An overflow audience turned out Saturday for the 40th annual University of Toledo Conference for Aspiring Minority Youth, featuring Roland Martin and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter.
Mr. Martin is the founder of Black Star Network, and Mr. Trotter is co-founder of The Roots, the house band on the T onight Show with Jimmy Fallon .
The event at the University of Toledo’s Lancelot Thompson Student Union is designed for seventh-graders to high school seniors.
Following an appearance by Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, Mr. Martin took the stage to share his success story.
“He [Roland Martin] didn’t let his teachers or whoever stop him from getting to where he wanted to go,” Maliha Diab, 14, a freshman at Toledo Early College, said.
Going into the conference, young Diab had a relaxed vision about her future, but after listening to the speakers, she said, “It’s important to set my own path and be focused on myself.”
Mr. Martin was joined by Mr. Trotter for an onstage conversation.
“The last speaker opened me up,” Jerry Barnes, a Central Catholic High School junior, said.