimedia. The mission of the Academy is to teach industry standards which will prepare students for higher education and immediate career opportunities. At Velma Jackson, Brown was an active participant in the Academy of Multimedia, where she served as an ambassador and a student advisor. Her passion for video editing grew in this very academy. She earned the Mississippi Scholar Tech Master award in 2020.

She continued her education at Hinds Community College in Utica, Mississippi, studying Radio/Television Production and Broadcast Technology. Brown reported, produced, directed, and grew her editing skills as she worked for WHUC News 7 and hosted her own radio show for WHRU radio. While at Hinds, she received the Outstanding Student Award, was crowned Miss Resident Assistant, was inducted into the All-MS Academic Team for Phi Theta Kappa, and launched her photography business, Brown Digital. In December of 2021, she earned certificates in Career and Technical education, as well as her Associate Degree in Applied Science. Brown became a First-Generation College Graduate receiving the Summa Cum Laude honor.

After graduating from Hinds, she continued her education at Alcorn State University (ASU) where she is majoring in Mass Communications with a concentration in Broadcasting. At ASU, she reports and produces for ASU TV-13, Alcorn State’s television station and she serves as President of the Alcorn Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). She also serves as a Mentor and Event Planner for Becoming HER, a mentoring program that strives to improve the well-being of young ladies in grades First through Eleventh by providing a role model that can support the child academically, socially, and personally. She loves to give back to her community whenever she can by providing her expertise to her former high school, Velma Jackson. In this role, Brown helps upcoming students in the Academy of Multimedia compose videos, conduct interviews, and give personal advice about the college journey.

Brown was an intern of the first inaugural class of the Gray Media Training Center of WLBT, working alongside several other HBCU (Historically Black College and University) students.  This program is designed to prepare and train students at HBCUs for the evolving media environment. She has also had the opportunity to intern with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Corporate Communication Department and Demario Davis, Linebacker for the New Orleans Saints, for his 7 on 7 team, Devoted Dreamers.

Over Spring Break, Brown was selected amongst students from 14 other universities across the country to travel to North Carolina A&T University to learn from leading black Journalism professionals.

This four-day intense Journalism workshop provided hands-on experience and practical guidance to students on what it takes to be a successful journalist. Students were assigned roles as anchors, reporters, producers, videographers, photographers, editors and more as they worked to produce online news in addition to a full hour-long newscast production.

“As a black woman, when I think of NABJ, I think of endless opportunities,” Brown said. “Being in a room with people that share the same passion as me and look like me is an experience like no other.”

At the end of the week, students were given awards based on the work and display of their character over the course of the camp. Brown was awarded with ‘The Outstanding Standup’ award for her package in the newscast.

“This was definitely a shocker because I did not expect to be awarded anything,” she said.

Brown was the first student from Alcorn State to be selected and the only individual from the state of Mississippi to be selected for this prestigious camp. Brown’s plans after graduation are still undecided but she did state, “Wherever God leads her to go, that is where she is going.”

Link to the NABJ Short Course Package: https://youtu.be/o3VBdtOun6U

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mekiylabrown

Brown receiving the Outstanding Standup award.
Brown and fellow HBCU students standing by the statue of the “Greensboro Four,” who were four men who sat at a whites-only lunch counter.

Delesha Banks
Delesha Banks
Delesha Banks is a Graduating Senior Broadcast/Mass Communications major from Camden, Mississippi. She will be a contributor for The Campus Chronicle for the Fall 2023 semester.

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