On Saturday (April 13), Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, co-founder/president/CEO of Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), was honored at the National Action Network’s 21st Annual Convention Youth and College Day by the Reverend Al Sharpton for his commitment to the youth program, as well his lifelong activism in the music industry and within the Black community.

Prophet first joined the National Action Network (NAN) two years after its launch in 1993 and spearheaded the youth movement for the organization. He began to work closely with Sharpton, building chapters across the country and becoming a youth activist in the New York metro area. Prophet launched BMAC in 2020, modeling the advocacy organization’s blueprint after NAN.

Prophet expounded on his connection to NAN during his acceptance speech, saying, “As I spent more time in the music industry over the following decade and focused on BMAC, I faded into the shadows on the business side. Throughout my journey, I still stood on the same principles but was more focused on building my family and ensuring that my children weren’t a statistic. That I wasn’t a statistic.”

Prophet added, “The activist giant in me woke up in 2020. Society was not going to use the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery to share generic posts and act as if the knee of this country hasn’t been on the necks of Black artists and civilians for decades. My goal was to hold the industry accountable. Many people at the time didn’t know this other passionate, activist side of me and were shocked. My blueprint was modeled after being a student of NAN and a student of Reverend Sharpton. Learning how to speak my truth in an unapologetic way. The spirit of not letting these issues stand there and be idle, but getting in the ring and fighting.”

Under Prophet’s leadership, BMAC has been committed to holding the music industry accountable while creating new pipelines of access and opportunity, both artistically and economically, for the Black artist community.