Seattle-based author and entrepreneur Dana Frank spoke in the Keathley University Center Theater for MTSU’s Black History Month celebration on Tuesday.
Students filled the theater, especially those with music-related majors, eager to absorb the knowledge that Frank, niece of late producer and jazz legend Quincy Jones, would share.
MTSU’s Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs, the College of Media and Entertainment and the Urban Entertainment Society organized the event. UES member Jesennya Furtado introduced Frank, describing her as a powerhouse and a “passionate advocate for community, empowerment and generational wealth-building.”
“I felt really good representing someone of color and someone who has taken the time out of their day to come and talk to us,” Furtado said. “I took this as an opportunity to really network and also just be grateful that I was able to have this opportunity.”
Frank shared poems and other information from her book, “Get Up And Get On It: A Black Entrepreneur’s Lessons on Creating Legacy and Wealth,” which touches on her family’s path to creating a multi-generational real estate company despite facing racial barriers.
She educated students on how to be “fire starters,” a term she uses to describe people who change their life paths regardless of their birth circumstances. This term introduced a brief timeline of her father’s journey as a Black man, including his travel from Detroit to Seattle. Frank showed the audience a copy of “The Negro Traveler’s Green Book,” a safety guide her father traveled with during Jim Crow laws.
Additionally, Frank spoke of her mother, how her parents met and her journey from picketing at banks to her current success.
She also spoke about how rewarding it is to speak to students.
“I love meeting with everybody that I’ve had the fortune to meet with today,” Frank said. “And that’s why my message was really about anybody changing the narrative despite what limitations might be placed against them, despite what color they are.”
She concluded her speech by encouraging students to become fire starters and left the audience with a piece of advice about self-worth given to her by her uncle, Jones.
She invited the audience to ask questions, and her answers provided more insight into her experiences growing up, the adversity she faced and how she spoke with influential figures like Jones and Nelson Mandela.
Many students spoke on the impact of having a prominent figure like Frank speak on campus, especially with her connections to other Black legends.
“I came today to really be inspired to really learn how to be Black in a space that is being really attacked, and I want to help amplify Black voices on campus,” Farrah Renfroe, an IDA member, said. “I wanted to come today so I could learn from Ms. Frank and see what her experience could help me in my career.”
King Hollings, assistant vice president of the Black Student Union, talked about how he was inspired after learning as a music business major that even big names, such as Jones, can build their legacy from the bottom. Hollings didn’t know much about Frank initially, but still felt the significance of her presence on campus.
“It’s very inspiring to see more Black figures here because we don’t get a lot of that here,” Hollings said. “While this is a predominantly white institution, we do have a big Black community on campus. And you don’t get that at every school, so it’s really blessed to be able to see that, but it’s also blessed to be able to be part of something that can bring that here.”
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