Timing is everything. Many great ideas have been launched into the world and forgotten because the timing of their debut was wrong. Yet, lately it seems all the planets have aligned to create the perfect environment for the introduction of a greater consciousness of ourselves and our purpose in the world. After viewing Oprah’s Hip Hop town hall to discuss the problems that exist within the music genre and American society in general, I am even more convinced that the time is right for BMWMB.

But what is a BMWMB? No, it’s not a new model of BMW nor a new television network or sports association. And no, you won’t see it “walking it out” on BET. However, that is not to say you won’t see it “working it out” on the popular network and others. From the corporate office to the barbershop, from the corner store to Ivy League halls of academia, BMWMB can be found collectively or individually making things happen. Still, don’t get it? Here’s the answer. BMWMB is the acronym for Black Men Who Men Business.

Black Men Who Mean Business, the phrase alone commands a certain respect and sense of anticipation because Black men who mean business are not only the visionaries but also the reality-makers. With that intent, Sacramento, California based writer and producer, Michael Dailey, gave birth to BMWMB. He partnered with legendary scholar, author, orator, and professor Dr. Cornel West, and his brother, Clifton West, to create the original chapter of BMWMB. I say chapter because I’m praying their model will be duplicated around the country and eventually the world.

In June, Black Music Month, these three visionaries will release, Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations. Debuting on Hidden Beach Recordings’ new label, Hidden Beach Forum, this powerful musical experience places Dr. West in the eye of a lyrical and visual Hip Hop storm. Just as music execs, artists, business leaders, and community activist meet to clean up the misbehavior in Hip-Hop, BMWMB and Hidden Beach will have already constructed a musical template for them to follow. This collaboration of conscious thought and musical righteousness takes Dr. West out of the confines of Princeton classrooms and releases him creatively to share the mic with Hip Hop and R&B heavy hitters like Common, Kanye West, KRS-1, Talib Kweli, Prince, Dave Hollister, and the late Gerald LeVert. Addressing issues of racial profiling, politics, 9/11, war, and a litany of other concerns of not just Black people but America at large, Never Forget is a wonderful example of just what men can do when they mean business. No bitches, no hoes, no misogyny, no homophobia just straight lyrical genius laid over perfect beats. The music and the message transcend generational and racial differences to speak to concerns we all have as everyday people.

And now that Hip Hop appears to be ready to address its problems, this unique project is definitely part of the solution. Again, timing is everything. Hidden Beach founder, Steve McKeever, could not have planned it any better. And the title of the project is so appropriate to what we are facing right now. Never forget that Black music set the musical foundation for this country. Never forget it soothed our souls in the fields and secretly led us to freedom in the north, expressed our woes in shades of blue as we carved out a new existence in a racist society, helped us swing our way into a new cultural and economic existence as we passed trees bearing Strange Fruit. And while the country faced a great depression, we sang a happy song because it was well with our souls, marched to the rhythm of a new freedom song; pumped our fist to the beat of black pride, scratched classic tunes to create a new sound; gave pop music a new king that was a thriller, and ushered in a phenomenal musical combination of all these experiences and history just for it to be reduced to one drunken night in a strip club. People, never forget!

(BMWMB) AND THE EVENT’S  CO- HOST National Academic Youth Corps Inc. FOUNDATION A  NON-PROFIT 501(c)3  ORGANIZATIONS HAVE BEEN A CONSTANT VOICES THAT HAS EMPOWERED THE COMMUNITY BY INSPIRING HOPE AND CREATING A PATH FOR CHANGE.

BOTH ORGANIZATIONS ARE COMMITTED TO IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR EVERYONE, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON ADDRESSING THE SERIOUS CHALLENGES FACING OUR COMMUNITIES.

OUR FOCUS:/DISCUSSION TOPICS:

EDUCATION/MUSIC

HIV/AIDS AWARENESS

COLOR ME GREEN/ENVIRONMENT

HUMAN RIGHT/HEALTH CARE

PEACE/NO MORE WAR

For donation & In-kind

Make Payable to

National Academic Youth Corps Inc Tax ID 80-0064237

Attn: Michael Dailey

6926 suite c Woodbine Ave

Sacramento, CA95822

(916) 504 9126 or

nine16musicinc@aol.com

Raheem singing is heart out 2000 fans @ BMWMB community event. 2009 Sacto Ca @ Kennedy High School May 31 @ 2:00pm.

[View with PicLens]

• WHO: Dr. Cornel West & BMWMB members Clifton West and Mike Dailey will host a listening party reunion event in their native hometown of Sacramento, CA to celebrate their community and share powerful commentary from their CD project, Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations.
• WHAT: First Annual Community Listening Party Reunion
• WHEN: Saturday, May 31, 2008 from 4:00 -6:00 P.M.
• WHERE: Sacramento High School (auditorium)

*Event is FREE and open to the public! For more Information, contact Underground Books at (916)737-3333.

About Dr. Cornel West

Dr. Cornel West is a professor of religion and African American studies at Princeton University and is considered one of America’s most gifted, provocative, and important public intellectuals. He has won numerous awards, including the American Book Award, and has received more than 20 honorary degrees. In his scholarly work, he has authored more than 17 books including the best-selling Race Matters which has sold nearly 400,000 copies to date and continues to influence a national dialogue on race. A political theorist who’s worked on presidential bids by Bill Bradley, Al Sharpton and now Barack Obama, West has also been involved with such projects as the Million Man March and Russell Simmon’s Hip Hop Summit. He continues to be an integral part of social change as well as a driving force in pop culture. He has appeared in both The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions playing one of the elders, Councilor West while also providing philosophical commentary on all three Matrix films in The Ultimate Matrix Collection. He is a widely sought after public speaker, guest commentator on many national television programs and an integral part of social change in bringing back the essence of Black music with a ‘real’ purpose. He has, without question, earned his place in American history as one of the greatest public intellectuals of our time.

About BMWMB

Mike Dailey and Clifton West are the duo serving as supporting cast to the movement of Dr. Cornel West to inform and empower the African American community through hip hop, R&B, Spoken Word and Rap as well as mentoring, uplifting and truth telling in our community. Mike Dailey, writer and co-producer of Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations” brings many years of music industry savvy to the new project and has solicited the support of some of the industry’s top artists. His past credits include work with the likes of such artists as George Duke, The Jacksons, and Bobby Brown to name a few. Clifton West also brings his writing and producing skills to the project as well as his voice at forums and listening parties to address African American issues in today’s society. BMWMB is a movement to remember, restore and re-ignite the power of uniting the African American community through love, unity, solidarity and loyalty to one another through mentoring and forums/listening parties in addition to other events

Scholar and author Cornell West, left, with Kellogg School Professor Steven Rogers at a March 8 banquet, part of the 2008 Black Management Association Conference. Photo © Nathan Mandell

‘Power of collaboration’ on display at Kellogg Black Management Conference
Tap African-American community for talent, urge experts, who note persistent challenges facing blacks on corporate ladder; three-day event includes Cornell West keynote

By Ed Finkel

March 11, 2008 – After Robert Johnson sold Black Entertainment Television to Viacom for $3 billion, he founded a company called RLJ Enterprises that now has holdings in myriad business sectors: banking, hotels, private equity, hedge funds, film, auto dealerships and gaming. In many of those areas, as with BET, Johnson looks to African-Americans both as employees and potential consumers.

“If you take talented African-Americans and put resources and a vision behind them, you can penetrate [market] areas that, for whatever reason, have been under-penetrated,” said Johnson, who delivered a keynote address March 8 at the Kellogg School’s 21st Black Management Association Conference, a student-led event held at the James L. Allen Center. But relatively few businesses have figured out that strategy, he said. “There is, in effect, a glass ceiling for African-Americans and other minorities and women because there is an old-boy network.”

Johnson said he found cracks in that glass ceiling in his early days partly by strategically partnering with white-owned companies to gain what he termed a “Good Housekeeping seal of approval.”

“The first time you walk in the door, there’s a skepticism: ‘They don’t know how to run a business,’” he told the audience, gathered for the middle day of the three-day conference. “You’ve got to remove that.” When Johnson forged the right partnerships, he said perceptions changed. “You could almost hear people say, ‘Oh, he’s got a white guy with him,’” recalled Johnson. “But it doesn’t have to be a white guy — it can be someone else who’s been successful.”

Johnson’s remarks underscored the conference theme — “The Defining Moment: Understanding the Power of Collaboration to Effect Change.” The sold-out event began March 7 with an evening networking reception in Chicago at Bin 36. The following day brought business leaders, academics and students together in Evanston for a variety of events, including an alumni town hall meeting, a prospective student information session, keynote speakers and panel discussions. The day concluded with a banquet featuring an address by Dr. Cornell West, professor of religion and African-American studies at Princeton University. The conference’s final day included a gospel brunch.

Speaking during the Saturday session was McDonald’s USA President Don Thompson, who urged successful African-Americans to reach into the community to help pull others up the success ladder. He suggested a number of ways to effect this change, including by mentoring young people and showing them the corporate opportunities that could await them. “Every one of us has a role to play,” Thompson said. “There are things we are called to do, and we don’t have a choice but to answer.”

An electrical engineer by training who began in such a position at McDonald’s 18 years ago, Thompson said blacks have made progress in corporate America but still face hurdles. “I don’t think we’re any worse off,” he said. “But we could be doing a whole lot better than we are.” Making noise about the need for greater progress must be coupled with strategic thinking about how to bring it about, Thompson added.

Research at the Kellogg School has shone light on that challenge, showing that even most white people who want to — and believe they are — judging African-Americans equally still hold subconscious biases, said Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations Robert Livingston, who moderated a panel on the dearth of blacks in upper management. His work shows the disparity between whites’ stated attitudes toward African-Americans and the reality with regard to non-verbal behavior and decision-making when it comes to hiring and promotions.

Roderick Gillum, vice president of diversity at General Motors, expressed a mix of hope and frustration regarding his company’s progress. “We have a lot of talent in the pipeline,” he said. “We fall short in our willingness to take a risk with people of color. Our chairman and I disagree on this, but at least we can talk about it.”

Kellogg graduate Virginia Clarke ’84, partner at Spencer Stuart Global Diversity Practice, urged African-Americans to push for change. “They absolutely tolerate me,” she said of the mostly white male senior management at Spencer Stuart. When she questions why the management team hasn’t become more diverse over the years, “People say, ‘Well, you know.’ No. I don’t know. Tell me.”

Clarke encouraged students and recent graduates to be persistent, inquisitive and upfront about their ambitions. “Don’t think because you have a management degree, it’s a meritocracy, it’s going to be great,” she said. “People can’t read your mind.”

Cedric Thurman ’96, chief diversity officer at Jones-Lang LaSalle, sounded similar themes during an afternoon panel about foreign-born blacks. “If people didn’t speak up, there wouldn’t be as many [African-American] people sitting in this room. The only way to make the pie bigger is to speak up,” said the Kellogg alum.
African-Americans must perform well to continue opening doors for those behind them, Thurman said. “If you come in and don’t have your stuff together, don’t say Cedric’s not down with the cause,” he said. “If I hire somebody who values the opportunity, it opens up more opportunity.”

The BMA Conference is itself about advancing that goal, said Brian Carter ’08, student co-organizer along with Darryl Dove ’08. “That’s how we’re all going to succeed: to build these network that we can leverage down the road,” he said.