Urban Sentinel (May 2020 Edition)

JOSHUA

PROBY

Journey’s His Way to DESTINY

EDITORIAL

From The Desk of The Editor Reginald Kearney Editor

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would like to reintroduce to everyone the Urban Sentinel Magazine, which was initially introduced in print form. After much research and thought, it was decided to relaunch the magazine in digital from which aligns more with the trends

of today as we are living in a world which is driven by technology.

First I would like to take time to reflect on the current day to day events that keep us glued to the television at this time as we are challenged every day to adjust our lives around the Covid19 breakout. We must

Yvonne Medley

C. NaTasha Richburg

Writer

Writer

thank all of our front-line workers who rise to the challenge of going to work each day. These nurses, doctors, police officers, retail and restaurant workers, truck drivers and others are our true heroes at this time. Finally we must continue to pray for those individuals who have become sick and we must also pray for the families who have lost love-ones to this virus.

Musa Bangura

Anita Davis-DeFoe

Writer

Writer

The magazine will continue to highlight those people, and places that major magazines may fail to recognize. The staff will work hard at uncovering those individuals or places who deserve to be highlighted in this magazine. We would also like to receive feedback from our readers and suggestions for future articles. You may also go to our website www.urbansentinel.com for more articles and updates and you may contact me at reginald.kearney@marylanddailyexaminer.

Cameron Posey

Corretta L. Doctor

Writer

Writer

com. I look forward to having everyone’s support as we move the Urban Sentinel, both the magazine and the website to the next level.

Reginald Kearney, Editor and Publisher

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SUMMARY

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Make Reykjavik, Iceland Your Next Destination

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Creating Generational Wealth: A Financial Fitness Resolution

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Interview with Dr. Darnell Hunt

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Authors Corner The Rearview Mirror of My Mind

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Joshua Proby Journey's His Way to Destiny

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Loving the Skin You're In Lessons learn In A Picture Book By Lupita Nyong'o

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Are You Preparing Your Business to Pivot?

The Urban Sentinel Magaziine Address: 102 Discovery Ct. La Plata, Maryland 20646 Phone: 301-661-3989 Editor Reginald Kearney

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Advertising Inquiries Phone: 301-661-3989 E-mail: reginald.kearney@marylanddailyexaminer.com Website: www.urbansentinel.com

URBAN SENTINEL MAGAZINE | MAY 2020

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TRAVEL

MAKE REYKJAVÍK, ICELAND YOUR NEXT DESTINATION:

HERE’S WHERE TO STAY by corretta l. doctor for the urban sentinel My recent trips to Iceland, a volcanic Nordic island country, left me in a wondrous awe each time. Located in the northern Atlantic Ocean the capital is Reykjavik and is home to twothirds of the population of the entire country. I have encountered the most breathtaking views of mountains and amazing views of the sea. The culture is fascinating, the local cuisine is exquisite, and the population is just at 361,000. Iceland is a ninth century settlement that gained its European Free Trade Association (EFTA) accession in May 1960. The government is a unitary parliamentary republic. While in Reykjavik I have developed lasting friendships, infused myself with the nature, specifically that of the Blue Lagoon located near Keflavik Airport and with all of that I have come to the conclusion that Iceland is my favorite place on earth. The biggest question I get from family and friends is, “isn’t it always cold there” and the next thought I have is that they must think Greenland is only green. A tad bit of sarcasm and fun is evident in that statement but the truth is that Iceland is warm. Greenland is cold.

People-watching afforded me the opportunity to look into the faces of locals while I browsed in the shops. I saw serenity, calmness, and an unspoken camaraderie that made me immediately want a slice of the ‘peaceful pie’ these residents must consume. The United States military once gave many soldiers a lovely place to call home because for years our 4

government held a military post in Keflavik. I admired the fashion, the shoes and designer clothing. I visited the shop of Icelandic clothing designer Jon’s Maria where I purchased a beautiful dress. The shop website is https:// www.jonamaria.is/.

I am hosting a women’s wellness retreat in April 2020 and I have selected Reykjavík Lights Hotel as our destination home for the duration of our trip. I intentionally chose a venue that I can connect with the local culture through its decor, location, and popularity among guests.

Reykjavik Lights Hotel is a 105 Room concept design hotel managed by Keahotels, Iceland’s third largest hotel chain. The ever changing source of light in Iceland and how it reflects Icelanders everyday life is an inspiration for this Nordic-style hotel. Each floor of the hotel has it’s distinctive theme. The coloring and rooms are assigned a day in the old nordic calendar corresponding to it’s month. The hotel welcomed its first guests in June 2013 and have served roughly 30, 000 guests since then, mostly from the United States and United Kingdom.

The top three features of the hotel are excellent service, comfortable rooms and great breakfast to start off the day of exploring Reykjavik and other parts of Iceland.

Iceland’s largest swimming pool, spa and fitness center is located conveniently just across the street.

The hotel strives to be accommodating by lending items such as Phone Charger Adapters free of charge. It also offers secure power charging stations and luggage storage in between visits while guests visit the countryside. There is 24hr reception service and security.

Laugavegur, the main shopping street, Harpa conference and music center, Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral, Laugardalur Valley with plentiful outdoor activities such as Iceland’s largest swimming pool hall, national soccer stadium, family park and petting zoo, and botanical gardens are some nearby attractions.

The General Manager of Reykjavík Lights Hotel is Thorhallur Fridjonsson, born and raised in Reykjavik with roots from Husavik, a small seaside town in the north of Iceland. He has been running Reykjavik Lights since 2015. The main priority of Reykjavik Lights’s staff is to provide their guests with quality service and act as the home away from home, giving a relaxed atmosphere

REYKJAVIK LIGHTS HOTEL IS A 105 ROOM CONCEPT DESIGN HOTEL MANAGED BY KEAHOTELS, ICELAND’S THIRD LARGEST HOTEL CHAIN.

and serve as the best base to explore the city and the countryside, whether by car, jeep or bus. The hotel’s website is https://www. keahotels.is/en/hotels/reykjavik-lights.

I look forward to traveling with my wonderful group of wellness coaches and convening in such a magnificent hotel. Our group consists of ReeJade Richmond, Cheryl Pullins, C. NaTasha Richburg, Sigrún Braga Guðrúnardóttir, Charlise Smith, Anita Davis-DeFoe and Nicole Monteleone. We anticipate hosting 25 attendees during our retreat. Additional information can be found at https://www.correttadoctor.com/iceland.

URBAN SENTINEL MAGAZINE | MAY 2020

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CREATING

GENERATIONAL WEALTH A Financial Fitness Resolution

by yvonne j. medley for the urban sentinel

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t’s January, 2019. ‘Tis the season to declare improved lifestyle changes and/or to clear out bad habits. While diet and physical fitness comes to the minds of many, Douglas A.C. Eze, author of Creating Generational Wealth, will surely advise that financial fitness should be added to the list.

However, “studies from around the world show that people are more comfortable talking about sex, politics and death than their finances,” reported Kevin Voigt of NerdWallet.com [USA Today’s Star Press, January 18, 2018].

It appears that things haven’t changed much in a year’s time—or for decades.

Part of the reason for the above aversion, besides—unadulterated fear of financial bottom lines, salted by the shame of not measuring up to The Jones’—could be the stress of maneuvering through money mazes, trying to make sound decisions.

“Based on the information [given]— the way they [most financial experts] 6

make it so complicated,” Eze, 43, explained, makes people avoid the money talk. “So the one thing that I do is to make it simple for people to understand.”

To absorb his financial logic feels like ah-ha moments for keeping more of one’s hard-earned money in his or her pocket—or purse.

“That’s why I wrote the book,” Eze said. He added that most of the comments he’s received about Creating Generational Wealth centers on how he’s managed to make it an easy read.

“I wanted to write something, and teach people the way that I would understand it. Because telling me big words, and all this stuff about stocks ….” He paused for a moment and shook his head as if to slip into the shoes of a financialnovice. Then he continued, “… I don’t understand those things. So I need to talk about things that make sense.”

In his self-help offering, he writes, “It is time to unlearn all of the false information you have been told your

whole life.” He reveals how it’s possible for families to find money due to common spending mistakes such as not choosing the right car insurance deductible; making income tax errors; failing to understand how best to pay one’s mortgage or pay off student loans; or not realizing the true benefit of life insurance—even if you’re single and don’t have dependents.

“Getting into the industry, and gaining more and more understanding, I got excited about helping people save money, plan for retirement, and plan for their children’s college,” Eze said with a broad, inviting smile.

A stern eye-to-eye took over when he shifted to a grim reality. “But then as I met with families and sat down with them, I realized that people didn’t have money to save [because] they were struggling with debt.”

The financial adviser-turned-author explained his revised goal. “So what I started doing is helping families find money in places they might be throwing

MONEY

“You can’t put money anywhere until you understand the rules to the money game.”

money away, unknowingly. I had to do something different than most other financial advisers.”

The way he was initially trained was to steer clients toward only one investment or financial product without first explaining the whys or exploring his client’s personal needs to ascertain the financial product best suited for him or her. “You walk into the bank, today,” Eze, said, “and the first thing they’re gonna say is, ‘Ahhh welcome. Do you want to put your money in a CD?’” But how does it work? Is it best for you? Referencing his clients, Eze stresses, “What we do first [at Largo Financial Services, based in Maryland] is to teach them how money works.

Because you can’t put money anywhere until you understand the rules to the money game.”

He posed a hypothetical question about golf, asking what if you were a golfer, pining after a top pro-golfer’s gifts, which would you rather have— that pro-golfer’s golf clubs or his ability?

“If you’re smart,” Eze advises, “you’ll pick the skill.” Brooks Koepka or Tiger Woods’ designer golf clubs won’t get you the prize, but gaining their ability just might get you the brass ring—or the green jacket.

Eze has stashed in his money belt more than twenty years of experience, but he’s not just concerned with the well-being of your right-now financial health, he’s also concerned with the financial legacy you’re living and leaving. The bookshelves in his

impressive corner office are stocked full of self-help offerings authored by financial gurus. One can even find (… wait for it …) Trump: The Art of the Deal by Tony Schwartz.

For the Nigerian-born, American citizen, entrepreneurship was in his blood. “I saw my dad having his own business, having different companies, but one thing that he did not have was plan—for afterward.”

Creating Generational Wealth answers questions about retirement, creating and maintaining legacy wealth for generations of families, and more.

When families don’t have a plan, when the main breadwinners/parents die, Eze explained, the government swoops in to claim a chunk of their assets. After that happens their uninformed heirs/ children blow the rest.

Eze made it his business to study the Rockefellas, Bill Gates, those on the Forbes Fortune 500 list. When Warren Buffet remarks that his secretary pays more taxes than he does, Eze can point to the why and the how. He shares what he’s learned with his clients, and in his book.

A weekday ritual, for Eze, is to rise early and hit the gym around 5 a.m.

During his drive to work, he listens to financial audiobooks.

He’s a divorced father of five—one boy and four girls. Two of his children are adopted. “When my brother died in a plane crash, I adopted his children.” So he has teens and tots. He also shares his good fortune with his mom, whom he

brought over from Nigeria. She enjoys an active senior life and helps out with his children, especially when he travels for his business that also has satellite points throughout the country, and is venturing toward worldwide status.

New for 2019, he’s created a free App to help families budget better.

And how did Eze get into the world of finance, you might ask? “I was 24 years old, waiting tables at IHOP, and someone gave me their business card.

And I went in for the interview. I liked what I saw. I saw a better opportunity than waiting tables. [No offense.] I saw what they were doing. I went and got my licenses [to become an insurance broker]. It wasn’t easy to do, but I went and got it. Four or five years later, I decided to branch out with other companies, and then I decided to set up my own company in 1999. Largo Financial.”

Ironically, his main office in Greenbelt is housed in the same building as the Maryland Comptroller’s office. “But we were here first,” he said with a chuckle.

He joked about wanting to put a sign out in front the Comptroller’s office, saying that his company could help folks minimize their taxes and get out of debt—if they came to one of his workshops.

To find out more, visit www.largofinancialservices.com

URBAN SENTINEL MAGAZINE | MAY 2020

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FEATURE INTERVIEW

Interview with Dr. Darnell Hunt by musu bangura for the urban sentinel

know they were talking “Oscars So White,” so it allows us a platform to talk about diversity, or the lack thereof. So we have the numbers right here that shows definitively what’s happening or what’s not happening. This year’s report (2019) is coming out on February 21st.

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t’s no secret that diversity in Hollywood continues to thrive, despite the increasing presence of black talent among writers, actors and directors. Dr. Darnell Hunt, author of the annual Diversity in Hollywood Report, has been studying this issue for the past six years. Grabbing the attention of some of Hollywood’s biggest industry giants, Dr. Hunt hails from Prince George’s County Maryland, where he studied Journalism at Georgetown University and soon became familiar with the world of script writing. He quickly noticed the lack of diverse representation when it came to directing and producing in television. Now as the head of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA, Dr. Hunt is determined to raise awareness of the diversity issue on and off the big screen.

In a recent discussion, Dr. Hunt provides a sneak peek into his annual report that is annually released before the Oscars and gives us his take on recent successes such as the 2018 box office smash film, The Black Panther. Dr. Hunt also offers advice for black writers who are looking to leave their mark in the entertainment industry in the new technological wave that has taken place through powerful platforms such as Netflix.

MB: How many years have you been conducting this study on diversity in Hollywood?

DH: It’s an annual study that’s been going on for six years now and comes out right before the Oscars. Last year, you 8

MB: Can you give us a bit of insight on this year’s report?

Any surprising findings or disappointments?

DH: Well, I don’t want to give away all the headlines, but I will say we’ve seen some progress over the past six years; we’ve seen some change. The thing to keep in mind is that people of color make up more than forty percent of the population right now. And as most people know, in a couple of decades, we’re heading towards being the majority vs. the minority.

That’s why we’re having all these crazy occurrences with the current administration right now. The demographics are shifting, and people are trying to hold onto their privilege in the face of that change - that’s what this is really all about.

So, people shouldn’t be surprised because at the end of the day, it’s about advertising and selling products. Advertisers know that if they’re going to appeal to a potential consumer, they will have to give them images they can relate to. That’s why advertising itself has been more diverse than actual TV programming, but now TV is catching up because of platforms like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon…there are thirteen hundred samples in our research this year and they know they can’t keep going back to the same people over and over to produce new shows. They have to create an opportunity for diverse folks to be involved that’s never been involved before.

Film on the other hand, not so much progress. It’s still pretty stagnant in that area as far as diversity is concerned.

We’ve seen a little progress with women directors but people of color – despite the success of Black Panther, the film industry overall, hasn’t done what it should be doing on the diversity front.

MB: Actress Regina King has made it her personal mission to hire more women on her future projects. Do you see other big names in Hollywood following suit? Black or White?

DH: There are a few, like Ava Duvernay - she insists on having a cast and crew that’s diverse. All of her directors are women and she’s very deliberate about that. People who have the power and credentials should be able to take that stand. Unfortunately, most of us who are able to break into the industry don’t have that when first coming into the industry. You’re trying to land a job and then trying to hold on to that job. The bottom line is the decision makers are still mostly white men. There aren’t many people of color running networks or studios.

MB: You mentioned the Black Panther and the significant response it had. What are your thoughts on the success of the

movie? Do you think it caused a significant ripple effect?

DH: It’s too early to say what the legacy of the film will be, but we can speculate based on the few other examples we’ve had in the past. It’s important to keep in mind a couple of things; it’s the highest grossing super-here movie ever which is quite amazing, considering it had an all-black cast and director. There were black writers and costume designers as well. There were a lot of creative decisions by people of color behind the scenes. That is rarely seen given the type of budget this film had. The film grossed over a billion dollars and it’s still making money. It’s been nominated for Academy Awards, so it’s significant in that respect. What that will mean five to ten years from now remains to be seen.

MB: Let’s consider quantity vs. quality. If we do see an increase in more black-owned films, do you think we should be concerned about the quality of those films?

DH: Quality can be a difficult thing to determine. Obviously, some films are just not that great. There’s a lack in production value and things like that. What we should be striving for in the black community is a range of representation. A range of images that captures the diversity of black life. You don’t want exclusively just show positive images or just negative ones. In the real world there are range of different experiences, types of people and situations that can be depicted. We don’t want to give an unrealistic view of black life and what black people are up against, nor do we want to celebrate certain types of cultural forms that aren’t reflective of what most black people aren’t dealing with. The problem has been historically, we haven’t controlled the process by which TV shows and films are made. We’ve only been given opportunities at rare intervals to make something and every once in a while, that project will turn into a big blockbuster that gets copied, sometimes by the powers that be, and those copied efforts aren’t as good as the original. At the end of the day, my hope is that we get more opportunities and are able to portray a broader range of the black experience.

MB: Your published research from the 2017-2018 television season shows that twenty-four percent of new scripted shows had mostly minority cast members, a much higher number from the previous season. Is there any particular reason for this type of change in television?

DH: Slowly but surely in television, people are beginning to get the memo. Diversity sells. We’ve documented this during the six years of our study. On average, films, tv shows that look more America make more money and have higher ratings. Even though you have mostly white men at the top of the industry, they still have to produce things to resonate to their audience. People of color are driving the economy of Hollywood right now. Latinos make up the majority of film and TV watchers, with black people following closely behind That’s why we’re seeing all the changes in TV that we haven’t quite seen yet in film. Netflix for example is making more new TV shows than any other platform right now.

MB: That’s very surprising that Latinos are the biggest movie-going group with blacks following right behind them.

With all of this information that your study has, have white

industry officials reached out to you for insight? Are they interested in making changes in accordance with your report?

DH: Absolutely. When we designed the study eight years ago (before we initiated the actual study), we spent a year or two literally reaching out to major studios, networks, employment guilds, advocacy and access networks to get a sense of what people thought about what type of information would be impactful in doing this type of study. Based on the responses, we were told to make diversity the bottom line. Show a relationship between diversity and ratings. We found that relationship in our study and it continues to grow every year in our study and the industry had to take notice. Some of them have chosen to sponsor our research which “We’ve seen a little includes Disney, Oprah progress with women Winfrey Network, HBO, directors but people The Will and Jada Smith of color – despite the success of Black Panther, Foundation, BET, TBS the film industry overall, and a couple of talent hasn’t done what it agencies sponsor as should be doing on the well. When we produce diversity front." the report in February, right before the Oscars, we usually spend the month of March, April and sometimes May making the rounds in Hollywood to discuss the report with executives and explain to them our findings. They’ve been using that information over the years to see how they can do business. This has made a difference, but it hasn’t made enough difference. I think we still have a long way to go and the biggest improvement we have to make is at the very top. People in power don’t want to give it up easily. The real challenge will be making sure we have more women and people of color in the executive suites.

MB: Since you started doing this type of research, have you come across any other surprises that maybe jumped at you that weren’t expecting to encounter?

DH: That’s a great question. We’ve been doing this for a long time now and I can almost predict what trend we’re going to see once the study is underway. But every once in a while, something kind of catches us by surprise that we didn’t think about or just didn’t anticipate. The biggest shift that was surprising at the time was the incredible increase in digital programing. Netflix now has forty-nine TV shows in our database, compared to CBS which had maybe twenty-five.

When we first started the study, Netflix only had maybe six shows in their line-up. Now they make more than anybody else. Because of their subscriptions, a space has been created for them that was slower or harder for traditional networks to do. Television as an industry has completely changed. If you and I were to have this same conversation five years from now, we would be talking differently about the TV industry.

MB: Is there a specific portion of the industry where you see more black writers than anything, such as specific genre?

It can be assumed that a lot of black writers fall under the comedy genre.

DH: Well, that was the case in the past, but there are fewer comedies on TV now and more dramas. Shows like Atlanta, URBAN SENTINEL MAGAZINE | MAY 2020

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Greenleaf, Queen Sugar and the Tyler Perry dramas, it shows that there are more writers doing drama. But here’s the thing; black writers are more likely to be writing for black-themed shows and less likely to be on other types of shows. Take UPN and WB for example. As soon as those black sitcoms went off the air, there was a huge unemployment rate amongst black writers according to the reports for the Writer’s Guild. At that point, most black writers were concentrated in sitcoms, but that’s not the case anymore. There’s been a sizeable increase in black creativity and black-run shows in recent years.

Insecure, for example, can be seen as a “dramedy”, combining both comedy and drama, but run by black talent. You also have Black Lightning, which is another black-run dramabased show. So, there are quite a bit of black tv shows that fall under the drama genre, created and run by blacks, giving strong representation in the writer’s room.

I conducted a study two years ago for Color of Change that focused on race in the writer’s room and it talked about what different types of writer’s rooms are likely to produce by way of storytelling. What happens when there are mostly white writers in the room vs. writers of color? We interviewed writers, gaining insight on what their experience is like and they see some diversity in the storytelling, but there still needs to be more representation behind the scenes.

MB: What advice would you give to a young black writer who’s looking to thrive in Hollywood?

DH: Keep writing. We’re in the midst of all of this technological change that’s creating opportunities we didn’t see five or ten years ago. We also have all of this young talent producing web series, which also provides new opportunities through monetization. Make contacts, network with people

and try to do what you can to gain membership in the Writer’s Guild and get your material out there. The internet has also lowered the barrier to enter into the industry.

MB: The thing with the internet is that it can work both ways. A lot of times someone’s work is noticed through their Tweets or posts on Instagram. This causes them to either get picked up or have their work stolen from them and they never get credit for it.

DH: It’s a two-way street. There are things you can do to put yourself in a certain position. Recruiting true talent means picking up diverse writers. Companies do have an interest in hiring those writers, as opposed to five years ago.

Now they cannot deny the fact that diverse writers are needed in the shows.

MB: What does the future hold for diversity in Hollywood?

DH: The very first chart in our report looks at the U.S. population from 1980 to 2053 and you see a point where the black and white populations become the same around the year 2040. That’s two decades from now and people of color are already at forty percent of the population. It’s impossible to not hear the mandate for diversity in Hollywood at this point. If you look at the top ten shows in Latino, Black and Asian households, the common denominator is all of them are different. They are looking for shows with people that look like them. Not just in the background, but in the lead roles of these shows; people whose stories are being told. Hollywood now knows that if they ignore this data, they will lose billions of dollars. So, if I look into my crystal ball, the industry can only remain viable through diversity and that doesn’t just mean on camera, it means off the camera as well.

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AUTHORS

THE REARVIEW MIRROR OF MY MIND by c. natasha richburg, mba, mis for the urban sentinel

My life as a wife, mother of four, and information technology executive has required a delicate balance to meet the daily demands and expectations of others. Even so, occasionally daily activities require a measured tussle between entities that depend on me for completely different reasons. I don’t know whether individuals struggled most with my role as manager due to my skin pigmentation, gender, or vertically challenged position in life, but working as a manager was not the happiest stage of my life.

When the season of childrearing and managing corporate teams was bygone business, I was blessed to become an empty-nester with a husband who relishes my company.

We have journeyed into a season of “renewed teenage love.”

The future for this season of life began with my gaze into the

rearview mirror of my mind.

The rearview mirror reflected the experiences of parenthood now colored in beautiful images of well-mannered adult children with families of their own. Melvin and I blissful synergized memories of The Richburg children as our pride and joy filled our hearts with reminiscences of sweet baby love.

A byproduct of this period rang in harmony with the symphony of voices asking questions such as, “How’d you do that?,” “What’s your secret?,” “Can you watch the kids?” The outpouring of questions stirred a desire to pen a book that addresses the number one question: “What is the secret of our 36-year marriage?”

Purposely reviewing my personal journal entries for gems of knowledge contributed to the deep understandings that hindsight generates. Thus, hindsight revealed the premise of The Richburg’s marriage strategy through the pages of my journal. The book discusses the ebbs and flows of our marriage.

It offers the reader an inside glimpse into how we have navigated our marriage.

In this season of life, Melvin and I are regarded as empty-nesters, which includes refreshing episodic “date nights.” This is the best season of our married life. It is our hope that some of our life experiences provide the reader with insight into relationships. Even though this is a book about The Richburg marriage, it is also a book about the importance of teamwork and having a marriage strategy. Also, if you are not married, this book will help you develop teamwork strategies that are valuable for any good partnership.

Excerpt from Chapter 8: PILLOW TALK Melvin and I engage in pillow talk. Pillow talk includes taking the time alone to do what married couples do in the marriage suite. We learned to communicate with our minds, bodies, and souls. Our pillow talk content has evolved into something very magical and special. We know how to make each other smile. Remember, healthy pillow talk starts outside the bedroom.

Some women may be like me with a need to socially “warm up” before the bedroom “fill up.” In other words, sex starts outside the bedroom.

C. NaTasha Richburg’s books include: People ask…

What is the secret of our 36-year marriage?

The Truth about the Lie I Live Healthy Waters Don’t Cry Like This I See the Whispers of the Snakes in the Grass

C. NaTasha Richburg books are available on Amazon.com.

Websites: www.theCNRministries.com & www.cnatashaproductions.com URBAN SENTINEL MAGAZINE | MAY 2020

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JOSH

"

Embrace what makes you unique, finding the root to your problems and not allowing yourself to remain in a victim mindset is the key to having victory.

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HUA PROBY Journey’s His Way to Destiny by cameron posey for the urban sentinel

It has been a year since Joshua Proby shared his amazing journey and works with the Urban Sentinel. This multi-dimensional entrepreneur is a man who has found a way to use his adversity and struggle to show others that it’s never too late to save yourself and be greater.

Through faith and resiliency, Joshua educated himself while in prison for twelves years, with the first two years in solitary confinement.

While there, he wrote nineteen different books exploring the pain and abused that stemmed from his childhood and has published one of them last year. Now, he has made groundbreaking strides not just in publishing but also in advocating, and business. His mission: to help his community by sharing his life-changing testimony and process of healing. He shares with the Urban Sentinel once more his updates over the past year. (Continued on Next Page) URBAN SENTINEL MAGAZINE | MAY 2020

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CP: It’s been almost a year now since we’ve last interviewed you. At that time back in February 2019, you had only been out of jail for ten months, adjusting to a new normal. At the same time, you were writing, you were speaking at events about your experience, you were in the process of publishing “30-day Journey From Prison to Spiritual Peace”, and you were creating a Non-profit organization, Peace4Proverty.

How has all of those endeavors been going since then? The breakthroughs and the hiccups?

JP: All of the endeavors have been good. It’s been a blessing.

Peace4Proverty is still getting its foot off the ground. There are some logistics we’re working out to get it establish and out to in community. I published “30-day Journey from Prison to Spiritual Peace” back on March 2019. Over the past year, my trucking company has been doing very good. Some of the hiccups were just when I first started, things were getting off the ground very quick and I was used to it. There’ve been some moments where things slow down, which has been a challenge for me, but it’s helped me understand the process better. Right now, I’m doing a couple of speaking events. One event is going to be a fashion show based and inspired from my next book coming out in October, “Cancer of Our Lives”.

CP: Back in your first interview, you talked about purpose and how your purpose is to fulfill the needs of others. With all the wonderful and creative things you’ve done, you were able to focus your purpose on specific groups of people with a specific message, redemption, acceptance, adaptability. How did your pursuit of those endeavors, over the year, focus your purpose?

What was the process like as a writer and an advocate?

JP: My endeavors in my work has really opened my eyes. God, for one, has shown me that not everybody I want to help is meant for me to help or at least help at that time. After I was released, all I wanted to do was help people, anybody really.

For instance, in my trucking company, I hired guys who had felonies and while I was providing that opportunity for them, there were guys who didn’t want that opportunity. Some of them I had to let go as a result because it was weighing me down and affecting my goals for myself. God really taught me a valuable lesson. He made me realize that he blessed me with an opportunity to change and I shouldn’t just give it away so willingly to anyone I come across. He’s shown me that I can’t be God and try to give to everyone because not everybody wants what you have to give. God was telling me “Hey. I bless you. Not them. I didn’t give you this blessing to help them at this time. I want you to get back on your feet. Let me do what needs to be done in them. Enjoy what I gave you.” That realization really helped me mature my process. I still help people but I’m much more selective in who I help because I want people to grab my hand and lift themselves up to bigger and better things, not hang off me trying to drag and make me fall. He’s really taught me to be more careful and discerning in my purpose.

CP: Your writing and your messages were inspired from not just your experiences being in imprison, but it also stems from your experience being abuse. You talk about forgiveness and how it’s not just an act but a way of life. On a daily basis, what does that look like for you, especially when you were writing “30-day Journey From Prison to Spiritual Peace?” Has it evolved as you’re establishing Peace4Change and writing other books? And if so, what does that look like now?

JP: Yes, it has evolved, indeed. I am a true believer in that forgiveness is a lifestyle especially in what I do now. I’ve learned that because of what I went through in jail and even as a child, I tend to switch to those experience I went through in my past when I face those daily issues. When I notice that mind set, I have to step back, focus, and reason with myself on situations and what they were really about. A lot of times, I realize the daily challenges have nothing to do with who I am personally. It’s just whatever was going on outside of my control. For me, it’s about perspective. I can acknowledge what others go through. Though it doesn’t excuse them for what they’ve done, I, at least, know where they’re coming from and see how it played a factor in situations involving me.

Forgiveness is a constant practice and in order to be who I am and to be greater, I have to learn to let go, reflect on how far I’ve come, and focus on the good I’m doing now.

CP: In your last interview but your accounts overall, you emphasis about being honest with not just others but yourself, even when it comes to how you feel. You even talk about mental health as someone who dealt with anxiety when you transition into society and depression as a man who was abused and mistreated as a child. How important is it to you the mental health initiative in the black community, especially mental health in black boys? What do/are you thinking of doing to strengthen this initiative?

JP: There are a couple of things, I’m getting into. One is a seminar event, “Let’s Build”, that I’m planning in Charlotte, North Carolina. I want to make it a weekly event where we come in and we just talk about day-to-day things that bother us and go from there. You see the thing about mental health illness and processing it is it takes time, patience, and it’s relational. You know the Berlin Wall didn’t come down instantly, people broke it down piece-by-piece. Once you understand people and where they come from, through conversation and connection, you’ll see what they go through; the habits they have, assumptions they fall back on, how they cope with difficulty, etc. It always comes out regardless. From there because you built that trust and respect for each other, we can process, together, what’s going on with our minds and emotions. Many times what we suspect and assume isn’t really what’s true. We see it from a place of insecurity and hurt we haven’t addressed. It’s very important that we start advocating for our mental health. We see the problems in our community

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all the time that perpetuate mental illness: single mothers having to take care their kids all alone, boys growing up without their fathers, kids get molested, raped, mistreated and abuse, low self-esteem, bullying, etc. We, as black people, have learned to brush it under the rug because we’re told we’re strong and to keep going. And a lot of times it’s damaging because they don’t understand that we bottle up that pain and those emotions. That’s where the attitudes, the explosive anger, and the skewed thinking comes from. And once people outside our race, our community sees that, they’re incline to expect it from us. And because they expect it from us, we do it. It’s a cycle. We end up creating a reality for ourselves that’s not true.

CP: Writing played a big part in your life, your survival, and your redemption. It gave you hope when you felt you didn’t have any. It set you on this path to address issues that a lot of times people don’t want to face but tend to ignore. What would you say to kids, young boys, who are in similar situations as you were as a child? What would you encourage them to do for themselves?

JP: I would tell them to reach out and be honest about how they feel. They don’t have to go through it alone. A lot of times, we have to learn to reach out and be honest about how we feel and who we are. The most important thing in my life now, that I wish I had learned when I was a kid, is to be my authentic self. The whole purpose of what I’ve been through isn’t to show it as a lesson. It’s to also show them what they can be for themselves without going through what I’ve been through. But also, it gives them a message that it’s never over even when they mess up. They can change, they can find out who they are, what they want to be, and how they’re going to live. I want them to be encourage by my story. They don’t have to live by a narrative that tells them who they are and how they have to live. Systems are put in place but there put in place because some people found them

to be the best practices. That’s the emphasis “some”. It doesn’t work for everybody. Everything is a system and new systems created every day and they’re created from people, who found new ways of handling things. You can always build a new system for yourself, something that works best for you, for who you are, and how you want to grow. Once you get that down, others will see the benefits and try to implement it. But the whole point that I’m emphasizing is don’t let a system or a way of life that doesn’t work for you be the sayall-end-all. I technically shouldn’t be where I’m at because I’m a felon, but I am and it’s because I created a new way of life for myself. If you’re given something that doesn’t work for you, try to create something new for yourself that you can work with.

CP: With your first book published last year in March, your nonprofit organization being launched, do you have any other plans in the future?

JP: My next book “Cancer of Our Lives” is coming out in October. While I was in incarnation, I found out my mom had cancer and there was no way for me to talk to her. I was really afraid that she was going to pass away while I was in prison, and I had to really process that possibility while I was in solitary confinement. That news really hit me and had me seeing how much of a cancer I had been in our relationship, and so it had me exploring all the times I had hurt her. In a lot of ways, we carry cancer in our hearts that damage and eat way at us and who we are, and it can be deadly. “Cancer of Our Lives” was a devotional I wrote to address those problems, those fears, hatreds, and loathing we carry in ourselves.

URBAN SENTINEL MAGAZINE | MAY 2020

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Loving the Skin You’re In Lessons Learn in a Picture Book

by Lupita Nyong’o by yvonne j. medley for the urban sentinel

“Sulwe has skin the color of midnight.

She is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school.

Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything.

In this stunning debut picture book, Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o creates a whimsical and heartwarming story that will inspire children to see their own unique Beauty.”

In Sulwe, (released in November, 2019 by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers), readers of all ages will stumble upon the stunning, yet, vulnerable transparency of Lupita Nyong’o—vividly drawn for all to see.

In May at BookExpo America (BEA) held in New York, the actress stood behind a podium, preparing to share details about her latest endeavor.

Nyong’o, 36, who won an Oscar for the film, titled, 12 years a Slave, grew emotional, speaking about the influence 16

she now has as a role model for others— especially young girls. She teared up.

“Sulwe,” she told an auditorium packed with writers, publishing industry insiders, booksellers, librarians, and avid readers that, “this story is near and dear to my heart.” But when Nyong’o was approached with the idea of penning a picture book, she politely pooh-poohed it.

However, the literary world beckoned because the acclaimed actress owned a personal story that needed to be shared.

In 2014, when Nyong’o received an award at Essence Magazine’s 7th Annual Women in Hollywood Luncheon, her agent spied both premise and potential in the acceptance speech she rendered.

“Essence is of course a big beauty magazine that celebrates black beauty in all of its forms—the beauty we possess and also the beauty we produce,” said Nyong’o, who is also a producer. “I took that opportunity and that platform to talk about a time when I struggled to find beauty in my own dark skin.”

She was hopeful that her presence

in magazines, said Nyong’o, “would be a source of validation for young people, growing up, struggling today.

That speech struck a chord with many people and was shared far and wide on the Internet.” Gradually, she realized, she said, “that the lessons I had learned, and was hoping to teach about self-love and self-acceptance needed to be heard by people who are not going to click on my speech.”

“It needed to be heard by children— at the precipice of change—right when they’re starting to get a sense of the larger world, and starting to internalize how other people see them. I wanted to talk to that impressionable child, who has always been told that they were not valuable by anybody. I wanted to change the course of their suppression thinking. ” Growing up, Nyong’o struggled with being the bearer of a dark-skinned hue.

Her parents were loving and supportive, she expressed, but they, alone, were no match to combat how societies, worldwide, view dark skin versus light skin. For proof, at the BEA, the actress, also notable for her work in the films Black Panther and Us, and for her contributions to the stage, laid out a few illustrations found in various literary classics, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. And she compared them to several children’s books to which she was privy as a child that depicted black characters in hideous and derogatory fashion.

In her picture book, Nyong’o bravely pulls down the prejudice and pain of colorism among people of the same ethnic and racial group. Strategically, she confronts the issue, head-on, while also managing to be whimsical, engaging and fun.

“When children’s books are successful,” Nyong’o said, “they are lessons, deferred. We love them now.

And understand them later. The value

grows with time. I want the book to be the seed that they [children] can grow from—and draw from in later years.”

She added that the name, “Sulwe, by the way, means star in Lou—my mother tongue—one of the forty-two languages spoken in Kenya.”

But the task of writing a children’s book, creating a project of which she could be proud, turned out to be intense, she admitted. “I was actually overconfident,” she said with a bashful chuckle. “I finally decided to do it— because I said—like, ‘oh come on. It’s just a few words on a piece of paper.

How possibly long could it take?’”

Wanting to express what she felt in her heart, she wrote an eight-page essay and gave it to her agent. “And he said, ‘like, come on. This is not a children’s book.’”

And that’s when she realized that she did not know what to do. “So then I paused. And I took a year just reading children’s books, and actually learning that they are like Haikus; they’re poetry.

[I learned] that you have to be still,” she said. About writing a children’s book, she added, “I definitely gained a deep respect for what it takes. I was completely humbled by it.”

Nyong’o also credits the book’s illustrator, sought after by Simon and Schuster, Vashti Harrison, for expanding Sulwe’s invaluable message and journey. “I was fortunate,” said Nyong’o, “to partner with someone who is immensely talented; who brought my text to life through her luminous illustrations for this project.”

One might say that these two transplanted New York Brooklynites clicked. Nyong’o was born in Mexico to

Kenyan parents. Harrison is originally from the Eastern Shore of Virginia. She is also an accomplished filmmaker and author. Her first name is pronounced, “Vashtee,” she clarified with a smile because, “my mom is Trinidadian, and in Trinidad that’s how they say it.”

Harrison, 31, always knew she had a talent for visual arts, but stopped drawing as a child because, “I really wasn’t saying anything with my art. But when I was in college, I found my way to cinema. I studied experimental film, and it was kind of the first time I got to express actual meaning through my artwork.”

Harrison prides herself on working hard, researching her field and hunting for answers—especially when she was first carving her artistic footprint. Her goal is to not just translate a story, but to extend the story.

“And so I feel like I’ve tried to choose projects that I can bring something to, and would have fun working on,” she said. She had a blast working on Sulwe, she shared, and she is grateful.

Nyong’o gave five reasons for why she wanted to created Sulwe, one of which, she said, “As artists, at every level of human experience, we are looking for the beautiful.

Something that gives priority to our souls, not just our physical

needs. We drink in nature. We yearn for the beautiful. We create the sublime.”

But perhaps, her fifth reason hit home the hardest for so many. “I decided to write this children’s book to heal grownup wounds. I wanted to give myself the book that I never had,” she said, adding that Sulwe is, “for all those who still don’t feel that they’re enough.”

“It’s never too late to love the skin you’re in,” she finalized.

URBAN SENTINEL MAGAZINE | MAY 2020

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BUSINESS

ARE YOU PREPARING YOUR BUSINESS TO

PIVOT? by anita davis-defoe for the urban sentinel

C

oupled with facing the multi-faced challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic globally, businesses, particularly smallmedium enterprises (SMEs), if they aim to remain viable and once again thrive in what has become “the new normal” must be focused on what I have labeled a P2P; Plan to Pivot!

One of my mentors, Dr. John C. Maxwell says, “Each day we are preparing to move forward, or we are repairing a misstep.” Think about it, when we fail to scan the environment to inform actions and decisions, or when we do and neglect to prepare a strategy to proactively address the factors noted with a solution, we then stay in a constant repair mode. We become a perpetual fire fighter, always moving from crisis to crisis, working to keep the business from burning down.

Right now, every business is staring customer demand breakdowns, regulatory modifications, supply chain missing links, escalating unemployment, economic recession, and unsettling uncertainty. Thus, for your business to rebound and recover, during this time of quarantine, do your groundwork, edit your business playbook and create your P2P. Canadian management expert Henry Mintzberg suggests that strategy is comprised of 5 Ps: plan, ploy, pattern,

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position, and perspective. Every SME should apply this mindset and get ready for the pivot. Determine your current position, plan your next moves, what lens or perspective will guide your actions, what programs –projects – products will your company create and delivery, and how will you continue to evaluate data to be prepared daily.

Ponder these questions as you prepare to pivot: 1. What is the current position of your business and what are your business aspirations as the pandemic lessens or hopefully ends?

2. What is your plan for achieving these desired results?

3. What is your “bounce-back mindset, for yourself, your team, your enterprise, hopeful or hopeless?

4. What is the state of your innovative mind, what new programs, projects, or products will you need to create and market to remain viable and to effectively rebound?

5. How are you preparing to achieve desired results, so that daily you are not just repairing?

Dr. Marcia Brandon, Chief Entrepreneurship Expert with the Caribbean Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Livelihoods (COESL), shared these thoughts as it relates to the pivot, “Entrepreneurs can use this time to look for new partners and develop existing products or even pivot. Our entrepreneurship landscape will change.

We will have a leaner organizational structure, which means more crossfunctional roles. Entrepreneurs who are operating virtually need governance structures in place (policies) to guide how they do things. For example, how does one work from home? Telephone etiquette, use of cameras on a computer, all of those are things to consider to guide the standards in a business. If MSME entrepreneurs do not have these already it is now time to learn from this and take the time to create crisis protocols and preventive action items for the future.”

The current pandemic has clearly spotlighted health disparities and the need for us all to be more proactive about our self–care. Dr. Lenore Coleman, CEO of Healing Our Village, has been and continues to be an innovator in the health sector and is certainly prepared to pivot offering Healing Our Village Telepharmacy.

Dr. Coleman commented, “For the past 6 years, Healing Our Village has been involved in the concept of Telepharmacy.

The Model State Pharmacy Act defines the ‘practice of telepharmacy as the provision of pharmacist care by registered pharmacists located in within the US. Telepharmacy includes Medication Therapy Management, Remote patient monitoring, chronic disease management and transitional care. All of these services use telecommunications

and bluetooth devices to help patients “Know Their Numbers”. Through the use of these innovative educational strategies, patients enrolled in the HOV program not only reach their GOALS for blood pressure and blood glucose, but also end up in the Emergency room 50% less.

Explaining further, Dr. Coleman shred, “The reality is that medication adherence is a huge problem. The data shows that 20 to 30 percent of new prescriptions are never filled at the pharmacy; medication is not taken as prescribed 50 percent of the time; and patients prescribed medications for chronic diseases, stop taking the medication after six months. This is why medication nonadherence in the United States costs the health care system $300 billion annually, particularly by companies invested in improving adherence. Prior to 2020, many of the insurance plans and physician offices were not READY for Telepharmacy. COVID 19 turned everything UPSIDE DOWN. HOV is now in a position to provide Telepharmacy services in the United States and Abroad. To find out more about Healing Our Village go to www.healingourvillage.com or call 800 788 0941 Embrace a P2P Mindset 1. Accept that this is the new

normal, don’t wait around for the “change” to come to revert back to the “old normal”. How are you now going to operate?

2. Work from home or remote working is now normalized, assess your need for office space.

3. Move your business online today, if you have not already done so. Social Distancing is a new way to operate.

4. Brands will now have to be more caring and personal, for consumers to trust and interact. Health and Safety will be a key branding feature consumers will look for.

5. Seek strategic partners, you cannot make it on your own Thoughts Shared by, Aldo Antonio is the Executive Chairman of Blackslate Holdings Group Limited (www.blackslateholdings.com), a Caribbean positioned holding company for a diverse group of businesses & investments, operating out of Mandeville Manchester Jamaica.

In order for entrepreneurs, businesses and start ups to thrive at this time it is imperative that we follow the wisdom provided for us from the past. During the Great Depression, Napoleon Hill, in the number 1 best seller “think and grow

rich” has provided us with the keys to thrive in tragedy.

1. Build a mastermind team - find individuals with similar goals and interest and combine resources with maximum efforts to reach a desired goal 2. Refocus: use this time to reflect on your past and present goals and determine if your current strategy is actually working 3. Attitude. Dream big. Think outside the box and stay positive.

Instead of looking for the solution, become the solution. Ask yourself how can help the world during this time? Once you answer this question... make a plan with your mastermind group and get to work..

4. Don’t chase money, attract money. Focus on the process to solving the problem, share it with your team and the resources will present themselves from within your mastermind group.

Thoughts Shared by, Lawrence Chambers, Founder of Hi*Tek Co. Decide to take charge of your business narrative. We all get 86400 seconds each day, and the question becomes, will we use the time to get prepare or grind to repair!!

“Each day we are preparing to move forward, or we are repairing a misstep.”

URBAN SENTINEL MAGAZINE | MAY 2020

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