I am always inspired by people who are doing amazing things. But what is even more inspiring than that -- to me -- is how they got to where they are and what their particular perspective is in life.
I love a winner!
Come along as we talk to people about what it is that makes them great!
Featured Interview
SHARON HYLAND KEYSER, A Heroes Welcome Founder
Sharon Hyland Keyser is a Blue Star Wife whose husband is currently serving with the US Army's173rd Airborne in Afghanistan. For five years, Hyland Keyser worked as a sales executive and sales manager, proving herself a driving force in the construction/facility operations industry in Philadelphia.
While she succeeded professionally, she did not feel successful personally. Her opportunity for personal fulfillment came when attending her hometown's 4th of July parade in 2007.
As Hyland Keyser watched our United States World War II Veterans marching proudly through the parade, she noticed the grave difference in the faces of our Vietnam Veterans that marched behind them. She knew that our United States Vietnam Veterans were not respected when they arrived home from their unpopular war and worried our current troops would face the same reception and, eventually, the same post-war conditions.
One month after the parade, Hyland Keyser walked away from her well paying job and invested her life savings into a program she titled, "A Hero's Welcome." A Hero's Welcome is dedicated to welcoming home from war our United States Service Members in a manner befitting an American hero. By establishing relationships with local businesses, schools, Veteran groups and other supportive organizations, Hyland Keyser has played a large role in changing how troops in the Philadelphia area are honored for their service.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Sharon.
Previous Interviews
MARC SIMON, Sundance Film Festival Award winning movie producer
Marc H. Simon is an attorney and filmmaker, and has experience working in front of the camera as an actor and on-air correspondent. Simon is a graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and is an alumnus of its Innocence Project, an experience which inspired the making of After Innocence. He is also an associate at the law firm of Dreier LLP in New York City. In addition he currently works as a legal correspondent and producer for Fox Television's A Current Affair. Marc has worked in film development and film production, and as an actor he appeared in the Spike Lee directed feature 25th Hour. He is currently developing a reality-based television series and two non-fiction films.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Marc.
CHARLES MATTOCKS, Talk Show Host and Chef, Charles Mattocks
At the age of 16, Charles saw LL Cool J performing in a video on TV and committed himself at that moment to pursue a career in music. Taking a part time job in order to make enough money to buy a car, he learned where the rapper lived and drove to his home unannounced. This act of bravado impressed the superstar and soon he had taken the young Charles under his wing and the two ended up performing together on albums and videos. Charles' rapping skills caught the eye of famed Tommy Boy label, home of the hit group Naughty By Nature, where he released a single called "Check the Game."
Charles found many doors opening, including those in the acting world. On his second audition he landed a part in the hip-hop themed film "Fly By Night." He quickly earned his next role in the made for television movie "Daybreak" which starred Cuba Gooding Jr. and Omar Epps. His first starring role came in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "The Summer of Ben Tyler", working opposite James Woods and Elizabeth McGovern. The film was nominated for a string of critics awards and prompted the New York Times to say that the role of Ben Tyler was "...played to endearing perfection by Mr. Mattocks".
Charles moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career and quickly landed a starring role in "The Journey: Absolution".
When asked by his son, why there didn't seem to be any "real" people on cooking shows, a light went off and Charles set about creating a program that appealed to the vast majority of Americans that neither have the time nor means to create the types of menu ideas offered by the current crop of cooking shows.
The result is "The Poor Chef," a unique cooking show based on the premise of creating tasty, creative and nutritious meals for two while spending less that $7.00. Soon local television stations began calling him for guest spots to show audiences how best to create inexpensive menu items, which has led to his current position as the host of a weekly cooking segment based on the "Poor Chef" format, as seen on the morning show "Daytime," which is syndicated to eight, NBC affiliates throughout the Southeast.
Charles has struck a chord with audiences wherever he appears and looks forward to the day when "The Poor Chef" takes viewers into homes from Beverly Hills to Brooklyn to enlighten, educate and entertain.
[»] Click here to read more.KATYA GRINEVA, Russian born, Award Winning Classical Pianist
When the teenage Russian pianist, Katya Grineva, came to New York in 1989, she had two goals: to study in America and one day, to play in Carnegie Hall. Katya Grineva made her American debut in 1993 performing the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-Flat, k. 595 with the Baltimore Symphony. Katya made her Carnegie Hall debut on May 13, 1998 and completed her 7th season at the world famous hall on May 12, 2005.
Since April 1998 Steinway and Sons has awarded Katya the honorable title of Steinway Artist. Her other awards include: a special award from the New York State Shields in 2003 and, most recently, an award for special achievements from the government of Guam.
Living most of her adult life in NY, she acquired a reputation as a pianist of exceptional romantic/poetic expression. Commentators agree that Katya achieves her impact at the piano more through subtlety rather than by force. Above all, she values the beauty of tone. She stresses a suppleness and a natural approach to the keyboard. Her interpretation and mastery of the piano can be summed up by the following: ' with Katya you sink into the sweet abyss of the music...'
Ms. Grineva has made a specialty of the romantic piano music and recorded three CD's: From Katya with Love, Katya From the Heart and Katya . . . Inspiration Bleu.
[»] Click here to read more.
LAURIE GUNST, Critically acclaimed author
Laurie was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1949. Her growing up coincided with the struggle for civil rights. Since she was raised in a family of "deeply narcissistic (but admirable) Jewish liberals", by a small phalanx of powerful African American women without whom she says she would have perished from loneliness and neglect, her public schooling and her real education were seriously at odds. She learned early just how personal the political could be.
Laurie went north to Boston University, where she eventually flunked out. She crossed the continent to California, seeking to put as much distance as she could between herself and the scene of her defeat, but she came back east in 1971 on fire with the women's movement. She attended The University of New Hampshire, where she finished her undergraduate degree in 1973 and earned a Master's Degree in history the following year. In 1974, she entered graduate school at Harvard University. She earned her doctorate in 1982.
By that time, she had begun spending long sojourns in the island of Jamaica. Laurie slowly became aware of the bitter reality that lay behind the island's paradisiacal façade-the poverty and violence which the vast majority of Jamaica's people suffered-and this awakening re-ignited the passion for justice that had been so much a part of her youth. She became determined to write an expose of Jamaica's brutal politicians and their secret symbiosis with the island's deadliest outlaws, whom they armed and paid to control the slums of Kingston. She moved to that city in 1984, spent two years there tracking these gangs, then came to New York City in 1987 to continue her research. Born Fi' Dead, the story of her descent into this contemporary hell, was published by Henry Holt in 1995.
Laurie's latest book is Off White, the story of how her childhood against the backdrop of racism in America's South. "Off-White is the story of my southern family-black, white, and Jewish." -- LG
Laurie will be teaching in the spring at New York's New School University . She currently lives in New York City with her husband.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Laurie Gunst.
JACOB LIEF, Co-founder and Co-president of Ubuntu Education Fund,
Born in New York, Jacob Lief first became interested in South Africa while growing up in London, England. In 1994 he traveled to South Africa to observe the nation's first free elections, with a delegation of teachers and students from around the world. Inspired, Jacob continued to pursue his interest in South Africa at the University of Pennsylvania under the guidance of Dr. Mary Frances Berry, Chairperson of the Commission on Civil Rights and a major figure in the Free South Africa movement. In his third year of University, Jacob returned to South Africa where he met Malizole Banks Gwaxula, a teacher living and working in the Port Elizabeth Townships. In 1999, Jacob and Malizole founded Ubuntu Education Fund (www.ubuntufund.org), a nonprofit organization dedicated to working with the people of the Eastern Cape Province to develop quality education and healthy communities in the New South Africa. Over the past nine years, Jacob has served as President of Ubuntu and worked to develop Ubuntu from a small fund supplying basic educational materials to an international development organization creating sustainable health and education initiatives. Today Ubuntu provides over 40,000 orphaned and vulnerable children life-saving HIV support services and essential educational resources.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Jacob.
DASHAUN "JIWE" MORRIS, Author and Advocate
Author of War of the Bloods in my Veins: A Street Soldiers March to Redemption, Dashaun "Jiwe" Morris was known on the streets as Machete from Newark, NJ. He is a reformed member of the Bloods, and a full-time gang consultant. He seeks to end the cycle of gang violence through Juvenile Intervention work. A sought-after lecturer, Jiwe speaks throughout the United States as a spokesperson for The Stay Strong Foundation sharing his unique experiences and the horrible truth about living a gang lifestyle with kids and parents in an effort to inspire them to make better life decisions.
[»] Click here to read more.
ISHLE PARK, Poet Laureate
Ishle Park is a Korean American woman who is a world-traveling poet, singer, and the first woman to be named the Poet Laureate of Queens ~ the largest and most diverse borough in New York. Dubbed "the Queen of Queens" by her fans, the Borough President declared Park's birthday as "Ishle Yi Park" day in her hometown.
Park's first book, The Temperature of This Water, (Kaya Press, 1994), is the winner of three literary awards, including a Pen America Award for Outstanding Writers of Color and the Member's Choice Award of the Asian American Literary Awards. Her poetry has been published in literary magazines such as Ploughshares, Wasafiri, The Best American Poetry of 2003, and Century of the Tiger: One Hundred Years of Korean Culture in America.
Her poetry CD, Work is Love, includes tracks with Korean traditional drums, Spanish guitar, beatboxing, and music produced by Japan's critically acclaimed DJ Honda. Park has opened for artists such as KRS-One, Ben Harper, and Saul Williams, and has been featured at literary and music festivals, performing her unique blend of poetry and song at over three hundred venues around the world, including Cuba, Jamaica, Singapore, Korea, and New Zealand.
She is a regular on HBO's "Russell Simmons Presents: Def Poetry Jam" and was a touring cast member of the Tony-Award winning production of "Def Poetry Jam." Park is currently working on her first album.
[»] Click here to read more.
FREDERIC YONNET, Harmonicist
When it comes to the harmonica, French-born harmonicist Frédéric Yonnet knows how to turn skeptics into believers. Most people perceive the harmonica as a "side" instrument used in country and blues. However, Yonnet is one of a handful of musicians to successfully demonstrate the harmonica's versatility as a lead instrument in contemporary jazz, as well as other genres of music.
Just listen to his sound. It funks. It rocks. It hips and hops. It grooves. It sways. It testifies. It prays. It has a reverence for blues and jazz while appealing to a generation raised on pop, rock and hip-hop. The attention and praise he has garnered from such popular generational icons as Stevie Wonder and Dave Chappelle as well as performances with Erykah Badu, John Legend, India.Arie and Joe McIntyre has helped to expose him and his unique sound on the harmonica to a wide and diverse audience.
Born in Normandy, France, Yonnet picked up the harmonica after a short stint as a drummer.
In France, Yonnet devoted all of his time to performing in Parisian jazz and blues clubs. Yonnet was a frequent guest musician on "Nulle Part Ailleurs", a show on the French television network Canal +, and he eventually began touring Spain, Germany and Africa with jazz, rock and country bands. During a visit to the U.S., Yonnet jammed at a club and he was totally blown away by the reaction he received from the audience.
Yonnet's latest CD project positions the artist where he and his music deservingly need to be -- Front and Center. The harmonica takes the lead when Yonnet brings it out front and demonstrates its versatility and range.
His high energy and ability to play chromatic scales on the diatonic harmonica gives Frederic Yonnet an unlimited range of notes and sounds, of which he takes full advantage. He demonstrates his command of technique and skill by masterfully bridging the gap between the diatonic and chromatic harps -- impressing fans of both.
[»] Click here to read more.
TREY ELLIS, Novelist, Screenwriter, Political and Cultural Critic
Trey Ellis has been a professional novelist, screenwriter and essayist for fifteen years. He is considered one of the most astute authorities on the black middle class, domestic race-relations and pop-culture in the United States and is often requested to contribute on these issues at home and abroad. He has been interviewed on The CBS Early Show with Harry Smith, KCRW's acclaimed "Which Way L.A.?" and "The Treatment" with former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell as well as for the E! True Hollywood Story. He has contributed to such notable newspapers and magazines as The New York Times, Newsweek, Playboy, The Village Voice, The Washington Post Book World, The Los Angeles Times and Salon.com. He was recently commissioned to write his first play, for the Lincoln Center Institute. He is a regular blogger on Arianna Huffington's popular political website HuffingtonPost.com.
[»] Click here to read more.
SUSAN BLECH, Author
By the time Susan Blech was 38 years old, she weighed a staggering 468.1 pounds. She binged. She was "only a little chubby," or so she convinced herself.
Gripping, sometimes shocking, and ultimately inspiring, Confessions of a Carb Queen is the story of how Susan changed her life to save her life, ultimately losing 250 pounds without surgery.
Susan speaks candidly about eating binges, fat sex, and other topics no obese person has dared to address as she recounts her transformation from vulnerable woman to one charged with willpower and courage.
Susan Blech gives motivational talks on weight loss. She has been featured in the New York Times, People, Women's World, First for Women, and has appeared on Good Morning America and Weekend Today.
Susan is a Senior Care Coordinator at Brookdale Hospital's childhood obesity program in Brooklyn, New York, and lives with her husband in New York City.
[»] Click here to read more.
MARCUS JOHNSON, Acclaimed Jazz Artist and Entrepreneur
Throughout his 10-year career odyssey, jazz keyboardist, composer and producer Marcus Johnson continues to stand steady and unbowed.
Johnson's artistic journey with music reflects his entrepreneurial spirit, his maverick approach to composing and performing as well as his principled dedication to God, family and community.
His latest CD, "The Phoenix" (released July 2007) is aptly named as the work represents Johnson's struggle in building his brand within the music industry and his conviction to rise above the setbacks and disappointments. Widely lauded by jazz critics and aficionados alike, "The Phoenix" is his best work yet.
Johnson's previous five CDs have all peaked in the top 20 of Billboard's Contemporary Jazz charts for sales and predict that "The Phoenix" will surely rise and eclipse that mark.
Marcus Johnson has developed a reputation as a stellar showman, wowing audiences with his emotive displays of keyboard dexterity, while mixing his jazzy beats with R&B, go-go, Latin funk, a taste of salsa and a sip of hip hop. It's an unbridled genre that has allowed him to cultivate both mature smooth jazz fans as well as the younger urban-contemporary audiences.
Born in Ohio, Johnson was raised in Washington, D.C. and grew up sampling a cornucopia of musical styles. His mother was a classical pianist and his father purveyed the funk. After Johnson witnessed his first live show - Earth, Wind and Fire - with his father, his musical chariot was in motion. His step-father, using his winnings from a Maryland Pick-3 Lottery game, bought Johnson his first keyboard and the noodlin' began.
With private lessons from an aunt and direction from his high school music director, Johnson's keyboard fetish flared into a passion particularly knowing he couldn't sing nor rap.
The young mogul soon began studying both contemporary and traditional jazz and cites Thelonius Monk and Joe Sample as early influences through high school and his undergraduate studies at Howard University. While pursuing both a JD and MBA at Georgetown University, Johnson decided to independently produce and distribute his own album. The product, Lessons in Love (1997), went on to sell 40,000 units, a phenomenal success for an unknown artist's debut release. It also helped him launch his career as a jazz musician and chief executive of Marimelj Entertainment Group LLC (MEG).
During the next decade, Johnson would release more critically-acclaimed music: Inter Alia, Chocolate City Groovin', Coming Back Around, Urban Groove, In Person: Live@ Blues Alley; Just Doing What I Do, Smooth Jazz Christmas, and In Concert For a Cause.
He's shared the stage with many musical legends including Boney James, Kim Waters, Peabo Bryson, Diana Krall, Eryka Badu, Peter White, Miles Jaye, Rick Braun, Norman Brown, Chaka Khan, Arturo Sandoval, Chuck Magione, Marion Meadows, Rachelle Ferrell, Mike Phillips, George Duke and Jeffrey Osborne among others.
And he's played at many of the world's famous festivals and venues including The Capital Jazz Fest, Bermuda Jazz Fest, Atlantic Artscape, Huntington Beach Jazz Fest, The National Smooth Jazz Awards and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Noting Johnson's business savvy and musical ambition, Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder and businessman Robert L. Johnson (no relation) invested in MEG and became Marcus' business partner. Under this partnership, MEG's label Three Keys Music
- based in the Washington, D.C. metro area - established its own full-service recording studio, Studio 8121; and two music publishing companies, Marimelj Music Publishing and Three Keys Music Publishing.[»] Click here to read more.
ANN COOPER, Chef, Food Activist and Renegade Lunch Lady
Chef Ann Cooper is a renegade lunch lady. She works to transform cafeterias into culinary classrooms for students - one school lunch at a time.
At The Ross School in East Hampton, NY, Chef Ann served as the executive chef and director of wellness and nutrition, developing an integrated school lunch curriculum centered on regional, organic, seasonal and sustainable meals. The implementation of her pilot wellness program proved successful, and Chef Ann was invited to work with schools across the country. She has transformed public school cafeterias in New York City, Harlem and Bridgehampton, NY, and now in Berkeley, CA, to teach more students why good food choices matter by putting innovative strategies to work and providing fresh, organic lunches to all students.
Currently, Chef Ann is the director of nutrition services for the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD), improving meals at 16 public schools with a population of over 9,000 students. Chef Ann is at the forefront of the movement to transform the National School Lunch Program into one that places greater emphasis on the health of students than the financial health of a select few agribusiness corporations. Chef Ann's lunch menus emphasize regional, organic, fresh foods, and nutritional education, helping students build a connection between their personal health and where their food comes from.
Chef Ann's newest book, "Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children" (Harper Collins, Sept. 2006), is overflowing with strategies for parents and school administrators to become engaged with issues around school food - from public policy to corporate interest. It includes successful case studies of school food reform, resources that can help make a difference and healthy, kid-friendly recipes that can be made at home, or by the thousands for a public school cafeteria.
Chef Ann is the former executive chef of the Putney Inn in Vermont. Her commitment to healthy, fresh food drove her to work with school administrators, politicians and parents - the people with the power over school food - to guarantee that wholesome food choices are available to kids. Chef Ann, the past president of The American Culinary Federation of Central Vermont, is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, and the former president and current board member for Women's Chefs and Restaurateurs. She also sat on the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Standards Board and Chefs Collaborative - all in an effort to raise awareness about the value of healthful seasonal, organic, and regional foods and nutrition education for America's children.
Through collaborative work with organizations including the Center for Ecoliteracy, Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food and Society Policy Fellowship, Chef Ann has made tremendous strides in a variety of school wellness programs.
[»] Click here to read more.
AARON WOOLF, Film maker, Restaurateur and (now) Grocer
Aaron Woolf's award-winning films have been broadcast on The Sundance Channel, ARTE, RAI and SBS, as well as being presented to the State Department and the United Nations.
Aaron is the founder of Mosaic Films Incorporated and an avid mountaineer.
[»] Click here to read more.
JEFF JOHNSON, International Journalist * ,Social Activist * Political Consultant * Inspirational Speaker
From the Hip-Hop community to mainstream media, Jeff Johnson serves as a trusted voice for information and opinions to a new generation. A social activist, political strategist, inspirational speaker, executive producer and an architect for social change, Johnson is one of today's most gifted leaders in both the political and entertainment arenas.
Recently, Johnson was named by Source Magazine as one of the hip hop generation's key political players. Johnson has spent the last decade carving out a unique niche of merging the worlds of politics and popular culture providing cutting-edge strategic and leadership-based consulting for youth and urban demographics.
Jeff has served as the National Youth Director for the NAACP and was sent by BET on assignment to the Darfur region of Sudan 2007. Johnson is also one of only two news correspondents to interview Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir within the past thirteen years. An established investigative journalist, Johnson has interviewed 2008 presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on BET specials regarding key issues facing the African-American community.
In every aspect of his political leadership, Johnson has been highly instrumental in representing and articulating the views of young people and galvanizing voters to the polls. Johnson's powerful reputation as a political organizer caused hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons to take notice, leading Simmons to appoint Johnson as Vice-President for the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. In 2007, he testified before the Committee on Homeland Security regarding recovery efforts in wake of the devastation caused to the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina.
In 2004, upon recognizing his socio-political influence and media adeptness, network executives at BET offered Johnson a unique opportunity to present his views to the hip-hop generation nationally through a consistent media vehicle. Thus, Rap City's Cousin Jeff was born. Shortly thereafter, Johnson began producing his own show, the "Jeff Johnson Chronicles" addressing issues relevant to young people in urban America.
He was the only American reporter to receive an exclusive interview with the continent of Africa's first female head of state, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia.
Johnson currently provides columns in leading urban lifestyle magazines, and serves as a contributor and international correspondent for news broadcasts such as XM radio, The Dr. Phil Show and CNN.
[»] Click here to read more.
BRYANT TERRY, Eco-chef and Food Activist
Bryant Terry is a chef, author, food justice activist and founder of b-healthy! (Building Healthy Eating and Lifestyles to Help Youth), a New York City-based not-for-profit organization. Bryant is nationally recognized for his persistent effort to innovatively create a more just and sustainable food system. His work has received recognition in Newsweek, Vibe, ReadyMade, Zink, Organic Style (where he was named one of "Tomorrow's Environmental Power Players") and many other publications. Bryant lectures and facilitates workshops across the country for youth and adults about cooking, food politics, and the relationship between diet and health. His first book, Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen (Tarcher/Penguin) with co-author Anna Lappé will be on shelves April 2006. In addition to graduating from the Natural Gourmet, Bryant also received an M.A. in History from New York University and a B.A. with honors in English from Xavier University of Louisiana. Bryant lives in Brooklyn and Oakland.
www.eatgrub.org | www.bryant-terry.com
[»] Click here to read more.
DAVID TURNLEY, Pulitzer prize winning photojournalist and filmmaker
David Turnley is considered by many to be one of the best documentary photographers working today. He won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Photography, and has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist four times. In 1988 and 1991 he won the World Press Picture of the Year.
Turnley was a Detroit Free Press staff photographer from 1980 to 1998. He was based in South Africa from 1985 to 1987, where he documented the country under Apartheid rule. He was based in Paris from 1987 to 1997, covering such events as the Persian Gulf War, revolutions in Eastern Europe, student uprisings in China and the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Turnley earned a B.A. in French Literature from the University of Michigan, received an Honorary Doctoral degree from the New School of Social Research in 1997, and has also studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. He studied under a Nieman Foundation Fellowship at Harvard in 1997-1998.
In 1998 David began working in video as well as still photography. He incorporated the two in a documentary The Dalai Lama: At Home in Exile (CNN), which was nominated for an Emmy. He has since had four pieces featuring a similar topic shown on ABC's Nightline. In 1999, he produced, directed, and photographed his first feature-length documentary, La Tropical, a sensual portrait of a wildly popular dance hall in Havana which has been central to the lives of working-class Cubans of color for more than half a century. La Tropical recently won Best Documentary in the Miami International Film Festival, and the film is currently being seen in festivals around the world.
Today he lives and works from New York City.
[»] Click here to read the interview with David.
TERRIE WILLIAMS, Public Relations Guru, Community Leader and Author, Terrie Williams
Terrie is a social worker by training who became a successful public relations pro by her own design, inscribed her prominence as an author of the successful business and inspirational story, and has now emerged as an advocate for youth and those who battle depression.
The multi-chaptered story of Terrie Williams is one of phenomenal success and encouragement. She launched The Terrie Williams Agency in 1988-a company that would become one of the country's most successful public relations and communications firms-and through the years has handled the biggest names in entertainment, sports, business, and politics from Miles Davis, Eddie Murphy and Johnnie L. Cochran to Essence Communications Partners, HBO and Time Warner.
Terrie is the author of three successful books: the business bestseller The Personal Touch: What You Really Need to Succeed in Today's Fast-Paced Business World; the inspirational A Plentiful Harvest: Creating Balance and Harmony through the Seven Living Virtues; and Stay Strong: Simple Life Lessons for Teens, the basis for the 2001 launch of The Stay Strong Foundation, a national non-profit designed to educate and encourage American youth.
Terrie's current work, a book entitled Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting, will be published by Scribner in January 2008 and will tell the untold story of depression among African-Americans as well as Terrie's tale of her own chronic and crippling depression-a revealing narrative she shared in the June 2005 issue of ESSENCE magazine.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Terrie.
MICHAEL THOMAS, Author
Michael Thomas was born and raised in Boston. He received his B.A. from Hunter College and his MFA from WARREN Wilson College. He teaches at Hunter College and he lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their three children.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Michael.
SCOTT HARRISON, Humanitarian
Harrison graduated from New York University in 1998 with a B.A. in Communications. After a 10-year foray into special event planning and promotions, he began a small upscale event planning and nightclub consultancy. His clients included MTV, VH1, ABC, Cosmopolitan, ELLE, Xbox (Microsoft), Universal Records, RCA, Island Records, Dunkin Donuts, Bacardi USA, Nike, Anheuser-Busch and more. In August 2004, he left the event business to serve for a year as a volunteer photojournalist onboard the Mercy Ship Anastasis in impoverished Liberia, West Africa. In September 2005, returning home to NYC, he tested the idea behind charity: by producing a large exhibition of his photographs and videos called mercy. Despite opening in the midst of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, Harrison's mercy. show was a success. Visitors contributed more than $96,000 towards providing medical procedures and freshwater wells in West Africa. Harrison returned to West Africa for another 6 month journey in October 2005, before returning to Manhattan in the spring of 2006 to found charity:.
[»] Click here to read more.
SNOOP PEARSON, from HBO series THE WIRE
Snoop Pearson got her undergraduate degree from the "School of Hard Knocks" and the lessons that she has learned are paying off. She is young and although she has lived a thousand lifetimes, she is just starting out with her whole life to look forward to.
Her manager Ally Roberson,writes this about Snoop:
On May 18th 1980 a premature baby girl, Snoop Pearson, was born fighting to survive. Hours old and about 3lbs, doctors didn't expect her to live, Moms and Pops were locked up, so she was on her own. Days went by and she was holding on so Snoop, was made a ward of the court and was placed with a Foster Grandmother on the Eastside of Baltimore. She was so small she was fed with an eyedropper until she grew stronger.
There is no pretty story here, just the gritty truth of growing up in the system on the Baltimore streets but...Snoop is a survivor. While other 12 year olds were in school Snoop was learning the drug game. While other 14 year olds were starting high school, Snoop was standing before the judge being sentenced to an 8year bid. She finished school while behind bars and earned an education the hard way. Snoop was released 6 years later in 2000. Her pretty face showing no sign of the struggle life had been for her so far. She's not trying to be pretty, she just is and she'll pull your girl if you're not careful. I witnessed this myself when the waitress blushed and gave her special treatment as we ate dinner one night in a Brooklyn restaurant.
Snoop's story is proof that we can overcome the odds. Snoop was offered a role on HBO's hottest series "The Wire".
[»] Click here to read more.
EGYPT, Radio and Television Personality and Talk Show Host
The award-winning broadcast talent is well known for being a staple on radio in major cities like 100.3 The Beat(Philadelphia), 92Q (Baltimore), and currently on Power 105.1 FM(New York) where she's a popular morning show personality of "The Ed Lover Show with Egypt and Ashy". Egypt is also the current voice of Premiere Radio Networks' entertainment report amidst the syndicated show "Live in the Den with Tigger", which can be heard in over 60 markets, making her one of the most recognizable voices in the syndicated radio arena.
EGYPT can currently be seen as a regular correspondent on The Maury Show and was co-host of the hit TV show on the WB Network "Home Delivery." Egypt began her television career as BET's favorite guest hosts for shows like Planet Groove, Rap City, BET LIVE, and was co-host on UPN's "The Source Soundlab " with actor/recording artist Ray-J. Egypt also hosts the online shows AOL's "Top 11 Countdown", and UPN's "Talk Model".
Additionally, she's starred in her very own national TV and radio commercial campaign for the launch of Chrysler's PT Cruiser . Additionally, she starred in her very own national TV and radio commercial campaign for the launch of Chrysler's PT Cruiser .
[»] Click here to read more.
WUNMI, Singer, Songwriter, Dancer, Stylist
In the world of dance music, Wunmi is a one-off, an artist that effortlessly joins the dots between Nigeria's Afrobeat heritage, New York's house pedigree and London's jazz, broken beat and classic street soul sounds. In 2006, after over 10 years of classic collaborations working with production heavyweights like Masters At Work, Seiji and Truby Trio, Wunmi is finally heading solo with her much anticipated debut album.
Born in London, Wunmi lived in Nigeria for 10 years, returning to the UK aged 14. The enduring image from Wunmi's early years in music was in summer 1986 as the dancer silhouetted in Soul II Soul's 'Back To Life' video. As an integral dancer within the Soul II Soul set-up, Wunmi quickly established a bold, self-styled image with flowing braids and her own outrageous clothes which became a valuable addition to the Funki Dred identity. She was subsequently chosen as an icon of London underground club culture when featured in Kiss FM London's first advertising campaign as a commercial station.
In the late '90s, teaming up with Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez and Louie Vega for Masters At Work's classic 1998 re-work of Fela Kuti's 'Expensive Sh*t', 'M.A.W. Expensive (Tribute To Fela)' and the equally strong follow-ups, 'Ekabo' and 'Time Is Now'. The tracks paved the way for a slew of Nu Yorican Afro-house workouts from the likes of Dennis Ferrer, Jerome Sydenham and more and stamped Wunmi's unique vocal style on dance floors worldwide. The collab continued on at the Miami Winter Conference and Masters At Work's legendary Nu Yorican Soul parties in 2000 and 2001 where Wunmi performed through the Havana cigar smoke alongside Stephanie Mills, Jocelyn Brown, Jody Watley, Roy Ayers and more.
More acclaimed collaborations followed. Her solo debut 'What A See', brilliantly reworked by A Guy Called Gerald and Osunlade's 'Rader Du' for Soul Jazz in 2001. Paper magazine promptly voted Wunmi as one of their '50 Beautiful People'. Premier league producers continued to queue up - King Britt requested some Wunmi spice for his 'Oba Funke' album project as well as studio wizard Ras for Germany's Sonar Kollektiv. When the Red Hot organization commissioned an ambitious album paying tribute to Afrobeat Godfather Fela Kuti in 2004, Wunmi was top of their list. The result, a dynamite version of Fela's 'Zombie' backed by Bugz In The Attic's razor sharp beats, became the big club track from the project and was accompanied by some memorable live dates.
Alongside her music, Wunmi has become a vital link between today's global dance music culture and the vast musical history of Nigeria. She narrated a potted history of Nigerian music for Strut Records' 'Nigeria 70' anthology during 2001 and would later voice an audio documentary on Fela Kuti for the BBC.
On-stage, Wunmi is a revelation. The Wunmi stage show has become known for its explosive energy with her trademark outfits, hi-octane dance moves, a super-tight band and an infectious spirit that draws in crowds wherever she plays. Highlights? A memorable appearance at Out Of Africa's London Summer street party in 2004, Jump 'N' Funk in New York and .....
For her debut album, Wunmi has linked up with many of the top producers that have featured her vocals over the years from Seiji, Truby Trio and Fauna Flash to Pastaboys and Siji. The new album is called 'A.L.A.', standing for 'Africans Living Abroad' and, behind the trademark Wunmi grooves, she tackles some difficult issues. There are tracks exploring the alienation of living away from home, the stark choices faced by those who fall outside of "the system" and the continuing corruption of governments and fat cats worldwide. It is Wunmi talking from the heart and represents some of her best work, establishing her as one of dance music's real enigmas.
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JIM DRATFIELD, world renowned, celebrated pet photographer
JIM DRATFIELD is the photographer-owner of Petography, a pet-photography firm whose clients include Jennifer Aniston, Henry Kissinger, Oscar de la Renta, and Len Riggio. Petography. Jim's books have been featured on 20/20, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition, Primetime Live, and CBS's Early Show, and in print features and reviews in USA Today, People, Town & Country, and other publications. He lives in New York City.
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Leigh Haber began her career in book publishing as a news aide for The Washington Post's Book World. After moving to NYC, she became a publicity director for Harcourt Brace and other publishers, but her first love was editing. Since becoming an editor nearly fifteen years ago, she has worked with such writers as Alice Walker, Gloria Naylor, Laurie Garrett, Steve Martin, Terry Gross, Peter Jennings, Lou Reed, Patricia Bosworth, and many others. Three years ago she joined Rodale, and is in the process of launching a book imprint for the company, called Modern Times. There, she has worked on books by Al Gore, Bill Maher, The Kitchen Sisters, Senator Chuck Schumer, to name a few. Next year, under the imprint, she will publish new books by Rosalynn Carter, William Greider, Mary Tillman, Philip Moffitt, and any investigative biography of Karl Rove, as well as the third in the bestselling Intellectual Devotional series, and a memoir entitled HARD TIME WITH PETER RABBIT..
She just turned fifty, and is the mother of two great sons, Sam and Geoff. She lives in Maplewood, NJ.
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RUDY GASKINS, Emmy Award Winning Journalist, CEO of Push Creative
Sure, Rudy Gaskins is the co-founder of Push Creative - but you gotta lead with the EMMY! Indeed, from his work as a director/producer, Rudy has one of the coveted statuettes prominently displayed on his coffee table right next to a copy of James Allen's As A Man Thinketh. Rudy has been working professionally for nearly 20 years. He gave it away for three years before that, but we won't go there. His experience covers film and TV, cable and broadcast, radio and theater. He is a seasoned DGA director, and an accomplished writer in the WGAE. Rudy's a strategic branding guru - he can crank out a bull's eye Brand Bible like nobody's business! It all comes from years of experience in the trenches, at PBS, ABC News, Court TV, NBC, and Food Network. Rudy was the key strategist behind BET's big redesign splash, where he worked with their extraordinary team to develop its mission statement, new logo, and on-air graphic identity. He lives by, and advocates the philosophy that collaboration achieves the highest levels of creativity, which means he has a hard time choosing a tie without asking his wife. Rudy oversees the day-to-day operations of Push Creative.
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JOHN LEHR, Television Writer, Producer, Performer and Geico Caveman
John Lehr is a comedic writer, monologist and performer working in television, film and theater in Los Angeles and New York. John has written a number of projects--recently creating two pilots and selling one to network and the other to cable. As an actor, John has appeared in numerous television series and feature films. His critically acclaimed monologues have had sold out runs in LA and New York. He recently wrapped his off-Broadway one-man show "The Lehr Curse."
John's writing career began with the pilot script "Electronic Highway" (Brandon Tartikoff, Producer, Viacom) and the series "News Weasels" (E!). John co-wrote and starred in the feature film "Humanoid" (David Schwimmer, Producer). John and his wife Jennifer optioned the half-hour "Monogamy American Style" to 20th Century Fox and created and hosted "Garage Sale," a pilot for ABC Family. In 2003, John created, starred and executive produced the scripted/improvised pilot for FBC entitled "Empyrean Way." In 2004, NBC purchased John's sitcom "Nature/Nurture" for David Schwimmer's Dark Harbor Stories. In 2005, John shot his pilot, "10 Items or Less" (which he Created, Executive Produced and Starred in) for Sony Pictures Television and TBS. He is also writing and Executive Producing the pilot script "Ill-Equipped for a Life of Sex" with his wife, Jennifer, and Executive Producer Peter Mehlman for Warner Brothers Television.
As an actor, John played Christina Applegate's brother on NBC's "Jesse" and hosted ABC's reality show "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here." Other TV credits include "Oliver Beene" (FOX) "Once & Again" (ABC), "Friends" (NBC) and others. John's film credits include "The Sweetest Thing", "Kicking and Screaming", "Mr. Jealousy", "Highball" and others. John is a critically acclaimed improvisational performer having worked at the Organic Theater and Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, The Montreal Comedy Festival, Chicago Improvisational Festival and multiple venues in Los Angeles and New York. In 2003, John starred in and Associate Produced "Memron"-- an entirely improvised film that won the audience choice award at the 2003 Slamdance Film Festival. Currently John is starring and executive producing '10 Items or Less' - a half-hour Sony pilot for TBS.
John currently lives in Los Angeles California with his wife Jennifer and his seven month old daughter, Jules.
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FIONA BLOOM , International Marketer, World Citizen, Connector, Producer
This is how the story goes...
A beautiful little girl with big blue eyes hailing from London, England dreams of becoming a concert pianist at the age of 5. After years of prodigious finger duets with the ivory keys she was accepted into the highly reputable Royal Academy of Music in London. From there her triple thirds, trills and thundering technique garnered two full prestigious scholarships; one at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and the other at the University of Maryland. She also received a distinguished Steinway Piano award. While pursuing studies of classical music she was soon attracted to the sounds of two turntables and a microphone. Hip-Hop music had bounced into the room and Fiona was all ears. Soon Hip-Hop had this London gal down in Atlanta where she became a wildly popular radio personality and party host on WSTR 94.1 and WRFG 89.3 FM. It was at these two stations where Fiona got her schooling in this vibrant music culture interviewing the likes of George Clinton, Wu-Tang Clan, Chuck D, The Pharcyde and RuPaul to name a few. During this time, Fiona completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communications and Broadcast Journalism at Georgia State University while honing her sultry voiceover skills.
It was also at this time that she was on the inside track of the burgeoning Atlanta Hip-hop music scene hanging around the likes of Outkast, Goodie Mob, Arrested Development, Dallas Austin, Joi & others, whilst working as a club promoter. It was 1994 when a call from then-EMI Records head Daniel Glass brought Fiona to the big city as a Director of New Artist Marketing. Here she worked with artists, Gangstarr, Soulsonics, Shara Nelson, Arrested Development and Digable Planets. After a brief stint at EMI, she continued to enrich her musical palette and took a job at an upstart record label called Zero Hour Records where she was the Director of Media Relations. She worked with such artists as Varnaline, Space Needle, Swervedriver, Steve Wynn, John Wesley Harding and Notwist. After achieving critical acclaim for her artists and label, Fiona’s savvy entrepreneurial skills convinced her boss to allow her to start her own Hip-Hop label as a subsidiary of Zero Hour called 3-2-1. Here she was recognized for signing the critically acclaimed Hip-Hop group Blackalicious, in addition to other notable underground hip-hop acts such as; Connected, Skeme Team, Rubberoom, Scienz’ of Life, Micranots and Big Jus of Company Flow. If running a fledgling indie Hip-Hop label wasn’t enough, Fiona’s constant drive led her to pursue independent publicity for such artists as Bahamadia, Mystic, Jigmastas, Jeru tha Damaja, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Spontaneous and others. For everything that has a season, Zero Hour expired and 3-2-1...counted down, but Fiona stayed up and blossomed into co-creating Sub Verse Music. A Hip-Hop troika between her, Big Jus and Wall Street maverick, Peter M. Lupoff. Sub Verse Music quickly became an established and reputable indie Hip-Hop label featuring such acts as Micranots, MF DOOM, KMD, Rubberoom, Big Jus (Company Flow), Hemisphere, Source of Labor, C Rayz Walz, and Scienz’ of Life. In addition, Fiona also created Subversive Skool, a critically acclaimed music showcase for emerging new artists on the underground Hip-Hop scene.
Since then, Fiona has been honing her skills and cultivating relationships world-wide in International business making introductions, initiating licensing and distribution deals, booking festivals and European tours as well as giving endless advice/consultation on being savvy and knowledgeable in ‘International business’ to boutique and independent companies such as Rawkus, Game, GoodVibe, Rhymesayers, Lyricist Lounge, Recon, Bomb Hip Hop, Frank 151, Brash Music, Babygrande, Purpose Records, Burning Heart, AllCity, and others.
In addition, she became a talent buyer for the acclaimed NY venue Joe’s Pub/Public Theater from 2004-2005. She created a platform for International artists to showcase their artistic merits and NY debuts from around the world.
Most recently, Fiona accepted a position heading up the International department at TVT Records in NY where she managed the International affairs for Ying Yang Twins, Pitbull, Teedra Moses, Towers of London, The Blue Van, Ambulance and others. After a year, she has decided to go back out on her own. The Bloom is in Effect. Once an entrepreneur, always one.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Fiona Bloom.
REGINA KULIK-SCULLY , Entrepreneur and Philanthropist
Founder & CEO, RPR Marketing Communications
Founder & President, CareerPeeks Foundation
A gifted entrepreneur, Regina is the founder and CEO of RPR Marketing Communications (RPR), a premiere public relations firm with top-notch clients from around the world. Her career began in journalism, with stints at such media outlets as Seventeen magazine, FOX Television, and CNN. She later segued into the public relations field, first working at the acclaimed Hill & Knowlton Agency and later serving as Public Relations Director for L'Oréal Cosmetics and Fragrances, and Christian Dior Perfumes.
Today, at the helm of RPR, which specializes in brand marketing and publicity for a wide range of consumer products and luxury goods, Regina primarily focuses on developing new business strategies and programs, and cultivating new talent within her Agency. Regina is an extraordinarily savvy businesswoman who has built RPR from the ground up and developed her company's client roster to include such major international brands as Johnson & Johnson, Spiegel, Neutrogena Corporation, Aveeno, Givenchy, Boucheron and Polo.com to name a few.
In addition to other numerous philanthropic efforts, in 2002, Regina founded CareerPeeks, a non profit organization that focuses on expanding career options for young women ages 20-38. The Foundation provides young women with opportunities to visit real working environments, and spend time in mentoring sessions with highly successful, dynamic professionals.
CareerPeeks mentors include: Katie Couric, Dr. Patricia Wexler-Noted Dermatologist, Debra Shriver-VP/Chief Communications Officer/Senior VP magazines for Hearst Corporation, Barbara Kotlikoff-Vice President of Development for The Museum of Television & Radio, Jill Scalemandre-Senior VP, Global Beauty Brands at Avon, Caroline Gundeck-Chief Diversity Officer Global Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley, and Tom Brokaw.
Regina is married to John H. Scully, managing director of SPO Partners & Company. He is a trustee and a vice chair of the board of trustees of Stanford University and vice chairman of Stanford Hospital and Clinics. In 1989 John became chairman and founder of Making Waves Education Programs in the San Francisco Bay area.
A natural leader with a big heart, Regina further tends to our youth by serving on the board of the Making Waves Education Program, Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW), the advisory board of the Stanford University School of Education, and The Girl Scouts of Greater New York. She is a trustee of The Horace Mann School in Riverdale, New York, is on the board of International Initiatives of Georgetown University, an advocate for mental health awareness, and is an advisory board member of The Stay Strong Foundation, a national non-profit that supports and educates youth.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Regina Kulik-Scully.
GUY FORTT, Broadway Actor, Starring in The Color Purple
An outstanding actor who knows how to play the role, a firefighter with a passion for serving his community, and a colorful spirit blessed with limitless talents, Guy A. Fortt, the man, is one amazing character.
Guy, a seasoned theater presence who studied at Shaw University in Raleigh, NC, is currently featured on Broadway in Oprah Winfrey's The Color Purple. For years he has brought his unique flavor to an impressive variety of roles in New York City and Connecticut, commanding the stage in productions of Charles H. Fuller's A Soldier's Play, August Wilson's Seven Guitars, Abram Hill's On Strivers Row, and Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire among others.
In Hollywood, Guy holds his own working alongside the film industry's best in such projects as director David Frankel's The Devil Wears Prada starring Meryl Streep; director Sydney Pollack's The Interpreter starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn; director Spike Lee's 25th Hour and She Hate Me; and Don't Nobody Love the Game More Than Me, directed by Martha Pinson and winner of the Toronto Online Film Award.
In addition to his stage and cinema work, Fortt has also found success in television having appeared on diverse shows including HBO's The Soprano's, NBC's Third Watch, Another World, and Saturday Night Live, ABC's All My Children, and MTV's Human Giant. He was also featured as "Pops" in Don Cheadle's Independent Lens, which aired on PBS.
Today, Guy is hard at work on several new projects. He recently completed filming of Before The Devil Knows You're Dead directed by Sidney Lumet, and starring Philip Seymore Hoffman and Ethan Hawk.
Guy A. Fortt lives in Connecticut with his wife, Dr. Tabitha B. Fortt and their four children, Jafar, 16; Khairi, 14; Anisa, 11; and Omar 9.
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BRETT WRIGHT, CEO and Co-Founder of NuAmerica
Entrepreneur
Co-Founder/Chief Executive Officer- NuAmerica Agency
Co-Founder/Chief Creative Officer-Uptown Magazine
Mr. Wright's creative talents, coupled with his keen business acuity, have earned him a reputation as a leader among his colleagues. His fifteen years of experience in the music, internet, publishing, advertising and fashion industries have established him as an innovator in delivering brands to urban culture. Mr. Wright is co-founder and CEO of the Harlem based NuAmerica Agency now in its 5th year.
NuAmerica Agency was founded to capture the true essence of urban/popular culture and provide a cultural context for companies wishing to communicate intelligently as well as relevantly to the hottest demographic and psycho graphic ever, the hip-hop generation.
Wright's experience with new enterprises has given him great insight into developing businesses from the ground up. He has become a specialist in establishing brands and creating innovate marketing and advertising vehicles. "Marketing is about vision, ideas and the critical process of execution. It is that task that we embark on with every advertising and marketing effort."
Wright's positions have included serving as an original member of The Source Magazine, senior director of marketing at Uptown Records, vice president of Loud Records, vice president/general manager of Volcano Entertainment and vice president of marketing and A&R at RCA Records, president of Yo! B. Consulting and president of Hookt.com. Under Wright's marketing vision these companies established their respective marks in their respective industries.
NAA is the first marketing, advertising and management firm designed to address and focus on the changing faces of urban culture. NuAmerica's clients include: Pepsi, Luster Products, Courvoisier, Rocawear, Apollo Theater, And-1, Uptown Magazine, Bulldog Bikes, Showtime Networks and Oster Products.
Wright has been a long time resident of Harlem where he lives with wife Yvonna Wright and children Lola and Marley.
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BARBARA FRIEDMAN, Award Winning Painter
There is a universe in Barbara Friedman's recent paintings - half Heraclitus, half Heisenberg - where anything can happen and it's happening right now.
Hovering between Heraclitus and Heisenberg, Barbara Friedman's recent paintings confront the viewer with a certain uncertainty. As painterly embodiments of the ancient Greek philosopher's assertion that "Nothing endures but change," the new works accomplish the seemingly self-contradictory task of freezing time and motion while simultaneously conveying their existence as phenomena. And though apparently depicting traditional scenes and events - Passing Truck; Pink Garage; Blue Trampoline - Friedman portrays a non-deterministic universe, a world of probability and potential similar to the vision promulgated by quantum mechanics. Somewhat contradictory to the "observer effect" that is often linked to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, however, in the case of Friedman's work, the viewer rather than the event is transformed.
Writing about her recent work, Barbara Friedman states:
The paintings examine the vagueness of appearances
and the need to keep renegotiating one's bearings.
As distillations of passing moments they speak to an
elevated sense of mortality but also a feeling of being
optically over-powered.
Passing By, the artist's first solo show with Michael Steinberg Fine Art, is a vibrant amalgam of the tradition of American landscape painting and contemporary concerns with the impact of photography, film and video. In a recent essay about Friedman's work, the critic Lily Wei describes them as "a two-way exposition of time and memory cinematically formatted..."
Barbara Friedman was born in New York City, where she currently lives and works. She received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and her MFA from the University of California - Berkeley. She has had numerous solo and group exhibitions, and is currently Professor of Art at Pace University, New York, NY.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Barbara.
ED WOODS, Top Entertainment Attorney, Manager and Entrepreneur
Peers no longer call Ed Woods an "up-and-coming" attorney; no, Mr. Woods has unequivocally arrived as one of the top entertainment attorney lawyers and business leaders in the country.
Currently the Executive Vice President at Casablanca Records, Edward L. Woods, Esq. has been practicing law in New York City since 1994. With a primary focus on contractual deal making and negotiations on behalf of recording artists, records producers, songwriters, record industry executives, independent record labels and recording studios, Mr. Woods has established himself as a major force in the music and entertainment communities. Mr. Woods' ascendancy was reinforced by his recent election as President of the nationally renowned organization Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA), after serving the last five years on the board for the organization.
In September 2000, Edward L. Woods, Esq., co-founded the firm of Woods & Middleton, LLP. It was at Woods & Middleton that Mr. Woods' influence within the entertainment industry grew; within two years Mr. Woods was supervising over 75 clients based in recording, publishing, film and television industries, and negotiating multi-million dollar deals on a regular basis. Mr. Woods also developed an unequaled reputation for attracting new clients, understanding both the "big picture" and archaic nuances of industry deals, and for being a fair but hardball negotiator. The latter quality was a trait honed by Mr. Woods while growing up on the streets of Queens.
Ed Woods quickly developed a long client roster of platinum producers, recording artists, independent labels and Grammy award winning songwriters. These included: superstar multi-Platinum artist and actor DMX, Bad Boy Hitmen Producers, NBA superstar Allen Iverson, R&B divas Stephanie Mills, Angela Winbush and Kelly Price, Blackground Entertainment (Aaliyah's record label), FUBU, and legendary boxing promoter, Butch Lewis.
Having conquered the legal profession and seeking to expand an already vast knowledge of the music industry, Mr. Woods left private practice in 2005 to become Executive Vice President of Black Music at Casablanca Records. Mr. Woods reports directly to renowned music executive and Casablanca founder Tommy Mottola, and is responsible for identifying and developing new talent, coordinating the production, promotion and release of new music, and overseeing the record staff. Most important, Mr. Woods will stamp his dynamic urban music imprint of street knowledge and unparalleled industry success on the Casablanca label.
Mr. Woods, is a 1994 graduate of Howard University School of Law (J.D.), a 1991 graduate of Hampton University (B.A.), and currently is a member of the New York State Bar.
LINDOKUHLE MNYANDU, Award Winning Film Maker
Lindokuhle Mnyandu is a Writer, Director, Producer and an Observer who lives and works in Centurion, Pretoria.
Born and raised in Umlazi, Durban. Lindokuhle studied Screenwriting with Gotham Writers` Workshop in New York City. He is currently finishing his studies in Drama and Film, and African Literature at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Lindokuhle's credits in film are many and he has worked in various aspects of film production including writing, directing and producing.
He founded MNYANDU FILMS, a film production company which focuses on producing documentaries, feature films and short films.
Controlling all aspects of production, from conception to completion, creatively and efficiently, Mr. Mnyandu wrote, directed and produced "a well-made and thought provoking" (Erik Gudris, Choices Inc., Los Angeles) film documentary titled, Bridging The Gap, his documentary about attitudes and perspectives of South African sojourners in the United States and what it means to be a patriotic South African. The film premiered at the Durban International Film Festival (June 15- 26, 2005), was screened at the Apollo Film Festival, South Africa (September 22- October 01, 2005) and was also screened at the Blue-November MicroFilmFest, Oklahoma where it won the Best Picture- Feature Film Award (November 04- 05, 2005).
MNYANDU FILMS is currently producing a documentary titled Families Under Attack, a film which looks at how illicit drug abuse, mainly methamphetamine affects families.
Also in preproduction are two feature films; one about dynamics of the emerging black middle class and its behavior in South Africa, titled, Maar Why?. The second titled DEATH SENTENCE, is about rape, the sexual abuse of women and HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
Both productions are scheduled to slate towards the end of 2006.
Lindokuhle currently lives in South Africa with his wife and nineteen month old son.
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DAVID SAWYER, Accomplished Photographer
David Sawyer has been shooting still life in New York City for 18 years. He previously spent 2 years shooting in London & Milan.
David moved to the United States from Manchester England in 1983 to attend Columbia College for fine arts in Chicago and then Parsons School of Design in New York.
Some of his most recent clients include:
Vogue Pelle Nike
Vogue Gioiello Clinique
Departures Magazine L'oreal
Donna Karan/DKNY Bergdorf Goodman
Giorgio Armani Saks Fifth Avenue
David currently splits his time shooting between New York & Europe.
MAHEN BONETTI, Founder and Executive Director of the African Film Festival
Mahen Bonetti was born in 1956 in Sierra Leone to a family that has experienced the ups and downs of post-colonial politics. Several of her relatives were forced into exile in the United States and England in 1970. Bonetti could only return in 1980 for the funeral of her maternal uncle, former Prime Minister Sir Albert Margai, who died in the United States. Bonetti received her bachelor of arts in administrative studies at Bradford College and pursued graduate studies in media communication at New York University. She worked at Young and Rubicam and at Newsweek's editorial and advertising division, before becoming founder and executive director of the African Film Festival Inc. in 1990. Her experiences led her to the conclusion that media could be used to encourage positive change in the world - not just to entertain, but also to educate.
"I know what Africa has given me and what she's capable of," says Bonetti. "Although everyone was talking about Africa at the end of the 1980s, there was no African voice." This paradox of culture - when images of starving African children flooded television screens while world music came into being and "African-American" emerged as a political concept of identity - led her to finding ways of fostering a cultural dialogue between Africa and the United States. Realizing that cinema would be the ideal medium for such a cultural exchange, she put all her energy into creating African Film Festival, Inc, whose mission is to educate and entertain, by promoting cross-cultural communication, cultural identity and understanding and to give Africa a voice in the twenty-first century.
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JIMMY SANTIAGO-BACA, Celebrated Poet
Born in New Mexico of Indio-Mexican descent, Jimmy Santiago Baca was raised first by his grandmother and later sent to an orphanage. A runaway at age 13, it was after Baca was sentenced to five years in a maximum security prison that he began to turn his life around: he learned to read and write and unearthed a voracious passion for poetry. During a fateful conflict with another inmate, Jimmy was shaken by the voices of Neruda and Lorca, and made a choice that would alter his destiny. Instead of becoming a hardened criminal, he emerged from prison a writer. Baca sent three of his poems to Denise Levertov, the poetry editor of Mother Jones. The poems were published and became part of Immigrants in Our Own Land, published in 1979, the year he was released from prison. He earned his GED later that same year. He is the winner of the Pushcart Prize, the American Book Award, the International Hispanic Heritage Award and for his memoir A Place to Stand the prestigious International Award. In 2006 he won the Cornelius P. Turner Award. The national award recognizes one GED graduate a year who has made outstanding contributions to society in education, justice, health, public service and social welfare.
Baca has devoted his post-prison life to writing and teaching others who are overcoming hardship. His themes include American Southwest barrios, addiction, injustice, education, community, love and beyond. He has conducted hundreds of writing workshops in prisons, community centers, libraries, and universities throughout the country.
In 2005 he created Cedar Tree Inc., a nonprofit foundation that works to give people of all walks of life the opportunity to become educated and improve their lives. Cedar Tree provides free instruction, books, writing material and scholarships. Cedar Tree has an ongoing writing workshop in the Albuquerque Women's Prison and at the South Valley Community Center. Cedar Tree also has an Internship program that provides live-in writing scholarships at Wind River Ranch, and in the south valley of Albuquerque. The program allows students, writers and poets the opportunity to write, attend poetry readings, conduct writing workshops, and work on documentary film production.
Baca is currently finishing a novel, a play and three poetry manuscripts to be published in 2007. He is also producing a two hour documentary about the power of literature and how it can change lives.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Jimmy.
SARA MILES, Author and Founder of St. Gregory's Food Pantry
Sara Miles is the author of How to Hack a Party Line: The Democrats and Silicon Valley and co-editor of Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan and the anthology Opposite Sex. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Out, The Progressive, La Jornada and Salon, among others. She has written extensively on military affairs, politics and culture. The founder of St. Gregory's Food Pantry, she lives in San Francisco with her family.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Sara.
STEPHANIE TAVARES-RANCE, Co-Founder of The Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival
Stephanie Tavares-Rance began her career in entertainment in 1990, working in the A&R department at SBK/EMI Records. She eventually became the A&R Marketing Director and worked on award winning projects such as Frank Sinatra's Duets I and II, Prince, Jon Sescada, Gloria Estefan and many others.
In 1999, Stephanie became the Marketing Director at Larry Flint's Code Magazine, a short lived lifestyle magazine for men of color. Her marketing impact was immediate as she created strategic alliances with top notch celebrities and luxury brands. It was there and then that she realized that her calling was in event planning.
Stephanie eventually formed her own public relations and event planning company, Crescendo and she worked exclusively with such clients as Martell Cognac, HBO, Showtime and Vanguard Media.
From there Stephanie co-founded The Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF) with her husband Floyd Rance. MVAAFF is currently in its fourth successful year.
Stephanie currently lives in North Carolina with her husband Floyd and their two children.
[»] Click here to read more.
JANIS KEARNEY, Former Personal Diarist to President Bill Clinton
Born in Gould, Arkansas, Janis Kearney was one of eighteen children of parents Ethel V. Kearney and James Kearney. After graduating from Gould High School in 1971, Kearney attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, earning a B.A. in journalism in 1976. She continued on with her education while working, earning thirty hours towards a M.P.A. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
After earning her B.A. degree, Kearney was hired by the State of Arkansas in 1978, where she spent three years as a program manager for the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act program, and another six years as the director of information for the national headquarters of the Migrant Student Records Transfer System. Leaving government work, Kearney purchased the Arkansas State Press newspaper from Daisy Bates in 1987. She published the weekly paper for five years before joining the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign in 1992, where she served as director of minority media outreach. The following year, Kearney joined President Bill Clinton's transition team. She began with the White House Media Affairs Office before being appointed as the director of public affairs and communications for the U.S. Small Business Administration, where she worked until 1995. That year, Kearney became the first presidential diarist in U.S. history, chronicling President Clinton's day-to-day life. She remained in this capacity until President Clinton left office. Kearney came under scrutiny during the Starr Committee proceedings when her diary and testimony were subpoenaed. No wrongdoing was found.
After President Clinton left office, Kearney was named a fellow at Harvard University's W.E.B. DuBois Institute in 2001, where she began work on a book about President Clinton entitled Conversations: William Jefferson Clinton - From Hope to Harlem. Kearney and her husband, former White House director of presidential personnel Bob Nash, are no strangers to the issues of race that still plague America. They were racially profiled by police following a car-jacking of a vehicle similar to theirs while still employed at the White House. Today, Kearney is the Chancellor's Lecturer at the City Colleges of Chicago and continues her DuBois Institute writing project, as well as her work on Cotton Field of Dreams: A Memoir.
[»] Click here to read more.
J TERRY EDMONDS, Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting for former President Bill Clinton
Mr. Edmonds served as Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting during the final term of President William Jefferson Clinton. In that capacity he was responsible for the production of all of the President's domestic policy speeches on such issues as education, transportation, race relations, welfare reform, health care reform, the State of the Union and the federal budget. Prior to assuming the leadership of the White House speechwriting office and beginning in 1995, Mr. Edmonds served as Deputy Director of Speechwriting for the President. He came to the White House after two years as Deputy Director of Speechwriting for HHS Secretary, Donna Shalala.
Terry Edmonds currently serves as Executive Speechwriter for Time Warner, Inc., the world's largest media company. In this capacity, he serves as the primary speechwriter for CEO Dick Parsons. He also serves as a senior member of Time Warner's corporate communications team, contributing to overall public relations strategy and message development.
Mr. Edmonds came to Time Warner in April, 2005 after serving for three years as Director of Editorial Management for AARP, the nation's largest advocacy and membership organization devoted to improving the lives of older Americans.
He is a graduate of Baltimore's Morgan State University.
In addition to his professional accomplishments, Mr. Edmonds has always believed in giving something back to his community. Born and raised in the inner-city projects of Baltimore, he has consistently reached out to young people and given inspirational talks to dozens of audiences, including elementary, high school and college students. In recent years, he has delivered speeches to audiences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Harvard University's Kennedy School, Dartmouth College, Auburn University, Auburn University, Cuyahoga Community College, Howard Community College, Southside Academy Middle School, Morgan State University, the Las Vegas Chapter the International Association of Business Communicators and the Nevada Governor Points of Light Awards.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Terry Edmonds.
SARAH JONES, Tony Award Winning Playwright, Actor and Poet
Sarah Jones is a Tony Award® winning playwright, actor, and poet. Her multi-character solo shows include Bridge & Tunnel, which was originally produced Off-Broadway by Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, and went on to become a critically acclaimed, long running smash-hit on Broadway.
Jones' career has taken her from a sold-out run at The Kennedy Center to tours of India, Europe and South Africa to performances for such audiences as the United Nations, members of the U.S. Congress and the Supreme Court of Nepal. Her multicultural cast of characters has always been a reflection of her diverse audiences.
A proud Queens, New York native, Sarah attended the United Nations International School and Bryn Mawr College where she was the recipient of the Mellon Minority Fellowship, then returned to New York and began writing and competing in poetry slams at the Nuyorican Poets Café. There she developed her first show, Surface Transit, which was presented at The American Place Theatre and PS122. Her next piece, Women Can't Wait! was commissioned by Equality Now to address the human rights of women and girls. A subsequent commission by the National Immigration Forum yielded Waking the American Dream, the inspiration for Bridge & Tunnel. Most recently, Jones has been commissioned by the WK Kellogg Foundation for a piece entitled A Right to Care, which tackles themes of inequality in health.
Jones has also received grants and commissions from Lincoln Center Theater, The Ford Foundation, and theater honors including an Obie, a Helen Hayes Award, two Drama Desk nominations, HBO's US Comedy Arts Festival's Best One Person Show Award, and an NYCLU Calloway Award in recognition of Jones as the first artist in history to sue the Federal Communications Commission for censorship. The lawsuit resulted in reversal of the censorship ruling, which had targeted her hip-hop poem recording, "Your Revolution." A regular uncensored guest on public radio, she has also made numerous TV appearances on HBO, NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, CNN, and in her own special, "The Sarah Jones Show," on Bravo. Jones lives in New York with her creative partner and husband Steve Colman.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Sarah Jones.
JENNIFER LOUDEN, Best Selling Author and Media Personality
Jennifer Louden is an established media favorite, known for her humor, honesty, and ability to deliver tangible tips and heart-expanding insight with grace and passion. As a best-selling author of The Woman's Comfort Book and 4 other titles, she draws on a wealth of stories and experience to regularly enliven magazines like Woman's Day, People magazine, Health, Yoga Journal, Good Housekeeping, Shape, and Ladies Home Journal. Jennifer is also a contributing editor at Martha Stewart's magazine Body+Soul.
Jennifer Louden's media appearances have included the Oprah Show, Later Today, MS-NBC, CNN, Fit TV, and close to a hundred local news shows in most major markets. She is a leading spokeswoman for women's well-being.
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A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW
Dana asks "A Hundred Years From Now... What Do You Want To Be Remembered For?"
Here is what the Inspiring People she spoke to had to say...
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MICHAEL MCELROY, Tony and Grammy Award nominated Actor/Singer
Michael came to New York City in May of 1990, after finishing his BFA in Theater from Carnegie Mellon University. His Broadway credits include Big River, The Wild Party, Rent, The Who's Tommy, Miss Saigon, Patti Lupone on Broadway, Hair and The High Rollers Social Pleasure Club. National Tour: Sarafina. Off Broadway: NY Shakespeare Festival's Richard III with Denzel Washington, Violet (Playwright's Horizons: Drama Desk Nomination), Thunder Knocking on the Door, Minetta Reperatory Theater and Blue, Grammercy Theater. Regional credits include Angels in America Pts I and II, Alley Theater; Fences, Riverside Theater; Dreamgirls, Pittsburgh Playhouse; Thunder Knocking on the Door, Trinity Reperatory Theater. He was also a featured vocalist on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." Michael is featured on CD recordings of The Who's Tommy, Blue, Violet, Thunder Knocking on the Door and Leslie Uggams' upcoming CD project. He founded the Broadway Gospel Choir in 1994, then founded the Broadway Inspirational Voices in 1999.
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JOHN POLLACK, Former Speech Writer to President Bill Clinton
A former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, John Pollack has built the world's first cork boat.
Prior to his work in the private sector, John worked at the White House and on Capitol Hill, where he was the wordsmith for House Democratic Whip David Bonior. John's speechwriting skills developed from extensive campaign experience and his work as a journalist, both in the United States and abroad.
A 1988 graduate of Stanford University, he began his writing career as a reporter for the Hartford Courant, covering local government in suburban Connecticut. Later, he spent three years in Spain as a foreign correspondent, covering everything from business to bullfights for the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, Advertising Age and other media. His first book, The World On a String: How to Become a Freelance Foreign Correspondent, grew out of that experience. Recently, he published Cork Boat, a non-fiction account of his 30-year quest to build a 22-foot Viking ship made completely from wine corks, and its 2002 voyage down Portugal's Douro River.
To the chagrin of his colleagues, John won the 1995 World Pun Championship - his first and only world title. He lives in New York City.
[»] Click here to read the interview with John Pollack.
KARYN PARSONS, Writer, Producer, Actor
In 1996, Karyn Parsons created co wrote and co-produced the Fox Television half-hour sitcom Lush Life. Following production of the pilot, Parsons attended New York University's film intensive program. Upon completion of that program, Parsons returned to Los Angeles to produce and star in Lush Life. In 1999, Parsons attended Santa Monica College and studied writing under the tutelage of Jim Krusoe, editor of the award-winning Santa Monica Review Literary Journal. Through the college, Parsons received a scholarship to the prestigious Squaw Valley Institute of Writers and received mentorship from such noted authors as Amy Tan, Anne Lamott and Richard Ford.
She has co-directed the short films Stromboli and Eye Spy and has recently completed her solo directing effort, one she also wrote and produced, entitled Jake and Lily. Karyn has also acted in such films as The Ladies Man and Mixing Nia, and alongside Denis Leary in The Job for ABC. She is best known for her role as Hilary Banks on the long-running NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Karyn.
KENNY RUSHING, Real Estate Investor and Philanthropist
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Kenny was the son of a former gang-banger who tried to make a decent living and a woman who eventually succumbed to the depression of a broken marriage. At the tender age of 14 Kenny found himself a desperate young man from the projects who would do anything to help his family. The streets beckoned and he soon became a drug king pin, making more money than he could ever dream of. The dream collapsed, of course, and Kenny was arrested, convicted and sent to prison where he remained for seven years.
Today, six years removed from incarceration, Rushing is a phenomenally successful real estate mogul, civic leader and devoted philanthropist. He is also a dynamic visionary with a plan to help a generation. "We are losing too many young, productive Black males to prison," Rushing says. "We have to reach out to this new generation and show them a viable alternative to selling drugs. Otherwise, we are going to lose them to the prison system."
Rushing's strategy? He wants to turn "street hustlers" into "house hustlers." It is, as he calls it, a "movement." The House Hustling Movement, which will educate, empower and inspire millions of disenfranchised African Americans. His company, Rehabber's Superstore, Inc., which was established soon after Rushing was released from prison, now grosses millions of dollars per year through real estate transactions and investments. In turn, Rushing gives back a substantial portion of that income to support local businesses and help individuals launch their own companies.
House Hustling Enterprises, Inc., a separate division of Rushing's parent company, provides the tools for others-particularly ex-cons and former street hustlers-to develop themselves and their communities through the real estate business. This part of the "movement" also includes a diverse number of ventures into entertainment (television and movie production); magazine publishing (House Hustling magazine); and Rushing's unique "self-help memoir" entitled House Hustling Manifesto Volume I that will be published in 2007.
Next on Rushing's ever-expanding agenda is the opening of a House Hustling Enterprises office in Los Angeles. Partnering with long-time movie and television producers Pamela and Mark McClafferty (the former head of Eddie Murphy's television company), Rushing is working to develop a reality TV show-The House Hustling Challenge-negotiate the publishing rights to his memoir, and look to take his story to the big screen.
Rushing and his wife, Katrice, have two children: Kayla, 4, and Kenneth III, 3. Rushing also has a 14-year-old daughter, Kennetria.
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GLENN TUNSTULL, Internationally Acclaimed Painter
Glenn Tunstull was born in New York City in 1950, and has said that he "always knew he was going to be an artist." His early interest in drawing was
supported by his family, while growing up in Detroit, where he and his family moved to in 1958. After concentrating in commercial art in high school,
he studied at Parsons School of Design in New York for two years.
He left school to work for a number of pattern companies before creating fashion illustrations for Women's Wear Daily and Vogue Magazine. In 1977, Tunstull moved
to Europe, and based in Paris and Milan, produced fashion illustrations for design houses including Hemes and Kenzo, and publications such as Marie Claire and Votre Beaute.
Upon returing to New York in 1979, the artist worked for many editorial, retail, and beauty clients including The New York Times, Calvin Klein, Polo/Ralph Laurent, Bloomingdales,
Neiman Marcus, Revlon, and Clairol. In 1997, Tunstull created illustrations for a children's book plublished by Smion and Schuster. He has taught at Parson School of Design, and Pratt Institute.
A period of global travel, beginning in 1996, would prove to be a turning point in Tunstull's artistic development. Starting with a trip to France, he would create off-the-cuff documentary watercolors that faithfully recorded the scenes
he was experiencing. Subsequent visits to Jamaica, Brazil, Australia, Martha's Vineyard, and other locations would prove to be equally inspiring. Tunstull was particularly drawn to sites that combined water and sky, and the play of color.
In 2000, he began painting in oil, creating expansive landscapes and seascapes based on close observation. As the work developed, a sense of abstraction emerged, while the desire to represent reality remained strongly present.
Tunstull has acknowledged the influence of a number of painters, including van Gogh, with his intensity of color. Hopper and his play of light on the landscape, Klimt, particularly his densely detailed scenes of nature.
The latter's sense of all-over abstraction relates to a series of paintings that Tunstull developed while working in Brazil. These vibrantly colored abstractions composed of block-like pixels would provide the model for the
artist's newest work. These abstracted beach scenes and landscapes present a sparkling vision of some of his favorite subjects, including the skies and waters of Martha's Vineyard and Bahia, Brazil.
Tunstull has exhibited his work in many solo exhibitions including those at the Picture That Gallery in Stamford, CT and the Cousin Rose Gallery in Martha's Vineyard. The artist's work is in numerous private collections. Since 2003, he has lived and worked in Claverack, NY.
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DANI SHAPIRO, Best Selling Author
Dani Shapiro's most recent book's include Family History (Knopf, 2003) and the best-selling memoir Slow Motion, for which she co-wrote the screenplay, along with her husband, screenwriter Michael Maren, for Sony/Phoenix Pictures and Reese Witherspoon.
Her short stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, Elle, Bookforum, Oprah, Ploughshares, among others, and have been broadcast on National Public Radio. Her books have been translated into seven languages.
She lives with her husband and young son in Litchfield County, Connecticut. Her new novel will be published by Knopf in 2007.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Dani Shapiro.
IRENE CARA, Oscar Award Winning Actress, Grammy Award Winning Singer
Being Honored by the entertainment industry with an Academy Award, two Grammy's, a Golden Globe, plus a nod from fans via a People's Choice won all within the same year might, for some, be considered the pinnacle of a performer's career. For actress/dancer/singer/songwriter Irene Cara, who garnered all of these awards for co-writing and performing What a Feeling, the title song from the motion picture blockbuster Flashdance, it simply serves as an auspicious beginning to the productive years ahead.
As a child, she began working professionally singing and dancing on Spanish television. She went on to appear in various theatrical shows both on and off Broadway such as the Obie Award winning musical The Me Knowbody Knows and Maggie Flynn starring Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy.
Her first national TV series was by way of a year's stint on the Electric Company, playing a member of the rock group, The Short Circus delivering musical grammar lessons through the educational program. The series starred Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, and a very young Morgan Freeman. Ms. Cara had already recorded her first record in Spanish for the Latin Market by age 8 and a Christmas LP in English soon after.
As a pre-teenager, she starred in the title role of her debut motion picture Aaron Loves Angela which lead to the title role in the cult-classic musical drama Sparkle.
Ms. Cara is one of the select group of mega-talented performers who have successfully made the transition from theater-to television, -to records, -to feature films, having combined the latter with a recording career. Television brought Irene international acclaim for serious dramatic roles in two outstanding mini series, Roots: The Next Generation, the critically acclaimed adaptation of Alex Haley's moving novel and The Guyanna Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones.
However, it was the box office smash Fame, in 1980, which catapulted Irene to stardom. As Coco Hernandez she sang both the title song Fame and the film's second hit single Out There On My Own, resulting in a multi-platinum soundtrack that shot to the top of the charts. She went on to make Academy Award history that year when, for the first time, two songs from one film were nominated in the same category. Additionally, Irene is the only performer ever to sing two Academy Award nominated songs, Fame and Out There On My Own in one evening. It would be Fame that would go on to win the coveted award that year.
Fame's impact, provided largely by Ms. Cara, brought her 1980 Grammy nominations for "Best New Female Artist" and "Best New Pop Artist," as well as a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical." Billboard Magazine named Irene "Top New Single Artist," while Cashbox awarded her both "Most Promising Female Vocalist" and "Top Female Vocalist."
In 1982 she received the Image Award for Best Actress when she co-starred with Diahann Carroll and Rosalind Cash in the NBC Movie of the Week, Sisters . Further demonstrating her diversity, Irene portrayed Myrlie Evers in the PBS movie about Civil Rights Leader Medger Evers.The film called For Us the Living, cast Irene opposite Howard Rollins of A Soldier's Story fame in which Miss Cara received an NAACP Image Award Best Actress nomination for her portrayal as Mylie Evers.
In 1983, for her success with Flashdance, She was presented with five major awards, including "Top Female Vocalist-Pop Singles,""Black Contemporary Female Vocalist-Pop Singles,""Top Pop Crossover Artist-Black Contemporary Singles," and "Pop Single of the Year." As a songwriter Irene's talent earned her an Academy Award, two Grammy's, a Golden Globe and a People's Choice Award for Flashdance...What a Feeling.
In 1985 she starred opposite Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds and Richard Roundtree in the Warner Brothers gangster comedy City Heat in which Irene played a speak easy night club singer. Ms. Cara co-wrote the movie's theme song sung by the legendary jazz vocalist Joe Williams.
She is currently working on a new CD with an all female band of the most talented musicans very aptley called Hot Caramel.
Irene currently has several movie scripts in development.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Irene Cara.
DENNIS WATLINGTON, Emmy Award Winning Writer, Film Maker and Author
Author Dennis Watlington possesses a charismatic magnetism that sets off sparks when he enters a room. As a teenager that electricity attracted best-selling author Gail Sheehy who subsequently included a chapter on Dennis in her 1976 landmark hit, Passages, describing him as a "spirit inextinguishable." That was true then and it is true today. Dennis' resilient heart challenged the limits imposed on a poor black child born in the Harlem projects and built a life and a career doing what many would label the impossible.
Dennis boarded the early Sixties integration train at the age of eleven, when he was selected to be part of a neighborhood boys club program that groomed ghetto children to receive scholarships to exclusive private schools. Criminal behavior clashed with a desire to reach some of the goals that whet his young appetite. Later, a chance meeting with a Hotchkiss School trustee changed the course of his life, and nine months later Dennis was attending one of the wealthiest boarding schools in New England.
After Hotchkiss, Dennis attended New York University.
In early 1979, he wrote and directed his first play, Bullpen, produced by the American Theater of Actors and founded People's Neighborhood Theater, a group committed to bringing diversity to the city's theatrical community.
Dennis had one more bout with hell, when in the early eighties he succumbed to crack. His addiction raged for several months until he entered a rehab determined to kick the addiction. On the road to recovery, he met with Gail Sheehy who suggested he write about his recent brush with destruction, and several months later Dennis chronicled his harrowing tale in "Between the Cracks" for Vanity Fair Magazine. The article was optioned by HBO for a television movie and Dennis was hired to write the screenplay. More opportunities followed in print journalism, and Dennis continues to write for Vanity Fair as well as the New York Times and American Way Magazine.
Dennis has written several Movie-of-the-Week scripts for the networks and ABC Daytime Drama, including All My Children, One Life to Live, and The City. He has several feature film credits.
For the past decade, the bulk of Dennis' work has been concentrated in documentary film. In 1994, he won an Emmy Award for writing The Untold West: The Black West for TBS. Dennis also produced and wrote Walter Rosenblum: In Search of Pitt Street, Sly and Jimi: The Skin I'm In, Unintended Consequences, Hospital at Ground Zero and Zahira's Peace. Zahira's Peace, winner of the 2005 Ciné Golden Eagle Award, is a documentary about a young woman injured in the Madrid terrorist bombing and was broadcast nationwide in Spain to commemorate the first anniversary of the March 11, 2004 attack.
Dennis' book, Chasing America: Notes of a Rock 'n Soul Integrationist is the work of a uniquely American individual. An articulate, funny, energetic optimist, Dennis' world is and always has been propelled by a "spirit inextinguishable."
[»] Click here to read the interview with Dennis Watlington.
LIZA GROSSMAN, Founding Music Director, Contemporary Youth Orchestra, Conductor
Liza Grossman is the founding Music Director of the Contemporary Youth Orchestra. She is on the conducting faculty at the Interlochen Center for the Arts and is the co-founder of the Interlochen Arts Camp Junior String Institute. She is a private violin and viola instructor and as a freelance musician, has performed, recorded and toured with artists including Bernadette Peters, Kansas, Peobo Bryson, The Irish Tenors, Gerald LeVert, The Three Tenors and YES. STRAD magazine has noted her as "a master of tutelage..."
Grossman has conducted world premiere concertos with Cleveland Orchestra members and local musicians as well as conducting over 30 orchestral world premieres, all with the composers present.
She has collaborated with composers including Jaz Coleman, Robert Ward, Joan Tower and Bernard Rands. She has conducted world premiere orchestral rock performances with rock artists Ray Manzarek (DOORS), Jon Anderson (YES), Graham Nash (CSNY), Neil Giraldo, Pat Benatar and STYX.
Grossman began her professional studies as a student at the Interlochen Arts Academy, (Michigan), as a violinist. She holds degrees in music performance and music education. Grossman's conducting teachers include David Holland, Alexander Schneider, Marvin Rabin and Gerard Schwarz.
Grossman and the Contemporary Youth Orchestra have been finalists for the Governors Award for the Arts in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and are the recipients of the 2003 Northern Ohio Live Award of Achievement in the Classical Music/Opera category.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Liza Grossman.
ELISABETH WITHERS-MENDES, Broadway Star of The Color Purple
Elisabeth Withers-Mendes is making her Broadway debut starring as Shug Avery in The Color Purple. She has recorded and performed with artists Luther Vandross, Cher, Celine Dion, Henry Krieger, Narada Michael Walden and others. She sang on the steps of the White House with Quincy Jones and Steven Spielberg for "The 2000 Millennium Concert." She co-wrote the single "Emotions" which held the #1 spot on the Billboard Music Charts for three weeks straight (BMG Records).
Elisabeth's TV credits include one of the Vowels on the hit children's show "Between the Lions" (PBS TV) and Sweet Tree & Morgan on NBC's "Late Night Show with Conan O'Brien."
Ashford & Simpson recommended Elisabeth to Quincy Jones for the role of Shug. Elisabeth thanks God, her loving husband, little daughter and her beloved family. She holds a BS from Berklee School of Music and a Master's degree from NYU.
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TERRY ADKINS, celebrated abstract artist
Terry Adkins has been exhibiting internationally since 1980. He is Associate Professor of Fine Art at the University of Pennsylvania where he recently installed "Darkwater: A Recital in Four Dominions," a tribute to W. E. B. Du Bois at the Arthur Ross Gallery.
Adkins has published numerous essays and has completed several significant public commissions.
In addition to being a highly respected artist and sought after guest lecturer, Terry's artworks have been placed in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden among other significant museums and collections. Additionally, he will be participating in the "Open House: Working in Brooklyn" show at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, opening in April 2004.
Terry received his B.S. from Fisk University and his M.F.A from the University of Kentucky.
He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife, Merele, his son Titus and his daughter Turyia.
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NAN GRAHAM, Editor-in-Chief
A native Midwesterner, Nan Graham is the Editor-in-Chief of Scribner, a Simon and Schuster Company.
Nan is responsible for the editing and publishing of such extraordinary books as Angela's Ashes by Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt, Living History by Hillary Clinton, The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon and Brick Lane by Monica Ali.
Nan also works with such critically acclaimed authors as Toni Morrison and Salman Rushdie.
But among her biggest and most important accomplishments are her children, ten year old Henry and Delia who is seven.
Nan, Henry, Delia and "Dad" Mark make New York City their home.
[»] Click here to read the interview with Nan Graham.
AARON DWORKIN, 2005 MacArthur Fellow, Founder and President of the Sphinx Organization
Named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, Aaron P. Dworkin is the Founder and President of the Sphinx Organization, the national arts organization that focuses on youth and minority involvement in classical music.
An accomplished electric and acoustic violinist, Aaron received his Bachelors of Music and Masters of Music in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music, graduating with high honors. He attended the Peabody Institute, the Philadelphia New School and the Interlochen Arts Academy.
Mr. Dworkin has produced and recorded two CDs entitled Ebony Rhythm and Bar-Talk. He has also transcribed works for electric strings and developed Electric String 201, a college-level preparatory course in electric string performance. In addition, he has authored a collection of poetry entitled They Said I Wasn't Really Black and produced and directed the independent film entitled Deliberation.
In recognition of his significant contribution to the classical music field and his strong commitment to diversity, Mr. Dworkin has also been the recipient of numerous awards. He was selected as New Detroit's 2003 Individual Honoree for "Closing the Gap" in Youth Development. In 2003, Mr. Dworkin received BET's History Makers in the Making Award, a national initiative designed to recognize and honor five individuals making significant contributions to the African-American community, among many other prestigious awards.
Mr. Dworkin offers his strong organizational and administrative background through experience in the non-profit industry. With over $150,000 in prizes and scholarships, the Sphinx Competition, the most visible project of the Sphinx Organization to date, showcases the top young minority talent in the country and features top professional minority musicians through the all African-American and Latino Sphinx Symphony. The organization also reaches groups underrepresented in classical music through its educational and community programming. In addition to his role with Sphinx, Mr. Dworkin co-founded and held the position of Executive Director of the Jumpstart Organization, a non-profit homeless organization. He also founded and served as Publisher of The Bard, a literary magazine with a readership of over 40,000 throughout southeast Michigan. Finally, Mr. Dworkin brings experience in the for-profit industry, having previously served as General Manager of the highly prestigious violinmaking studio, Alf Studios.
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VAL ACKERMAN, Founding President of the WNBA
Val Ackerman, the founding president of the Women's Natio