Over the course of 87 years, a minute 29 “Black” musicians, actors and actresses have won an Oscar. In 1940, Hattie McDaniel was the first African-American to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. It has been 75 years since McDaniel’s triumph and to many, it seemed as if this “snowy” award season resembled those before her time. The way too short list of Black Oscar winners expanded by just two this year with Common and John Legend winning Best Original Song for “Glory” from Selma. “It’s a white mans world, both the Grammy’s and the Oscars are simply a reflection of that,” said Ngina Shillingford, a senior anthropology and sociology major at Wesleyan University. “However, I think that if black artists and actors placed an emphasis on black award shows and invested in them the Grammy’s and Oscars would become less significant.” Much of the outrage at this year’s Grammy’s came from Beck beating Beyoncé in the album of the year category for his folk album “Morning Phase.” This caused viewers to think that those that decide who receives what award have some sort of racial bias against black artists, which is unbelievable when artists such as Mackelmore and Iggy Azaela are nominated in hip-hop/ rap categories against some of today’s rap heavyweights and still prove triumphant. “White people are supposed to take care of their people first, see that’s the problem we just don’t,” said David Banner, rapper, producer, and actor turned activist, “I’m apart of the Grammy association. I am a voting member and I don’t go because that’s the way it supposed to be that’s their stuff. We need to start respecting our stuff.” This anger and feeling of racial prejudice could also stem from the fact that “ethnic categories aren’t televised during these award shows,” said Jessica Robinson a graduating senior and business marketing major at Clark Atlanta University. “Everything in America has or has had a problem with race, this problem is much bigger than a few award shows,” said Allie Jones, a junior biology pre-med major at Armstrong University. According to a 2012 University of Southern California study, led by communication professor Stacy L. Smith, “black actors accounted for 11.6 percent of the speaking roles” and “Latino actors accounted for 1.9 percent of speaking roles,” however, in Hollywood blacks and Latinos aren’t the only ethnic groups that are underrepresented. Some would say that if minorities in the entertainment wanted to be recognized for their work they should begin with recognizing each other; others might also say that their aren’t any racial issues and that these shows are based of the quality of the album or film for example. Whatever the case may be, this year’s award season was judged harder because it took place during the current “civil rights” movement-taking place. By chance I had the opportunity to meet videographer and Jazz saxophonist Dave Badie. Badie, now a cameraman for one of New Orleans’ top stations WWLTV also known as channel 4 came from very humble beginnings. He grew up in middle class household and moved to New Orleans age five. He attended catholic schools and upon graduating from high school he attended the University of New Orleans. It was here that he received his degree in music and journalism. He told me that after graduating it was extremely hard for him to find work. Although he had interned during college and developed a video real he still found it challenging. After sending out countless applications he finally found work in Lake Charles, Louisiana. From Lake Charles, Badie migrated to Las Vegas and after working there he moved to Dallas, Texas. Badie has been in the business for the 30 plus years and still loves his work. He has established life long connections and always manages to make time to give back in his community. He is now on speaking tour and has been travelling to different colleges and universities. He has talked to several students across the country about following their dreams and pursuing their goals in the mass media field. Being a PR student I wasn’t really sure what I’d take from talking with Badie, but after chatting with him I walked away with his personal contact information, an amazing new connection with a veteran in the field and several amazing tips. Badie also taught me in the importance of finding my niche in the mass media field and that remaining confident in all of my work will be beneficial with me. Meet Argerie Villalobos and Lindsey Crow a couple I met today in City Park. I noticed the pair upon my arrival at the park and was nervous but excited to know their story. They were outgoing and had an amazing energy about them, and they were interesting to say the least. I asked them what were some of the most interesting things that they could tell me about each other and these were their replies: Crow: "Argerie is a tango dancer and I'm a yoga teacher.... Argerie: "And I have a big sacrum..." The two laughed. Crow: " And I have an injury in my sacrum...Argerie is a mom..." Argerie: "And a hairdresser" Crow: "And a hairdresser" Argerie: "And Lindsey is a comedian and an actress" Crow: "I am from here, born and raised" Argerie: "And I'm from Costa Rica." My initial thoughts after hearing Villalobos and Crow tell me about each other was that their connection was obvious, whether they were finishing each others sentences or simply laughing together, the two had great vibes. They also allowed me to take some photos of them. “That’s white people problems,” said Taraji P. Henson’s character, “Cookie” on Wednesday’s episode of Empire’s on her eldest son “Andre’s” mental illness. Trai Byers, plays Andre a bipolar, Penn State graduate seeking his father’s approval and eventually the rights to his empire. In the midst of living in the shadows of his musically incline brothers “Jamal” and “Hakeem,” Andre’s storyline develops and his family is finally introduced to the fact that he is living with bipolar. Having a mental illness in the black community has had a stigma attached to it. In an American Psychiatric Association brochure it states, “Many believe symptoms of mental illnesses, such as depression, are “just the blues.” Issues of distrust in the health care system and mental illness stigma frequently lead African Americans to initially seek mental health support from non-medical sources.” The stigma attached to mental health in the black community also leads to families wanting to hide this and this was certainly depicted on this episode of Empire when Taraji’s character Cookie, threatened Andre’s wife about telling anyone that he was bipolar. I believe this was a very accurate depiction of mental illness and the black family. Often times it seems that mental illness is taboo in the black family and that instead of seeking help to better the situation black families would rather keep it a secret. I have been and still am very passionate about the new age “civil rights” movement that began with a string of murders of black men by law enforcement and indictments or the lack there of. Last week during primetime, Shonda Rhimes brought this issue to the forefront and used Scandal as her platform. In the episode Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) “just back in Washington, D.C., after a more Scandal-like story that featured her kidnapping, auction and last-second rescue, was drawn into the shooting aftermath (of a white police officers killing of an unarmed black teen), first working for the police department and then siding with mostly African-American protesters” said USA Today Staff writer Bill Keveny. This episode touched on a very sensitive subject in this country at this time and was effective because of the large audience that follows Scandal on a weekly basis. “It eclipses any one person's identity because it's about lives mattering, regardless of who they are” said Kerry Washington, she also said that it was “ a coming-of-age, coming-of-race story for Olivia.” Having been apart of these protests for justice myself and having interviewed people that are still protesting on the streets of Ferguson this episode resonated deeply with me. Attracting 8.95 million viewers this episode was more than relevant to what’s happening currently in America. “We were fighting against the emotion the entire episode,” said Courtney B. Vance who guest starred as the victim in this episodes father in an exclusive interview with People.com, “There were scenes where I was broken, but [director Tom Verica] said, ‘Courtney please, hold back that so we get the payoff at the end.’” This very appropriate episode speaks to what many African Americans in Hollywood are doing now. We have seen musicians like Common and John Legend use award shows like the Grammys and the Oscars as their platforms to speak on this topic which is important in making sure that people don’t forget what is going on. Xavier University proved victorious again over long time rivals Dillard University in Saturday’s double-header more commonly known as “The Crosstown Classic.” Both the Gold Rush and the Gold Nuggets have had great seasons and with the support of current Xavier students and Xavier alumni roaring from the stands they won. According to David Grubb a Staff writer for sportsnola.com, “Dillard and Xavier rank second and third in the GCAC respectively in scoring defense,” and Xavier was successful in defending that title at the Classic. Point guard, Morris Wright finished with 13 points and six assists for Xavier while forward Sydney Coleman led the team with 14 points. Wesley Pluviose-Philip (11), RJ Daniels (10) and Anthony Goode (10) also finished in double figures. Xavier managed to have a strong second half and took away 67 points, a 26 point game. At the game seniors, Goode and Coleman were honored, as was Dr. Norman C. Francis who’s rafter will now hang in the Xavier University of Louisiana Convocation Center after being “immortalized” on Saturday. Although the Gold Rush and Gold nuggets were victorious in Saturday’s game this is not the end the men’s teams will face off again in the GCAC Tournament from March 6th-March 9th. “I’m hungry,” Goode, a senior Business Marketing major, describing his drive for the game. I’ve been interning with the amazing Spears Group for almost two months now and besides all of the outstanding experience I’m gaining and the new networking opportunities I’ve been exposed to one of the most exciting and interesting moments of my internship thus far was on Thursday, February 26, 2015.
My supervisor is apart of the planning committee for the New Orleans chapter of the Public Relation Society of America and took me to their monthly luncheon at Café Reconcile. I’ve been to one PRSA luncheon before however there was definitely something special about this one, and that was the location. Café Reconcile was established in program called Reconcile New Orleans in 2000 by Rev. Harry Tompson, S.J., and members of his then congregation Craig Cuccia and Tim Falcon, in efforts to “to address the system of neglect, violence, and generational poverty that had plagued out-of-school youth in New Orleans’ troubled Central City neighborhood.” This program is tailored for African American youth and provides many with a very necessary second chance. Some of these youths face extreme poverty, homelessness, violence, or are even apart of the juvenile justice system and according to Christine Bordelon “ an essential change made was requiring participants to get their GED while enrolled if they don’t already have it.” Not only is the food amazing but so is the service. Interacting with youth that weren’t much younger than me but were facing such adversities and taking steps to succeed beyond them was a humbling experience to say the least. Although New Orleans is a city known for it's rich culture and diversity it is also plagued by violence similar to most cities today, this program aims to make a difference in this city and remove the stigma that this city when it pertains to African American youth. For this assignment I conducted a phone interview with WDSU-TV/Channel 6's Digital Content Producer Juan Sanchez. He shared some great advice and insight into online journalism. Here is the conversation we had:
Me: Juan how did you start your career as digital editor for WDSU? Juan: There were several opportunities, the way I did it I worked up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I applied for assignment editor position at a tv station there and worked my way up. I eventually relocated to New Orleans and became digital editor at WDSU. You can do it right out of college it could be harder that way because you may not have the experience. Me: How many times do you tweet or post a day on behalf of WDSU? Juan: Most stations are kind of weird. The station is owned by a larger company so all of our new stories are automatically posted or tweeted. I don't have to do much work with that aspect but I can creatively post three to four times a day on behalf of WDSU. Me: What do you enjoy most? Juan: For me, what I like to do, what I went to school for online journalism. That makes it really fun. We like to try different things with the way we approach social media and online journalism. Me: Juan do you have any words of advice for those that want to work or have a career similar to yours? Juan: The one thing that I stress is for you find the right fit. That can mean you trying to find the right news station. Learn about the the TV companies that own the stations and figure out which is best for you. In terms of landing the job, its all about practicing your writing, interning, if you can't get a job right in online journalism start at the assignment desk. Check out some of Juan's tweets at : https://twitter.com/wdsu and some of mine at https://twitter.com/JaLissaLatsonPR
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