As you might have guessed by my mention of the State Fair and its recipe giveaway recently, I get a lot of news releases from the Minnesota State Fair this time of year. I’ve received a few a week for the last month. They arrive more and more frequently as the fair opening date approaches, trying to tempt people to come to the “Great Minnesota Get Together.”
It’s a good marketing ploy. There are always interesting new food-on-a-stick offerings or new carnival rides to enjoy. Our family made the trip to the State Fair last year, so we hadn’t planned on going in 2016. But after the latest press release, I am very tempted to plead my case for a trip to the Cities. This week the State Fair issued a “Unite in Purple” news release.
The State Fair is inviting everyone to celebrate the life of Prince at the fair on August 26 from 5 p.m. to closing. The news release states that just like Prince, the State Fair brings people together.
Visitors to the fair on that night will be treated to Prince music and tributes at stages throughout the fairgrounds, a fireworks display with a Prince theme, a Prince Party at Carousel Park, lavender-lighted buildings and carnival rides, Unite in Purple glow bracelets for the first 5,000 guests after 5 p.m. and more.
It’s a great marketing ploy. And it’s a step in the right direction to answer the Black Lives Matter group’s protest at the State Fair last year. The group disrupted the fair last year to call attention to the need for more diversity at the fair.
The women organizing the Unite in Purple event aren’t just protesting inequality; they are actively working to bring about change. Along with the fun and funky invitation to attend the event wearing purple or Prince-like attire is biographical information on the organizers, Sharon Smith-Akinsanya and Monique Linder.
According to the news release, Smith-Akinsanya has more than 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and marketing consultant, including working at Prince’s Paisley Park Enterprises. She is the founder and executive producer of high-profile events that celebrate diversity and inclusion like The Gathering! Women of Color Expo and the People of Color Career Fair. She has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies to develop strategies and partnerships that build strong relationships with communities of color.
Linder too has an impressive resume, with 25 years of marketing and communication experience, including managing Prince’s Las Vegas tour. She is a board member of the Minnesota Women’s Consortium, past-president of the Minnesota Alliance for Women in Media and has worked with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) to promote change in public policy to decrease poverty in communities of color.
They sound like a pair of powerful women—who also like to have fun. It’s been a tough year in Minnesota and across the nation. I think we could all use a little togetherness and a little fun.
I don’t know if I’ll make it to the fair. There are too many busy days left of summer. But I think in solidarity with the Unite in Purple message—the message of peace and togetherness—I’ll wear purple on August 26.
Peace is not merely a
distant goal that we
seek, but a means by
which we arrive at that
goal.
Martin Luther King
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