BENNETT BENNETT
Name: Bennett D. Bennett
age you feel: 30
where you grew: up Far Rockaway, NY
cultural background: Jamaican-American
2020 mantra: “You can’t police my joy.”
Photo by Bronac McNeil
TAKE US FROM THE START, HOW WERE YOU AS A KID?
I was shy! I read a ton, and growing up spent a lot of time in the local library after school while my parents worked. But I found a lot of love for detective, spy and sci-fi books early on, or shows like Jonny Quest and Power Rangers. So much of me wanting to write came from that.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD?
Either spending time in my dad’s repair store — he fixed TVs and stereos for a living, so I was always surrounded by electronics and always cared about craftsmanship. Or in fifth grade, I had this group project on bears, and I did the narration (my first voice over gig lol) for the whole thing.
HOW DID GROWING UP IN FAR ROCKAWAY, QUEENS SHAPE THE PERSON YOU ARE TODAY?
Far Rock is different. Yeah, it’s… distant from everywhere else, but it’s also this mix between the hood and nature. The beach and ocean are here, but so are the projects and all these beautiful immigrant communities. Being around all that made me a little more accepting than most, but made me super sensitive to environments that didn’t have the same level of diversity.
TOP 3 SONGS TO DESCRIBE YOUR TEEN YEARS:
“Comfortable,” Lil Wayne ft. Babyface, “Ordinary People,” John Legend and “No Letting Go,” Wayne Wonder
CAN YOU SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR CAREER?
I’m a consultant that specializes in content strategy and development: working with companies to build platforms and to create stories that are true to them, elevate their values and bring storytellers on board in sustainable ways. Or much simpler: I build homes for stories.
WHEN DID YOU KNOW THIS WAS THE THING YOU WANTED TO PURSUE? DID INTUITION TELL YOU OR DID THE UNIVERSE PUSH YOU RIGHT INTO IT?
The universe shoved me hard. I was in my second college and still a little lost. I always loved writing, but it was hard to figure out how to make a living from it. A friend from my HS had seen my old Tumblr and reached out, said I’d probably make a great copywriter. Never realized you could get paid to write things like the Bounty slogan (The quilted quicker picker-upper lol). I took her and another friend’s advice and jumped right in.
HOW DOES BEING A BLACK MAN IN ADVERTISING INFLUENCE THE WAY YOU APPROACH YOUR WORK AND YOUR PARTNERS?
I think every day, I’m out there to break a stereotype on the Black experience, what it means to be a Black man. When it comes to the work, it’s ensuring that I can hold space for the audiences I’m targeting, but also making sure when there’s a moment to ensure we’re represented, that we don’t just get seen as entertainers, or athletes. It really requires a level of sensitivity, cause I can’t speak for every Black person, much less every Black man. For partners, it’s important that the people I work with get my values— I love hard work, I love putting people on, embracing other cultures and finding opportunities for people to learn and see what I get to see.
WHAT MADE YOU START 600AndRISING? WHAT WAS THE INDUSTRY’S REACTION?
I’d actually stepped away from the ad industry two years ago due to burnout, it was hard putting my all into a world that put so much emphasis on bringing talent in, but never ever valued them once they got through the door. My partner and I knew there was an opportunity to do something different for the next group of Black professionals coming up to have it better than us, by taking on the systems that hold us back. The industry was shook, we’ve had about 100 agencies release diversity numbers and major companies putting together pretty strong plans to fix it. But these things take time, and we want to be there at every step of the way because Black people matter and deserve to be heard.
TELL US ITS PURPOSE AND THE VISION FOR IT?
600 & Rising advocates for the advancement of Black talent in advertising, PR and marketing. We look to create opportunities for our people from before entry level to executive, and we envision it to be a think tank of smart industry and industry-adjacent leaders, independent of the current group of major companies, but answering to the people.
HOW COULD OTHER POC PROFESSIONALS GET INVOLVED AND HELP YOU WITH THE GROWTH?
It’s a matter of reaching out. We’re formalizing membership for our Black peers, as well as non-Black allies, and our board of directors are setting up committees. I’d happily connect people who want to be active in that process to where they best align.
THERE'S POWER IN VISUALS. ADVERTISING CAN HELP FEED GOOD OR BAD NARRATIVES. WHAT ROLE WOULD YOU WANT ADVERTISING TO PLAY IN BUILDING A NEW NARRATIVE?
If you want to care about us, you care about the things that matter to us. Immigration, incarceration, education— brands have values that are driven by people. It’s important for brands and the people they trust to do the work to do better than make a black box or toss a few bucks to show they care. Brands can get their hands dirty and still do good. It’s possible.
FUN QUESTION (WE HOPE), WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE AD DONE IN THE LAST 10 YEARS?
I feel like I always go back to the “big game” (Super Bowl) ad that Fenty Beauty dropped on Twitter. I’m far from their audience, but it was a perfect nod to the Budweiser Wazzup ad from the 90s. It showed me that Fenty gets their audience, but they also get good advertising.
TELL US ABOUT THE WOMEN IN YOUR FAMILY (ANYTHING ONE OF THEM SPECIFICALLY TAUGHT YOU THAT YOU CARRY IN THE DECISIONS YOU MAKE OR YOUR OUTLOOK ON LIFE?)
So I actually grew up without my birth mom — she wasn’t present in my life and growing up, that was a lot for me to grapple with. I think there’s life lessons in absence, and by the time I did learn enough about her and her personal struggles or get to see her, it was too late— she passed away last year. I think that relationship always made it hard for me to be open about myself cause it always just felt too loaded for others. But it also put me in a mindset to be curious about women and what they go through to be great. My stepmom and sister, both also strong women, challenged me constantly and made sure I knew not to beg or borrow, and to hold onto faith above all else.
YOUR TWITTER PROFILE IS FULL OF SUPPORTIVE TWEETS TOWARDS WOMEN. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A FEMINIST/WHY OR WHY NOT?
I take words like feminist so seriously, it’s something you earn. The same way ally is an action verb, feminism is a state of living. I just never felt it hard to show support— people need people, men need women, and I’ve been lucky enough for the women in my life that it’s not hard for me to say, “Lemme show up.”
WHAT'S YOUR HOPE FOR WOMEN OF COLOR IN THE NEXT 4 YEARS?
That maybe one can be our next President. It’s long overdue, y’all have done just about everything else.
FAST ROUND:
Fav follow on Twitter: @byscottieo
Fav follow on Insta: @leebox
Last show binged/watched: Marvel’s Agents of Shield
Last book read: Chani Nicholas’ You Were Born for This
Early riser or night owl: Night owl
Stay in or go out: Go out
Coffee or tea: Tea
90s or 2000s R&B: 2000s R&B
Loved learning about Bennett Bennett? Follow him on Twitter and learn more about 600AndRising here!
Post image by Margarita Corporan
