By Omari Salisbury

On Saturday, the Seattle Association of Black Journalists once again partnered with Converge Media for the latest installment of Black Voices Matter an interview series that doubles as an annual fundraiser for the Patricia Fisher Scholarship fund.

Ask anyone at Converge and they will tell you that I consider Black Voices Matter as the most important day of the year for our company. This is when legendary Black journalists like Connie Thompson and Jessie Jones come home to our studios for a conversation. I consider no higher honor for our company than to host these legends.

This year it was the iconic Essex Porter joined us the in the #BlackMediaMatters studio and he was joined by King 5’s Joyce Taylor and for 90 minutes our entire staff watched on in awe, many of them taking notes of all the bits of wisdom that Essex spoke along the way.

For me personally, I can’t even lie, to have Essex Porter in our studio was a very big deal. Essex was one of the best of the best and to be in space with his excellence was just incredible. Once the interview was complete Essex and Joyce stuck around to meet all of our team members and to take photos

Why is Black Voices Matter so important to Converge Media? Because it brings Black excellence in journalism up close and personal for all of those aspiring media professionals on our team to see.

The only validation of our work at Converge that I have looked for has been from the Seattle Black media icons that I look up to. The fact that annually they return to our studios reaffirms that we are on the right track.