PVAMU set to debut on TEDx with theme, ‘Unlock Your Mind’

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) will make its long-anticipated first appearance on the global TEDx platform this week. PVAMU will be the second university in the Texas A&M University System (after Texas A&M University-College Station) and among the first handful of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to hold a TEDx event, according to event coordinators, Taylon Owens, a junior chemical engineering major, and Chelsee B.H. Young, assistant director of the Honors Program at PVAMU.

Filmed without an audience last month in the Opal Johnson Smith Auditorium at PVAMU, the event will be uploaded to the university’s official YouTube channel this Friday at 6 p.m. Individual talks will also be uploaded to the TEDx website. TEDx prides itself on encouraging individuals and organizations, such as PVAMU, to spread researched ideas that spark conversations in communities worldwide.

Owens said while PVAMU’s TEDx event theme of “Unlock Your Mind” is evergreen, it maintains tremendous relevance to members of minority communities. “The narrative that many of us struggle with is that we always have to go into the same fields — so, we’re good athletes, but we aren’t capable of being coaches; we can’t take on these higher positions in corporate America,” he said. “The overall theme of ‘Unlock Your Mind’ is a phrase I live by, and I think it really encapsulates what it means to go to the next level. We need to challenge those kinds of narratives by challenging our own way of thinking.”

Truly Unlocking the Mind

Five speakers at PVAMU’s TEDx event addressed the theme ‘Unlock Your Mind’ from five distinct viewpoints: Community Engagement, Student Life, the Alumni Experience, Creative Work, and Civic Engagement and Activism. Speakers included four PVAMU alumni (Orok Orok ‘04, Glenn Alexander II ‘17, Alzo Slade ‘99, and Jayla Allen ‘19) and one current student (Ines Frazier).

Now in his second administrative role at an HBCU, Orok, executive director in PVAMU’s Office of Residential Engagement and the event’s leadoff speaker, said the theme was natural for him. “‘Unlock Your Mind’ is not a new topic but represents the process students go through as they move from how they see the world to understanding what sparks their interest, their curiosities, and their desires,” he said. “Education, ideally, is a gateway between how you perceive you’re supposed to be in the world with how you really are.”

Glenn Alexander II, who spoke on Alumni Experience, is a working musician, producer, and arranger, who holds a conducting fellowship with the Chicago Sinfonietta. He is also pursuing a Professional Studies Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music in Orchestral Conducting. His talk focused on his journey from Texas (he’s from Port Arthur) to the Bard College Conservatory of Music (he holds a Master of Music Degree in Orchestral Conducting) and beyond.

“I take a lot of pride in my Prairie View education, even if we don’t have the resources or offer the connections of a lot of the major music conservatories,” Alexander said. “I think people look down on HBCUs, and it kind of messes with people’s mindset. And so, my goal was to bring light to the talent and abilities that are there and to focus on the perseverance and resilience that will take you where you want to go.”

The lone undergraduate on the event panel, Ines Frazier, is a senior in PVAMU’s College of Agriculture and Human Sciences. She served as an ambassador for Agriculture Future of America (AFA) during the 2021 fiscal year. Among the people she invoked during her talk was Dr. James A. Wilson, Jr. Wilson served as a PVAMU associate provost before his untimely passing last year. He was Frazier’s mentor who was instrumental in helping her secure a $15,000 foundational grant for the development of a student garden.

“I think some people don’t realize how capable they are because they haven’t had either the resources or somebody near them who can help unlock their potential,” Frazier said. “A lot of people at HBCUs are first generation; they have no one close to them who can help them through the college process. One of the reasons I wanted to be an ambassador for AFA is so I could bring opportunities in front of students. Maybe they can land an internship, or maybe a conversation with a CEO of a major agriculture company will spark their ambition or their passion in some area.”

Young said the event had particular relevance to students but was geared toward the broader community of anyone connected with PVAMU. “The academy is where you learn, you grow, you challenge your thoughts, and ultimately you evolve,” she said. “So when we talk about unlocking your mind, we want students to think beyond what they came in with and consider these different paths that these outstanding people have taken. That’s the compound of some of our greatest leaders, our change agents in the world, and the people who make a difference. I think it’ll be extremely impactful for whoever is watching.”

Ideas Turned into Reality

“Unlock Your Mind” was first conceived in 2019, when Owens, then a second-year Honors student, sat down for an impromptu conversation with Young. “Within Honors, intellectual conversation and inspiration are what we do,” Young said.

Recalled Owens, “Chelsee and I were brainstorming one day about what we can do to elevate the status of PVAMU and shine a light on the great work that is going on here. And that’s how the [TEDx] idea was born.”

Their first application to TEDx was returned with a request for more information. Their second application was accepted. Soon after, the pandemic shutdown occurred, throwing the whole project into limbo.

Work continued, however, since a TEDx license is valid for just one calendar year. Owens and Young put together a nominating committee, which they winnowed a list of 120 potential speakers down to five. The two then submitted a request to hold the event during PVAMU’s Homecoming. That, of course, was also canceled.

The final event was “unusual,” as Alexander said: “We’re performing in empty concert halls right now, but it was a little weird speaking to no one.” But it was a fully PVAMU-built production, from direction and filming by members of the Center for Instructional Innovation and Technology Services, down to the construction of the letters ‘TEDxPVAMU’ at the School of Architecture’s Fabrication Center.

Planning for the Future

Discussions are ongoing about how best to promote interaction around PVAMU’s virtual TEDx event, including an idea to bring speakers back to campus, should 2021 mark the actual year in which the pandemic eases. “It’s all about adaptation, how you adjust to the circumstances,” Owens said. “We wanted the atmosphere that comes with a live event, and hopefully, we’ll have recreated that atmosphere virtually by using hashtags or interacting while the talks are going.”

And there’s agreement that this won’t be the university’s last foray into TEDx. “Part of me wants to keep it going myself,” said Owens, “but we should see what someone else can do; let them put their own spin on it.”

Visit www.tedxpvamu.org for more information.

By Andrew Cohen

-PVAMU-