Steve Harvey On Dream Building
Denzel Washington with Steve Harvey
Syndicated radio personality, comedienne, game show host and best-selling author Steve Harvey was presented the Humanitarian Award at the BET 11 Annual Awards where Harvey mentioned his commitment to his mentoring program to young men that recently held its third annual mentoring weekend at his ranch in Dallas. Designed to share and teach the principles of manhood and dream building to 125 teenage boys (50 boys from the Dallas-area, 65 boys from around the country, and 10 junior counselors), ages 13-18 who are without fathers in their lives, the weekend welcomed Denzel Washington, Jermaine Dupri, Stephen A. Smith, Terrence J., KRNB air personality Azim Rashid, Will Packer, Dr. Steve Perry and John Hope Bryant, among others, to make the event transformative in the lives of these young men.
“The sole purpose of this weekend is to turn these boys into men and provide them with a vision and a dream,” said Harvey. “One thing I’ve told them is: success is within you. If you do what you say you are going to do, you’ll always be able to do what you want to do!”
Parents, chaperones and single mothers were also exposed to success tools the Steve Harvey Foundation had developed to further empower the young men. Harvey plans to host regional Steve Harvey Mentoring Weekends in Chicago, New York, Atlanta and Charlotte later this year.
Chris Paul Charges New Orleans Youth
Photos courtesy of Derick Hingle/PictureGroup
Four-time NBA All-Star and Hornets point guard Chris Paul hosts Interscope Records group Mindless Behavior for a surprise performance to more than 300 New Orleans youth at his first CP3K Walk for Kids Presented by The Coca-Cola Company at Tulane University, just one of the CP3 Foundation's initiatives encouraging youth to stay active and lead healthy lifestyles. Mindless Behavior is a foursome of 13-year olds put together by the Conjunction Productions team and Streamline Records head Vincent Herbert, selected from open auditions in Los Angeles back in 2008 and developed as the next new boy group. Currently impacting with “Ms. Right” from their forthcoming debut album #1 Girl, the group opened last year for the Backstreet Boys and Justin Bieber tours and this year for Janet Jackson.
Appointed as a member of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition last year, NBA Hornets all-star Chris Paul is committed to enriching the lives of young people and recently focused on Hornets hometown New Orleans with his first CP3K Walk for Kids. Partnering with Coca Cola, Paul led more than 300 kids on the walk. Ingrid Saunders Jones, Sr. VP of Global Community Connections for the Coca-Cola Company and Chairperson of the coca-Cola Foundation, commented, “This walk provides a structured environment for our youth to learn the importance of being active and making healthy choices.
Chuck Berry Bronzed
An eight-foot bronze statue of Chuck Berry, considered to be the ‘father of rock and roll,” was erected in Universal City, Missouri, in a plaza across the street from the Blueberry Hill where Berry still plays monthly. Berry, a Kennedy Center honoree, will attend the official dedication with his family on July 29 in a ceremony saluting his legacy. His son Charles Berry Jr. told University City Patch after the installation, “I’m going to brag. They got a statue of my dad in U City. My dad, he’s the coolest dude on the planet to me.”
Tom Joyner Added To NYC’s KISS
Starting on February 7, Emmis urban AC WRKS-FM (Kiss 98.7) welcomed a new morning crew to the New York airwaves, welcoming The Tom Joyner Morning Show back to the #1 rated market. To kick off his return to the Big Apple, Joyner led by giving a “Trip A Day” away to listeners to his annual Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise that sets sail this year from Galveston, March 20-27. Bob Slade joins the team locally.
Says KISS PD Jill Strada, “Tom’s a radio veteran whose work ethic and dedication to empowering the Black community is a perfect fit with Kiss-FM’s culture. Together we are going to do some big things in the big apple.”
Added Alex Cameron, Emmis Communications SVP/Market Manager: “2011 marks 30 years for KISS FM as a dominant and trusted voice reflecting the tri-state’s African American adult community. In celebrating that, we are happy to welcome Tom Joyner to KISS FM with a show that shares the values of family and community.”
Kelly Mac Relocates to Philly CC Cluster
Kelly Mac
The 2010 Marconi Radio Award-winning midday air personality at WJMZ-FM (107.3) in Greenville, South Carolina as well as its APD/MD, Kelly Mac, has accepted the APD/MD position in Philadelphia at Clear Channel’s Hip Hop WUSL-FM (Power 99) and heritage urban AC WDAS-FM (105.3), according to Ken Johnson, Clear Channel Philadelphia Director of Urban Programming. She replaces Kashon Powell, who moved to Virginia to cover Clear Channel’s urban programming there last November.
NABOB To Honor Dr. Bobby Jones
February 14, 2011 by Admin2
Filed under Mid Atlantic, Regions
The 27th Annual NABOB Communications Awards Dinner is scheduled for March 4th at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. this year with performances from Fantasia, Regina Belle and Chrisette Michelle. This year’s honorees include Dr. Bobby Jones with the Pioneer in Gospel Music, Buddy Guy and Slinger “Mighty Sparrow” Francisco with Pioneer in Music and Soledad O’Brien with the Mickey Leland Public Service Award.
Dr. Bobby Jones
D.C. Welcomes UNCF Relocation
February 14, 2011 by Admin2
Filed under Mid Atlantic, Regions
Ground was officially broken for the new United Negro College Fund headquarters in the Shaw area of Washington, D.C. on February 7, beginning construction on a 50,000 square-foot office at Progression Place, located at 1805 7th Street, NW that is expected to open in 2012. Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D., UNCF president and CEO, explained the organization’s move from Fairfax, Virginia to D.C. as expanding its advocacy and service to students. “UNCF has become one of the country’s most prominent advocates for the importance of students getting the preschool-through-high school education they need to succeed in college, and Washington is the hub of the national conversation about how to make sure they get that preparation for college,” he said, adding that the “UNCF also wants to be able to provide college-focused information and services directly to DC-area students and the hundreds of thousands of students who visit DC each year. To be an effective advocate for education reform, and to help children of color prepare for college UNCF has to be in D.C.”
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Council Chair Kwame Brown, Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham and other leaders joined UNCF representatives for the groundbreaking ceremony of the $23 million building that will also house mixed office space and more than 200 apartments and retail space. Additionally, there will be a career center offering students standardized test preparation, college application help, financial assistance, interview training and job placement assistance as the UNCF envisions the site becoming a hub in the Shaw neighborhood for other advocates of minority education.
WKYS Remembers William Walker (1976-2011)
February 14, 2011 by Admin2
Filed under Mid Atlantic, Regions
WKYS-FM (93.9), D.C.’s source for the Hip Hop community, sadly reports the loss of its young 35-year old air personality William “Ill Will” Walker who died on February 9 while recuperating in the hospital from recent surgery and suffering two heart attacks. Funeral services are scheduled for February 14 at Reid Temple AME Church in Glenn Dale, Maryland. WKYS has set up a tribute page posted on their website with videos and messages and posted its own message: “It is with great pain that we inform you that William Walker, affectionately known as Ill Will, has passed away suddenly midday today after a brief illness. All of us here will miss his energy and “can-do” spirit. We know everyone will keep him and his entire family in their thoughts and prayers.”
WJMZ Accepts Marconi for Urban Station of the Year
WJMZ's Steve Crumbley and Steve Sinicropi
The year ends with big honors to Greenville/Spartanburg, SC Cox Broadcasting’s urban WJMZ-FM (107.3) which won the NAB’s Marconi Award for Urban Station of the Year and was a finalist in the Medium Market Station of the Year category. “We were thrilled just to be nominated. Winning a Marconi is incredible, and our staff is very proud. It’s gratifying to have our industry recognize 107-3 JAMZ in Greenville/Spartanburg as one of the great stations in the country. The entire staff is appreciative for the recognition of their work at 107-3 JAMZ and their dedication serving our listeners, advertisers and partners in the Upstate,” said Steve Sinicropi, VP/GM for Cox Radio Greenville, who is shown accepting the award with OM/PD Steve Crumbley.
25th ANNIVERSARY Congratulations to Detroit Radio’s Afternoon Anchor FRANKIE DARCELL
(l-r) singer K'Jon, Detroit City Council member JoAnn Watson, Frankie Darcell, and legendary performer Ron Banks--Photo by Brian Thompson
The year 2009 marked veteran air personality Frankie Darcell’s 25th anniversary in broadcasting. More than 250 guests joined the popular Detroit afternoon drive host of WMXD-FM (Mix 92.3) at the Roostertail Restaurant for a star-studded celebration that included performances from Ruben Studdard, Kem and K’Jon. U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick presented Darcell the Spirit of Detroit award from the Detroit City Council and Wayne County Commissioner Alisha Bell presented a proclamation from the State of Michigan. Frankie used her special milestone to honor Black Family Development, AugMe Foundation Breast Cancer for Women, and Karmanos Cancer Institute.
