UB Spotlight: Reverend Al Sharpton + Kevin Liles In Conversation

On Friday, June 24th, 2022, 300 Entertainment held a special panel discussion with the Reverend Al Sharpton in conversation with Kevin Liles. UB‘s Josiah “JDot.” Heyward attended the special invite only event.

The event took place at the NASDAQ building in Times Square accompanied with breakfast and lunch for attendees.

Political activist Tamika D. Mallory opened the event by introducing both esteemed guests.

The 45-minute conversation including various topics and kicked off with Al Sharpton‘s take on the latest Roe vs. Wade overturning. “The reason why they did us in with Roe v. Wade this morning is Donald Trump put three people on the Supreme Court. It’s just that simple. If Donald Trump had not been president, he couldn’t have done that,” stated Al Sharpton

“Because after eight years of [Obama], I knew something wasn’t going to be right, whether we had the right candidate or not. Trump got in office because we did not vote,” stated Kevin.

Both powerful figures discussed the importance of Juneteenth, the black dollar and a bevy of other subjects pertaining to building wealth in the black & brown communities.

“I just think about when I saw Russell on the cover of Black Enterprise and I said, Oh, we can do that? We can have an HBCU hoodie on, sitting on top of a Rolls Royce and they talk about a $34 million rap business. Oh, we can do that, OK … There was nothing I could ever think to do but to learn from them,” stated Kevin Liles.

Kevin also broke down how Russell Simmons sold Def Jam for $140 million, compared to Barry Gordy, who sold Motown for $60 million. Kevin spoke about building a company in eight years & selling it for over $400 million.

“Yall can’t tell me it ain’t possible, But you have to put in the work. I have this saying that I say all the time, ‘They not us.’ They don’t do what we do. I can say that because they don’t, and they’re not willing to sacrifice.”

Kevin Liles first in conversation was February of 2020, in a fireside chat with Soledad O’Brien at the Nasdaq New York building, right before the pandemic.

Check Out the UB Preview: Al Sharpton Talks Roe v. Wade!