Liles is all smiles as he expands his brand (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

Forget about the Kevin Liles who helped shape hip-hop history and
culture as the Def Jam intern-turned-label-president and a best-selling
author. That is only the beginning. Get acquainted now with the man who is less preoccupied with the glitterati and has committed himself to branching out and changing lives.

As the founder and CEO of KWL Enterprises, the Baltimore native and
Morgan State grad has positioned himself for global dominance. Three
years ago, Liles launched a management firm (KWL Management) boasting a
roster of artists that includes D’Angelo, Trey Songz and Estelle, among
others. Recently, he expanded the management company’s by launching MMW Entertainment, a strategic practice group under MWW Group, a global communications firm that will continue to enhance the relevance of KWL’s clients. Through his telecommunications company (TrueComm), Liles’ has initiated his worldwide reach through technology by partnering with the president of Tanzania to provide 1.5 million tablets to the country’s youth. He even created a pharmaceutical parts company that supplies parts for large machinery and devices used for pharmaceutical products (KevDar).

But that’s business. For Liles, it’s his commitment to education that allows him to pay it forward. NextGen, his educational company, has teamed with CareerMotivations.com to help students assess their skills through the “Kevin Liles CareerMotivations Challenge” in hopes to discover their potential future careers. His organization, the Make It Happen Foundation, hosts the Make It Happen Summer Academy which encourages, nurtures and grooms young people into future entrepreneurs.

Blackenterprise.com caught up with the multi-tasking visionary to talk about the artist who help re-ignite his passion for the music biz, why D’Angelo “disappeared” for years, and how education has helped him effect change.

Blackenterprise.com: KWL Enterprises celebrates its junior year in August. How has the transition from label executive to artist manager been?

Kevin Liles: I’ve always been in management and had a relationship with my artists. Throughout my entire career, I was with many of them when they bought their first car, house, insurance, had their first child. One of the things I asked myself was ‘where do you want to go?’ Then ‘how much do you want to do entertainment?’ I got my first client because my former intern was managing Trey Songz and they decided to go their separate ways. Trey came to me. I told him to go talk to everybody out there to find a new manager; but he came back to me and said ‘they don’t love me, they don’t care about me.’ So I said, ‘let’s see how it goes.’

Trey got me excited about the business again. I love helping talent. I’m in the life-changing business—taking artists’ dreams and vision and making sure that they continue to evolve. In return, I will be the best at what I do. We all push each other.

Blackenterprise.com: We can’t believe your thrill for this biz was ever gone. What made you lose your passion?

Kevin Liles: I came up during the time when a rapper was a rapper and an R&B singer was an R&B singer. I didn’t come up with disposable music. I worked with such greats as Jay-Z, a rap star who worked everyday to secure his credibility, and then he became a rock star. I think about artists like Prince and Earth Wind & Fire, LL Cool J and Lil Wayne. I’m into brands not just records. People are signing [talent] but not making a full investment in artist development. I don’t want to sign one flimflam winner, I want my artist to have multiple wins. That’s what we need. Where’ the next Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Gerald Levert or Bon Jovi? I believe they are out there, but we have to invest in them.

Blackenterprise.com: Well another major investment you’ve made has been through your Make It Happen Foundation Summer Business Academy. What’s its purpose?

Kevin Liles: My educational company NextGen’s philosophy is that education should be attainable and as easy as going to buy anything online or offline at Walmart or Target. Through [the foundation, my wife and I created] the “Make It Happen Challenge,” where we’ve partnered with careermotivations.com to provide a million career assessment tests ($129) at no cost to youth nationwide. This assessment helps you assess yourself and the skill you have by offering some professional guidance. It’s like your virtual handbook to your life. Why do you think we have business plans? But we don’t do our own personal business plans. When you go to school, this is your life, and all forms of education should be an education of experience. We need to help these kids find their passions and then have employment for these kids.

This past week Oprah had the graduation of her first class from [her school in South Africa]. I was there when she opened the school. Oprah made an investment in their education, in their life, how they dress, walk, talk. When I saw these young girls come up and speak and say Stanford had her name on it it’s because someone invested the time and energy in her future. We all can make a difference and give them opportunity. My focus is on young America. I want to be at the forefront of education.

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D'Angelo performs at Brixton Academy on February 3, 2012 in London (Image: Getty)

Blackenterprise.com: Your roster of talent includes pretty well-established artists and new talent, including D’Angelo, who has not been on the scene for a while. What challenges do you believe he might face as a reemerging artist?

Kevin Liles: It’s about legacy. Here’s a guy, arguably one of he most talented, who hasn’t performed in 10 years. He calls me up and says, “Kev, I’m ready.” He’s a young man who has been through hell. Idolized by women and respected by man. He didn’t know how to handle it, so he retreated. I care about him as a person and will help him fight whatever demons he has so he can share his God-given gift with the world. We made a commitment and tested to see if we were ready by giving a few shows in Europe. They all sold out. I can’t discuss what we have planned just yet; but it’s going to blow your mind over the summer.

Blackenterprise.com: What is the best/worst money advice you’ve ever received?

Kevin Liles: The worst: “Don’t worry about your money, I got it.” The best? From my mom: That everything matters, so listen and learn.

What advice do you have when it comes to growing wealth and investing your money, especially for those who think they might not have enough to start growing wealth?

Kevin Liles: You can save a dollar a day, which is $7 dollars a week. Over the course of 10 years, imagine what you could have saved. You have to make saving as much of a ritual as eating food. Put a system in place that makes sense for you. I started investing when I was young and was able to retire my parents and help put my sisters through school.

Blackenterprise.com: What’s the one mistake you made during your career that you’d never repeat?

Kevin Liles: We have a responsibility to do more than just be successful, and with success comes responsibility. Early on, I wanted success so bad I would do anything for it. You couldn’t tell me no because I believed that’s how you achieve success. Now, I believe that sometimes “no” is the right answer, even if you don’t understand the reason at the time. If I could say there’s anything that I would have done differently, I would have thought through a lot of my today-actions for tomorrow-results.

Blackenterprise.com: What’s your secret to longevity and fulfilling legacy?

Kevin Liles: Relevancy. It’s our job to continuously reinvent ourselves. If I was still living off of that period of time when I worked at Def Jam, I’d never challenge myself. You should access yourself. God woke me up today so I have to invest in me in order to do better things. I don’t think He’s finished with me yet or that he’s utilized everything He’s given me. I have so much to give and share with the world. When I’m out hanging with these kids, they call me O.G or Kevin Liles the Legend. The funny thing is, I don’t feel like I’ve done anything yet. I’ve worked to be a great husband, father and orator for our culture; but if you call that legendary, wait for the second half of my life! The first 25 years of my life I made great music, the next 25 I’d like to spend making a difference.

Supermodel-turned-entrepreneur Beverly Johnson will share how reality TV fits into her branding strategy at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference. (Image: Rob Kim/FilmMagic)

Beverly Johnson is highly regarded as the premier African-American supermodel. She was the first black woman to appear on the magazine covers of Vogue and Elle. She was named one of the 20th Century’s most influential people in fashion by the New York Times. Johnson is parlaying her famous name into a line of products and also a reality TV series appearing on OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network), Beverly’s Full House. Johnson will be on hand to talk about the show during the session “Building Your Brand Through Reality TV” at the 2012 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo (BEEC2012) in Chicago (May 23-26).

Throughout here career Johnson has understood the power of branding. In 1978, Harper’s Bazaar asked what she wanted out of her modeling career, she replied “to be a brand.”  She honed in on this marketing concept long before celebrities were considered viable brands. The right opportunity came along with the Beverly Johnson Signature Eyewear Line which was in Sears stores nationally. The next brand was The Beverly Johnson Hair Collection, which included wigs, hair extensions and other hair products for Amekor Industries. And now there is The Beverly Johnson Lifestyle Brand, a multicultural beauty line of hair care products and drawstring ponytails available at Target stores. Johnson also offers skincare, bath, and body products that are available via her website www.beverlyjohnson.com.

Johnson points to how she had always been the girl on the box, but now she owns the box and what’s in it. “I had the opportunity for the last 14 years of being the face and name of Amekor Industries. I decided it was time for me to create by own destiny. So, I made the leap of faith and decided to create, manufacture, and distribute my own line of products and to own the box my face was on,” she says, coming to the realization that there was a hole in the market for a hair and skincare line for women of color owned by a woman of color.

It was Johnson who pitched a reality TV show concept to longtime friend and branding dynamo mogul Oprah Winfrey. Beverly’s Full House explores the complex relationship between Johnson and her plus-size model daughter, Anansa Sims Patterson, her son-in-law, and her granddaughter as they all live under the one roof. “It’s a constructive show about mother and daughter relationships. I knew that if I wanted my daughter to talk to a therapist or a life coach she would have said ‘no, you may need it but I don’t.’ But she is a big fan of reality TV,” she says.

Furthermore, the television series documents Johnson’s journey in building her new company, Beverly Johnson Enterprises. At age 60 the ‘modelprenuer’ has courageously made the shift from endorsing a beauty brand to owning her self-titled beauty brand. “The series also highlights and shows women that it is never too late to empower yourself to achieve whatever goals and dreams you have inside of you,” says Johnson. “That is how Beverly’s Full House came to be.”

At the Entrepreneurs Conference, not only will Johnson provide tips on how to calculate the risks vs. the benefits of reality TV exposure, she will share some insights on building a personal and professional brand including:

Value Proposition: What do you stand for?

Differentiation: What makes you stand out?

Marketability: What makes you salable?

Johnson is among the accomplished entrepreneurs who will share their success secrets at the 2012 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo hosted by Nationwide, May 23-26, at the Hilton Chicago Hotel in Chicago, IL. Search and follow the hashtag #BEEC2012 on Twitter for the latest updates on conference speakers and sessions. Expect innovative sessions, high-powered speakers, and an early peek at the products, trends, and services you’ll need to stay ahead of the curve. To register and find out more, visit www.blackenterprise.com/ec/

Still an artist at heart, the movie veteran is producing two films set to release in 2012 and one on 2013; Sparkle, starring Jordin Sparks and the late Whitney Houston in her final theatrical performance; Dirty Dancing with director Kenny Ortega and Elixir, another Sanna Hamri collaboration. BlackEnterprise.com caught up with Martin Chase on the Detroit set of Sparkle as she dished out lessons on Hollywood moviemaking and staying ahead of the curve.

As a producer, can you talk about your pitching process?

The pitching process has evolved over the years and certainly I’ve become savvier about how I do it. There was a time when I was younger and fresher and probably more innocent. I’d find a story and be passionate about it and I’d say, I’m going to make this movie. I’d go in and tell the story and do my best to sell it.  Now, I’m picking my projects and being smart about it; how you sell it, where you sell the project and also, the name of the game for me, as a producer, is that I have to make product. That’s what I do. The more product I make that’s good and that does well, the more power I have to do more things. In today’s marketplace, it really is about pitching how you’re going to sell the movie as much as it is about how good the story is.

Are musicals harder to sell to studios these days?

Actually, this period is the renaissance of the musical. MGM and old Hollywood was built on musicals [and became] some of the greatest movies of all time—from West Side Story to Funny Lady. And I always say that Bollywood, which is the largest film industry in the world, is really all about the musical.

Today you have Glee, which is a huge success; you have High School Musical, which again has been enormously successful with the best album of the year for two consecutive years. You have Hairspray, Chicago; you have had a lot of success with musicals. People are interested and Hollywood knows they’re interested. Actually selling a musical, particularly if it’s based on and existing property, which is really the direction that Hollywood is going in general—it actually gives you an edge.

How do you decide whom to work with once your projects are green lit?

It’s really important for me to work with good people. I start with a vision for something and you have to find people that share that vision and will build upon and expand it to places that I didn’t even imagine it could go. Also, you’re in bed with people for a long time. We [were] here in Detroit for a month. It’s just important for me to be around people who not only are immensely creative and talented but who are good people. That’s why I adore Salim [Akil] and Mara [Brock Akil] because they are just good people. This is the first time I’ve worked with a husband and wife combination. So it’s been very interesting to see their process. They very much so are respectful of one another yet very collaborative. And it’s just great to watch them work.

Click here to continue reading and to watch Martin Chase’s video interview…

Sparkle will be Whitney Houston’s return to the big screen but this isn’t your first time working with her. When did you work with her previously? [Edit Note: This interview took place before Houston’s untimely passing.]

I ran Denzel Washington’s production company for four years when we had a deal with TriStar. During that time, I developed a movie called The Preacher’s Wife. It took four years and Whitney was attached from the very beginning. I got a chance to know her and her team. She’d done The Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale and wanted to grow her company so it worked out. I’d started with Denzel right after his Oscar for Glory. Malcolm X was in the can. He was a very respected actor at the time and I took that journey with him as he became the legendary actor that he is today. And producing became less important to him because he was doing back-to-back movies; so it was during the production of a The Preacher’s Wife that I sort of transitioned. Martin Chase Productions has had a deal with Disney for 10 years. I’ll partner on individual projects but I’ve been doing this for a long time.

What the difference between Hollywood now versus 10 years ago?

Hollywood has changed a lot. Studios and production companies are now divisions of larger corporations so of course it’s all about the bottom line and making money. They need things to make money. It’s about commerciality. What happen to the music business a few years ago with the advancement of the Internet and technology is killing the movie business. Just a few years ago, DVDs were holding up the legs of major studios. There was a lot of money made in DVD sales, now those sales have gone away. I haven’t bought a movie in forever. Even our distribution system has changed. They are again trying to figure out how to get people back to the movie theater.

How do we get people invested again in the big picture experience?

That’s why there are so many historical titles making it to the big screen now, because people have some kind of recognition to the characters. I’m doing two remakes, Sparkle and Dirty Dancing next year. It’s a way to say that there’s a built in audience and if we can bring that audience back, plus another audience, we’re one step ahead of the game. My mentor in this business was a man named Frank Price, in retrospect, he’s one of the last of the Hollywood studio bosses and I just adore him because he wanted me to learn and he saw me as a part of his legacy. Frank was all about the story; we’d sit in a meeting and analyze what would work and what wouldn’t work in a story; versus now, it’s, “How do I sell this, what’s the one sheet on this, what’s the one-liner that I can hook my marketing campaign on.” It’s real but unfortunately where the business had gone.

Watch below as Martin Chase shares more of her insight on the movie business.

Shot and edited by Chapter3.tv

I love and respect you Oprah, but OWN network just doesn't cut it. (Photo: File)

It’s been all over the news that Oprah’s OWN network is not doing well. According to reports, an analyst predicts OWN is set to lose more than $140 million this year— a claim Discovery Communications, which jointly owns the network, disputes. Also, OWN recently laid off 20% of its workforce.

Beyond the numbers, I’m not surprised. I’ve never been a major fan of the Oprah Winfrey Show or OWN.

(Insert overwhelming gasps, side eyes and heckles from Oprah fans here).

I have many family members, Facebook and real-life friends who swear by Oprah and her brand. What she says is gold, and anything she co-signs is 100% certifiably The Gospel. People quote statements as facts just because Oprah said it or someone from her show said it, even if the “facts” were obviously stated as opinions or things that are debatable.

True, Oprah has offered a great gift to the world and to TV through her philanthropy, her informative and groundbreaking segments on the good, bad and the ugly of life, and her spectacular rise to the top, producing the highest-rated show of its kind and becoming a self-made billionaire. Career-wise, she is one of the top two mentors in my head (next to Wendy Williams) and is someone whose journey I seek to model and learn from.

But, maybe it’s the journalist in me who doesn’t like to just sip the Kool-Aid at every Oprah party and follow the host’s agenda without full discernment or critique. To be honest, I haven’t seen enough of the people who I could relate to on the show or the network.

Oprah caters to a world that is just not my cup of tea (or Hennessy), one that has no seat for me at a table where I’d be the one who brings up the latest Basketball Wives episode to change up what I felt was a boring chat on the best colors to paint a kitchen nook. (“Well on Oprah, they say periwinkle is the new ‘it’ color, so I think I’ll try that.” LOL)

Let’s be real: Reality and celebrity-based TV are not only the popular kids on the block— they run the block. I’m talking drama, catfights, seedy pasts, fist-pumping, rehab hi-jinx and all the voyeuristic vices that people love to deny watching, but can’t look away.

I know that those elements may not fit into Oprah’s brand, and I’m not saying that it should. What I am saying is that sometimes you have to either adjust with the players of the game or get benched. I’m sure Oprah’s aware of this, since business (and especially the business of TV) can be a cut-throat game of survival of the fittest.

Here are few suggestions that would make me want to even consider watching OWN:

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Sometimes a sprinkle of reality TV might help liven up a network's vibe --- as well as its ratings. (Image: Vh1)

Have younger — dare I say, cutting-edge — programming, with young hosts, young producers, young writers and young topics. Young doesn’t have to equal ratchet. (Anybody remember Teen Summit where a young Ananda Lewis was the host who would interview guests like Hillary Clinton and hot entertainers of the time in front of a young studio audience?) Bring in some fresh, youthful content ideas and intermix those with the veterans who are good at what they do and the shows that already do well with the more-senior audience.

Get some diversity. There’s been the argument that Oprah hasn’t included enough people of color, especially in some hot entertainment areas (ie. the multimillion-dollar world of hip hop). I’d love to see an interview with Lil Wayne and the Cash Money empire about their lives and their business or a show where she follows young urban entrepreneurs in their journey to build their businesses from the ground up. Let’s talk about taboo topics more, such as HIV/AIDS among minorities, exploring sexually and the LGBT community, and issues other cultures in America and international deal with that aren’t centered around that “save the world” aesthetic.

Consider more interactive or raw content that is user-generated. We all love the inspirational stories from viewers about how they gave back or how they were able to use one of the tips from the show to improve their lives, but why not, for example, try featuring YouTube stars who cover lifestyle elements in alternative ways? Have a contest to find the next biggest host by utilizing video-centered social media (beyond Facebook and Twitter) and relating to people where they are. Shake things up a bit by including hosts who maybe don’t wear Dockers and Sperrys.

Don’t be afraid of the “ratchet.” Hey, it’s part of life, and to be honest, it equals big ratings. You can’t have the good without the bad, and for some of us, it’s a guilty pleasure and escape. (Even the cardigan-wearing Dockers types sneak a peek at The Real Housewives of Atlanta or Bridezillas.) I think Oprah could be the person to find the perfect balance of offering quality TV along with the ugly side of it and be successful at it. We love Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, so what’s the harm in adding another Wives or Shore franchise in the mix?

Get back to sitcoms that actually make us almost forget reality TV. Despite what’s been drilled into the hearts and minds of the public, people still like a good, scripted show. We loved Girlfriends, The Cosby Show, Living Single and the like. Who better than Oprah to revive the advent of having that friend in our head (or in real-life) like Toni Childs or Khadijah James?

Loosen up a little more. Now that Oprah’s reached a climax in her career (and I’m sure she could go higher and higher), let’s see more of the side of Oprah that is open to doing things like visiting Marcy Projects with Jay-Z’s Bed-Stuy hood or when she chopped it up with late-night host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel. It made us feel like you were that aunt at the family reunion who is known for snubbing anything that wasn’t designer, but after a few drinks joined everybody in the electric slide.

YouTube film bringing attention to Ugandan leader Joseph Kony went viral with over 56 million views (Image: File)

For the past few days social media feeds have been erupting with “Stop Kony” messages, videos, and photos. The 30-minute YouTube film on the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony uploaded  Monday went viral and has more than 56 million views (at press time).

The nonprofit charity Invisible Children Inc. uploaded the video to bring attention to Kony and the rebel group Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which has terrorized central Africa for several years. The viral attention garnered celebrity endorsements from Oprah, Rihanna, and Sean “Diddy” Combs, to name a few.

In October, President Obama sent 100 troops to Uganda to help regional forces battle the LRA and capture or kill Kony.

On April 20, the group is asking supporters to cover their hometowns with posters calling for the militia leader to be brought to justice, reports ABC News. Supporters can sign a petition and contribute to the cause by buying T-shirts, posters and bracelets on its website.

Watch the video below:

The production featured a literal who’s who of great American actors, including a now legendary cast of African Americans such as Louis Gossett Jr., John Amos, Ben Vereen, Cicely Tyson and Leslie Uggams, not to mention the unforgettable debut of Burton as Kunte Kinte, captured in Gambia and sold into the American slave trade in 1765 at the age of 15. With a score composed by Quincy Jones and Gerald Fried, Roots captured America’s undivided attention in a way few television shows have done before or since, garnering 36 Emmy Award nominations (winning nine), as well as Golden Globe and Peabody Awards. The finale of the Roots miniseries remains the third highest-rated U.S. television program ever. A sequel, Roots: The Next Generations, was broadcast in 1979, and a second sequel, Roots: The Gift, was produced as a Christmas movie which starred Burton and Gossett.

Fittingly, in honor of Martin Luther King Day, Oprah Winfrey will host a reunion of the cast members who played some of the most unforgettable roles in the Roots miniseries on the Oprah Winfrey Network, Monday, January 16, at 8pm EST. While the miniseries’ place in American television history is firmly established, the story of Kunte Kinte and his descendants had a far deeper and lasting significance for me, helping to determine my outlook on life, choices and values as an African American.

I was 16 years old when my mother informed me and my three younger siblings (ages 15, 13 and 9), that for the first time in our lives, not only would we be allowed to stay up past our bed time for the week (including school nights!), but that we were required to. As a young, divorced single mother struggling on public assistance to help make a dollar out of 15 cents while raising us on her own, she’d long established her word as law, to be violated at risk of our lives. (You know the type: “I brought you into this world, and I’ll… “) Mommy said we had to watch Roots. Over the ensuing eight nights, I would be mesmerized by what I saw on our television screen.

The author, at 16, a year older than Levar Burton's Kunte Kinte (Image: Courtesy of Subject)

First of all, I don’t recall ever seeing more black people on television at one time (excluding news coverage of events such as civil rights marches and racial unrest after the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.) before the eight nights that Roots aired. At that point, the main way to see black people on television was by watching sitcoms such as Good Times and Sanford and Son. I still remember it being a big deal when a black person (nearly always an entertainer or athlete) was set to appear on a TV show; my mother would call all of her black friends and neighbors, who would call all of their black friends and neighbors, to ensure that the entire black community tuned in. (Back in those days, black guests performed on late night talk shows, but were almost never invited to the couch to be interviewed by the host.) Seeing all of the great actors and actresses we loved, admired and crushed on was an astonishing source of pride to black people. It’s worth noting that many of the black cast of the Roots miniseries, including Academy Award winner Gossett (Best Supporting Actor, An Officer and A Gentleman) and Academy Award nominee Tyson (Best Actress, Sounder), have gone on to establish themselves among some of the world’s greatest actors.

But the real impact of the Roots miniseries is that it sparked a hunger in me to discover who I really was as a Black American. Before Roots, I thought the African American story began at slavery. Period. In fact, my total knowledge of what it meant to be Black prior to watching Roots consisted of the following: My ancestors were slaves. President Lincoln set us free. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., with an assist from Rosa Parks, convinced white people of good will to end racial discrimination (at least against “responsible Negroes”). Dr. King was good. Malcolm X–the absolute furthest thing from a responsible Negro–was bad–very bad. And I could grow up to be anything that I wanted to be, even President of the United States of America. Except I could always tell that the people saying this to me, whether black or white, didn’t really believe it themselves. (Interestingly, my mother, who has never expressed anything but unshakeable, matter-of-fact faith in my abilities, never told me I could be the President or anything else she didn’t truly believe herself.)

So having Kunte Kinte and millions like him presented to me as evidence that the story of my ancestry and identity began long before American slavery was a powerful, even shocking, revelation to me. I immediately saw myself differently when I looked into the mirror each day. And it wasn’t just me; when I went to my high school classes each day, I could immediately tell which of my white high school classmates and teachers had also been watching Roots by the way they looked at me. It was as if they were thinking: “Now, Alfred knows. And now, I know. And he knows that I know.” I don’t recall any negativity coming out of it. (My hometown of Long Branch, N.J., had only one high school, so my public school education was very much integrated, though racial conflict was not uncommon.) But everything was unmistakably, irreversibly different. Roots provided the first opportunity for me and my black friends to take cultural pride in who we were, and for some of my white friends to have a deeper appreciation for who I was and how I felt as a black person, even if they couldn’t personally understand or identify with it. I learned that being honest about America’s painful racial history did not have to divide people against each other; in at least a few cases, it helped to increase the respect and deepen the friendships of my white peers.

The bottom line: Roots breathed credibility into the idea that I could, indeed, do and be anything I wanted to. The belief that I was inferior to absolutely no one, white or otherwise, in the eyes of God was seared into my soul by one pivotal scene, where the adult Kunte Kinte (played by Amos) raises his infant daughter Kizzy to the star-spangled heavens and loudly declares: “Behold, the only thing greater than yourself!”

Eighteen months after the Roots miniseries aired, I went away from my hometown for the first time in my life when I started college at Rutgers University, a couple of hours away in New Brunswick, N.J. The appetite for understanding and appreciating black culture and history sparked by Roots became ravenous after my discovery of the great Paul Robeson (widely considered to be Rutgers greatest alumni ever) during my freshman year. I ended up becoming a leader in the Black student movement at Rutgers and the editor-in-chief of the Black Voice/Carta Boricua, a university-wide publication of Black and Latino students. And so began my calling to a career in media as a means of championing the truth, power, beauty and potential of who we are and can choose to be as African Americans. I fell in love with the power of story telling to open eyes and change lives. And to think I owe it all to Roots. Our Roots.

If you want a suggestion from me of how you should spend the Martin Luther King Holiday, or what you should do during Black History Month, how about buying the Roots miniseries on DVD and insisting that the children in your family, church and community sit down to watch and discuss it with you. Even if they have to stay up late on a school night.

Happy 35th Anniversary to Roots. And thank you to each and every person who played a role in bringing the story of Kunte Kinte to life.