Caution Magazine ISSUE 3 by Iam Caution Magazine

JULY 2015 ISSUE 3

K ali Mari-Bowyer

NI G H T L I F E

M U S I C

kali Mari-Bowyer sweet and spicy american celebrity publicist comedian Luenell THE BAD GIRL OF COMeDY ON THE move Olympian Heptathlon Chantae McMillan On Her Way To the gold tanisha Lashea life beyond the camera

B U S I NE S S

feature stories:

M O D E LS

F I T NE S S & H EA LT H

My Black is Beautiful... A Sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Journey 10 TIPs ON HOW TO STAY COOL THIS SUMMER 10 SUMMER Hip Hop and R&B Jams history of the watermelon HEALTHY SWAPS

RONNIE WALKER

EDITOR IN CHIEF / SENIOR ART DIRECTOR @iamronniewalker

DJ SINCERE EXECUTIVE EDITOR @drtybsmnt

KALIDIRECTOR MARI-BOWYER OF MARKETING @GoSipAinTSwEEt

BELINDA TROTTER-JAMES ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR @Belinda_Trotter_James

MIKE HANNA ART EDITOR @mifoucs

http://ronniewalker.jeunesseglobal.com/

TABLE OF CONTENT

HEALTHY SWAPS

TONE UP WORKOUT

CHANTAE MCMILLAN

10 GREAT TASTING SMOOTHIES

KALI MARI - BOWYER

10 WAS TO STAY COOL THIS SUMMER 10 SUMMER HIP HOP AND R & B JAMS

COMEDIAN LUENELL

HISTORY OF THE WATERMELON

BEST EVER JUICY BURGER

MY BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL

Olympian Heptathlon On Her Way To the gold

Sweet and spicy american celebrity publicist

The BAD Girl of comedy on the move...

A Sister’s Journey

TANISHA LASHEA

CAUTION SPOT LIGHT

CAUTION MAGAZINE 4TH ISSUE Sneak peek...

pgs: (35 to 39)

Life beyond the camera

Producers, Artist, Businesses, Products, etc...

HEALTHY SWAPS MILK CANDY BUTTER SALT

ALMOND FRUIT AVOCADO HERBS MILK

TONE UP

WORKOUT Repeat these steps of 5 movements twice for 30 seconds. “Complete as many reps as possible on each excercise”. WALKING LUNGES KET TLEBELL SWINGS BOX JUMPS CRUNCHES WIDE STANCE SQUATS

HANTAE MCMILLAN

Exclusive Interview Olympian Heptathlon

Chantae McMillan On Her Way To Olympic Gold! It takes endurance, mental strength, patience with yourself and a list of ‘to do’s’ to be considered an Olympian athlete. If you don’t know her already, let me in introduce you to Chantae McMillan, a USA Olympic heptathlete who qualified to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Now she is training to be in the 2015 Olympics in Beijing China and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. What does a woman have to do to be a heptathlete? Well, the women’s outdoor heptathlon consists of 100 meters hurdles, High jump, Shot put plus 200 meters on the first day, and then Long jump, Javelin throw and 800 meters on day two. The heptathlon has been contested by female athletes since the early 1980’s when it replaced the pentathlon as the primary women’s combined event contest. Almost every story I’ve ever heard of an Olympian champion always starts with the story of how they started out at a very young age. The parents would have to travel hours to get to a particular coach or practice daily in hopes of becoming an Olympic champion one day. I’m guessing Chantae is going to tell me a similar story. “Oh no, no, no… everything was local,” starts Chantae. “We had a basketball team that was set up and the furthest we probably traveled was about one hour and then once track started it was organized by the high school. I didn’t do anything extra. I just did what any normal kid would do in high school.” Some kids know at a very young age that they would like to have an Olympic career. However, that’s not Chantae’s story. “No I started track in the eighth grade because my friends and I couldn’t play soccer so we did track and then I had the discussion with my mother on if track or soccer would have a better route for me and we decided on track in the end. Then I got recruited out of high school for the long triple jump and went to the University of Nebraska where I became a heptathlete and I just got better and better throughout college and the Olympic trials became more of a reality.” Wow! Chantae started her Olympic journey in the eighth grade. The first question that came to mind is why did she start so late in life to pursue being on the USA Olympic team? She responds, “The Olympics wasn’t even on my radar at that point. I was just enjoying sports… soccer, basketball and the next sport I became involved in was volleyball and then track. I was just having fun playing sports and being active. If I look back at it, I wouldn’t change it for anything. I think I am doing exactly everything correctly and I’m exactly where I need to be so I wouldn’t say it was a late start. I just encourage parents to get their kids active in something and then those kids are going to find out what they love and continue down that path.” At least Chantae had a chance to have a childhood and friends from first to seventh grade and just enjoy being a kid. Chantae adds, “Right. Exactly. I was outside playing in the streets; I loved that.” She laughs remembering back to when being a child was fun and carefree instead of constantly being at some sort of practice.

Chantae grew up in Tennessee, Texas and Missouri because both of her parents were in the Army for 20 years each. Her coach was in Ohio and that’s where she trains. “My parents were really fortunate because they didn’t have to move a lot. The first eight years of my life we stayed in Tennessee Fort Campbell, then two years in Texas and Missouri for five years and then I went to college. I didn’t have to move a lot, but my mom did have to leave me to go to Korea for one year so that I could stay in the same high school for four years.” Most athletes just like doing one thing and becoming good at it. It takes a special athlete to take on a series of skills and participate in various events to become excellent at all of them. It also means more time practicing to perfect each skill. What type of person would put themselves through the strenuous exercises to become a heptathlete? “I had a really bad triple jump injury coming out of high school”, remembers Chantae. “So I didn’t want to triple jump anymore ever again and that left me with doing the long jump, but then seven events just sounded very intriguing for some reason and I wanted a challenge so I asked if I could switch over to that and that’s what I did.” Wow, training for seven events must mean her social life is really down the drain, but she disagreed and said, “No, actually I just spoke about that to my sports psychologist. I was wondering if having too many friends was a distraction and she said, ‘No’, she thinks that it’s good for me to grow as a whole person because as I walk on the track, its not just Chantae the track athlete, it’s Chantae and every other aspect of my life walking on the track.” Having friends to give you a mental break from always thinking about competing is a good thing. However, in any phase of life you will have to choose what types of friends to have around you. The best ones are the friends who have the same interests. In this way they will understand your busy training schedule that could put a strain on any relationship.

If you want to be a world class athlete, get ready to hear what a typical day is like in the life of an athlete… “Right now I wake up about 7:15 to get ready for practice at nine”, says Chantae. “I work on my sprint mechanics and endurance for the 100 hurdles and 200 meter dash… Then I just do general exercises after that. The general exercises are a replacement for my lifting exercises. I only lift two days a week… Tuesdays and Thursdays because I have great genetics where I can build muscles very easily and my coach knows that and does not want me to blow up by lifting four days a week. I’m okay with just doing push ups, sit ups, body squats and at least 10 other exercises like that daily… and that was my Monday. Everyday I work on something different. I have high jump on Wednesdays, 800 work on Tuesdays, long jump on Fridays... it’s fine because everyday is different. I’m learning everyday is a challenge and my mind is always working through it so it’s fine; I’m never bored. If I only had one event to do, I would be so bored.” For that reason alone tells me why she was born to be a heptalthete. When you look at the body structure of an athlete, it is an incredibly sculptured body of art. The human body is fascinating and when it is put to a challenge, it can do great things. What happens to the body after the Olympics is over? She answers, “The only thing on my radar right now is the next two years.” It is important that her radar stays sharp because it could also mean big sponsorships to ensure she can participate in events around the world. “I don’t have a sponsor right now because over the last two years I have not put up a mark on the heptathlon,” explains Chantae. “My training program was not the best program for me so that’s why I moved back to Ohio with my trainer who coached me through the 2012 Olympics. Now I’m back on schedule to put up a great mark I’m sure. Once I put up good marks, my sponsorships should come back.” Some of her past sponsors included Proven 4 Sport, Amy & Brian Coconut Juice, Revolution Physical Therapy, Runners Plus Elite and Kyani. In any sports athletes can hit the gym to tone and sculpture their body to perfection, but there is always concern for keeping injuries to a minimum. In every athlete’s life, there will be challenges to face and overcome when it comes to the care of a healthy body.

“In 2011 I ruptured my patellar-tendon high jumping at a track meet and I started rehabbing in Nebraska,” reveals Chantae. “Right after that meet I was supposed to move to Ohio to start training for the 2012 trials, but that injury put me back and I ended up in Pittsburgh to do my rehab with a trainer that my coach thought would be a great trainer to do my rehab… and so I went to Pittsburgh We had no doubts that I wasn’t going to make it to the 2012 trials. It was definitely a setback to tear something, but I think it just made me better overall because I was able to hit all my weak muscles that I wasn’t using. Only a trainer would know that and I got my body in the best shape. I lost some weight that I needed to lose from college… that was at six months and I had four more months to be on track before the Olympic trials. My coach whipped me into shape and got me the great technical work that I needed. He switched my takeoff leg for long jump and high jump. He taught me all that and it’s still pretty hard for me today to learn all that new stuff. This has probably been some of the biggest obstacles I’ve had to face this year. In the past two years I had to deal with on and off injuries with my knees being over trained on a program built specifically for me. It was hard to deal with because I wasn’t performing like I knew how. I wasn’t good and it really hurt my confidence. So I’m still really in the stages of rebuilding my confidence right now and becoming the great athlete that I know how to be with the coach that I trust so much with my future. So I’m so thankful to be here again.” What looked like a setback was actually a set up for victory in Chantae’s quest for Gold! Sometimes life will give you a test to see if what you asked for is what you really want. Even though Chantae has a tight training schedule she does make time to participate in community organizations. “There’s actually a program called Athletes For Help,” says Chantae. “They helped me get into the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. I get to visit with the children, take pictures with them and just make their days a little better. I’m certified as a personal trainer; I have a degree in education. I don’t think I want to teach, but I do like working with kids. I like training them. I had a chance to train some children in Florida before I left and it was super fun.” Fans can help Chantae in her journey to the 2015 USA Olympic World Team in the heptathlon which takes place in Beijing, China and then off to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro by making a donation of any size. In return you can request a workout that is customized specifically for your body type to achieve great results. Just go to her website at www.chantaemcmillan.com to fill out the workout request and make your donation through Pay pal. Check out heron Instagram instagram.com/chan_taemac and on twitter http:// www.twitter.com/chan_taemac “Thank you so much for your support; it means the world! Can’t wait to see ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures!” --- Chantae

10 GREAT TASTING

SMOOTHIES 1. Banana Blend 2 bananas, 1/2 cup each vanilla yogurt and milk, 2 teaspoons honey, a pinch of cinnamon and 1 cup ice. 2. Strawberry-Banana Blend 1 banana, 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup each vanilla yogurt and milk, 2 teaspoons honey, a pinch of cinnamon and 1 cup ice. 3. Strawberry Shortcake Blend 2 cups strawberries, 1 cup crumbled pound cake, 1 1/2 cups each milk and ice, and sugar to taste. Top with whipped cream and more strawberries. 4. Triple-Berry Blend 1 1/2 cups mixed blackberries, strawberries and raspberries with 1 cup each milk and ice, and sugar to taste. 5. Raspberry-Orange Blend 1 cup each orange juice and raspberries, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 cup ice, and sugar to taste. 6. Peach-Mango-Banana Blend 1 cup each chopped fresh or frozen peaches and mango, 1 cup each plain yogurt and ice, 1/2 banana, and sugar to taste. 7. Honeydew-Almond Blend 2 cups chopped honeydew melon, 1 cup each almond milk and ice, and honey to taste. 8. Cantaloupe Blend 2 cups chopped cantaloupe, the juice of 1/2 lime, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 cup water and 1 cup ice. 9. Carrot-Apple Blend 1 cup each carrot juice and apple juice with 1 1/2 cups ice. 10. Spa Cucumber Peel, seed and chop 2 medium cucumbers. Blend with the juice of 1 lime, 1/2 cup water, 1 cup ice and 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar or honey.

K ali Mari-Bowyer SWEET AND SPICY AMERICAN CELEBRITY PUBLICIST By Belinda Trotter-James

ali Mari-Bowyer is known in the entertainment circles as a celebrity publicist to such artist as YC (Yung Chris), Glasses Malone, Angie Stone, Wooh The King, Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame just to name a few. Before her star as a premier celebrity publicist was on the rise many knew her as the master journalist for breaking exclusive stories for the weekly tabloids everyone loves to hate such as the National Enquirer, Star, In Touch, OK!, Radar Online and Rumor Fix. Her headline breaking stories covering celebrity and entertainment news were mind blowing. If you had any dirt hiding where no one could find it, Kali would be the one to dig it up for all to see. As Kali reveals her journalism journey, we find out how the tables got turned on her and she became the story of headline celebrity news for three years. She quickly found out that her tabloid journey wasn’t sweet. However, her career as a journalist has made her the premiere publicist she is today. “I was actually writing for the weeklies and celebrities liked the way that I sort of gave them a break in certain situations and scenarios; so over time people started asking me to do things… could you do me a favor… could you write it this way and I ended up getting hired by the celebrities that I was writing about for the magazines and it really took on a life of its own,” remembers Kali. As life took Kali on a tailspin detour, she landed on a camera and just started shooting. “I went through some personal trials and tribulations about 15 years ago and it was an out for me,” says Kali. It gave me a way to get out of my head and I just started walking around with my camera and started taking pictures. Some people liked them and someone said to me one day, ‘You should really sell these,’ and I thought they were just being polite. So I started doing postcards, calendars and coffee table books and people actually brought them and I was shocked. I was really shocked because it was just a hobby.” The more we spoke, the more I realized how she was able to tap into her creative, journalistic writing talent to start developing TV treatments. “I have written a couple, but the thing is that once you write them and sell them its no longer yours. Some of them never see the light of day. I’m working on a show now called Hip Hop Kitchen and I do some casting on the side twice a year. That’s a whole realm where unless you’re taking the credit, which is very hard to get, whether than the check, you just leave it alone.” Management is definitely something all celebrities need in order to keep track of all bookings and contracts. Kali has now stuck her big toe into the management arena and is handling the challenges very well. “Management is a new role that I have with some of my old clients when I was just their publicist and I have to say its more challenging, says Kali. “The publicist part comes real easy to me and its fun. I always tell people never knock the gossip girl in high school because you never know what she will grow up to be. With PR you are garnering attention and spinning things to make them more interesting. You are damage patrol and sometimes you want to pull your hair out and other times its just funnier than I don’t know what… But the management role is definitely a different type of pitch, different responsibility and it’s just not as easy as doing PR and writing an article. You really have to sit there and read contracts and get lawyers involved and sit with your clients and you could bring them a million dollar deal and they can pass and you say, ‘WHAT!?!’ It’s really easy to make someone famous in 15 minutes, but the management stuff is challenging however, I’m enjoying it. I’m learning a lot as I go along.”

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Even someone as experienced as Kali in entertainment journalism and public relations needs a mentor. Kali learned from one of the best in the business, Debra Antney, the mother of Waka Flock Flame. “When I was over at the Waka [Flocka] camp with Debra, I learned a lot about being hands on and she kind of acted as a mentor as far as me managing people now. The last time I talked to her she said, ‘I don’t want to see you make the same mistakes as I did.’ And I think a lot of it comes from being a woman in this section of the industry. Hip Hop is a different ball of wax. In Country music the worst they are going to do is drink a beer and drive a truck. In rap they’re pushing people out of cars, putting people on fire…. It just keeps going so you have a real big demographic and being a woman you really have to have a thick skin and come to the table almost like a guy. Then if you’re not African American it makes it that much more difficult with certain types of rappers and that’s because a lot of these kids are from the streets, the projects and they don’t trust white people. I mean I’m Italian, but I look white enough. So you really have to build that bridge and that bond and once they’re comfortable, they are the sweetest kids on earth, but sometimes it’s a few humps you have to crossover.” Publicists in the entertainment industry definitely have enough stories to write a book. Sometimes it can be impossible to chose one or two career highlights, however, Kali did manage to pull something out of her hat. “Waka doing the PETA campaign,” recalls Kali. “He was the first rapper to go nude for PETA, which was an amazing shoot that we did. I really enjoyed working with Waka and I love telling this story because when I first got brought on to work with them I actually didn’t know who Waka was. I had to ask my eldest son who is Waka, who’s Gucci, who are these people? I wasn’t into rap back then and when these huge six-foot plus guys come in the room, it can be a little intimidating. When you ask them what’s the number one issue here, they will tell you it’s the fact that no one is defending them and that people make them look dumb. Journalist will look for that clip, that sound bite, that little tiny headliner that’s going to make that story readable. They are really sweet kids so watching him go from a radical, skateboarding off the wall screamer to a really beautiful young man that now has a family---That’s one of my happiest stories; watching him grow.” “The other highlight is with Glasses Malone. We partitioned and lobbied the state of California on health care issues for women prisoners. Now if you’re a woman in prison, you’re protected under Olivia’s Law. Olivia was his mother who died in prison because of health issues. You shouldn’t lose the right to health care because you’re in prison. No one has the right to dismiss someone as a human being. If you can find a campaign to do good for someone else while you’re garnering the attention they need, I think it’s a winwin.” “Out of all the rappers I’ve worked with Waka is the most light-hearted rapper. He’s very easy going and just a normal guy. He’s just very casual and loves life and lives every day to the fullest and I think that’s the beauty of it because he still maintains that innocents of, you know what…. this could all go away tomorrow. A lot of rappers are a little bit different; some are really eager, some are really hard. I will never forget the last time I spoke to Gucci on the phone, this was years ago, and he quote, unquote said, ‘Bitch get me paid,’ and I remember sitting on the phone saying, ‘But that’s not my job.’ So he was frightening and that was an interesting one. Some of them talk to you differently. Glasses is like my big brother so I think it comes with the territory and they put their trust in you, they put their careers in you, they put their money in you and they believe in you enough because you believe in them and it just becomes a winning combination. When you go places you have at least 20 big brothers around you. It’s hysterical.”

Kali does keep her personal life completely separate from her business life. Some of her clients can be very intimidating to her dates. “There was one occasion where Glasses had a show and there was a guy I was dating and he happened to stop by and I introduced him to Glasses who kind of looked him up and down and the guy left,” recalls Kali. “He was a little intimidated and I said, ‘Are you really leaving?’, and he said, ‘Yes, you have work to do.’ The look on his face was hysterical because Glasses is very intimidating. I mean he is a 6 foot 4 big dude and he was a gangbanger and he’s got that presence. He has that mean stare that says, ‘What are you doing here?’ So its funny, but they do look out for you.” In any career there are so many memorable moments. Some you will cherish forever and some you would wish never happened… Her three year tabloid nightmare seemed like it would never end. When Kali looks back on her life as a hard-nose, get-the-exclusive journalist she would have never guessed that the tables would turn and she would be the exclusive story… “I would never change anything I’ve ever done because it makes me the person that I am. I think every trial and tribulation makes you a stronger individual, especially a woman,” states Kali. “I dated a certain comedian back in the 90’s and in the early 2000’s, a court clerk thought it was cute to sell a story to the National Enquirer and the funny thing is that I used to work there so people knew who I was and I really thought that I could control the situation by speaking out on the situation and it just completely blew up in my face. So I learned that I could fix and control your stuff, but my own… no… I had to hire a professional. You’re so emotionally involved in your own stuff, but you’re not emotionally involved with someone who is writing you a check to do a job. So you don’t have the highs and the lows and the emotional BS that comes along with it when you’re sitting with a cup of coffee saying, ‘Oh f*ck! What do I do?’ I was told they were going to run the story with or without me and since I use to work there I know how they work. So in my mind I’m thinking if I say something the way it should be said, that will be the end of it and it literally took on a life of its own and at that point in my life I had a son that was on life support who was very gravely ill and I did not have time to or even the inclination to deal with that type of stuff. That wasn’t the priority in my life and I didn’t think it was any body’s business” Actually the incident involving a relationship Kali had with a famous comedian was the turning point in her life as to how she investigates and writes stories about other celebrities and their personal lives. “That is the reason why I started writing differently about celebrities when I worked at the weeklies,” remembers Kali. “I was that hardcore, excuse my term...bitch. I would dig so far in your stuff and blast you for a check because that was my job to break the exclusives. And all of a sudden I said to myself, ‘I don’t want to be that person that pushes someone over the edge. I don’t want to be that person who is writing something that is not 100% factual. So you really start to change the way you look at life and how you write about other people because it’s all just a game. The entertainment industry is 86% bullsh*t. If you got the name right, that may be the only thing. A lot of it is ‘sources say’, ‘insiders say’.” “When you work at the weeklies, if you have three sources, it goes to print. And I’m not knocking anyone’s state, but some of the people who live in states like Minnesota or armpit Utah, read the weeklies, tabloids and they believe it. One day I had to sit there and say, ‘Really?! Wow.’ Oh well as long as you keep reading it, we have a job. I had editors tell me, ‘If you start doing things the way you use to, you could make a lot more money in this business’, but a part of me said, ‘I want to be able to go to sleep at night and have a clear conscious that I did not write something about somebody that made them suicidal or pushed them over the edge or made them lose their family.’

When it happens to you, let me tell you, it is not a fun ride. It is so far from not being enjoyable at all. So I think that was probably the biggest mistake I ever made in my life. I should’ve just shut the hell up and let it do what it was going to do.” Now the hardcore Kali, who would dig until she found exclusive gold on a celebrity finds herself in the hands of other writers with lethal pens. “A friend of mine who is a comedy writer, who we both mutually knew, said make fun of yourself,” recalls Kali. “If you make fun of yourself first, they can’t hurt you. It really did take a toll on me and I became depressed. I couldn’t go to a grocery store, People magazine went through my trash, I had a football coach trying to sell pictures of my son and all of a sudden your whole world that you think is untouchable because I write about you and you cannot do nothing to me becomes invaded. Your personal space is no longer there and all of a sudden you look at people and wonder why do you want to be my friend, why are you calling me and you really start to build this wall which is sad because then when you do really meet someone who is kind and sincere, you have so many what if’s built up already that you’re not allowing them into your world; and that’s the downfall. We made some shirts that said, ‘I should have been a comedian instead of F*cking one’. It was funny back then and lighthearted, but you kind of did anything to get out of yourself. It died off after three years. Three years of top of the hour news stories, the front page, the cover of every magazine and I chose not to do interviews, I didn’t do the circuit, I didn’t do Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood. I watched these women who get involved and do it [the circuit] now and I think, wow, you’re not looking at your future. I could win the Pulitzer prize for curing cancer and do you know what the headline would read, ‘XYZ’s baby mama wins…’ It really takes on a life of its own, but I’m not that person anymore.” Can you imagine being a news story for three years? Kali finally just wanted to put a final nail in the coffin to tell her story her way. “People need to understand that when I was with this certain individual for a few years, it wasn’t a jump-off and it wasn’t a one-night stand by any means; this was in the 90’s”, says Kali. “I was a kid in college. I was 19/20 years old. No one 19/20 years old makes sound choices. This individual wasn’t as big as he is now and at the time he wasn’t anything special. He was up and coming and the funny thing was that those things weren’t the reason I talked to him. We met at a club called the Roxbury on Sunset in Los Angeles. We were at Eddie Murphy’s party. My dad ran the Betty Ford Center so he was the Dr. Drew of the 80’s and I grew up in this business where those were my peers… their kids, grandkids, nephews whatever. I would come home to find Elizabeth Taylor in our house or Johnny Cash or Andy Gibb so the whole entertainment side of life wasn’t something that I just walked into; it was already there. I wanted to be a lawyer. I worked for a lawyer who owned a newspaper and he said he liked the way I wrote. I dropped out of law school and there it was; my first job with the National Enquirer.” Trying to fix things in the entertainment industry requires a bag full of tricks, prayers, miracles, faith and enough skill to turn a disaster into a funny story. “It’s really about being on the fly creative”, explains Kali. “It’s looking at something and saying, ‘OK, how can I spin this? How can I make this better, how can I correct this and its all about who you go to because they’re certain websites, certain magazines, certain newspapers that I know if I take it here they will keep it juicy to keep the fire going or if I take it there, they will take it seriously and shut it down. So that’s when you really utilize your contacts and say, ‘I’ve got something for you that needs to be corrected’.

People would be surprised to know the amount of work a publicist does every day. You might not see it because it never makes the light of day. So we don’t just go up and down red carpets. I really don’t do that type of stuff anymore because I’m too old for it. A lot of people have this image in their head that a publicist is somebody who walks around with a headset like JLo did in the Wedding Planner with a clipboard and we’re walking up and down the red carpet going… Stop…. Talk…. No! It doesn’t work that way. Everyday my day starts at five o’clock in the morning because somebody has stole something, said something, done something and besides making someone get attention the job is also about making sure that stuff never gets heard and making sure that stuff is buried. So that’s when you start networking, playing those cards and keeping on your P’s & Q’s. You really have to be on it because one slip and you’re screwed. I will also tell you the hardest thing about being a publicist is that you get blamed for everything. I didn’t get drunk and call someone a cracker live on an interview, but you want me to fix it and you want to yell at me. I didn’t do it. So every three years I say I quit and when I’m broke, I go back to work.” “It’s enjoyable when you have someone fun to work with like Angie Stone. I love Angie Stone. She is such a legend and a diva in her own right and she’s amazing. When you get to that level of spectrum of people, you’re put in a different class and you really sit back and say, ‘this is what its all about’. You get to step into the studio and watch them make music and I’m not knocking beats, but I’m saying when the orchestra come in, its just mind blowing. You’re so in awe. I can’t sing to save my life so I really appreciate and value being part of that and going, ‘Wow! You just really did that’.” As I mentioned earlier Kali’s father was the head of the Betty Ford Center back in the day, which means there could have been a slight possibility we would be calling Kali--- Doctor Kali. “Oh no! I’m sure my family would have been thrilled,” laughs Kali. “My great grandfather was the first OBGYN in Orange County and Kraemer Blvd in Anaheim was actually named after my cousin; they owned all the orange groves. So I come from a long line of doctors, but there was nothing there that excited me. I had no interest. I was always the black sheep of the family always going off on my own way.” In another six years from now Kali would like to see herself married and maybe living out of the country. With everything she has seen and done, Kali is on her way to her next adventure. “There’s got to be more to life,” says Kali. “That’s why I love doing campaigns with Glasses because it’s always political; it’s always about let’s save the world. We did a concert for feeding the homeless. It’s illegal in 33 cities to feed homeless people; did you know that? It’s an actual fact; it’s illegal. You can actually get arrested for feeding a homeless person. There are cities in popular tourist areas that are busing homeless people and dropping them off in other towns, which is disgusting to me because we live in a world that has so much money, but nobody can help anyone out. So, we asked about 30,000 people to come out and literally break the law to feed the homeless.” Stay tuned for updates on the concert for the homeless and other exciting events with Kali on her website www.gossipaintsweet.com, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. There is so much more to Kali’s adventures as a celebrity publicist, journalist, photographer, TV treatment writer and celebrity manager. Don’t be surprised if she puts her words of wisdom in a book. Stay tuned…

Tips on how to stay cool this SUMMER . meals. 1. Eat small rist under a cold water 2. Run your wood. es. 3. Eat spicy f t-coloured cotton cloth 4. wear ligh weight clothing. 5. Wear lighthol drinks. 6. Avoid alco ing aloe vera after sun 7. Use a cool spray OF WATER 8. DRINK LOTS feather or down pillow 9. Sleepaoncoatton pillowcase. TV, s, with essary light c e n n u f f o n 10 Tur oven, etc..

SUMMER Hip Hop and R&B Jams

a - Rihann MONAE E L y L E m N e A v -J etter ha b h c A t i B 1. -LIL MAM p 2. YOGA etty Wa F GE n 3. SAUSA - Big Sea n e e u e 4. Trap Q - T-Wayn g in 5. Bless eestyle - Jidenna r F 6. Nasty eekend W n f is ma g mysel n i l e 7. Class y e e F r nnect es of G o d C a a h D S e a c 0 n 8. 5 - Chedd nd Beyo a j a k n s i i M r e 9. Nicki ck of th i l f e h t at 10. Look money

L uenell

THE

BADGIRL OF

MOVE

C MEDY N THE

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SHE NOW…. By Belinda Trotter-James When we last spoke to Luenell she was so busy with movie roles and other projects that Caution Magazine wondered what she is doing now and if she ever gets a chance to take a break to relax and enjoy a few days on the beach or traveling around the world. Well, the answer is… Nope! She did not take a break. “The thing about this business that I’m in is very ‘out of site… out of mind’,” says Luenell. “You can take a break, but it’s like you have to start all over again.” Ordinary folk take a bus, train or drive to work. Luenell is in such high demand that she has to take a plane or a ship to work. Let me explain… When we caught up with her on Tuesday, Thursday night she had to fly on the red eye to get to New Orleans for a quick show and then she had to fly to Miami to do her first Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage cruise. “I was only gone for a week and was paranoid about that,” says Luenell. “Being gone for a week makes you wonder what am I missing and what’s missing me. Thankfully I have a team that always holds it down for me while I’m gone until I get back. I don’t take very many breaks.” Actually in Luenell’s type of work it doesn’t feel like work at all. Wouldn’t you love for your job to pay you to be on a cruise?! She was the captured bad girl of comedy on the high seas for one week surrounded by fans and water. Not everyone that goes on a cruise can swim. Not that you need that skill, but we just had to ask if the bad girl of comedy can swim? “This will be my fourth or fifth cruise,” says Luenell. “I can swim, but swimming in a pool and swimming in subzero ocean water is something else. I am pretty much covered by the Blood and I didn’t believe that anything is going to happen on our trip. Of course nobody does but I’m pretty anointed and prayed up so I had anticipated nothing but great things on this trip and I did not go in with no other thoughts. I am very happy that I took my older sister with me; we look very much alike. I have three sisters and four brothers. The cruise to Jamaica was on her bucket list and I didn’t even know she had a bucket list. I thought it would be a great pleasure to be able to bond with her and being the little sister take my big sister on this trip with me.” If you watch the Real Housewives of Atlanta, Luenell made a cameo appearance to meet with Claudia. If you didn’t know, Claudia is real life friends with Luenell. “Claudia and I met on The Foxxhole radio program several years ago and she was very nice, witty and down to earth for someone you may stereotype as being typically beautiful and who you would think wouldn’t be so open and fun, but she is absolutely that and she has friends of all sorts,” says Luenell. “She is very quick on her feet and I respect that. So we became friends then and have remained friends till this day.”

Luenell’s long list of star studded friends is endless as they took time out of their schedules to attend one of two special birthday parties in her honor. “The first was in Southern California in Los Angeles and second one was in Northern California that wasn’t so star studded, but more friend studded because I was raised in the Bay area so I got to see tons of people who I had came up with, went to school with, had as roommates and that was my party in Oakland at a club where they did a roast,” recalls Luenell. “They roasted me and it was fun.” The party Luenell had in Los Angeles is on You Tube. You can actually see a clip of the group Troop performing for Luenell. Just type in ‘Luenell’s Birthday Video’ and you will see a four minute clip of the party and what made it so special. “It was special because it was like a dream come true party,” remembers Luenell. “I had Faith Evans, Kelly Price, 2nd II None, Troop… they all performed for me. The Mary Jane Girls were in the house, Tony Toni Tone, Kimble Hooker and several other Bay area artists performed. So when Kelly asked me, ‘What do you want me to sing?’ I said sing the song It’s My Time from the video you made that I’m in.

“

YOU CAN TAKE A BREAK, BUT IT’S LIKE YOU HAVE TO START ALL OVER AGAIN.

The fact that I had Kelly Price not only sing to me, but she sang a song from a video that we’re in together called Its My Time made it special. And its kind of prophetic because It’s My Time is how I’m feeling about my career and things that are going well for me right now plus you know Kelly is anointed as well and she is a prophet no matter what the bullsh*t you saw on that other show she was on which really did not depict who she really is. She sang and prayed for me and had the whole party in a giant prayer for me which is why I know, and not just because of that day, but I know I am covered in the Blood and that its all going to be okay so you don’t get much of that. You have friends that will eat with you, drink with you, smoke with you, but not a lot of friends will pray with you and Kelly is definitely a prayer and I definitely appreciated that we had the whole party go to church for just a few minutes.”

The icing on the party was Luenell’s pink hair done by a well known celebrity hairstylist. Who knew she would arrive with a beautiful head of girly pink hair. “It was Elgin Charles”, revealed Luenell. “I went to his shop and got it done. For about 5-6 days I was pink and it was great. I shocked the paparazzi. Nobody expected me to show up with pink hair, but I am known for doing the unexpected.” The Females in Comedy Association’s 4th Annual Comics Rock Convention takes place every year in Los Angeles headed up by Hope Flood and Luenell is a part of the action every year. “Hope is a good friend of mine and she has been doing this for four years,” says Luenell. “Back in the day she used to have a magazine for comedians and for some crazy reason she has always had an interest in helping comics. We did not have any guidelines or anyone to talk with about the business. Jamie Foxx used to have something called Lopaloza in Atlanta and all the comics would go for the seminars. So it’s something like that. It used to be called the Females in Comedy Convention and then the men started wining that they wanted to get some of the knowledge too. So not to be one to turn down any money Hope opened it up to all comics. She wanted to promote togetherness not separatism. You can get more information at comicsrockconvention.com. We have seminars, speakers, fashion shows, dinners and knowledge about stage presence, using your social media, writing new material, presenting your material, improv, relationships while you’re in the business, dos and don’ts and the keynote speaker this year was Mr. Dick Gregory who of course can speak on any and everything to do with all the above subjects. It’s usually just a really great time for people to come from different parts of the country to get up on different stages in Los Angeles and get a little taste of the life and learn a lot.” Luenell also performs at the convention and those who were lucky enough to attend the show got a chance to get one of her exclusive tee shirts that are only sold at her performances. She also breaks out her DVD’s, CD’s and autographed headshots. “I’m the first person they meet when they come to town. I’m like the official greeter for all the comics and I break down what they will be experiencing throughout the convention and then we perform later at the convention on certain nights,” explains Luenell. Honolulu, Hawaii will be welcoming an all female show with Luenell, Adele Givens, Eva Rodriquez and Tyler Bell for a fabulous show sometime in the near future. “It promises to be a great show because all three of those ladies are amazing. I don’t have to tell you about Adel because she was part of the Queens of Comedy and the other two ladies are very, very, very hilarious,” says Luenell. Luenell is so good at what she does that fans will never be bored and her fanatic fans will not have to worry about seeing the same exact show twice. “I have never been able to do two shows exactly the same in my whole career in my whole life,” say Luenell. “Even if I talk on the same subjects, I put a different spin on every show that I do just because I’m not what they call a scripted comic where I do everything the same all the time. When you work the road, you do develop a routine that you do and you pretty much follow that same pattern everywhere you go because everybody hasn’t seen it. Just because you did it in Georgia, Chicago and New York doesn’t mean the people in Philly, Kansas and Wyoming have seen it; so you get a road set and go out and do it just like the Kings [of Comedy] who do it and will continue to do. I do put a variation on every show I do because some people do come to a show where I perform twice in one night; so I am mindful of that and even if I talk about the same things, I will put a different twist on it and throw in a couple of different jokes I didn’t do on the first show.”

People are getting too sensitive these days to the point that comedians don’t want to work on new material at the smaller clubs in fear that the audience will take things out of content and cause drama on the social media networks. Comedian Chris Rock feels he does not want to try out new material at the smaller venues because people will twist the joke into something ugly. “I try to stay away from politics and religion,” begins Luenell. “The only thing I might say about religion is when my grandma use to listen to the AM Baptist church radio broadcast that was so loud and distorted that you couldn’t hear what they were saying. Or if President Obama came in town and stopped up traffic that day, I may say something about that. I don’t want to talk about politics because I don’t want to alienate anyone in the audience because I have such a diverse demographics of people. In my shows there are never just all black people. I have white people, Latinos, Latinas I have all different demographics coming to see me so I don’t want to leave anybody out. There are some people who are very good at that. D.L. [Hughley] is very good at that and so is Chris. I’m just very much grassroots... sex, kids, relationships, weight, getting older and basically stuff like that is where I keep it.” The Essence Music Festival will never be the same after Luenell makes her presence known. No, she will not be singing. Luenell stays in her lane and sticks to what she knows best. “I do sing in my routines from time to time, but I will be hosting a couple of stages and introducing some acts,” says Luenell. It’s so funny that you can start off in life going in one direction and in a blink of an eye, the road becomes completely different. Not in a million years would you think that a comedy career would open so many doors. Luenell’s voice is now cemented in the animation field. “I always wanted to do voiceovers and I have been blessed with that type of work recently,” says Luenell.

“I just did Adam Sandler’s animated film, Hotel Transylvania and we will be recording Hotel Transylvania 2 and I’m the voice of the Shrunken Head in that movie and I was very happy and pleased to do that. I do theatre and I also did some work on The Boondocks and another show called ADHD and some other stuff. I am very happy to do voiceover work. I’ve always wanted to do it.” Life seems to be throwing Luenell juicy nuggets of surprises to the point where she may say to herself, ‘Wow! They want me to do that?! Luenell laughs a little and responds, “Yeah, I had to play a stripper in another Adam Sandlers film called, That’s My Boy,” explains Luenell. “I had prosthetic boobs, skimpy outfits and I had to actually take a stripping class for several weeks before filming. I would not have thought that they would want me to do that, but it was all in the vain of comedy so it worked out very well and I’m actually proud of that movie. I did one movie years ago that was not comedic at all. It was about murder, drugs and I’m the only one that didn’t get killed. The movie was called, Never Die Alone with DMX. It was an actual Donald Goines book that they made into a film. I played the bartender and it was a dramatic role that was not comedic at all.” Fans cannot get enough of Luenell and would love to see her on television in a sitcom. She is constantly on the road trying to get to as many fans as possible. Would she leave the road to sit still for awhile to do television? “I would absolutely do that,” says Luenell. “I’m trying to get a show so that I don’t have to travel so much. I don’t mind the traveling, but it’s the packing and unpacking that bothers me. I don’t mind traveling, taking a plane, going to other places or being in hotels at all, but I do mind packing and unpacking. That is the vain of my existence right now. Packing for the cruise gave me great anxiety because you need several outfits….daywear, swimwear, where do I put my dirty clothes…

I’ll never stop touring or going on the road because I do like the interacting with people; but if I could get a show where I could do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday then do the road Friday and Saturday then take my Sundays off, that’s what I would ultimately like to do, yes!” Actually Luenell’s personality would fit in perfectly on Fox’s hit television show, Empire. Fans have been thinking about who she should be related to on the show. She could be Cookie’s aunt or the sister of the two friends of Lucious that were killed. She can be the one to keep the investigation going as to how they were killed. “Actually there was a Twitter campaign for a while,” reveals Luenell. “My tweets came up with two story lines. They wanted to tweet Lee Daniels and say that I should come on the show as one of Cookie’s ex-cellmates. We had made some deals in jail and now that we are both out, I was coming to collect and the other one is where I would play Lucious sister or aunt who had been drug addicted for years and used to take care of the kids, but when he got put on, he kicked me to the curb and got nannies so now I’m coming back to take my revenge and get some compensation for all the years I did to take care of the kids.” Sounds good and fans definitely think Mr. Daniels should take advantage of Luenell’s talent and popularity. If you are not familiar with seeing Luenell on television, just watch her appearance during the fall season of BET’s Real Husbands of Hollywood. She will be playing the comedic friend of Kevin. “My scene is with Earthquake and we are just hanging out talking a little Sh*t together and that’s all I can say for right now,” reveals Luenell. This is definitely Luenell’s time to shine and who knows where she will be in the next five years. “Well five years from now hopefully my daughter would have graduated from college and I can have that financial monkey off my back,” begins Luenell. “I would hope to have my own show and have a few commercial product endorsement deals plus do some charity work so I could put my money where my mouth is with some causes I stand behind and do some things for my family and for myself and see about trying to form some sort of relationship and that’s the goal.” So I told Luenell to buy a toothbrush to attract a new man in her life however, at this stage of her game the tooth brush cannot be a permanent fixture in her home. “I want my future whatever to take his toothbrush with him,” says Luenell and she was not joking. “I’m not trying to go that far. He can stay just for the weekend and take his toothbrush with him.” We laughed and I understood to respect the player and the game. Stay tuned as we follow Luenell on her twitter page and career to see what she’s up to next.

The History of the Watermelon

The history or watermelon is not well known but it is believed to have originated in Africa. David Livingston, a Scottish missionary and explorer, noted a high abundance of watermelon growing near the Kalahari Desert when on his travels in Africa in 1857. The melon is known there as the Tsamma melon and still grows in the wild today. It is unknown where watermelon was first cultivated, but it has likely been for over 4000 years. The fruit has been used as both food and a source of water during dry periods. Interestingly, watermelon seeds were recovered from the tomb of King Tutankhamen. The Moors likely introduced watermelon to Europe in the 13th century during their rule of the Iberian Peninsula which includes Spain and Portugal. By the 16th and 17 th centuries, watermelon of different shapes, sizes, and colors were being described by European horticulturists. The Spanish then brought watermelon to the Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the 1500â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. American Indians are believed to have started cultivating the fruit shortly after that. European colonists also brought watermelon seeds with them as they settled in the Americas. By 1629, they were widely grown in Massachusetts. Watermelon popularity in the US is likely due, in large part, to African slaves. The slave trad e was a major vehicle in transporting watermelon to the US. Enslaved field hands would plant watermelon in the cotton fields so they could enjoy them in July and August, the two hottest months of the year, while they worked.

Best Ever Juicy Burger [ SERVES: 8 | PREP TIME: 10 MIN | COOK TIME: 10 MIN ] Burgers just got juicier! Hellmann’s® doesn’t just go on top of this burger. It’s mixed in it.

INGREDIENTS 1/2 cup Hellmann’s® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise 1/2 cup plain dry bread crumbs 1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Onion Soup Mix 2 lbs. ground beef [or ground turkey] 8 hamburger buns DIRECTIONS COMBINE Mayonnaise, bread crumbs and Soup Mix in bowl. MIX mayonnaise mixture into ground beef; shape into 8 patties. GRILL or broil until done. Serve burgers on buns. SMART TIP: For the Hellmann’s® taste you love with the goodness of olive oil, substitute Hellmann’s® or Best Foods® Mayonnaise Dressing with Olive Oil. BARBECUE TIP: For a delicious creamy barbecue sauce topping, combine 1/4 cup BBQ sauce with 1/2 cup Hellmann’s® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise. Spoon on juicy burgers and enjoy! TIP: If using ground turkey, oil grill or broiler pan before cooking.

Nutritional Information Servings Size 1 serving Amount Per Serving Calories 490 Calories from Fat 260 Total Fat 29 g Saturated Fat 9g Trans Fat 1g Cholesterol 85mg Sodium 730mg Total Carbs 28 g Dietary Fiber 2g Sugars 4g Protein 26 g Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 2% Calcium 10 % Iron 25 %

My Black is Beautiful- A Sister’s Journey

By Letrise Carter @letrisec

grow Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in because you were too dark or not light enough? When you it are, they than lighter or darker you’re because up with siblings that don’t look like you and tease you black a as crisis identity an does something to your self-esteem and your spirit. You find yourself with woman. Now, Growing up, I had an aunt that did the brown paper bag test when you became of age to start dating. any man a home this sounds cruel because what you are teaching your nieces and daughters is to not bring for makdarker than the brown paper bag. You remember the brown paper bag, right? She was a stickler because ugly be would babies your bag, paper ing her point that if you dated someone darker than a brown he or she would be dark skinned. my skin I am a beautiful brown skinned woman that struggled as a pre-teen thru my young adult years with on complexi my thought I color because some people in the family said I was not light enough. For years, you and was ugly and that I had too many moles and freckles under my eyes. It affects your self-esteem your find yourself putting a cap full of bleach in your bath water as a teen-ager in an attempt to lighten date your that taught were you rule skin. You start to stereotype yourself when dating. You stick to the darker anyone must be lighter than the brown paper bag to make light skinned babies. So, I never dated reality than a brown paper bag from my teen years through my late 20’s going into my 30’s. That is when off.” went bulb light checked in, or in the famous words of Tyler Perry’s Medea, “The a It was when I became a mother of this beautiful little girl that I refused to teach or allow her to have as a up growing through went I what e experienc to color complex within her own race. I didn’t’ want her that and self-love teach to me black woman thinking she was too dark or not light enough. It was time for being any shade of black is beautiful. So, I began to teach and let my daughter know she is a beautiful black girl who is perfect just the way God designed her to be. Black is beautiful in all shades. Whether members, you were labeled light skinned, Carmel, chocolate, brown skinned, or dark chocolate by family it’s time to eliminate the labels. Tell your daughters that their skin color is beautiful at an early age and let them know they are uniquely marks designed and made in love through God’s eyes. Let her know those freckles in her face are beauty that the from her rich heritage. Tell her that her dimples showcase her intellectual smile. Let her know her that Remind wisdom. to bridges are they and out shape of her eyes marks the inner beauty from inside woman. black she has a unique DNA that makes a beautiful girl blossom into a beautiful to live Teach your daughters that their skin is beautiful and flawless. There is no need to bleach your skin the break to time It’s . beautiful up to society or ignorant family standards of what makes a black woman that friends cycle of feeling too dark or not light enough. It’s time to teach our daughters, sisters, and Black is Beautiful. We are Black is beautiful in all shades, shapes, and sizes. We are all beautifully created in God’s eyes. wonderful masterpieces in a beautiful puzzle neatly designed and crafted by the most high.

@tani sha_l ashea

MODEL

Tanisha Lashea Tanisha with Mom and Sisters

Tanisha with Mom and Sisters

Life beyond the camera...

First video? Snoop Dogg-Ups And Downs How did you end up in the video world? I started out doing videos really just by being asked by different casting directors. I’ve never went on a casting for one. What is the biggest misconception of women who play a key role in videos? The biggest misconception is being called a “video hoe” and thinking all girls sleep with the artists etc. Funniest experience on a job? The funniest is, being a newby to the video world and not knowing what the heck to do! Having no expression on my face. Just lost! Lol Worst experience on a job? Worst experience...being told I’m getting paid a certain amount of money, and coming out with like $200 bucks. I never worked with that person since!

How do you balance family and work? It can be difficult to balance family and work, due to being a single mom. But, I make it work because I do it ALL for them!

Issues with people passing judgement? Ppl have passed judgement due to being in the “model world” because it’s not taken serious by all being that it’s not consider a “real career” it’s not the same anymore in my opinion (videos, etc) but, I would still consider doing videos, if I was asked. snoop dogg: ups and downs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9aYoEQxUCQ

young jeezy: super freak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9chJZcHU6_o

SpotLight

“FOREVA YUNG” 2015

WOOH DA KID

GLASSES MALONE FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/glassesm?fref=ts INSTAGRAM: @glassesloc TWITTER: @gmalone YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/GlassesMaloneTV

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