Black Men Revealed Panel Announced

The Black Men Revealed panel is a fan favorite at the annual Women’s Empowerment Expo. The segment features an open discussion with notable men weighing in on several thought provoking- and sometimes controversial- topics. Click through to take a look at this year’s Black Men Revealed Panel, moderated by News One Now’s Roland Martin.

Roland S. Martin – Moderator

Over the course of a journalistic career that has seen him interview multiple U.S. presidents, top athletes and entertainers in Hollywood, Roland S. Martin is a journalist who has always maintained a clear sense of his calling in this world. Martin is a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate and is senior analyst for the Tom Joyner Morning Show, where his daily segment is heard on more than 100 stations and by 8 million people daily.

He is the author of three books: Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith; Speak, Brother! A Black Man’s View of America; and The First: President Barack Obama’s Road to the White House as originally reported by Roland S. Martin.

Martin is chief political editor for TV One Cable Network and served as managing editor and host of Washington Watch with Roland Martin, an award-winning weekly news program which concluded its four-year series run in May.

When Jet magazine readers voted in 2012 for the “King of the Hill” in terms of whom they turn to on issues of concern to African Americans, Martin came out on top, ahead of the likes of the Rev. Al Sharpton and Donna Brazile.

NewsOne.com named him as the number one Black pundit in the country, and he has been named several times to The Root 100, their annual list of influential African Americans.

In his career, Martin has been showered with more than 30 awards for journalistic excellence, including being named the Journalist of the Year in 2013 by the National Association of Black Journalists for his extensive focus on voter suppression and other issues of concern to African Americans during the 2012 election.

Fred Shropshire

Fred Shropshire joined the ABC 11 Eyewitness News Team as weekend anchor and weekday reporter in March 2007. Raised near the beaches and tobacco fields “Down East”, he says he’s thrilled to be back home. Prior to ABC11, Fred worked as a reporter and fill-in anchor at WGN-TV in Chicago – covering all types of news ranging from political scandal to religious fallout.

Before the Windy City, Fred earned his stripes at WXII in Winston-Salem and WCTI in New Bern. His assignments included numerous post 9/11 Camp Lejeune exercises and the capture of Olympic Bomber Eric Rudolph.

Fred’s not ashamed to admit his Tar Heel ties. He was a cheerleader while earning a journalism degree at Carolina. In 2006, Fred was honored as the school’s distinguished Nelson Benton Lecturer. He also likes mentoring the next generation of journalists. Fred says his most cherished TV moment was his on-air engagement to ABC 11 reporter Sheyenne Rodriguez.

Pastor Andy Thompson

Pastor Andy Thompson is the founder and senior pastor of World Overcomers Christian Church in Raleigh/Durham, NC. The church was started in 2003 and now has 10,000 members—with nearly half of the membership being men. World Overcomers was recently named the 16th fastest growing church in America, and ranks as the 46th largest church in the nation—according to Outreach Magazine. Pastor Andy’s ministry also includes his television broadcast, The Truth with Andy Thompson. The show airs locally in Raleigh, NC on WRAZ station and nationally on the WORD network. In addition, each service streams weekly at woccrtp.com

He has used his formal education and his desire for people and their success to counsel both individuals and couples for over 20 years.  Through his counseling experience, he discovered that one of the areas that affected lives the most was the area of relationship (how to both obtain and maintain them). This observation led him to write two books: The newly released book— Handle With Care: How to Beat The Odds, Surpass Every Statistic, and Build A Marriage That Will Last – Forever and his first book—Real Love: How to Avoid Romantic Chaos and Find the Path to Lasting (released 2013).

Sebastian Mikael

While many artists spend a lifetime chasing “international status,” classically trained singer-songwriter-musician Sebastian Mikael is already starting his career where others can only hope to finish. Born in Sweden to a Swedish father and Ethiopian mother, Sebastian Mikael—formerly known as De-Lor (which is French for “of gold”)—was raised in a diverse household that was enriched by music. While no one in his family ever made music professionally, Sebastian Mikael inherited his passion for music from his father and the sounds he grew up listening to inspired him to find out what was going on behind the music.

“Last Night” feat. Wale is Sebastian’s 1^st single off of his hotly anticipated forthcoming full-length debut album “Speechless”; due out early June 2014 in a joint venture between Slip-N-Slide Records and Caroline/Capitol Records.  “Last Night” became one of the biggest singles of 2013 growing quickly and steadily at radio and ending the year in the Top 10 at Urban Mainstream.  His second single, a ballad,  “Forever” has already started establishing itself as a formidable single being featured on VH1’s Love and Hip Hop and receiving incredible feedback from fans and critics.

As Sebastian stays on the road to promote the new single, he is also putting the final touches to his album “Speechless” with collaborations with some of the finest producers and songwriters in the business, including Bigg D, Lamb, Jim Jonsin and Rico Love and others.

Jay Ellis