Real Talk

NBA Champion and Author, Alonzo Mourning, along with Media Tycoon, Jerry Powers, join forces to mentor young students to become successful entrepreneurs

Via Press Release: Defying economic, social and academic odds, a team of high profile professionals in the Fashion, Advertising, Publishing and Public Relations Arena in Miami, will mentor and teach a selected group of children, from the Overtown Youth Center, a program of Alonzo Mourning Charities, how to become successful entrepreneurs by educating them on how to develop a company from its inception and in turn, earn a profit by publishing a first-ever, inner city glossy magazine.

With only one out of 12 students graduating from high school in Overtown, one of South Florida’s oldest and most impoverished neighborhoods, Alonzo Mourning Charities (AMC), renowned publisher Jerry Powers and OYC Center Coordinators selected 19 students to create a magazine that speaks for them. They were chosen to be part of this project through their interest in art, dining, photography, sales and fashion. Empowered by this creative venture, they will have eight weeks to come up with a name, write and edit copy, style fashion pages, handle the graphic design, style and shoot photos and provide a ready-to-publish magazine, transmitted electronically to a Virginia-based printer.

Powers, who formerly published highly successful Ocean Drive magazine, is committed along with AMC, to coach the students in what Powers hopes will be a self-sustaining, ongoing magazine. Determined to support the children in creating a winning first issue of the magazine, he and Mourning would like to see the kids’ magazine to take off. Their aim: teach the children how successful business really works.

Mourning, a Miami resident, is committed through the Alonzo Mourning Charities, a 501(c)(3) foundation which has already raised more than $7 million to fund programs that promote positive change in low socioeconomic communities including stimulating the development of future youth enrichment centers. The Overtown Youth Center, which was founded by Mourning in 2003, is the first such effort.

At a time of global economic and social turmoil, inner city students are at even greater risk. The magazine project aims to address those children who might otherwise fall prey to the grim statistics of today’s black America, where six out of 10 high school dropouts have been in prison by their mid-30s, and approximately 70% of infants are born to single mothers.

For more information on the Overtown Youth Center, visit http://www.overtownyouth.org/.

The Metropolitan Board (Metroboard) of the Chicago Urban League is a group of young professionals who are the future leaders of Chicago. Founded in 1983 to support the ideals and goals of the National Urban League movement in Chicago, the group has an impressive service mission with over 7,000 hours of community service performed by its members within the past three years. The membership group is comprised of over 250 young professionals who have answered the call of service.

The Metroboard along with new board president Angela D. Brooks are pleased to announce that Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments, LLC, a Chicago based money management firm, will serve as guest speaker at their upcoming monthly general body meeting to discuss planning for our futures through investment and retirement. The meeting will be held on Thursday, August 13, 2009, 6:30 p.m. at the Chicago Urban League (4510 S. Michigan Avenue).

Ms. Hobson has become a nationally recognized voice on financial literacy and investing. She is a regular financial contributor on ABC’s Good Morning America, as well as a spokesperson for the annual Ariel/Schwab Black Investor Survey.

She is a director of three public companies: Dreamworks Animation SKG, The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc, and the Starbucks Corporation. She is on the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute and a former trustee of Princeton University. She has been featured in numerous publications and financial focused television shows. Ms. Hobson graduated from the Woodrow Wilson School of International Relations and Public Policy at Princeton University.

Most recently featured on the ABC TV Special, Unbroke: What You Need to Know About Money, Ms. Hobson and a host of Hollywood celebrities provided an unconventional way of looking at the basics of everyday finance. Many of us are wading through unchartered territory during these tough economic times. Hobson’s insight is what many young professionals are in dire need of. You won’t want to miss this opportunity. This event is free and open to all Metroboard members, prospective members and guests.

For more information and to join the Metroboard, visit http://www.metroboard.org/.

In 2005, Charyn Harris, the former keyboardist for R&B legend Barry White and a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, founded Project MuszEd, a non profit organization that provides free and low cost music instruction, instruments and opportunities for financially challenged and under-served youth in Los Angeles. She was inspired to create the program to support youth who wanted to play an instrument or to sing, but didn’t have the financial means to pursue it.

She shares about the youth, “Some were told that they wouldn’t amount to much and many were used to having their dreams crushed. I too, faced many challenges, so I could identify with them. I was told that I would never make it in the music industry, but by learning to believe in myself, staying focused and determined, I was able to have a wonderful career doing something that I loved. I wanted to let these kids know that if I could do it, they can too. It didn’t matter where they lived or how much money they did or did not have. I became dedicated to finding whatever resources I could to support them.”

Since its founding, the program has been very successful. Harris teaches the youth piano, voice, and theory and performance musicianship, and she personally called her associates in the music industry to arrange career day clinics for her students. To date, Project MuszEd has raised funding for instructors, tuition support, instruments, and has provided instruction to over 150 students. Harris soon began receiving calls from other families that heard about the program. As a result, she started to expand to serve as many youth as possible. Project MuszEd now manages the music program of a youth center, A Place Called Home, located in South Los Angeles.

Among their successes include raising funds for 14 youth to attend a summer program at Berklee College of Music in Boston (five of their students will be attending Berklee, and two on full four year scholarships), raised money to help send one of their students to sing at Carnegie Hall, and opening for the pop group the Black Eyed Peas at their PeaPod Benefit. Other performers they have worked with include The Isley Brothers, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and others.

Harris shares, “It gives me great joy to help youth and families that are truly committed to music education. Whether it is giving a student violin lessons that her family cannot afford or placing an instrument with another student, we are giving something that is priceless as well as encouraging. These kids have now learned that they can achieve whatever they want through commitment and dedication. They also learn the value of giving back. Many of the older students are now serving as mentors, volunteers and teachers. I am happy to say that many of the students who never thought they would go to college are now attending with the confidence of having a brighter future.”

For more information, visit the sites below:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/ProjectMuszEd
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/projectmuszed
Wordpress (blog): http://projectmuszed.wordpress.com/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/muszed
Facebook: Search ProjectMuszed Nonprofit

Chantel Renee Wright, a native of Chicago, is an award winning choral conductor with an impressive resume. Her career has taken her to Atlanta, where she served as a music educator for Dekalb County Public Schools, and to New York, as the Artistic Director of the Queens Symphony Orchestra Youth Gospel Choir, and the Director of the Girls Choir of Harlem. In 2001, Chantel branched out on her own to create Songs of Solomon: An Inspirational Ensemble, Inc. The Harlem, NY based non profit youth music ensemble offers a safe haven for youth ages 13-21 to help them build academic success and enhance social skills, while participating in civic activities and leadership development training.

The ensemble tours nationally and internationally, and performs a challenging repertoire which consists of African American spirituals, anthems, traditional/contemporary gospel, and inspirational music, while simultaneously preserving the integrity of music reflective of the African Diaspora. They have also backed major performers, including, Ciara, Earth, Wind and Fire, Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Elton John and others.

Currently, the ensemble is in Los Angeles to perform at a Legacy Event fundraiser to benefit the Tuskegee Airmen and Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum on Saturday, July 25th. Kimberly Anyadike, the youngest African-American female to pilot an airplane transcontinentally at age 15, will be honored and the keynote speaker will be Dr. Mae Jemison, NASA’s first African-American female astronaut. Songs of Solomon is proud to be supporting the Tuskegee Airmen and Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum. The historical event will bring together mavericks, trailblazers, fellow youth and significant figures who help to globally educate and empower mankind.

Songs of Solomon is looking forward to experiencing LA’s cultural/film/music industry happenings beyond their prescheduled music conference itinerary. Indeed, Songs of Solomon has a wish-list during their LA visit that includes for an afternoon or evening worship service; attending television show tapings; visiting television/film/music studios; meeting Los Angeles area residents/civic leaders; singing at a special event; going to a red carpet, film premiere; and, enjoying a Dodgers game. If you would like to help make their LA trip a memorable one, or would like to book an appearance, contact Chuck Garrett at PUMP, cg[at]pumpny.org.

For more information on the Legacy Event on July 25th, contact Fontaine or Debra at 310-618-1155 to purchase tickets. Tickets can also be purchased at http://www.tamuseum.org./

Visit HERE to learn more about these talented youth.