Professional Black women event in downtown Fayetteville draws more than 150 to network, inspire

The 100 Professional Black Women Dressed in Black event Saturday inspired hearts and minds.

Black women were asked to gather downtown, dressed in black, and to celebrate the strength of Black women as professionals. The powerful showcase of what turned out to be more than 150 Fayetteville community leaders was meant to display the importance of empowerment and unity. The event began around 2 p.m. at Segra Stadium.

During the event, the women walked to the Market House, an historic building downtown where enslaved people had been sold during part of its history. At the Market House, the women posed for a photo shoot and joined hands around the building, which is encircled by a roundabout.

The group would occasionally break out into song, singing anthems such as "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers, and later Club Nouveau, and "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge.

Event organizer Tiffany Campbell said she met many of the women through social media and it took less than a week to gather the women.

"I'm super excited about the amount of people that showed up and the energy in the room," Campbell said.

Among people who attended:

Tiffany Campbell

Campbell, 37, a Youth Counselor Technician for Juvenile Justice.

"We don't have places for African-American women to come together and be apart and collaborate and support each other," Campbell said. "We're all in this together."

Christina Woods

Christina Woods, 9, a student at Johnsonville Elementary School in Harnett County.

"Having a family business, (4YourMemories Photography) means a lot to me. I like to take a lot of pictures with my dad," Christina said. "The event is important to me because I want to help my family business."

Dr. Barbara Campbell

Dr. Barbara Campbell, 75, Pastor at Victory Tabernacle Church and the mother of Tiffany Campbell.

"To see my daughter reach out to people who mean something in the community... it is vital to the growth of Fayetteville," Dr. Campbell said.

Rochelle J

Rochelle J, 44, of Rochelle J Photography.

"The event puts you in contact with people I didn't even know were business owners in the community," Rochelle said. "There's a lot of power in this room."

Demetria Davis

Demetria Davis, 44, World Champion Gold Medalist, six-time NCAA Champion, Pastor at Force of Life and caterer at Dee's Champion Cuisine.

"I believe this is starting a legacy. It's making history," Davis said. "For one woman to have a vision, and all of the women come in to push and highlight that vision, it means a lot."

Sheila Hill

Sheila Hill, 53, Sheila C. Hill Show podcast host, and sister of Tiffany Campbell.

"It brings about a sisterhood to meet other professional black women," Hill said. "It means a lot because we are so divided in our hustle-work that we don't know that we have other people nearby us."

Judy Cage

Judy Cage, 44, Chef at Uptowns Chicken and Waffles and Let Me Cater To You.

"Being a part of Black women getting together and empowering each other fuels me," Cage said. "I love to see it."

Kia Anthony

Kia Anthony, 42, Mayor of Spring Lake.

"This is an extremely impactful event that showcases the black excellence of Black women," said Anthony. "It's empowering to be around so much love and sisterhood. We could tell by on-coming traffic and how excited they were to see a gathering such as this."

Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.