Wealth experience inspires women at event

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Studies have shown that women tend to form more social circles as they get older than men. This knowledge is part of the reason why women’s empowerment conferences are formed. They are a space where women can be vulnerable and express their problems and have support from other women to overcome those problems. The most recent women’s empowerment conference locals were able to participate in the Women’s W.E.A.L.T.H. Experience.

“We are looking to move and inspire women to go back and inspire their families and their community. It’s the start of the new year and people are looking for change that will allow growth and expansion,” said MC Lyte, legendary hip hop artist.

The Women’s W.E.A.L.T.H. Experience took place Jan 2-5 at the 1 Hotel in South Beach. The Hip Hop Sisters Foundation, a nonprofit formed by MC Lyte, organized the conference. The W.E.A.L.T.H. in the title is actually an acronym that stands for Womanhood, Expansion, Assets, Leadership, Transformation, Health. During the W.E.A.L.T.H. Experience, attendees were able to garner information on how to tackle issues that women at any stage of life are facing. “How to maintain a healthy marriage/relationship,” “How can you brand yourself with your talents” and “How can you write your own book” are some of the topics about which attendees heard and engaged.

Funkfest: Miramar hosts throwback

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On Jan. 1, South Florida residents will be able to ring in the new year with classic songs from old school artists. The traveling music festival called Funkfest is making a stop in South Florida for the first time at Miramar Regional Park. “Funk music is the grandfather of all music. I want to build a festival that has all types of music,” said Leo Bennett, president of Variety entertainment, the promotion company behind the Funkfest.

The Miami Funk Fest is going to dive into the Miami Bass era as it has a secret Miami Bass tribute performance and the 2 Live Crew and Uncle Luke performing together one last time. “I am excited to see the reaction of the crowd during the Miami Bass performance. It’s been awhile since Uncle Luke and 2 Live crew performed together in Miami and I want to see how that is going to go,” said Bennett.

Funkfest features popular R&B and Hip Hop artists of the ‘80s and ‘90s.The list includes Doug E Fresh, Fantasia, Jagged Edge, New Edition and a reunion performance of Uncle Luke and the 2 Live Crew.

“I have not performed in Miami in over 25 years. This is also the last show I will perform with the 2 Live Crew,” said Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, rapper and author. According to Uncle Luke, attendees of the Miami Funkfest are getting the best acts since Miami is the last stop of the 2015 tour.

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‘The Force Awakens’ sells out, breaks records

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In January 2013, the announcement that J.J. Abrams was directing the next Star Wars movie had fans of the series excited for the next chapter. Three years later, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” is releasing on Dec. 18.

This isn’t just a normal movie release as everything has a Star Wars theme to celebrate the return of the space phenomenon. Expectations are dramatically high and the passion is very real for local fans of the galactic action series. “I am more excited about the movie coming out than my graduation,” said Sandeep Varry, a master’s degree student at Florida International University.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” takes place 30 years after the events of “Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.” The movie follows the adventure of protagonist Rey and Finn as they travel the galaxy to find Luke Skywalker to combat the new villain Kylo Ren and the First Order. Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, respectively, play Rey and Finn.

Veteran actors Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford are reprising their roles of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. The last Star Wars film that released in theaters was “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” in 2005.

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The Weeknd takes Miami

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Black and leather is the best description of the wardrobe most South Florida residents wore to the AmericanAirlines Arena on Dec. 19 to see Canadian R&B singer, The Weeknd.

Attendees filled the nearly 20,000-seat arena to capacity for his last performance of the Madness Fall tour.

“I didn’t know what to expect since I never seen him perform, but he blew me away,” said Rosie Khachatryan, a Nova Southeastern University student who attended the show.

The Madness Fall tour was The Weeknd’s first headlining tour. G.O.O.D. Music rap artist Travis Scott was featured as an opening act. The two popular artists traveled the country since November for the 20-city tour.

At the American Airlines Arena, Travis Scott started the show. The stage was decorated with desert mountains and cactuses. This is the theme of the Scott’s mixtape and first album, “Days Before Rodeo” and “Rodeo.” The artist performed “Mamacita,” which is off the mixtape. Then he performed his verse on the song “Sin City” from the 2012 compilation album, “Cruel Summer.”

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Students learn STEM at the robotics competition

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Today, kids are surrounded by technology. Public schools want to take advantage of this by adding tech-related programs to extracurricular activities. Robotics is a growing program where kids build mobile robots with their classmates to do certain tasks.

Recently, 32 teams from different schools across South Florida gathered at Citrus Grove Middle School to compete their robots against each other in the Vex IQ Robotics Competition.

“I think robotics is a great platform for kids,” said Melissa Hernandez, competition judge and Technology supervisor for Miami-Dade County Public

Schools. “This gives kids who aren’t into athletics the ability to be competitive, work on a team and take an idea they have and bring it to reality.”

The Vex IQ Robotics Competition took place on Nov. 7. It is the first Vex IQ event held in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Vex IQ is a robotics platform design to transform Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning for young students and their teachers. Each year, VEX holds a national tournament for students to compete against each other. This was the state qualifier for Florida.

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Workshop explores communities without cops

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The incident in Palm Beach Gardens involving church drummer Corey Jones is another example of unsolicited police brutality. People here in the South Florida community are becoming more upset with the unanswered questions of how this happened. They are even more frustrated at the fact there is no solution in sight. On Oct. 22, the Power U Center for Social Change hosted an event with the grassroots organization Critical Resistance to explore the question, what would communities be without cops.

“Here in Miami, it takes about $100,000 to put a new cop on the streets. With that money we can hire two social workers to connect people to more resources in the community. We need to invest more money in community needs over controlling and surveilling people,” said Hashim Benford, director of the Power U, which is located in Liberty City.

The “Imagining Communities without Cops” workshop gathered more than 30 people who shared their experience with cops. Attendees also learned how to approach certain situations without police involvement.

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Q&A sessions with music moguls at conference

 

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Sean “Diddy” Combs, music producers and label executives were all present at Revolt Music Conference 2015 on Miami Beach to share their insight on how to break into the industry. The two panels that delivered the most on that promise were the Q&A sessions with Scooter Braun and Combs.

“This is about the people who are serious about their career. This information is priceless and it’s up to you to apply it,” said Combs.

The Revolt Music Conference was held at the Fontainebleau Hotel. From Oct. 15-18, panels, performances and networking all took place during the three-day conference. Braun, the CEO of his own media company, SB Projects, was a part of the first Q&A session on Saturday. Before founding his company, Braun was a talent manager for the careers of Asther Roth, Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber. Braun started in Atlanta as a party promoter in the early 2000s, and he would run into artists like Ludacris, Eminem and Jermaine Dupri. He and Dupri had chemistry so Braun worked with Dupri as a talent manager. Soon after, Braun became the VP of Durpi’s record label, So So Def, at age 20. At 24, Braun left the company to Start SB Projects.

Braun’s presentation was so packed attendees were sitting on the floor of the Glimmer Conference room of the Fontainebleau. Braun said he saved about 13 months of survival money in order to do talent management full time. He would pay the expenses of both Bieber and Roth at the beginning of their relationship.

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Domestic violence is here and real in our community

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Domestic violence is a serious matter. This problem is so severe a whole month is dedicated toward spreading awareness of its consequences.

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), every nine seconds a woman is beaten in the U.S. One of every three women has been a victim of some form of physical violence by an intimate partner within her lifetime.

South Floridians are participating in the conversation with a few events that not only educate people about the situation but also provide a space where survivors can share their stories.

“Each one of us can play a role in ending domestic violence. My job is to continue to be a mouthpiece for this issue,” said State Rep. Cynthia Stafford of District 109.

Domestic violence is a violent confrontation between family or household members involving physical harm, sexual assault or fear of physical harm. This problem can happen to both men and women. One in seven men has been a victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in his lifetime, according to NCADV. The person who is doing the harm is labeled the abuser. The abuser could be your spouse, your ex, your family member or even the current person you are in a relationship with.

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The Martian’ blasts off at FMU

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Packed to capacity, the FIU-FMU auditorium on Florida Memorial University’s Miami Gardens campus was full of science and engineering students for a special presentation. Talent from the new movie “The Martian” came to the university for a master class, to discuss the making of the film and the science components that went into it.

The National Association of Black Journalists chapter of Florida Memorial University (NABJ-FMU) along with the university’s Arts and Science department organized the master class. “Today we had a wonderful opportunity for our students to meet the cast and the consulting members of the NASA team from “The Martian.” We are thoroughly proud of the job the NABJ chapter did of bringing our dignitaries to the campus,” said Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, president of Florida Memorial University.

The master class took place on Oct. 2, the same day “The Martian” released in theaters. The Twentieth Century Fox movie launched at the top of the box office for the weekend opening with $55 million in ticket sales. The film cost $108 million to make.

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Web series plays out in Miami, wins awards

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The Internet has grown to be a new medium of entertainment. It is a field where shows like “Orange is the New Black,” “Daredevil” and “Narcos” can thrive without support from a network. It is a platform where programs can cross over into television such as “Black and Sexy TV,” which is coming to BET this year.

The category has grown so much that it has its own awards show, Miami Web Fest, a 10-day celebration of film or music made especially for the Internet. The event, in its second year, ran from Sept. 25 – Oct. 4, and featured world, Latin and music editions.

Tommy Ford, the actor who played Tommy in the classic TV series “Martin,” stars in the web series, “The Club.”

“I’ve been in the industry for over 30 years. Film is familiar to me. This web world is fresh and different. I want to learn and grown in it,” said Ford.

“The Club” is a faith-based comedy series inspired by past scandals of ministers, helming mega churches. Ford plays Lamont Holmes Jr. a reverend who is accused of illicit behavior and extra-marital affairs. He enters a sex addiction treatment program to gain forgiveness but the Club is far from what he expected.

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