{"id":47267,"date":"2024-09-05T10:52:55","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T15:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/?p=47267"},"modified":"2024-09-05T10:54:57","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T15:54:57","slug":"blues-beale-and-obap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/2024\/09\/05\/blues-beale-and-obap\/","title":{"rendered":"Blues, Beale and OBAP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Memphis, Tenn. may be known as the Home of Blues, Soul and Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll, but last month it was home to a different sound \u2013 the sound of thousands of aviators filling the historic city to take part in the 48<sup>th<\/sup> Annual <a href=\"https:\/\/obap.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP)<\/a> Conference.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-vPEtD_R7ak?si=kuZH-ENjpF5VHBKm\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/-vPEtD_R7ak\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Video player not working? Click here to open in a new tab.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every year, the OBAP Conference moves to a different city that holds significance in Black culture and history, and this year in Memphis was one for the books. The city that saw its Black-owned businesses thrive on Beale Street during the Civil War welcomed thousands of Black aviators nearly 200 years later to network and celebrate their accomplishments in the industry with each other.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis is my second year attending the OBAP Conference, but my first year attending as an Envoy pilot,\u201d said Envoy First Officer <strong>Reggie Johnson, Jr. <\/strong>\u201cComing back this year after completing the Envoy Cadet Program nearly a year ago, I feel like I leveled-up in life. Being here in a whole new uniform and being able to answer the same questions I was asking a year ago for people who are on the same path I was has been the best feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This year, Envoy was not only a Bronze Sponsor of the Annual Conference, but a proud host of the Memphis Music Welcome Reception, which served to kick off the soon-to-be fun-filled few days.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-47091\" src=\"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_2024_OBAP-Conference-17.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis conference means so much to me in general, but being able to come on behalf of Envoy and meet people here in this energized environment makes it all the more special,\u201d adds Air Operations Recruiter <strong>Requel Henry<\/strong>. \u201cThis is my second year attending the conference and I couldn\u2019t be happier to have a part in the joint success that both Envoy and OBAP see from this event every year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though many people around the Annual Conference could be seen sporting their pilot uniforms, this organization is designed to support <em>all<\/em> members of the aerospace profession \u2013 that means anyone from aircraft mechanics to astronauts are welcome to join in the fun.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-47080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_2024_OBAP-Conference-06.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy dad and brother are both auto mechanics, and I have another brother who\u2019s an aircraft mechanic, so working on cars and things of that nature has always been in the bloodline,\u201d said Envoy Little Rock (LIT) Aircraft Mechanic and Crew Chief <strong>Danielle Mitchell<\/strong>. \u201cI\u2019ve been an OBAP member since 2004, and it has provided me not only with mentors but with a family that encourages and pushes me to reach as high as I can in my career, and I look forward to reconnecting with that family at every OBAP event.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With all the fun we had this year, we can\u2019t wait to see what OBAP brings to the plate in 2025!<\/p>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/galleries\/gallery-organization-of-black-aerospace-professionals-obap-conference-aug-21-23-2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">View the rest of the photos from the conference here.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Memphis, Tenn. may be known as the Home of Blues, Soul and Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll, but last month it was home to a different sound \u2013 the sound of thousands of aviators filling the historic city to take part in the 48th Annual Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP) Conference. Video player not working? Click [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":47268,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[57,1272,1262,351,60,749,567,80],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47267"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47267"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47273,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47267\/revisions\/47273"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}