Getting comfortable with doing the uncomfortable was one of many points driven home at Saturday's Kansas Black Leadership Brunch.
As the fifth and final session, Black leaders convened together to discuss the importance of voting and being an active leader in one's community.
Among those in attendance were Topeka City Council members Marcus Miller and David Banks.
"I enjoyed the opportunity to have conversation with people that are interested in growing our community, the same as myself," Banks said. "Also, to meet some new people and hear some new ideas about innovation. That's what we need, especially in the low- to moderate-income sector of our city.
"We need to be more innovative and they gave us some very, very good clues and ideas today."
Gov. Laura Kelly's spoke during the Kansas Black Leadership Brunch
Along with the three speakers who have participated in all five events, Gov. Laura Kelly gave a brief speech Saturday about the importance of being active in civics.
"This invitation to speak gives me the chance to recruit you as leaders, as community champions and as change makers," Kelly said in her speech. "To take a seat around the proverbial table. To actively and energetically engage in service and to aid me in my quest to to make Kansas the land of opportunity for all."
Commerce Department's Romaine Redman on the journey of innovation
Romaine Redman, chief innovation and strategy officer for the Kansas Department of Commerce, said Black communities are often at the forefront of change.
"There is an underlying trend in the Black community that is the key ingredient for innovation," Redman said. "We think about things differently, because we oftentimes are the ones who are most impacted when things don't go right."
He said improvements are created in the times of struggle and strife.
"At the heart of innovation is solving problems, fulfilling desires and making things better while instilling efficiency," Redman said.
Kaye Monk-Morgan: Anyone can be a leader
Kansas Leadership Center CEO Kaye Monk-Morgan was the keynote speaker. She said she hopes the brunch or her speech is not the highlight of the day but the catalyst. Monk-Morgan focused on how anyone can be a leader.
"At the Kansas Leadership Center, we believe everyone has a responsibility to lead," Monk-Morgan said.
She said leadership can come to fruition in many ways and can look different. During her speech, she asked the crowd if they remember the first time they were recognized for their leadership skills. She then called on a couple people to talk about what that first experience looked like.
Attendee Khadijah Briggs said her first experience was in high school.
Monk-Morgan added that leadership often starts with words and is quickly followed my action.
Mark McCormick encourages attendees to vote
Mark McCormick, chairman of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission, recalled the stories of " Bloody Sunday ," a moment during the Civil Rights Movement in Selma, Alabama, when Black protestors were brutally attacked by local police and state troopers.
"I'm sharing this with you because too many people have sacrificed for our right to vote for us not to go to the polls," McCormick said. "Leadership is risky, and that's the risk that they took for all of us here today. So, I want us to pledge that when we go to the polls, we don't go alone.
"We take people with us, as many people, even if you have to get a bus."
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: What Kansas Black Leadership Brunch speakers said about voting and being leaders
Local News