In 2009, I hopped on the road with my parents to attend the Urban League’s national conference in Chicago. At some point during the conference, we found out that The Black Women’s Expo was also in session at McCormick Place. Barack Obama had been inaugurated about 7 months prior, Michael Eric Dyson was one of many rooting for his success, and Michael Baisden was still on-air every weekday afternoon. Lucky for me, I had just put a fresh set of batteries in my digital camera (remember those?)
By 2015, I had left the comfort of pretty much everything and everyone I knew… to navigate my way through the #chitech scene–by working freelance in digital media, with a few part-time jobs to stay afloat. I ended up taking a break from my laptop one weekend to do something that was familiar and would help me meet new people in my new city, volunteer. When I found out the #BWExpo was looking for a few people to work check-in for speakers/special guests, I figured out which bus route would get me to volunteer orientation, loaded a few dollars onto my Ventra card and eventually made my way back to McCormick Place and The Black Women’s Expo.
