Insight To Music Labels

My girl Lesvia posted this on her Facebook! (Thanks mama)

I thought it was worthy of sharing. For all of you independent artists out there trying to find your way, do some research. There is nothing more frustrating then answering questions about the state of the business and then they decide they want to buck the system...FROM THE OUTSIDE!!!

Get in first, learn the game, do the research understand that when you pick up the phone to dial my # you are getting a professional opinion, it's not personal! Whew.....just had to get that out. :-)

Enjoy~

Some Of McCain's Black Relatives Support Obama

In the rural Teoc community of Carroll County, Miss., where the ancestors of Sen. John McCain owned enslaved Africans on a plantation, black, white and mixed-race family members unite every two years for their Coming Home Reunion, on the land where the plantation operated.

Some of McCain’s black family members say they are not sure exactly where they fall on the family tree, but they do know this: They are either descendants of the McCain family slaves, or of children the McCains fathered with their slaves.

White and black members of the McCain family have met on the plantation several times over the last 15 years, but one invited guest has been conspicuously absent: Sen. John Sidney McCain.

“Why he hasn’t come is anybody’s guess,” said Charles McCain Jr., 60, a distant cousin of John McCain who is black. “I think the best I can come up with, is that he doesn’t have time, or he has just distanced himself, or it doesn’t mean that much to him.”

Other relatives are not as generous.

Lillie McCain, 56, another distant cousin of John McCain who is black, said the Republican presidential nominee is trying to hide his past, and refuses to accept the family’s history.

“After hearing him in 2000 claim his family never owned slaves, I sent him an email,” she recalled. “I told him no matter how much he denies it, it will not make it untrue, and he should accept this and embrace it.”

She said the senator never responded to her email.

Although Charles is uncertain who will get his vote for president, several of John McCain’s black and white relatives are supporting his Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama.

“I am absolutely supporting Obama, and it’s not because he’s black. It’s because he is the best person at this time in our history,” said Lillie McCain, a professor of psychology at Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan.

“We simply need to look at the economy, and McCain’s campaign does not take us there,” said Joyce McCain, Lillie’s sister, a retired engineering manager with General Motors who lives in Grand Blanc, Michigan. “He is my cousin, but we are in dire times right now and people are hurting. Sen. Obama is clearly the best choice to be president.

’’Charles McCain and his wife, Theresa, who still live in Teoc, started the reunions over a decade ago. Charles is the deacon of Mitchell Springs Baptist Church, the only black house of worship in the area.

When Theresa McCain started the family reunions in the late 1980s or early ‘90s (neither he nor his wife is sure of the exact starting date), only black family members attended. But as word spread about the gatherings, white members of the McCain family got involved. Today, the reunion has expanded to the point where it is becoming a community event.

The reunion’s website, teocfamilyreunion.ning.com, has pictures, postings and other information about the family gatherings. While Sen. McCain’s brother, Joe, and many of his other white relatives attend the reunions, family members say Sen. McCain has never acknowledged them, or even responded to their invitations.

“Well, a lot of the people who had moved away and were living up north, would send money to help us maintain the church,” said Theresa McCain, 62. “Myself and others began inviting them back home for picnics, just to show our appreciation.

”The McCain campaign did not respond to repeated questions about John McCain’s black relatives, or about his relatives of both races who support Obama. Pablo Carrillo, a media liaison with the McCain campaign, said the senator was aware of his African-American relatives, but asked the reporter to put his questions into writing, and that someone would get back to him.

After the reporter sent questions in writing, and made repeated follow-up phone calls, neither Sen. McCain nor anyone else from the campaign responded.

Based on information obtained by the South Florida Times, the senator has numerous black and mixed-raced relatives who were born on, or in, the area of the McCain plantation. The mixed races in the family can be traced back to the rural Teoc community of Carroll County, Miss., where his family owned slaves.

Sen. John McCain’s great, great grandfather, William Alexander McCain (1812-1863), fought for the Confederacy and owned a 2,000-acre plantation named Waverly in Teoc. The family dealt in the slave trade, and, according to official records, held at least 52 slaves on the family’s plantation. The enslaved Africans were likely used as servants, for labor, and for breeding more slaves.William McCain’s son, and Sen. John McCain’s great grandfather, John Sidney McCain (1851-1934), eventually assumed the duty of running the family’s plantation.

W.A. “Bill” McCain IV, a white McCain cousin, and his wife Edwina, are the current owners of the land. Both told the South Florida Times that they attend the reunions. They also said the McCain campaign had asked them not to speak to the media about the reunions, or about why the senator has never acknowledged the family gatherings.

In addition to distancing himself from his black family members, John McCain has taken several positions on issues that have put him at odds with members of the larger black community.

While running for the Republican Party nomination in 2000, he sided with protesters who were calling for the rebel battle flag to be removed from the South Carolina statehouse, only to alter that position later.

"Some view it as a symbol of slavery. Others view it as a symbol of heritage,” John McCain said of the flag. "Personally, I see the battle flag as a symbol of heritage. I have ancestors who have fought for the Confederacy, none of whom owned slaves. I believe they fought honorably.

’’Novelist Elizabeth Spencer, another white cousin of John McCain, noted the slaves the family owned in the family’s memoirs, Landscapes of the Heart. Sen. McCain has acknowledged reading the book, but claims to have only glossed over entries about their slaves.

“That’s crazy,” said Spencer, who also attends the reunions in Teoc. “No one had to tell us, because we all knew about the slaves. I may not vote, because I don’t want anyone to think that I have an issue with John, but I don’t want to see him become president because I think Obama is entirely adequate, and it’s time for a Democrat.

’’Spencer acknowledged donating money to the Obama campaign and to what she called “Democratic causes.”Sen. John McCain was born in 1936 at the Coco Solo Naval Air Station, a segregated military installation in the Panama Canal, where his father was stationed in the U.S. Navy. His family returned to the states shortly after his birth; where he went on to attend segregated schools in the Teoc community and elsewhere around the country.

He served in the Navy, where he was a prisoner of war during Vietnam, before being released and eventually running for Congress.

After he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, McCain voted against the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday in 1983. When he arrived in the U.S. Senate in 1986, he joined North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms in opposing the holiday again, and voted in 1994 to cut funding to the commission that marketed it.

John McCain also aligned himself with former Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham.

Mecham was the governor in McCain’s home state of Arizona from January 1987 to April 1988, when he was impeached and removed from office for campaign finance violations. As a state senator and governor, Mecham publicly used racial slurs against black people and other minorities. He was also a member of the John Birch Society, which opposes civil rights legislation.

In 1986, Mecham campaigned for governor on a promise to rescind the state’s recognition of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, which he did in 1987.

Earlier this year, during the 40th anniversary recognition of King’s assassination, McCain, by this time a presidential candidate, said he was wrong for opposing the national King holiday.

Politics in America has long been steeped in the dynamics of the country’s myriad cultures, diverse ethnicities, and varying religious beliefs. Several of Sen. McCain’s black relatives say Obama’s candidacy represents progress.

“He is denying his black and white relatives in Teoc,” said Joyce McCain, 54. “I think he may not want the country to know his family’s full history, but times have changed and we need to move on, and that’s why I’m supporting Obama.”

As seen in the South Florida Times:

http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2041&Itemid=42

Email:EJones@sfltimes.com

Photo: Lillie McCain, left, and her husband, Jack Vickers, right, pose with Joe McCain, center, during this year’s family reunion.

NAMD New York Chapter Update

What is NAMD?

The National Alliance of Market Developers is an organization of professionals engaged in marketing, sales, sales promotion, advertising and public relations who are focused on the delivery of goods and services to the minority and urban consumer markets.


Established in 1953 as black marketing specialists networked to search out new ways to cope with the challenges in cultivating the "Black Market," the National Alliance of Market Developers is committed to being a catalyst for positive and progressive change for African-Americans.

To accomplish our goals we create local networking opportunities, provide professional development and form alliances within strategic market segments and the general market. NAMD also provides research data that helps educate consumers and marketers, allowing both audiences to make better market decisions.

Market development is essential and the NAMD represents one of the nation's finest marketing and networking organizations. We assist our members in capitalizing on the inherent opportunities and successfully addressing the challenges of navigating this market.

Check out the website http://www.namd-nyc.org/ and make sure that you stop by our member of the month Rochelle Hill. Here is what she has to say about NAMD.




"Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I want to encourage my smart, gifted, intelligent mover/shaker friends and colleagues who live and/or work, in the NY area, to join the National Alliance of Market Developers.....

If you are in the marketing communications field from 9a to 5p, or after 5p and on the weekends as a good hustle, you should join. If you are not in the marketing communications field but marketers use your products or services then, you should join. This is a chance to be associated with the some of the best movers of the marketing industry and an opportunity to further hone your craft within the strategic planning, public speaking, event planning/marketing, sponsorships, public relations, and strategic alliances disciplines (just to name a few) by joining, as there are committees being formed as we speak--to work on some fantastic projects!"

"The NYC chapter is poised to be the strongest chapter in the nation and I know you are like me--you want to be ahead of the curve and up on what is next--well, this is it."

"I forwarded the first fall NAMD-NYC chapter Marketing Mondays information to you and if you did not attend well, you definitely missed out. For only $10., the panel of experts shared a plethora of information on financing your business, what not to put in a marketing plan, how your web site can bring money to you, and other tools beneficial for starting a new business or to make you shine in your current job. A few of the panelists, even agreed to accept emails form those in the audience who wanted to forward their business plan for free feedback. But, you will never get that information now because you did not attend. Oh yeah, and there were great snacks, as well! So, again, do not miss out on your next opportunity to participate.
Be sure to check out this link http://www.namd-nyc.org/events.html for the upcoming events in November. Thanks and let me know if you would like to chat and learn more or ask any questions. I look forward to seeing you as a MEMBER, at our next event. Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Rochelle Hill"

A Song For "Misses Palin".

These two "Russian guys" have created the best tribute to Palin that I have seen to date. It's all about the dance at the end! Absolutely hilarious!!!!

Enjoy~
**************

Beyonce Changes Her Name To Sasha Fierce.

Ummmm.......

Just like the Seinfeld episode where George wanted everyone to call him T-Bone, Beyonce Knowles would like to be known by a bold new name. The R&B singer has christened herself Sasha Fierce for her new double album, I Am ... Sasha Fierce, due in US stores on November 18, and has released a lengthy justification for the comical moniker.
She insists Sasha Fierce is who she really is, and is more fun, sensual, aggressive, outspoken and glamorous.

Beyonce has forged a hugely successful solo singing career after the girl group Destiny's Child (which she headlined) parted ways and has also had small roles in feature films, most notably as Foxy Cleopatra in Austin Powers Goldmember.
She married hip hop producer Jay-Z in a private ceremony in New York this year after dating for several years.
Singers have in the past changed their name after enjoying great success, most famously of course is Prince, who became an unpronounceable symbol and Puff Daddy, who became P Diddy.

As seen as on http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411423/2227394.

Pay It Forward

Daily LaunchTip

From Ladies Who Launch

This launch tip comes form Gail Goodman, founder of Constant Contact. I can not agree with this more. I am so thankful for those that did it and continue to do it for me! :-)

SheNotes~

****

"Many accomplished entrepreneurs gave generously of their time and wisdom when I was just starting out. I could never have gotten where I am today without them. That’s why I help other entrepreneurs when ever I can. I pay it forward, giving my time and advice. Once you’re successful it’s all too easy to forget those uncertain early days and the people who helped you through them. Don’t fall into this trap. What goes around comes around."

Gail Goodman, Constant Contact.

http://www.ladieswholaunch.com/

Start Your Monday With Creme In Your Blog!

When you start drifting today, as we all do on Mondays, take a second to check the Creme Magazine Blog. Lots of cool stuff there and some great editorial by my girl Dominga.
http://www.creme-magazine.com/

SheNotes
*****************************************


The Birth of Barack
By Dominga Martin

What an amazing time in this country! I step into my Brooklyn neighborhood and feel the buzz all around me. People wave and say “hi” that never have before. The tide is shifting and there’s a sense of power and spirituality resonating in the city…in your city…in the world.

On November 4th, Barack will do more than “Make History” he will give birth to a million more Baracks. As I reflect on the monumental leaps in this election, it made me think about a documentary I just produced called “fiche di identite” a term which means “request for ID” used in by police officers in France when people seem suspicious. The doc is a story of 7 friends from Paris and Africa. One of the main characters (Olivia Senghor) is the granddaughter of the First President of Senegal (Leopold Sedhar Senghor); another Mariama, the daughter of a former New Guinea Governor.

Although they are royalty in their own country, they come here to fight for the rights we all should have. Rights black men and women fought for, not so long ago. Mariama said something so profound when we were filming; “We are not criminals, we come here to build the economy, why make us go through so much for a piece of paper?” Isn’t that ironic? How everything boils down to a piece of green paper; whether money or a validation card?

I supported Olivia and her friend’s story because I also come from a long legacy of artists and activists. My family has a 120 year old family collection opening at the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum in a few years; consisting of an uncle who was the founder of Boston’s First Victorian Orchestra, who traveled from Paris to France in the late 1800’s to encourage race relations in music. A cousin who trained to be a Tuskegee Airman and an Uncle who’s a WWI Hero–and no he wasn’t captured! He blocked a fellow soldier, taking 11 bullets and survived. He received a Purple Heart and later went to work for President Franklin Roosevelt.

I grew up with a mother who’s the recipient of the Martin Luther King Drum Major for Justice Award; yet, lost a lot of male friends due to the injustices of this country and gang violence.

I often wondered when black men would get their hour…well, their hour is now! We have to support Barack and the future Baracks and stand beside our men. Support their dreams. Root for Michelle who represents the essence of a woman. We have to support the First Family that represents all of our families. We have to support each other. All of us who stand in the reflection of our fathers.

I encourage all of you to do your part in this election process no matter what happens on November 4th. We must stay active and continue to make our voices heard, because from November 5th on…life will be different!

Please pick up the current issue of Black Enterprise YES WE MUST! The Presidential Election Special. On Stands now!!!

Special THANKS to George Alexander (Editor-At-Large) for including me in the feature “What this Election Means to America.”

Daily Tips from LadiesWhoLaunch.com

This email was so timely this morning. Often when doing business especially with one another (women), we have to be mindful of our intent and purposes. I think that these 3 tips are a great way assure that we are really just about our business and are not allowing other non relevant feelings and emotions to interfere.

SheNotes~
******


Daily LaunchTip
From Victoria Colligan, Founder, Ladies Who Launch.

"Whenever I draft email communication I find that checking myself for any passive aggressive indications is essential to maintaining and building solid business relationships."

Here are three easy that I use to check myself:

1. Read each sentence and ask yourself: Am I saying exactly what I mean or am I intending for someone to figure out an alternative meaning that I have not explicitly stated here?

2. Is any part of my communication being driven by emotions that are outside of the scope of this business relationship. Try to develop an awareness of your emotions in every situation.

3. Is this communication better done in person or by phone even though I might feel uncomfortable? If the answer is yes, pick up the phone. Email often distorts meaning and can work against you in getting to your goal.

http://www.ladieswholaunch.com/


Ladies Who Launch is the first new media company to provide resources and connections for women entrepreneurs. Women are launching businesses at twice the rate of men, and they are doing it primarily for lifestyle reasons–they want more freedom, flexibility, and creativity in their lives. The Ladies Who Launch mission is to make entrepreneurship accessible to any woman with a project, dream or aspiration to start her own business and be successful. We have found a definitive link between launching a business and higher self-esteem and happiness; it is our hope that women will come to Ladies Who Launch and take advantage of our trusted community, tools, resources and success stories and live their dreams.

October Is Breast Cancer Month

October is Breast Cancer Month!!

Harlem World Magazine Against Breast Cancer

At The Breast Cancer Site, every day is a chance to make a difference.

It's fast, free and easy - remembering to click is usually the hardest part! Help make a difference in someone else's life, make sure to click daily for the month of October.

By clicking free mammograms are donated to an undeserved woman when their daily quota is met. It takes less than 30 seconds to go to the site and click on "FUND FREE MAMMOGRAM" button.

This doesn't cost you a thing. Corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate a mammogram in exchange for advertising. Spread the word, tell ten friends to tell ten more friends today.

Here's the web site! Breast Cancer Site

Please pass it along to 10 people you know or more Thank you!!!


***Stay Tuned For Bowling For Breast Cancer Details: Sat., October 25th, Harlem Lanes 6PM*****

Friday Morning Debate Reaction!!

Thanks for the email Donna. This sums it all up. :-)

SheNotes

*****

Friday Morning Reaction: VP Debate

Fri Oct 03, 2008 at 02:08:05 AM PDT

As seen on http://kula2316.dailykos.com/

The reviews are in! The media consensus seems to be that Palin survived - exceeding her incredibly low expectations - but that Biden won by illustrating his superior command of the issues and relentlessly going after John McCain. Definitely not a game changer by any means, and any day that maintains the status quo is a bad day for McCain.
The even worse news for McCain? Today the economy is going to be front and center again, as the House votes on the bailout bill and the September unemployment numbers are announced, after the government announced yesterday that jobless claims are at a 7-year high.

Kula2316's diary :: ::
Before we get to the debate reaction, I wanted to point out this quote from John McCain yesterday - given all the discussion recently about his anger problems. Heck,
even Krauthammer today is saying that Obama has the superior temperament to be President.

Now this presents a real problem for McCain. He feels that in order to win this election he has to bring Obama down and the only way to do that is to attack him. But, attacking - especially in McCain's way - makes him look angry and he therefore reinforces the whole temperament issue. McCain has already said that he plans to go on the attack on Tuesday, reported by CBS News'

John Bentley:
"When are you going to take the gloves off and just go at him?" a woman asked, to loud cheering from the audience.
"How about Tuesday night?" McCain answered to more applause, referring to his second debate between Obama next week.
But how does he do that without reinforcing this gathering perception that he is angry, hot-tempered, irritable, sarcastic, etc.?
::::::

On to the good stuff! The New York Times editorial board agrees that Palin was too reliant on her prepared talking points:
But Ms. Palin never really got beyond her talking points in 90 minutes, mostly repeating clichés and tired attack lines and energetically refusing to answer far too many questions.
Senator Biden did well, avoiding one of his own infamous gaffes, while showing a clear grasp of the big picture and the details. He left Ms. Palin way behind on most issues, especially foreign policy and national security, where she just seemed lost. It was in those moments that her lack of experience — two terms as mayor of a tiny Anchorage suburb and less than two years as governor — was most painfully evident.
::::::

Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal compliments Palin's folksy, populist tone but has a back-handed way of doing it:

She is not a person of thought but of action. Interviews are about thinking, about reflecting, marshaling data and integrating it into an answer. Debates are more active, more propelled—they are thrust and parry.
Not a person of thought. Hmmm. Using Noonan's logic, Palin does badly in interviews because they are "about thinking." I don't know about you, but I think that is a pretty important quality in the potential President of the United States.
::::::

The Denver Post editorial board thinks she held her own, but might have lacked enough specifics to sway undecided voters:

She hailed Israel as an important ally, but didn't get much beyond calling for a two-state solution with Palestine. She called for cutting taxes to create jobs, but failed to counter Biden's outlining Obama's tax cuts for the middle class.
Bottom line: Palin's biggest task is convincing undecided voters that she could lead should she have to, and it's hard to see whether her performance, as clean as it was, held enough substance to sway them.
::::::

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial calls it a draw:

In this debate, Biden clearly had a better grasp of the issues. Palin skillfully sidestepped questions she didn't want to answer from moderator Gwen Ifill and, in so doing, did manage to sidestep that media filter she talked about.

But if the gauge is whether Palin could go toe-to-toe and present herself as genuine and an alternative, she clearly did her ticket a favor in this debate.
::::::

Diane Francis, one of our neighbors up North at the National Post is spot on:
She wasn't present. She wasn't real. She was Sally Sound-byte. (hilarious)
This debate was more revealing than the Presidential one last week because it became very clear that she simply doesn't have the substance to be VP much less President which reflects badly on John McCain's judgment. Obama will crush McCain. Said that months ago. Truer than ever.
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Headline of the morning: Sarah Palin ignores questions she doesn't like in debate (NY Daily News)
::::::

Best quote of the morning (Douglass Burns, Iowa Independent):

For her part, GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin – speaking with the programmed cadence of a GPS navigation system — used forced folksiness to deliver crammed material in the manner of a high schooler looking to score a good grade on a Spanish test. The kid may escape with a B-minus, but he wouldn't be able to order a cup of coffee in Spain a week later.
::::::

Mike Madden of salon.com says
Sarah Palin exceeds expectations - and still loses:

She might have undone whatever good will she earned with her "aw, shucks" Wasilla hockey mom ways, though, when she utterly failed to react after Biden choked up while discussing the death of his first wife and their daughter.
Palin's response was ice cold: "People aren't looking for more of the same. They are looking for change. And John McCain has been the consummate maverick in the Senate over all these years."
It was at this moment in the debate when Biden showed real authenticity and Palin showed just how programmed she was. She clearly did not know how to react - because she hadn't prepared for it - so she launched back into the talking points.
::::::

John F. Harris and Mike Allen of Politico declare Biden the clear winner:

To the contrary, it is hard to count any objective measures by which Biden did not clearly win the encounter. She looked like she trying to get people to take her seriously. He looked like he was running for vice president. His answers were more responsive to the questions, far more detailed and less rhetorical.
On at least ten occasions, Palin gave answers that were nonspecific, completely generic, pivoted away from the question at hand, or simply ignored it: on global warming, an Iraq exit strategy, Iran and Pakistan, Iranian diplomacy, Israel-Palestine (and a follow-up), the nuclear trigger, interventionism, Cheney's vice presidency and her own greatest weakness.
::::::

Scot Lehigh of the Boston Globe,
Biden's ready for the job:

You can say this about Sarah Palin: She did better debating Joe Biden than she did being interviewed by Katie Couric.
But that sets the bar very low indeed. So let's pay Palin the respect of treating her exactly as a male candidate would be treated. And that means saying this: She was simply nowhere near as good as Joe Biden
::::::

So what did you think? I have to admit I was disappointed that Ifill did not follow up on any of her questions that went unanswered by Sarah Palin. Maybe that was part of the debate negotiation, but Palin clearly avoided probably about half of the debate's questions and I thought that deserved some attention.

Also, I think we could get a much better understanding of the candidates if we spiced up the questions a bit. I mean, we all know the topics - Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Russia, the bailout, taxes, health care, etc. I want to see some questions that they obviously haven't prepped for as extensively... how about asking what their plan is for fixing our nation's crumbling infrastructure? Or how they would engage with China in their administration? Or their opinion on the India-US nuclear treaty? That's why Couric's Supreme Court question was so illuminating - it showed that on answers that aren't prepared in advance, Palin is out of her league and Biden is thoughtful and knowledgeable. I'd like to see more of that.

Tags: John McCain, anger, temperament,
Sarah Palin, Joe Biden, VP debate, morning reaction, editorial, Recommended (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions