Good morning!

It’s time for ‘Talent Spotlight!’ Thisk week’s pick is Doddy covering &  killin’ Chris Brown’s hit song ‘Fine China’

Check it out!

Check out more of Doddy here…
Facebook

Hello Everyone,

Let me start by telling you how much I appreciate you. I don’t take it for granted that you take time to read what I have to say. It is humbling. We don’t take time to let others know how important they are to us and that is a shame. Everyone wants to feel love and wanted. There is no worse feeling than going to bed thinking you are not loved or appreciated. I know some of you are thinking, “What does Victoria know about that?” Well, I do know about it. I have had so many people to come in and out of my life that I equate it to a revolving door. I know I have to concentrate more on the good people in my life instead of the people that are no longer in my life. Why do we think about the negative more than the positive? That’s another subject for another blog and I don’t want to get sidetracked again. To put it plainly, I just want to thank you for your support.

I have missed all of you. It has been awhile since my last blog. In recent weeks, I have had three different topics I was going to blog about and kept changing my mind every time something new happened in my life. I started writing this blog in the beginning of April but I’m just now getting it in. This has made me realize that if you are all over the place something in your life is going to suffer. My mom says the key to multi tasking and staying sane is organization. Everything has to be in its place. Sorry to say, but I’m not neat. That is a real problem for me because my mom is border line OCD. One night when I became upset with my mom, I threw most of my stuff away. It was either throw everything away or cut off all my hair. By the time I finished throwing stuff away, my room was almost bare. When I woke up the next day and looked around, I felt so free! Gee, cleaning up is liberating! I’m still not neat, but I am getting better because I like how organization and neatness makes me feel. I started thinking about situations and people around me. Did I need to clean up there also? Yes I did. I can physically walk away from people or situations that saddens me, but my mind stays. Leaving the mind behind is where lies the problem. How can I use my mind to work on things that are important to me if it is stuck somewhere else? In the South, people say to kids, “Where your mind at child?” I understand that saying now. You are present physically but your mind is miles away. I have had quite a roller coaster ride in the last two years. It’s time to get off and bring my mind with me. I have so much I want to do personally and as a humanitarian. I have to stay focused on what’s here and ahead and leave the past behind. Mr Tyler Perry sent out an email to his followers about his studio golf carts giving off an alert sound when placed in reverse. He uses that to explain how important it is to move ahead in life. You can read it here AFTER finishing my blog, http://www.tylerperry.com/messages/your-past-and-there-no-future-it/ . Sign up for his emails. They are inspiring, uplifting and encouraging.

My mother has another twist to the whole mentally moving ahead debate. She feels that thinking about or revisiting our past once in awhile, and only briefly when you do, prevents a prolong stay there in the future. Let me give you an example. While traveling, you see someone that you have not seen in a couple of years. This person meant the world to you. You hug and promise not to lose touch again. No, no, no! Think about what happened in the first place. Did that person hurt you? Did that person disappoint you? You have to go back into the past and think about what happened so you don’t stuck in your past come the future. Get it? By revisiting the past it can prevent future mistakes. You go there briefly when necessary and get a refresher course for the present and future. One of the things that makes me happy in the moment is being excited for my future. That can also be a problem if you are so busy planning for the future that you don’t enjoy yourself now. Do you know some people feel guilty when they are happy? Sometimes when I’m laughing or enjoying myself I stop. I think about young kids being sexually and mentally abused on a continuous basis. Who am I to be having a good time while slavery is still going on in the world today. I’m trying to adopt a new attitude. I might as well be happy, because I know I am working hard to make sure others are happy. Diane Sawyer once asked Ms Oprah Winfrey in an interview did she feel guilty when she leaves the poverty areas in Africa and come back to her luxurious surroundings. She said, “no.” I understand her answer. She doesn’t feel guilty about her blessings because she shares so much of herself and her fortune. I don’t look up to many famous people these days. Ms Winfrey and Mr Tyler Perry are exceptions. They are doing what I want to do, helping others in a huge way. I have mentioned this before in my blog. One way to feel better about yourself and give your life more meaning is to be of service. Find a cause that you are passionate about and help out!! The next time you are reading about something or watching something on television that upsets you, step out and become a part of the change you want to see happen.

I mentioned earlier that there were 3 different topics going back and forth for this blog. One blog topic was going to be the whole story behind my mother and I involvement with the campaign for Mountain Dew and PepsiCo to drop the tyler ads and sponsorship of little wayne’s tour. The Mountain Dew story hit just about every major newspaper and television talk show on Wednesday, May 1^st. Well guess what. My mom found the offensive video and exposed it! Not being contacted by the media didn’t bother me or my mom. We were just beyond happy that we were a part of a team that brought about change. What bothers me is when people or an organization take the credit for something they didn’t do. Here is a short version of our involvement.

On April 29^th, my mom spoke with the family of the late Emmett Till concerning little wayne disrespectful lyrics and Mountain Dew’s endorsement of his tour. Mom knew this was something I wanted to be involved with. For three years, I have been speaking about the dangers of violent and sexually perverted lyrics in rap music and the negative effects on young people. As soon as I came home from school, mom told me about the call. I was hyped and angry. It was sad that wayne could be so insensitive as to compare the badly beaten body of Emmett Till to what he violently wanted to do to a woman’s private parts. What’s even worse is being rewarded by a multi billion dollar company in the form of endorsements when you are that insensitive and socially irresponsible. Right after mom received the phone call she went into research mode. She found a PepsiCo press release that had just came out that morning! She found the press release very disturbing. http://www.pepsico.com/PressRelease/Mountain-Dew-Green-Label-Platform-Evolves-Through-Partnership-with-Complex-Media04292013.html. The press release was about the partnership with www.Green-Label.com and Mountain Dew. What she saw on the site had her grabbing the bible, praying for the future of misguided young people and for the adults that had sold their soul to satan. There were two ads that she called, “the smoking gun”. One video ad was Felicia the Goat with 4 black men in a line up and a white detective holding a Mountain Dew.

The other ad was Felicia the Goat in a DEWUI ad which means driving while under the influence of Mountain Dew. Mom contacted the Till family members with the links to the press release and green label website that contained the 2 Felicia videos along with other equally disgusting and stereotypical video ads. Just like the site had mom grabbing the bible, the videos had me grabbing the bull horn with new D batteries in it. I got my markers together to create signs that I was going to use for my protest outside PepsiCo in Purchase, NY. First of all, the ad represented everything bad that conscientious advocates have been fighting against. For example, fear of snitching, violence against women, black men in prison, fear of suspect retaliation, police misconduct, gang affiliation, victim intimidation. All the ingredients were there to further dumb down and negatively influence our young people. Come on! Do we really need this from some jack leg rapper that goes by the twitter handle @f_ ktyler. Really? Even more important and disturbing, we have multi billion companies that are giving black males likeross, tyler and wayne large, crazy money for being socially irresponsible. I’m out here collecting bottlesand cans to start up a program or foundation that will help survivors of trafficking in a major new wayand little wayne is being endorsed with millions for his verbal porn. This dude tyler is being paid to create ads that endorses every stereotype ever created about the young black male. All these great film makersand creative producers out here and tyler makes the cut with video ads that have set black people, especially black males, back 60 years. I know if willie lynch, eugene bull conner, george wallace and the kkk can stop burning long enough, they are going to high five each other on those

“_ _ _ _ _ _” that are keeping their dream of black suppression alive.

I was livid and restless. Something had to be done right away. I came up with ideas of how to approach Mountain Dew about their marketing of videos by tyler and their endorsement of little wayne. I contacted PepsiCo and Mountain Dew not knowing what to expect. It didn’t matter. I had to try. Working to get change feels better than complaining. Mom had already predicted a victory. I sent the video out on social media. My mother sent it to different organizations. The Till family hit up all their supporters and sent them the video ads. We worked together as a team to get change. I sent the video to PepsiCo and Mountain Dew via their twitter and facebook accounts. I also sent it to them in an email. Call me naive, but I could not believe the real top, top executives from a company like PepsiCo would want to be affiliated with ads like this. That is why I sent the link to the video directly to PepsiCo and Mountain Dew top personnel. I wanted them to take a fresh new look at this garbage and see the damage that it could do to their brand. Less than two days later I received an email from Mountain Dew. Before it was announced to the world on Wednesday, May 1^st, that the “line up” video created by tyler was going to be pulled, Mountain Dew sent me an email taking full responsibility for the video and their decision to pull it. That wasn’t good enough. I told Mountain Dew by endorsing little wayne they were endorsing his insensitivity and social irresponsibility. Later on May 1^st came the announcement that Mountain Dew was dropping sponsorship of wayne’s tour. Yes! Yes! Yes! The statement I received from Mountain Dew on their handling of the tyler video controversy will be framed and placed on my bedroom wall. If you go on the green label website it does not look the way it did on April 29^th. It has been cleaned up considerably since that morning. Right after the announcement there was talk about companies dropping artists and also about wayne’s freedom of speech. I don’t care if companies drop every socially irresponsible artist out there. This was my response to a facebook post.

Nobody took away Wayne’s freedom of speech. I took up the fight because when his freedom of speech is verbal porn and disrespect to civil rights legends, I don’t believe he should be endorsed by large corporations. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean fat endorsements. The first amendment gives you the freedom to speak. It doesn’t say anything about protecting you from the consequences of being irresponsible in your choice of speech. When women and children are continually being victimized through lyrics it’s time for a tough stance. When children misbehave, parents take away something we like until we know better and learn not to do it again. PepsiCo did the right thing. Maybe other artists will not want to lose endorsements and be more responsible. At what point do corporations and the people say “enough?” Last year we had Too Short telling boys how to sexually turn on middle school girls. Rick Ross promoting date rape. Wayne’s lyrics are verbal porn. Take away some of the money and some other rappers just might take notice. I’m hoping more companies follow Reebok and Pepisco and drop the artists dumbing down our children and communities Most of the kids in my school are influenced by these rap artists. The boys want to be like the male rappers, and the girls want to be the rapper’s “b” and “h”.

I, Victoria Pannell, age 13, was not afraid to go up against a multi billion dollar company nor against a rapper that wants to beat a woman’s vagina to it is unrecognizable. It takes a lot of praying to keep the faith and keep going. Sometimes I want to quit, then something will happen and I want to keep going.

Recently a senior citizen came up to me at a function with tears in her eyes. She said, “you are the young lady that spoke at the postal rally March 24^th.” She was still working at the Grand Central post office and had attended the March postal rally. She didn’t have a computer to obtain my speech and wanted me to send her a copy. We just hugged and cried. I cried because she took the time to make me feel loved and appreciated. She was crying because I took the time to say, “Save Our Post Offices”. I’m not finished. I’m just getting started because my faith and strength have been renewed something fierce. I look at the email from a company with net revenues of more than $65 billion and I know my own strength. Never let anyone take away your self worth. Believe in yourself and what you can do. When doubt creeps in, tell it to take a hike. When you have been hurt a lot it is easier to just get in bed and pull the covers over your head. Get Up! Need a little help? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JseXP8-pLw

I had every intention to make this month’s blog light and not so serious. As you can see that wasn’t meant to be. The very first topic I had plan to blog about was my blue coat. Yes, my blue coat. The blue coat in the photo was given to me my Uncle Bobby when I was 5. It was way, way too big for me. I didn’t care. That coat represents love. Every time my uncle sees me during the winter he asks me if I’m warm enough. I could see him 3 times in one day and he is going to ask me each time if I want something to eat. The reason I was going to blog about my blue coat is because this article of clothing, like my uncle, has never let me down. I don’t have to worry about a wardrobe malfunction when I put on this coat. Bobby Blue Coat has been in newspapers, news coverage, television shows, commercials and rallies. It has been in 3 different educational systems, private school, catholic school and public school. If this coat was human and could write, it would be on the New Times best seller list. I wish I was as durable as my blue coat. It didn’t get too small for me this past winter when I put on weight. As I got bigger, my coat seemed to get bigger so I could still fit into it. How crazy is that? The beginning of April mom started spring cleaning. My blue coat was one of the clothing items that was on the hit list. We looked at the coat and started talking how it had been with me for 8 years. It is not in the garbage yet, but I know that is where it headed. I feel like crying just thinking about it being thrown away. I’m not ready to let go. The women in my family use to quilt. They didn’t throw away clothes. They would wash the clothes and cut it up in pieces to be used later for quilting. I’m going to hold on to Bobby Blue Coat just a little while longer. The second subject I had wanted to blog about was my dislike of shopping. Can you believe that? I’m 13 and I can’t stand to shop. I have only been on one shopping trip that I enjoyed. This past January in Atlantic City mom and I went shopping and had a great time. That is rare for me. The only reason I was going to blog about shopping is because people can’t believe that I can like fashion but don’t like to shop. Now that I think about it that subject is so not blog worthy. Let’s keep the people in Oklahoma in our prayers. See you soon and keep in touch via twitter or facebook.

-Victoria Pannell

Playing politics is a pretty big part of our lives, even when we don’t really get involved in the actual political process. Not only do politics affect laws and policies that determine things like healthcare and education. They also seem to control the way people perceive right and wrong. In other words, we seem to live in a place where the people don’t influence the politics; instead, the politics influence the people. For this to be the “greatest democracy in the world”, we certainly have the process backwards. In my opinion, that’s because of two things:

1. We are too loyal to political parties.

2. The peak of our social activism happens in the voting booth.

When I was in my teens and early twenties, I didn’t keep up with the ins and outs of the political scene, but I knew when major events like elections were happening. I also knew that when it was time to vote in these elections, my parents and most other black folks were going to vote democrat. So when it was time for me to start voting, I pretty much knew that I’d be voting democrat, too. Now that I’m older and pay a little more attention to the political scene, I know enough about both major political parties to know that I agree with some of the ideals of both parties. That’s one reason why I believe that voting shouldn’t be about remaining loyal to a certain political party, it should be about being loyal to your morals and values.

The second issue is the fact that when it comes to social responsibility, most people seem to think that voting is enough. But when you really think about it, voting is pretty much the least that you can do. In my opinion, a person who works daily to change the things that they see going wrong in their community and never even see a voting booth has done more for the country than the person who votes in every election but does nothing more. Unfortunately, politics are marketed in a way that makes us feel like we’re doing something without really doing anything at all. We are always told that we need to get out and vote, and I believe that we do, but it definitely shouldn’t stop there.

Some of you are probably too young to vote and probably don’t really have any interest in politics, so why am I telling you this? Well, I’m telling you this because you haven’t drank the kool-aid yet. You are still deciding how you plan to make your imprint on the world. So while you’re figuring that out, please consider playing politics, but make sure you change the game when you do it.

-Tiffany Vicks

Good morning!

Check out hot song from Bridget Kelly- Special Delivery!

Good morning!

C.O.R.E had an AMAZING time speaking & creating with the teen girls at the Young Enterprising Sisters Conference in New Jersey on May 11th. Our topic was “Do What You Love” & overcoming barriers to achieve your dreams! We had open discussion and created vision boards for the girls to be able to see thir goals!

Good morning girls,

It seems as if violence is getting worse and worse each day. We all must come together &   put an end to these senseless murders, especially our youth.

D’Asia Robinson, 14 year old, was killed last Saturday after being shot in the head by a stray bullet while riding a city bus.

The NYC teen and her friends were leaving a Sweet 16 party and while they were on the way to another birthday,  a bullet came through the bus window.

Friends have created vigils for the slain young lady, and the tragedy has sparked renewed calls from community leaders and residents for an end to the senseless violence.

From NewsOne:

Robinson’s friends gathered on the street where she lived to mourn her loss . They made several memorials of Robinson, one near the bus stop where she was killed. One of her friends who was with her before her death was dismayed at the shooting.

“She was happy, she was having fun. We were all dancing with each other – that’s why it’s so shocking,” Tamia McDaniels, friend of Robinson, said. “I was just with her and an hour later, after I left the party, I hear she’s killed – it’s just so unexpected.”

One community leader called on residents to come together and fight for an end to the senseless violence.

Our  prayers are with D’Asia’s family and friends at this troubling time.

We have to help each other realize that life is valuable and everyone deserves to live a full life.

How can we put an end to these senseless acts of violence??

SPEAK OUT!!!

Good morning girls!

Ok so you guys remember the cutie band B5???

Well, they’re back with a new song and a grown steez! Check out their new song –>Say Yes

C.O.R.E Mag & Creative Dreamers hosted  the Art of War Art Battle fundraiser event to aid us to fund our on-site programs for teen girls! It was held at China Latina lounge in Manhattan, NYC and featured 4 different visual artists and 2 musical guests. The full recap vid is coming soon! Check out all the fun and support that was shown for our cause!

The quote the artists based their pieces from

Our amazing artists with C.O.R.E & Creative Dreamers

Ja’Shayla, our musical guest

Life of Riley band musical guests

“Make sure your desire to do what you’re aspiring to do is deeper than just fame and being a celebrity.”
-Meagan Good

“Just be honest and true to yourself. If your friends around you love you, they’ll wish you the best and want only what’s going to make you happy.” – Meagan Good

“Love isn’t all about flirting, hugs, kisses & sex. It’s the ability to take all those things away and still having feelings for that person.” -Meagan Good

“Aaahh all I want to do is crawl into a hole and hide from the world!!” this is a daily feeling for you after being burnt out from intense volleyball practices, exhausting study sessions and the parentals asking you to do every errand or chore they can think of, “stress” is a word that you seem like you ca never run from. No matter how far you go it just seems to linger all around you. Well no worries, we have the perfect solutions to kick stress to the curve without running to crawl under the closest rock!

Laughter!– Ok, people around you especially most adults tend to take life a bit too serious. I’m not saying making a mockery of serious life decisions is the answer but you can enjoy anything you do, it’s just a simple attitude shift. Look at the brighter side of things, enjoy laughing it up with your girls and it’s even ok to chuckle at yourself sometimes. The more pressure you put on yourself to be perfect, the more stress you’ll make yourself. So Laugh it up as much as you can throughout the day, by the end of the day you will be happier and stress-free!

Tackle It– I get it, your long 2 do list seems never ending and every time you think about it for a half a second too long you can feel your blood pressure slowly raise. A reason why you feel so stressed because you’re looking at all your tasks at once and not individually. Of course you’re going to be stressed if you look at doing 20 things in 20 minutes! So instead of feeling overwhelmed, break up what you have to do into most to least important and literally just focus on one task at once. Turn off everything complete that task fully and then move on to the next. When you try to multi-task too much, you sometimes start but never finish anything on the list. Time to focus and cross them out one by one. Trust me your stress level goes down with each task fully completed!

Move It! – Ok so your body needs just a slight boost to get both your energy and attitude to regroup. Stretching, exercising or just taking a walk around the block allows you time to regroup and refocus for tasks you need to do. After your body works out it releases endorphins which are your body”s “feel good” drug, which will put you in a better mood quicker.Try calming exercise such as walking, swimming and yoga.

“No” Please– Say it loud and say it proud! Sometimes the word “No” is the bridge that will make stress disappear from your life. I know telling the parentals or the teachers “no” is not an option but maybe the club president or your girlfriends is. If you feel like you’re overwhelmed with too many extra-curricular activities maybe stepping back is a good idea. You never want to stretch yourself too thin. Also you don’t have to be at every social event there is. Telling your girls you’ll skip out on movie night just to catch up on some extra Z’ss, is perfectly ok. You gotta get your beauty sleep right??

The “Write” Way– Sometimes you have to see it to believe it! So to prove how amazing your life is write down all the positive that’s happening in your life. Sometimes you just a slight reminder to shift your focus and embrace the hidden treasures in life. We tend to focus on 1 or 2 negatives in our lives and all the good gets buried under it all. It’s time to refocus our life. Once you see how long your list is,your stress level will come down and realize that great things always happen to you on a regular basis!

-C.O.R.E Family