Organization of Black Designers oral history

Excerpt regarding students "Lawrence III: We really took on the idea of helping the Black design community. Young designers, young college students coming out of school trying to get into the industry. We had come up with this group of seminars called “Reality Check” in the Washington [DC] area. I would bring a bunch of professionals from all up and down the eastern seaboard;designers — not necessarily all of color — who had a discipline that they were comfortable teaching in. College students would come in, and talk to these professionals, and ask questions. They would ask everything—anything from how much you can expect to make the first year, to “how should I dress for my first interview,” to “what is the best way to communicate and get my portfolio seen.” I guess we ended up having about 6 or 7 seminars where you could switch classes and have breakout sessions where students could show their portfolios to a professional. And it was wonderful. It was highly educational. It was motivating and inspiring for the professionals to meet with young people and see what the new direction of the industry was. College students have their own things to offer. They’re on the cutting edge of what the design industry is gonna turn into. [OBD] gave us a lot of freedom to do a lot of creating on our own and to form the organization. It was forming and becoming its own thing as we were moving down the track.4" —https://revisionpath.com/oral-history-of-organization-of-black-designers/