VOICE Magazine OCT/NOV 2012 ISSUE by Voice Magazine

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VERVE Media Group™ Memphis, TN Office: 815 E.H. Crump Blvd. Memphis, Tennessee 38126 Springfield, IL Office: 2519 South Grand Avenue East Phone: (901) 832-1144 Fax: (901) 577-1659 Email: voicemagonline@gmail.com Web: www.voicemagonline.com

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Willie “Pete” Reeves Lamar Davis Teresa Haley, MPA Maria Thompson

VOICE Magazine is published bi-monthly. © Copyright 2011 by VERVE MEDIA Group™ All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form without permission is prohibited. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: VERVE MEDIA Group ™ 2519 South Grand Avenue East, Springfield, Illinois 62703. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Send $50 a year: (Add $15 per year for overseas delivery.) Manuscripts, photographs, illustrations and letters to the editor are welcome, but VOICE Magazine can take no responsibility for them while in transit or in the office of the publication.

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After the Electionâ&#x20AC;ŚWho Will Own the Political Capital? As I write this the last of three debates have aired between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. Each debate lasted one and a half hours, which in my opinion is way too short to allow a substantive debate on issues instead of who can come up with the most memorable zinger to be used in TV advertisements. With two weeks left until the 2012 elections, the presidential race is in a virtual dead heat. Recent polls show the two candidates tied at 47% each with the remaining being undecided voters. These undecided voters reside in several battle ground states. In United States presidential politics, a battleground state is a state in which no single candidate or party has overwhelming support in securing that state's Electoral College votes. Such states are targets of both major political parties in presidential elections, since winning these states is the best opportunity for a party to gain electoral votes. Non-swing states are sometimes called safe states, because one candidate has strong enough support that he or she can safely assume that he or she will win the state's votes. To reach these high end voters, both election campaigns and the Super Pacs that support them will likely spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertisements, the majority of which are negative advertisements toward the opponent. The Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission United U.S. Supreme Court ruling has changed how presidential races will be fought and won from now until an Amendment to the Constitution to overthrow it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Citizens United, decided in 2010, was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the First Amendment prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations and unions. The Supreme Court held in Citizens United that it was unconstitutional to ban free speech through the limitation of independent communications by corporations, associations and unions, i.e. that corporations and labor unions may spend their own money to support or oppose political candidates through independent communications like television advertisements. Citizens United has often been credited for the creation of "super PACs", political action committees which make no contributions to candidates or parties and so can accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, and unions. Citizens United and SpeechNOW left their imprint on the 2012 United States presidential election: "In any event, the implications of Citizens United were quickly apparent. In March, 2010, the D.C. Circuit ruled that individuals could make unlimited contributions to so-called Super PACs, which supported individual candidates. This opened the door for Presidential campaigns in 2012 that were essentially underwritten by single individuals. Sheldon Adelson, the gambling entrepreneur, gave about fifteen million dollars to support Newt Gingrich, and Foster Friess, a Wyoming financier, donated almost two million dollars to Rick Santorumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Super PAC. Karl Rove organized a Super PAC that has raised about thirty million dollars in the past several months for use in support of Republicans." Priorities USA Action is an independent expenditure PAC that supports the reelection of Barack Obama. Despite Obama's continuing opposition. such "Super PACs" are currently allowed by law. Priorities USA Action was founded in the face of Republican Super PAC attack ad buys. The Obama campaign states that ... In the aggregate, these groups are expected to spend half a billion dollars, above and beyond what the Republican nominee and party are expected to commit to try to defeat the President. With so much at stake, we can't allow for two sets of rules in this election whereby the Republican nominee is the beneficiary of unlimited spending and Democrats unilaterally disarm.

With so much outside money coming into the presidential election who will own the political capital of the victor? Will it be owned by the elected President or by the Super Pacs and the donors behind them? According to Wikipedia, “ political capital is the sentiment that a politician has a legitimate political mandate to enact policy in the eyes of the voting public. A politician gains political capital by winning elections, pursuing policies that have public support, achieving success with initiatives, and performing favors for other politicians. Political capital must be spent to be useful, and will generally expire by the end of a politician's term in office. In addition, it can be wasted, typically by failed attempts to promote unpopular policies that are not central to a politician's agenda. American President George W. Bush claimed to have earned "political capital" after the 2004 elections.” Given who’s putting money behind these campaigns and the policies that they support we should all hope that whoever wins will have the courage to move this country forward and not squander his political capital lavishly on policies that do not support our democratic principles. Let you VOICE be heard…VOTE!!!! On The Cover this month we profile activist and entrepreneur Teresa Haley. This is the first time that Teresa has been on the cover of VOICE Magazine. She was on a previous cover under our previous name Illinois VOICE a couple of years ago. We profiled Teresa at that time because she demonstrated that she was a steward of the community and used her basic principle of a belief in Faith, Family and Community as her guiding light to give a VOICE to the VOICE-less. In that time span Teresa has continued to forge her path forward and has been recognized on a local, state and national level. On a local level she was a 2012 Women of Influence Award winner. On the State level she was the 2012 Governor’s Volunteer Service Award winner for the State of Illinois. On the national level she was the recipient of the 2010 Rosa Parks – Woman of the Year Award – NAACP Midwest Region, III. Although she has won several awards and will most likely win many more during her lifetime, Teresa is mindful of her humble upbringing and optimistic about continuing her fight to ensure that everyone has a fair shot at the American Dream. We also profile Illinois State Representative Ken Dunkin. Ken Dunkin is a Democrat, serving the people of the 5th District as State Representative in the Illinois General Assembly. Dunkin worked as social worker for many years, helping families access needed resources. Born and raised in Chicago's Cabrini Green Public Housing Development, Ken Dunkin is also a product of the Chicago Public School System. Dunkin's current priorities include: reducing domestic violence, sustaining and creating new businesses, preventing identity theft, rallying for reduced prescription drug prices for senior citizens, improving academic achievement among students and affordable childcare and healthcare. We next profile Antonio Rias. Now more than ever, our communities are in need of voices – Strong voices that advocate the needs and concerns of our neighborhoods and voices that aren’t afraid to take a stand. It is imperative that we understand our rights to democracy, especially in our own backyards. Antonio “Tony” Rias understands the critical issues affecting his community which includes government efficiency and transparency, increased economic development, senior citizen center access and other issues affecting the quality of life in his community. Tony is a long time homeowner and resident of the Village of Burnham, Il. As the father of two beautiful daughters Tony has a strong belief in leaving our communities better for the next generation. He supports the creation of a green economy and advocates the creation of green jobs through increased economic development. We support and endorse Tony’s candidacy for mayor and wish him much success. We next profile designer Memphis, TN based Ashley Bailey. Ashley Bailey is the owner/designer of Pretty Peculiar custom shoes. Pretty Peculiar is for the exclusive diva. The name speaks for itself! The shoes are pretty but peculiar at the same time. “I specialize in creating one of kind shoes. Each shoe is hand crafted and each design can take anywhere from 2

to 12 hours to complete. It's hard work but I was born to create uniqueness,” says Ashley. Be sure to take a look at these spectacular shoes and place your order. We also profile another designer this month. Tawni Haynes is a fashion designer extraordinaire and owner of Iconyq Apparel Boutique. Tawni is well known around the Dallas Fort Worth (“DFW”) area as an up and coming fashion forward retailer and custom Tawni takes pride in transforming hundreds of clients from ordinary to runway ready for events ranging from a Sunday church service to national television appearances. She is especially recognized for her gift of making any woman look and feel absolutely stunning, regardless of body shape or size. apparel artist with a vivid sense of classy sophistication far beyond her 30 years of age. “My goal is to restore class and elegance to the fashion industry, she says optimistically. Our feature model this month is Roxy Milan. The beautiful and talented Roxy Milan has video appearances with several urban artists and is featured in the upcoming film, “Video Girl.” Through all of her hard work and dedication she still makes time for family, friends and in her words “of course shopping.” We wish Roxy continued success. We next profile the amazing, athletic and awesome Collette Hope. Collette Hope, an AFAA certified trainer, is the founder of Yumichic Inc. After years as a personal stylist, Hope strengthened her portfolio with a commitment to education and training as a fitness professional. The foundation of Yumichic is rooted in Hope’s innate, rhythmic ability. While many trainers focus on specializing in a certain area of fitness, Hope’s specialty is pushing the body to the wall and leading women to be serious about their physiques and overall appearance. Hope leads by example, through training and educating clients as a workout partner. This approach sets Hope apart. She is an accomplished trainer, instructor, entrepreneur, spokesperson and personal stylist, an industry fixture who is devoted to making women all over the globe into a Yumichic Phenomenon! Last but not least we profile the Coach. When Chuck Shanklin announced he was stepping down as Lanphier High School boys basketball coach in May after his wife accepted a job in Arizona, it meant Lanphier had to come up with someone to run all the summer leagues and team camps. And quickly. Enter Blake Turner, who has been a varsity assistant and junior varsity coach for five seasons, as interim head coach. Blake hopes to shed the interim label from his title. He is Lanphier’s choice to be the next coach of the Lions. Blake is an excellent role model for the kids he will be coaching because he was once stood in their shoes. We know Blake will do good things at Lanphier and he has our full support. Over the last several months we have been very busy launching HOT217 (www.hot217.com) our internet radio station. It is our goal to continue to utilize new media platforms to bring quality information to our readers, listeners and viewers. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to serving you. Hope you enjoy it! Happy Thanksgiving!! Regards,

W. E. “Pete” Reeves, CEO

publisher’s page ............... 26 on the cover ........ ............. 32 in memoriam .................... 53 inspiration ...................... 59 web culture ...................... 78 national........................... 82 politics.............................. 121 diaspora watch............... 115 dialogue………………………. 135 urbanity .......................... 148

life & style …………………… crème de la crème………… wellness ......................... money & career..........… business ........................ sports ............................ remembrances ……………

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Sereda Aleta Dailey

How do you thank an individual that has risen from poverty, a broken home and other environmental ills of our society to dedicate her life to service and volunteerism? How do you thank a woman who as a single mother of a young child returns to school to complete her degree and encourages and empowers other women around her to do the same? How do you thank an individual who inspires the youth of our community by living a life dedicated to “Faith, Family and Community?” How do you thank a woman who does all of the above without seeking thanks or gratitude? Most believe that the answer to all of those questions is…you can’t. However, you can show that their tireless effort to enhance the lives of others does not go unrecognized. The Teresa Haley’s of this world are the light forces of human dignity and deserve our gratitude. Teresa Haley is a longtime civil rights activist, public policy advocate, and professional trainer. The Springfield native walks her talk and prides herself on her service to faith, family and the community. She is the daughter of James “Rock” Haley and Mamie “Bea” Johnson of Springfield, IL. Teresa grew up in the John Hay Homes housing projects and was bused across town to school because of the desegregation lawsuit. She attended public schools and was a cheerleader. As a single parent, Teresa struggled to put herself through college. She was the first of 120 grandchildren. Haley is no different from any other youth that grew up or currently lives in public housing or any other de-stabilized community. She understands that 33

without persistence, the other characteristics self-respect, desire and faith would not be successful. Persistence enables residents to choose the road that leads to self-transformation and community sustainability as opposed to the road that leads to continued community decay, personal failure and a continuous cycle of poverty. Haley believes that once residents possess these four characteristics they will be equipped with the tools necessary to rise high above the physical and psychological ugliness, which surrounds them. Like many of her lot who have risen above their environmental circumstances, Haley understands that she could not have gotten where she is today without the assistance and volunteerism of many individuals. Her strong belief in faith, family and community is her guiding light which has steered her to a life of service. Haley incorporates a â&#x20AC;&#x153;bottoms upâ&#x20AC;? approach to community service based on the belief that with a commitment to the service of others our youth will have the perfect vehicle to help them reach their full potential. Through the reputation and commitment to service of such organizations as the NAACP and the American Red Cross, Haley is committed to volunteerism and economic opportunity for all based on non-violent participation and community stewardship.

Previous page: Receiving Governor’s Volunteer Service Award from legendary journalist Mary Dee. Left: Haley receiving the 2011 NAACP Lifetime Award from Archie Lawrence, Esq.

NAACP has been the leading advocate for social justice and equality in its efforts to combat the aforementioned dilemma for people of color. Founded as a direct result of the 1908 Race Riots in Springfield, Illinois, , the NAACP has been supported by countless members and have led the fight for freedom, justice and equality. Members forge a better future each and every day for men, women and children. While the NAACP has won many victories, the times ahead are critical. The organization helps to close the gaps in the staggering statistics that so blatantly attest to the racial disparities in the United States which result in an overall economic opportunity deficit for many people of color. More specifically, the city of Springfield, Il has a history of disenfranchising African Americans from city employment positions. In addition, private employers have systematically erected barriers to hinder young African Americans from entering apprenticeship training programs. This lack of economic opportunity transforms into overall higher unemployment, increased high school dropout rates, increased rat6es of incarceration among a targeted population. “My personal goals are to educate, empower and encourage the community and give them the tools they need to move forward in dealing with race relationships and any type of disparity or discrimination,” she says. Her attitude in this matter, and in general, is one of optimism, kindness and objectivity,” she says with optimism. Haley has been involved in numerous community organizations over the past twenty years, including the Springfield NAACP Executive Committee, where she currently serves as the President. Her goal is to “Educate, Empower, and Encourage” her community to make a difference. Through Haley’s efforts, in August 2011, for the first time in the city’s history, the city mandated that 25 percent of new police and fire recruits be minorities to ensure that new hires be representative of the community as a whole. 36

Previous page: Teresa Haley receiving 2012 Women of Influence Award. Above: Teresa Haley speaking at Anti-Scott Walker Rally on April 17, 2012. Left: Teresa Haley speaking at We Are One union Rally in front of State Capital Building in February 2012.

In 2011, Haley presented testimony for the Illinois NAACP to the Illinois Legislature to preserve “one person, one vote,” for minority communities, Redistricting, High Speed Rail, and Drug Testing Public Aid Recipients. One of the present-day issues that concerns her is the high speed rail proposal. Some plans would result in approximately 40 trains per day coming through residential east side neighborhoods. She is concerned about east side residents having easy access to the hospitals. “Growing up in the 38

projects, when someone got hurt, Above & Right: Coordinating and commenting on the 2012 NAACP Martin Luther King Jr. Unity March and Voter Registration and being interviewed afterwards by local media.

our only access. I used to see and hear people getting shot, stabbed and beat up, but paramedics would not come in our community. If they came, there was always a delay. People would die because paramedics would not come to the projects. “That’s one of the reasons I love the Red Cross and what they stand for. When disasters occur, they do not discriminate.” Haley was the first black chair of the American Red Cross regional chapter. She is currently its Philanthropy Chair. “People need to be 39

Above: Teresa Haley with Pat Carpenter, AKA and alone on right testifying on behalf of the Divine Nine at Redistricting Hearing before State of Illinois Legislature Committee on April 6, 2011.

proactive instead of reactive. I encourage everyone to learn CPR. She has used her CPR skills in emergency situations, and has been teaching CPR and volunteering for the Red Cross since 1989. “Someone asked me if I would be interested in teaching a CPR class because I love to talk and I already do adult learning. Now I’m able to teach both as a state employee and a volunteer.” As a direct result of Ms. Haley’s volunteer work the minority population in Springfield can feel a sense of community pride by seeing more police and fire personnel on city payroll, increased wellness awareness through Red Cross efforts, and increased parental participation in NAACP education and awareness initiatives. In order to ensure continued service delivery to the community, Ms. Haley is committed to maintaining her volunteer positions with the following: 

Serving as 2nd Vice President of the NAACP Illinois State Conference 2012-2014



Serving as Civil Engagement Chair of the NAACP Illinois State Conference 2012-2014

Above: Teresa Haley Volunteering as Co-Chair of the American Red Cross.

  

Serving as Chair of the Healthcare Committee of the Illinois State Conference 2010-2012 Serving as the Philanthropy Chair for the American Red Cross 2010-2012 Serving as Social Action Chair of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority

More specifically, her volunteer role within the NAACP is one marked by continued success. Ms. Haley believes that the NAACP Mission, Vision, and Objectives compel us to involve ourselves directly in struggles on several fronts for equal access to the American Dream, which can be simply put in this way: if we are responsible and willing to work, we can find employment, prosperity, and success in peace and harmony with our fellow Americans. Ms. Haley’s pride in public service is reflected in her professional career choice. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Illinois at Springfield. She currently serves as an Operational Training Manager for the State of Illinois. 41

Above; Teresa Haley with fellow marchers at the We Are One March for Jobs and Justice in Washington D.C. in October 2010.

Haley has assisted women in reaching their full leadership potential by living a life of example. “In his timeless book Walden, Thoreau wrote, "I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor...If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." Haley has definitely met with a success unexpected in common hours. “I got married young, divorced young and really struggled to put myself through school,” she says. My daughter was five years old the year I got divorced and went back to school. She grew up on campus…I got a fellowship and worked as a student worker and a graduate assistant. It was a struggle. I tell my friends, you have to know what you want and you have to go for it! ‘Keep it movin’ is my motto.” Haley has been a great cheerleader for her girlfriends who have gotten 42

divorced and gone back to school. “I share my stories, my stresses, and I encourage them. I also tell them it’s important to know where the resources are: sometimes it’s not about pride, it’s about survival. I have always been a cheerleader,” she says. “I try to motivate and encourage people. I care about people even when they don’t care about themselves.” She organized the Martin Luther King Unity March and Rally, One Nation Working Together, 10-2-10 March on Washington, D.C., Candidates Forums, Get-Out-theVote 2010 Campaign, We Are One rally for collective bargaining, and Hate Crime vs. Hate Activity Forum. Served as Keynote Speaker for the Civil Liberates Luncheon for Elks Lodge – 2011 and has trained workshops on various topics for the Illinois Association of Minorities in Government. Haley was the first female Black Chairperson of the American Red Cross in her county. She also worked hard to educate the minority community on the importance of the 2010 Census. In addition, she helped raise money for earthquake victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Haiti Earthquake in 2010. Haley has received the following awards and recognitions:     

Ruby A. Edwards Awards – Outstanding Community Service – IL-WI Daughter of Elks - I.B.P.O.E.W 2011 Rosa Parks – Woman of the Year Award – NAACP Midwest Region, III 2010 Community Award from the local branch of NAACP – 2009 President’s Award from the local branch of NAACP – 2008 Currently serves as 2nd Vice President of the Illinois State Conference 2012-2014

Right: Teresa Haley as Delegate at 2012 NAACP Convention in July 2012.



             

Currently serves as Civil Engagement Chair of the Illinois State Conference 2012-2014 Currently serves as Chair of the Healthcare Committee of the Illinois State Conference 2010-2012 Serves on Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Chicago Regional Expert Panel 20112012 Organized Public Forums to address issues and concerns of the black community 2011 Opposed Changing Noise Ordinance by City Council Members 2011 Recognition Award for Increasing Diversity Outreach in the Springfield community 2010 Lead instructor for Save-A-Life Saturday - American Red Cross - Illinois Capital Area Chapter Recognition Award for 21 years of Volunteer Service to the Red Cross 2011 Serves as Philanthropy Chair for the American Red Cross 2010-2012 Organized Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity March, Program & Voter Registration Drive 2010-2012 Participated in the FBI Citizens’ Academy – FBI Springfield Division Served as a Interview Panel Member for the Springfield Police Department Profiled in the August 2010 issue of VOICE Magazine 2012 Governor’s Volunteer Service Award Winner 2012 Women of Influence Award Winner Profiled in the March 2012 issue of Springfield Business Journal Profiled in the July/August 2012 issue of Springfield Scene Magazine.

Most recently Ms. Haley was nominated for the Springfield Chamber of Commerce’s Athena Award which honors community leadership in encouraging women to develop their potential. She was among twelve other influential women being recognized and honored at Awards Ceremony on September 26, 2012.

Left: Teresa Haley speaking as Interim President at 2012 NAACP Convention in Houston. Texas in July 2012.

winner of the Athena Award will be revealed at a ceremony scheduled for September 26, 2012. In addition to her natural resilience, Haley relies upon her faith to maintain her positive attitude. “You always have to remind yourself of how blessed you are and what you’ve been through,” she says. “You have to keep your faith in God and prayer; my god sister and grandmother instilled that me. If I have a bowl of ice cream with my granddaughter, we stop and pray and thank God for it, because there were times when we couldn’t afford a bowl of ice cream. Growing up, we had ketchup sandwiches and syrup sandwiches and that government cheese that would not melt and lots of spaghetti and pinto beans.” Things are different now for Teresa, but she never forgets where she came from and the people whose lives today mirror her own childhood. Discrimination of all types still exists—it did not magically go away after the Civil Rights Movement. Through her work, her volunteerism and her personal life, Haley strives to give people the necessary tools to protect themselves and to be treated fairly and equally. Haley is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and serves as Social Action Chair and the past Participant Chairperson for the Delta LaPetite Girl’s Mentoring Program. She organized Delta Day’s at the Illinois State Capitol, City of Springfield, Il City Hall, and the District 186 School Board.

Below is and interview of Teresa Haley conducted by VOICE Magazine. VM: What is the biggest challenge of your work as a Volunteer? TH: I would say: Keeping faith, family, work and volunteer balance;Working tireless hours to help people who don’t seem to or should I say don’t realize they need someone to speak-up or fight for their rights.As a volunteer you don’t always get a “Thank You” when you have made a difference in someone’s life or their child’s life. 1) Knowing when to say NO! Once people realize that you are passionate about what you do as a volunteer and your community they will call on you frequently. VM: What is your proudest achievement? TH: I have a few achievements that I’m proud of: 1) Being raised by a single mother from the projects when all odds were against me to sitting in boardrooms in Springfield, IL with people from all races and walks of life. 2) Knowing at the end of the day, I made a difference in the lives of people in my community at no cost to them. 3) When I received the award because someone or a committee saw or recognized the good that I have done for others without me having to tell them or say a word. Growing up, my mother taught me to always stay humble and never brag on myself, let other people do the bragging. There is a scripture that states ‘Let the work I do speak for me” that is how I live my life as I don’t have to say a word because my work is doing the speaking. VM: What leaders, thinkers or doers do you admire most? TH: Dr. King, President Obama, Angela Davis and Dorothy Height! The bible teaches that an angel spoke to Moses in a dream and told him he had been chosen at an older age of 80 to lead his people out of Egypt and into the promise land known as “The Land of Milk & Honey.” As we know after 40 years of wondering around and around in the wilderness after having a chance to see the promise land Moses died at the age of 120 years old and never having a chance to lead his people into the promise land. Now Joshua who was Moses’ assistant would become the new leader to complete the journey and get them to the promise land. So later Joshua and his people crossed the Jordan

River and indeed Joshua had lead his people to the promised land. So you see Moses had the dream but Joshua fulfilled the dream. Dr. King had a dream of leading his people to the promise land “The Land of Freedom and Justice” He gave his famous speech “I Have a Dream” that talked about his vision for his people and shortly after his speech at the age of 39 he was shot and killed. Like Moses, Martin never had the chance to lead his people to the promise land. In 1961, a young bi-racial boy was born and given the African name of Barack which means ‘Blessed”. As Barack got older he like Joshua believed that he could fulfill the dream of Dr. King of taking his people to the promise land. He believed like his ancestors that a black man can go from the outhouse to the white house. So the people of the United States embraced Barack Obama’s dream and worked with him to fulfill the dream of a previous black man by becoming President of the United States of America. Some say Martin was the “Moses” who only saw the promise land. Obama is the “Joshua” who led the people into the promise land. I admire both Dr. King and President Obama for their faith, courage, boldness and confidence when all odds were against them. I also admire Angela Davis, who has been an activist as long as I can remember. She promoted women’s rights and racial justice while pursuing her career as a philosopher and teacher. As a child, people like Angela made me proud to be black. There were positive chats like “say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud.” I learned from her “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” I remember my daughter TaKenya calling me from college at Grambling State University and saying “man we got to go back to school tonight to listen to some woman named Angela Davis.” I got so excited and said,” you are so blessed; you get to see one of my hero’s speak in person.” To this day, I wish that I could have gotten off work and driven down to Louisiana to see and hear Angela Davis.

Lastly, I admire Dorothy Height, who served as president of the National Council of Negro Women for four-decades. Height was a teacher and activist who worked hard for better working conditions for black domestic workers. She was influential in the desegregation of the YWCA at all levels of the organization. Height was one of few women who participated at the highest levels of the civil rights movement. Women like Soror Height made me proud to be a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. These four people are just a few who encouraged and inspired me to continue to fight and make a difference in this world. They have inspired me to “Keep It Movin!” VM: What is one thing you’ve learned from your career that you would pass along to young people who want their careers and lives to have an impact? TH: First I always tell young people that your career is just that a career and should not be what defines you because it is a job. What you do for others should be what defines you as that is something that you don’t get paid to do. As Dr. King stated “Everyone can be Great, because Everyone can Serve.” I also advocate that youth should volunteer to give back to their community and try to make a difference. Life is not always fair and you are not always going to be treated fair on the job. But use the resources available to fight for change. “Sometimes making a difference starts with you.” I stress for them to be an ‘Impact Player” on the job and they will usually find a way to keep you on board as you’re a valuable asset to the company. VM:As President of your local NAACP branch and as a union member yourself, you have become very outspoken about protecting worker rights. Do you think that there is currently an assault on worker rights and if so, what do you think is the best way to fight it? TH: Yes, to vote people out of office. That is the only way to affect change. Because if you leave the same people in office, you are likely to get the same results. There needs to be a change in leadership. And if the people we elect to the new leadership lie or don’t fulfill our commitment, vote them out too! VM: The NAACP has publicly opposed the new high-speed rail that would pass through Springfield, IL from Chicago, IL to St. Louis, Mo. While other local groups and political figures have supported it. Above: Teresa Haley with Lyn Whitfield at Springfield Urban League Health Awareness Luncheon April 2011

Above: Teresa Haley with Lyn Whitfield at Springfield Urban Luncheon April 2011

League Health Awareness

Briefly state what the three main issues that your organization has with the project. TH: The number of trains that will be crossing per hour per day will reduce the travel time getting to and from work, home, grocery store, hospital and church, etc. This especially affects access to medical services. By leaving the trains on 3rd Street, will allow people from all parts of the city access to one of the two major hospitals. The trains have always split the medical district, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing new. Putting up sound barriers will further segregate the East side of Springfield from the rest of the community. Cosmetically, it wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t blend in with the rest of the city. No other side of the City of Springfield has sound barrier walls. The Eastside and North side of Springfield are the only areas in the city that have railroad tracks. There are no railroad tracks left on the Westside of Springfield. They have all been removed and replaced with bike trails. In addition, elderly people that would have to relocate who had made a decision to live their retirement years in Springfield, IL in homes that are now paid in full. Now they will have to move to another part of town that they may or may not be able to afford due to higher home prices, higher property taxes, higher utility, and 49

now may have a new small VM: Your name is being mentioned as a potential candidate for public office on both the local and state level. Have you ruled out running for public office? Left: Teresa Haley with actor/author Hill Harper at 2011 NAACP National Convention

do not have a muzzle.

TH: No, I thought about it. However, timing is everything. I am not in a financial situation where I can afford to quit my job right now. As president of the NAACP, I can speak on behalf of the people that don’t have a voice, can’t, or won’t speak up on certain issues affecting the entire community. Let’s just say I

VM: What are the three most important issues that you think need addressing in our communities? TH:

I would say: 1) Economic Development and Entrepreneurship - new businesses and more job opportunities. The NAACP Economic Department aims to educate around the realities and histories of racial economic inequality, recommend practical policy solutions and mobilize individual and community action. 2) Health Advocacy – As the premiere grass roots organization whose strength is evident in mobilizing communities of color around a common cause, the NAACP will focus the Association and local unit’s outreach and advocacy health agenda in the following areas: Childhood Obesity, HIV/AIDS, Health Reform and Health

Disparity Elimination. services

Affordable and equal access to medical

3) Education and Youth Development – Four-prong strategy to improve educational achievement for disadvantaged students: Increasing Resource Equity: Target funds to neediest kids, Ensuring College & Career Readiness : A path to success after graduation for all students, Improving Teaching: Growing our own great teachers now in underserved communities, Improving Discipline: Eliminate zero tolerance; keep kids in school. VM: We understand that you are launching a new consulting practice named “Haley & Associates.” Who is your target market and what services will you provide? TH: Our target market consists of organizations, professionals, school districts, government, clubs, etc. that wants/needs to sharpen his, her or their training and development skills. The goal of Haley & Associates is to provide individuals and organizations with the necessary tools needed to improve and enhance their skills in the following area: Anger Management, Bullying in the Workplace, Communication Skills, CPR/First Aid, Conflict Resolution, Dealing with Difficult People, Diversity, Facilitation Skills, Flagger Certification, Sexual Harassment, Stress Management, Team Building just to name a few.. VM: You are a very busy individual. pastimes?

What is/are you favorites

TH: I enjoy spending time with family and friends, singing in the church choir, shopping, traveling and relaxing with a good movie.

George McGovern dead at 90: Liberal senator helped open up Democratic party to African-Americans by Adam Howard

In this March 10, 1969 file photo, Rosalie Bryant holds her two year old son, Gregory Michael as she talks to Senators George McGovern, D-S.D., right and Jacob Javits, R-N.Y., in Immokalee, Fla..(AP Photo/Jim Bourdier, File) The late Senator George McGovern is far too often ridiculed for his landslide presidential defeat forty years ago. But he was in some ways an unsung hero of the civil rights movement. While he hailed from the lily-white Plains state of South Dakota, his politics were progressive, even radical, by his era’s standards. His rise also coincided with a sea change from within the Democratic party. He played a central role in reforming the Democratic party’s nomination and convention process, which helped open the party up dramatically to AfricanAmericans, creating a constituency that would eventually support Barack Obama’s ascendency to the White House. Throughout the 40s, 50s and 60s, as African-Americans increasingly joined the Democratic party, they found themselves stymied or segregated at convention time. This injustice culminated with civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer‘s 54

legendary protest at the 1964 convention and the infamous “police riot” outside the 1968 DNC in Chicago. The violent confrontation between Chicago police and anti-war protestors shocked Americans nationwide and may have contributed significantly to the Democrats’ defeat that November. The consensus among progressives was that had the party made efforts to be more inclusive, disaster could have been averted. Clearly, the party needed to make some changes, and Sen. George McGovern was tapped to head a commission to open up the party’s nomination process in 1969. McGovern’s report, entitled “A Mandate for Change,” revolutionized the Democratic primary process. It established proportion allocation of delegates from primaries instead of winner-take-all contests which allowed future long shots like himself and Jimmy Carter a better chance to compete for the nomination against establishment candidates. Even more importantly, the McGovern plan put a quota system in place for future conventions which required “a certain number of males, females, blacks and people under 30.” It also said that, “State parties overcome the effects of past discrimination by affirmative steps to encourage minority group participation.”

According Rick Perlstein’s book Nixonland, “It was an attempt to honor the spirit of the Mississippi Freedom Democrats disenfranchised at the 1964 convention — at the fact that in 1968 the number of black delegates, at 5.5 percent, was a fraction of their representation of in the Democratic Party as a whole (Mississippi and Georgia’s regular delegations didn’t include a single one).” While some old school, prejudiced Democrats chafed at McGovern’s changes, the new guard saw these moves as vital to the party’s survival. “I think it saved the Democratic party,” said ex-presidential candidate and former Senator Gary Hart in the documentary One Bright Shining Moment. By 1972, what was once a machine rigged by often racially-insensitive power brokers had become what Gloria Steinem once called “a convention that actually looked like the country.” That same year, McGovern captured the Democratic nomination through a grassroots campaign largely made possible by a coalition of youth, minorities and anti-war activists, some of the same voters who helped Barack Obama become the party standard bearer in 2008.

On the convention floor that year in Miami, McGovern helped cement the changing of the guard when he denied credentials to the polarizing Democratic boss, then-Chicago mayor Richard Daley, and instead welcomed a delegation led by a young Reverend Jesse Jackson to represent the state of Illinois. Despite his invaluable contribution to the democratic process (not to mention his high-flying heroics in World War II), McGovern will probably always be remembered as the presidential candidate who crashed and burned so emphatically on Election Day in 1972. That said, we now know that President Richard Nixon deliberately sabotaged the campaigns of his Democratic competitors and the Watergate break-in at the Democratic headquarters, which occurred late in the campaign, was not exposed as a White House endeavor it was until after the election. McGovern, who was ailing for some time, has passed away at age 90 but his legacy lives on in a party now best known for its multicultural base instead of its segregationist past. www.thegrio.com

"The Last Dragon" Bruce Leroy's Bro Dies in NYC

Leo O'Brien, one of the stars of "The Last Dragon" ... has died in NYC, TMZ has learned. Leo played Bruce Leroy's little brother Richie Green in the 1985 cult classic film. Details surrounding O'Brien's death are unclear ... but law enforcement sources tell us the actor passed away Wednesday morning, and an autopsy is scheduled for today. Leo's "Dragon" co-star Taimak (Bruce Leroy) says family members believe O'Brien had been in failing health recently. As TMZ first reported ... O'Brien survived two gunshot wounds just over a year ago in Harlem. Police arrested a suspect who was charged with attempted murder. O'Brien was 41 years old. http://www.tmz.com 58

The Black Church by Marilyn Mellowes 59

Marilyn Mellowes was principally responsible for the research and development of the series God in America and has served as its series producer. She produced and wrote From Jesus to Christ, the First Christians, a four-hour FRONTLINE series that premiered in 1998. Additional credits include Vietnam: A Television History, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, Castroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Challenge, The Kennedys, Nixon and Julia! Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Favorite Chef. In the fall of 2008, newspapers, talk shows and blogs exploded with news that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the African American minister from Chicago's Trinity Church, had denounced the United States with inflammatory language: "God damn America!" Wright's most famous parishioner was the leading Democratic contender for the presidential nomination, Barack Obama. Trinity was Obama's spiritual home -- the place where he had found religion, where he was married, and where his daughters had been baptized. Rev. Wright, a former Marine with a Ph.D., had served as his spiritual mentor. While many white voters seemed surprised, puzzled and shocked by Wright's angry rhetoric, African Americans were less so. Obama seized the moment to deliver a profound meditation on race in America, a speech titled "A More Perfect Union." Tracing the deep historical roots of racial inequality and injustice, Obama put Wright's anger into historical context. In very personal terms, he also described his experience at Trinity: 60

Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America. Eventually Obama broke with Wright and left Trinity, but his speech illuminated the role of the black church in the African American experience. Standing apart from the dominant white society, yet engaged in a continuing dialogue with it, the church evolved with countless acts of faith and resistance, piety and protest. As historian Anthea Butler has observed, the church has been profoundly shaped by regional differences, North and South, East and West, yet in both the private and public spheres, the church was, and remains, sustained and animated by idea of freedom. The term "the black church" evolved from the phrase "the Negro church," the title of a pioneering sociological study of African American Protestant churches at the turn of the century by W.E.B. Du Bois. In its origins, the phrase was largely an academic category. Many African Americans did not think of themselves as belonging to "the 61

Negro church," but rather described themselves according to denominational affiliations such as Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and even "Saint" of the Sanctified tradition. African American Christians were never monolithic; they have always been diverse and their churches highly decentralized. Today "the black church" is widely understood to include the following seven major black Protestant denominations: the National Baptist Convention, the National Baptist Convention of America, the Progressive National Convention, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and the Church of God in Christ. Origins New historical evidence documents the arrival of slaves in the English settlement in Jamestown, Va., in 1619. They came from the kingdoms of Ndongo and Kongo, in present-day Angola and the coastal Congo. In the 1500s, the Portuguese conquered both kingdoms and carried Catholicism to West Africa. It is likely that the slaves who arrived in Jamestown had been baptized Catholic and had Christian names. For the next 200 years, the slave trade exported slaves from Angola, Ghana, Senegal and other parts of West Africa to America's South. Here they provided the hard manual labor that supported the South's biggest crops: cotton and tobacco. In the South, Anglican ministers sponsored by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, founded in England, made earnest attempts to teach Christianity by rote memorization; the approach had little appeal. Some white owners allowed the enslaved to worship in white churches, where they were segregated in the back of the building or in the balconies. Occasionally persons of African descent might hear a special sermon from white preachers, but these sermons tended to stress obedience and duty, and the message of the apostle Paul: "Slaves, obey your masters." Both Methodists and Baptists made active efforts to convert enslaved Africans to Christianity; the Methodists also licensed black men to preach. During the 1770s 62

and 1780s, black ministers began to preach to their own people, drawing on the stories, people and events depicted in the Old and New Testaments. No story spoke more powerfully to slaves than the story of Exodus, with its themes of bondage and liberation brought by a righteous and powerful God who would one day set them free. Remarkably, a few black preachers in the South succeeded in establishing independent black churches. In the 1780s, a slave named Andrew Bryan preached to a small group of slaves in Savannah, Ga. White citizens had Bryan arrested and whipped. Despite persecution and harassment, the church grew, and by 1790 it became the First African Baptist Church of Savannah. In time, a Second and a Third African Church were formed, also led by black pastors. In the North, blacks had more authority over their religious affairs. Many worshipped in established, predominantly white congregations, but by the late 18th century, blacks had begun to congregate in self-help and benevolent associations called African Societies. Functioning as quasi-religious organizations, these societies often gave rise to independent black churches. In 1787, for example, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones organized the Free African Society of Philadelphia, which later evolved into two congregations: the Bethel Church, the mother church of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) denomination, and St. Thomas Episcopal Church, which remained affiliated with a white Episcopal denomination. These churches continued to grow. Historian

Mary Sawyer notes that by 1810, there were 15 African churches representing four denominations in 10 cities from South Carolina to Massachusetts. In black churches, women generally were not permitted to preach. One notable exception was Jarena Lee, who became an itinerant preacher, traveling thousands of miles and writing her own spiritual autobiography. The Second Great Awakening and "Hush Harbors" In the late 18th and early 19th century, thousands of Americans, black and white, enslaved and free, were swept up in the revival known as the Second Great Awakening. In the South, the religious fervor of evangelical Christianity resonated easily with the emotive religious traditions brought from West Africa. Forging a unique synthesis, slaves gathered in "hush harbors" -- woods, gullies, ravines, thickets and swamps -- for heartfelt worship which stressed deliverance from the toil and troubles of the present world, and salvation in the heavenly life to come.

Yet most of the enslaved lay outside the institutional church. In the 1830s and 1840s, Southern churchmen undertook an active campaign to persuade plantation owners that slaves must be brought into to the Christian fold. Because 64

plantations were located far from churches, this meant that the church had to be carried to the plantation. Aided by denominational missionary societies and associations, plantation missions became popular institutions. But missionaries recognized that Christianity would not appeal to all enslaved blacks. Novice missionaries were warned: He who carries the Gospel to them â&#x20AC;Ś discovers deism, skepticism, universalism â&#x20AC;Ś all the strong objections against the truth of God; objections which he may perhaps have considered peculiar only to the cultivated minds â&#x20AC;Ś of critics and philosophers! The Methodists were the most active among missionary societies, but Baptists also had strong appeal. The Baptists' insistence that each congregation should have its own autonomy meant that blacks could exercise more control over their religious affairs. Yet the independence of black churches was curbed by law and by the white Southern response to slave uprisings and abolition.

Abolition In the years leading up to the Civil War, the black church found its political and prophetic voice in the cause of abolition. Black ministers took to their pulpits to speak out against slavery and warned that any nation that condoned slavery would suffer divine punishment. Former slave and Methodist convert Frederick Douglass challenged Christians to confront an institution that violated the central tenets of the Christian faith, including the principle of equality before God. In 1829, African American abolitionist David Walker issued his famous tract, "Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World," urging slaves to resort to violence, if necessary. He, too, warned of divine punishment: "God rules in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. ... His ears continually open to the tears and groans of His oppressed people. ..."

In the North, black ministers and members of the African American community joined white abolitionists in organizing the Underground Railroad, an informal network that helped persons escaping bondage to make their way to freedom. Prominent among these activists was Harriet Tubman, who escaped from slavery in 1849 and made her way to Philadelphia. Having secured her freedom, Tubman put herself in jeopardy by making repeated return trips to the South to assist others. Her courage and determination earned her the affectionate sobriquet "Moses." Emancipation and Reconstruction For those who yearned for freedom, the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, seemed to re-enact the Exodus story of the ancient Israelites: God had intervened in human history to liberate his chosen people. But the stroke of a presidential pen did not eliminate poverty and dislocation, chaos and uncertainty. In the North, black churches organized missions to the South to help newly freed persons find the skills and develop the talents that would allow them to lead independent lives. Education was paramount. African American missionaries, including AME Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne, established schools and educational institutions. White 66

denominations, including Presbyterian, Congregational and Episcopal congregations, also sent missionaries to teach reading and math skills to a population previously denied the opportunity for education. Over time, these missionary efforts gave rise to the establishment of independent black institutions of higher education, including Morehouse College and Spelman College in Atlanta. But there were tensions. Some Northerners, including Payne, did not approve of the emotional worship style of their Southern counterparts; he stressed that "true" Christian worship meant proper decorum and attention to reading the Bible. Many Southerners were disinterested in Payne's admonitions. They liked their emotive form of worship and saw no reason to cast it aside. Nevertheless, most black Southerners ended up joining independent black churches that had been formed in the North before the Civil War. These included the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ). In 1870, Southerners formed the Colored (now "Christian") Methodist Episcopal Church, and in 1894, black Baptists formed the National Baptist Convention. In all these denominations, the black preacher stood as the central figure. W.E.B. Du Bois immortalized these men in his famous essay, "Of the Faith of the Fathers," that appeared in his seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk. Du Bois described the preacher as "the most unique personality developed by the Negro on American soil," a man who "found his function as the healer of the sick, the 67

interpreter of the Unknown, the comforter of the sorrowing, the supernatural avenger of wrong, and the one who rudely but picturesquely expressed the longing, disappointment, and resentment of a stolen and oppressed people." Women Men commanded the pulpits of the black church; they also dominated church power and politics. Denied the chance to preach, growing numbers of women, mostly middle class, found ways to participate in religious life. They organized social services, missionary societies, temperance associations and reading groups. They fought for suffrage and demanded social reform. They wrote for religious periodicals, promoting Victorian ideals of respectability and womanhood. Like the crusading newspaper reporter Ida B. Wells, they protested racial injustice, lynching and violence. Among the most influential women was Nannie Burroughs, who served as corresponding secretary of the Woman's Convention of the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A. In a major address to the NBC delivered in 1920, Burroughs chastised black ministers: 68

We might as well be frank and face the truth. While we have hundreds of superior men in the pulpits, North and South, East and West, the majority of our religious leaders have preached too much Heaven and too little practical Christian living. In many, the spirit of greed, like the horse-leach, is ever crying, "Give me, give me, give me." Does the absorbing task of supplying their personal needs bind leaders to the moral, social and spiritual needs of our people? Men, she argued, must welcome women into the affairs of government. Women must organize and educate. "There will be protest against politics in the Church," she predicted, but insisted, "It is better to have politics than ignorance." The Great Migration Burroughs rose to prominence during the period known as the "Great Migration." Between 1890 and 1930, 2.5 million black people, mostly poor and working class, left their homes in the South and relocated in cities of the North. This influx of Southerners transformed Northern black Protestant churches and created what historian Wallace Best calls a "new sacred order." Best's study of the impact of the Great Migration in Chicago explores the dynamics of this transformation. Accustomed to a more emotional style of worship, Southerners imbued churches with a "folk" religious sensibility. The distinctive Southern musical idiom known as "the blues" evolved into gospel music. The themes of exile and deliverance influenced the theological orientation of the churches. Women filled the pews; in Chicago, 70 percent of churchgoers were women. Responding to the immediate material and psychological needs of new congregants, black churches undertook social service programs. 69

Few ministers were more aware of the impact of the Great Migration than the Rev. Lacey K. Williams of Olivet Baptist Church, the oldest Baptist church in Chicago. In an essay published in the Chicago Sunday Tribune in 1929, Williams argued that black churches must respond to the practical and spiritual needs of people struggling to adjust to urban life; the churches must be "passionately human, but no less divine." Under Williams' leadership, Olivet developed a program of progressive social reform, reaching out to new migrants, providing them with social services and knitting them into the larger church community. Olivet Church became the largest African American church -- and the largest Protestant church -- in the entire nation. In the South, rural immigrants poured into major cities such as Atlanta and Birmingham, where they contributed to established congregations and encouraged the growth of new ones. But in rural areas, churches struggled to cope with the weakening social structure that had once sustained them. Ministers were not always educated. But it was the lay members -- deacons, ushers, choirs, song leaders, Sunday school teachers and "mothers" of the congregation -- who gave the churches their vitality and strength. Church socials, Sunday picnics, Bible study and praise meetings encouraged social cohesion, heightened a sense of community and nurtured hope in the face of discrimination and violence. By the 1950s, the infrastructure of black churches and the moral resilience they 70

encouraged had laid the foundation for the crusade that would transform the political and religious landscape of America: the civil rights movement. The Civil Rights Movement For more than 100 years, blacks had struggled against racial inequality, racial violence and social injustice. By the mid-1950s, resistance coalesced into concrete plans for action, spurred in part by the brutal murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi. In September 1955, a photo of Till's mutilated and battered body lying in an open casket aroused anger and deep revulsion among blacks and whites, both in the North and South. Three months after his death, a seamstress named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Ala. She was arrested and fined. Soon after, ministers and lay leaders gathered to decide on their course of action: a boycott of the Montgomery buses. They also decided to form an association, the Montgomery Improvement Association, and chose as their spokesman the newly appointed 26-year-old minister of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Martin Luther King Jr. The son and grandson of ministers, King had grown up in his father's Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. In his first speech he clearly defined the religious and moral dimensions of the movement:

We are not wrong in what we are doing. If we are wrong, then the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong â&#x20AC;Ś King continued as the principal spokesman for the boycott. Behind the scenes, Jo Ann Robinson and E.D. Nixon managed the protest and kept it going. The boycott lasted more than a year. In 1956, a federal ruling struck down the Montgomery ordinance; the Supreme Court of the United States later affirmed this decision. Two years later, King and other black ministers formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), with the goal of organizing anti-segregation efforts in other communities in the South. Its members included Montgomery minister Ralph Abernathy; Andrew Young, a Congregationalist minister from New Orleans; James Lawson from the United Methodist Church; and Wyatt T. Walker, a Baptist. Civil rights activist Ella Baker served as the group's executive secretary; King was elected president and declared that the goal of the movement was "to save the soul of the nation." As historian Albert Robateau has observed, "The civil rights movement became a religious crusade." As with emancipation, the civil rights crusade was sustained by the Exodus story. As congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis observes: "Slavery was our Egypt, segregation was our Egypt, discrimination was our Egypt, and so during

the height of the civil rights movement it was not unusual for people to be singing, 'Go down Moses way on down in Egypt land and tell Pharaoh to let my people go.'" Churches played a pivotal role in protests. In crowded basements and cramped offices, plans were made, strategies formulated, people assembled. Decades of providing social services now paid off in organized political protest. Marches took on the characteristics of religious services, with prayers, short sermons and songs. But not all churches joined the civil rights movement. As historian Barbara Savage has shown, most pastors and congregations were reluctant to defy the status quo. J.H. Jackson, the conservative leader of the venerable National Baptist Convention and pastor of Chicago's Olivet Baptist Church, was staunchly opposed to King's tactics as he affirmed the rule of law. Like Thurgood Marshall and the leadership of the NAACP, he believed that civil disobedience, mass protests and any other efforts that put African Americans in conflict with the powers that be would compromise their efforts toward equality via the courts. Like Booker T. Washington, he was convinced that it was the responsibility of black people to prove their economic value and social worth to the dominant society by modeling morality, entrepreneurialism and citizenship. Tensions finally split the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., the largest historic black denomination, when King and others broke off to form the Progressive Baptist Convention. But not all those prepared to fight for civil rights subscribed to King's strategy of nonviolence. King himself seemed reluctant to risk arrest. But under pressure, he participated in a march in Birmingham that he knew would land him in jail. A group of white ministers sent a letter criticizing his actions. King replied with "Letter From Birmingham Jail," a profound reflection upon Christianity and the imperative for social justice and social change. King's letter was smuggled out of jail and widely published. The White House advised King not to proceed with plans for a March on Washington, but on Aug. 28, 1963 -- eight years to the day after the death of Emmett Till -- 200,000 civil rights activists, including preachers, rabbis, nuns, farmers, lawyers, store clerks and students, descended on the Washington Mall to 73

hear King deliver the most famous speech of the 20th century, "I Have a Dream." Drawing upon the language and cadence of Scripture, King linked biblical precepts to the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and called upon the nation to honor the commitment of the Founding Fathers to social justice and liberty for all. The afterglow that enveloped the march was quickly shattered when four little girls attending Sunday school were killed by a bomb that exploded in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham on Sept. 15, 1963. The following year President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But King himself faced growing criticism. Malcolm X, fiery spokesman for the Nation of Islam, mocked his nonviolent approach. Stokely Carmichael and others issued calls for "Black Power." King denounced the Vietnam War and began to organize the Poor People's Campaign. His assassination on April 4, 1968, signaled the end of the apex of the civil rights movement. The Next Chapter The status and role of the black church in the post-civil rights era has been the subject of lively debate among African American scholars. Some argue that "the black church" is "dead," that it has lost its prophetic and progressive voice and its capacity to mobilize for reform on the national stage. Others argue the church is very much alive, and point to the results of the 2008 Pew Religious Landscape Survey that shows that African Americans are more likely than any other ethnic or racial group to report a formal religious affiliation. Even those who count themselves "unaffiliated" describe themselves as "religiously unaffiliated." Yet it is clear that the church, like all social organizations, is changing. It is also clear that the debate about what the church is, is highly charged by competing ideas about what it ought to be. Should it carry forward the prophetic imperative of the civil rights movement, the collective mandate for social change? Or should it focus on personal prosperity and individual economic advancement? Some influential black ministers and televangelists have promoted the prosperity gospel, sending the message that God wants you to be rich and that wealth is a sign of divine favor. The prosperity gospel is sometimes linked to a social conservatism that opposes homosexuality, gay rights and same-sex marriages. In the 2004 presidential race, Republican strategists courted these preachers with success. By contrast, at Trinity Church in Chicago, Jeremiah Wright stressed pride in African identity and espoused a brand of black liberation theology. Trinity is "unapologetically Christian, unashamedly black." His message of affirmation and identity remains far more complex than a few sound bites can possibly express. Now under the guidance of a new pastor, Trinity continues to offer a wide range 74

of social services, including meals for the homeless, housing for the elderly, child care programs and ministries for people with AIDS and HIV infection and prison inmates. According to Professor Jonathan Walton, for more than 300 years, the black church in America has provided a safe haven for black Christians in a nation shadowed by the legacy of slavery and a society that remains defined by race and class. Inspired by the story of Exodus, African Americans can think out, pray out and shout out their anger and aspirations, free from the unstated yet powerful constraints that govern dialogue with the larger white society. In the pulpit and the pews, in choir lofts and Sunday schools, the black church continues to offer affirmation and dignity to people still searching for equality and justice, still willing to reach out for a more inclusive, embracing tomorrow. Professor Anthea Butler (University of Pennsylvania) and Professor Jonathan Walton (Harvard Divinity School) served as editorial advisers on this essay. http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/black-church/

Aunt Violetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Thanksgiving Prayer By joya

Every day is a day of thanks giving, but today is so special. We lift you up Lord with bowed heads. We come to you as humble as we know how praising you once again for we are so grateful. We are all together here today with family and friends because you made it possible. Now here we all are setting together holding hands. We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry about what we would eat today. Turkey, ham or spam. We just wanted to be together on this special thanks giving day. As we wish everyone else a happy holiday, God you granted us our wish and we thank you. You brought us over the highways and by-ways and protected us with your grace. You saw to it that we all have a nice dinner on our plates. So in our hearts minds we will be thanking you all through the day. Lord we ask you to feed everyone that is hungry in the world today with a nice warm meal from someone who cares about others and who has love in their hearts for one another. Amen

How To: Build Your Brand with Facebook The Link Between Wall Posts and Product Loyalty

You’ve got a solid company and a winning brand. Do you really need to get wrapped up in the Facebook craze? What’s the big deal, anyway? “Facebook offers a free booth at the world’s largest tradeshow with 600 million visitors, so why not be there?” says Jennifer Abernethy, a sales and marketing consultant and author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Social Media Marketing. “This is a business revolution that is taking place right now, and it is good to have a presence there.” The key is to identify your target audience, develop an authentic voice, and keep an open mind as the technology and your Facebook presence evolves. “We don’t know what Facebook will look like in two years,” Abernethy says. “But it is never too late to jump on the bandwagon.”

Who, What and How Often? While you may feel the urge to jump in feet first to compete with company pages with millions of fans, the key is to take your time and develop a strategy that you can build slowly, says Michael Bird, president of Des Moines, Iowa, social media consultancy Spindustry. A large number of fans is less important than a few fullyengaged fans. “Take some time to develop your voice and to focus on the audience who will use that brand,” Bird says. For example, just because you have 79

three product lines does not mean you automatically need three Facebook pages. Instead, determine who uses your products and create a page that focuses on them. It is essential to figure out who this target audience is and how to communicate with those people. Are they busy moms? Single urban guys? Broke college students? No matter who your target customers are, talk to them like they’re real people. “They don’t care about your product lines or corporate language,” Bird says. “People have an inherent cynicism about the corporate veil. The whole idea behind social media is giving people a peek behind that veil. You have to be informal and authentic, and engage in a way that encourages two-way communication. People like to share things they’re passionate about, just as long as they’re sharing news they’re proud of.” It will take trial and error, but post not only about your product news, but headlines, insider tips and contests that appeal to your target audience. “Facebook can help broaden the definition of what your company does,” Bird says. For example, an athletic shoe store might post a video about post-workout stretches—positioning the sales team as physical fitness experts, not just pushy peddlers. Post at least once per week, but aim for several times weekly. In the initial months of your site, it helps if readers have something to look forward to—say, tips on Tuesdays and new recipes on Fridays. But it is important to stay nimble enough to spontaneously react to relevant headlines and commentary. 80

Rules of Engagement Kinks and challenges will no doubt present themselves. A couple guidelines to live by include: ⇒ Embrace customer support issues. If fans post their complaints on the wall, use it as an opportunity to showcase your service team and commitment to resolving problems. “A negative message dealt with well is better than one not raised at all,” Bird says. ⇒ Remove off-the-wall wall posts with care. Truly offensive or inappropriate comments should be deleted, while those that are simply out of line ought to be responded to professionally. “If they’re making a statement of mistake, correct them and disengage,” Bird advises, but deleting is a stickier matter. “You potentially break the authentication of your site if you delete a post,” he says. A good rule of thumb is that if the comment were made aloud in a town hall meeting, would the police escort the messenger out? “If the answer is yes, deleting is appropriate,” Bird says.

Other Brand-Building Facebook Ideas: Give your CEO a high profile. This person should have his or her own active Facebook page, complete with an updated profile picture, Abernethy says. “Gone are the days of the elusive CEO,” she says. “People want to meet the people behind the company.” Worried your business is too boring for Facebook? Profile your employees, customers or partners. Post a video of your team or manufacturing facility. If you post a poll to select your next product, actually launch that product. When it comes to coupons, post only the killer deals. “This is not where you post coupons with all the asterisks and exceptions,” Bird says. “This is where you make people say, ‘That’s insane—how do they do that?’ It’s a great way to get people to hit the ‘like’ button.”

All photographs courtesy of K & G Photography / Alonzo Nelson The International Free and Accepted Modern Masons, Inc. and Order of the Eastern Star William V. Banks and the Lillian Gill Grand Chapter celebrated its 62nd Annual State Convention in Springfield, Illinois on September 21-23, 2012. History International Free & Accepted Modern Masons, Inc. and Order of the Eastern Star is the outgrowth of Ancient Free Masonry, as adopted by Modern Masons in 1717 at the Apple Tree Tavern, England. It adheres to the ancient moral principles of Free Masonry, but has been modified from time to time, that it may have all current and modern benefits to be offered by a Free Mason Fraternal Order. We have no quarrels with other Masonic Bodies, and will be glad to cooperate with them in building Masonry as a True Righteous Order based on the principles of the Holy Bible. International Free & Accepted Modern Masons, Inc. and Order of the Eastern Star is a worldwide fraternity organized in 1950 by the late Dr. William V. Banks, a very prominent Attorney and a Mason with very high ideals. We received our charter in 1950. Dr. Banks dream became a reality with the birth of this new Masonic Organization. Our purpose is to provide moral, financial, benevolent, and charitable leadership to serve this present age. Having been incorporated and chartered in August of 1950; our Charter empowered International Masons to practice Freemasonry, and operate as a Masonic Order, throughout the United States, its possessions and territories. This American issued charter empowers International Masons to the same rights as those charters issued directly from the Grand Lodge of England or the Grand Orient of France. Dr. Banks and his host of friends established a National Jurisdiction. Through their diligent efforts the same year, three States were incorporated: Ohio, New York and Illinois. Youth Chapters were added with authority vested similar to that in the adult constitution. The purpose â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to provide an apprentice workshop for the young children and adolescents in the charitable work of the Masonic Body. To inculcate certain moral principles, as exemplified by the Holy Bible and other moral sciences, which is highly regarded by our Masonic Order. International Masons was founded upon those Christian principles that denies no person the right to fraternalism, regardless of race, color or creed. The cardinal principles of this organization are to appeal to its membership in such a manner as to: 83

Above: Illustrious Henry Ollie, 33â&#x2014;Ś Grand master William V. Banks Grand Lodge.

1. 2. 3. 4.

Promote better understanding and coordination. To improve such fields of thought which tend to ensure sound judgment. To install in the minds of youth the necessity of intellectual progress. To regard all that tends to develop character and wholesome personality traits. 5. To establish only such assets or liabilities which are within the financial range of the membership. International Free & Accepted Modern Masons, Inc. and Order of the Eastern Star extends from coast to coast; from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, on the Bahamas Islands and Alaska. There are more than 3,500 lodges and chapters with a membership of approximately 400,000 families represented. In addition, our youth courts consists of over 2,000 members. Other institutions of Freemasonry across the nation swell with pride at the great progress our Organization has achieved in this century. A large measurer of credits must be given to the well known reputation that Freemasonry enjoys throughout our nation and around the world.

Because of our beliefs in the Bible and Christian principles, we teach charity, and service to all mankind and we try to induce an ethical way of life which brings about those improvements necessary to the construction of good, clean respected citizenship. Why Join? International Free & Accepted Modern Masons, Inc. and Order of the Eastern Star and its Youth Department provides members with the tools, instruction and encouragement to improve their moral standards and relationships with others. It provides a family atmosphere, making it possible to easily increase one's circle of friends.

International Masons provides the opportunity to travel with and meet new fraternal brothers and sisters from throughout the United States, the Bahamas and Virgin Islands. You will also learn to improve your leadership and communication skills, public speaking, and community involvement. Lastly, you will have a chance to improve your prestige, and enjoy many other benefits of membership. What do we offer? International Masons develops, promotes and requires honest leadership. Our officers at the various levels of leadership are monitored for integrity by their respective memberships and superior officers. They are required to have all expenses, donations and other forms of compensation approved by their membership. Annual internal audits of financial records are required to insure fiscal responsibility.

Above: Speaking Illustrious Kenneth Hollowell, 33â&#x2014;Ś Supreme Grand Master Left: Sister Patricia J. Hollowell, Supreme Grand matron

International Masons is democratically sponsored and controlled. Members vote for and elect their leaders. To prevent perpetuation all heads of departments have term limits. We are a true International Fraternal Order, having members throughout the United States, having members throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and soon to include the continent of Africa. We endorse the concept of "women's suffrage." A woman is welcome to join the Order of Eastern Star without the need of a male sponsor. She will be accepted and admitted on her own individual recognizance. Youth and Young Adults may become members of our Youth "Juvenile" Department beginning at the age of 5. Youth, age 13 to 18, are enrolled in the "Junior Masons & Stars" Department. Youth, age 16 to 24, are enrolled in the Young Adult Department; however, at age 16 females may elect to become 87

members of the Order of the Eastern Star, and at age 18 males may elect of become Masons. Benefits of Joining There are six key benefits of joining International Masons:     

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Low-cost endowment benefit for which you designate a beneficiary. Paid up after 20 years. Establishing a network of fraternal brothers and sisters who care for and about each other. Reasonable costs associated with joining and maintaining membership. Opportunities for leadership advancement. Recognition and acceptance throughout the United States, Bahamas, Virgin Islands, and many other areas of the world providing freedom of association. Yours is a lifetime transferable membership. If you move to another city, state or country, your membership will be transferred, and you retain your same seniority. You will be welcome to visit lodges and/or chapters wherever you go.

Other Special Advantages Here at International Masons, we are a devoted group, working together to serve you. We serve Satisfactory 98% of our members. This is why over 88

Above & Right: Keynote Speaker Teresa Haley, CEO Haley & Associates.

400,000 families across the nation have joined our fraternity, and are yet joining at the highest rate of any fraternity in the nation. If you are not a member, you are missing out on a lot of good things which you should be enjoying, such as ENDOWMENT protection and BONUSES for bringing in new members, and paid-up memberships after twenty good standing years. CLEAN SOCIALS: Family events for both youths and adults. You are taught how to enjoy yourself without the use of liquor, gambling or other forms of vice. Planned excursions and picnics are a regular part of our activity. PRESTIGE: You are no longer a lost soul in an asphalt jungle of houses; you become identified and respected as an important functionary of your community. You are given a definite and distinct part to play in making our community what it ought to be, and for our mutual help and enjoyment.

To begin with, we ask you to bring this message to your neighbors at every opportunity. Be a good neighbor, and you will have good neighbors. You will be doing yourself a big favor when you become a GOOD NEIGHBOR. There is an old toast that goes: "May you have health, wealth, and love, and a long life to enjoy them." This is our sincere aim. There is only one way to solve the problems of our times, and that's through practical application of the essential religious principles, the Brotherhood of Man, by the Fatherhood of Divinity. Which Order is Best That is a question of personal choice or preference. We believe that International Masons measures up with any other Order that you may have considered, and that given fair considerations we will be your first choice. We have democratically elected officers at every level of our fraternity. In most instances, in addition to defined terms of office, there are also specified term limits to prevent perpetual holding of office. This prevents stale leadership and provides opportunities for other to move into leadership positions. The necessary checks and balances are in place to assure honest and fair leadership. All financial officers are required to be bonded, and funds are 90

Above: Sister Charlotte D. Anekwe Grand Matron with sisters of the Lillian Gill Grand Chapter. Left: Sister Charlotte D. Anekwe Grand Matron Lillian Gill Grand Chapter.

retained in approved financial institutions requiring multiple signatures for disbursement of funds. The Masonic World News is the official publication of International Masons, and provides information of interest from the various states and Home Office. The Voice of Masters Among Men is the official publication of the Supreme Grand Lodge for Masons, and The Intellastar is the official publication for the Order of the Eastern Star. Both of these publications provide information, education

and current fraternal events to their respective memberships. We believe in keeping our members informed and up to date. “Our collective theme for 2012-2013 is “The Time is Now” taken from Ecclesiates 3:1: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” As we look at the state of the country in which we live, the time to activate our faith and work according to the plans laid forth before us by God is NOW. We have been given clear instruction of how we, as brothers and sisters within this organization, shall manifest ourselves and bring forth all that is devoted to the service of truth. Being charitable in thoughts as well as deeds, we must continue to love one another, remembering that hope is the key that opens closed doors and by keeping FAITH, all things are possible – seen and unseen, “ states Sister Charlotte Anekwe, Grand Matron, Lillian Gill Chapter.

Above: Pete Reeves, Worshipful Master, Jeremiah #159 and CEO VERVE Media with Sister Charlotte D. Anekwe Grand Matron with sisters of the Lillian Gill Grand Chapter.

“I would like to commend the International Free and Accepted Modern Masons and members of the Order of the Eastern Star of the great State of Illinois as well as the members in the National Plain States District for the excellent job that you have done this past year. Please accept my personal; heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for your commitment and support, states Illustrious Henry Ollie Grand Master. “The Time is Now, for us to live up to our obligations as members of this distinguished fraternity. When more kids are being killed on our streets than in the actual war we are definetly overdue for major change around us. Our country as a whole is in dire need of assistance. We as members of this Illustrious Masonic Order can start by doing our part in our respective communities. We must assist in various neighborhoods, let our presence be seen and our power felt. The Time is Now for all community organizations to come together with the many law enforcement agencies to work hand in hand for solution and resolve,” he continues.

So you ask again, which is the best Order? You be the Judge. Join Today!!! For information on joining please contact Illustrious Henry Ollie, Grand Master William V. Banks Grand Lodge at: gm.henryollie@yahoo.com 93

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What's wrong with affirmative action -and why we need it By LZ Granderson, CNN Contributor

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If I had a nickel each time a white guy e-mails or tweets that I have my job because I'm black, I wouldn't need the job, because I'd be rich. This is at the heart of a little talked about secret regarding affirmative action: A lot of black professionals don't like it either. Not because they think the playing field is necessarily leveled, but rather their skills and talents are constantly being slighted by whites who think their jobs were given to them solely because of their race. It's insulting, it's demeaning and there's not a damn thing we can do about it, because as long as race is part of the qualification metric, the perception that the bar was lowered so that we could jump over it will persist. There are voters who think President Obama's success came easy because of affirmative action, overlooking the fact he's brilliant and oh, by the way, he and the first lady were still paying off their student loans 10 years ago. I can tell you from experience, there is nothing "easy" about paying back student loans. Yes, there is an inherent hypocrisy of having such a policy in a post civil-rights world. But it is cynical to think we're a post-racial society just because we have a black president. That's not to characterize all that befalls blacks and other minorities as "the man" holding us down, but rather recognizing a freight train doesn't stop the instant 113

the brakes are applied. Racial inequality had been moving full steam ahead for centuries in this country, starting with the attempted genocide of Native Americans. So while our present-day attitudes about race are changed, the byproducts stemming from our past attitudes -like access to a quality education and the impact of generational poverty -- are still very much at play. Talking about this and other topics related to race doesn't make one a racist. But denying its relevance in everyday life has the potential to hurt everyone. For example, the Florida State Board of Education has recently come under fire because the academic achievement goals it set for minority students appear to be lower than the ones set for white students. By the 2017-18 school year, the board wants to have 88% of white students at or above the grade level benchmark for reading but only 81% of Latinos and 74% of blacks. The reason: the disparity in the current reading level. While 69% of whites reach that mark now, only 53% of Latinos and just 38% of blacks do. That's a problem, not only in terms of students' ability to get into college, but just having a workforce in the state that is literate. So though the percentages of the 2017-18 goals seem biased in favor of whites, the percentage increase seeks to aggressively address a major reading problem plaguing minorities. This isn't racist. This is recognizing that if this racial disparity goes unchecked, it could have debilitating long-term effects on Florida's economy. Some think the word diversity is a euphemism for "anything but white," but I don't. I believe in the diversity of thought, which sometimes can play out racially, but not always. Having people from different geographic locations can introduce different insight and talent to a college campus or workforce, and variations of socioeconomic status bring in diversity as well. But don't be mistaken, race is important.

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One of the elements of the infamous "47%" video that didn't get talked about a lot was Mitt Romney's joke that if he had Mexican heritage, he'd have "a better shot" at winning the election. That joke was followed by a comment from someone in the crowd who suggested Romney could claim to have some Native American heritage like Elizabeth Warren, to get a leg up. In what socioeconomic metric is there a quantifiable advantage to being Mexican or Native American in this country? The outcry about the push for diversity in the workplace and in college admissions would lead you to believe we're overcompensating for the sins of the past. But look around: Does it really look as if the populations with the highest poverty rate -- blacks, Latinos and Native Americans -- are just cleaning up in the game of life? True, there are certainly examples of unqualified or incompetent employees being placed in positions they shouldn't be because of flawed decision making from white superiors trying to be compliant with their HR department. However, that's not what affirmative action was designed to do. Take my profession, for example.

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According to an American Society of News Editors study, minorities make up 12.3% of newspaper staffs and 16.4% of online-only news staffs despite being a third of the general population. Similarly the National Association of Black Journalists released a study last month that found minorities filled 12% of the newsroom managerial positions at 295 stations owned by 19 media conglomerates. So I ask you, if the so-called liberal media struggles to employ diversity that's representative of the people -- and it has affirmative action policies in place -what makes us think completely removing such initiatives is going to improve the situation? I do not like affirmative action in its current incarnation, and I think a lot of us can agree the flaws need to be addressed. But in this conversation, let's not pretend the reasons why it was created in the first place are no longer around. Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter

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What Obama really wants to do in a 2nd term by Perry Bacon Jr.

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Following President Obama’s strong performance in Tuesday’s debate, Republicans, including Mitt Romney, have seized on a new line of attack: the president isn’t being specific enough about his second term agenda. Non-partisan analysts are making the same claim, namely that Obama must provide more details about what he would do in his next four years to win. They’re wrong. Even though he’s not talking about these ideas much on the campaign trail, it’s likely Obama would push for immigration and energy reform and a long-term budget deficit reduction deal in a second term. But perhaps the most important goal of an Obama second term, one he has nodded at himself at times, is preserving the accomplishments of his first term. The health care law and the Dodd-Frank regulatory reform bill were huge, sweeping measures that could transform entire sectors of the American economy. One could argue the health care law will have more impact than any single piece of legislation passed by either Bill Clinton or George W. Bush over the course of their combined 16 years in office, other than the authorizations for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Conservatives agree that the legislation is powerful, which is why they are trying so badly to repeal it. And the vast majority of the health care law has not been implemented. One could say Obama has a limited second term agenda, or that he is trying to finish carrying out his plan to give almost one in 10 Americans health insurance (an estimated 30 million will become newly insured under Obamacare) and transform the entire system of Medicare, a program on which 48 million Americans receive insurance and the government spends one of every six of its dollars. Romney has pledged to repeal Dodd-Frank and the health care law. These are not idle claims. Fifty Republican senators could join a President Romney and the GOP-backed House and eliminate most of the healthcare law through a complicated process in the Senate called reconciliation. (Paul Ryan, as vice president, would cast the 51st vote in the Senate.) Instead of the federal government effectively giving states money to insure their citizens under 118

Medicaid, as Obama would do, Romney would likely reduce funding for Medicaid and leave coverage decisions up to individual states. So Obama’s campaign has made a logical strategic decision. It has not laid out detailed plans for how the president would reform immigration or energy or the federal budget. This is regrettable in a number of ways. It has denied voters the ability to learn exactly what Obama would do in a second term. It denies the president to claim any kind of mandate on these issues. It suggests the president is not confident these ideas are popular enough to get through Congress, an acknowledgement that will make them even more difficult to get through Congress. But it’s defensible. In effect, Obama’s aides had two choices for their campaign message: (1) Implement the very controversial changes from his first term in a second term; (2) Implement the very controversial changes in his first term and propose a series of other controversial proposals, too. Journalists like me enjoy big debates about critical issues in a campaign. But in reality, proposing to raise the retirement age or a broader climate change bill would have been politically perilous. If Obama lost the election on those issues, he would not just lose the ability to reform America’s energy system and retirement programs, but also the health care law and regulatory reform agenda he spent his first two years on. There is still a path for Obama to accomplish what we assume are his goals for a second term, even if he is not talking about them now. One view of politics is that candidates campaign on their ideas, get voters to support them and then implement them in office. You could argue President Bush’s proposals to reform

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Social Security failed in 2005, in part, because he said little about them during his 2004 campaign. I would make a different case: Bush’s proposals on Social Security failed because they were (and remain) unpopular. A host of factors determine what can pass and what can’t. President Clinton’s 1996 campaign is best known for his touting of small-bore issues like school uniforms, but the next year he created a much more important program called SCHIP that provides health insurance to low-income children. Bush didn’t campaign on it much, but pumped billions of dollars into helping stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Obama didn’t campaign on bailing out America’s auto industry, but did so once in office. In fact, on an issue like immigration reform, the most important thing Obama can do is not talk about it on the trail, but make sure he wins. Republicans aren’t going to change their views on immigration because of the persuasiveness of Obama’s detailed proposal. Republicans are likely to change their posture on immigration after 70 percent of Latinos vote against them in November. Obama could have laid out a series of new detailed proposals over the last several months for his second term in office. But in reality, he already has a big agenda that we know about (Obamacare and Dodd-Frank) and talking about the other ideas will have little influence on getting them passed. Follow Perry Bacon Jr. on Twitter at @perrybaconjr

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Ken Dunkin Fighting for the 5th District 121

Ken Dunkin is a Democrat, serving the people of the 5th District as State Representative in the Illinois General Assembly. Dunkin worked as social worker for many years, helping families access needed resources. Most recently, he was the Director of the Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club of Chicago. For five years, he managed over $2.5 million in program services. He also worked as a consultant for Chicago's Department of Health and Chicago's Department on Aging. State Representative As a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, Dunkin serves on the following committees: (Chairperson) Tourism and Conventions; (Chairperson) Appropriations-Higher Education; Appropriations-General Service; Insurance; Elementary & Secondary Education; Financial Institutions; and, State Government Administration. He focuses on legislation to raise the quality of life for working families, children and seniors, and has been successful in boosting Illinois' economy by working to strengthen Illinois' tourism and film industry. Early Life Born and raised in Chicago's Cabrini Green Public Housing Development, Ken Dunkin is also a product of the Chicago Public School System. He is a graduate of 122

Jenner Academy of the Arts Elementary School and Lincoln Park High School. He continued his education at Harold Washington College, where he received an Associates of Arts degree. Dunkin was then accepted to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he graduated with Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science. Dunkin later returned to Chicago to complete his Masters of Arts degree in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. Prior to becoming Illinois' 5th District State Representative Dunkin directed the Robert Taylor Boys and Girls Club. Dunkin was a community liaison for his mentor Secretary of State Jesse White and served as a Consultant for the City of Chicago Department of Health and Department of Aging. In addition, Dunkin interned with the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthcare Financing Administration and United States Senator Paul Simon in Washington D.C. Currently Dunkin serves on the Associate Board of the Chicago International Film Festival; he is chief sponsor of a bill that created legislation to extend tax credits to film producers to encourage them to bring more of the film industry to Illinois. He is a member of the Cabrini Green Legal Aid Advisory Board, the Lawson YMCA and the City Club of Chicago. Dunkin is also a proud member of the world renowned Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated. Dunkin's current priorities include: reducing domestic violence, sustaining and creating new businesses, preventing identity theft, rallying for reduced prescription drug prices for senior citizens, improving academic achievement among students and affordable childcare and healthcare. In 2004 Dunkin was selected by the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACPYL) as a delegate to South Africa for a ten-day political study program. Dunkin joined five other young leaders from across the United States to study South Africa's political system, engage dialogue on bilateral issues and forge professional relationships. ACYPL is a non-profit bipartisan international exchange organization funded in part through a grant from the U.S. Department of States Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Dunkin and his wife Yolanda are the proud parents of a son and two daughters.

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Antonio “Tony” Rias Seeking Office Now more than ever, our communities are in need of voices – Strong voices that advocate the needs and concerns of our neighborhoods and voices that aren’t afraid to take a stand. It is imperative that we understand our rights to democracy, especially in our own backyards. Antonio “Tony” Rias understands the critical issues affecting our community which includes government efficiency and transparency, increased economic development, senior citizen center access and other issues affecting the quality of life in our community. Tony is a long time homeowner and resident of the Village of Burnham. He and his wife Malika are proud parents of two awesome girls, (Aliya, 15 and Nyla, 11). His wife Malika is an experienced school teacher of thirteen years. Their two children are past and current students of Burnham Elementary. Tony is a fifteen year veteran employee of the Chicago Transit Authority. Tony has demonstrated outstanding proficiency in the areas of Inspection, Record Keeping and Data Entry. He has saved the CTA much needed dollars and resources by his evaluation of supply and demand along with his noteworthy experience as an Inspector. Tony has well balanced credentials which include a unique substantive knowledge of real estate and development, firsthand experience is crisis management as an Emergency Medical Technician and a solid foundation built on faith. As the father of two beautiful daughters Tony has a strong belief in leaving our communities better for the next generation. He supports the creation of a green economy and advocates the creation of green jobs through increased economic development. 124

Tony has discovered his voice and will stand on the front lines to get what is right for our district, our community…our Burnham.

“Our village is crying for change. As the proud son of a working mother, I have learned about democracy and how to turn dreams into achievable goals. With your help, we can become the change we seek to make it happen. I encourage you to take a closer look at my Web site, make a contribution to my campaign, volunteer, and learn more about how I will translate my experience into action and advocate positive change. With your support together we can have our voices be heard.”

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County chair: Cory Booker weighs bid for NJ gov in ’13 by Katie Zazima,

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, right, talks with Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker during groundbreaking ceremonies for the Teachers Village development in downtown Newark, N.J. A New Jersey Democratic county chairman says Booker has told him he’s considering running for governor against Chris Christie in 2013, according to The Associated Press, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File) NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey Democratic county chairman said Friday that Newark Mayor Cory Booker told him he’s mulling a gubernatorial run against Gov. Chris Christie in 2013. The chairman, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the county’s executive committee hasn’t yet been told the news, met with Booker last week. The chairman said Booker requested the meeting, told him he is considering running for governor and will make a final decision by December.

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The chairman said Booker has talked to other county chairs about his potential plans. “He has reached out,” the chairman said. “He said he’s weighing a possible run and he’ll decide by December.” Booker disputed that he was disclosing possible plans to county chairs, a development first reported by politickernj.com on Thursday. He told WBGO FM’s “Newark Today” on Thursday night that he was canvassing the state and country to help re-elect President Barack Obama. Booker will speak at the Democratic National Convention next month. He said on the radio show that there will be “a lot of things to consider” after the presidential election. A possible gubernatorial run is “being asked by me by a lot of folks, and again my response is that those decisions have to wait,” Booker said, adding he is focused on governing Newark and Obama’s re-election. Booker did not immediately respond to Twitter messages Friday. His spokeswoman, Kimberly DeHaarte, declined to comment. Speculation about Booker’s political future has been swirling for much of his second term as Newark’s mayor. In June, The Star-Ledger newspaper reported that Booker may be eyeing a U.S. Senate run in 2014. He formed a federal PAC in June. Other county chairs said they have not spoken to Booker about possible plans to run for higher office. “You hear rumors all the time that he might be running for governor, he might be running for senator,” said Louis Stellato, chair of the Democratic Committee of Bergen County. “He is a rock star in the Democratic party. He polls very well and he has virtually celebrity status.” Charlotte De Fillipo, chairwoman of the Union County Democratic Committee, said that while Booker is a friend, the two have not met to discuss his political future. Booker is, however, one of the candidates she would like to see challenge Christie. “He has the ability to raise money. He certainly has the intellect and the drive. Those are requisites,” De Fillipo said. “I’m not sure who else will be. It’s a long way between now and next year. But he makes an entrancing candidate.” 127

Congo rape numbers rise dramatically David Smith, Africa correspondent

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Above: Congolese rebel groups such as M23 accused over recent sharp increase in sexual violence

M23 is not the only group blamed for the rise in rape numbers. Heal Africa says the 745 child victims it recorded in first half of 2012 marks a significant shift. Photograph: Junior D Kannah/AFP/Getty Images The number of women and children raped in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has risen dramatically because of a surge in rebel militia activity, according to a local health organisation report. Heal Africa, which runs a hospital for rape victims in the eastern city of Goma, said it had registered 2,517 cases in the first half of this year. The total comprised 2,339 females â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 105 of whom became pregnant â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and 178 males. The number of perpetrators was 2,134. There has been a sharp increase in sexual violence in recent months, Heal Africa added, although figures since June are not yet available. A six-month uprising by the rebel group M23, led by war crimes suspect Bosco "the Terminator" Ntaganda, has caused fresh turmoil in eastern Congo and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. A UN report claims the rebellion is being supported by neighbouring Rwanda.

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Emmanuel Baabo, leader of Heal Africa's project dealing with sexual violence, said: "The numbers are rising because several armed groups â&#x20AC;&#x201C; not only the M23 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; have increased their activities over several months. In times of fighting you usually see also rape, refugees, stealing, killing and the burning of houses going up. "The staff of Heal Africa are frustrated to see all this. We are working for a change in Congo and now it is getting worse. And of course you are always thinking: 'What has happened to this girl can happen tomorrow to my sister, daughter or wife.'" Heal Africa did not have comparative statistics for last year, but said the 745 child victims it recorded marks a significant shift. Baabo said: "More and more children are being raped. The reasons are disrespect of children's rights, brutalisation of society as a consequence of the unrest in eastern Congo for such a long time, and also some cultural and traditional habits. For example, some people think that they can be healed from Aids if they sleep with a child." The health organisation said an estimated two thirds of women and girls in North Kivu province had experienced sexual violence. Its work is now being hindered by the renewed fighting as some villages are not longer accessible. Baabo added: "We had also some cases where some armed men stopped our car and stole money and mobile phones. They even took a driver, went with him in the forest and held a gun to his head saying they will kill him. Luckily they let him go, but he was very afraid. "Several armed groups also have road blocks, stop cars and ask for money or food. In some villages which are occupied by some armed groups they take you in some office and interrogate you for hours." www.guardian.uk.co

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Jacob Zuma calls on all South African business leaders to freeze pay By David Smith in Johannesburg

Above: South African president, Jacob Zuma, calls for striking miners to return to work and for CEO's to freeze their own pay. Photograph: Str/AFP/Getty Images

Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa, has called on business leaders to freeze their salaries and bonuses for a year as the country endures its worst industrial strife since the apartheid era. Striking workers at one of Gold Fields' mines returned to work on Thursday, but there was renewed unrest at Lonmin's Marikana operation, where 34 workers were massacred by police in August. More than 80,000 miners have downed tools since then in often violent strikes that have battered South Africa's image and sent shudders of anxiety through public discourse. Foreign investors have been unnerved, Zuma's political stock has tumbled and there is a growing sense that the economy, and the nation, is at a crossroads. 131

After a five-hour meeting with union and business leaders on Wednesday, Zuma called on mining production to be "normalised" in what was seen as his first significant intervention in the crisis. "We are agreed that violence and intimidation must come to an end," the president said. "These have no role in our system and simply have a negative effect." He added: "The parties make a call on CEOs and executive directors in the private sector and senior executives in the public sector to agree to a freeze in increases in salary and bonuses over the next 12 months, as a strong signal of a commitment to build an equitable economy. They call for an informed national conversation on income inequalities and how best to address them." Zuma, facing an internal African National Congress leadership contest in December, has been criticised for a sluggish response to the mining unrest and for renovating his rural home at the cost of millions to the public. On Thursday critics called on him to lead by example by taking a pay freeze himself. Clem Sunter, a "scenario" strategist and former mining executive, was quoted in South African media saying: "President Jacob Zuma must tell us what is he going to do as the president to address inequality. He must be the first to tell us that he is willing to freeze his increase for the benefit of the poor." The Democratic Alliance condemned Zuma's response as inadequate.

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Lindiwe Mazibuko, its parliamentary leader, said: "We can no longer allow the government to fiddle while the economy suffers. We need bold leadership and a clear, growth-orientated plan to ensure that this downturn is reversed. "The president's meeting yesterday with key actors in business and labour to address the current challenges facing the economy should have yielded a more concrete plan to address the current economic crisis. "Instead, President Zuma delivered more of the same: a closed meeting and an announcement of a ministerial programme of action glaringly short on detail." Two months of labour unrest, in which more than 50 people have been killed, are harming South Africa's economic growth and its international reputation, prompting fears that the country is sinking towards a point of no return. The past week has brought headlines such as "South Africa falters as unrest spreads" and "upheaval grips South Africa as hopes for its workers fade", in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Standard & Poor's and Moody's have both lowered the country's credit rating, citing a lack of political leadership and rising pressure on the government to take on more "populist elements". The rand currency has slumped to its lowest level for three and a half years. Peter Bruce, publisher of the Business Day newspaper, wrote: "Another week,

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another downgrade. If this gets any more regular we'll be able to calculate to the day how long it took the ANC to shut down the economy as an investment prospect." In a surprise move on Thursday, 4,000 workers at Lonmin's Marikana mine stayed away from work. "There have been disruptions at various shafts since yesterday," Sue Vey, a spokeswoman, said. Only a month ago they returned to work after being granted pay rises of up to 22% following a six-week strike. As recognised unions have lost control over collective bargaining on pay, other firms have reported incidents. Petra Diamonds said production at its Cullinan mine had been hit after a fifth of workers went on strike. Gold Fields, the world's fourth-largest bullion producer, said all of the 9,000 workers at its Beatrix mine were now back at work following a dismissal ultimatum. But the firm could still fire more than 11,000 others striking at its KDC West operations in Carletonville, 25 miles west of Johannesburg. www.guardian.uk.co

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Poverty remains largely absent from 2012 campaign debate by Bob Herbert

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In a speech at the University of Kansas in February of the tumultuous year 1968, Robert F. Kennedy spoke of the plight of the poorest Americans, those struggling in devastated rural areas, and on Indian reservations and in the tenements and housing projects of the inner cities. He was blunt. “We must begin,” he said, “to end this disgrace of the other America.” Addressing the myriad problems associated with poverty and joblessness was, in Kennedy’s view, “an urgent national priority.” But he went further. “Even if we act to erase material poverty,” he said, “there is another, greater task. It is to confront the poverty of satisfaction, purpose and dignity that afflicts us all. Too much and for too long, we seem to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.” Those were the words of a United States senator two days before he announced officially that he was running for president. Yes, there actually was a time when mainstream politicians were not afraid to speak of our obligation to extend a hand of help and friendship to those at the bottom of the economic heap, the individuals and families locked in a long and wearying fight to make it from one difficult day to the next. We abandoned the fight against poverty and it’s been growing like an infection in an untreated wound. It’s as much of a disgrace as it was in Kennedy’s era but the willingness of mainstream politicians to speak out candidly and forcefully against it seems as old-fashioned as carbon paper and rotary phones. America should be ashamed. Nearly 50 million people in this country, the richest in the world, are poor. Another 50 million, the near-poor, are just a notch or two above the official poverty line. They can feel the awful flames of poverty licking at their heels. Those two groups, the poor and the near-poor, make up nearly one-third of the entire American population.

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And what are our mainstream politicians doing? When they’re not hammering the poor, mocking them, waging war on the threadbare safety net programs that help stave off destitution, they’re running as fast as they can away from the issue of poverty and from the poor themselves, running like sprinters chasing Olympic gold. No one wants to be too closely identified with the poor. Back in February, Mitt Romney breezily said, “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.” His campaign’s focus, he said, was on “middleincome Americans.” (He would later say his comments were a “misstatement.”) President Obama established a task force on the middle class in the White House. Like most mainstream politicians, he talks about the middle class incessantly while going out of his way to avoid mentioning poverty. Newt Gingrich’s vision of helping the poor was to roll back child labor laws and have children work as janitors in their schools. “This is how people rise in America,” he said. “They learn to work.”

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The Republican Party is obsessive in its efforts to hack away at programs that help keep people out of poverty, like Medicare and Social Security, or that provide some sustenance to those who are already poor, like Medicaid, food stamps and cash benefits. Gingrich mocked Obama as the “food stamp president.” This behavior is insidious. It breeds not just neglect but indifference to the poor. It encourages the already strong tendency to blame poor people themselves for their financial straits. It helps to cast them as some kind of debilitating, parasitical “other” and all but insures that they are kept out of the nation’s mainstream. It makes people ashamed to be poor, and that shame keeps them silent and powerless. Our strenuous efforts to keep the poor out of sight and out of mind succeeds in keeping us blind to the many tragic components of this spreading scourge. One in every five American children is poor, and one in three black children. Their poverty is inextricably linked to their curtailed life chances – their difficulties in school and in finding work, the increased likelihood that they will become involved in the drug trade, the sex trade, gangs and violent crime. And it is linked to their heightened chances of dying prematurely from any number of causes, from disease to accidents to homicide. When thinking about poverty in America, it’s important to keep in mind that not very far below the surface there is always the toxic undercurrent of race. So you get Rick Santorum telling Republican primary voters in Iowa, “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” And you get Hillary Clinton, in her campaign against Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, bragging to USA Today about her support among “hard-working Americans, white Americans.” Somehow this has to stop. One in every 15 Americans – and one in ten American children – are mired in the suffocating muck of deep poverty, which means they are trying to live on incomes of $11,000 a year or less for a family of four. An astonishing 45 million Americans are on food stamps. And yet no one in high places thinks this is a problem serious enough to address with any sense of urgency. Very few seem willing to address it at all. 138

Which means it is up to the poor themselves and their advocates outside of government to bring this catastrophe to the attention of the wider public. This needs to be done loudly, dramatically, provocatively and relentlessly. Marches, sit-ins, camp-outs, camp-ins – all forms of direct action, including creative new ones – are needed if the current intolerable rates of poverty and joblessness are ever to be substantially reduced. In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail in 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. explained why it was essential at times for people to resort to demonstrations and protests, why direct action was necessary rather than tactics that were less disruptive. The purpose of nonviolent direct action, he said, was to bring attention to important issues that the wider community was stubbornly unwilling to confront. The idea is to so dramatize the issue, said King, “that it can no longer be ignored.” That is what’s needed with the burning issue of poverty in the United States. The nation’s top public officials have made it clear that they have no interest in coming up with solutions that are big enough and bold enough to end the interrelated crises of poverty and joblessness. Without dramatic new initiatives, the suffering will only continue. Our view of poverty has been turned upside down in my lifetime. On a sunny spring day in 1964 Lyndon Johnson delivered the commencement address at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. More than 80,000 people were in 139

attendance at the school’s athletic stadium and the address would come to be known as Johnson’s Great Society speech. Johnson gave his audience a view of America’s ideals writ large. “For a century,” he said, “we labored to settle and to subdue a continent. For half a century, we called on unbounded invention and untiring industry to create an order of plenty for all of our people. “The challenge of the next half century is whether we have the wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life, and to advance the quality of our American civilization.” He called upon Americans to build a society that was more than just rich and powerful. He envisioned a nation that demanded an end to poverty and racial injustice. He spoke movingly of a society in which the people would be more concerned with “the quality of their goals than the quantity of their goods.” What was really different about the speech was the way in which it was received. It was, as Johnson’s biographer Robert Dallek tells us, “a great hit.” The audience was aware of the importance of the new president’s landmark address and seemed fully in support of it. The speech was interrupted 29 times by applause. Now, nearly half a century later, with the ranks of the poor surging and much of the nation hobbled economically, officeholders can barely find the courage to acknowledge that poverty even exists. I had lunch with the great historian Howard Zinn back in 2009, just a few weeks before he died. Zinn felt that there was no reason ever to tolerate abuse and injustice, that there was always something that could be done. Among other things, we talked about the plight of ordinary people in an economy rigged to overwhelmingly benefit the rich and powerful. “If there is going to be change, real 140

change,” Zinn said, “It will have to work its way from the bottom up, from the people themselves. That’s how change happens.” I nodded in agreement. The labor movement, the civil rights movement, the women’s movement (and later the environmental and gay rights movements) were all developed by people without a lot of obvious power. They were loaded instead with energy and intelligence, and a fiery, unshakable commitment to their goals and ideals. Frederick Douglass said, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

take matters into their own hands.

With that in mind, it is time for the poor and the jobless and the underemployed to

Bob Herbert is a senior fellow at Demos, a New York-based policy organization. He had an 18-year career at the The New York Times as an op-ed columnist, writing about politics, urban affairs and social trends in a twice-weekly column. This article first appeared on Demos’ blog Policyshop.net.

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Why we need a black-brown political coalition now more than ever by Zerlina 142

Student Milca Calymayor (R), 18-years-old, blocks a a street around the Los Angeles Federal Building during a demonstration by immigrant students for an end to deportations and urge relief by governmental agencies for those in deportation proceedings on June 15, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no coincidence that voter ID laws have been popping up in states with populations of black and Latino voters that could swing election outcomes. These two groups of voters, particularly in swing states like Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania could be the difference between another four years under President Obama or a new era under a President Mitt Romney. Republicans, apparently fearful of the impact of these two voting blocs, have strategically made it more difficult for many in these groups to cast their votes in the upcoming election. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the potential combination of black and Latino voters casting their votes consistently for Democrats for the next generation that elicits fear in the GOP and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s this potential for electoral domination that is worth considering. The most recent census data made it very clear. Whites are diminishing in numbers and will continue to do so over the next generation. Thus, their electoral impact has diminishing returns for candidates like Romney, who may have to rely on these voters. 143

Demographic shifts are becoming a reality and for the first time ever fewer whites were born in the U.S. That reality is connected to the Republican party’s future because black voters overwhelmingly support Democrats and they have so much self-inflicted damage with Latinos. Romney’s current approval among Latinos is a dismal 25 percent while President Obama’s approval among Latinos is 66 percent. The recent shift on deportation of undocumented immigrants by the Obama administration is heavily favored by Latinos and while immigration is not their primary concern, it certainly allowed for a bright line to be drawn separating President Obama from Romney who supports extreme right policies like self-deportation. Romney’s low standing in this community can be taken together with state and local officials in the Republican party purposefully “otherizing” Latino voters and making them into a group deserving of ire from white voters frustrated with the current economic situation. Black voters have a long history of being caricatured into the “other” to be feared and shamed for inaccurate depictions of levels of poverty, blacks on public assistance, and criminality. It is the possibility of these two often demonized groups uniting to impact key elections that instills fear in Republicans, who appear mostly unwilling to put forth policies to help the marginalized. The GOP’s rhetoric on immigration is just the latest issue for Latino voters; issues such as healthcare and affirmative action predate the current debate over the role of the federal government in assisting the lives of all Americans, including those who may not fit a stereotypical blueprint for white blue collar American-ness. The steady growth of these two key groups since the 1992 presidential election has made Democrats much more competitive and they will remain competitive on the national level if Republicans don’t offer a viable alternative. Socially conservative black and Latino voters have 144

voted for Democrats in recent election cycles despite disagreements over hot button issues like gay marriage and abortion. The teaming up of these two key constituencies could allow Democrats on the national level to win elections and impact future generations by finally coming through with the everillusive and much-needed comprehensive immigration reforms and ensuring that the safety net so relied upon by members of both communities is not gutted by a Republican party dedicated to ending Medicare and Social Security. The 2012 election is just the beginning. The upcoming election will highlight these demographic shifts and project future results for both parties over the next generation and the teaming-up of black and Latino voters would certainly have a substantial and long lasting impact for Democrats. Follow Zerlina Maxwell on Twitter at @zerlinamaxwell

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NAACP Takes a Stand for Disenfranchised Felons By Teresa Haley October 2, the NAACP launched a national felony disenfranchisement campaign to advocate for the restoration of voting rights for millions of citizens formerly convicted of felonies. The campaign features billboards of formerly incarcerated citizens like Kemba Smith Pradia, Desmonde Meade, and Jessica Chiaponne. Celebrity activists Judge Greg Mathis and Charles S. Dutton are also featured. Currently, nearly six million citizens around the country are disenfranchised due to felony disenfranchisement laws and more than 4.4 million of those citizens are no longer incarcerated. Florida Gov. Rick Scott recently reinstated felony disenfranchisement restrictions after two of his Republican predecessors worked to remove them. “Voting is a right,” said President Jealous. “In this state, the governor has decided to turn back the clock.” Florida, Virginia, Iowa, and Kentucky are the only states that continue to disenfranchise persons convicted of felonies even after they have completed all of the terms of their sentence. There are 1.5 million disenfranchised citizens in Florida alone. President Jealous’ aim for the campaign is to bring to the forefront the plights of these targeted individuals. “It’s easy to do dirt in the dark,” he said. “It’s harder to do dirt in the light.” Today’s launch comes on the heels of a NAACP-led visit to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. As part of the visit, the delegation held a panel discussion on felony disenfranchisement and the attack on voting rights in states across the nation. For more information, visit www.RestoreTheVotes.org 146

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The story of the biggest club in hiphop history, as told by the people who lived it. 148

The year was 1993. Jessica Rosenblum, OG hip-hop head, party promoter, and arbiter of downtown cool, had just found a permanent home for her Sunday night rap party, Mecca. It was the perfect place for Funkmaster Flex, the DJ she was managing at the time, to further expand his following. Peter Gatien, the godfather of NYC nightlife, had a year prior acquired a freshly remodeled 80,000-square-foot nightclub, originally the historic Terminal Warehouse Company Central Stores Building (1890-91) where entire train cars would park and unload. It was known as the Tunnel. What happened next, no one could’ve predicted. Rap was in its adolescent phase, a marginalized teenager with energy to burn and people to piss off. Thousands of young fans arrived every week to run the gauntlet of security between the sidewalks of the West Side Highway and the long, narrow venue on 12th Ave. and 27th St. The shields of the 10th Precinct never stopped hassling them, and the kids never stopped coming because Mecca was the only party that mattered. This was where the records were breaking, where the bottles were popping, where everybody who was anybody in hip-hop had to be. Though maybe the blue suits were onto something—talk to anyone about the Tunnel and eventually you’ll get to the ugly parts: the beatdowns and snatched chains, the razors tucked inside hat brims.

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How did this hip-hop party become one of the most successful and legendary nights in the history of American nightlife? No one person has the whole answer, but talk to enough of the participants and a story emerges—a story about an unstoppable underground force ascending to heights it had always boasted about, but had never quite experienced. The story of the Tunnel is the story of hip-hop. THE PLAYERS Everyone is listed with his or her relationship to the Tunnel first, followed by their current title. Jessica Rosenblum - promoter/event producer/doorgirl; owner of JRose Agency and JRosenblum Events Peter Gatien - club owner Funkmaster Flex - DJ/promoter; Hot 97 radio personality Cipha Sounds - DJ; Hot 97 radio personality Chris Lighty - security/doorman/promoter; head of Violator Management Joie Manda - doorman/promoter; President of Def Jam DMX - performer; rapper Prodigy - performer; rapper Juvenile - performer; rapper Jadakiss - performer; rapper Glen Beck - security; co-owner of Emissary Security Group Rob Scagnelli - bartender; manager of adult nightclubs in the NY area Derrick Parker - NYPD officer; author of Notorious C.O.P., and coowner of Emissary Security Group Mimi Valdés - journalist; founder of Mimi Media Inc. THE FOUNDATION Joie Manda: My first memory of the Tunnel—I went there on a Sunday, when the party was called Mecca. Jessica Rosenblum was the promoter, Funkmaster Flex was the DJ. Cipha Sounds: Jessica invented Mecca.

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Funkmaster Flex: Jessica, who was my manager then, put that night together because she wanted a place to be my home every week. We copied the format from Red Alert and his club Latin Quarter.

Jessica Rosenblum: I created the party for Flex in 1992—I was his manager at the time—so he could get a bigger following. The name popped into my head one day, and it seemed like the right one for the party. At that time, I was one of the few people that could get venues and do hip-hop parties downtown, so it was like all roads lead to Mecca—I had the answer for everyone that was craving hip-hop. The first Mecca party was at the Supper Club. It moved around to the Grand and the Arena [before it got to the Tunnel]. Flex: I met Jessica in 1990. She used to organize the parties that Kid Capri and Clark Kent would spin at. They were making a name for themselves, getting big. I started to ask around: “Who is doing those parties?” Clark Kent did a couple of Jessica’s parties, and then he got a manager; Kid Capri used to do all of Jessica's parties, and then he got a manager. I figured if I could do a couple of her parties, I would let her manage me. She put me in those rooms to prove myself. She brought light to me. The club worked for a couple reasons: I was the biggest DJ at the time, Jessica was the biggest promoter, and Peter was the biggest club owner. - Funkmaster Flex 151

Chris Lighty: Jessica is the original hip-hop hipster. She’s this nice Jewish girl, and you just wouldn’t think she had a love for hip-hop, for nightlife, when you first came across her. She was able to mix it up with everybody, and everybody felt comfortable coming to that party. Rosenblum: I would say being a woman—particularly back then—was a bigger issue in hip-hop culture than my being white. I would be saying hi to a guy I know on, say, 125th Street, and the girl he was with would be giving me a stank, stank face, like, “Yo, who’s that white bitch you’re talking to?” All they had to say was “That’s just Jessica.” Everybody knew my name; it was like, “Oh, okay. It’s the white girl that throws all the hip-hop parties.” I was the original doorgirl at Nell’s, where I supported hip-hop by letting in people like Russell Simmons and the Beastie Boys and LL Cool J—they loved the downtown scene; they were way ahead of the curve. Then I threw Heavy D’s platinum party in 1989. [Heavy D had] the first rap album on a major label that was acknowledged to go platinum. That party crystallized my credibility. Lighty: The Supper Club had that cool vibe, but Mecca outgrew the space. Rosenblum: The party changed and evolved, but any party that runs for multiple years changes. The Supper Club was so pretty, the mix of the crowd, the room, the lighting—you could have every prominent industry executive, every upand-comer, and you would seat them all at tables, these cool, downtown, hip-hop people. By the time it got to the Tunnel, the venue was so major, I’d say 95 percent of the people coming to the club on Sunday—and the Tunnel was a popular club that had big nights during the week—had never been to the club before. In the beginning, it was exciting, it was epic, it was like no other space anybody had been in. Industry was in the Tunnel heavy, but so were the streets. The artists were in there heavy—not booked or being promoted, they were hanging out. Lighty: I think when Peter Gatien gave the day and time [Sunday nights] up, he thought he was giving away a dead zone. If something came of it, great, but he had no idea that it was going to become this legendary party. Rosenblum: Hip-hop wasn’t part of mainstream culture like it is now; it was considered undesirable. On top of that, it was very difficult for clubs to make money on a Sunday night. They obviously weren’t going to give me Friday or Saturday, which were their big nights, so if I could say, “Hey, I can make you money on a Sunday,” they were going to be more open-minded to do hip-hop.

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Lighty: The Tunnel was bigger, had more security. There was more money to be made—the bigger bar turned it into a real business, and that’s how Jessica pulled me into the security side of it. We didn’t think of it as “I’m the head of security” or

“I’m the co-promoter.” It was Jessica’s thing, and I was her friend. But if you wanted to come into the Tunnel, you were going to have to deal with me. If there was an issue, they’d call me over to resolve it quickly. Flex: Mecca was a party that never stayed in one space for long, so [the first time it was held at the Tunnel], I thought it would be there until the next space. But the club worked for a couple reasons: I was the biggest DJ at the time, Jessica was the biggest promoter, and Peter was the biggest club owner. Rosenblum: I had been promoting nightlife in New York for many years, and I had done a lot of events and business with the Palladium, which Peter owned. I had been going to clubs he owned since I was 17. If I didn't have this downtown standing, I would have never got in the door, and there never would have been hip-hop at the Tunnel. Peter Gatien: Anybody thatʼs been involved in the industry as long as Jessica has—especially as a woman—speaks volumes about her abilities, her talents, her energy. Not an easy gig.

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Flex: I think Peter took a chance by putting on something on a Sunday night that had a chance to be super cool, that ended up being super cool. He didn’t have to do this night. Rosenblum: If Peter Gatien was willing to put up with whatever crap was going on in the neighborhood, with whatever crap the NYPD was giving him, whatever drama was going on in the club, when he already had a successful club that ran other nights of the week with house music, white people, gay nights, whatever, obviously there was a financial reward that made it worthwhile. Gatien: Even though the talent wasnʼt that expensive, the night was expensive to produce because of the security and everything else that went along with it. We certainly made money from it, but it cost a lot to produce. Flex: Peter believed in the night. He liked hip-hop, he liked the artists; he understood the artists, understood their personalities. And he was a rock star to them, with his eye patch. He was wielding just as much money as them, so he held his own. The artists had a tremendous amount of respect for Jessica, too. Gatien: I was a fan of a lot of music, and my focus for nightclubs is that we have to be cutting edge. By 1993, rap was becoming more mainstream—thereʼs no doubt about that. It was important to me, catering to all the niches that comprise New York. ichael Rapaport - clubgoer; actor THE LINE Cipha: The club was on 27th and 12th, at the corner. The line started at 27th and 11th; to get from 11th to 12th was like going between East Berlin and West Berlin. The street was blocked off with barricades along the side of the building where you’d wait on line. Then there were barricades perpendicular down the street so you couldn’t go around and walk down the street. Lighty: The police put it on us to get the block cleared, so we would have to spend almost as much time keeping the outside of the club secure as we did trying to keep the inside of the club secure. Manda: The police would randomly search people who were walking to the club. They’d pull their cars over a block away, making it hard for people to gather, because, I guess, it was such a large gathering of young black people. I don’t know how else to say it. They didn’t love that.

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Lighty: Try and put 2,000 kids into a club quickly when you’re searching them the way that we had to search them—like they were entering Riker’s Island: “Take off your shoes. Oh, you have a gun? Take it back to your car. No knives. No weapons. No weed. No drugs.” Tupac came to the club, and I had to send him back to his car, telling him, “Sorry, Tupac, but you can’t come in here with a weapon.” He gladly went back to his car, put his weapon away, then came back and partied. Glen Beck: We had search teams, both male and female, and whenever someone would come into the club, you would search them for weapons, drugs, et cetera. They all came in—male and female—into the same room for the search, an area after the entrance. Eventually, someone came up with the better idea of splitting them apart [by gender], which gave them room to bring in more male and female searchers. I was a searcher [at first] because I was a lot smaller. Eventually I became a bouncer. I put on a little more weight, became a martial arts instructor. You carry - Glen Beck

gun

into

club,

there’s

only

one

reason

for

that.

Cipha: You had to bang your shoes together, then you’d go through the metal detector and get patted down. I had to open up all of my crates; they did a thorough search of everything. Sometimes there would be cops, and they would have pages of mug shots. They would hold the pictures close to your face to see if you matched one. They would grab people right there. It was crazy.

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Beck: This guy came in one time, walked up to me without so much as a hitch, wasn’t favoring one leg, no noise from a weapon clicking. He gave me his boots, and I had a horrible feeling that something was wrong. I searched his boots, put them to the side, then I told him, “Take everything out of your pockets.” When you take your thumb and press it against your hand, your muscle bulges. Let your hand loose, that’s the natural stance. For your thumb to be pressed against your hand, that’s not natural, unless you’re holding something between your thumb and forefinger. When he was putting stuff into the counter I searched next to, I saw the muscle bulge. I put him in a wristlock; he had a bullet in his hand. I took the bullet and asked if he had any more bullets. “No.” I asked him if he was lawfully allowed to carry a gun. “Yes.” I said, “Do you have a gun on you?” “No.” One of the security managers came over. I told him what was happening and he told me to finish searching him, but the guy started arguing with me. I knew in my gut that something was wrong. I said to my friend Damien, “Do me a favor and search him top to bottom,” because I wanted my hands free in case I had to grab him. Damien went to search him and as I was watching, one of the other guys pushed someone toward me to search, and I diverted my attention for one second to tell that person, “Sir, do me a favor and step back.” While I turned my attention, Damien yelled, “Gun!” The guy tried to spin where he was standing, trying to yank his sock off. He was wearing two pairs of socks on his right foot, and the gun was between the pairs. The guy turned and got twisted, and as he got twisted, I stepped in, grabbed his wrist, and took him down to the floor. I popped his wrist and dislocated his shoulder. Damien had the gun, a two-shot Derringer, over-under, .45 caliber. We took him to the back, and still he’s trying to get away. We got him into the back, where there were a bunch of us, and he’s yelling, “I’ll hit you off, I’ll hit you off,” so that we’d let him go. We called the cops to turn over the gun. There was someone in back who popped the shoulder back in and the guy screamed, then passed out. The cops came; we explained [what had happened]. The cop went to arrest him, put his left hand behind his back and cuffed him, and when the cop went to put his right hand behind his back, his shoulder popped back out. Prodigy: Chris Lighty and the white girl, Jessica, would be at the door and they’d get us in for free. We’d get free drink tickets. Lighty: The out-of-town kids would try to come in with a ruckus, acting out of line, so we would say, “Oh, you want to get in? You and your boys, you gotta spend $1000 per person.” Because the Tunnel was so hyped and the energy was so amazing, people paid it. Manda: You would get some out-of-towners, and the occasional Japanese hiphop kid.

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Rosenblum: The Tunnel proved that hip-hop in a nightclub was a financial force to be reckoned with. Michael Rapaport: Jessica, she was a pain in the ass, one of those cliché door people who felt that their shit didn’t stink. She’d be at the door with her long blonde hair and short skirt, and she’d let me and my people in, but it was never with a smile—it was always begrudgingly, which I never appreciated. Flex: Jessica wasn’t stuck up; she probably didn’t let him [Rapaport] in one time. She had an understanding of what the club should be, and how she wanted the night to be. Every good club, every great night, has a tough person at the door. Prodigy: We would have connections at the door, and they used to meet us in the bathroom with a backpack full of shit: razors, screwdrivers, guns. I’d pass out the shit to everybody, then we’d go have fun. It was just to protect ourselves. We used to wear a lot of jewelry; we were Mobb Deep. In case somebody thought something was sweet, we needed weapons. Beck: You go to a nightclub, you carry a knife in your pocket, I understand. You carry mace—I swear to God—I understand. You carry a gun into a club, there’s only one reason for that. You carry a straight razor under your tongue or inside the headband of your hat, in the cuff of your pants, underneath the sole of your sneaker, so that you can go into the bathroom and hold it in your hand—there’s only one reason for that, and that’s the difference between self-defense and offense. THE CLUB Flex: The first night Mecca came to the Tunnel, I remember thinking it was a very awkward space, very narrow with the train tracks. Beck: It was just the main room [on Sundays], the big straightaway. They wouldn’t open up the small rooms in fear of God knows what could happen in there. Mimi Valdés: When Mecca got to the Tunnel [in 1993], there was still some exclusivity, but it was such a huge space, much bigger than the Supper Club—now all the boroughs were represented, and they had different areas where they hung out. Bronx people stayed on this side, Brooklyn people stayed on that side. Manda: There were no tables. It was all people dancing and congregating around the bar. This was before bottle service. Prodigy: The bar was crazy long. 157

Robert Scagnelli: I worked the bar at the Limelight, the Palladium, and eventually the Tunnel on Sunday nights. Peter wanted some guys behind the bar because the crowd could get rough. We had bouncers behind the bar as well. The bar was maybe 75 feet by 15 feet. They’d staff six to ten on a Sunday, and you needed it. The coed bathroom had urinals and stalls. The girls liked it, the guys liked it. Weed was being sold, people were having sex. - Funkmaster Flex Manda: At the bar, you’d say, “Give me a bottle of Moët,” and you would pay cash. “Give me a bottle of Cristal, give me a bottle of Dom—no glasses.” Watching a thousand people holding bottles of Cristal, Dom Pérignon, or Moët at one time was kind of amazing. The club constantly sold out of champagne. Remember, this is the Bad Boy era; Puff Daddy was king at the time. It was pre-Jay-Z. Jay would be there spending tons of money, but this was the Puff Daddy era. Valdés: Walking around with an entire bottle to yourself? That was definitely a Puffy phenomenon; he was very flashy in the club. It was also a measure of the time—hip-hop was becoming this phenomenon, and people were making so much money. It was time for hip-hop to celebrate and say, “We’ve made it. We’re not struggling anymore. We’re out of the hood.” Jadakiss: Bad Boy had its time at the Tunnel where we had it on smash, but Nas came through, Mobb Deep—everybody had their light at the Tunnel. 158

Scagnelli: Once the bottles were finished, people wanted them up on the bar in front of them to show how many they’d bought. Gatien: There were nights where you would have competing groups trying to see who could have more Cristal sitting on the bar. Flex: Diddy and Jermaine Dupri used to go bottle for bottle in there. Rosenblum: Puffy and Jermaine Dupri were at the bar every week—there was no such thing as bottle service. There were no ice buckets. There were no tables. They were buying out champagne at the bar, and we had to serve it to them in rubber busboy trays, because we had nothing to put champagne in. It wasn’t like now, when somebody buys a parade of Dom Pérignon or Moët Rosé, and it comes out all lovely at your table with sparklers and shit—that didn’t exist. We were literally piling up champagne in those containers busboys would go around the club and throw dirty glasses in. Scagnelli: Bartenders would walk out of there with $400, $500 in tips. Rosenblum: I think the same things that made hip-hop and hip-hop culture exciting back then were the things that made the party exciting: it was brand new. It was unknown. Nobody had even been in a hip-hop party with this many people, this much energy, this many bottles, and this many artists. Flex: The Tunnel was the last club that Eazy-E went to before he died. He and Ice Cube, they talked in the Tunnel for an hour the Sunday before he died, the first time they’d spoken in years. I didn't know what Eazy was doing there, I think he just wanted to see it. He had on a hoodie, and he didn't look well. Manda: The artists mixed with the crowd; there was no VIP. It was a party that everyone felt was important; artists felt like they had to come. This was before rap played all day on the radio, before the Internet. This is where people met, this is where the records came from, where you heard them first, where you heard them 20 times in a row. Flex: From the DJ booth, you saw everyone that walked in. The club could do 3,000 people; 4,000 on a holiday weekend; it would become impossible to control. Rosenblum: If I was hanging out inside the club, I mostly stayed in the DJ booth, which had this spectacular location: it was at the end of the bar, slightly raised overlooking the dance floor. You could see everything. It was easy to sit there for hours and watch the room.

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Jadakiss: I’d chill in the front for a while, chill by the bar for a while, then I’d go to the bathroom, then before I’d leave I’d go to the back. All the way in the back was love—all the people that were really enjoying the music were there. But to get to the back you had to walk through a long line of Brooklyn niggas, all types of incredible shit—you never knew what was going to happen on the way. You could get your chain snatched, you could get sliced with a razor, anything. From the front to the back was a whole adventure. That’s why I’d do that last. Valdés: You felt that it was such an important moment for hip-hop because we had never seen this before. We had never been in a club where [hip-hop] was playing on a consistent basis. Rosenblum: There are a couple things that make a great party: it’s the music, it’s the women. If you have the most famous artist in the world, and the club is packed but it’s all dudes, who wants to be at that party? And one of the best security measures in the world is to have more women than men. It keeps the guys from fighting—they’re too entertained by the women. Cipha: Girls were usually free until 11 p.m., so for the first part of the night I would play R&B. To this day, girls come up to me and say, “I used to come to the Tunnel early and you played the dope R&B.” Total, Case, and all that shit. Scagnelli: The crazy thing at the Tunnel that everybody liked was the unisex bathroom. There was a small circular bar right in the middle. Two people would work it, back to back. Flex: The coed bathroom had urinals and stalls. The girls liked it, the guys liked it. Weed was being sold, people were having sex. Rapaport: I was in my twenties, and you think you’re an adult, but you go into a bathroom with girls and you almost feel like you’re in high school. It’s like, “Uh, what the fuck are you doing in here? This is the men’s room.” But it was unisex. At the time I thought it was sexy, all the pretty girls in there. Lighty: If you go back to the video for LL Cool J’s “Doing It,” there’s a girl putting on lipstick, and LL walks up to her—that was shot in the Tunnel’s bathroom. Prodigy: You’ve got the ladies and the fellas in the same bathroom, so you know niggas is fucking. You wouldn’t walk in and hear people fucking, but you could see two sets of fucking feet in a stall.

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Amen! (D'Angelo's Back) By Amy Wallace Photograph by Gregory Harris

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He was once hailed as the next Marvin Gaye. Then, after his ripped body threatened to overshadow his music, he vanished into addiction. So what the hell was he doing recently singing his heart out in a Pentecostal church in Stockholm? And how are his abs? Amy Wallace witnessed D'Angelo's ecstatic return to the stage—and hung out with the master of the sacred and the profane as he finishes his first album in a dozen years. The massive weight gain didn't make Michael "D'Angelo" Archer see the darkness that was looming. Neither did the hermit-like isolation, the shattered friendships, the years wasted without a new record in sight, or even the car accident that nearly killed him. By the time he careened off a lonely stretch of road near Richmond, Virginia, in September 2005, hitting a fence and rolling his Hummer three times, he'd already failed two stints in rehab—including one where his counselor was Bob Forrest, the guy on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Bob had been cool, D'Angelo says, but his message of sobriety didn't take. "I went in under a fake name so people wouldn't know who I was, right?" D'Angelo tells me, in his first sit-down interview in twelve years. "So, you know, Michael never got treatment. It was this other character that was in there. And the moment I left, I went straight to the fucking liquor store." Which helps explain why, months later, high on cocaine and drunk off his ass, D'Angelo found himself ejected from his car on that balmy Virginia night, hurtling through the pitch-blackness, flying. When he hit the ground, he broke all Left: D'Angelo in his prime at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards.

the ribs on his left side—and dealt another blow to his foundering career. Once he'd been the heir apparent to the giants of soul: Marvin, Stevie, Prince. (The 162

rock critic Robert Christgau was so transported by D'Angelo's live show that he called him R&B Jesus.) But shortly after the wreck, discussions ended with several top music executives, including Clive Davis at J Records, who'd been considering signing him to a $3 million contract. Then D'Angelo's manager told him he was done with him, too. Still, D'Angelo couldn't feel the bottom, even though it was right beneath him. He shows me how close, reaching toward the floor with his well-muscled left arm, the one inked with 23:4, for the Twenty-third Psalm. It's early March, just a few weeks after he's finished a sixteenday mini-tour of Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;his first live performances (not counting church) in more than a decade. We're sitting on a black leather couch in a Manhattan recording studio on Forty-eighth Street off Broadway, a quiet sanctum despite its proximity to the circus of Times Square. Through a bank of windows is the room where he has recorded many songs for his (very) long-awaited third album. Dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt, his hair in short tiny braids, D'Angelo looks good at 38â&#x20AC;&#x201D;more solid than in his famously shirtless six-pack years, but clear-eyed and radiantly handsome. "I didn't really think I had a problem like that," he says, taking a hit off a Newport. "I felt like, you know, all I got to do is clean up and I'll be fine. Just get in the studio and I'll be fucking fine." What finally made him see, he says, was the passing of J Dilla, the revered hiphop producer, on February 10, 2006. They'd just talked on the phone, D'Angelo says, when suddenly, J Dilla was gone at 32 after a long battle with lupus. It was like a blinding light had been switched on. Why did so many black artists die so young? He'd been haunted by this thought for years. Marvin. Jimi. Biggie. "I felt like I was going to be next. I ain't bullshitting. I was scared then," he says, recalling how shame engulfed him, preventing him from attending the funeral. "I was so fucked-up, I couldn't go." Right: Five years later, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Richmond, Virginia.

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Shame, guilt, repentance—D'Angelo knows them well. To say that he was raised religious doesn't begin to capture it. He's the son and the grandson of Pentecostal preachers. To D'Angelo, good and evil are not abstract concepts but tangible forces he reckons with every day. In his life and in his music, he has always felt the tension between the sacred and the profane, the darkness and the light. "You know what they say about Lucifer, right, before he was cast out?" D'Angelo asks me now. "Every angel has their specialty, and his was praise. They say that he could play every instrument with one finger and that the music was just awesome. And he was exceptionally beautiful, Lucifer—as an angel, he was." But after he descended into hell, Lucifer was fearsome, he tells me. "There's forces that are going on that I don't think a lot of motherfuckers that make music today are aware of," he says. "It's deep. I've felt it. I've felt other forces pulling at me." He stubs out his cigarette and leans toward me, taking my hand. "This is a very powerful medium that we are involved in," he says gravely. "I learned at an early age that what we were doing in the choir was just as important as the preacher. It was a ministry in itself. We could stir the pot, you know? The stage is our pulpit, and you can use all of that energy and that music and the lights and the colors and the sound. But you know, you've got to be careful." In 1995, when D'Angelo—or D, as he's known to his friends—released his platinum--selling debut album, Brown Sugar, he looked, on first impression, like the rappers of the time, with his cornrows, baggy jeans, and Timberland boots. But when he played and sang he instantly stood apart, a self-taught prodigy in touch with the ultimate muse. His groove hearkened to something purer, and whether crooning or caterwauling, he performed with fervor, like he was channeling the masters. A musician's musician, he played his own instruments, arranged and wrote his own songs. He was only 21 years old. Many would rise to praise him—not just critics, but his peers. Common, who calls D "one of the most impactful artists of our day and age," remembers being in his car when "Lady" first came on the radio. "I was calling people and saying, 'Have you heard this?' " he says. George Clinton, the godfather of P-Funk, compares D's 164

Left: Shirt, pants, and belt by Versace. Tie by Title of Work. Large bracelet and ring by Burkindy. Other bracelets David Yurman.

second album, Voodoo, to Gaye's groundbreaking What's Going On. And Eric Clapton's reaction to hearing Voodoo was captured on video. "I can't take much more," he says, reeling. "Is it all like this? My God!" But for many, it was skin, not just music, that helped D cross over from R&B maestro to mainstream sex object. In 2000 he released the smoldering video for "Untitled (How Does It Feel?)," an instant sensation that made fans everywhere, especially women, lose their lustful minds. It's easy to find on YouTube: 26-year-old D'Angelo, naked from the hip bones up, staring straight into the camera, licking his lips and writhing in ecstasy. The video propelled him to superstardomâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but it claimed its pound of flesh. D struggled mightily with the way his body threatened to overshadow his music. Then he all but disappeared. "Black stardom is rough, dude," Chris Rock tells me when I reach him to talk about D. "I always say Tom Hanks is an amazing actor and Denzel Washington is a god to his people. If you're a black ballerina, you represent the race, and you have responsibilities that go beyond your art. How dare you just be excellent?" After Brown Sugar went platinum, Rock put D'Angelo on The Chris Rock Show. Later, when D was mixing Voodoo, Rock hung out some in the studio. No surprise, then, that the first thing out of Rock's mouth after "Hello" is a joyful "He's back!" But he adds a sobering downbeat: "D'Angelo. Chris Tucker. Dave Chappelle. Lauryn Hill. They all hang out on the same island. The island of What Do We Do with All This Talent? It frustrates me." I tell Rock that Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, the drummer for the Roots and one of D's closest collaborators, has ticked off much the same list. Questlove has a theory about what happens to black geniusâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;what he calls "a crazy psychological 165

Right: Suit and shirt by Versace. Tie by Title of Work. Ring by Burkindy. Bracelet by David Yurman.

kind of stoppage that prevents them from following through. A sort of self-saboteur disorder." Rock says he understands. For a black star, Rock says, "there's a lot of pressure just to be responsible for other people's lives—to be the E. F. Hutton of your crew. Everything you say is magnified. I mean, street smarts only help you on the streets. Or maybe occasionally they will help you in the boardroom, but boy, you wish you knew a little bit about accounting." There is pressure to be original but also pressure to be commercial,to make money, to succeed. Sometimes the two run at cross-purposes. I ask Questlove what he thinks has held D back. He says it's not just the way "Untitled" turned D'Angelo into "the Naked Guy," though of course that didn't help. It's something bigger. "We noticed early that all of the geniuses we admired have had maybe a ten-year run before death or, you know, the Poconos," he says. "That renders D paralyzed. He said he fears the responsibility and the power that comes with it. But I think what he fears most is the isolation"—the kind that fame brings. Questlove believes D's "eleven-year freeze" must end, not just for the artist's sake, but for the culture's. "I've told him: He is literally holding the oxygen supply that music lovers breathe," Questlove says. "At first, it was cute—'Oh, he's bashful.' But now he's, like, selfish. I'm like, 'Look, dude, we're starving.' When D starts singing, all is right with the world." Michael Archer grew up not knowing Jesus' name. To some black Pentecostals, God is known as Yahweh and the son of God as Yahshua or Yahushua. "We would go to other churches and people would be saying 'Jesus,' " he recalls. "I was like, 'Who are they talking about?' " The piano, on the other hand, was something he

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understood innately. At 4, he taught himself to play Earth, Wind & Fire's "Boogie Wonderland." Left: T-shirt by John Varvatos. Cross necklace by Chrome Hearts.

When he was 5, his parents split, and the boys went to live with their father. "Mom was struggling," he says of his mother, then a legal secretary. Michael played the organ at his father's church and helped lead the choir. When he was 9, however, his dad "was battling his own demons," and the boys went to live with their mom for good. After that, "me and my father really didn't have much contact with each other." In those years, Michael was drawn to his maternal grandfather's Refuge Assembly of Yahweh, up in the mountains outside Richmond. The region had been a hub of slave trading before the Civil War, with Richmond being a place where 300,000 Africans and their descendants were sold down the James River. Then and now, church was a place where loss could be mourned, pain salved. But what attracted Michael was the way fire and brimstone infused the music. In the temple, Michael saw his elder brother Rodney speak in tongues; he witnessed healings and exorcisms. At one Friday-night revival, he noticed a woman in a pew a few rows up. She was acting strangeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;tugging at her clothes, foaming at the mouth, ripping at the Bible. "She was possessed. E-vil," he says, breaking the word in two. "It was a long, hot, steamy night, and that demon disrupted it." He recalls his grandfather and the other ministers praying hard as the woman crawled on all fours, screamed, and ran outside to jump on the hoods of cars. "The demon was raising holy hell, and my grandfather came outside. He had big 167

hands, and he didn't say a word. He just—" D'Angelo raises his palm to me—"and she falls out. That's it. End of story." Right: Tank top and jacket by Rick Owens. Short necklace by Giles & Brother. Long necklace by Versani. Hat by Borsalino at JJ Hat Center.

Already Michael was developing into the musical connoisseur that D'Angelo is today. His Uncle CC was a truck driver who moonlighted as a DJ, and he had a huge record collection. This was the beginning of what D now calls "going to school"—delving deep into jazz, soul, rock, and gospel history, from Mahalia Jackson to Band of Gypsys, from the Meters to Miles Davis to Donald Byrd, from Sam Cooke to Otis Redding, from Donny Hathaway to Curtis Mayfield to Sly Stone to Marvin Gaye. When Michael was 8, Gaye had just made a comeback with "Sexual Healing" and won two Grammys. "Everybody was talking about him," D'Angelo recalls. "Everybody." So just after Sunday sermon on April Fool's Day 1984, when Michael learned Gaye was dead at 44—shot by his own father—he was crushed. That night, D'Angelo had the first of many dreams about Gaye. It was in black and white and took place at Hitsville U.S.A., Motown's Detroit headquarters. D was playing piano while a bunch of famous Motown stars milled about, waiting for Gaye. "When he finally showed up, he was young, very handsome, the thin Marvin. Clean-shaven. Very debonair," he told an interviewer back in 2000. "He came straight to me and shook my hand and looked me dead in the eyes, and he said, 'Very nice to meet you.'& He grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go." Below: Three piece suit, shirt, and pocket square by Tom Ford. Necklace by Moussa

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After that, whenever Gaye's music came on the radio, Michael felt a chill. The opening bars to "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" made him get up and leave the room. It was as if the power in Gaye's music had been linked, somehow, to his tragic end. "I would be petrified," he saysâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;so petrified that his mother took him to a therapist. But the dreams of Gayeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;himself a preacher's sonâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;didn't go away until Michael turned 19. That was the year he changed his name to a moniker inspired by Michelangelo. That was also the year that his demo tape found its way into the hands of Gary Harris, then an A&R executive at EMI Music. At their first meeting, D played a little Al Green on the piano and appeared to be just another "young kid with a lot of mystery." Earlier, Harris had seen a video taken at a talent show when D was 8. "He's playing the chords from 'Thriller,' and then he starts singing: It's close to midnight. Something evil's lurkin' in the dark. He was killing it," Harris recalls. "We used to call it 'getting the spirit' in church. He's the rarest of breeds: a genuine live attraction."

Right: Rings by Gregg Wolf. Bracelet by Burkindy for Paul Smith. Cuff link by Chrome Hearts.

The church warned D'Angelo against secular music. "I got that speech so many times," he says. " 'Don't go do the devil's music,' blah blah blah." But his grandmother encouraged him to use his gifts as he saw fit. Not long after Harris signed him, D dreamed his last Marvin dream, this one in color. "I was following 169

him as a grown man," he tells me. "He was a bit heavier, and he had the beard. He was naked, and all I could see was his back and that cap he used to wear all the time. And he got into this whirlpool Jacuzzi with his wife and his daughter and his little son, and that's when he turns around and looks at me. And he goes, 'I know you're wondering why you keep dreaming about me.' And I woke up." Angie Stone, the soul diva who sang backup vocals on Brown Sugar, says that from the moment she met D, "I knew a superstar was on the rise." But "there was an innocence there that if we weren't careful was going to get trashed," adds Stone, who became romantically involved with D during that period and remains fiercely protective of him. "It's not a little bit of God in him. It's a lot of God in him. Sometimes when you have that much power, Satan works tenfold to break you."

Left: T-shirt by John Varvatos. Ring and cuff bracelet by Burkindy. Link bracelet by Moussa

As D'Angelo caught fire in the mid-'90s, the star-making machinery worked overtime to mold him into a bankable headliner. Stone remembers an event in Manhattan in September 1996 that was billed as Giorgio Armani's tribute to D'Angelo. Stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;thirteen years older than Dâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;was three months pregnant with 170

their son. They headed to the event together in a limo, but as they neared the venue where D was going to perform, it suddenly pulled over. "He was asked to get into another car, where he would be escorted by Vivica Fox," Stone says, her voice breaking slightly. The lissome Fox had just appeared with Will Smith in the blockbuster Independence Day. "It was a Hollywood moment. They wanted a trophy girl. I had to walk in behind them to flashing cameras. It started the wheels turning of what was yet to come." The A-list was circling now, wanting a taste of D's authentic flavor. When Madonna turned 39, she asked him to sing "Happy Birthday" at her party. One press report had her sitting on his lap and French-kissing him. In fact, two sources say that ultimately D rebuffed her advances at another gathering not long after. At that event, the sources say, Madonna walked over and told a woman sitting next to D, "I think you're in my seat." The woman got up. Madonna sat down and told him, "I'd like to know what you're thinking." To which D replied, "I'm thinking you're rude." But the lure of fame was constant, the temptations everywhere. While his label hoped for a quick follow-up album, D retreated, citing writer's block. He would later say that the birth of his first child, Michael Jr., got him back on track, but Voodooâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;partially written with Stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;would be a full five years in the making. D 171

fathered a daughter, now 12, with another woman, and has a third child, now almost 2. Three weeks after its January 2000 debut, Voodoo hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Some early reviews were tepid (only later would Rolling Stone list it among its 500 best albums of all time), but it sold more than a million units in five weeks (and 700,000 since). The record would eventually win two Grammys, for best R&B album and best male R&B vocal performance for "Untitled." But as D began to fall apart, the video would be the only thing many fans remembered. "The video was the line of demarcation," says Harris. "It sent him spinning out of control." Paul Hunter, the director hired to make the video, says his work was misunderstood: "Most people think the 'Untitled' video was about sex, but my direction was completely opposite of that. It was about his grandmother's cooking." I've stopped by Hunter's office in Culver City, California, to hear how D'Angelo came to be filmed bare-chested (but for a gold cross on a chain around his neck), wearing only a pair of precariously low-slung pajama bottoms, looking like a wolf circling a bitch in heat. Illuminated from every angle, he spins very slowly as the camera fetishizes his every ripple and 172

drop of sweat. I've imagined a lot of things that inspired the song's rousing lyrics (Love to make you wet / In between your thighs cause / I love when it comes inside of you), but collard greens weren't among them. Hunter is quick to explain that he, like D, was raised in the Pentecostal church. "When I used to sing in the choir," Hunter says, "after the rehearsal, you go in to eat. I remembered seeing the preacher looking at a lady's skirt one week and then, the next Sunday, talking about how fornication is wrong." Such mixed messages about the pleasures of the flesh were intertwined with the pleasures of the palate—part of the same sensual stew. "So I was like, 'Think of your grandmother's greens, how it smelled in the kitchen. What did the yams and fried chicken taste like? That's what I want you to express.' " The video was the brainchild of co-director Dominique Trenier, D's manager, whose goal—some still see it as a stroke of genius—was to turn his client into a sex god. D'Angelo had been working hard with his trainer and was cut down to muscle and bone. Never in his life had D been this taut and virile, and Trenier seized the opportunity to create a true crossover artist without losing his loyal base. Initially, Hunter says, to capture the heat they were hoping for, "we were going to build sort of a box for a girl to come and mess with him. We all said, 'Well, how can we push it?' " But when the shoot began at a New York City soundstage, the fluffer turned out to be unnecessary. D's memory was all he needed to bring it home. The video may have looked like foreplay, but it was actually about family, Hunter insists—about intimacy. Later, when I tell D'Angelo this, he says, "It's so true: We talked about the Holy Ghost and the church before that take. The veil is the nudity and the sexuality. But what they're really getting is the spirit." The shoot took six hours, and it changed D's life. Trenier got his wish: Thanks to D'Angelo's luscious physicality, albums started flying off the shelves. But the trouble began right away, at the start of the Voodoo tour in L.A. "It was a week of warm-up gigs at House of Blues just to kick off the tour, draw some attention, break in the band," says Alan Leeds, D's tour manager then and now. "And from the beginning, it's 'Take it off!' "

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Questlove, the tour's bandleader, was alarmed. "We thought, okay, we're going to build the perfect art machine, and people are going to love and appreciate it," he says. "And then by mid-tour it just became, what can we do to stop the 'Take it off' stuff?" D'Angelo felt tortured, Questlove says, by the pressure to give the audience what it wanted. Worried that he didn't look as cut as he did in the video, he'd delay shows to do stomach crunches. He'd often give in, peeling off his shirt, but he resented being reduced to that. Wasn't he an artist? Couldn't the audience hear the power of his music and value him for that? He would explode, Questlove recalls, and throw things. Sometimes he'd have to be coaxed not to cancel shows altogether. When I ask D about this, he downplays his suffering. Watching him pull hard on another Newport, I realize that he finds it far easier to confess his addictions than his insecurities about his corporeal self. Self-destructing with a coke spoon— while ill-advised—has a badass edge. Fretting over what Questlove has called "some Kate Moss shit" seems anything but manly. If given the chance, he tells me, he would absolutely shoot the video again. But he does admit to feeling angry during the Voodoo tour. "One time I got mad when a female threw money at me onstage, and that made me feel fucked-up, and I threw the money back at her," he says. "I was like, 'I'm not a stripper.' " He was beginning to sense a darkness beckoning. He recalls a particular moment onstage at the North Sea Jazz festival in 2000. The band was in the middle of "Devil's Pie," his song about the spell fame casts upon the weak— Who am I to justify / All the evil in our eye / When I myself feel the high / From all that I despise—when he felt an ominous presence in the crowd. "That night I felt something that was like, whoa," he tells me. E-vil.

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On the last day of the eight-month tour, Questlove says D'Angelo told him, "Yo, man, I cannot wait until this fucking tour is over. I'm going to go in the woods, drink some hooch, grow a beard, and get fat." Questlove thought he was joking. "I was like, 'You're a funny guy.' And then it started to happen. That's how much he wanted to distance himself." While the tour was a success, both critically and commercially, it left D broken. "When I got back home, yeah, it wasn't that easy to just be," he says. "I think that's the thing that got me in a lot of trouble: me trying to just be Michael, the regular old me from back in the day, and me fighting that whole sex-symbol thing. You know: 'Hey, I ain't D'Angelo today. I'm just plain old Mike, and I just want to hang out with my boys and do what we used to do.' But, damn, those days are fucking gone." Upon his return to Richmond after the Voodoo tour, D stepped into what he calls "an avalanche of shit." First he lost a few people who were close to him, including his Uncle CC, whose record collection had been the bedrock of D's musical education, and his beloved grandmother. After that, "I just kind of sunk into this thing." It's not that D wasn't working, exactly. "I was in the studio," he says. "But I was also partying a lot. A little too much." He liked cocaine, he says, "because I could 175

be a bit of an antisocial. It made me really open up and talk." But the problem with doing coke, he says, is "you can drink like a fish and it don't bother you. It was good in the beginning, but it got out of hand." For the first time, he says, "people started to go, 'Yo, man, you've got to get it together.' " Executives at his then label, Virgin, were exasperated. Momentum is money in the music business, and D was squandering his. Sometime in the mid-2000s, Virgin and D'Angelo parted ways. Then D had a falling out with Questlove, who'd played a track off the album-in-progress on an Australian radio stationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a cardinal sin in D's eyes. Things had begun to unravel. In January 2005 a bloated, bleary-eyed D'Angelo was arrested in Richmond and charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana and driving while intoxicated. Trenier, horrified by the mug shot that appeared in press accounts, drove from New York City to Richmond to pick D upâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;then drove him to California so D wouldn't have to be seen in public in an airport. Soon, D was in rehab at the Pasadena Recovery Center. But he wasn't listening. The near fatal Hummer accident came in mid-September of that year, after D had received a three-year suspended sentence on the cocaine charge. Still, he didn't think he'd bottomed out. Only five or six months later, after J Dilla's passing, would D finally reach out to Gary Harris, the man who'd first signed him. D told Harris he wanted to talk to Clapton, with whom he'd performed a few times. Harris tracked down a number. "I was like, 'Yo, I need some help,' " D recalls telling Clapton, who founded the Crossroads treatment center in Antigua. D would be welcome there, Clapton said, but it would cost $40,000. Harris called a former boss of his: Irving Azoff, the famed personal manager, who didn't know D

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but knew his work. Harris says Azoff agreed to cut a check. Getting D to Antigua was an odyssey in itself. First off, he had neither a driver's license nor a passportâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a challenge when trying to board an international flight. Second, while he'd begged for this intervention, his commitment to it waxed and waned. When Harris first arrived at D's Richmond mini-mansion on a Sunday in late April 2006, the kitchen was littered with empty alcohol bottles, and D was a mess. "What should have taken a day took four days," Harris says, recounting their journey from Richmond to Charlotte to Puerto Rico, where "it took me two days to get him out of the hotel." Even once D was admitted to Crossroads, Harris says, "he was calling everybody he knew to get a ticket out." At his first two rehab centers, D had been able to evade and outsmart the counselors. At Crossroads, he was forced to deal. "It was like sobriety boot camp," he says. "They are up in your shit." After his month in Antigua, it still took eighteen months for D to ink a new deal, this one with J Records (which would become RCA) in late 2007. But even then, in D's world, nothing happens quickly. Everyone around him knows about D-time, a pace so slow that it could test even the most patient saint. Over the next few years, there were creative stops and starts. There were also setbacks. On March 6, 2010, D was arrested and charged with solicitation after offering a female undercover police officer $40 for a blow job in Manhattan's West Village. He reportedly had $12,000 in cash in his Range 177

Rover. Asked to explain, he says, "It was just me making a stupid decision, a wrong turn, on the wrong night." He adds, "I'm not the role-model motherfucker. Look at all the shit that I've been in." Questlove and D were back in touch now, but the drummer admits he kept D'Angelo at arm's length. For a while it seemed they'd only talk after someone died. Michael Jackson's passing had them on the phone in 2009. Then, in 2011, just hours after Questlove missed a call from Amy Winehouse on Skype, she, too, exited the stage. "D's the first person I called," Questlove recalls. "And I was just honest, like, 'Look, man, I'm sorry. I know you're thinking I'm avoiding you like the plague.' I just said plain and simple, 'Man, there was a period in which it seemed like you were hell-bent on following the footsteps of our idols, and the one thing you have yet to follow them in was death.' " He told D that if he'd gotten that news, it would have destroyed him. "That was probably the most emotional man-to-man talk that D and I had ever had." Such honesty was only possible, Questlove says, because D'Angelo was finally

getting his act together. He'd kicked his bad habits—well, most of them. "Any person who's dealt with substance abuse, it's an ongoing thing," D tells me. "That's the mantra—one day at a time—right? So you're going to have good days and bad days, but for the most part, I have a grip on it." He feels the forces of good are on his side now. "I don't know why it didn't happen sooner. It's just the way Yahweh ordained it." 178

His newfound discipline is evident in the way he has thrown himself into studying a new instrument, practicing for five and six hours a day. "The one benefit of this eleven-year sabbatical was he used 10,000 Gladwellian hours to master the guitar," says Questlove, who compares D to Frank Zappa. "He can play the shit out of it, and I don't mean no Lil Wayne shit." Alan Leeds, the tour manager, senses a conscious decision on D's part to push beyond the beefcake. "I wonder if that isn't partially a way to take the attention away from that Chippendales shit, because when you're standing up playing guitar, there's a little less attention to what you're wearing and whether it's on or off and having to choreograph your moves," says Leeds, who's previously worked with James Brown and Prince. "It prevents you from having to calculate that shit." Still, D is back in the gym, and it's not just vanity that's tugging at him. He knows physical presence is key to any live performance. And though he's still finer than fine, with swagger to spare, he's no longer the chiseled Adonis from the "Untitled" video. Eating little more than fish and green apples, D's been working to trim down his five-foot-seven frame, which just a few months ago had topped 300 pounds. In January, on the eve of his European tour, his managers told me he still had another twenty-five pounds to go. Which is why when I boarded the plane for Sweden, I wasn't surprised to see D's personal trainerâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Mark Jenkins, the same one who got him into underwear-model shape twelve years agoâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a few rows up. When you haven't been onstage in more than a decade, a lot of things go through your mind. For D, it boils down to a question: Is this really happening? Backstage in Stockholm, before he steps into the light, the rumble of his fans tells him the answer is yes. Fittingly, this venue is an old Pentecostal church. Packed into pews, where red leather-bound hymnals are stacked neatly for Sunday worship, the audience of 2,000 is excited to the point of near levitation. No one was sure D would show tonight, and in fact he almost didn't. He missed two flights before his managers finally delivered him to Newark airport. "He Got on the Plane. Praise Jesus," Tina Farris, his assistant tour manager, would blog later. "The knot in my stomach is slowly unraveling." When he finally takes the stage ("In a minute!" he teases the audience from the wings. "In a minute!"), he sports a black leather trench coat that hits his black pants mid-thigh and a big-brimmed black hat. He calls this look Chocolate Rock. His hair is arranged in two-strand twists, and silver crosses hang on chains that bump against his chest. Also around his neck is the strap of his black custom Minarik Diablo guitar, named for its devilish horns.

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He steps into the spotlight, the guitar slung low, his face aglow. If you could somehow access the voltage in the air, you could turn on all the lights in Scandinavia. First, the strains of an old song, "Playa Playa," cut through the din. Then a Roberta Flack cover—"Feel Like Makin' Love"—and then, seamlessly, a bluesy new tune, "Ain't That Easy," whose lyrics acknowledge, I've been away so long. The crowd catches the double meaning and roars as D peels off his jacket, revealing a black undershirt and sculpted arms. He glides through a mix of the old ("Chicken Grease," "Sh*t, Damn, Motherf*cker," a cover of Parliament's "I've Been Watching You") and the new (the infectious "Sugah Daddy," and "The Charade," a battle cry that D says "is telling the powers that be, 'This is why we are justified in our stance' "). Is he rusty? A little. But his presence grows with each song. At one point, he grabs the hem of his wife-beater with both hands and tugs it up— one, two!—in time with the song. The brief reveal of his midsection is a flashback to the trying days of 2000, but it's 2012 now, and the shirt stays on. When the band rips into its encore, "Brown Sugar," it feels like D has rounded third base and is about to slide to safety. "Good God!" D yelps, kicking the mike stand away, then catching it with his foot before it flies into the audience. "Give my testimony!" he shouts, blowing kisses from the stage. The show is a triumph, and soon Twitter and Facebook are on fire. He's really back—no longer a specter. D's band—he can't decide on the name, but he's considering the Spades—radiates happiness and exhaustion as they load onto the tour buses, nicknamed the Amistad I and II after the slave ship. The next night he fills a 1,600-capacity club in Copenhagen, and afterward the buses leave on Dtime—a full twelve hours behind schedule. By the time they arrive at the hotel in Paris on Sunday, January 29, sound check for that night's show is just three hours away. Still, despite having traveled 760 miles across Denmark, Germany, Belgium, and France, D and his trainer head directly to the tiny hotel gym. Coincidentally I'm there, too. I ask if D wants privacy. He does. As I head for the door, he steps wordlessly onto the treadmill, a weary man with many miles still to go. But that night, at the tour's first 5,000-seat arena, Le Zénith, D'Angelo is revived. Toward the end of the show, after a medley featuring snippets of the melodious, bumping "Jonz in My Bonz" and the gospel-fueled "Higher," he hits a single percussive note on the piano that reverberates and fades away. Then he hits it again, and all of us in this cavernous hall begin to scream. It's the beginning of "Untitled," which he didn't perform in Stockholm or Copenhagen—which he hasn't played in public, not once, in a dozen years. After a few bars, D stops abruptly and stands up. The crowd cheers as he leans on one end of the piano, his chin in his hands, catching his breath. What happens next is the most soulful, palpable connection I've ever felt between an artist and an audience. As D sits 180

back down and starts to play again, the audience spontaneously begins to sing. How does it feel?â&#x20AC;&#x201D;four words coming from thousands of throats, urging him on. He responds gratefully, "Sing it again, sing it again." And they do, loudly, prettily, right on tempo: How does it feel? "Oh, baby, long time," he sings, "that this has been on my mind." People are crying, swaying, raising up their hands. I'm one of them. It's impossible not to be overcome as this sexy anthem, this source of so much pain, is transformed before us into a crucible of love. "Thank you so much," he says, his fingers fluttering on the keys as he brings it home. Then he stands up, kisses both his hands, and opens his arms to the crowd. The blue lights go dark. I'm reminded of something Angie Stone says about D. "D'Angelo is always going to be D'Angelo," she tells me. "You can't take too much away from the gift itself. I'm sure there's still some fear there, because it's been a long time out of the spotlight. And when all the spotlight he'd got lately has been negative, there's a rebirth of some kind that needs to take place." God willing, we've all just witnessed it. Upon D'Angelo's return to New York City in mid-February, his friends and colleagues began to worry a little. D-time speeds up for no man. Russell Elevado, D's longtime engineer, told MTV Hive that D wanted to finish his album "as soon as possible, but once he gets into the studio he gets into his own zone.... Altogether there's over fifty songs that he's cut since we started. I think he wants to put twelve songs on the album." Questlove tells me the same thing. "To get five songs out of him, we had to throw away at least twelve that I would give my left arm for," he says. "I don't mind that, because I literally feel he is the last pure African-American artist left." Still, as weeks pass, Questlove admits, "My first fear was him not doing this at all. Now my new fear is, okay, the tour is over. Now what?" For nearly a month, D mostly holes up in his apartment on the Upper West Side. Jenkins comes by regularly to sweat D in his private gym. He fasts for a few days, and the weight is coming off, but it seems D is headed back into his pre-tour cave. Only music persuades him to go out. Late in February, after he and D go to see BjĂśrk together, Questlove addresses a tweet to the Icelandic artist, saying, "amazing job last night. even d'angelo was mind blown & he leaves the house for NOBODY." So when will he release his new album? D can't say for sure. His managers and his label are pushing hard for September, before the Grammy 181

deadline. But nobody's banking on it. Sounding like a man who's all too familiar with D-time, Tom Corson, RCA's president and COO, says simply, "This year would be nice." In mid-April, D and his band are back in the studio, this time in Los Angeles, supposedly adding the final touches. But everything hinges on D letting the music go. "I'm driven by the masters that came before me that I admire—the Yodas," D tells me, using the term he and Questlove have coined for their heroes. He tells me of a music teacher who told him that when classical composers like Beethoven made music, "people didn't understand it, and it got bad reviews," D says, recalling how his teacher said Beethoven responded: "He's like, 'I don't make music for you. I make music for the ages.' " That's all well and good, Chris Rock says—as long as D actually releases his music. "You've got to earn it, man," he tells me, adding that the only reason fans aren't disappointed by Jeff Buckley, the celebrated singer-songwriter who recorded just one album, is that he drowned. "Body of work, babe. It's all body of work at the end of the day. I mean, the only way D's going to be a great artist with the output he has now is if he dies." I can't help but think about J Dilla, whose death was the pivot, D says, on which his comeback began to turn. Dilla was the ultimate underground artist—prolific beyond compare, a legend in the hip-hop world. When he died, he'd made so much music with so many people—from De La Soul to Busta Rhymes to A Tribe Called Quest—that his legacy was secure. For all of D'Angelo's otherworldly I can't help but think about J Dilla, whose death was the pivot, D says, on which his comeback began to turn. Dilla was the ultimate underground artist—prolific beyond compare, a legend in the hip-hop world. When he died, he'd made so much music with so many people—from De La Soul to Busta Rhymes to A Tribe Called Quest—that his legacy was secure. For all of D'Angelo's otherworldly talent, for all the passions he distills and reflects when he's in front of an audience, for all his perceived connections to Beethoven and Michelangelo and Marvin, and yes, to Jesus himself, the same cannot yet be said for him. Can Dilla, the overachiever, spur the underachiever to reach his true potential? 182

Back in the Times Square recording studio, I tell D I want to read to him something from a fan who posted recently on Prince.org, a site frequented by devotees of all things funky. The fan is worried by reports that D is trimming down, he writes, because of the havoc the "Untitled" video wrought: "While it's cool that dude is getting in better shape, I hope he's not trying to get back to the way other people picture him or want him to be. Dude just needs to get his head straight." I look up from the page. "Is your head straight?" I ask. "Straight," D'Angelo says, his eyes locked on mine. "Yes, my head is straight." Just because you're black, he adds, doesn't mean you have to look or sound a certain way, "or, you know, act ignorant or what have you, whatever the fucking gatekeepers have us doing because they think that that's the formula to make money. And a lot of motherfuckers, they just fall right into line." D has a term for artists like this: "minstrelsy." If he's learned nothing, he's learned this: He's no minstrel. I ask him about Internet reports that the new album is called James River, after the Virginia waterway whose swampy banks provided hidden refuge for escaped slaves. No, that's no longer the title, D says, but he doesn't say what is. I let slip that I've heard about another new song he's written called "Back." I just want to go back, baby / Back to the way it was, it goes. And then: I know you're wondering where I've been / Wondering 'bout the shape I'm in / I hope it ain't my abdomen. I tell him I'm impressed that he's addressing his body directly, using wry lyrics to confront and reclaim this difficult chapter of his life. He murmurs a thank you, but he looks a little unsettled. "Wow," he says, when I ask if the song will appear on the album. "I don't know if that's going to make it." Later, when I reach Janis Gaye, Marvin's second wifeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and a longtime D'Angelo fanâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;I tell her about the dreams D had of Marvin, and she isn't surprised. Her own children dreamed of Marvin on the night he was killed, and D is just a few years older. "Marvin is a protector, and I'm sure there was something in Marvin's spirit that saw something in D'Angelo's spirit," Janis says. I tell her about Rock's stern admonition that D needs to step it up, and she agrees. She even has a suggestion: "He should go to Marvin's Room, the studio that Marvin built," she says of the famed studio on Sunset Boulevard where Gaye recorded many of his hits. "Go in and take his fifty songs. Not to sound kooky or out there, but Marvin will help him to choose." www.gq.com

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You Betta Werk!: Professors Talk Style Politics By Tanisha C. Ford In recent years, appropriate attire for professors has been a hotly debated topic. Scholars from various disciplines have offered instruction, fashion tips and personal narratives about the importance of dress. In response to my article, Haute Couture In The Ivory Tower, professors of color posted on my Facebook and twitter pages, recounting their own fun and sometimes troubling stories related to dress in the academy. The lively conversations in the social mediasphere motivated me to put on my “Oprah” hat (a stylish Chanel one of course!). I interviewed several female and male hip hop generation professors who make it werk (Tim Gunn voice) everyday on campuses across the country. Yet, their stylish choices and intellectual talents do not immunize them from scrutiny and questions. In fact, my interviews reveal a heightened level of criticism, shock, and awe particularly directed at women of color faculty. Below are excerpts from some of the interviews I conducted with women professors of color. Together, these interviews illustrate that studies on fashion and adornment politics offer a powerful lens through which we can explore other important issues such as women’s rights, motherhood and relationship status, pleasure and sexuality, and the politics of “respectability.” I asked them the following questions: 1. How do you incorporate your personal fashion sense into your professional attire? 2. Do you think women and/or men of color in the academy face unique challenges that are (directly or indirectly) linked to a politics of dress and adornment?

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Dr. Siobhan Carter-David is an Assistant Professor of History at Southern Connecticut State University and the curator of “Strong Shoulder: Revisiting the Women’s Power Suit.” I incorporate my personal style into my professional attire by mixing the moderate (sometimes, even conservative) with the extreme. Exposed tattoos are coupled with silk dresses, ornate vintage belts and handbags, and “serious” statement jewelry. I do have to make some small changes to accommodate my pregnancy. I choose shift dresses, pretty tunics with tights, and cute fitting blazers (left open) to go along with my pregnant look. I do think that women and men of color face unique challenges that are linked to our politics of adornment. Being an expectant mom does add another dimension to these politics. While I am not socially conservative, I must admit that I find comfort and security in prominently displaying my wedding ring(s) while pregnant. It is a defense mechanism against the prejudices of students, faculty and staff on campus. I was prejudged during my first pregnancy five years ago. I am African American, appear several years younger than my actual age (so I’ve been told), with a style aesthetic that I refuse to give up. In my students’ eyes, I looked like a “ghetto teenager” since I don’t wear pumps and pearls. Despite my accomplishments and credentials, I am still proud to be that girl from the Bronx. But my students’ could not imagine me as also being a wife, mother, and intellectual. That girl, they imagine, doesn’t know shit about the social and cultural implications of [U.S.] Reconstruction. Dr. Tiffany Gill is an Associate Professor of History and African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of the award-winning book Beauty Shop Politics: African American Women’s Activism in the Beauty Industry. I focus on wearing pieces that make me feel confident, feminine and powerful. I focus on bold colors and prints, trendy accessories, classic staple pieces, and my signature face: dramatic eye makeup and sparkly lip gloss. When I stand in front of a lecture hall full of sleepy undergraduates, sit around a conference table during a long faculty meeting, or give a public lecture on my 194

research, my style allows me to bring the various aspects of my life together in a way that is unapologetically me. While I’ve always been confident in my personal style as a professor, even as it departs heavily from that of most of my white colleagues, I have never underestimated the peculiar challenges I have as a young (I got my first tenure track job at 29) black woman in the academy. I’ve had many instances, especially early in my career, when students have entered my classroom looking for the professor and were astonished when they realized that it was me…As such, I have always known that I have had to fight to earn the respect that some of my colleagues automatically receive by virtue of embodying what a “real’ professor looks like…Today I see scholars of color in my generation flexing our intellectual as well as aesthetic prowess in unprecedented ways. We have reclaimed the pleasure of style and have merged it with the rigors of intellectual pursuit. The academy must be willing to embrace a multiplicity of style choices as well as intellectual perspectives. Dr. Asia Leeds is an Assistant Professor of African Diaspora & World Studies at Spelman College. One of my friends describes my style as “urban-earthy.” I’ll mix an African print dress with a black blazer, for example. On days that I wear a more understated or monochromatic outfit, I’ll incorporate a pop of color with shoes. Fun, colorful belts are also a way that I bring a plain black or navy blue dress to life. Needless to say, I need color in my life! It gives me energy. I don’t like to look like everyone else; my personal style is an important extension and reflection of my identity. I am young, a global citizen, and “Afropolitan,” if you will. During one postdoctoral experience, however, I wore a head wrap to campus and had a meeting with colleagues that day. I wasn’t trying to make a statement, but inevitably I did. My colleagues (none were black) were so intrigued–a little too intrigued for my taste–and I felt like they were exoticizing me, as I felt they had with my previous hairstyle and jewelry choices. They always reacted in seemingly positive and excited (and anthropological!) ways, but I don’t feel comfortable having SO MUCH attention on what I am wearing, especially when we should be discussing research and ideas! The best thing about academia is that you can define “professional” for yourself. Now that I’m teaching at an HBCU and a women’s college, I do feel like I have to present myself as a role model, in terms of fashion, feminism, and as a ‘natural hair ambassador.’ I want students to take note of how Afros, African prints, etc. can look professional.

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Dr. Treva Lindsey is an Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Missouri who lectures on hip hop soul and black women’s sexual politics. I proudly identify as a “single black female addicted to retail!” (Thanks Ye!)…One of my many nicknames, Dr. Diva, conveys a sense of the connection I make between my personal fashion sense and my professional attire. As a self-proclaimed diva, I embrace audacity, timelessness, sultriness, and an unwavering commitment to feminine artifice…I strive to feel fully present in my professional attire. More likely than not, I will have on some fly heels or boots and a perfectly tailored pair of slacks or a form-fitting knee length dress…On that rare occasion, when I question if a dress or skirt is appropriate, I tend to go for it. I write about African American women defying conventions and rejecting politics of respectability—so why not explore the terrain of defiance and boldness in my personal-professional style? In addition to the many challenges people of color in the academy face, we must combat particular challenges regarding attire and adornment that often inscribe our experiences. From politics of respectability to controlling images such as the Jezebel, professors of color navigate a volatile terrain of self-presentation. Many of the issues we combat entail multiple fronts. I feel pressure to “dress” professionally, while many of my white male counterparts do not feel a similar pressure. BUT, if I look “too fashionable,” questions arise about my commitment to being a scholar…Ultimately, I know it matters “what we wear,” and yet, the complexity of politics surrounding how we adorn ourselves continues to perplex me.

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Dr. Amrita Chakrabarti Myers is an Associate Professor of History at Indiana UniversityBloomington and the author of the awardwinning book Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in Antebellum Charleston. My favorite color is red (it’s my “power color”) so I try to incorporate it (and other, bold hues) into my professional attire in order to give my teaching outfits a little “pop.” …Many of my outfits are actually very low-key. I veer toward the classic over the trendy any day, likely a holdover from my days in investment banking. But, [my outfits] appear “pulled together” or punched up because I’ve paired a basic skirt or classic dress with a great pair of patchwork suede boots, for example. I’ve noticed that many of my older, white colleagues (male and female) have a somewhat peculiar reaction to my attire, and to the attire of women of color in general. Their comments have often implied that those who “look good” must not be terribly bright, or that they are maybe not as serious about history, or not as intellectual as they are, because they are too focused on clothing and other “frivolous” matters… On the flip side, however, if I showed up in the classroom dressed the way many of my older white colleagues do (particularly the male ones) I would have an impossible time being treated with respect by my students. Many of them are already inclined to be disrespectful towards me because I look young, am female, short in stature, and a person of color. How I dress thus does matter, and there is clearly a politics of dress. At the end of the day, I dress for myself, but I am always cognizant that others are watching. Dr. Ebony Utley is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at California State University Long Beach and the author of the critically acclaimed Rap and Religion: Understanding the Gangsta’s God. My personal style manifests in my professional attire via period dresses and heels. Every day of lecture throughout the semester I wear a different dress so students are shocked when I show up to the final in jeans. Because students dress increasingly casually, I don’t feel pressure to suit it up. That would create too much of a division 197

between me and them. Also, because I teach popular culture classes or courses with huge popular culture components, I need to look like I know what’s trendy or I lose my credibility. I often “shop my students.” By that I mean, take stock in what’s trendy for them and try to incorporate some of the accessories or styles into my own look so that I can continue to connect with a younger and younger crowd. I’ve never seen my wardrobe as a justification for who I am or a justification for my presence in a certain space. My sartorial choices have always been reflective of my personal style not others’ expectations of me. And truthfully, those expectations have always been relatively low—because I look younger than my age (which is younger than most), and because of my race and gender. No one expects me to open my mouth and sound smart. I use that to my advantage, especially when surrounded by strangers… If anything, I think there are more young professors who aren’t afraid to [express their personal style] because the penalty for surviving this academic game and losing yourself is just too high. These interviews elucidated the reality that women of color in particular face complex adornment politics. A Chronicle of Higher Education article, Professors: Hot At Their Own Risk, demonstrates the challenges of being an attractive and stylish black, female academic. Commenters—self-identified as professors— targeted Professor Ebony Utley who unapologetically stated that she cares about her appearance and strives to looks nice. They posted insensitive remarks such as, “If this is what she wears when she lectures then I’m not surprised she is approached by students,” when responding to Utley’s story about a student who told her she could “make more money as a high class hooker.” Another scolded, “We’re not there to be ‘hot.’ We’re there to teach.” Utley and other women of color aren’t hearing any of this. Instead, they are continuing to use their personal style to define “appropriate” and “professional” on their own terms.

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Why Every Woman Should Have a Love Affair with Lingerie by Krystal Franklin

Just as important as your makeup and even the clothes itself, what you wear underneath play an equally important role as well. No need to wait until Valentine’s Day or your man’s birthday to turn on the sex appeal with lingerie, keep it spicy at all times. Single? Not a problem. Who says you have to be in a relationship to keep your unmentionables sexy? It doesn’t matter what size, shape or insecurities have kept you from adorning yourself with fabulous lingerie, you should be tempted by at least one of these styles. Bra and Panties Bra and panty sets are perhaps the most popular piece of lingerie. They make a sexy girl feel like she is fully dressed, put together, feminine and complete in her wardrobe. Look for a set with matching color style and fabric to create allure.

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The Garter Belt The garter belt is that special touch you add to your lingerie. It gives you a supremely feminine aura, and makes you appear as confident as any professional vixen! The cutest part: you can mix and match the colors of the belt and the rest of the lingerie. Bodysuits Bodysuits are sexy, because they’re so feminine and fun. They render that classic-yet-daring cabaret look, and they hug your assets in just the right places. Find a suit with bows and lace to add a bit of romanticism. The Corset You can’t dare wear lingerie and forget the corset. It is the foundation of all things “woman,” all things bedroom sex, and all things “make-your-body-look-perfect!” The dramatic curves of corsets work wonders on a woman’s body. What style of lingerie do you prefer? Does lingerie make you feel sexy or can you do without it? Clutchmagonline.com

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“True Love” ~ Is it Really Hard to Find? By Destinee Love

Often we say to ourselves that we are going to start looking for love. But what happens when we search without giving it a chance to find us? ”True love” indeed is very hard to find these days, but that is because it is not meant to be found. You don’t have the power to control when this powerful force comes into your life. Love is not that kind of emotion. It’s uncontrollable, irresistible, and unmanageable. But it wants to find you! That’s what make it unique in form and oh so challenging. Most of the time when we look for something we never find it. But, when we are NOT looking for it..it seems to be staring us right in the face. That is how the cycle of life works for some odd reason. Most people find love but they were not trying to get it. If you notice in most love stories or movies, people talk about how they were going about their business when all of a sudden they happened to meet someone whom ended up being “the one”. They never went out looking or searching, it just happened by chance. Again, Love can be an powerful force. It has a mind of its own. Something I believe to be very potent. It has the power to bring people together in the most unlikely situations, but also can tear them apart if jealousy or obsession creeps in. It could bring out the worst and the best in us all, or cause us to do crazy things we didn’t imagine ourselves doing. Not to scare anyone but I’m sure some of us may have a story or two we could sit around and share. True love had found me once. I meet this guy years back, he was so sweet. He would do anything and everything to make me happy, but I was not ready for him. He wanted to build a life long relationship. This man was so loving and was everything a woman could dream of!

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He seemed to have so much patience with me and how stubborn I was at times that it completely blew me away. I thought to myself ” How could he put up with me, and manage to stick by my side?” ” No matter what I say or do, he never gets mad or argue one bit.” Then one day he told me that he was in love with me. He wanted to marry me, and assumed I felt the same way. All I could say was that I really, really cared for him, but I was not in love. Yes, I truly loved him, but not “in love.” I could tell that he was hurt from the water in his eyes. All I could say was this man is in love for real. I felt bad for breaking his heart, but I knew it was the right thing to do because if I had lied saying I felt the same, it would only be pretending which was not fair to him or his heart.

Overall, true love can come when you least expect it. You don’t have to go looking for it because it will find you at the right time. That is God’s plan. Sometimes it’s better to let it find you because if you try too hard, you may find yourself in a bad situation. When you become anxious and impatient you end up selling yourself short. Everyone has there own time for love. Don’t compare yourself to your friends or your buddies. Take your time and do things right. Go about your life and live it the best way your can. You’ll attract love when you simply do what you need to do and stay focused. But when it does find you, and it will, Smile brightly inside saying to yourself…..”What took you so long, I’ve been expecting you!” (Laughing) Much Love and remember to “Keep it Sexi!!!!” 202

Releasing the Unhealthy Tendency of Codependency By Sereda Aleta Dailey With each passing year most would likely agree that this life is very interesting. I would go as far to say it’s pretty damn perplexing, yeah I know. So, if you don’t think so I’ll tell you some reasons why I said that. Sometimes you might want to cry but instead how about we just agree to laugh about life for now on! We can’t change others anyhow. Other folks are usually why you feel the tension you feel from time to time. How about this, Stop it now. So here’s the next part of this reality… The world is full of people that need to work on themselves. No you’re not exempt from the group of people needing to work on themselves either (thought you were off the hook, Nope Guess Again!). I’m laughing (now the straight face) but neither am I. Let’s go there..shall we? Relationships come in every shape, size, color and variation. It would seem natural for relationships to be about exchanging energy, information or at times even resources of some sort. Seems easy enough right? It’s not that easily broken down most of the time though. Clarity is lacking in these connections a great bit of the time though…So what can you do about it, you ask??? What are the various types of relationships you ask? Well, there are business relationships, passionate relationships between couples or some call them romantic relationships. There are also other relationships categories such as family, friends, associates or whatever. You get the picture here.

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There is an issue some of the time with these relationships though. What could be wrong in the land of positive exchange you’re thinking??? For the most part many relationships aren’t all that positive. At least that what the participants of such a union say under their breaths. What’s wrong is… It’s communication. All day long, that’s it. What’s up with the lack of communication though? Communication is the heart of one on one relationships there’s no way around it! For some reason, people think they can avoid the detailed chatting and skip straight into a harmonious cloud of being perfectly meshed and matchedtogether forever… Can you say ‘Somebody’s gotta be DREAMING??’ That’s not even close to reality. Maybe if two people are on drugs 100% of the time, maybe it would work LOL..okay bad joke. But you get the point. From the stand point of knowing about the exchange that needs to take place in a relations typa thing, folks are doing counterproductive acts that will never support anything positive in a relationship. What’s the counterproductive part though? Here’s an example…. Blaming others for not doing what you were supposed to be doing in the first place. If you give it some thought it happens all the time also it’s a bit crazy wouldn’t you agree? Let’s look at this way, you have the personal responsibility to do a task that perhaps you don’t want to do so, you ask /tell another person to do it for you. Except you forget the other person is doing you a favor because its not their thing to begin with. Right, then you have the audacity to get mad when the person you asked to do the thing for you tells you they don’t want to do it. People have free will! Although this is a fact, some people flat out still don’t know it. Many say they know it but occasionally forget that we all have freewill.

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So they don’t really know it! It’s like this: You came into the world by yourself. When you go, you can bet you will go alone too. First and foremost! You are free to be, so is everyone else too. No one really has a reason to depend on another except for children of course. Okay maybe pets too… Acting out??? Do you know about a time when you had a fit about not being able to find something that belonged to you? Then instead of looking for the lost or misplaced thing you found a way to put the responsibility on someone else. I t’s easy to pass right…but it doesn’t make it right to get short with others when you didn’t map your plan out well enough… Come on.. It’s time to hold ourselves responsible at once. No one can do that for us besides us. Just a bit of food for thought. Get free! Stop the needy, I’m a victim mentality! Peace and bliss for life. What has your experience been with codependency directly or indirectly, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

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The Rising Star of designer Tawni Haynes 206

Tawni Haynes is a Fashion Designer and owner of Iconyq Apparel Boutique, located at 316 W. Beltline in Cedar Hill, Tx. “My goal is to restore class and elegance to the fashion industry!, she says optimistically. Sleek, straight lines, bold prints, and elegant, form-fitted designs are just a few ways to characterize the unique technique of stylist and fashion designer, Tawni Haynes. Tawni is well known around the Dallas Fort Worth (“DFW”) area as an up and coming fashion forward retailer and custom apparel artist with a vivid sense of classy sophistication far beyond her 30 years of age. What originally began as a love for the trendiest ladies shoes, handbags, and accessories has blossomed almost overnight into a full-scale fashion design business. Tawni is joint owner and operator of ICONYQ Apparel Boutique, located in Cedar Hill, Texas. What appears from the outside as a local, run of the mill establishment on the historic city square, sets itself apart as soon as you peer through the front doors as the ever-changing, window displays featuring her custom creations. 207

Tawni takes pride in transforming hundreds of clients from ordinary to runway ready for events ranging from a Sunday church service to national television appearances. She is especially recognized for her gift of making any woman look and feel absolutely stunning, regardless of body shape or size. “My clients are real women with curves and it’s important that every garment I design and sell make them feel like the most beautiful woman in the room- whether they are a size 8 or 18.” “The difference you will find in one of my hand-crafted garments is meticulous effort and an end product that suits each client’s body type.” The Fall/Winter line, which debuts this June, is said to display the very essence of Tawni’s signature style, featuring inimitable concepts and fabrication. As Tawni continues to advance her career in the Fashion Design industry, she continues to set the latest in industry trends and construction methods to guarantee that her product and service offerings are leading edge and remarkably chic.

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â&#x20AC;&#x153; We make custom clothes. Please view pics of some of our work posted in the photo albums. Our garments are custom made for each individual client. Currently, you are not limited to any particular design you see. We can work off a sketch or description. However we will make suggestions to best suit you based on body type, shape, event, and skin under-tone. Our garments are manufactured in the USA(DFW) with care, and with the utmost attention to quality and detail,â&#x20AC;? says Tawni. Due to the fact that all our garments are custom made for each individual client, they are by appointment only. Contact them today to schedule a consultation. Standard turn-around time is 4 to 6 weeks depending on the garment. If you need your order sooner than that we may be able expedite it for an addition fee. They can accommodate orders for an individual person or for groups (choir robes, clergy attire, usher board, and coordinating group attire, etc). Below: Prophet, Elder Dwann Holmes Rollinson in her Tawni Haynes (Custom-Made) Iridescent China Silk Wedding Gown, & Tawni Haynes "OMG" Custom Accessories. This dress called for roughly 20 yards of silk & all the bottom detailing was done by hand.

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Above: Prophetess Christina Glenn Weeks wearing a Tawni Haynes Duipioni Silk Trench Dress with Bow detail ($600).

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Above: Dr. Nycole Lyles-Belton (DR. NYC) CEO & Founder of "Greatness In You" wearing a Tawni Haynes custom Bow Blouse.

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All About Roxy 213

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The Inspiration of Collete Hope

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The Founder Collette Hope, an AFAA certified trainer, is the founder of Yumichic Inc., Yumichic Fitness & Flavor, Vertizontal Exercise and Performance and Bodypipe Dance.

After years as a personal stylist, Hope strengthened her portfolio with a commitment to education and training as a fitness professional. An unexpected fascination grew into a passion and at age 37, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;buff beautyâ&#x20AC;? took an aggressive 221

step into the group fitness scene with Alternative Movement. She never looked back. Creativity and energy dictate her unpredictable, cutting-edge style. “It’s a competition between me and the exercise,” Hope says. The foundation of Yumichic is rooted in Hope’s innate, rhythmic ability. While many trainers focus on specializing in a certain area of fitness, Hope’s speciality is pushing the body to the wall and leading women to be serious about their physiques and overall appearance. Hope leads by example, through training and educating clients as a workout partner. This approach sets Hope apart. She is an accomplished trainer, instructor, entrepreneur, spokesperson and personal stylist, an industry fixture who is devoted to making women all over the globe into a Yumichic Phenomenon!

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The Company In 2007, Collette Hope created Yumichic, a lifestyle resource for young and mature women. The global mission of YUMICHIC.COM is to elevate dignity and integrity by reestablishing the importance of substance and self-worth through personal maintenance. Yumichic sets an example of confidence, responsibility and leadership and that elite status is a choice due to your lifestyle, not genetics. The Method Inspired by the skill, physical exertion and determination of elite athletes, Hope wanted her training to be colossal. “It had to work me like an athlete, teach me a skill, be a sport, contour my body like a work of art and make me function like a machine,” states the graceful trainer. “It needed to be intense enough to produce razor sharp results yet realistically achievable for an average woman.” Determined to maintain her own individual style, Hope developed “The Yumichic Training Method™,” a series of Conventional and Alternative workouts tailored with her signature style. The Method offers a wide variety of exercises to enhance multiple systems with compound bodyweight activity requiring little to no equipment. The Yumichic Training Method™ is designed to build a system of movement, restore and recharge the body no matter the fit level and develop a woman’s athleticism, therefore resulting in a strong, toned body with impressive curves. Travel Training Collette travels to clients in cities and states across the globe and to areas within and around Central Florida for private one on one and group sessions at your location of choice. Home, conference room, banquet room, spa parties, you name it, Yumichic Training can come to you, in both Conventional and Alternative. 223

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Studio Training Both Conventional and Alternative packages are available for studios wanting to book Yumichic Training for their members’ classes. A minimum of 4 sessions are required for studio training. Pole Performance From publicity affairs, celebrity A-list parties, corporate functions, night club venues, sporting events to intimate private parties, mesmerize your guests with a single performance or multiple performances to add an eminent quality to any occasion. Both Vertizontal™ and Bodypipe™ options are available.

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Venues, Night Clubs and Promoters

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Add a bit of edginess to amplify a club night or choose a more tailored option and elevate the VIP experience. Equipped with both the X-Stage and removable XPoles, Yumichic Inc. can accommodate your event, indoors or outdoors with equipment only or with performance included. Event Organizers and Planners Creating entertainment for your clients can be challenging or not. From product and brand launching to film and music releases, Yumichic Inc. will work with you to provide tasteful pole performance options suitable to your clients’ needs. Training Rates Private One on One training is tailored to your specific needs and no one else trains during your session so that full attention and motivation is focused on you. Like the synergy of training with other serious women but don’t like a big crowd, try the Private GROUP option which offers clients a fresh pre-designed monththly workout where Yumichic is often “PartnerPushing” aka working out right there with you.

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Private Group Training Initial 1-Hour Consultation Fee $30 The Consultation is required and must be booked before you start training.     

4 Training Sessions $145 8 Training Sessions $175 12 Training Sessions $205 16 Training Sessions $250 20 Training Sessions $300

There are NO CONTRACTS, NO REGISTRATION FEES and you only pay for what you can use. Schedule a consultation. Purchase your sessions ONLINE with a credit/debit card and SHOW UP for training. www.yumichic.com 228

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Study: Multivitamins May Lower Cancer Risk in Men The Associated Press

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America's favorite dietary supplements, multivitamins, modestly lowered the risk for cancer in healthy male doctors who took them for more than a decade, the first large study to test these pills has found. America's favorite dietary supplements, multivitamins, modestly lowered the risk for cancer in healthy male doctors who took them for more than a decade, the first large study to test these pills has found. The result is a surprise because many studies of individual vitamins have found they don't help prevent chronic diseases and some even seemed to raise the risk of cancer. In the new study, multivitamins cut the chance of developing cancer by 8 percent. That is less effective than a good diet, exercise and not smoking, each of which can lower cancer risk by 20 percent to 30 percent, cancer experts say. Multivitamins also may have different results in women, younger men or people less healthy than those in this study. "It's a very mild effect and personally I'm not sure it's significant enough to recommend to anyone" although it is promising, said Dr. Ernest Hawk, vice president of cancer prevention at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and formerly of the National Cancer Institute. "At least this doesn't suggest a harm" as some previous studies on single vitamins have, he said. Hawk reviewed the study for the American Association for Cancer Research, which is meeting in Anaheim, Calif., where the study was to be presented on Wednesday. It also was published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association. About one-third of U.S. adults and as many as half of those over 50 take multivitamins. They are marketed as a kind of insurance policy against bad eating. Yet no government agency recommends their routine use "regardless of the quality of a person's diet," says a fact sheet from the federal Office of Dietary Supplements. Some fads, such as the antioxidant craze over vitamins A and E and betacarotene, backfired when studies found more health risk with those supplements, not less. Many of those were single vitamins in larger doses than the "100 percent of daily value" amounts that multivitamins typically contain. 231

Science on vitamins has been skimpy. Most studies have been observational â&#x20AC;&#x201D; they look at groups of people who do and do not use vitamins, a method that can't give firm conclusions. Dr. J. Michael Gaziano, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and VA Boston, led a stronger test. Nearly 15,000 male doctors who were 50 or older and free of cancer when the study started were given monthly packets of Centrum Silver or fake multivitamins without knowing which type they received. After about 11 years, there were 2,669 new cancers, and some people had cancer more than once. For every 1,000 men per year in the study, there were 17 cancers among multivitamin users and more than 18 among those taking the placebo pills. That worked out to an 8 percent lower risk of developing cancer in the vitamin group. Multivitamins made no difference in the risk of developing prostate cancer, which accounted for half of all cases. They lowered the risk of other cancers collectively by about 12 percent. There also was a trend toward fewer cancer deaths among multivitamin users, but the difference was so small it could have occurred by chance alone. Side effects were fairly similar except for more rashes among vitamin users. The National Institutes of Health paid for most of the study. Pfizer Inc. supplied the pills and other companies supplied the packaging. The main reason to take a multivitamin is to correct or prevent a deficiency, "but 232

there may be a modest benefit in reducing the risk of cancer in older men," Gaziano said. Cancer experts said the results need to be confirmed by another study before recommending multivitamins to the public. These participants were healthier — only 4 percent smoked, for example. For people who do want to take multivitamins, doctors suggest: —Be aware that they are dietary supplements, which do not get the strict testing required of prescription medicines. —Ask your doctor before taking any. Vitamin K can interfere with common heart

medicines and blood thinners, and vitamins C and E can lower the effectiveness of some types of chemotherapy. For people having surgery, some vitamins affect bleeding and response to anesthesia. —Current and former smokers should avoid multivitamins with lots of betacarotene or vitamin A; two studies have tied them to increased risk of lung cancer. 233

How To Improve Your Self-Confidence: Tips on How To Get Your Self-Esteem Up

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It’s easy to collapse under the pressure to be “Superwoman.” On the outside, we strive to be the loving wife, doting mother, educated over-achiever, high-powered career woman and expert cook, all while maintaining a perfect figure and a perennially happy disposition. But in truth, even the strongest women battle with insecurity, doubt, fear, emptiness and low self-esteem from time-to-time. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s understandable that life’s ups and downs can impact our self esteem, especially when we put everyone and everything above ourselves. Here are four ways to get your self-esteem up despite what life throws your way: -Love yourself as is. No one is perfect. By succumbing to external pressure to be “superwoman,” you’re setting yourself up for disappointment from the start. Acknowledge, understand and embrace your flaws then love yourself in spite of them. -Prioritize your mental health. Women of color have a way of making sure everything else in their lives is in order — their career, their family, their looks, their finances — except their mental health. Whatever you do to restore your sense of peace and stability, whether it’s going to church, volunteering, exercising or seeing a therapist, make it a regular part of your routine. -Don’t compare yourself to others. It’s easy to feel inadequate when you compare yourself to other women, whose situation may seem better from afar. “Keeping up with the Joneses” won’t help you be the best you. Be inspired by other women’s stories, but recognize you’re on a path that’s all your own. -Pamper yourself. Take time out of your busy schedule to give yourself some TLC, whether you prefer a long, candlelit bath or a pedicure at the nail salon. Pampering yourself offers a much-needed reprieve from the stresses and demands of everyday life. www.clutchmagonline.com

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9 Ways To Add Campaign-Trail Flourish To Your Next Presentation By Terri Sjodin |

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You don't need to be stumping toward the White House to add presidential passion to your speech. Here's a handful of tips for your next sales meeting or management presentation. It’s time to weave into your speech the unique elements that will land your message squarely in the hearts and minds of your listeners. Your goal is to craft a message that is memorable, influential, and effective. Now is the time you want to pique your prospects’ interests and curiosity and maybe even make them laugh. Speech Supports First, consider the speech support. The goal of your support materials is to link your argument to examples and illustrations that make the point easy to understand. Speech supports have the power to boost your credibility and draw in your prospect’s attention. One of the most effective speech supports is the anecdote or story. Most often, it’s a short, engaging tale that makes your point in an entertaining way. Other popular and useful speech supports include: Analogy: A similarity between like features of two things, on which a comparison may be based. “A good public relations department is to a real estate agency as fuel is to a jet.” Definition: The formal statement of the meaning or significance of a word, phrase, etc.

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“A speech, as defined by Webster’s, is the practice of oral communication.” Statistics: The “collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation” of huge quantities of numerical facts or data. “A recent survey suggests that adults actually remember 50 percent of what they hear in an oral presentation.” Testimonial: A declaration certifying the value or excellence, etc., of a thing. “The New York Times named Bob the most reliable, consistent businessman in history.” Hypothesis: A proposition set forth as an explanation for the occurrence of an event or trend. “Your company’s recent slump in ad sales may be due to a lack of energy and inspiration in your print and online teams.”

Rhetorical Devices Second, consider the rhetorical device, a technique a speaker uses to evoke an emotional response. This tool is versatile and has the ability to enhance any presentation. Let’s take a look at a couple of rhetorical devices. Alliteration is the excessive repetition of the sound of a particular letter within a sentence. “A bright, bilingual broker is just what your company needs to boost its bottom line!” Anaphora is emphasizing words by repeating them at the beginning of neighboring clauses. This was a device employed by then Senator Barack Obama with great success, during the 2008 presidential campaign. Here is an example from his January 2008 New Hampshire primary speech: “We can harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists, citizens and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no return. And 239

when I am president of the United States, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home. . . . We will end this war in Iraq. We will bring our troops home. We will finish the job--we will finish the job against Al Qaida in Afghanistan. We will care for our veterans. We will restore our moral standing in the world.” His use of anaphora helped engage the audience and encouraged people to join in, some repeating each phrase at just the appropriate time in cadence with the speaker. As the message progressed, Obama created a sense of unity between himself and the audience. It is equally important to use examples that are more analytical in nature; in other words, to get creatively persuasive with the hard, cold facts. A wonderful example of such an opening is found in President Harry S. Truman’s famed “Whistle Stop Speech,” given on September 18, 1948, in Chariton, Iowa. During that speech, “Give ’Em Hell” Harry used numbers and statistics to open his audience’s eyes to what the opposition was doing. Here’s some of what he told folks that day: “In 1932, 123,000 farmers in the United States had lost their farms. In 1947, less than 800 farms were foreclosed. That’s the greatest record in history. “In 1932, the farmers were hopelessly in debt. Their indebtedness has been reduced by more than 50 percent and they have $18 billion in assets. Think of that! Just think of that!” Truman went on to warn his audience that the Republicans wanted to reverse that prosperity, do away with price-support programs for farmers, and “turn the clock back to the horse-and-buggy days with such people that made up the ‘do-nothing’ 80th Congress.” He then placed the solution to the problem--whether to progress or not--squarely in the hands of his audience: “That Congress tried its level best to take all the rights away from labor...to put the farmer back to 1932...to put small business out of business...You stayed at home in 1946, 240

and you got the 80th Congress, and you got just exactly what you deserved. You didn’t exercise your God-given right to control this country. Now you’re going to have another chance. If you let that chance slip, you won’t have my sympathy. If you don’t let that chance slip, you’ll do me a very great favor, for I’ll live in the White House another four years.” And he did. Truman was reelected president of the United States on November 2, 1948. Granted, he was the sitting president, and we can’t all be as aggressive as Harry S. Truman was that day, but we can take a cue from his passion and certainty and, of course, his use of numbers and statistics.

What now? Now that you have your tools in hand, it's time to discuss where you can find your best material. I've found it usually requires you to do a little creative research. Start collecting stories, magazine articles, and funny and compelling quotes. Put them into what I like to call a "File of Creative Examples" for ongoing use. To keep it packed with material, surf the Internet, search LexisNexis, cruise the bookstores, read newspapers, journals, and magazines, and listen to interesting speakers. Always be on the lookout for examples that really hit home for you. And, of course, examine your own experience. Some of the best material comes from your personal, academic, and professional lives. Remember, there's some validity to sayings such as, "You can't make this stuff up!" and "Truth is stranger than fiction!" and "The story you are about to hear is real, but the names have been changed to protect the innocent." So roll up your shirtsleeves and commit an hour or two a week to filling up your own File of Creative Examples. Excerpted from Small Message, Big Impact by Terri L. Sjodin. Published by Portfolio/Penguin. Copyright (c) Terri L. Sjodin, 2011, 2012.

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Your Money: New clients, old problems for prepaid debit cards By Beth Pinsker Gladstone

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Chris Williams, a solidly middleclass family man, is so wary of banks and overspending, that he has become the new face of prepaid debit cards. The 49-year-old executive at a public relations firm in Meredith, New Hampshire, swore off credit cards in favor of a prepaid debit card before a trip to New York last year, hoping it would keep a lid on the family's spending. It soothed him to know the card walled off financial information that thieves can potentially steal from credit card companies. The experience proved so positive, Williams plans to continue using the card, even though the charges for using prepaid cards can far exceed the costs associated with using credit cards, checking accounts or other forms of payment. Indeed, experts caution that these cards aren't right for everyone and that consumers need to look past the vigorous marketing pushes by prepaid card firms that use celebrity faces or folksy, anti-Wall Street messages to lure new, middle-class customers. Prepaid debit cards, which came into the marketplace in the mid-1990s, allow consumers without credit cards or bank accounts to make card purchases or to get cash via ATM networks. The supposed advantage is that the accounts don't overdraft, because they only access your own funds. But they come with fees that can add up, with several studies showing these often exceed those charged by checking accounts. Chalking Up Fees A Nerdwallet.com study from May found "prepaid fees were just as complex and even more common, and that the perceived benefit of ease of budgeting comes with unexpected costs." For example, Williams' prepaid card comes with a $3 monthly fee, and charges for extras such as balance inquiries and reloading fees, while a typical checking account has no fees with minimum balance requirements. Still, the audience is growing, to a forecast of $201.9 billion in transactions in 2013, from $28.6 billion in 2009 according to the Mercator Advisory Group. 243

In contrast, the total market for all transactions for 2011 - debit, credit and prepaid debit - totaled $135.33 billion, according to the Nilson Report. For financial firms such as JPMorgan Chase & Co, American Express Co and Wells Fargo & Co, there are strong incentives to roll out new varieties of prepaid debit cards. For one, the government is yet to regulate the prepaid debit-card transaction fees charged to merchants. Credit cards and bank debit cards, on the other hand, face limits imposed by the Durbin Amendment of the Dodd-Frank Act since October 2011, making them less profitable to the issuers. Free from curbs, these prepaid debit cards are being pitched beyond the "unbanked" and toward a broad audience that includes teenagers, college students and young adults with no credit history, middle class families trying to control spending, others without credit cards who wish to make online purchases, and others simply averse to banks. And to pitch their message, companies have turned to an array of celebrities, including reality TV star family the Kardashians, rap mogul Russell Simmons and personal finance guru Suze Orman. Celebrity Sizzle "When you are coming in new to a marketplace, you want some sizzle, you want people to pay attention to your card. Celebrities can do that," says basketball legend Magic Johnson, who just debuted the "The Magic Card" card last week. Johnson is slightly different from other celebrity endorsements in that he's a business owner of the product, along with OneWest Bank, FSB, rather than just a paid spokesperson. Fees for Johnson's card start with a set-up charge of $4.95, a monthly fee of $4.95 and extras like balance inquiries, which cost 50 cents each, consistent with competing cards. But, Johnson tells Reuters, the fees are justified by the services. "We have features that can help them understand money, getting their credit in order," he says. Still, he cautions, the card has no bearing on a user's credit score and does nothing to help build better credit. "A card can never do that," Johnson says. "You have to become more disciplined. You have to not overspend." 244

Capitalizing on Confusion This can be a surprise to some unsophisticated card users who believe that using prepaid cards will help them improve their credit scores. Indeed, it's one of several misconceptions caused by marketing ploys, says Odysseas Papadimitriou, chief executive of Cardhub.com. "Prepaid companies are capitalizing on people's confusion by making credit references, and making people think a prepaid card has something to do with credit history," he says. "They bring in celebrities to get people distracted from the main things they should be focusing on when they pick a product - the fees and terms - not how cool the plastic looks." Marketing a product to people who have a bias against banks and other big financial institutions can be tricky. Yet it was inevitable, says Ben Jackson, senior analyst of the prepaid advisory service of the Mercator Advisory Group. Note a pitch from American Express for its new Bluebird prepaid debit card, in partnership with Wal-mart Stores Inc, which is currently in a limited test launch: "Let's face it, most banks take advantage of us. You give them your money, and then they just keep taking your money with fees and charges," says an online marketing survey for the card. Yet, that's exactly what prepaid debit cards do. They accept your money and then diminish it with fees and charges. None of the cards offered so far are completely free, and most of them are directly issued by banks and credit card companies, or at least in partnership with them. Laura Kelly, American Express' senior vice president and general manager for the Americas, says the cards are "providing an alternative to the consumer" since 45 percent of Americans don't have a credit card. She says there's no irony in the company providing an alternative to its own credit card. "A lot of the time, unfortunately, people don't realize. They hate banks...but they think VISA is their card versus Capital One," says Papadimitriou. www.reuters.com 245

Community Cooperation through Cash Gifting By Nicole Renee Boisseau It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was the best because it was a beautiful summer day, I could hear the laughter of my children playing outside with their friends, my home was “so fresh and so clean”, and I had just finished my monthly bill paying ritual online. All was orderly and complete. I thrive on happy kids, cleanliness, and order. It was the worst of times because, although my bills were paid, the service worker from the electric company paid my household a visit to disconnect us. “Didn’t you just pay the bills?” hubby asked me. “Yes, I did.” I said. “You’re always in an uproar about paying these companies on time and they still disconnected us… people can’t even pay their bills these days… you pay them and they’ll still turn off your service. These companies are SCAMS!” he ranted. All I could do was shake my head in disbelief and think of the next thing to do. I was grateful that we had the ability to check into a hotel suite with our children and adult physically challenged daughter and attempt to make this a good day. We packed our clothes, stopped at the grocery store for snacks to fill our hotel refrigerator, and headed to the hotel. While at the pool with the children I received a phone call from a spiritual friend of mine that I met through a conference call bible study conference call group. We haven’t met in the flesh but we’ve developed a very great friendship over the span of 3 years. I told her about our situation and that it should be rectified by the next day, but that I was just tired. My soul was just tired. At that moment is when she introduced me to 2010 Blessings. It’s been a blessing to my family, friends, and members ever since. 2010 Blessings is a Community based, invitation only, exclusive group of like-minded and like-spirited people that want to help each other with gifts from the heart.

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It is not a business or a mandatory entity.

Instead, we are a group of individuals cooperating together in a community spirit so that we can help and receive help from other like-minded and like-spirited individuals who share our passion for life, generosity and cooperating with each other for a common goal. With this purpose in mind, the main objective of the 2010 Blessings Community is to get members to work together to achieve the goal of helping people make it through these tough economic times that we're all facing. If you would like more information about 2010 Blessings visit www.2010blessings.com/invit e16/?43473.

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VERVE M E D I A Groupâ&#x201E;˘

VERVE VERVE Media Launches HOT217 to Build on its Media Platforms 248

VERVE MEDIA Group ™(hereafter referred to as “the Company”) has positioned itself to become the premiere online content provider to the African American Online Lifestyle and Culture Network. The Company’s New Media platforms currently consists of:

Outdoors

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VERVE

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Online Magazine Publishing through VOICE Magazine (http://www.voicemagonline.com) Internet Radio through HOT217Radio (http://www.Hot217.com) Internet or connected television through VOICETV (http://www.voicemagonline.com/VOICETV).

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According to Pete Reeves, CEO of VERVE MEDIA Group ™ “we call our operating sites "platforms," intentionally implying that they provide the basis for growth.” What is New Media? New Media is a 21st Century catchall term used to define all that is related to the internet and the interplay between technology, images and sound. In fact, the definition of new media changes daily, and will continue to do so. New media evolves and morphs continuously. What it will be tomorrow is virtually unpredictable for most of us, but we do know that it will continue to evolve in fast and furious ways. However, in order to understand an extremely complex and amorphous concept we need a base line. Since Wikipedia has become one of the most popular storehouses of knowledge in the new media age, it would be beneficial to begin there: Wikipedia defines New Media as: “… a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the media content. Another important promise of new media is the "democratization" of the creation, publishing, distribution and consumption of media content. What distinguishes new media from traditional media is the digitizing of content into bits.

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Mission Statement  

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The mission of the Company through our platforms is to provide our audience with authentic, edgy and bold content that reflects the lifestyle and culture of the African American community. The mission of the Company through our platforms is to provide resultsoriented advertising, public relations, and marketing designed to meet our client's objectives by providing strong marketing concepts and excelling at customer service. We seek to become a marketing partner with our advertising clients. We desire to measure success for our clients through awareness, increased sales, or other criteria mutually agreed upon between the Company and the clients. We are committed to maintaining a rewarding environment in which we can accomplish our mission.

VERVE Outdoors VERVE Media Group ™ is currently an authorized distributor of the Mini Billboard Network Systems which was created and designed in 2009, to assist business owners, entrepreneurs, and community leaders etc. to market their products or services to customers in unexpected places. It has been proven that placing billboard ads in targeted locations is the fastest growing way to reach consumers when their guard is down. Advertising on a digital billboard system, allows you to reach a socially active and consumer based audience between the ages of 18 to 55, who are much more likely to use technology to avoid advertising in traditional media. With over millions of people per month viewing Digital Billboard Ads, we at VERVE Media want to seize this opportunity and help advertisers reach these customers while at the same time providing a needed service to the consumer. This is also a great way to get the word out about the Advertiser for a very low cost and silently shout brand identity. “Companies that sponsor one of our Mini Billboard Systems will: 250

     

Attract more publicity for whatever they are promoting Sell more products or services Get the ultimate Ad coverage at a great rate Get the most value and best return on their advertising budget Create instant, concrete credibility in the eyes of potential customers Maximize their target market effectively and inexpensively

Advertisers will pay Verve Media a fixed monthly fee to have their ads developed and placed on the Mini Billboard System. A sample of these advertisers includes our current and future clients such as:  Healthcare Facilities  School Districts  Recreation Facilities  Universities  Private Business Owners  Municipalities etc.” ,states, Reeves with optimism and energy. VOICE Magazine VOICE Magazine(http://www.voicemagonline.com)is an authentic, engaging and stimulating online experience with bold imagery published for today’s African American Urban Professional. VOICE Magazine is a bi-monthly digital publication that provides our readers with information that is important and relevant to them. Whether its news on inspiration, culture, wellness, beauty, entertainment, business, sports, or hard news on local, state and federal issues, Voice Magazine provides a unique online experience that gives African American Urban Professionals a credible VOICE Each issue of Voice Magazine is filled with profiles of well-known individuals as well as the lesser known and the up and coming in their respective fields. Care is taken to provide our readers with well written and stimulating articles supported with the vivid imagery.

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HOT217 An estimated 69 million American listened to online radio in the last month, and the weekly online radio audience has increased by one-third in the last year. The ability to listen to audio they can’t get elsewhere and to control the music being played are the top reasons that people listen to radio online. Almost half of online radio users sat they listen while researching a product or service online, while on-third say they listen while shopping or purchasing online. HOT217 (http://www.hot217.com) was created to take advantage of this immense opportunity and to enhance listener experience and provide interactive media opportunities which respond to its user’s actions by presenting content such as text, graphics, animation, video, audio, games, etc. through online radio targeting the African American population. The HOT217 format consists of R&B, Hip Hop , Ole School music talk radio from mainstream, independent and underground artists and hosts. Our goal is to utilize urban contemporary music genres coupled with authentic and stimulating talk radio to create an exhilarating listening experience. “We have proudly created a platform for veteran broadcasters as well as those who are inspired to step into the world of radio broadcasting for the first time, says Reeves. VOICETV To be in January 2013, VOICETV is a VERVE Media platform. The videos that are shown here are a mixture of aggregated music, news and information videos garnered from various sites and original interviews, short films, commercials, infomercials and street documentaries a/k/a “street doc immediacy.” VOICETV will soon be broadcasted via the internet on an Internet Protocol television (“IPTV”) network. IPTV is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats. The Company has developed it sown IPTV channel on the OPN TV Network called VOICETV- Channel 7. (www.opntvnetwork.com) 252

A Must Read!!!

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You are probably asking ... 'Why did this guy go to all this trouble to build this website?' ... Well, there are many reasons, but when you cut it down to the core, it's pretty basic. So, here's my answer: I, like millions of other radio listeners, hear the commercials for IncomeAtHome.com virtually all day, Monday through Friday as I have the radio playing in the background while I work. And I, like you, listen to these talk radio shows because I have a certain level of respect for the Radio Host, what they stand for, and believe that (or used to) they really are only promoting products and/or services that they truly believe in & have researched. Since our economy is such a precarious position, I figured it might be a good idea to add another income stream to soften the blow if my regular work/income took a hit for one reason or another. And, if the IncomeAtHome.com opportunity was everything they're advertising, it just might be a good fit with what I do, since I am already online working almost all day.

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So, I decided to go to the IncomeAtHome.com website and start the process of getting signed up and finding out what IncomeAtHome.com is all about. What I encountered was a process so convoluted and secretive, that I got a pit in my stomach telling me there was something heinous, almost devious going on. This website is not about attacking any of the listed Radio Hosts in general, as there are many on this list that I listen to almost every day, and outside of their very bad judgement in accepting IncomeAtHome.com as an advertiser, will continue to listen to them regularly. What I do want, is to educate folks about the truth behind IncomeAtHome.com & push the Radio Hosts & Stations to dump / cancel / end their advertising relationship with IncomeAtHome.com. You see, it doesn't matter whether you are: Left-Wing, Right-Wiing, or Sitting on the fence; Democrat, Independent, or Republican; a person of faith in God, or not ... Nobody, regardless of their stripes, wants to get ripped off. Period. That's why I built this website. So please, take a few minutes to go throught the information I have assembled. Contact the Radio Hosts & Shows you listen to that are advertising IncomeAtHome.com, and tell them to quite promoting a decades old 'scam.' And, if you would like to throw me a thanks for building this website, please consider buying me a cup of coffee! So ... What's The Big Secret? 255

What's The Big Secret? Really. Why All The Super Secrecy? One of the first things you will notice when you go to the IncomeAtHome.com website is that they talk about allot of things - how easy it is to go into business for yourself, how their program is advertised/endorsed by all these top-name Radio Hosts, and is even Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau Online. The big pitch is your 'Risk Free' Starter Kit. Just enter your personal information in the form on the homepage, and you are on your way .... Except now you hit the first pitch for payment. Doesn't seem like much. $10 to have their Starter package shipped out right away. You are ready to get your home business started 'right now' aren't you? So click-click, you input your payment info, and you figure it should be a pretty straight forward process from this point forward. Then, you get your first phone call. For me, it started off more like I was speaking to someone in the billing department from my cell phone provider, letting me know my bill is a few days over due. My cell phone rang, I picked it up & said "Hello," and the person on the other end blurted out my first name, then went silent. I asked who they are, and what their call was regarding. The person on the other end replied "you asked for information about a home business opportunity online," with as much personality as your CPA calling with bad news. As soon as I replied "yes," the person on the other end introduced herself, and rolled right into her script. She said that her and another woman were going to be my 'mentors' and that they were 'interviewing me, just as much as I was interviewing them.' It was kinda creepy. Sure, they want to project the image that they are 'selective' in some way or another, but the tone and approach was a bit more like an interrogation, than a 'hey, great to meet you.' 256

"You will receive your Home Business Starter Package this weekend, and we want to set an appointment to go through the next steps of the process. I have appointment times available on Monday. Is 2:00 or 3:00 better for you?" I replied that I had meetings and work scheduled all day on Monday, but could talk on Tuesday, and received a fairly abrupt "Then how is 2:00 pm?" ... "'Fine," I replied, and she started into a list of things I MUST do before our meeting. "You must read the entire Home Business Starter Package, and answer the questions on page five. Make sure you watch the entire DVD and make any other notes." "So, what kind of home business is this? Who is the main company behind everything?" I ask. "After you have reviewed the Starter Package and DVD, we will answer any questions you have about this amazing home business opportunity." Then she said that I 'had' to call the day before if there was anything that would interfere with our appointment, and reiterated the importance that I do everything she told me to do before our Tuesday appointment. Even though I was already becoming a bit uncomfortable with the decision I made to contact IncomeAtHome.com, I figured, I'm ten bucks into this process, why not just go along and see what it's all about. So I confirm our Tuesday appointment time of 2:00, and my first contact is over. I have now listened to the ads on the radio, knocked through the highlights of the website, and spoken with one of their reps, but still didn't know what the business is, what company it's ultimately affiliated with, or really anything beyond my 'mentor's' sharp instructions. Ahhh, it's Saturday afternoon, and all my mail deliveries seem to show up at one time. USPS with the new safety razor I bought on eBay, UPS with some work related stuff, and the FedEx guy, who happens to have my incomeAtHome.com Home Business Starter Package. I am finally going to get to take a look and see what the IncomeAtHome.com business is all about! Or, so I thought. So, What do you actually get? 257

What Do You Actually Get? It's amazing how much can be made from so little! Or, it could also be said "Much To Do About Nothing." With a 'zzzzdddddip' I pull back the 'rip strip' on the back of the FedEx envelope, and 'Voila,' here is my IncomeAtHome.com 'Internet Business Starter Pack.' A glint of shiny paper, and a slight blue glow inside the envelope reveal a slick, glossy, sixteen(ish) paged 'booklet' with a DVD snapped into the back page. And, their step-by-step insert of what I have to do before my first real phone appointment with my 'mentors.' On their step-by-step insert, it has a special note: "If anyone else will be involved in the decision making process, they must also have completed the internet business starter pack with PRIOR (emphasis theirs) to our phone appointment." They continue with "Our business is EXPLODING (emphasis theirs) and we only book one appointment per person. If a true emergency arises and you cannot make this appointment, we require a 24 hour courtesy call so that we can give your appointment time to someone else." After reading just the cover note/insert, I can't quite decide how to feel about it. The insert makes it sound exciting that 'I have made it through the first step of the qualifying process,' but at the same time, has a very dictatorial tone about all the things I MUST do in order to be prepared for my next meeting with my 'mentor/personal coach.' I can't help but bounce back to the prior uneasy feeling I got when I was talking on the phone with my 'mentor,' and she said that she essentially was not going to answer my questions about who they were, or what company they represent. But hey, I've got their 'Internet Business Starter Pack,' I'm sure the rest of the answers are in there ...

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'We're in the Business of Changing Lives,' and "Now Is The Time to Turn Your Dreams Into Reality!" it says is headlines at the top and bottom of the cover. ... The very un-PC

political commentator/satirist-side of me says 'what? No minorities on the cover? Just a white family, white lady, and a mature white couple?' ... And, the claw-fisted graphic designer in me (I work proficiently using a 8 year old copy of Photoshop 7 thank you), asks "what high school senior did they get to layout the cover? I hope the inside isn't as crappy as the cover"' ... For those of you pissed off at me for making a racial representation observation about the cover ... take a look through the entire booklet, 'nutin' but white folks all the way through. I figured that if there were left-wing radio hosts promoting this program, they would want to ensure there was proper racial representation. In fact, the only racial minorities you see between their website and their 'Internet Business Starter Pack' are the Black/AfricanAmerican radio hosts promoting it. It's just an observation & I'm just sayin ... OK, back to the 'Internet Business Starter Pack' Unfortunately, the same person who did the cover artwork, laid out the rest of the booklet. Just because you put something on glossy paper, doesn't mean it's necessarily better. Anyway, the first thing they go into is the Master/Slave argument.'Are you going to be a Master, or are you going to be a Slave?' Being someone who has fought to be selfemployed for years, it is an argument I fully understand. But their pseudo heartwrenching & heart-warming stories, wrapped with a slight hint of class warfare (you know ... 'stick it to the big corporation' ... wait, isn't whomever is behind this a huge corporation? ... but I digress), reads like a fairly crude copy & paste from the intro materials used by virtually all of the current multi level / network marketing 'homebusiness opportunities' past & present. They also try to build the case that a more traditional home business/self employment is simply way beyond what the reader could ever afford or could do themselves. The play hard to one's fears of financial security. And, they even take a quick swipe at Amway ... whose structure their parent company essentially duplicated. 259

But now it's time to get excited. IncomeAtHome.com has what it takes to be successful, and it's time to get your goals on paper. 'There is something magical about writing out your goals' they state. I won't argue that writing out your goals is a key step to success. How else can you reasonably track your progress? What's different here is that they have yet to reveal who they are, or exactly what you will be doing, yet now they want you to fantasize for a moment about what you would 'do with the extra money,' or 'what would you do if money were no object.' In the sales game, this is used as a tool to a) get the sales prospect's mind to take a certain level of ownership, but also to collect useful information when it comes time for a 'harder sales close.' ... "What about your dreams of traveling the world, " or "How are you going to fund your grand children's college education without this opportunity?" Admittedly, I skipped writing down my goals in their booklet. I'm probably a not-verygood IncomeAtHome.com sales prospect.... So, we read on. Page six, page seven, page eight. ... The tell us about the benefits of 'cashing in on the Internet,' working from home, and an introduction to their 'unique online marketing system.' Page nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, page after page of fluf about being a small business, growth of the internet, mature/senior population, the health & wellness industry, potential income, and the final push of what your next steps are. Wait! I have now made it all the way through their Internet Business Starter Kit, and they still haven't told me who the parent company is, or even any specifics about the health & wellness products their business is supposedly wrapped around. Wait, wait, waiit! The DVD! There has to be more information on the DVD. Surely they can't go through an entire booklet and DVD without revealing who they actually are ... There's a little over Seventeen minutes of video in the DVD presentation. They have the requisite pretty-boy in a Ferrari who also does the 'hosting,' pictures of beautiful homes, interviews with folks who are successful withh the IncomeAtHome.com system, and some minor fluff about the still un-named health & wellness products thrown in for good measure. Ten dollars, a rude 'mentor' call, seventeen minutes of video, and a bunch of glossy booklet pages later, and I am no closer to knowing much of anything about this 'business opportunity' than I did after hearing the radio advertisement the first time. But, IncomeAtHome.com is still 'dictating' steps to me as if I somehow fogot how to put on my own pants this morning. So, I send an email to my 'mentor,' ... or is it 'personal coach?' I'm not actually sure, as they interchange the two terms at will. Even on their own coversheet. My Email: 260

I received my package from FedEx today & reviewed the booklet and watched the video. I am interested, but a little peeved that after reading through and watching everything, I am still not told who the company actually is, or what the product line is. Just that it's in health & wellness for baby boomers. If you have time, I would prefer to speak sooner than later (tomorrow), so I can make an educated decision about this opportunity ... sooner than later. So you know, my strengths are in web design and internet marketing, and that is why I replied to this program. My business partners and I have a few online properties going up this year, and any product or program I am promoting will benefit. Please feel free to call me @ xxx-xxx-xxxx at your soonest convenience. I will be here working though the evening. Thank you, The Reply: I am so sorry but I do not have any appointments available before tomorrow at 2 pm. At that time all your questions will be answered so you can make an educated decision as to whether or not you would like to move forward with this opportunity. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but as I said our business is exploding and appointments fill up very quickly. Looking forward to talking to you tomorrow. Now I am not just a little bit uneasy, but actually becoming a little ticked off. What kind of BS game are they playing? If they are so proud of who they are, and the product line they represent, then why haven't they just come out and said it? I get it, IncomeAtHome.com has a multimillion dollar marketing campaign wrapped around this, you are busy, and getting allot of calls, but basically a 'suck it up till I have time for you?' Not impressed. IncomeAtHome.com = ??? 261

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IncomeAtHome.com = ??? My Tuesday appointment, time to get down to brass tacks! Oh buddy, if I could tell you how ready I am for this phone appointment! After receiving the email reply that I did about meeting sooner-than-later, I have been a bit anxious to finally speak with mentor, er, personal coach, ahhhh whatever. Since all the instructions have been so direct and detailed as to how I MUST go through things their way, I figured I would play along. So, I made sure I was fully prepared for my big phone call with my 'mentor.' Computer ready? Check. Extra paper and pens to take notes? Check. My Internet Business Starter Pack & Coversheet? Check. Cell phone charged up? Check. 'Mentor's" phone number pre-dialed in my cell phone, and only waiting for the clock to change from 1:59 - 2:00 pm? Check. 2:00 pm Tuesday & I'm dialing in for my big appointment. Finally, I should get some answers and find out exactly what all this is about! 267

Please Note: I am recounting everything to the best of my memory, and from the notes I took throughout our phone call. This is not a verbatim account, but simply an honest recounting of my experience on during my 'mentor' step two phone call. Ring, ring, ring, ring, and off I am taken to my 'mentor's' voice-mail. I get a message about how they are on the phone helping someone else get their home business started, and that if I wanted to receive a call back, I had better leave a detailed message. Wait? What happened to all the importance of me contacting them if there was anything that would interfere with our strictly scheduled 2:00 pm appointment? They don't offer the same 24 hour courtesy call that they Require of me? ... So, I leave a voice message letting my 'mentor' know that I called at our appointed time, and would be available when she had time to call back. 2:17 pm, & I get a call from my 'mentor's' business partner. She says she tried to call me from her Skype, but I didn't answer. I told her that I ignored a call from a Restricted Number because a) I was supposed to have an appointment between 2:00-2:30pm, and b) I don't answer calls from Restricted Numbers (if you have to hide who you are... leave a message). She told me that her cell phone was out of battery and that's why she called on Skype, and even said that she doesn't answer calls from Restricted Numbers either... My head is already starting to hurt. And with the snap of a whip, she launches straight into her script ... "Did you read the Internet Business Starter Pack, and watch the Entire video like we told you to?" she snaps. "Yes, and ..." I try to reply. "I want you to go get some paper and a pen to take some notes before we get started." she cuts in. "I was trying to tell you I have everything ready" I respond. "You have your book, paper, and something to write with?" she says. "Yes, I did everything that was on your list (well, except for writing my goals in their book - have them, just not in the book), and I have paper and pen ready. ... You know, I ..."

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"Now, turn to page of your book and tell me the six goals you wrote down" she snaps. Cutting me off mid-sentence once again. "What happened to the other lady I was supposed to speak with? I though we had a set appoint..." "She's busy with someone else. That's why I am calling you. We work together. Now, tell me the goals you wrote down in your book." she said rather abruptly. "I haven't written my goals in the book because it's hard to set goals when I don't know what it is I will actually be doing as an IncomeAtHome.com business. I have goals, but they ..." And again I am cut off ... "Well then, tell me what are some of the things you would do with the money you will be earning, what would you do with extra money every month?" "In order to set goals, I have to have some kind of understanding beyond internet, health & wellness industry, home business and baby boomers to base my goals on. How about you simply tell me who the company is that is ultimately behind IncomeAtHome.com, and based on that, I can start to set some ..." "You ARE interested in starting your own business aren't you?" she slices in. "You DO want to be able to take advantage of this incredible opportunity don't you?' "If it is such and incredible opportunity, then why is is so difficult to get you to simply tell me who the big company is that I could ultimately be working for?" I replly in an increasingly frustrated tone. 269

"Is that all you are interested in right now?' She replied sharply. "Yea, pretty much. I have paid my $10, read your booklet, watched your DVD, and am now on the phone with you, and I still don't know any more about who the actual company is behind IncomeAtHome.com. So, Yes. I would like to know who it is you actually represent. If this opportunity is so great, what's there to hide? From the commercials, and your booklet, this is supposed to be this easy, step-by-step process, but I have experienced nothing like that." I say in exasperation. "It's HerbaLife. The company we represent is HerbaLife." she spits out in a caustic tone. "Really? IncomeAtHome.com is just a huge marketing gymic to cover up the fact that you're actually HerbaLife?" I replied with a very snarky tone. "You guys spent millions to re-package HerbaLife?" "This is a completely new way to work with HerbaLife." She cuts in, coming to defense of her 'employer.' "This is a whole new way to get into business..." I cut in this time "No, it's just HerbaLife with a different face on it. If I wanted to get started with HerbaLife, I would've just contacted HerbaLife and signed up to become a 'distributor' and wouldn't have had to go through all of this rigamarole. The way you guys advertise this is kinda deceptive..." "The way we market (blind marketing I think she said) is a long and accepted way to bring people into business opportunities like this" she came back. "Really?! I have heard the pitch for more than a few multilevel marketing gigs over the years, and NONE of them tried to hide who they are." I shot back. "Well, if you don't like the way we market, and you don't like HerbaLife..." she started to say. "No I don't like the way you market, I think it's deceptive and misleading. And HerbaLife, I could have made a more educated decision, quicker, with the truth to work with instead of this convoluted process you have taken me through. Is calling people back all day from telephone leads and taking them through this process the Business you are selling?" I shot back. "Yes, and I can see that this is a opportunity you are not interested in. You're not interested in being an HerbaLife distributor." she responded. "No. If what you do, is what I would be doing. I'm not interested. I'm not interested at all." I replied. 270

"Well, then I guess we are finished then." and with that, she hung up. I was actually a little bit stunned on many levels. Getting past all that crap, I started asking myself "I know HerbaLiife has been around for years, but what is so bad about it, that they need to wrap this huge deception around it in order to sell it?" Later that evening I received a volly of emails from my 'mentor.' The first was an autogenerated, insert contact name here, 'thanks for checking us out, sorry it's not your thing.' form email. Then there was the second auto-generated email... "so, you didn't fall for our deceptive little business scam, how about some HerbaLife products!' ... Yea, I'm gonna buy products from a company who I just decided was such a scam i didn't want to 'go into business with them.' These folks have got some gall. But, it's the third in the volly that really caught my eye ... At your request, I'm forwarding you the instructions on how to return the Home Business Training package. Make sure you return it before your 14 day viewing period expires to avoid being charged the deposit of $39.95. Also, please be sure to include the cover letter that was included in your package and/or clearly mark your name and my name on the package so that the return can be processed properly. Return the Training Package to: EHome Distribution 9207 North 9th Ave Phoenix, AZ 85021 Upon receiving the training package back, you will be credited so that you are not charged any further for the information. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share this incredible business with you! Wait, wait, wait ... Wut? Send back the booklet & coversheet, or I'm gonna get charged another $39.95? They're saying that this booklet, DVD, and coversheet ... They're so called 'Internet Business Starter Pack' is worth Fifty Bucks? Are you f'n kidding me? My email reply; Return the Training Package? I have not received a training package. I received your 'Internet Business Starter Pack,' but that could hardly be considered a 'training package.' As it was nothing more than a information-less 17 minute video, and a 271

first year college-level copy-paste project of all the MLM language used over the last 30 years. Oh, but it was printed on glossy paper. And, what is this additional charge you have mentioned? I agreed to pay the $10 (and did) to basically find out that you guys are Herbalife (via the Starter Pack and your convoluted process to hide the Herbalife name till the last possible minute), what else could you possibly charge me for? You want your 'Starter Package' back? Please reply with complete cancellation instructions, as I will take every available legal action against you, IOBS, and Herbalife if you place any further charges on my credit card. The 'mentor's assistant's' reply: When you requested our "Training Package" you agreed to a 14 day free viewing period. I understand you don't like MLM's or our method of advertising, however, placing it in an envelope and returning it regular mail is hardly a hardship especially when we offer a money back guarantee should you be charged before the package arrives at our warehouse. Please go back to the website and you will see it in the same print as the rest of the ad. Ahhhh Crap! Burned by the fine print. Dangit. Dangit. Dangit. Wait, wait, wait a minute. Wait just one freaking minute. They could care less whether I signed up as a distributor or not. If they could have got me working towards step three and four, then they know they've clipped me for a minimum of fifty bucks because there is no way I will get their sacred Internet Business Starter Pack. The main company makes $50, not bad considering their cost against it was minimal, even when you include the national advertising campaign, the glossy booklet, DVD & shipping. What about the mentor's who called me? You may ask. Well, they are HerbaLife's 'free' Internet call center/boiler room. They have basically tricked folks into paying them to come work in their call IncomeAtHome.com center. Surprise! There's no business, but the business of selling other desperate folks on the business of selling other desperate folks on the business of selling other desperate .... â&#x2C6;&#x17E; ... Nickle and dime'ing them until you either loose them, or they're dumb enough to fork over hundreds, and many, up to thousands of dollars to get their 'business of selling other desperate folks to sell other desperate folks the idea that this is a business.'

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One recent statistic I found showed that 84% of all the commissions paid out through the HerbaLife system, go to less than 1% of the distributors at the top. And, this information isn't hard to find, once you start looking. So ... to go back to an earlier question ... 'Why did this guy go to all this trouble to build this website?' I know what it's like to be employed by someone else. I know what it's like to be selfemployed. I know what it's like to risk everything on that self-employment dream, loose essentially everything, and end up living out of my suv for months while trying to get my feet back on the ground. So, it's not that the home business, self-employment thing is a brand new concept to me. What was a new concept to me, was that a company like HerbaLife would go to such lengths to a) cover up their involvement until the last possible moment, and b) design a system that prays on folks in a desperate situation, nickle and dime'ing them throughout the process. So, that even if they don't 'take advantage of this' great opportunity,' they're still gonna get burned for fifty dollars. Even worse, they contracted some of the biggest names in Talk Radio from across the country. Many of whom I respect and listen to on a regular basis. How could these folks look at this program, and say "Yea, I'll do a personally recorded commercial for it. That's the kind of program I can get behind!"?... If the program was actually presented to them, as it was presented to me during my short experience. And they said 'Yea, you rip'em for a minimum of $50 a clip, and with that money you're gonna pay my million-dollar personality fee to record the commercials." Then I'm pretty much ticked off. So, I had to ask myself ... "Are you going to do anything about it, or are you just going to blow it off and let thousands and thousands of others get ripped off for $10, $50, hundreds, or thousands of dollars?"

Radio Advertisers - Shame On You! Advertising is one thing. Selling your listeners down the river to a shady organization for a quick buck is another! Would you refer your mother to the scam artist selling fake Rolex watches on the corner? Heck No! Then why are you basically doing the same thing to us, your listeners, by pitching IncomeAtHome.com? Your listeners are the reason for your income. The reason that advertisers come to you asking to pay you handsomely to get their word out. So, why would you endorse a company whose 'home 273

business owners' realize a failure rate equal to, or greater than some of the riskiest businesses one could possibly start. Consider this: Herbalife has no sustainable customer base. 80% of all its distributors quit the scheme within one year and there is no evidence that the distributors engage in profitable retail selling. The schemes gains its revenue by recruiting unwitting consumers into a bogus "direct selling" business and inducing them to buy "inventory." And, this: Herbalife lures consumers to invest in its "business opportunity" as "Supervisors" - and requires them to buy up to $3,000 of products. An independent analysis of Herbalife's actual commission payments revealed a top-loaded pay plan in which 85% of all commissions are transferred to less than 1% of distributors at the top, and financial losses suffered by 99% of the rest of the distributors. 60% of the "Supervisors" quit within a year. The average Herbalife payment to the Supervisors is just $10.55 a week. Herbalife must replace all the dropouts each year. With numbers like these, you don't have to be a Occupy Wall Streeter to get pissed off about the 1% at the top raking it in on the backs of the 99% who are covering all the losses. Liberal, Independent, or Conservative, who could endorse a company like this? It didn't take but a few short hours of research to dig up some pretty disgusting numbers and factual information about HerbaLife, how could anyone want to promote this company is beyond me. Even worse, many of the radio hosts on the IncomeAtHome.com advertiser roster have teams of researchers who are fact checking and source checking the stories they are covering. So, how in the world did IncomeAtHome.com's connection to HerbaLife not get looked up? How did the failure and financial loss rates escape these folks? Did they (IncomeAtHome.com) just sell them a pretty picture with a big fat paycheck attached? Sure, working with a multibillion dollar, publicly traded company that operates in over 70 countries sounds great ... Until you realize that they are essentially (systematically) ripping off the most vulnerable and desperate in today's very precarious financial times. IncomeAtHome.com preys on those with the desire and ambition to change their lives and better their financial position with false promises and a system designed to separate the unwitting victim from as much of their money as possible, in the shortest about of time. They go after all the key items to draw folks in; financial security, kids, long-term income, and fast/easy money. But they what they won't tell you is that 80% of the people who get started with them drop out within their first year after suffering nothing but financial loss. 274

Consider this: There are about 28 names radio hosts & radio shows on the IncomeAtHome.com public advertising/endorsement roster. The vast majority of these radio hosts have been paid their super-premium 'personality/talent fee' to record custom ads for IncomeAtHome.com to play during their show. The top names in radio can command in excess of one million dollars a year for their 'personality/talent fee.' But, for argument sake, lets just say that the average 'personality/talent fee' per radio host/show is $500,000 per year - $500K x 28 = $14,000,000. Fourteen million dollars is a ton of money. If the only revenue that IncomeAtHome.com could generate is the fifty dollars for their Internet Business Starter Pack, they have to cut through (rip off) 280,000 --- for those not paying full attention, that's TWO HUNDRED EIGHY THOUSAND PEOPLE PER YEAR, JUST TO PAY FOR THE ADVERTISING. That's right, IncomeAtHome.com would need to clip over a quarter of a million people per year for that initial $50, just to cover their advertising. Add up the average listener numbers from all these radio shows, and it's easy to see how that can be achieved.

So, what are you going to do about it? It's time to send a message to these radio hosts and radio shows and tell them to quit pitching the 'false opportunity' that is IncomeAtHome.com. Click Here to go to the Radio Host Wall Of Shame Page and sends messages directly to the radio hosts you listen to. Click Here to sign our online petition calling for all of these radio hosts and shows to collectively drop IncomeAtHome.com from their advertiser roster.

Here's the list of radio hosts & shows that are currently listed as advertisers/endorsers of IncomeAtHome.com. Tell'em 'Drop IncomeAtHome.com!' Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Delilah, Dr. Laura, Anthony Valary, Joe, Bartlett, Todd Schnitt, Mark Levin, Roger Hedgecock, Jason Lewis, Michael Savage, Bill Press, Randi Rhodes, Neal Boortz, Todd N Tyler, Slow James with R Dub!, Sybil Wilkes, Tom Joyner, Charlie Tuna, The Art Laboe Show, George Noory, Yolanda Adams, Shirley Strawberry, Coast To Coast, Steve Harvey, Rick & Bubba, Laura Ingraham, Praise 106.5

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Don't Be A Fool! Don't Be A Fool! - If it sounds too good to be true - It probably is! After everything I've presented, we can probably agree that the IncomeAtHome.com 'business' of going after desperate folks to sell them on the 'business' of selling other desperate folks on the 'business' â&#x2C6;&#x17E; ... Is not only a 'false opportunity,' but a 'business' that I don't believe most folks could engage in because of the moral & ethical issues involved. Could you sit in your house calling folks all day to try and sell them on a 'business' that is, by the numbers, is designed to separate (not only you, but) the folks you are calling from as much of their money as possible before dumping them (and you) in the street?

The answer to that question for probably 99% of you is NO! There are plenty of quality home business opportunities out there that just about anyone can operate & be successful. What are you good at? What do you know? What expertise do you have that would/could be of value to others? These are the questions folks should be asking themselves when considering starting their own home (or traditional brick/mortar) business. If you have driven a bus your whole life for work, and if there is one thing you know, it's the bus business, bus maintenance, and bus safety, better than anyone, but never cooked anything edible in your life ... would you drop all that to open a restaurant? Probably not, or only if you also knew something in-depth about running a restaurant, or were willing to put in the time to learn, that's for sure. If you were going to start a business, it would probably have something to do with buses. It's what you know. It's the expertise you have that has value. It's the knowledge you can speak from that comes from experience. ... You just have to figure out how to convert that knowledge and experience into a salable product or service.

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The reality is that folks start small, successful home businesses every day based on what they know, and their current skill set. Folks just like you, who are willing to invest the time, hard & smart work, and a little elbow grease to get the 'show on the road.'

But I don't think I have any skills or services I can sell... Ok, so maybe you have limited experience, or skills. But you obviously already have a couple of the necessary attributes to be successful; drive, ambition, and a willingness to learn. For the amount of time & money you would end up dumping into IncomeAtHome.com to get setup as a 'distributor,' you could instead invest that money into your own education towards the business you want to start. And, depending on your current financial status, many of these resources can be accessed and reduced cost, or even free. And, always remember ...

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True ... It Probably Is I know, I know, this is probably one of the hardest ideas for us to get our human brains wrapped around, as we all can be easily attracted to a slick sales pitch, some pretty pictures, promises of fast money, and a long-term income. Who doesn't want to have more time to spend with their family, be in control of their time, and have financial stability? I believe we all want these things, but we can't let the 'bright lights & big city' cloud our judgement, or lead us to engage in a 'business' that is essentially designed so that 8-9 out of 10 of the folks you sell to - will fail ... just to make a buck.

Occupation VS Vocation I read this explanation somewhere a long time ago, but it still rings true today... An 'Occupation' is designed to 'Occupy' your time. You are, at the core, swapping 'X' hours of your life per day, to be occupied by your job, in order to receive a paycheck. A 'Vocation,' on the other hand is a 'job/work/line of study' that someone loves, and chooses to do. So therefore, by definition, the person who chooses to follow their vocation, as opposed to accept an occupation, never really works a day in their life, because every day, they are doing what they love to do. ... Makes sense, huh? So, my quick advice ... Take stock of your skills/assets. Honestly think about what 'vocation' would you choose? Do Your Research! Take advantage of all the great resources that are available online, in your community, city and state. And, get prepared to be challenged like never before in your life, but also realize the peace and satisfaction that comes with truly following your dreams, and doing every day what it is you love to do. http://incomeathomeexposed.c

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Bringing Black Talent to Silicon Valley CODE2040's Tristan Walker is helping entrepreneurs of color connect with tech-world gatekeepers. By: Hamza Shaban Census data emerged earlier this year that projected racial and ethnic minorities will likely outnumber nonHispanic white Americans by 2042. However, that anticipated demographic change doesn't necessarily mean that the balance of economic power or achievement will also shift. Tristan Walker, 27, a Stanford business school-educated tech guru, is hoping to have some say in that regard. Through his organization, CODE2040, he's attempting to increase racial and ethnic diversity in a booming -and predominately white -- technology industry. In an era in which cell-phone apps are bought for millions, Walker aims to spark an entrepreneurial fire among blacks and Latinos by linking exceptional engineers to Silicon Valley companies. Through its inaugural pilot program this summer, CODE2040 placed five outstanding engineers into fellowships with tech companies such as Tumblr, Jawbone and RockMelt. The fellows also attended a speaker series, networked with eager investors and received mentorship from top-flight executives in Silicon Valley. "We need to crack the code," Walker told The Root. "We need to match the skills that tech companies want with the talented people who may not have access." He credits Sponsors for Educational Opportunity for motivating him to start CODE2040. As an undergrad at Stony Brook University who hailed from a low-income housing project in Queens, N.Y., Walker said the SEO program helped him get a job at an elite investment firm on Wall Street. While the world of New York finance has grown more diverse in the past few decades, Walker claims that the tech industry can better reflect our country's population. "Right now Silicon Valley is where Wall Street was 30 years ago," he said.

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Where other diversity initiatives are focused on education, programs such as Black Founders, NewMe Accelerator and CODE2040 aim to increase minority participation in the tech world and seek to build the kind of idea incubators that fuel the Valley. "For those who didn't go to certain schools -- to MIT or Harvard -- they haven't really had exposure to what Silicon Valley's all about," said Monique Woodard of Black Founders. The executive director of CODE2040, Laura Weidman Powers admitted it can be tricky to get plugged into Silicon Valley, where much of the hiring depends heavily on networking and personal referrals. "But CODE2040 is an easy sell to companies that are always looking for top talent," she told The Root. "They want exceptional engineers, and our students want experience at top startups. It's a win-win." After leaving Wall Street for Stanford, and later becoming director of business development for Foursquare, Walker now wants to inspire young students of color to pursue careers in pioneering fields. "Folks need to build products that understand the community," he explained. "What will Facebook look like when the country looks differently? We need a diversity of perspective to connect with the expanding consumer base." Met with tremendous enthusiasm in the industry (all five startups would like to return next year, with many more interested in joining), CODE2040 plans to expand next summer's fellowship from five students to as many as 20. To help ramp up the recruitment of engineers, the project recently hired a full-time program manager, Amy Schapiro. In addition, CODE2040 is considering expanding to budding tech hubs like Austin, Texas, and New York City as early as 2014, according to Weidman Powers. "We have learned so much about what it takes to be a founder," Alexandria Cattron, a CODE2040 fellow told The Root. "Hearing talented, high-impact individuals speak about their experiences has given us the confidence, tools and insight to start our own companies." Another fellow, Yuri Farias Gomes, spoke about the program's networking benefits. "We can already see some of the immediate impact now," Farias told The Root. "We know we'll realize how important these talks really have been in the future as we begin developing our own careers and starting our own companies." 279

In the way that young people emulate their favorite athletes and celebrities, CODE2040 hopes to do the same with entrepreneurs -- showcasing the opportunities and dynamism of Silicon Valley. Walker explained: "We want to create role models to serve as beacons of light for future students to aspire to." www.theroot.com

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Microloans becoming growing source of capital for minorities and women in the US by Tonya Garcia, Madame Noire Business For years, microloans have provided a gateway to selfsufficiency for the poor around the world. Now increasing numbers of entrepreneurs here in the U.S. are taking advantage of these small loans to finance their businesses. “Microloans tend to range from $500 to $10,000, but can be as much as $50,000, with interest rates varying from three percent to 18 percent,” explains the Associated Press. With shrinking access to credit and banks denying many small business loans, microloans are an alternative. For some groups, like minorities and women, it’s one of the few alternatives. According to Jason Riggs, communications director for Kiva, microloans play a “pivotal role” for some small businesses, providing not just funding, but also financial literacy training and other services. Kiva is a nonprofit organization founded in 2005 that has issued $341 million in loans over the past seven years. It’s also worth noting that Kiva has a nearly 99 percent repayment rate. “You don’t see larger banking institutions providing these sorts of loan services with the loans,” Riggs adds. “This is ultimately why microloaning is so important. It provides the means, skills and education to be successful.”

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Riggs pointed us to some research published in 2011 by the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, an organization that specializes in “microbusiness initiatives” to help what they call “underserved entrepreneurs.” According to that organization, there are 25.5 million “microbusinesses” (defined as companies with zero to four employees) in the U.S. Those businesses provide millions of jobs and give entrepreneurs the opportunity to vastly improve their financial fortunes. Still, many small business owners struggle. Seventy percent of U.S. businesses have revenues of $100,000 or less. For women-owned and black-owned businesses, that figure goes up to 87 percent. Other research conducted in 2011 by the Aspen Institute, a D.C.-based policy and educational studies group, found that 159 microenterprise programs administered 12,547 microloans. (A total of 762 programs had been identified as those providing a financing product, training, or some other service; 48 percent, or 366, participated in the study.) The value of those loans was $104.2 million. More than half of those served were women (59 percent) or people of color (53 percent). Microfinancing faces two big challenges, says Riggs: a lack of awareness among groups that would benefit from it and a shortage of organizations willing to front the funds needed to grant these loans. As he explains, “administering a $5,000 loan can be as much as administering a $50,000 loan” when you take into 282

account the personnel and the paperwork. Moreover, these organizations don’t stand to make a lot of money from these small loans. For a for-profit business, that can be a nonstarter. And that cost can hamper the efforts of nonprofits and other groups. A third problem is the perceived risk of the recipient. “Most small businesses start out of a patchwork quilt of funding,” explains Riggs. That quilt is made of everything from credit cards to collateral from a home (which many people lack in this recession) to help from family and friends. For companies that are seen as having a low cost to start but a high growth potential, like a digital company, an angel investor might come out of the woodwork to help. Restaurants, for example, don’t fall in this category. So basically, if you don’t have access to friends and family with means or standing with the bank that is so stellar they can’t refuse, you’re out of luck. “Kiva helps fill in one of those patchwork squares,” Riggs continues. Kiva uses the social Web and a variety of lenders and crowdfunding sources to do its work. Ultimately, the partners involved in these endeavors, like Kiva, only get back the principal on the loan, Riggs says. “It’s empowering to be part of someone’s journey,” says Riggs. “We hope that we can prove that even if there’s risk involved, it’s worth it to our communities.” The point has been made many times during this recession that small businesses are vital to the resuscitation of the economy. They’re also integral to building strong communities. “In the kinds of communities we want to live in, microloans are key,” says Riggs. 283

Blake Turner Takes Reigns as New Head Coach 284

Previous page photo: Joe Coplen Photography When Chuck Shanklin announced he was stepping down as Lanphier High School boys basketball coach in May after his wife accepted a job in Arizona, it meant Lanphier had to come up with someone to run all the summer leagues and team camps. And quickly. Enter Blake Turner, who has been a varsity assistant and junior varsity coach for five seasons, as interim head coach. Soon, Turner hopes to shed the interim label from his title. He is Lanphier’s choice to be the next coach of the Lions, pending board approval. “I’ve had very successful teams at the J.V. level, and I’m just looking to build on that,” he said. “It’s a good situation and a smooth transition for us because, with the exception of Larry Austin, I’ve coached all the kids that will be playing varsity. “They know me, they know my style and I know them. We’re just working hard, trying to get better and looking forward to a great season.” Austin is the highly touted junior-to-be who helped lead the Lions to a 28-5 record and a fourth-place finish at the Class 3A state tournament in March. Turner is a 1994 graduate of Lanphier, where he played football, basketball and baseball. He played collegiately at Kansas Wesleyan University, where he was a two-time All-American by the National Small College Athletic Association. Taking the reins at Lanphier is a special experience for Turner. “To be able to come back and coach is just an awesome feeling for me,” he said. “I’ve got a love for basketball, I’ve got a love for the kids, I’ve got a love for the northside community (and) I’ve got a love for Lanphier.” Turner is an analyst for the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. He was an assistant to John Angelo when the Lions won a regional in 2008 and stayed around when Shanklin took over in the 2008-09 season. www.sj-r.com 285

Philadelphia manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unlikely rise from handyman to heavyweight 286

Bryant Jennings is at an age when many boxers are already on the down-slide of their career but for this handyman-by-day, boxerby-night his career is on the rise up the heavyweight ranks after finding boxing in his mid-20s. (Video still via NBC Philadelphia) “I have a pretty big dream.” Bryant Jennings might not be a household name right now, but if the undefeated boxer keeps climbing the heavyweight ranks he could one day be mentioned with Philadelphia’s greatest fighters — guys like Joe Frazier, Bernard Hopkins and Meldrick Taylor. “I have the quality of past fighters that came out of Philadelphia,” Jennings told NBC10. “I have that heart, I have that passion, I have that intensity.”But unlike those legends who threw punches for the City of Brotherly Love before him, Jennings’ ring story starts in his mid-20s after hopes for a career in football never came to fruition. “I was kind of like shot down and reality kind of hit me,” Jennings said. “Had to get a job… A little bit later I had a child, and that’s when life really hit me and I realized that I had to be something for my son.” What he did first was get a job as a mechanic and handyman at the Federal Reserve in Philadelphia — a job he remains dedicated to as he dreams of boxing a world champion fighter. Jennings even returned to his day job of the past sixplus years just 48 hours after a recent bout, according to Philly.com. So how did the 6foot-2, 220pounder wind up in a ring? ww.thegrio.com

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Malcom X in Mecca When Malcolm Embraced True Islam and Abandoned Racial Separatism By Pierre Tristam,

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On April 13, 1964, Malcolm X left the United States on a personal and spiritual journey through the Middle East and West Africa. By the time he returned on May 21, he’d visited Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco and Algeria. In Saudi Arabia, he’d experienced what amounted to the second life-changing epiphany in his life as he accomplished the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, and discovered an authentic Islam of universal respect and brotherhood. The experience changed Malcolm’s world view. Gone was the belief in whites as exclusively evil. Gone was the call for black separatism. His voyage to Mecca helped him discover the atoning power of Islam as a means to unity as well as self-respect: “In my thirty-nine years on this earth,” he would write in his autobiography, “the Holy City of Mecca had been the first time I had ever stood before the Creator of All and felt like a complete human being.” It had been a long journey in a brief life. Before Mecca: The Nation of Islam Malcolm’s first epiphany first had occurred 12 years earlier when he converted to Islam as he was serving an eight-to-10-year prison sentence for robbery. But back then it was Islam according to Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam—an odd cult whose principles of racial hatred and separatism, and whose strange beliefs about whites being a genetically engineered race of “devils,” stood it in contrast with Islam’s more orthodox teachings. Malcolm X bought in and rapidly rose in the ranks of the organization, which was more like a neighborhood guild, albeit a disciplined and enthusiastic one, than a “nation” when Malcolm arrived. Malcolm’s charisma and eventual celebrity built the Nation of Islam into the mass movement and political force it became in the early 1960s.

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Disillusion and Independence But the Nation of Islam’s Elijah Muhammad turned out to be much less than the upstanding moral paragon he pretended to be. He was a hypocritical, serial womanizer who fathered numerous children out of wedlock with his secretaries, a jealous man who resented Malcolm’s stardom, and a violent man who hesitated neither to silence his critics nor to intimidate them (through thuggish emissaries). His knowledge of Islam was also relatively slight. “Imagine, being a Muslim minister, a leader in Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam,” Malcolm wrote, “and not knowing the prayer ritual.” Elijah Muhammad had never taught it. It took Malcolm’s disillusionment with Muhammad and the Nation finally to break-away from the organization and set out on his own, literally and metaphorically, to the more authentic heart of Islam. Re-discovering Brotherhood and Equality First in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, then in Jeddah, the Saudi city, Malcolm witnessed what he claims he never saw in the United States: men of all color and nationalities treating each other equally. “Throngs of people, obviously Muslims from everywhere, bound for the pilgrimage,” he’d begun to notice at the airport terminal before boarding the plane for Cairo in Frankfurt, “were hugging and embracing. They were of all complexions, the whole atmosphere was of warmth and friendliness. The feeling hit me that there really wasn’t any color problem here. The effect was as though I had just stepped out of a prison.” To enter the state of ihram required of all pilgrims heading for Mecca, Malcolm abandoned his trademark black suit and dark tie for the two-piece white garment pilgrims must drape over their upper and lower bodies. “Every one of the thousands at the 290

airport, about to leave for Jedda, was dressed this way,” Malcolm wrote. “You could be a king or a peasant and no one would know.” That, of course, is the point of ihram. As Islam interprets it, it reflects the equality of man before God. Preaching in Saudi Arabia In Saudi Arabia, Malcolm’s journey was held up a few days until authorities could be sure his papers, and his religion, were in order (no non-Muslim is allowed to enter the Grand Mosque in Mecca). As he waited, he learned various Muslim rituals and spoke to men of vastly different backgrounds, most of whom were as star-struck with Malcolm as Americans were back home. They knew him as the “Muslim from America.” They plied him with questions, he obliged them with sermons for answers, and in everything he said to them, “they were aware,” in Malcolm’s words, “of the yardstick that I was using to measure everything—that to me the earth’s most explosive and pernicious evil is racism, the inability o God’s creatures to live as One, especially in the Western world.” Malcolm in Mecca Finally, the actual pilgrimage: “My vocabulary cannot describe the new mosque that was being built around the Ka’aba,” he wrote, describing the sacred site as “a huge black stone house in the middle of the Great Mosque. It was being circumambulated by thousands upon thousands of praying pilgrims, both sexes, and every size, shape, color, and race in the world. […] My feeling here in the House of God was numbness. My mutawaf (religious guide) led me in the crowd of praying, chanting pilgrims, moving seven times around the Ka’aba. Some were bent and wizened with age; it was a sight that stamped itself on the brain. It was that sight that inspired his famous “Letters from Abroad”—three letters, one from Saudi Arabia, one from Nigeria and one from Ghana—that began redefining Malcolm X’s philosophy. “America,” he wrote from Saudi Arabia on April 20, 1964, “needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases the race problem from its society.” He would later concede that “the white man is not inherently evil, but America’s racist society influences him to act evilly. http://middleeast.about.com

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