The Like Us Show made it’s formal debut on February 1, 2010. Set on the campus of the fictional Atlanta University, “Like Us” tells the dramatic story of the lives of the students of this Historical Black University. After being abandoned by her drug addicted parents, Kori was left feeling bitter and on a hunt for love. Her mother, Antionette Bell, recently recovered from several years of drug abuse and is now living with her two daughters Kori and Shannon. Shannon, whose nickname is “The Golden Child”, feels her sister is on the same road to destruction their mother once traveled down. Deeply in love with Robert, its only a matter of time before Shannon discovers his selfish habits that will soon be unveiled and threaten their relationship.
The Like Us Show made it’s formal debut on February 1, 2010. Set on the campus of the fictional Atlanta University, “Like Us” tells the dramatic story of the lives of the students of this Historical Black University.
This morning I hit a milestone. I listened to Eric Roberson. Yes. For the first time in months. This time last year, I had just discovered his music and purchased all of his albums but it wasn’t long before he was torn away from me. Or I gave him away. We had to break up…well because…other things had broken up. After crying to him on more than a few occasions, I couldn’t bear to listen to any of his songs.
Kristen V. Carter is a BET segment producer, screen writer/scriptwriter and owner of Jazzi Dreamer Entertainment.
BET Producer Kristen V. Carter
I’m most honest with myself when I write, which is why I’m constantly scribbling. I generally write four Chronicles a week in my head but sit down to pen one, if any at all. My emotions have been topsy turvy within the last seven days. Thankfully, I’ve had creativity to distract me – with full-time work; independent projects stealing most of the minutes in my day, it doesn’t leave too much idle time for me to ponder about moments past. And thank the good Lord for that! However, in between takes, there’s this faint voice telling me that I need to sit down and meditate or at least write. So here goes…
This morning I hit a milestone. I listened to Eric Roberson. Yes. For the first time in months. This time last year, I had just discovered his music and purchased all of his albums but it wasn’t long before he was torn away from me. Or I gave him away. We had to break up…well because…other things had broken up. After crying to him on more than a few occasions, I couldn’t bear to listen to any of his songs.
Don’t you hate when that happens?! When great music becomes tainted by experience? You mistakenly create a soundtrack that leaves your record collection all screwed up. It’s almost like robbery; a situation goes South and then all of a sudden your favorite songs become kill joys, stained by imperfection.
All music has some sort of stamp on it. We associate people, places, periods in our lives with melody. One of my all-time favorite songs ‘Septembro’ was introduced to me sixteen years ago in dance class, and I always reflect on those times in rehearsal and how much that song touched me as a 9 year old. I remember associating Mandy Moore’s ‘I Wanna Be With You’; Beenie Man’s ‘Girls Dem Sugar’ to a high school crush. And Anthony Anderson’s ‘Charlene’ to an awful kiss in college. LOL But I digress…
Here recently, I went through another transition and found a few songs caught in the middle. Of course, I do reflect on moments…but I decided to fight back and continue singing my song. I am not letting these tunes go up in flames over one moment in my life! It’s just not gonna happen. These songs are too special to me. This is MY playlist and I’m not gonna allow anything to come between me and my music! My song selections aren’t gonna be messed up just because of a messed up situation.
I didn’t even realize I had changed my way of thinking and ‘put my headphones on’ until Eric Roberson showed up on my iPod. I paused for a second and then thought, ‘Wow, when’s the last time I heard this song?’ I chuckled because I remembered right away – there I was, sitting in my bed, a hot, bubblin mess wiping my eyes with the back of my hand like a little kid who just got pushed by the class bully. Waaa waaa…ya’ll know the growing pains…
Eric came back to me and my listening this morning was effortless. I guess it was to show me that I could literally face the music, face my past, and create a new present and future with the music I love. Although I’m telling this story for dramatic effect (lol), I really had shut his music out of my catalog and just shook my head with regret. But tonight I am currently reacquainting myself to his albums and am happy that I have him back. He won’t be walking out of the door with the next dj such and such. Whether it’s peaches & herb all day long or not, no one is taking my song. End of story.
Building your brand on the Internet is not just reserved for consumer brand giants. Twitter is not the tool to use for an all out media assault on brand management either.
Building your brand on the Internet is not just reserved for consumer brand giants. Twitter is not the tool to use for an all out media assault on brand management either. Analyzing Twitter for traffic this week alone for my site shows and proves that Twitter generates only one link per day of traffic to my website. So, all in all, tweeting is really just like the Verizon Wireless commercial when the dad is tweeting outside and his son is tired of him tweeting nonsense. Twitter will not help build web traffic.
I don’t care what your brand is, who you work for, or what you do, you should forever be selling your personal brand. Social media sites have proven this as well. I have put my resume on LinkedIn and it sat there for a year doing absolutely nothing until I started writing and becoming a thought leader on LinkedIn.
So, how to grow your personal brand on the Internet? How do you get seen and heard and increase web traffic and most importantly, how do you measure that traffic and consider it a success? Especially for the urban minority community and black enterprise?
I consult with many different types of people in my day to day business management consulting operation. When I say different types I mean it. From software developers, to public relations company owners, to songwriters, to scriptwriters, to book writers, to real estate agents, to actors. And, the resounding theme that I’m noticing is in personal brand development and the lack thereof.
You MUST look at yourself as a brand more than ever RIGHT NOW. Whether you have a resume on LinkedIn or a small business website from Yahoo Small Business, or a Google website. You need to do what a brand marketer does. Get yourself out there on the Internet and measure your success every single week. You must become an authority and a writer and begin to write about what you do and present that to people every day.
Mainstream America is already up on this and has mastered Internet brand management for years. Now, the urban community and the community at large MUST understand this concept immediately or perish. If you’re an Atlanta spa owner for example, you should set up an account at Ezine and start writing daily about the different products that you offer at your spa as well as talk about the different services that you offer. Without fail, this should be written about daily or every other day as an article that is published on the Internet in what is known as article marketing.
After you create your articles, review your statistics and watch what people are reading and how they are clicking on your website. Make sure you have a blog site from Wordpress or a true website all your own that you can run Google analytics on each day. In one week’s time, my articles have been viewed 4,540 times this week alone from September 6, 2009 – September 10, 2009 and the week is not over yet. This builds credibility and your authority on business matters. It eclipses what you can do on Twitter.
Already, it’s 2010 and the numbers of starving and unsheltered people have only increased. Countries in our world suffer yearly, daily and hourly, while we as a nation hide behind a lie. A lie that says it is IMPOSSIBLE to change the world. Christ followers have bought into this misconception.
Already, it’s 2010 and the numbers of starving and unsheltered people have only increased. Countries in our world suffer yearly, daily and hourly, while we as a nation hide behind a lie. A lie that says it is IMPOSSIBLE to change the world. Christ followers have bought into this misconception. Not only is that notion a fallacy but it is a huge doubt that hardens the heart and quenches the spirit. The real issue is that we lack faith in our Heavenly Father. In Mark 9:23 Jesus said “Everything is possible for him who believes”
So what do we do now? The one simple answer is to trust in God. God will in return, intrust us with big responsibilities. The Lord put something on the hearts and mind of his children. Club GiA (the christian club of Np3) is putting together a donations Drive that i believe will sweep Sacramento county, California, and one day America. The name is Mission Impossible. You might be asking”Why did you pick a name that completely contradicts everything you said before?” Its very easy to understand. With logic and analytical reasoning one might quickly come to the realization that changing the world is in fact IMPOSSIBLE. I totally agree, but the only problem is that that is the lie you read about earlier. Gods word through Matthew 19:26 brings us the truth. The Disciples asked Jesus how to do something that was virtually IMPOSSIBLE and he encouraged them with these words,”With man this is impossible, but with God all things are POSSIBLE.”
Mission Impossible’s first goal is OPERATION H. We plan to ship clothes, food, and hygienic products over to Haiti. PLEASE bear with us as we make more connections and piece this enormous project together. As for today, your prayers and suggestions are needed. Feel free to get involved.
With the cooperation and partnership of God, youth groups, clubs at school, churches, and the people of this nations, Mission IMPOSSIBLE will eventually be possible.
For more information please contact the author Email Me here.
Six step teams from across the country are competing for $1.5 Million in scholarships, but more importantly, to be crowned the best in the nation.
Six step teams from across the country are competing for $1.5 Million in scholarships, but more importantly, to be crowned the best in the nation.
Hip-hop superstar and actor Chris “Ludacris” Bridges hosts this six-part, documentary-style series that follows three fraternities and three sororities from various schools in the United States as they compete in the largest step show competition in history, the Sprite Step Off.
Created by Rainforest Films, the show premiers THIS Sunday, January 31 at 3pm EST / 12 noon PST. Hosted by Hip-Hop Superstar and Actor Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, the series follows six step teams 3 fraternities and 3 sororities from across the country, as they give their all in competing in the Sprite Step Off, the largest national step team competition in history with a combined prize pool of $1.5 million in scholarships.
For more information visit: MTV2
Do you have bad credit, no credit, or a lack of funds? Contrary to popular belief, these situations are NOT roadblocks to getting financing! Attend our FREE Creative Financing webinar to learn exactly where the money is–and how to get it–so you can finance your investments.
Many people falsely believe that just because a company or someone else is bigger that they cannot be defeated in business. This is completely false but if you believe that is true, it will be true.
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Many people falsely believe that just because a company or someone else is bigger that they cannot be defeated in business. This is completely false but if you believe that is true, it will be true.
It only takes one person, one dream, and one heart that is completely filled with undying passion to beat out anybody at anything. You don’t need everything to be perfect and complete. If you have vision, a plan, and you can do it yourself, you can beat anyone that is already out there.
What happens is that people become complacent with success. This complacency leaves a wide open gaping hole in any business which is yours to exploit. You just have to find out how to exploit it to win. It’s not going to be easy but once you find the hole, you will then need to work like a beast to fill the void in the niche. Revenue, income, success, and everything that you dream of is tied to finding that hole, filling that hole, and filling the void. Once you fill the void, you have found the success.
Just don’t become complacent and lazy once you fill it.
The Deal is back and better than ever with exclusive interviews with your favorite artists, juicy celebrity gossip, entertainment news, and the latest in music videos. But we’re missing one thing – YOU! Wanna be a part of the movement?Your original video may be used by BET Networks for on-air programming, BET wireless outlets, and in any medium in perpetuity.
BE A PART OF ‘THE DEAL’
The Deal is back and better than ever with exclusive interviews with your favorite artists, juicy celebrity gossip, entertainment news, and the latest in music videos. But we’re missing one thing – YOU! Wanna be a part of the movement? Check out how you can be involved with the show and upload your submissions to www.bet.com/thedeal. Check us out weeknights on Black Entertainment Television!
GOOD IN YA’ HOOD
Is there a hot trend that’s bubbling around your way? Wanna big up your town/city? Upload your one minute (60 seconds) video showing and telling us what’s good in your ‘hood for a chance to be featured on The Deal.
Entry Rules:
*You must be 21 years or older to enter.
*Clearly identify that you are applying for ‘Good in Ya’ Hood.’
*Your video must be of you only, the entrant (and not include anyone else in it).
*Your video must be one minute (:60 seconds) in length.
*You may not use any music in your video.
*Your video must be clean, and not contain any curse words or sexually explicit lyrics or gestures.
*No logos or name brands can be visible anywhere in your video.
*Tip: Avoid wearing white or striped clothing.
*Tip: Videos should be shot in a well-lit area. NO Dark videos please!
Upload Format Requirements: Only upload one of the following file formats.
*QuickTime = Mov or Mp4
*Windows Media = Wmv
*Mpeg = mpg
*AVI = avi
Your original video may be used by BET Networks for on-air programming, BET wireless outlets, and in any medium in perpetuity.
WORDSMITH
Is there a slang word or phrase that’s buzzing in your area or in your circle that people have no clue about? If you wanna educate the masses on your favorite slang word, be our Wordsmith of the Day.
All you have to do is upload your one minute (60 seconds) video with the word. Define it, use it in a sentence, and if it’s hot enough, you may be featured on The Deal!
Entry Rules:
*You must be 21 years or older to enter.
*Clearly identify that you are applying for ‘Wordsmith.’
*Your video must be of you only, the entrant (and not include anyone else in it).
*Your video must be one minute (:60 seconds) in length.
*You may not use any music in your video.
*Your video must be clean, and not contain any curse words or sexually explicit lyrics or gestures.
*No logos or name brands can be visible anywhere in your video.
*Tip: Avoid wearing white or striped clothing.
*Tip: Videos should be shot in a well-lit area. NO Dark videos please!
Upload Format Requirements: Only upload one of the following file formats.
*QuickTime = Mov or Mp4
*Windows Media = Wmv
*Mpeg = mpg
*AVI = avi
Your original video may be used by BET Networks for on-air programming, BET wireless outlets, and in any medium in perpetuity.
15 SECONDS TO SHINE
Do you have a talent you want to share with the world? If so, upload a 60 second video of you doing your thing – rhyming, singing, or reciting poetry! The submission must not contain music of any kind. It may be your time to shine!
Entry Rules:
*You must be 21 years or older to enter.
*Clearly identify that you are applying for ’15 Seconds to Shine.’
*Your video must be of you only, the entrant (and not include anyone else in it).
*Your video must be one minute (:60 seconds) in length.
*You may not use any music in your video.
*Your video must be clean, and not contain any curse words or sexually explicit lyrics or gestures.
*No logos or name brands can be visible anywhere in your video.
*Tip: Avoid wearing white or striped clothing.
*Tip: Videos should be shot in a well-lit area. NO Dark videos please!
Upload Format Requirements: Only upload one of the following file formats.
*QuickTime = Mov or Mp4
*Windows Media = Wmv
*Mpeg = mpg
*AVI = avi
Your original video may be used by BET Networks for on-air programming, BET wireless outlets, and in any medium in perpetuity.
THE BAR EXAM
Do you have a hot 16? Upload a video of you spittin’ your hottest freestyle for a chance to be featured on The Deal!
Entry Rules:
*You must be 21 years or older to enter.
*Clearly identify that you are applying for ‘The Bar Exam.’
*Your video must be of you only, the entrant (and not include anyone else in it).
*Your video must be one minute (:60 seconds) in length.
*You may not use any music in your video.
*Your video must be clean, and not contain any curse words or sexually explicit lyrics or gestures.
*No logos or name brands can be visible anywhere in your video.
*Tip: Avoid wearing white or striped clothing.
*Tip: Videos should be shot in a well-lit area. NO Dark videos please!
Upload Format Requirements: Only upload one of the following file formats.
*QuickTime = Mov or Mp4
*Windows Media = Wmv
*Mpeg = mpg
*AVI = avi
Your original video may be used by BET Networks for on-air programming, BET wireless outlets, and in any medium in perpetuity.
THE CORNER
The Deal is all about hip hop culture and talking about what’s going on in the world, so we wanna hear from you! All you have to do is gather a few friends (3 or less), and discuss one of the following questions in 60 seconds or less and upload your video clip.
Choose from the following and talk about it!
• Male celebrities step outside of their relationships and typically, their status/image remains untarnished. Can a female celebrity do the same thing? Why or why not?
• Do you think hip-hop artists deserve lead roles in movies OVER trained & accomplished actors? Why or why not?
• Do you think artists need the backing of a record label to be successful or can they create a movement independently?
• How do you feel about celebrities going off on Twitter?
• When you are trying to ‘holla’ at someone, do you call, text, or Twitter with them?
Entry Rules:
*You must be 21 years or older to enter.
*Clearly identify that you are applying for ‘The Corner.’
*Your video must be of you and three people only (4 people maximum).
*Your video must be one minute (:60 seconds) in length.
*You may not use any music in your video.
*Your video must be clean, and not contain any curse words or sexually explicit lyrics or gestures.
*No logos or name brands can be visible anywhere in your video.
*Tip: Avoid wearing white or striped clothing.
*Tip: Videos should be shot in a well-lit area. NO Dark videos please!
Upload Format Requirements: Only upload one of the following file formats.
*QuickTime = Mov or Mp4
*Windows Media = Wmv
*Mpeg = mpg
*AVI = avi
Your original video may be used by BET Networks for on-air programming, BET wireless outlets, and in any medium in perpetuity.
People always wonder why I call myself the Underground Millionaire. They always want to know if I have one million dollars in cash sitting at my home.
People always wonder why I call myself the Underground Millionaire. They always want to know if I have one million dollars in cash sitting at my home. I say this and I mean it: you are exactly who you say you are and act as you are. In other words, if you say you’re a millionaire but your actions are those of a criminal, you will never ever be a millionaire. Not for long any way.
If you say you are the best writer in the world, and put forth action to be the best writer in the world, you will become the best writer in the world. You must act with conviction and your action must match your intention.
You cannot intend to be something and act completely opposite of your intention and hope to succeed. Many people fail with that simple sentence and fact alone. You must not only say it and claim it. You must act it out every single day in order to achieve your dreams. Keep pushing and driving and you will make it.
Please vote for Definitive Voices to win $250K in the Pepsi Refresh Project to uplift and inspire the nation!
