Disrupting Black Entertainment Media with David Lee - Episode # 039

Our guest today is David Lee, Co-Founder of Ebony Ascent. Through the creation of Ebony Ascent, Lee is disrupting the Black entertainment media industry, breaking down barriers, and opening a brighter future for African American voices to be heard. Authenticity, connection, and meaningful conversations are all at the core of the mission behind Lee’s media company Ebony Ascent. 

This is where David Lee is shaking up the industry. Inspired by a desire to share his own in-depth knowledge of financing and entrepreneurship, Lee started Ebony Ascent as a platform for the African American community to come together to create meaningful content and conversations. Now, led by the inspiring vision of Lee, Ebony Ascent is continuing to grow into a place to discuss important topics ranging from financial security to mental health to the issues Black communities in America are facing today. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Many people feel forced into conformity, which cuts down on authenticity and valuable conversations. Until we are able to communicate in a way that is true to our core culture, we will miss out on significant insights and growth. 

• The vision for Ebony Ascent has always been to cut through the noise and offer a space where the most important topics can be discussed in candid, even raw ways. 

• Culture is much bigger than just race, and there is a critical value to communicating with your culture in the language and ways you understand. When people do not have access to information represented by their own culture, it creates huge limitations. 

• Ebony Ascent is on a powerful journey to allow creators to showcase important stories that mainstream media is not telling. Not only that, but Lee is also passionate about creating a platform that will empower his community to speak openly and without conforming to societal pressures.
   
• Sometimes the most pivotal moments in life come from a place of personal introspection. Lee’s journey into disruption began when he realized his deep unhappiness in what, to an outsider, would have looked like a successful life. By being true to himself, Lee was able to innovate and shake things up in powerful ways. 

 

Quote of the Show: 10:17 

“Right. Culture is bigger than just race, and it’s this community-type field of how we connect and even goes back, anthropologically. If you start looking at when we were tribes and all this stuff or whatever, like each tribe had their own way of communicating. Something just feels like home, right? Yeah. Like if, you know, if you grow up with brothers and sisters, they just feel like home. There is a language that you and your brothers and sister have that nobody else has, but you automatically understand you walk into a room and see your brother.” 

 

Links: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hdavidlee/ 
• Company Website: https://www.ebonyascent.com  

 

Ways to Tune In: 

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption 
• Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 
• Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGlzcnVwdGlvbmludGVycnVwdGlvbi5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw 
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD 
• Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/disruption-interruption 
• YouTube - https://youtu.be/pbP9a8YYHJ4