 | The first time I experienced Black Management first handposted by Valerie Johnson, Full AccessMonday, February 22nd 2010 @ 4:49 AM  (2 ratings) |
Reflecting back on my past when I was in elementary school, I can remember being so proud to have a Black principal. I can remember our parents gazing at him with pride and some of the single moms even flirting lol. At 9, 10, 11 years old, it was strange for me to see a white male Assistant Principal take instruction from this strong, black, and intelligent man. All of my teachers, doctors, etc and any one in managerial roles were white or a different ethnic background.
[Me and Mr. Braithwaite, My 6th grade graduation - 1983]
My elementary school consisted of 90% black children, 8% Hispanic, 2% other - well this was the ratio my little innocent eyes computed.
It was the early-mid 80's, President Reagan was in office, and all I could see surrounding me were families and single mothers struggling to buy food and clothing for their children. Watching re-runs of GoodTimes every week didn't help a young mind see past the poverty in the inner cities, mine being Brooklyn, yet it was still quite entertaining because you knew when a few things were exaggerated for "good tv".
Since most of the parents and elders in my community were just cooling off their heels from figting for Civil Rights in the 60's and shouting I'm Black and I'm Proud in the 70's, the first thing they encouraged the 80's babies to do was to finish high school, go to college if possible and get a city or gov't job with good benefits. Oh boy, even at 11 years old this concept was so boring to me. However, if you talked about having your own business, you would just get a slight smile and pat on the back as if to say, "Chile' please, let those silly dreams go - unless you hit the lotto that will never happen. You'll always work for someone else, just do a good job so you can get a raise every now and then."
But I didn't let their views kill my dreams. I believed one day I could be in a managerial position and even start my own company. Thank you Mr. Braithwaite, for showing an example of strong Black leadership
Join the Black Business Builders Club today!
| Can I pen the next hit for Mary J. Blige?posted by Valerie Johnson, Full AccessMonday, February 8th 2010 @ 3:13 AM (2 ratings) |
Hello Everyone,
Most may know me as Val of Webmmercials.com but my first passion is the music business. I have an independent label, Manchild Entertainment, and my first R&B artist Karizz - trust you'll be hearing about him in the near future. But I also concentrate on pitching my songs via my publishing company Busy Sista Publishing (ASCAP), my gift is writing lyrics and melody. Receiving tracks (instrumental musical compositions) from various producers all around the world feels just like Christmas morning for a 5 year old. When I can sit in the dark, candle lit, iPod in hand and headphones on my ears - I actually escape into the melody and start to picture a music video in my head as I hear the lyrics.
So just for fun, what I decided to do after writing and recording this song last week, is take parts of one of my favorite music videos "Runaway Love" performed by Ludacris ft. Mary J. Blige and replace the music with my new song entitled "Im Lost". Whether you have ever been lost in the practical sense of the word, mentally, emotionally or spiritually - I hope this song can speak to you in some way.
And I also hope it gets placed this year and I'll be chillin' at the 2010 Grammys promoting BBBClub to music industry execs, lol.
CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO
Also visit my new site: www.busysistathesongwriter.com
Till next time....Busy Sista on the move
