♪♪ >> Richard Dunn, the chief operating officer of The Atlanta Voice, next on "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, diverse representation and perspectives, equity, and inclusion is critical to meeting the needs of our colleagues, customers, and communities.

We are focused on our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion both inside our company and in the communities where we live and work.

Together, we want to make a tangible difference in people's lives and in our communities.

Wells Fargo -- the bank of doing.

American Petroleum Institute -- through API's Energy Excellence Program, our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental, and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry around the world.

Learn more at api.org/apiEnergyExcellence.

Reynolds American, dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against racism and discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

At AARP, we are committed to ensuring your money, health, and happiness live as long as you do.

♪♪ >> Richard Dunn, the chief operating officer of The Atlanta Voice, welcome to "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you for having me.

>> So, you've been involved with The Atlanta Voice, one of our nation's leading publications, all your life.

>> Yes, sir.

I grew up in the business.

>> It's a family-owned business.

>> Yes, sir.

Started by my grandfather in 1966.

>> And, so, tell me now -- fast-forward -- what you do as the chief operating officer of The Atlanta Voice.

>> Well, my chief focus or main focus is helping the newspaper transition from print to multimedia, digital media moving forward.

>> We live in a digital age.

>> Yes, sir, we do.

>> How is the transition going?

>> It's going well for us.

We just finished completion of our digital studio, which used to be our press room.

So now we're able to do full-on video, audio production in-house.

>> Where did you go to school?

>> I'm a proud graduate of Frederick Douglass High School and also Morehouse College.

>> Morehouse.

>> Yes.

>> Famous Morehouse College.

>> Yes, sir.

>> HBCU.

>> Yes, sir.

>> So, Richard, you're also in the entertainment industry.

>> Yes, I am.

>> I understand you really made a mark for yourself in the city of Atlanta, which is a cultural hub not only of hip-hop and R&B, it's the culture of Black America emanates from Atlanta.

But tell us, as chief operating officer of a print organization and digital-media company, what do you do in terms of the entertainment field and how it's related?

>> In the beginning, they were not related.

My grandmother was trying to understand why I was on the road with these artists versus going to the newspaper every day, but -- >> These are hip-hop artists?

>> Well, a little bit of hip-hop and R&B, as well.

>> Rhythm and blues, R&B.

>> Yes, sir.

And I was very vested in what they called neo soul back in those days.

Did a lot of work with, you know, India Arie, Anthony David, Donnie, P.J.

Morton, those types of artists in the very beginning.

>> Very famous names.

>> Yes, sir.

In the beginning.

But because they were touring acts, I built this skill set of producing live events, which I turned into an opportunity to form a production company where we have been producing and presenting concerts and festivals up and down the East Coast, throughout the Southeast for the last 20-plus years.

>> Wow, that's quite a track record.

>> Yes, sir.

>> So, how do you see the entertainment industry evolving?

I know that we live in a multicultural, multilingual society.

The browning of America.

>> Yeah.

>> What's the place now of R&B and hip-hop in overall American culture?

>> Well, black culture is the dominant fabric of American culture, in my opinion.

There's a saying that says "Atlanta influences everything."

So if you look at this melting pot of people and creativity that comes out of this city and how it matriculates globally, it influences the world.

So the place for black music and music coming out of Atlanta in particular moving forward is whatever it wants to be.

It's evolving.

It's changing.

And I think there are no rules and no limits.

You know, I started in this business where we had to get in the game through gatekeepers, right?

We had to go to New York and L.A. and negotiate with middle-aged white men about black culture and get record deals and get TV deals, and that no longer exists.

These kids are able to create content at home and upload it on the Internet, and great things are happening for them without rules, without regulations, without gatekeepers.

So I'm excited to see what the future looks like.

>> So, if I understand you, the innovations in technology have sort of leveled the playing field where you don't have to have external gatekeepers that determines whether or not you're successful in terms of your creativity or your intellectual property rights.

>> Absolutely, absolutely.

These guys have the opportunity to produce whatever they want to, say whatever they want to.

And, you know, some of it's great, some of it's not so great, but that flexibility is amazing.

>> You know, what we say in the evolution of hip-hop culture.

We defend the artist's right for freedom of expression, but with freedom also comes responsibility.

>> Absolutely.

>> You have to be responsible for what you put out there.

>> Yes, I totally agree.

And, you know, but then, also, this younger generation is very different from mine.

These kids have been exposed to the whole world because they had the world in their hand from birth, right?

These kids don't know life without digital apparatus, phones and iPads and things of that sort.

So they're exposed to so much more so much faster, and, you know, that's great in the sense that a lot of them have clear direction about what they want to do and what they want to accomplish in life.

The other part that's a little dangerous.

They're exposed to some spaces and places that, you know, they may not be mature enough to handle.

So, you know, there's some interesting things in terms of how they express themselves nowadays.

>> You know, the Internet is worldwide, and there is something called the Dark Net.

>> Yeah.

>> And so people have to know where to go to get the right information.

But The Atlanta Voice is a trusted media company over the years.

It has a trust factor.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> What do you see in the entertainment industry that's related, given your background, working at The Atlanta Voice, and now you work with various artists and entertainers, how are you able to leverage the trust factor that you've gained from The Atlanta Voice and to extend that in the entertainment industry?

>> Well, because of the newspaper is why artists trusted me with their intellectual property to actually go take it and monetize it and get deals, to do shows.

You know, so the fact that I grew up in an entrepreneurial family that had great respect in this city was my foundation and stepping-stone.

It validated me, in the beginning, to get going.

>> Well, I know a little something about your grandfather.

Was also a social-justice, racial-justice activist, as well as a publisher.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> So the social consciousness in your business, in your entertainment, comment on how important that is not only for your career, but for the career of emerging artists out of Atlanta's experience.

>> Yeah.

I think that, you know, Atlanta is just the foundation for social activism when it comes to black people.

You know, it's the home of the Civil Rights Movement.

We get a lot of credit for that.

You know, but, you know, once the the slaves were even free in this place, you know, it was a freedman state.

So black people had a lot of opportunity to express themselves and build businesses and build independent lives for themselves.

So, subsequently, these kids coming up in the music business now, they were raised on that foundation, right?

Those who attended Atlanta public schools, most of us have always had, you know, went to schools named after prominent black people, had black principals and administrators and teachers.

You know, my K-through-12 experience -- I never sat in a classroom with nobody that didn't look like me, right?

>> You're very fortunate.

>> Yeah, yeah.

So you are super-proud to be black.

You understand that and you know that there is power in that, so when you show up in spaces, one, you are there because of who you are and you can stand on it and be proud and not be shy.

And so, because of that, these young kids have the opportunity to stand up for injustices that they see.

I think Lil Baby is a great example of that, right?

Kid graduated from Washington High School.

You know, he is the Jay-Z of his generation.

What he says matters.

He gets people to the poll.

He acknowledges police brutality.

He's making a difference.

>> Have you worked with Lil Baby?

>> Yes.

On the concert side, we've done some shows together.

Yes, sir.

>> Yeah, like you say, he's a rising star.

>> He is, he is, he is.

The sky's the limit for that young brother.

And that's great, because, you know, he is somebody who actually comes from this very neighborhood that we're sitting in, and he's an inspiration for kids, so they know they can get it out the mud, but they don't necessarily have to hustle or, you know, do things that to the left.

They can stay on the straight and narrow and make a difference and also make a lot of money and live a fabulous life.

>> So, man, given your career, have you ever thought about writing a book about your own evolution?

>> The book is in the works, actually, yes.

I was fortunate enough to do a TED Talk a few years ago, and so I'm gonna turn that speech into a book very shortly.

>> People could learn from your experience, both in the print world, the digital world, the entertainment world, the cultural world.

>> Yes, sir.

>> Let's talk about outside of Atlanta.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> What do you see -- You know, using Atlanta as the lens, hip-hop now is 50 years old.

>> Yes.

>> What's your reflection on the evolution of hip-hop culture as a global cultural phenomenon?

>> I mean, you know, if you look at a book like Steve Stoute wrote back in the day in terms of just how when we grab a product or a service and we embrace it, you know, it goes globally overnight at the point that we endorse it, right?

We always find a way to make brands cooler than what they are.

You know, if you look at something like the Jordan brand, Michael Jordan hadn't played basketball in 20 years, almost.

>> People are still buying the Air Jordan shoes.

>> Right.

And they're flying off the shelf.

So, to me, that's the lens that I like to put on hip-hop.

It is evolving, it is growing, but it's a train that's not stopping, you know?

Yeah, it's not stopping at all.

>> So you see a bright future to the culture.

>> Very much so.

>> To the entrepreneurial opportunities.

>> Yeah, very much so.

Very much so.

>> Well, give us some of the success stories that you know about that you've contributed.

>> You know, from a local perspective, I've done a lot of work with a group called Atlanta Influences Everything.

This is an agency of change here in the city.

And, you know, it started off as a catchphrase and really a rebellious moment in a corporate meeting with Nike, to be specific, when Bem said those words, and it has now evolved from what most people thought was just a T-shirt to an agency that's doing deals with Atlanta United.

These brothers just recently rebranded the jerseys and the uniforms for our soccer team here.

And to me, that's an amazing story, and I'm proud to have been a part of that in the beginning.

>> Well, we know that Atlanta is famous for football.

Atlanta is famous for baseball.

Now you're saying it's famous for soccer?

>> Yeah, we're saying it's famous for soccer, man.

You know, and the fact that you got hip-hop influencing soccer and for soccer to be so multicultural and new to the city, I mean, it's the most exciting team we have in town.

>> Is that right?

>> Yes, sir.

Yep.

And they won a championship already, so, you know, the Falcons and the Hawks got to catch up.

>> So, that's quite a story.

>> Yes, sir, I believe so.

>> And Atlanta has been the context out of which something like that could manifest itself successfully.

>> Yeah.

Yeah.

And, you know, you go to those games and you're able to see Goodie Mob perform and Pastor Troy perform and T.I.

perform.

That's amazing, because that is probably the most diverse sporting team, you know, or sporting league in the world.

>> You know, soccer is global.

>> That's what I'm saying.

>> And, quite frankly, the United States was a little slow adapting to soccer as a major form of athletics and sports.

>> Right.

So I'm excited to see what hip-hop will do when the World Cup comes to Atlanta, yeah.

>> So, the World Cup is coming to Atlanta?

>> We think it is.

>> Alright.

>> Yeah.

>> You're being prophetic.

>> Yes.

>> Alright.

>> Yes, sir.

>> But what do you see, Richard Dunn, from your family's history and from your own personal evolution, about the future of America?

You know, we are multicultural, multiracial, but, you know, we still have problems.

>> Yeah.

>> So what gives you your optimism?

>> Well, the fact that I'm from Atlanta and what Atlanta represents and what Atlanta is able to provide for people of color, black and brown and the entire rainbow, right?

The fact that we have the AUC, where influx of international black and brown people are going to come here to educate themselves, and then they're going to stay because it's a great place to be.

They know they can plant and bloom in this city, and this city is here for them to do that.

Collaborative economics is the fabric of this city.

And so if you're able to touch down in this city and lock in with the right people, the sky's the limit for what you can do as a person, as a businessperson, as a creative, and so on and so forth.

Atlanta is a great place to be.

>> Richard, thank you for joining "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> I appreciate it.

>> We're especially pleased to welcome to "The Chavis Chronicles" Miss Black America, Ashley Marie Myatt.

Thank you so much.

>> Thank you, Dr. Chavis, for having me.

I'm so excited and honored to be here.

Thank you so much for your warm welcome.

>> So, tell me, what does it feel like to be Miss Black America?

>> Oh, it feels so great.

Like I said, I'm still processing, and it's still hard to process, but I am so excited to be able to have this opportunity to show little girls, especially of the darker skin tone, that the sky is the limit.

>> Tell us something about your upbringing.

How did you get into the beauty-pageant world?

>> So, I am from Detroit, and my dad is a pastor and my mother worked for the state, in the housing department.

And so I grew up a church girl.

Every single Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturdays -- >> You're a P.K., a pastor's kid.

>> Absolutely.

I was never a pageant girl.

I was the pick up frogs and snakes in the yard and hop on horses and get in the dirt kind of girl.

And one day, I wanted to model, and then so I started to take the pageant route to get into modeling.

But that's how I ended up in pageants.

>> Right.

Because I know now, you're a very successful veterinarian assistant.

>> Yes.

>> How does a black woman become a veterinarian?

>> Ah, well, it's extremely odd how I got into it, but I grew up in a household where there were always animals.

I think my father was deprived as a child, and in his adulthood, he brought all these animals home.

So my love for animals bloomed at a very early age.

I do work in veterinary medicine.

I work at an animal hospital, where I specialize in surgery and critical care for small animals, so that's -- >> That's what you currently do.

>> That's what I currently do.

I love it.

>> That's quite a career.

>> Yes.

>> Being in the science field, the STEM field, what have you observed about black women going into that field?

>> I don't work with a lot of people of color and I never really have, and it's really unfortunate.

So that's really my platform is to engage the younger generation to, you know, enter animal medicine.

>> So, I was reading your résumé and I noticed that you spent some time in Australia.

>> Yes.

>> How do you get from Detroit to Australia?

>> So, I'm a very adventurous girl, and so I was applying to vet school and I was like, "Oh, I just want to go somewhere."

And I just kind of picked a place, and that was one of the places.

And so I did attend Murdoch University there.

>> And Murdoch University is one of the leading veterinarian schools in the whole world.

>> It is.

It is.

It has a great reputation.

And unfortunately, COVID kind of disturbed studies a little bit, so it was a little bit hard.

So I did return home, but I was there for about two years.

>> Are the doors opening more for young black women to get involved in these careers?

>> I think so.

I think the time that we're in, that things are becoming more accessible to us.

And so I am grateful for that.

But I think that sometimes, we don't know that things are that accessible to us.

But it's just the same as human medicine.

If that's something that you're compassionate about and something you love, then I say, just jump on in.

But I don't think they really know that.

that's something that we as a people can jump into.

>> Are people really trying to embrace you to help you say, "Hey, this is the way to go to be successful in this career"?

>> Yeah.

So, I've had a lot of doctors who have pushed me into, you know, making things successful for me.

So I'm grateful for their leadership and their knowledge.

Vet school is extremely hard and it's extremely hard to get into.

So, unlike human medicine, you have to learn about all the animal groups at one time.

So they are very helpful in helping you navigate those things.

And I've worked for an amazing group of people, and I can't complain.

I can't complain.

They really helped me out.

>> And then, while you were there, you get involved in the beauty pageant in Australia.

>> I did.

>> At the Miss Universe pageant.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> You're representing Western Australia.

>> Representing Western Australia, yes, so Perth.

And it was amazing.

There were 20 ladies, and we got to be together for 10 amazing days.

And that was my first real pageant experience.

So, I came top 10 in that pageant.

So, I was the only person of color in that pageant.

So I'm very grateful for the experience that I had.

>> So, being Miss Black America and becoming a veterinarian, they're not counterpoint, they actually work together.

>> They work together.

Absolutely.

I am now able to push my platform even more now that I have this opportunity to be Miss Black America.

>> Let's talk about Miss Black America.

I know this is the 55th year of Miss Black America, since 1968.

What has been your perspective and growth of learning about the history and the development of the Miss Black America pageant?

>> The history itself, the reason why it was even birthed makes my heart glad, because it gave me an opportunity to showcase myself.

It's given all the girls an opportunity to showcase themselves in the world that we're not always accepted in, in a world that we're not always deemed as beautiful.

And so I'm grateful for the vision of Dr. Morrison and what he birthed so people like me could stand here and sit here with you today and say, "Hey, look at us."

>> Morris Anderson was the founder, of the Miss Black America in 1968.

And I noticed some very iconic people.

Oprah Winfrey was a Miss Black America.

Who else in the pageant have inspired you?

Other Miss Black Americans that you've come to know.

>> Her name is Miss Amina, and she inspired me just by her love for not only the pageant, but the love for us girls.

And she just had a light about her that just really was able to brighten up our day, and I would love to be able to have that impact on the younger generation.

>> The night that you were selected, what feeling of accomplishment did you feel?

>> I was so overwhelmed with happiness and joy, and when it does air, it was kind of like -- it was kind of like a rapid effect.

It was like, "Ashley Myatt, Ashley Myatt.

So I don't think I had really time to process, like, "Oh, my goodness.

I actually won."

It was like a streak that I had going.

And so I was so grateful and I was so grateful that my parents were able to see it.

And my aunt was there.

>> It was in Atlantic City.

>> It was in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the Showboat.

And I was so happy with emotion because I didn't expect to win.

I'm going to be honest.

So when it did happen, I was so grateful and so thankful that I was chosen to represent one of the best pageants in the world.

>> We still live in a society that discriminates against women.

What is your message, as Miss Black America, to all women?

>> That you can do it.

When one door closes, another one opens.

And so you just have to push past the mark.

But you can do it.

You can make it.

You can be who you want to be.

You can thrive in this society.

And you can do it with class and confidence.

So that would be my message.

Just press toward the mark.

>> What gives you, today, your greatest hope for the future?

>> That we could live in a space with love and unity and that we're not divided just because we have different views or we have different religions, but we can live in a space where we care about our neighbor, where we care about the well-being of our neighbor.

>> Regardless of race, religion... >> Regardless of anything.

>> ...ethnicity.

Unity.

>> Unity.

>> Ashley Marie Myatt, thank you so much for joining "The Chavis Chronicles."

>> Thank you so much for having me.

>> For more information about "The Chavis Chronicles" and our guests, please visit our website at thechavischronicles.com.

Also, follow us on Facebook, X, formerly known as Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Major funding for "The Chavis Chronicles" is provided by the following.

At Wells Fargo, diverse representation and perspectives, equity, and inclusion is critical to meeting the needs of our colleagues, customers, and communities.

We are focused on our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion both inside our company and in the communities where we live and work.

Together, we want to make a tangible difference in people's lives and in our communities.

Wells Fargo -- the bank of doing.

American Petroleum Institute -- through API's Energy Excellence Program, our members are committed to accelerating safety, environmental, and sustainability progress throughout the natural-gas and oil industry around the world.

Learn more at api.org/apiEnergyExcellence.

Reynolds American, dedicated to building a better tomorrow for our employees and communities.

Reynolds stands against racism and discrimination in all forms and is committed to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

At AARP, we are committed to ensuring your money, health, and happiness live as long as you do.

♪♪