Black Perspective: November 12, 2023

This week on The Black Perspective, we speak to the Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore; Esther Dilliard dives into historical fiction; we talk to a beauty business owner who doesn't do hair or makeup up and hip hop legend Kool Moe Dee joins us to celebrate 50 years of hip hop.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
It's November twelfth, and today wespeak to the Governor of Maryland, Wes
Moore. Esther Dillard dives into historicalfiction. We talked to a beauty business
owner who doesn't do hair or makeup, and hip hop legend Cool Mode joins
us to celebrate fifty years of hiphop. Those stories of war coming up.
Welcome to the Black Perspective. I'myour host, Mike Island. Welcome

(00:23):
to the Black Perspective, a weeklycommunity affairs program on the Black Information Network
featuring interviews and discussions on issues importantto the black community. President Obama just
passed a milestone. It is hardto believe it has been fifteen years since
he won and was the president elect. During his recent Democracy Forum held in
Chicago, the former President and formerFirst Lady took time to look back and

(00:47):
look ahead at how America has changed. The Black Information Networks. Vanessa Tyler
was there. Hello everybody, HelloScago. Former President Obama's recent Democracy Forum
a gathering of thought leaders to discussthe issues concerning America, issues still very
much on the mind of America's fortyfourth president. I have always believed that

(01:11):
the ideas of a now sixty twoyear old, gray haired, although still
relatively fit, ex president are lessrelevant than the ideas and insights of you,
a new generation of leaders. Andthat's why after leaving the White House,

(01:34):
Michelle and I started the Obama Foundationto inspire and empower and connect those
of you who are going to bedriving change for years to come. And
we now have a global network ofhundreds of young leaders from practically every continent
who are tackling some of the mostimportant issues of our time. And we

(01:55):
have never needed you more than weneed you today. As we speak,
the world feels more unstable and moredangerous than it has in a very long
time. But he wasn't always grayhaired, and the event was also part
reunion as he and the former FirstLady took time to remember the magic in

(02:19):
Grant Park in November two thousand andeight. It's been a long time coming,
but tonight, because of what wedid on this day, in this
election, at this the fighting moment, change has come to America. Well,
hello, Obama Land, how areyou guys doing? Oh wow,

(02:49):
it is It's wonderful to be backwith all of you, Tonite. You
know, the lights are down,but I saw some familiar faces out there,
and I hope this has been aspectacular few days for you all,
hugging folks that you haven't seen inyears and reminiscing about that day fifteen years
ago. Who fifteen years ago?Oh? I know that we all have

(03:16):
stories from that night. Maybe youwere still knocking on doors in Pennsylvania or
Florida or maybe Nevada. Maybe youwere watching on TV when you got a
call from your grandmother who thought thatthis day would never come, or maybe
you found a moment to yourself justto reflect outside of all the fuss.

(03:43):
For me, one of my favoritestories from that night. I hope that
Barack hasn't told it already because it'sone of our favorites with our family.
We were at the Hyatt and thenetworks had already called the election for Barack,
and in a blur, our liveschanged. You know, security detail

(04:06):
came in, there was a football, there was you know, you could
feel that this was something different.So we got into the limos and left
the Hyatt to go to Grant Park. And it was our first motorcade with
Baraka as president elect, and sohe had a presidential motorcade, which we

(04:30):
had never really experienced. And asyou all may remember, the president,
when you're driving around, the SecretService closes off all the intersections. There
is never any traffic on the streetwhen the President is traveling. And here
we are, our family in themotorcade, and we're going down Lake Shore
Drive, a drive we had takenalmost every day, a crowded drive,

(04:57):
and so where there are no one'son the street, not a car,
nothing, So Malia and the girlsare peering out the window and she turned
around to us since she said,Daddy, there's no one on the road.
I don't think anybody's coming to yourparty. The former First Lady told

(05:18):
stories to a McCormick center filled withthose idealistic campaigners who reminisced right along with
her. They fought so hard toget an unknown Illinois senator on the national
stage in a bin exclusive. Nowpresident of the Obama Foundation, and women
who held various roles in the ObamaWhite House, Valerie Jarrett told me the

(05:41):
years can't erase the feeling of changein America. Fifteen years. And you
know, I think for a lotof people that night in Grant Park were
such a historic moment. But Ithink to those of us who are black.
We didn't think that suddenly we becamepost racial, right, but it
was a step in the right direction. I remember my parents, who were
in their eighties at the time,thought they would never live to see a

(06:02):
black president, and yet they bothdid. And so yes, that arc
of the moral universe that Martin LutherKing talked about is long, but it
does bend towards justice, but italso zigzags a bit too on our way
to perfecting that union. And oneof the values that the Obama Foundation tries
to teach our young people is resilienceand to realize that you know what the

(06:26):
fight is just, and it isworthy, and it is not easy,
and we cannot give up because thepeople upon whose shoulders we stand didn't give
up. And as his time inthe White House falls deeper in history,
Obama says, we can't let goof our belief in American democracy and where
we can disagree with each other,sometimes bitterly, without losing sight of the

(06:47):
ties that bind us together. That'swhy we're here, that's the work you're
doing. And if we're right thata renewed commitment to democracy is a key
ingredient to solving all our other bigchallenges, and we have so much more

(07:09):
work to do because right now we'reup against a set of economic and technological
and cultural trends that are sweeping acrossthe globe, and they're weakening people's commitment
to democratic values, and they arepromoting violence and domination, and they're making

(07:32):
us blind to each other, andthey're making us cynical about our capacity to
work together and govern ourselves. Itwas as if it was fifteen years ago,
back in Grant Park, where thepeople chanted and the President elf instilled

(07:57):
so much hope in America with theBlack Perspective. I'm Vanessa Tyler on the
Black Information Network. Thanks Vanessa.A black author did a deep dive into
the history of black Hollywood and decidedto write some historical fiction that you could
swear was true. It's called TheBlackwoods and the Black Information That Works.

(08:18):
Esther Dillard spoke with the author abouthow she crafted a story that focuses on
the complicated world of famous black starsin the spotlight. I'm Esther Dillard on
the Black Information Network, chatting withwriters and authors who offer an added perspective
for our listeners. This is Colorbetween the Lines on this edition of the

(08:45):
Color between the lines. We're talkingwith best selling author who just a year
ago released a book called Blackbirds inthe Sky, which was about the real
accounts of the Tulsa race massacre.Now, author Brandy Colbert is back this
year with intriguing fiction called The Blackwoods, and in it she addresses the complicated

(09:05):
black family who is black Hollywood's elite. Welcome Brandy Colbert to the Bion.
Thank you so much for having me. Well, I'm going from Tulsa,
a real tragic story, to afictional world of films in Hollywood. I
know you've written about fiction before,but was this difficult to navigate when writing

(09:31):
or you have just so many projectsit just doesn't matter. Yeah, it
was definitely different. You know,Blackbirds in the Sky was a real feat
for me. I have a journalismbackground, but I hadn't really used it
for some time, especially not inthat way to write a long form project
like that of nonfiction, and sothat was really great. But you know,

(09:54):
it's a lot of documents, alot of sources to keep track of
and to make sure that no onecould come back and say, you know,
you got this wrong. So whilethere is a lot of research in
the Blackwoods my current book. Itwas still a little less pressure, I
think, because you know, Ican weave in some of those facts,
but like sort of bend it tothe story the way that I want to

(10:18):
at specific points. Well, forthose who are interested in your newest book,
which I am, I'm really enjoyingthis. I have not finished it
so far, but I am enjoyingthe ride, so I'm going to continue.
For those interested in the Blackwoods,please tell us about what this is
all about without giving you absolutely right, I know, yes, lots lots
of spoilers, so I'll try notto give any of those away. So

(10:41):
this is a multi generational story abouta black Hollywood family called the Blackwoods.
And at the beginning of the book, the matriarch loss In Blackwood has just
passed away at the age of ninetysix. She would have been a contemporary
of like Cecily Tyson, Diane Carroll, sort of that crew. And so
she's passed away. The family isdealing with, you know, her being

(11:03):
gone, and also some secrets thatstart to emerge, and so you have
her perspective, starting with her growingup as a teenager in the nineteen forties,
and we follow her for several decades, and then interspersed through that are
the perspectives of her two great granddaughters, Hollis and Artist. Artist followed in
Blossom's footsteps and became a child actorturned now teen actor, and so she's

(11:26):
very involved in the business. Andthen her cousin Hollis, who we also
hear from her. You know,whole family is famous, but she's just
like, I just want to bea normal teenager. I don't want any
of this, like, just leaveme alone. So you see how sort
of Blossom's divisions and choices, youknow, affected the family and how that
kind of plays out in the presentday with Hollis and Artist. In the

(11:48):
author's note, you mentioned that yougot this idea, well, kind of
got this idea while working as acopy editor at Backstage, and a lot
of your research for this novel startedwith the book Bright Boulevard's Bold Dreams,
The Story of Black Hollywood by DonaldBogel. Can you talk about what were

(12:09):
some of the reasons why this nudgedyou into writing this. Yeah, So
when I worked at Backstage, Iwas there for eight years and it's a
weekly magazine, so it was avery intense process. It was just constantly
reading articles reading about actors, youknow, reading about sort of their struggles

(12:31):
and their journeys to fame, andso that was sort of always at the
back of my mind. And itwas also pretty inspiring. You know,
there are a lot of I thinksimilarities between acting and writing and the artistry
of it all. So there wasthat, and you know, I just
kind of thought, gosh, Iwonder what it would be like to,
you know, write a book aboutan actor, since I sit here and
read about them every day. Andso I started doing some research, and

(12:54):
yeah, Bright Boulevard's Bold Dreams byDonald Bogles is just a really incredible book.
I have it here right next tome. Now. I thought it
would be because often when you doresearch, you know, you read a
little bit of the book, youdon't read the book from start to finish.
But this book I read from startto finish because it was just that
interesting, and it really told fromthe very very beginnings of black Hollywood,

(13:15):
like the first black actor a womannamed Madam soul to Wan, and I
think he went up through the fifties, and so I got to learn all
these you know, there's lots aboutDorothy Dandridge, in here going back to
Louise Beaver's Stephan Fetch It, youknow, Hattie McDaniel. It was really
incredible and it just really inspired meand made me feel confident in writing these

(13:37):
historical passages from Blossom's section and thenalso using all of that to inform what
it would be like to be anactor today. It made me want to
pick up the book and read itmyself. I was like, oh,
I got to go back and readthis so then I can better understand how
she put this together. I like, I kind of analyzing what the writer
does and how they did it.I wonder is it harder writing fiction than

(14:01):
it is writing fact based stories oror is it easier for you know,
I don't know, right, Yeah, I think it's just sort of two
different things. Like, you know, I'm always sort of wanting to work
on the thing that I can't workon yet, you know, So of
course what I'm working on fiction,I'm like, oh, really great to
be working on nonfiction. But whatI find really great about nonfiction is there's

(14:24):
something really satisfying to me. Andmaybe it's my journalism background, but it's
really satisfying to have sources and haveyou know, facts that are indisputable,
like this happened and no one candispute it, and there are sources backing
it up and have that on thepage, know that that's real. And
so that's really satisfying to me tobe able to tell a story that way.

(14:45):
But then on the other hand,fiction there's so much freedom. And
although I did do a lot ofresearch for this, and so there is
a lot of factual stuff in thebook, I'm able to bend it the
way that I want to. Youknow, So if I want to put
this Carr, if I want toput Blossom at the nineteen seventy four Oscars,
you know, was she there?Of course not, But I can
put her there in my book.And so that's really exciting to be able

(15:07):
to play around with all that stuff. For those of you who are just
joining us, I'm mister Dillard,and I'm speaking with the inspiring author Brandy
Colbert about her newest release, TheBlackwoods. The next reason. The next
question I have is sort of likea tech question for those who are interested
in writing and becoming authors. Ilike how you flip between the present day

(15:28):
high school life with Artis and Hollis, and I assume it's today, and
then then the life of Grandma BlossomBlackwood, the matriarch of the family.
And it's like reading intricate scenes ofa movie because and it's not too much
detailed in terms of it doesn't getbogged down in the detail and the odd

(15:48):
the dialogue is wonderful, and eachof the characters has some sort of crisis
and emotional trauma that they're trying tofix. But did you have a challenge
in balancing these timelines and the voicesof the character and how did you write
that? Did you write it whereyou did each person's story and then you
kind of melted it together or wasthat all kind of like at once and

(16:11):
then you kind of had to separateit. Just wondering, Oh right,
Yeah, no, that's a greatquestion because I'm always really shocked by how
differently people write their books, youknow, like and that it all comes
out to be the same product.Like, so I write linearly, So
for me, it's really difficult forme to sort of write different sections and
then piece them together. I haveto just sort of write the story from

(16:33):
beginning to end. And yeah,so I would just I think that also
helped me so I would write,you know, blossom sections, and they're
all historical, so I would thinkabout those for a little bit and then
get out of you know, thinkabout that, ruminate on that. Did
I do that? Okay? Okay, and then go back to Paulus an
Artist, And I think, Idon't know, it was really helpful for

(16:55):
me. I never felt like Igot tired of any of the characters that
way. Like I was always movingon to the next one, always digging
back into their story, and itmade me get really excited about, you
know, what they were going todeal with next, like what I was
going to get into next. Yeah. I also like how you integrate a
lot of real history in here thatit really has encouraged me to go back
and do some reading, especially thatbook like you mentioned that gave you the

(17:18):
inspiration. Is there any piece ofhistory that you found that was like in
your research that really impacted you,that really, you know, stood out
for you that you really wanted topeople to know about, and you put
it in the book not a spoilerbut a tease, right right. I
think, you know, just readingabout like Central Avenue and how impactful,

(17:41):
how important, I guess I shouldsay that was to the black community in
Los Angeles. They called it theHarlem of the West Coast, and all
of the big performers of the daywould come, you know, visit LA
and perform in these clubs in thearea, and you know, it was
really interesting. In the book,they would say, well, often it
was white people actually coming to theclubs, and the black people who lived

(18:03):
in the neighborhood couldn't actually afford togo see them or weren't allowed in.
And you know a lot of theperformers weren't really allowed to come in the
front and had to use service entrancesand all that stuff. But I just
found it, especially as a longtimeresident of Los Angeles, I found it
really interesting that there was this wholepiece of my city, you know,
that I didn't know about until now, and that it was so vital to

(18:27):
the creation of Black Hollywood. Andso I just thought that that was really
interesting. And then of course readingabout some of the I don't think this
didn't really make it in there,I don't think, but reading about some
of the older actors, like youknow, I think we all sort of
know stuff and fetch it, like, you know, the sort of I

(18:48):
think a lot of people have alot of feelings about stuff and fetch it,
and you sort of assumed that becausehe was acting out these certain roles,
that that's how he was in person. And this book was really clear
about being like, no, hewas a very wealthy man and he lived
a very fine, nice life,but you know, at what cost because
he's portraying this character that some peopleare you know, offended by and don't

(19:10):
think paints the black community in apositive, flattering light. So it was
really interesting to just see all ofthat sort of broken down and again to
like not see what you see inpublic may not always be what's going on
in their private life. What thereal story is, What the real is
I'm wondering. You know, first, those who are listening, they probably

(19:33):
want to know a little bit aboutyou and how you got started in writing.
Was this an easy road for youor was it a straight path?
Could you explain a little bit abouthow you kind of get got into writing
professionally? Sure, of course,So I always wanted to be a writer.
I was a writer as a littlekid. I was a huge reader.
We would always go to the library, into the bookstore, and you

(19:56):
know, I was just surrounded bybooks, always reading, and when I
was about seven, you know,I wrote a book. We had a
project where we had to write booksin school, and I really really enjoyed
it and it just felt really freeing, like nothing I guess really had ever
felt that way for me before.And so I started writing at home.
You know, I asked my parentsto buy me some notebooks and pens so

(20:18):
I could just do my writing onmy own, and it really just took
off from there. I have awhole stack of notebooks from my childhood,
you know that I wrote. AndI always wanted to be an author.
I have documentation as a little kid, you know, saying I want to
be a published author when I growup. But it just seemed like a
career that really, you know,wasn't viable. And so I went into

(20:40):
journalism in college because I felt like, well, I can still write,
but it'll be like more of apractical use. And then after I got
out of college, I still hadthe bug, and so you know,
I was like, well, letme research how to even become a published
author. I didn't know anybody whowas a professional writer, and so I
just kind of did some research andworked on you know, a few books,

(21:03):
four books, and tried to geta literary agent with those books,
because that's how that they're like theliaison to the publisher. And so it
took me four books to get anagent who believed in my writing and me,
and that ended up being met.That fourth book ended up being my
debut novel. Point and yeah,I you know, you kind of you

(21:26):
published one book and you think,well I did it, you know,
maybe that's it. And so tobe talking to you about my eighth published
book is just really truly a dreamcome true. Oh that's awesome. That's
awesome. What advice would you havefor those who are trying to get into
writing, a black author who's juststarting, you know, what would be
your advice for them? Mm hmoh gosh, several things. I mean,

(21:48):
I would say, obviously, don'tgive up. It's a really tough
business. There's a lot of rejection. Even after you've been published, there's
still a lot of rejection. Sothat's always something to keep in mind.
But if you really want it,to keep going for it. I would
say to read as widely as possible. I know, I get stuck in
my ruts of what I love toread. You know, I really prefer

(22:08):
like just contemporary realistic fiction or historicalfiction. But you know, I'll read
a few sci fi or fantasy booksa year just to kind of know what's
going on there. And so i'dsay read as widely as you can,
read as much as you can articles, newspapers, books, everything. And
then I would say, specifically sinceyou mentioned, you know, as black

(22:29):
authors, I think it's really importantto be authentic and write you're you know,
what you're familiar with. You know, they always say write what you
know. I think that also,I say, write what scares you.
But I think it's really important tostay true to yourself. So there's certain
aspects of you know, the blackcommunity that I'm not necessarily familiar with and

(22:51):
that I wouldn't feel like I woulddo it justice, whereas there's other people
who are doing a great job withthat. But I write about the aspects
that I'm closer to or that reallyinterest me. And so I think staying
true to myself as a writer hasreally really helped my career. Great advice.
There are so many messages in thisbook, but what do you think
is the most important message that youwant readers to come away with when they

(23:11):
finish reading Black Hollywood. I reallywant oh yeah, I know it's called
purpose black Woods. Yeah, BlackHollywood. I think that I would just
want readers to, I don't know, have empathy, you know, like
it can be really easy, especiallyin this age of social media and everybody's

(23:34):
life is out there, you know, for us to peak apart every single
aspect of someone, and I thinkthat sometimes the empathy can be missing.
And so you see, you know, famous people, and they have these
really great lives, and they wearthese really great clothes, and they're on
the red carpet and they're you know, doing all of these things that look
really amazing, but they're still atthe end of the day, real people,

(23:55):
you know, just like you andme. And so I just want,
I guess, people to take awaythat what you see in public may
not always be what's going on inprivate, and to just treat everyone with
respect. I just wonder, youknow, I had that was my last
question, but I wonder if ifthere was any was there any particular Hollywood

(24:15):
family that you kind of modeled thisafter or was it just kind of picked
some pieces of everything? It was, Yeah, it was just really bits
and pieces. I am. Iam really interested though in sort of these
legacies and these families. And soI did my launch event for my book
the other night and someone asked whomy favorite you know, there's they get

(24:37):
into the whole like nepotism baby thingin my book. And they were like,
who's your favorite nepo baby And ittook me a minute and then I
was like, oh, yeah,it's Zoe Kravitz because when I was a
kid, you know, Lisa Bonnetwas huge, Cravis is huge. The
fact that they're together, it wasjust right, just like wow, the
fact that they ended up having Yes, they had this kid who's just as
cool as they are and who's verytalented too, and so I just I

(25:00):
find all of that like very inspiringand that like really, you know,
is definitely inspiration for the story.All Right, Thank you so much,
Brandy Culvert for sharing us, sharingwith us all the details of your newest
book, and thanks for joining uson the bim. Oh, thank you
so much for having me. Thiswas so fun. It was. And
that's it for this edition of theColor Between the Lines. The book is

(25:22):
again the Blackwoods. I'm Ester Dillardon the Black Information Network. Thanks Esther
as we reflect on this week's pastelection day, the Black Information Networks,
Amber Payton had an opportunity to sitdown with Maryland Governor Wes Moore on the
election day as he was campaigning inthe state of Virginia to talk about the

(25:45):
importance of getting out to vote.Welcome to the Black Information Network. I'm
Amber Payton here with a very specialguest on this very important day. I
have Maryland Governor Wes Moore. Governor, thank you so much for joining me.
Amber, Thank you. I appreciateit absolutely. Now, of course,
again today is a very important day. It's election day in about thirty
seven states. And I'm here inVirginia and Hampton Roase to be specific.

(26:07):
And I know that you were justhere recently discussing the elections. Right,
that's right, that's right. Imean, and you know and and uh
and people have said they're like,you know, why is the governor of
Maryland down down down in Virginia.And and the answer is is it's because
elections have consequences, and and what'shappening right now in Virginia. So many
of the issues that are very muchon the ballot in Virginia are going to

(26:30):
have huge implications to what's happening toall of us around the country. And
so so when I think about,you know, our ability to be able
to create an economy that sees everybodyand not just some. When I think
about the fact that abortion rights arevery much on the ballot in Virginia,
when I think about disenfranchisement, andand you know in Virginia, you know,

(26:52):
you're the governor of Virginia, andthey're and they're in the legislature down
in Virginia, Republican legislature is activelylooking to take people off of the voter
rights, of of of voter roles, people who are turning back home and
returning citizens. And so, ifwe really want to respect this idea of
freedoms, if we really want torespect the idea that we can create a
society that everywhere, everybody can participate, it's important that people get out.

(27:15):
It's important people that make their voicesheard. It's important people take this election
personally. Uh And why me,as the governor of Maryland, made it
and made it a point to say, I'm going to go down to Virginia
and campaign for good candidates like Senatorrous And and and Delegate Fagans because their
leadership is going to matter going forward. Absolutely. And for the ones that

(27:37):
we're questioning why the Maryland governor wasin Virginia, I do know that you
are a US Army veteran and HamptonRoads is very military heavy, So for
me that would never be a question. There you go, there you go,
you know, and and it's achance to you know. And also
when I think about some of thesethings that that are on the ballot,
you know, I'm I'm the firstblack governor in the history of the state

(27:57):
of Maryland and known to the thirdblack governor ever elected in the history of
this country. And I'm thinking aboutthe fact that there's a chance to make
history in Virginia right now where youhave someone like Adoun Scott who has a
chance to become the first black Speakerof the House in Virginia history. But
the thing that I know is thatand something that I know that Minority Leader

(28:21):
Scott knows is that's not the assignment. You know, me being the first
was not the assignment. It's abouthow you then crafting policies that are then
making sure that all communities, toinclude the African American community, have a
chance to advance. And that's exactlythe kind of focus area that I know
that Minority Leader Scott and all theother folks who are running who I was

(28:41):
down campaigning for. That's the typeof philosophy that they take the job as
well. Absolutely, And speaking ofyou being the first black governor of Maryland,
and congratulations on that. By theway, you know, recent surveys
show that black voter turnouts are declining. So what do you say to the
person that's listening right now but they'reundecided on if their vote will make a

(29:03):
difference. Well, I can tellyou. I mean, you know,
having black turnout it's going to matter. And not just not just then what
happens on the elections, it's whathappens once people get into office, you
know. I can tell you.I mean we had, you know,
our turnout for for not just notjust overall. We ended up receiving more
votes than anybody who'd ever run forgovernor in the history of the state of

(29:27):
Maryland. And we had remarkable turnoutfrom African Americans who helped to make that
happen. But I knew that theyweren't coming out simply because they wanted to
make history. Uh, they cameout because if you look at what's happened
since we've come into office, youknow, we put a priority in making
sure that we are we are prioritizingour mbes, where half a billion dollars

(29:48):
of capital has gone towards mbes justin my time of office. That we
now have the lowest unemployment rate inthe entire country, in the state of
Maryland, and we have made apledge and are actively moving to make Maryland
the first day in the country thatwill eliminate the racial wealth gap. That
we have built a cabinet that actuallyis reflective of the beautiful diversity of the

(30:08):
state. That it's not just aboutthe reason that people have to come out.
It's not just because you are goingto help make history. It's because
then you will have people who aresitting in the seats who will then have
policies that will be reflective of yourgoals and your dreams and your aspirations.
And so I'm encouraging everybody, donot forfeit your voice, do not forfeit

(30:30):
your power, Do not forget whatpeople had to do in order for us
to be in this position that we'rein right now. And the expectations that
will come along for all those peoplewho are sitting in those seats. Get
out there, go out and vote, bring your family, bring everyone out
with you. But make sure thatyou are heard and make sure that you
are franchised. Wow. Governor Moore, thank you so much for taking the

(30:52):
time to speak with me and hopefullyencourage someone to get out there and vote
if they haven't already. Again,congratulations on all that you're doing in Maryland,
and thank you again for coming hereto Virginia. We appreciate that visit.
God bless you Amber, Thank youso much. Blessed you as well.
You're welcome. Have a good one. Thanks Amber and Virginia Democrats celebrated
an election day sweep. They notonly maintained control of the state Senate,

(31:15):
but they also flipped the House aftervictories in district sixty five. Also,
the election results put an end toa possible fifteen week abortion band in the
state. Democrats want to keep thecurrent restrictions in place, which allow abortions
through the second trimester. She ownsmultiple beauty bars in the city of Atlanta,
but doesn't do hair or makeup.The Black Information Networks on med Gordon

(31:37):
sits down with an entrepreneur whose desireto not drive very far to get her
hair done has turned into ownership bedThanks Mike. In studio with me is
a entrepreneur business woman here in Atlanta. She goes by the name of Amika
Carter, who is the founder andowner of Beya Selon Studios here in Atlanta.

(31:59):
She owns three of them. Andwe're gonna dive in deeper about how
we have somehow pivoted in this worldto not just having a beauty salon,
but now having beauty salon studios.And you have three amazing locations here in
Atlanta. Let me get Carter.How you doing? I'm great? How

(32:20):
are you? I am doing excellent. So let's get into the business side
of this thing. How did youget started in like your first studio?
What was your thought process? Areyou in? Are you in beauty?
Do you do hair? Do youdo Makeup's? Let's take advantage. Let's
take advantage of the people that knowwhat they're doing and give them a space.
I understand going on. So Iwas working corporate, actually a really

(32:45):
great career at a company called CocaCola, a senior customer marketing manager doing
well, but as you know,corporate isn't loyal, so I knew,
you know, when I started withthem, I actually was in a situation
where they were downsizing, so Iwas like, I should probably have A
and B. And I had recentlylost my mother was exploring like how to

(33:07):
take care of my hair because Ihad cut it all off, going natural,
you know. And I had aheir salas that I thought was amazing
and I'd follow her wherever she went. Well, she decided to go to
this salon studio that was like behindGod's Back in Roswell. And I don't
like to drive more than two songsand I'm still driving on by eight minutes.

(33:29):
Yeah, unless you listen to oldschool to get intro. So I've
always kept I think in my heart, I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit and
was always kind of looking for opportunities. And then, you know, when
you experienced a death of a lovedone, especially your mom, you're just
you're clear about quality of life.So I think I was already on the

(33:49):
hunt for like what could be next, because I knew corporate wasn't going to
be it. And when I sawthis concept, I was like, Wow,
this is really so, you know, but it was far and so
like Chick fil A. I didn'tinvent the chicken sandwich, but I thought
I could do it better. AndI was like, this is a great
concept in town where people don't haveto drive. So that that was it.
We were the first location in midtownand the location had it. I

(34:14):
didn't even have to sell it hard, just letting people know that this phenomenal
concept that revolutionized the beauty industry manyyears ago was now going to be available
in town. And it just hit. I had them at location, and
you got your hairstyles to follow youdown there, I got my hair.
I was like, so basically,you know, as most business, it

(34:37):
was about me. For most business, I fun to say, for most
business experiences, it's like how doI make something easier for myself? And
we were like, I'm traveling toofar from my hairstyles. Let me just
give her a place to work fromso I can get there easy exactly,
and then I could have other causeyou know, when growing up, when
you think about the barbershops the hairsalons, it's like you have a brick

(35:00):
and mortar and you rent a chair, you rent a space inside the barbershop
or the hair salon. But withso many people becoming entrepreneurs, especially over
the last four or five years,you know, you're giving people who instead
of doing hair in their kitchen orin their living room, a space to
really have a professional look and dotheir thing. And if they're gonna be

(35:22):
like, if I'm gonna rent aspace, let me have my own space.
So talk about that part of theof the business dealing with these entrepreneurs,
dealing with these spaces. I sawin one of your Instagram posts is
that when you like, when youwork at one of your studios, it's
not just you've broken by yourself.You have the infrastructure of everybody around you
kind of helping each other out.So I think that's one of the opportunities

(35:45):
of the salon studio concept. Iwas attracted to it also because I think
it's a way to empower entrepreneurs.They have all the talent, but they
were splitting their commissions sometimes sixty fortynot in their favor with these salon owners.
So with this concept, they areempowered to kind of run their own
business and not have the overhead ofa full salon. It's kind of turn
key for them. But what wedid was kind of expand on that and

(36:10):
also give them resources and tools sothat they can be successful entrepreneurs. Like,
so my background is not in beauty, but I understand marketing, I
understand business, and I can connectthem with the resources. We've partnered with
Operation Hope and the Small Business DevelopmentCenter to give them financial literacy classes if

(36:30):
they have a private labeled product thatthey want to get out having some guidance
and where they're not just on theirown, but also with our third location,
really committed to allowing these professionals tonetwork and build community because I think
that's the gap. That's what Iwas about to go next, Like it
feels like you're turning this into justan individual situation into a community. So

(36:51):
talk about how the difference between thisthird location is from the first two where
it's like, Okay, this isgoing to be more about community and than
the other two. How did youthink about that and plan that. So
my first two locations, well,with each location, I built upon the
success of the one before. Sothe first one I was just like,
Okay, I just got to getthis built. You know. I was

(37:12):
very lean as far as budget andwhat I could do right, but you
know, still still created a spacethat was attractive. The second one,
I got a lot flossier and moremodern clean and all those things got rid
of. The break room just madelike a tenant, you know, kind
of meet up. But I noticedthat they weren't connecting still, like you

(37:32):
might see the person in the loungeto heat up your food, like it
didn't really foster talking right. Soalso paying attention to the industry. You
know, a lot of beauty professionalsare making they want to get from behind
the chair. They're also teaching,they do webinars. So I was like,
how do I create a dynamic spacethat that allows for all of this.

(37:52):
So in this new location, firstof all, it's beautiful. We
partnered with Forbes Masters, who areI mean, they're an amazing design for
black two black women, and they'vethey created such a like when people walk
in, it's like you instantly whatI told them design this space. So

(38:12):
when people walk in, they getact right in their mind to act right.
We are going to foster community andwe're all going to win for you,
you know, being in the spaceand you're helping others kind of see
their vision and make it plain forthem. You know, what is some
of the advice that you give tothese entrepreneurs coming up in the beauty business,
Because, like I said, you'renot part of the business, but
you're empowering them. And so whatis some of the advice that you are

(38:36):
given to some of these new beautyentrepreneurs who want to create their own brand
and you have their own space andthings of that nature. Well, you
know, I have tenants at differentstages in their career, you know,
summer season, celebrity, and juststarting out. And I feel like we
meet them all where they're starting.We have an offering or a product that

(38:57):
meets and where they are, andI tell them to approach like I don't
do fear of loss. I tellthem to go confident in your decisions.
Right, A traditional salon is nota bad thing, but it may not
be everyone's route. Instead of goinginto a commitment because you're entering into a
contract where you lease a space,you know, I tell them, Yeah,

(39:17):
you know, you hear all thesewonderful phrases about do it brave,
do it scared, do just doit do it smart? Like that's the
one I'm You know, entrepreneurs arepeople who are going to have highs and
lows, but why not set yourselfup where you can control your overhead.
You're using a space when you needit. And so that's what memberships are.
They pay for a space when theyneed it and not when they don't.

(39:39):
Got it. And I was justabout to ask you about that.
That what the plan is? Thatis the plan? So that that was
a pivot from COVID because I hadtenants who's traffic, like their clientele either
slowed down or came to complete halt. They were paying for this room because
they were in a contract. Youknow, we pause leases for some and
then when we started to come back, you know, we scale their rent

(40:00):
based on their you know, howmany people they were seeing a week,
and it just got complicated. Yeah. Yeah, and I couldn't really afford
to just have people there rent free, but I understood the need, you
know, like this is how they'remaking business. I mean, this is
their livelihood. Yeah, So whatI came up with was memberships, Why
don't you just use the space whenyou need it? So I dedicated like

(40:21):
maybe one or two rooms and thenyou know, these ten or however many
people that would make sense that.Yeah, So that everyone would have an
opportunity to use it as and itwas brilliant because it really allowed them to
breathe. I'm making money. It'sa nice space, and I don't have
to worry about, you know,all this other overhead that I didn't need

(40:42):
to carry, or just paying fora space when I don't have clients.
Hele absolutely, Amiga Garter, thankyou so much for coming through came letting
people know how can follow you andhow can they follow the business. Yeah,
we are at Bay Atlanta. Wehave three locations to a midtown and
one in the fabulous West End,and I encourage you to visit one of

(41:04):
our amazing stylists or send some ourway, because honestly, what we're creating
is someplace where we're all going towin. So hopefully, you know,
we'll continue to grow and you'll keephearing about us and extra locations around the
country. Code back to you,Mike, Thanks med. As we celebrate
fifty years of hip hop the BlackInformation Networks, Bill Black had an opportunity
to speak with hip hop icon CoolMod. The Black Information Network is celebrating

(41:29):
fifty years of hip hop and todaywe honor mohandas Dewis. You know him
as Cool Mode. You don't fightJim. I recently had a chance to
sit down with the rapper to talkabout his past and the future. I
just want to say, first ofall, as a as a student and

(41:49):
a fan of hip hop, thankyou because you were the first person I
received balance from in hip hop.And let me explain that balance meaning I
got the fun, but then Igot the knowledge too. Before you,
I didn't have one person that gaveme all these things. So thank you
for all these You appreciate that yourinfluences when you carried into it. Uh,

(42:13):
well, the hard thing is goingto sound a little narcissistic. I
tell people a little time. It'slike, I'm so early in the beginning.
The only MC's that are even onthe planet before me, his GRANDMASSCS
is Melly mal Quite frankly, Mellymil is the first person that made me
want to change my rhyme style.Push me because I'm close to the itch.

(42:36):
I'm shy. I did not tolose my head when I heard Melly
Mall say that. I said,this can go in different places that people
weren't thinking about at the time.Right. So the fact that we're doing
the nursery rhyme style and this partystyle. I thought taking it up or
stepping it up a notch was absolutelyimportant this so I'm kind of the pioneer
and doing that. What you justsaid about balance, balance is very very

(42:59):
key. Took that balance and formedthe rap group to Treacher's Three with Spoony
G Special K and La Sunshine,and after moderate success, coom o D
went solo. I didn't go solo. I was the correction that is.
La Sunshine said we're not making anymoney, so I went in the studio
we did Got a Rock. Iconvinced him to go on the studio.

(43:21):
We did Got a Rock, andthe beast I was going to be turning
up, So I just put arhyme on there from old rhymes that I
had already written before, and thenthe record blew up. I couldn't believe
it, like whoa. So thesolo career was born from that situation.
Shortly thereafter mo D teamed that wasan up and coming teenage producer also from
Harlem named Teddy Riley. How didthat collaboration the YouTube have done so many

(43:44):
records throughout your career, how didthat even come to be in the beginning.
My manager is a guy named LevevaMallison. He said, you've got
dope lyrics, but the only thingyou're missing is the music. In my
opinion, I got a young guythat you like and he knew Terry Riley
and Teddy said, I think youneed some music. I left, got
a sandwich and came back and musicwas on it. Days later, go

(44:06):
see the doctor as an MC.I want them to listen to what I'm
saying and they said no, no, you want them to dance. So
we argue a little bit. Buthe was writing in a sense that kind
of splitting the difference, and Isaid, I think the lyrical portion of
the equation, even to this dayand hip hob in my opinion, there's
very few people that can hit thatbalance of music that you love and lyrics
that you love. If you're justjoining us, we're talking with koolm O

(44:29):
D. And I would be remissif I didn't talk about you a LLL.
And I'll tell you as a teenager, that was hard. That was
hard to choose because again, likeI said earlier in an interview, you
gave me balance, you gave mefun, and you gave me knowledge too,
so I learned it so much.And then to hear like, I

(44:51):
like this guy out here too,How did that even start? How did
that even come to fluition of youand him not seeing eye don't want?
The backstory is I've always liked himas an MC. I just thought it
was more super more superficial and kindof like what jay Z did later,
because like talking about making money andhow much you're doing is like, I
understand that's part of our history inthe hip hop sense that we talk about

(45:13):
how good we're doing. So I'mlike, but it's like you you're to
me, it's like overdoing. It'sno balance kind of which is what you
struggle. There's no balance. Idon't here and I hear a lot of
what you could do, and Iheard the great potential in him, but
I thought he could do more thanwhat he was doing, And a lot
of people don't know. It waslike I really actually liked lls A MC.
I really always had like a demonyour screaming and demn I'm from the

(45:34):
old school, are you man dotfor less? But I'm a living that
way. I let my mic talking, let the music play. I want
to talk about one of my favoritelines from you and I shouldn't have to
run from a black man that stop. How did the stop the Violence movement

(45:57):
come about? Krest absolutely doing tostop the violence when it's just KRS had
a definitely different perspective in terms ofan MC. The stop to violencing was
something that he felt very very prominentor powerful able strongly about it. Do
you think something like that could workin present day? Yes, that's just
think you have to be very cleverabout how you do it because we're,

(46:21):
like I said, we're now inthe generation really literally it's style of a
substance I said, that's the realsubstance abuse in my opinion, do you
keep up with the current stages ofhip hop and certain mcs that are out
now whatever, whatever? Do youhave favorites Kendrick Lamar right all right?

(46:43):
And j Cole and the only thingto kill him is, oh a,
what the lirical content is so muchfurther than the average person. And even
though this might sound crazy, thebaby has not gotten as much as much
credits I think he deserves. Ithink the Baby is one of the people
that really really really puts from comingevery thought process and dos o for him.
He never said he get money.Oh really, how much? They

(47:04):
just cut you a check for aminute. So we've talked about the past,
we've talked about his present. Nowwhat's next for Cool mod a one
man play the one man players calledTruth Be Told, and the Truth Be
Told is a lot of what they'redoing now. And what we're doing is
paying attention to hip hop. Whenwhite people started taking note that hip hop
was valid, It's like we didn'tvalidate into White America validated. It's like,

(47:25):
that's not real. So I'm sayingwhen they said what happened hip hop,
like the hip hop turn into abusiness. When you turn it into
a business, then it became abusiness and business rules, And I said,
black people have been getting into businesssince we were the business mode,
says. He hopes sometime in twentytwenty four he can bring the play to
life. We hear the Black InformationNetwork will keep you posted absolutely mo.

(47:45):
I thank you for your time,man, I thank you for your knowledge.
I thank you for the years andyears and years of great music.
Thank you, my brother for show. I'm Bill Black on the Black Information
Network. Thanks Bill. Before weclose out our show, it's time for
your Black Business with Doug Davis.Thanks Mike, this is Doug Davis back
with part two of our conversation withfinancial literacy entrepreneur, businessman and the founder

(48:07):
of the nonprofit Operation Hope John HopeBryant for talking about his plan to create
one million black businesses by twenty thirtyand to get Black America out of debt.
Welcome back to the bi in,sir, we left off talking about
you discussing how Black Americans collectively needa serious business plan and that financial freedom
may be the only freedom we have, but a financial and economic freedom.

(48:30):
You know, if i got amurderspres black cart, and I'm sitting in
the restaurant where the restaurant owner leasedthe land, and that restaurant owner curses
me out and wants to say somethingfoul to me, it's racial. I
don't have to screen with that restaurantowner. I can take my murderspreads black
cart and buy the land underneath hisbuilding and not becoming land lord. By

(48:53):
the way, Doug, that happened. Doctor King's father, Daddy King,
noted that that Mark Uh usually calledMichael, by the way, it was
his real name, Martin was Martyand they used to call him Martin.
King was playing with a little whitekid across the street and they got along
just fine. Kids typically are notracist. Is typically the parents and the

(49:13):
shop owner. The father said,you can't play with Marty anymore. You
can't play that with black anymore.You can call him black, you know
what, even call him? Anduh so, Daddy King had to remind
him that the grandfather, Adie Williams, actually owned the land underneath that building.
No screaming, no hollering, noraising his voice. Just hey,

(49:37):
you need to get him, Youneed to get the memo. Let's make
a quick pivot and talk about DionSanders. Do you feel his move to
Colorado was the best decision collectively forthe black community. You look, he
went and blessed the HBCU and went, you know, and oh he needs
to stay here forever. That's asridiculous as saying that when you build a

(49:58):
company, you shouldn't sell it.I mean, the whole point of building
a company is to build value ofit and to monetize it. That's the
point. That is the point ofit, and we seem to have lost
the point. He brought attention tothat HBCU school and with it brought donors
and brand equity. He then tookhis own talent and kept you know,

(50:22):
I guess you might call it upgradingthis software and expanding his territory. And
now he's proven that he's not justa great coach for black people. So
all right, so let's let's takeanother look at this. For instance,
Colorado's first home football game tickets whereI believe forty dollars for your basic ticket.
Ever since that first game, theticket sales has gone up two hundred

(50:45):
and eighty five percent. Is thatmoney circulating into the black community. No,
I love this is the baby,but hold on, let's make a
little spicy little bit. Hold onit. Then, didn't sign up to
be the mayor of black people.He didn't signed to be the Congress of
Black people. He didn't try tobe doctor Mantouther King Junior. He didn't
sign up to be the President ofthe United States. He's not in charge
of the moral authority or the ethicalauthority. Deon sand is in charge of

(51:05):
his career in his life. Andbest I can tell from what I hear
from the brother, it's all positive. And he puts out content trying to
inspire people. If he wants togo make more money and do more things
of his talent wherever he wants totake it, as long as as legal,
God bless him. Who else hasa right to tell him where he
should be going on what he shouldbe doing. That is to me ridiculous.
Hein't a sharecropper. He's he's hisome agency and and but but he,

(51:28):
but he has done that. Whileit appears to me taking black culture
with him, taking black energy withhim. Now he's now the whole world
knows that that he that he thatblack people can can coach. Uh uh
uh you know, a mainstream school. What if Obama head came out and
said, I'm the black candidate Iwant, I'm gonna need the president of
Black America, he would never havebeen president of anything he had along president

(51:51):
the United States of America. Goahead, okay, so let me play
Devil's advocate on this one. Inrelation to your response, I'm somewhat of
a historian, probably not as knowledgeableas you, but I do know a
little bit, and I know thatthe Negro baseball leagues, when they were
at their heights, it was sopopular that white Americans were starting to visit
black baseball games on Sunday to watchthe Negro baseball leagues because they figured out

(52:15):
that the competition was just as greator greater than that some of their games.
And so there are some folks whohave a thought process that, well,
if Jackie Robinson wouldn't have crossed over, then maybe all of that quote
unquote white money would have circulated inour community. Which led me to that

(52:37):
question about Dion Sanders, is thatif Black Americans were more inclusive with our
talent and made folks let's say,come to us to get what they need,
so the money circulates in our community, that we would be better off
financially. Your thoughts, So,this is a brilliant conversation. And by
the way, to your credit,I've done thousands of interviews an interview,

(53:00):
no one's ever brought this up tome. I commend you. I think
it's brilliant. We need to havethis conversation. This needs to be like
town halls all across the country.Black America needs a business plan. We
really need a business plan. Notan emotional plan, not a I'm upset
plan, not a stick of themud plan. We need a business plan
needs to be rational. So look, first of all, capitalism is a

(53:21):
gladiator sport. Capitalism is not personal. It's just capitalism. And business is
not emotional, and sometimes we getemotional about business. Number two, the
example you just gave is the exampleof the guy you're talking to. So
I have attracted four billion dollars tomy public philanthropies, which came from mostly

(53:45):
mainstream corporations and interests and foundations orwhatever. I've ben robinhood at that put
that right into black and brown neighborhoods. If I have credibility in mainstream America,
I couldn't take money and transfer itfrom this to the streets and say
these are good investments that people believeit. I took a real estate company

(54:06):
and grew that company over five years, attracted to do forty million dollars of
private capital from investors, another fortyeight billion dollars of debt from Fat Freddie
mac not a black entity, CityNational Bank, not a black entity,
a couple of the banks, andit was eighty eight million dollars worth of

(54:29):
debt and equity. Grew a companythat was that I ultimately recapitalized and got
a credit line for two hundred milliondollars from Bearings. First black man to
get a credit line of two hundredmillion dollars in a decade. So since
black enterprise, that wasn't a blackWhat black lender am I going to to
get twenty million dollars from? Itwas Bearings. They weren't looking at me

(54:51):
as a black man. They lookat me as a good credit risk.
But then I took that money andinvested it in a growing promise homes company.
We're half of all of our vendorsare black and brown plumbers, heating
technicians, electricians, roofers, painters. In other words, black folks are
the only ones whould say I wantblack customers. No, no, you

(55:12):
want green customers. We got theemotions out of it. We have to
understand that you can't if you broke, you can't help many people. And
you need to expand your territory.So we can go from just being thousandaires
to millionaires to billionaires. So thenwe can then turn around and create other
millionaires in thousandaires and hopefully billionaires.And if you're just tuning in, my

(55:37):
name is Doug Davis. You're listeningto the black perspective and this is your
black business I'm having a conversation withOperation Hopes, John ho'bryant, financial literacy,
entrepreneur, businessman, and the manwho wants to create one million black
businesses by twenty thirty and to getBlack America out of debt. You know,
I've taken in everything that you said, and Okay, so what are

(55:58):
your thoughts on money circulating in acommunity, right, Because that's kind of
what we're getting to when we thinkabout Black Wall Street, right, or
when we think about the many differentpas black neighborhoods, and after the Civil
War that began to grow. Butthen, you know, probably even more
recently, we started to hear thatthere were many black wall streets, right.

(56:19):
There were many Black wall streets thatwere burned down from Wilmington to Tulsa.
But those communities were effective because wenot only had our own businesses,
but the money was circulating in ourcommunity, right, And that made some
sort of inclusivity and in my opinion, helped black economic growth. So if
you're talking about taking out, let'ssay, the economic opportunity of a Negro

(56:43):
baseball team or a Jackson state,that someone like Dion could have brought so
much more light to then that couldhave actually put a little bit more money
in the city of Jackson, whichwould have then helped more black people.
And so that's why the opinion ofhaving businesses and folks like Dion, let's
say, stay in our communities,which hence leads to another question, which

(57:05):
is whether or not civil rights wasas as great for Black Americans, because
that's been a question that I havetalked about and debated with my black brothers
and sisters as well. You know, was it truly economically effective the civil
rights area? You actually know whatyou're talking about is unfortunately I got any
Sorry dude, Yeah, no,I'm actually going to dinner with Billy Aaron,

(57:27):
who's the widow to Hank Aaron,which is really tied to a lot
of what you're talking about. Andbecause he mainstreamed his talent, he was
able to then get a deal withCoca Cola. He's able to have a
BMW Hank Aaron BMW dealership and hirea bunch of black people, and now
he's now his his estate is makinggrants and found to hpcus and non profits,

(57:50):
and and Billy Airon runs a foundationand she couldn't have done that if
she was just sitting in one littlesmall town that Alabama, or her her
husband was and decided to not expandhis territory. But let me come back.
You said something about civil rights.Yeah, civil rights took the wrong
road, but they did the bestthey could with what they had. Number
One, Doctor King was not acapitalist. He was a preacher. He
was tall about a redistribution of wealth, not the creation of wealth. Doctor

(58:12):
King did not have a self esteemproblem. He spent all his time trying
to integrate Blacks into White America versusdesegregate Black America. And part of desegregation
Black America would be is to ofcourse, create home ownership, create small
business owners, tract capital to theseneighborhoods, get the crime out, the
hope up. Blah blah blah blah. He wanted to integrate us, and

(58:34):
he didn't realize that a lot ofour brothers and sisters who had low self
esteem. I'll say this, Iwant to get about to a bunch of
pushback on your show. I don'tcare. We didn't want to sit next
to the white man. Too manyof us wanted to be the white man.
John ho'bryant, I hope and praywe can get you back on the
show to continue our conversation. Myname is Doug Davis. You're listening to

(58:55):
your Black Business and we're talking withfinancial literacy entrepreneur, businessman, and the
founder of the nonprofit Operation Hope.He's got a plan to create one million
black businesses by twenty thirty and toget Black America out of debt. You're
listening to the Black Information Network.Great stuff. As always, Thanks Doug
for more on these stories. Listento the Black Information Network on the free

(59:19):
iHeartRadio app or log onto Bionnews dotcom where you can hear this program and
its entirety on demand. Also followus on social media at Black Information Network
and on x formerly known as Twitter. At black info Net, we thank
you for joining us on the blackperspective and look forward to continuing to have
needed conversations for the black community.Next week, I'm Mike Island on the

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Black Information Network.