Mastery Journal

As I’m finishing up my master’s program, I’m wrapping up my second to last course that covers Public Relations and Reputation Management. My original objective going into this course was to understand how public relations related to journalism and how to improve my relationships with public relations insiders. I felt confident in my knowledge of reputation management. As a member of the military, I understand that anything I do positive or negative, can impact the image of my branch of service. I also understand the relationship the military has with the public at large. This simple understanding has helped me to apply overall reputation management to organizations, companies and my own personal brand outside of the military.

I definitely learned that journalism and public relations intersect. Both arenas work hand in hand while having different objectives. Relationships between PR managers and journalists need to be functional to present a clear message to the intended target audience. Unfortunately, the history between journalists and PR managers has not always been the best as told by Reuters. I’ve learned to approach future relationships with PR professionals with the respect I want to receive and to limit my biases.

In my most recent course I studied research and investigation in journalism. Initially I just wanted to pass the course and move on to the next class. I was sure of my research skills because who doesn’t google? However, I was challenged to push myself to find more reputable sources of information. I learned how to utilize public records to substantiate my writings. In doing so, I learned a very valuable lesson; journalism is about finding the source of information, checking facts and sharing those facts with your intended audience. Relying on other news outlets can prove to be an issue because no news outlet is completely free from error. Journalists should not trust any source but instead, scrutinize all information for validity. Information is spread so quickly and misinformation is spread just as rapid. Much of what is posted on the net is not fact checked because we are so inundated with information that we don’t take the time to check the sources. There are many tools available at our disposal that help us fact check but by the time we’ve posted or reposted inaccurate information, we are on to the next story. The danger in posting inaccurate information or blindly reposting is that someone’s reputation can be damaged and/or there can be legal repercussions.

Daniel Philip, better known as Aladdin "Prince of the Airwayz", is a popular on air personality at Power 95.3 in Orlando, Florida. He got his start as a radio intern in his hometown of Washington, DC. During his internship Aladdin answered phones, solicited contest winners, produced content for the morning show, and ran promotions among other duties. He also filled in for on air personalities until he was hired permanently at WPGC 95.5. Two years after starting in radio, he landed his own overnight show.

Aladdin’s talents do not end in radio. He has become a social media sensation known for his witty and comical celebrity interviews. He’s also a philanthropist and public speaker. Aladdin spends much of his off time with high school and college students, encouraging them to follow their dreams. He often works with at risk youth in an effort to guide them back to the right path.

“It’s rewarding for me to speak to children. It feels good to know that I made a difference in their lives and that I inspired them to make better decisions,” Aladdin shared.

The popular disc jockey also described the competitive nature of radio. When asked about the ups and downs of the radio world, Aladdin disclosed that the internal politics are messy at times. “Companies want to do more with less. So if someone can run the show and be on air, that’s more beneficial,” he stated.

When asked what an aspiring on air personality could do to succeed Aladdin shared, “when chasing your dreams you have to decide to make it work. Focus on your Plan A and trust that you can achieve your goals.”

Aladdin also shared that interning at a radio station or a school of broadcasting would be great starting points to learn the basics of radio broadcast.

Of course radio can seem like a dream job but as with any job, there are down sides. Aladdin shared that his worst radio was being released from the highly rated Donnie Simpson Morning Show.

“The producers wanted to go in a different direction. At the time, I thought it was the worst thing that could ever happen” he said. “In retrospect it turned out to be the best thing for me because I landed the overnight show and I was able to develop as a personality.”

With new technological advances, the future of radio is ever changing. “Radio is evolving and changing with the times and has a bright future,” Aladdin said. “My goal is to use radio as a platform to transition into TV. In ten years you will see me on a red carpet as a correspondent,” he stated.

This past Sunday the beautiful Taraji P. Henson won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Cookie Lyon on Empire.  Social media erupted in praise for the actress because her Golden Globe win was long overdue. Taraji has worked in the entertainment industry for 20 years, taking on many roles that display her incredible range as an actress. With the excitement of Taraji’s win also came criticism. Taraji has played a number of dynamic characters in her career. It came as a surprise that her first major mainstream win was for a character that has long been debated as a stereotypical trope. Her character as Cookie is the archetypal sassy black woman that doesn’t take any mess, a depiction that has been long standing in film.

 Along with the sassy black woman trope, or sapphire, are other popular stereotypes of black women perpetuated throughout film and television. The most popular of these stereotypes are the mammy, and the angry black woman or jezebel. The mammy depiction is usually a larger woman who is subservient and ignorant while the jezebel although beautiful, is overtly sexual. In some instances these stereotypes overlap.  These tropes are constantly rewarded by mainstream awards shows, but why are these characters lauded? If we analyze the major wins of black women in film, the majority of those wins are based on stereotypical characters. The praise of these portrayals reinforces negative stereotypes that have become popular over time. These victories come off as backhanded compliments given the roles being rewarded. Are black women winning these honors because the awards panels believe that the characters are accurate portrayals of African American women? Although many of these characters are scripted and are not based on any real person, their depictions still impact the way in which black women are viewed and their own perceptions of self.

  Receiving mainstream accolades is bittersweet because on the one hand we are happy to be invited to the table. On the other hand, the accolades are given for roles that do not always reflect our best work. This is why it is imperative that we control our own narrative. How we tell our stories and how we allow our stories to be told is our responsibility. Although Cookie Lyon is an entertaining character, we need more dynamic characters represented on television to help break the stereotype of the attitudinal black woman. We need a balance of black women in film because how we are portrayed in film directly correlates to how we are treated in reality. We can control the narrative by being more selective of the roles we accept.

 In the past few years, the media has given insurmountable attention to the issue of police abusing and killing unarmed Black people. Let me reiterate, unarmed Black PEOPLE. Men are not the only victims of police brutality. Women and children are victimized as well but that’s a topic that deserves a post all of its own. In light of these events, one comment seems to resonate with #alllivesmatter supporters, “Why do Blacks only protest when cops shoot them and not when Ray-Ray kills June Bug?”

I hear this comment from all races of people, but it stings a little more when I hear it coming from well-meaning Black folks. This comment is thrown into debate as if it’s some sort of trump card. In fact, the commenter seems to think they have shut down the conversation as if this statement were their dagger. This very comment highlights the ignorance of many and separates those that are online activists from those who are actively involved in these communities. The truth is protests against inner city violence occur quite often.

(photo credit 300menmarch.com)

Let’s take for example the tragic murder of 9 year old Tyshawn Lee. In an article published by the Daily Caller on December 4th, a writer questioned where the Black outrage was over the killing of young Lee and why Blacks were not out in the streets protesting. She also went on to insinuate that Black people are under the belief that White officers are killing Blacks at higher number than members of their own race. The one accurate statement that she made was that there was no media coverage of any protests for Tyshawn Lee. Every other statement she made was based off of her own assumptions with very little substantiating facts. If she had really done her research, she would have known that peaceful protests occur regularly in Chicago regarding inner city violence. Furthermore, there were protests in Chicago specifically in outrage to Tyshawn’s killing. Less than thirty days later, Tyshawn’s killer was apprehended and charged.

(photo credit Stephanie Zollshan)

But what happens when a police officer harms or kills an unarmed Black person? How long does it take to charge an officer who has broken the law or abused his or her power? How often are these officers actually convicted of any wrong doing? In most cases police officers are not indicted or they are charged but found innocent.

(photo credit WTOC staff)

When I graduated with my Bachelor’s last June, I was unsure of what my next step would be. I wanted to continue on my educational journey but I was not looking forward to taking more classes. After starting my Master’s program in August, my Master’s program has moved along quickly. Once each class is finished, I breathe a sigh of relief and think to myself “that wasn’t so bad.” I am four classes into my degree with just eight more to go.

           Learning about the legal aspects of media this semester definitely gave me a lot to think about as an up and coming blogger. In an assignment for this semester I learned that even the pictures I use from a search engine could be problematic if they are not public domain. A fellow blogger was sued for using a photo even though she removed it from her site. Many times, I post photos that go along with my topics without much thought regarding who owns the photo. I figured that anything on the web was fair use and that I could reuse any stock photos.

           I also enjoyed the case studies. In one case study we reviewed how a flight attendant’s comments on O.J. Simpson that were released on the news. The reporter didn’t notify the attendant that he had recorded their conversation until after the next day. The attendant sued the reporter and the broadcasting company but loss the case. Although the reporter was within his legal right to record the conversation, this case was matter of ethics to me. I feel that recording someone without his or her consent is ethically wrong. Furthermore, using the recording after being asked to delete it is unjust. Any reporter that has to get their story that way is not a good journalist in my eyes. This semester gave me a lot to think about going forward as a blogger and future journalist.

This morning, a good friend of mine made a Facebook post stating that there were only three black-owned grocery stores in the entire United States. Immediately I met his post with skepticism and thought “here we go, posting without facts.” I instantly decided to research the validity of his post and to my dismay, he was wrong: there weren’t three black-owned grocery stores, there were only two.

Earlier this month, I debated with an acquaintance about the importance of buying from black owners and supporting the black community. My friend, who is not black, felt it was prejudice only to support black businesses. She felt that we should support all small businesses collectively as Americans. Although her heart was in the right place, I argued that it was important for me to support black businesses to keep the black community afloat. When I spend money in Whole Foods, whose community am I helping? How can I not feel a sense of guilt when I spend my dollars with companies owned by millionaires who prosper and drive home to their mansions while the communities that I’m from are in shambles?

Too many times have I driven through areas in cities like Baltimore and Washington, DC and have witnessed the amount of rundown, abandoned buildings. Storefronts closed due to lack of community support. Over the summer, I visited Baltimore and was shocked to see the amount of dilapidated homes scattered throughout the city. I know very well what happens when stores and homes are left vacant. Neighborhoods that once thrived with people of color are bought at low cost by developers. The remaining citizens of that community are either bought out or forced out of their homes. High rise condos and new homes that are more expensive than the average citizen can afford are then built, increasing property value, rent, and property taxes. Low-income and middle-class families that cannot afford the increased prices are forced out of the community, never to return.  This action is called gentrification.

Many shine up gentrification as this great wave that saves minority communities as if people of color should be thankful for it. On the popular website Slate.com, writer John Butin attempted to discredit the negatives of gentrification. One of the top comments on John Butin’s article read “whites moving out of black communities = white flight (racism), whites moving into black communities = gentrification (racism).” The sarcasm in the comment displays the commenters lack of understanding towards what is truly happening in these communities. When whites left communities during integration, they moved because they were worried that their property value would decrease. Additionally, they did not want to live near African Americans and the perceived problems we would bring. The influx of whites moving back to these communities is not because they want to rub shoulders with African Americans, but because they see an opportunity to make a profit. What happens to the blacks of that community once prices increase? Are the wealthy showing concern for the displaced minorities?

John Butin also expressed gentrification as a myth. Tell that to the low-income families of Washington, DC’s Barry Farms, Lincoln Heights, and the other 40,000 Black residents that have left the District of Columbia in the past decade. Clearly he has never seen the film “Southwest Remembered” or heard of the demolition of Temple Courts apartments. The demolition of Temple Courts is a key indicator that gentrification is very real.

Temple Courts apartments were low-income homes that were affected by urban renewal in 2008. Developers demolished the complex promising to build a new and improved “mixed-income” development. Developers promised displaced families that they could return to the community once construction was complete. The construction of the “mixed-income” development never happened. What was built were luxury apartments where 70 percent of the units are sold at market rate while only 59 units were actual replacements for the original Temple Courts residents. What became of the rest of those displaced families?

The same happened to Arthur Capper housing. In 2001, 707 households were displaced when the city demolished the development. A senior building housing 162 units has been constructed since the demolition, but the rest of the 545 displaced families have been waiting well over a decade for the promised redevelopment.

So how will the support of black-owned businesses help? For one, many of the stores in the black communities will prosper from the patronage. The families that own these stores live in the community as well. When the stores lack business, they are forced to close. The forced closures impact the owner’s ability to make ends meet. Jobs that were provided by these local stores will become nonexistent. Additionally, residents that would normally shop at these stores must find alternate ways to receive their goods. As a result, the money flowing within the community will now be spent elsewhere. If we can keep money in our communities, we can prevent the closure of black-owned businesses and ensure that our communities continue to thrive. Instead of giving developers the small window of opportunity they need to take over our communities for profit.

I’m a very outgoing person by nature and I love to talk so of course blogging would come easy right? Absolutely wrong. In the past few weeks I’ve realized that writing is my weakest point when it comes to journalism. I love conducting interviews in front of a camera. Give me a script and I would be the most fun talk show host, but if you ask me to write, I begin to struggle.

 I set out to write about charities, philanthropy, politics, and issues that affect young minorities. Covering these topics is easy when I can talk freely about them. Writing about these topics is a different story. I can’t write in the same manner that I talk and expect my blog to maintain the level of professionalism that I want to convey. Additionally, I’m my own editor so I have to proofread what I’m writing for grammatical errors. I have to make sure that my work maintains a flow that is easy for readers to follow.

 I’m also a major procrastinator. I don’t want to write when I’m uninspired. To maintain a successful blog, most bloggers post daily, sometimes several times a day. I don’t find that much inspiration to write. I could easily do video blogs daily but I’m not great at the editing portion. It’s also difficult to gather a following to have people read my blog.

 I’ve been successful among my peers in getting them to provide feedback but it’s difficult to cater to a new audience. It can even be down right scary to spend your time writing a piece that you’re proud of and post it at the mercy of millions of strangers online. The online world can be intimidating for beginning bloggers. So many people are opinionated and feel comfortable sharing their opinions from behind a computer. People can be very critical online and downright mean.

For most African American males in inner cities across America, the goal is to become a rapper or an NBA star. For many, those dreams never come true. Enter Devonte’ Young, a 27 year old entrepreneur from Capital Heights, MD. Devonte’ had basketball aspirations as a teenager, becoming widely popular during his high school basketball career.

After high school, Devonte’ encountered many setbacks and a few legal issues that pushed him to step outside of his comfort zone. He knew that he had to make a change to reach the level of success that he desired.  He overcame his obstacles and pushed himself to complete college.

When he completed college he began developing an idea for basketball clinics to train young, aspiring athletes. With his interactions with NBA stars, he knew it was imperative to teach young athletes more than just the skill of basketball. He wanted his students to be prepared for life off the court.  He started Beyond Basketball Training, an outreach program that uses basketball as a tool to reach youths.

“Outside of the basketball training, the kids talk to me when they have issues. I consider myself a mentor to them; all the kids can reach me and talk to me,” He said. “They see what I do outside of basketball and it motivates them to keep going and work hard.”

Devonte’ is now making waves with his new clothing line, Enspire Them. “The mission is to inspire others to become successful,” he explained. “I want to push young men towards starting businesses instead of robbing, stealing, and killing for money. I’m from an area where we don’t know anything about entrepreneurship so I’m going to be the first to show the youth what it’s really about by building a team, building a brand, and then becoming successful.”

Although he has found much success with his new apparel, he admits that developing his startup was tough. “The toughest challenge I encountered was trying to do everything by myself. I have a team that I trust to build with,” he stated.

This weekend, Best Selling Author Natasha T. Brown hosted a Domestic Violence Survivor’s Symposium, which highlighted Author and Spoken Word Artist Claudine Barbot’s survival story. Other guests contributed to the conversation discussing the ways in which their families had been affected by domestic violence. The Symposium was a forum for survivors to share their experiences with domestic abuse. Sixty-four people from all walks of life were in attendance as the guests shared their stories. Many of the attendees shared similar experiences and were deeply touched by the survivors’ accounts. “My sister was murdered for asking for a divorce,” guest Benny Randall shared during the night’s conversation. Benny also shared the signs of abuse that he witnessed prior to his sister’s tragic death.

The speaker for this symposium, Claudine Barbot, shared her experiences with domestic abuse, the impact it had on her family, and how she has recovered since she left the relationship. She recalled her abuser telling her, “If I can’t have you, no one can,” among other forms of verbal abuse. She also highlighted the signs of domestic abuse and her breaking point that was the catalyst for her leaving.

As a mother, my pride and joy are my beautiful children. I love the compliments I get for how well behaved my children are, and how well I take care of them. What I don't appreciate are the comments that insinuate that the only reason they're beautiful is because their father is fair skinned. You know the comments, "Oh your daughter has that GOOD hair," "Your son is going to get all the girls with that light skin." WHAT? First of all, there's NO SUCH THING AS GOOD HAIR. Stop saying that. I've seen plenty of people with what's considered "good hair" with dry, brittle ends and absolutely no edges. I've seen people with thick, kinky hair that was full and healthy. Are you saying if my daughter's hair were coarser she would be less beautiful? Or if my son were darker, he would be less handsome? Even family members have made disparaging comments about what they feel makes my children gorgeous, not realizing that while praising the more Eurocentric traits they are really saying "thank God they don't look Black".

I also find myself constantly defending stereotypical Hispanic features. Because everyone assumes that if you're Hispanic you're supposed to look like J. Lo or Sofia Vergara, ignoring the Celia Cruz's and Tego Calderon's as people of color. It's as if people truly didn't know that America was not the only stop in the African slave trade. Many Hispanics and Latinos refuse to acknowledge their African ancestry altogether.

I argue with my fair skinned friends about how they talk about their looks. I've heard one of my biracial friends make a comment about how all the men are on her because she's a redbone. Not because of how attractive she is, her personality, or her gorgeous body, but because of her skin complexion. That's what she values about herself, her skin tone. As if she'd be ugly if she were any darker.

I find myself rolling my eyes on vacation when my lighter skinned friends make comments about how they don't want to stay out in the sun too long because they don't want to get "black".

But what grinds my gears is when I go out, and the "compliment" I get is "You're pretty, what are you mixed with?" It's as if being Black is not enough or somehow inherently ugly. That is not a compliment. What you're doing is silently putting down one group of people in an attempt to praise another group. What if the person you're praising is not mixed? Is the assumption that they were mixed the only reason that you found them attractive in the first place?

 As most of you know, I’m pursuing my Master’s in journalism and it has been no easy task. Between being the mother of two and working full time, it’s been difficult to sharpen my craft and meet my assignment deadlines. Fortunately I have a passion for journalism and ethics in reporting. When I write stories for my personal brand, I utilize the tools that I have been taught in class. I focus on maintaining a level of responsible reporting and providing reliable examples in my work. Most of my writings are opinion pieces, but I’ve realized that citing information strengthens my stance.

 The difficulty I’m having is balancing what I really want to discuss with what I feel my instructors would deem acceptable. I want to delve into race relations, politics, and philanthropy within minority communities. It’s difficult to decide whether to cover fluff stories as to not offend my professors, or to dig deep into my true interests and risk receiving a lower grade because my instructor may not agree personally with my stance.

 In the past I have been penalized for sharing a different view than a professor. In my mythology class I looked at the bible from an objective point of view and asked how we can be so sure that mythology didn’t start off as religion. I went on to question how could we be sure that in one hundred years from now, Christianity wouldn’t be viewed as mythology. Of course that didn’t go over well with my course facilitator.

When I catch wind that there’s a new show coming out where a person of color will have a leading role, I get excited. Finally, African Americans are getting the recognition they deserve on prime time television. Especially when Black women are casted as leading ladies, I am thrilled and I silently do a praise dance. At long last my variety of beauty is being acknowledged somewhere other than BET.

There are many Black leading ladies on television this fall. Shows like Minority Report, Black-ish, and Sleepy Hollow are just a few where Black women are given lead roles and portrayed in a positive light. On the other hand, popular shows like Empire, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder also have Women of color as leading ladies, but these roles are met with backlash for their depiction of Black women.

Why can’t we enjoy the Olivia Pope’s, Annalise Keating’s, and Cookie Lyon’s? According to many critics, these portrayals exemplify many of the negative tropes that are associated with Black women in film: the mammy, the jezebel, or the sassy sistah girl. Either we are promiscuous bed wenches, overprotective (sometimes overweight) smothering mothers, or loud mouths with attitude. As strong as Kerry Washington is as Olivia Pope, critics feel that she amounts to nothing more than the President’s side chick.

On the heels of Viola Davis’ monumental Emmy win for How to Get Away With Murder, I feel conflicted about celebrating her victory. I enjoy the aforementioned shows, but I also understand the importance of how people of color are portrayed on film and in television. We are applauded for our excellence in playing negative characters. It seems Hollywood only acknowledges us when we are playing villains or stereotypically damaging characters as if to say “Yes Black people! Great job acting the way we think you behave in real life!”

As a horror movie buff, I was looking forward to Scream Queens, a new show on Fox starring my friend in my head, Keke Palmer. I grabbed my popcorn and my wine, and plopped on my couch with my phone in hand ready to tweet my support of the show. Slowly the show introduced an all-white sorority that could have easily been named Kappa Kappa Kappa. The introductions of the minority characters were extremely offensive and troubling. The show is a weak attempt at satire. Every single Black woman on the show was some sort of lip smacking, neck rolling caricature. In short, the characters were steeped in every stereotype that people assume about women of color.

I cringed watching the two-hour premiere, praying that somehow the show would get better. Unfortunately, the show continued to go downhill with the introduction of Niecy Nash, who is interchangeable with Sherri Shepherd in the sassy roles they both accept. I winced as Niecy portrayed the over the top security guard, and I threw my remote at the racist joke about drawing in white eyeliner on Keke Palmer’s ebony skin. Did I mention the comment about calling the White maid “mammy”? The end of the show left me outraged, but I didn’t know what upset me more. Was I upset with Ryan Murphy for allowing such distasteful writing for these characters? Or was I upset at the Black women that agreed to play these roles?

Throughout many of my favorite shows, the same Black characters are always front and center. Whether it’s Tara on True Blood as the Black girl with attitude, or Mary Jane as the woman that’s having an affair with a married man, much like Scandal, our characters lack depth. I’m excited to see African Americans working in Hollywood, but our acclaim is bittersweet. If you enjoy Empire as much as I do, continue to enjoy the show but also find shows that provide a balanced view of minorities. Support up and coming writers and web series that offer more dynamic characters than those that are on prime time television. Who knows, maybe the web series Awkward Black Girl can garner enough support to officially land a prime time slot. There are options and for every character that we see that plays into the negative stereotypes, we should support the shows that portray Black people in dynamic roles. Black women are more than the three tropes that we are characterized as. We are much deeper than how we’re written.