Money, power and respect.
These were the three main topics of discussion during Saturday’s sixth annual Black Issue’s Conference held in the Union. They were also topics very dear to Omarosa Manigualt Stallworth, the keynote speaker of the conference.
“Go where the money is,” Omarosa said. The most important thing is not to follow your dreams, but to make enough money that you can follow your dreams in your spare time, she said.
Omarosa is not someone who prefers to measure ones worth in millions. She thinks much bigger than that. She has set her sights on being an Oprah style mogul that will be worth a billion dollars, have a great amount of economic influence and also political influence.
Omarosa is already well on her way.
“I’m not an entertainer, I’m a business woman,” she said.
Her resume seems perfect evidence of that. She has branched out from her post-Apprentice success, as well as turned a pre-Apprentice business career into ventures such as running a lobbying firm, a production company, a clothing line, as well as being involved as an actress and a writer.
Where some may see being typecast as a reality TV “bitch” may be a drawback, Omarosa has used the experience to her full advantage.
“I think it’s great to be perceived as strategic and clever and ambitious and smart,” she said. But when they confuse her portrayal on the Apprentice with who she is as a person she says she gets confused. “It’s like watching somebody play poker … it’s just part of the game,” she said.
To those who may question whether a reality TV star is worthy enough to be the keynote speaker at a business conference, Omarosa is confident in her resume.
“I never have to validate my existence, nor will I validate those who question my worthiness,” she said. “I am sure if you put my credentials next to any speaker you’ve had here in the past I will probably be more than proficient, or exceed their credentials.”
Omarosa spoke as part of the conference, which also included a series of presentations and groups dealing with topics important to minorities entering the business world. Sessions included talks on economic discrimination, roles of African Americans in higher education, homosexuality in the black community and talks on money, power and respect.
“She presented motivation,” said W. Dean Kendrick, who presented a program called R-E-S-P-E-C-T, which dealt with the relationship between money, power and respect.
“One of the keys is to motivate,” Kendrick said. “You have to get people up and out and moving and then you have to channel them.”
However, she found Omarosa’s particular interest in money to be slightly disheartening. She felt that there was a danger that the importance of education and for minorities to be future educators would be lost in Omarosa’s message.
“There is a lot of power in education, but there is no money, but we don’t want to drain that field,” Kendrick said. The conference was attended by members from the Black Student Union, Latino Student Union, the Obsidian, the Center of Multicultural Affairs and Academic Initiatives and the Smart Program.
The goal of the conference this year was, “getting the knowledge to empower ourselves,” said Ryan Leary, chair of the Black Issues Conference this year. It is an excellent opportunity because it is a chance of peers to educate other peers, Leary said.
