Don't Snitch Policy: Who Penned It?
Did anyone catch the segment on CBS' 60 Minutes (April 21, 2007) where mega rap stars, Busta Rhymes and Cam'ron had the mike to wax intellectually? These men fell down on the job. The issue is the current theme of "no snitching to cops" under any circumstances. True, for several months different rappers are penning and rhyming threats to those in the 'hood who want to call the police.
It doesn't matter whether a shooting, a robbery or drug sale is the reason for the call. Rappers are now teaching that calling the police is bad. In essence, crime does pay. Our teens are listening to this. Once they start dancing to it, it's a done deal. That message is saved in deep memory. For those unaware of the power of dance: it is a form of communication. We send and receive messages from watching and doing the dance. People who love gangsta rap are singing and dancing to the breakdown of the social fabric.
The impetus to 60 Minutes looking at this music trend is most likely Harlem Children's Zone's Geoffrey Canada. The murder of a young man well-known to him occurred and no one has come forward to give information on the murder, though he was in the company of others, namely Busta Rhymes. Canada asked whether "anyone held the young man in their arms" as his life ebbed away or was it cold avoidance.
Busta Rhymes took part in the segment and stayed clear of any direct language regarding the murder. Rather, a video tribute to the slain man is what Busta Rhymes gives to a life that ended so ear
ly. Canada is very concerned about this turn in rap music. Rappers are teaching fans to avoid the police and let crimes be resolved within the community. Cam'ron displayed bullet wounds in his upper arms. He stated that if he knew a mass murderer lived next door to him, he wouldn't call the police. He would move. That's fine for Cam'ron. He has money that's too hot for his pockets. What about the average working person. Can we quickly put together two or three months of rent to move to another apartment. If you're in New York, that's $2,700 or $3,000. Cam'ron would have people spend thousands of dollars when all they need do is dial 9-1-1. Cam'ron would have folk spend thousands of dollars to move away from domesticate violence when possibly, shouting "Hey, quiet down or I'll call the cops," may do some good?
These two men had an opportunity to represent to the world what it means to be a man, a
celebrity and a role model. They follow the script of "no snitching." Who told them to stick to the policy? Cam'ron points the finger to the record company. Cam'ron says he wouldn't be able to sell records without it. He's not saying the rap audience wouldn't buy it because that crew buys different genres within rap. The rap world appears to be directed to write certain lyrics or the music won't be heard; to dress a certain way or they won't be seen and do certain things or they won't get paid.
Lil' Kim followed the party line of no snitching and had a mini-series to document her preparation for imprisonment. Do you think she would've gotten a mini-series to star in for community service efforts? Probably not. Are we witnessing a plan to convert the US inner cities into havens of lawlessness and fear? Where people resolutely turn their heads to beatings, car jacks, crack sells and open prostitution? Remember, it's in the beat. You get someone to sing something, to dance to something and it's locked in memory.
Labels: CBS, community, gangsta rap, lawlessness, media
Interacting with Your Peeps
It started with being "online, real time." Being on the Internet assured the latest information for you and from you. This computer science adjunct at Pace University chanted "online, real time" during the term of his course. This was in the early 1980's. Though I learned COBOL, I never quite got the meaning of it. Maybe I was somewhat of
a deer blinded by the headlights of a car. The good thing is I did jump over to the other side of the highway before the car hit me.
In 2007, it's "interactivity." I got it as soon as I heard the phrase. Making a website engaging enough that people responded to it. It was more than sending an email or completing a poll, though these are first steps. Interactivity can include changing the look of a website--just for you; revealing only the information that interests you; selecting the shape of the cursor; or choosing whether the website is a static experience or dynamic one using Flash.
George Clinton of Parliament Funkadelic fame gave you that choice: static or dynamic.
Level Wing Media, an interactive agency, displays its interactive capabilities as soon as you enter the home page. You choose the pages that come up on the screen. The choices cover mission, services, case studies, executive profiles and the press room. Instead of many web pages, Level Wing uses PDFs. That's sleek, minimal and fun. It's on the line of the "all about you" mentality.
For many, letting go over the brochure website is a hard thing. Time was spent getting the right photographs, color background, and text to explain who are and what you do and your added value and all the rest. I understand because my website is still brochure style. This interactivity bodes well for social cause agents. There's the reality of an
eNonprofit. What does that look like? Similar to a bank's website, an eNonprofit has services to offer and they can be offered 24/7.
The eNonprofit offers downloadable city agency forms, official instructions and insider suggestions for application completion. Community calendar of events are regularly updated. FAQs responding to the departments of the organization allow people to get answers anytime of the day. This means a housing group's FAQ provides Q & A for responding to a 72-hour notice of eviction. A merchant association's FAQ explains web marketing or discounting merchandise.
If getting people out to a meeting is a challenge, then try teleconferences.
Queen Afua's Heal Thyself Center has weekly City of Wellness conference calls and monthly Global Village Sacred Woman calls. There are people all over the country are "bridging onto" the calls.
The key issue is seeing that you need to change how you communicate and, then, being willing to do a couple of changes. Sometimes the headlights keep us blind, so blink.
Labels: interactive, nonprofit, social media, teleconferencing, web
Technorati Link Up
Please visit Planning To Succeed to talk about nonprofit management, social media, public relations and some out-of-the-box ideas.
Akosua Albritton is a woman who doesn't neatly fit any one category. She's right & left brained and an extroverted introvert. Her skills set is writing, explaining, organizing, and planning. She enjoys working with large groups when she's not surfing the 'Net. People would say she's forward thinking to a point somethings she discusses aren't readily understood until it's heard on the radio or TV.
Go figure.
Her business life began in broadcast media sales & promotion at WHUR-FM; switched sides of the table and did a stint in media buying at Grey Advertising (TV fringe); couldn't accept the amount of hours devoted to keeping spreadsheets up-to-date (rating & shares), so she works in the nonprofit sector doing organizational development only to find public relations and marketing are the enduring passions. Akosua currently writes about technology for Our Time Press newspaper. Read her words at
www.ourtimepress.com; go to
Columns and select "
Wired For Success.
Technorati ProfileLabels: media, POV, productivity, technology, writing
2007 NYBA Annual Meeting Pinged
New York Biotechnology Association held its 2007 Annual Meeting, April 10, 2007 at the New York Marriott Marquis. Stodgy and staid is was NOT. It was a gathering of New York state's vital and pumped researchers, physicians, investors, nonprofits, lawyers and businesses dedicated to quality-of-life and life extension. The Executive Director Nathan Tinker put on a great show designed to stimulate thought, networking and best practices. His boss, the board chairman Robert Van Nostrand had high praises for Tinker. Van Nostrand described Tinker as the person who championed nanotechnology as a viable advancement in computer hardware. Tinker explained that the annual meeting takes one year of planning and coordination to make it as useful as it was.
Attendees had the choice of delving into panel discussions about corporate governance, funding, patent law, venture capital, medical breakthroughs and research park strategy. The
How to Get Your Message Out to the "New" Media was loaded with apply-now strategies for publicizing biotechnology and your particular company; connecting with other professionals; demonstrating your product or method using streaming media or just venting frustrations surrounding intellectual property. Tom Miale, Global Accounts Manager, Streaming Media for MultiVu was panel chairman. He explained that blogs, podcasts, wireless communication, and My Space were examples of New Media and gave statistics about how people are getting their news and information from blogs and on demand video, the decline in broadcast TV sales and the rise in web video market sales.
Miale along with Be Seen. Be Heard President Doris Gilman, PR Newswire Association's David Weiner and MultiVU's George DeTorres gave visual examples and easy-to-follow steps to set up blogs, use RSS feeders and how to measures audience. Between the four of them, the audience became aware of "Delicious," a social bookmarking site; "Technorati," a blog search engine; "Blog Pulse," a blog metrics service; "Second Life," online alternative worlds and "Digg," sort of a populaity contest for blogs.
It appeared that this very mature audience was following the ins and outs of social media. One attendee queried how to get the highest tiered executives on board with social media. David Weiner offered to do a presentation at his or any firm that required an outsider's persuasion. I enjoyed the panel to the extent that I implemented many ideas on return to the office.
As for Tom Miale: He's knowledgeable. He loves his job. He
must work on chairing or moderating a discussion. He frequently imposed himself on the panelists' presentations to the point that George DeTorres couldn't present a prototype biotech site. It was meant to be the culmination of everything previously stated. It sems George is good-natured. It will be used another time.
Labels: biotechnology, ego, events, productivity, social media
Al Sharpton and Imus in a Two-Hour Embrace
This morning, a friend in Florida called me to talk about Don Imus' statement about a women's basketball team. Do you know I thought he was referring to the NBA when he said "nappy-headed 'ho's." Sunday morning, I chuckled as I drove to fellowship because I agreed that these male basketball players were prostituting themselves. I mentally added, "and those straight-haired whores, too." How do these men live themselves when they make millions and very few donate to worthy and well-ran causes. This shows how base I can get and...I was having a Saturday Night Live "Never Mind" moment.
Waving the story off as desperate bad buzz, I placed Don Imus in the has-been category. Knowing that he was referring to the WNBA, it was truly a low blow to journalism, broadcasting and professionalism. Don Imus is the prostitute. Hopefully, he is fully aware of it. Shock radio or cable is pandering to base minds. It's on the level of scrawling SEX in big, bold letters to sell anything--diapers, beer, jewelry and gum. My Florida friend says the man is/was a cocaine user and has spent time in some black community to learn of the phrase, "nappy-headeded." So what? Well, he was obviously trying to draw blood from African Americans. He wasn't relating the Euro Americans by using that slang. Does the after effects of cocaine keep you off-kilter?
Then, Al Sharpton fuels the flame of this attention-seeking has-been by providing a two hour platform. Imus dances around accepting responsibility for the consequences, which aren't much. Two hours? Is he a politician? Is he talking about global warming? What about child soldiers or blood diamonds? Two hours for "nappy-headed 'ho's. Rev. Al Sharpton would serve himself and viewers better by pouring libation that morning and going behind-the-scenes to personally lead Imus to the pasture. So what does Rev. Sharpton get for the rhetoric? I will not conjecture.
I think media executives used Don Imus to push the envelope and see how will the audience--of all nationalities and races--respond to blatant poor taste and mean-spiritedness. Would we eat it up and ask for more?
Labels: buzz, media, politics, race, women's sports
Introducing Neighborhood Anchored Funding
P R E S S R E L E A S E FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Akosua Albritton March 30, 2007
718 783 5744
Planning To Succeed Launches
Neighborhood Anchored Funding ©
For Urban Nonprofits
– - Planning To Succeed launches a proven direct marketing strategy for nonprofits requiring a diversified funding base. Known as Neighborhood Anchored Funding © (NAF), this funding strategy allows community-based and grassroots organizations to experience comparable financial support from clients that national organizations, radio stations, hospitals and art galleries receive. Neighborhood Anchored Funding operates on the premise that every community has pockets of affluence.
NAF © uses the latest technology to uncover area socioeconomic statistics and then, conducts state-of-the-art donor prospecting, donor management, appeals communication and community and government relations to increase revenue and raise public awareness for nonprofits. Using New York City as an example, the 2004 Annual Report of Social Indicators reveals, “In 2004, New York City’s health care and social assistance sector accounted for 18% of private employment. In Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens this sector accounts for 31%, 38% and 21% of borough employment, respectively. Given nonprofits are key providers in this sector; it is essential that nonprofits include individuals and local businesses in their support base to ensure ongoing, quality service delivery and employment.
Company Principal, Akosua Albritton, advances the notion that US urban communities have pockets of affluence and even lower income households are willing to give money to a good cause. The decennial national census bears this out. In the 2000 Census, communities with 25% of residents receiving some form of public assistance contained census tracts with households whose incomes at $60,000 and higher. This fact is explained by the tendency for ethnic groups to develop enclaves that include a range of household incomes. Further, lower income households are willing to support churches, social clubs, and pay for child care services if they believe they are worthy institutions. In effect, “there is a gold mine in the backyard; uncovering it is the first step.”
Planning To Succeed is a development and communications consulting firm serving nonprofits, businesses and government agencies. Specialty areas include program planning; community needs assessments, proposal writing, special events, Internet marketing and government and community relations. Please visit us anytime at www.plans4success.com to learn more about the firm.
186 Prospect Place #64
Brooklyn, NY 11238
www.plans4success.com
718 783 5744 347 881 6509
# # #
Size Makes A Difference
Does working with underfinanced start-ups and small businesses (having less than 10 employees) test your patience and faith in America's small businesses? They do me something terrible when I'm prospecting for new clients. Many of them initiate contact with my
firm and ask for assistance. A colleague recently asked whether she should charge for the initial meeting with prospects.
The first thing to uncover is whether a meeting is in order. Ask questions and ask more questions. Don’t we really want to know how immediate the need is, how willing they are to pay for it and how deep their pockets are? Asking questions and more questions will uncover the answers. People like to talk about themselves and their businesses, so have prepared questions for the telephone chat and stay focused on your goals. While email can work, using the phone with smaller companies develops rapport, allows you to hear to the timber of their voices and get immediate responses. Five to ten questions are enough to know what they want to occur, their budget and their time frame.
Within 20 minutes of the telephone call, you ought to have your answers. If it sounds good, schedule a face-to-face meeting wherein you’ll provide some quick fixes and concepts for longer range solutions. Most importantly, state a fee. If they balk at paying a fee, explain that this is a working meeting. If they object, you must make yourself object to any further consideration. Of course you can put them on your postal and email lists.
This scenario is essential for start ups and small businesses (less than 10 employees); They can waver on committing to their success and are distracted by many responsibilities. Larger firms (100+ employees) know it takes money to grow. For them, find out whether they’re in the initial stages of selecting firms to do a presentation before a group. Don't expect to be paid for a presentation, however, you'll probably be speaking to someone who isn't wearing so many hats that they put this need on the back burner.
Some say, "Why bother with the little guy?"They are of the fisherman's point of view. You may remember the story of a fisherman who's struggling with his line only to reel in a baby fish. He takes the fish off the hook and throws it back in the water to allow it to grow. The choice is yours: reel them in or cast them back.
ly. Canada is very concerned about this turn in rap music. Rappers are teaching fans to avoid the police and let crimes be resolved within the community. Cam'ron displayed bullet wounds in his upper arms. He stated that if he knew a mass murderer lived next door to him, he wouldn't call the police. He would move. That's fine for Cam'ron. He has money that's too hot for his pockets. What about the average working person. Can we quickly put together two or three months of rent to move to another apartment. If you're in New York, that's $2,700 or $3,000. Cam'ron would have people spend thousands of dollars when all they need do is dial 9-1-1. Cam'ron would have folk spend thousands of dollars to move away from domesticate violence when possibly, shouting "Hey, quiet down or I'll call the cops," may do some good?
celebrity and a role model. They follow the script of "no snitching." Who told them to stick to the policy? Cam'ron points the finger to the record company. Cam'ron says he wouldn't be able to sell records without it. He's not saying the rap audience wouldn't buy it because that crew buys different genres within rap. The rap world appears to be directed to write certain lyrics or the music won't be heard; to dress a certain way or they won't be seen and do certain things or they won't get paid.
