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On Saturday, the ESSENCE Fashion House closed out day two of Essence Festival with a panel entitled, “Look Good, Do Good, And Feel Good,” which was moderated by attorney and political commentator, Angela Rye.
Actress, political activist and one half of lifestyle brand Studio One Eighty Nine, Rosario Dawson joined business partner and former communication executive, Abrima Erwiah to discuss their lifestyle label, colonialism and affecting change in the fashion industry.
Worn by Iman in her recent July/August ESSENCE cover shoot, Dawson and Erwiah’s fashion brand produces African-inspired content and clothing. Their manufacturing facility prides itself on empowerment through job creation, educational support and strategic collaborations.
The pair stressed the importance of appreciating the resources that come from Africa and working with creators on the continent to ensure greater control over our supply chain.
Dawson and Erwiah encouraged the audience to make a conscious effort to support clothing made in Africa and invest our time and financial resources into initiatives that will benefit us all.
The post Angela Rye, Rosario Dawson And Abrima Erwiah Talk Sustainability And Circularity In The Fashion Industry appeared first on Essence.
On Saturday, the ESSENCE Fashion House closed out day two of Essence Festival with a panel entitled, “Look Good, Do Good, And Feel Good,” which was moderated by attorney and political commentator, Angela Rye.
Actress, political activist and one half of lifestyle brand Studio One Eighty Nine, Rosario Dawson joined business partner and former communication executive, Abrima Erwiah to discuss their lifestyle label, colonialism and affecting change in the fashion industry.
Worn by Iman in her recent July/August ESSENCE cover shoot, Dawson and Erwiah’s fashion brand produces African-inspired content and clothing. Their manufacturing facility prides itself on empowerment through job creation, educational support and strategic collaborations.
The pair stressed the importance of appreciating the resources that come from Africa and working with creators on the continent to ensure greater control over our supply chain.
Dawson and Erwiah encouraged the audience to make a conscious effort to support clothing made in Africa and invest our time and financial resources into initiatives that will benefit us all.
The post Angela Rye, Rosario Dawson And Abrima Erwiah Talk Sustainability And Circularity In The Fashion Industry appeared first on Essence.
Writer: Jason Aaron / Artist: Stefano Caselli / Marvel Comics
You Win, Jason Aaron
From the jump of Jason Aaron’s run on Avengers I have pretty much tolerated Ghost Rider. He’s a new version of a character I’ve never had much affinity for or interest in. He’s been a good character creating interest as the young, “out of their depth” addition, not to mention he possessed a Celestial. It took time but after issue twenty-three of Avengers I can finally say that Aaron has worn me down and made me care about Robbie Reyes. Not only that, I found myself more interested in his race with Johnny Blaze than the rest of the Avengers’ fight with their own possessed Celestial base.
In Hell, Robbie is challenged to a race by the original Ghost Rider who’s now the leader of the underworld. Robbie is absolutely done with the Spirit of Vengeance after it threatened to hurt his little brother. He doesn’t want to even race, telling Blaze he can just take it until the O.G. Ghost Rider also threatens little Gabe. After a good ‘ol action movie style, respect-earning punch to the face they get started.
Hazmat Suit? I Need No Hazmat Suit
While the Ghost Riders are occupied in Hell, the rest of the Avengers are dealing with their own Spirit of Vengeance that’s possessed Avengers Mountain. The combined expertise of Black Panther (I always forget that his powers are mystical), Blade and Hellstorm try to get a handle on the powerful spirit turning their home against them. Firstly, they understand the importance of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). The team has been fitted with hazmat suits equipped with a stylish pentagram to protect them from being possessed themselves. The exception being T’challa whose O.P. suit already protects him. The book ends with the introduction of a newer character. Or rather, a new version of an old character.
Now I don’t know when Frank Castle got the Power Cosmic AND the Spirit of Vengeance but I won’t lie. It sounds like the creation of a drunk Stan Lee and I am here for it. The book continues to impress with Aaron’s pulling on several threads laid down in earlier issues. Here the Ghost Rider story intersects with the concept of the ancient Avengers whom we got a few stories about. The creme filling here is in Hell. Caselli’s hellscape is beautifully terrifying. It had the unfortunate side effect of reminding me how much I prefer Ghost Rider’s original design, especially in the hands of a capable artist. Keep this book in hell for as long as you guys need!
8.5 “Zombie Cannons” out of 10
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The post Avengers #23 Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Written by: Erika Latanya
Hello, BGN readers!! My name is Erika Latanya and today I’m going to tell you guys on how I became a national bestselling author and what it takes.
I know what you guys are thinking. Is she a New York Times bestselling author? The answer to that question is no!
When most people hear of a bestselling author they associate the title with New York Times or USA Today bestselling lists. If you’re a 90s baby or older then you may even remember the Essence Bestseller list. However, I am not apart of those group of bestsellers either. Lol
So, I’ve been self-publishing books for a little over two years now. In between, I signed with two different publishers because I wanted more exposure for my work. Not only did I want more exposure but I also wanted to become a bestselling author. Aye, it’s every author’s or aspiring author’s dream. Being able to claim “bestselling author” is the equivalent of earning a verified badge on social media.
If you’re anything like me, then you use social media a lot and possibly interact with people within the same industry as you. I did. I interacted with many other authors on social media, both independent and traditionally published authors. Along with that came sightings of fancy book covers, and you can guess what else I spotted written on them. You’ve guessed correctly — national bestselling author! Honey, I wanted to be like those authors and flaunt that title next to my name.
In today’s world, however, publishing has changed. Books don’t necessarily have to be placed inside a bookstore (although it’s still a good thing unless it’s placed on the clearance rack). Anywho, Amazon is the go-to for publishing ebooks and paperbacks by both indie and traditional publishing houses. Each book uploaded is placed within a category based on the selected genre the author chooses.
On Amazon, an author can get a bestseller badge based on how many books are bought and/or downloaded within an hour while calculating books that are sold throughout the day. Each book sold boosts the author’s ranking.
I wrote my first book and I just knew I’d sell a ton of copies. Ummm — that did not happen. When I signed with two different publishing companies, I assumed they could get me that badge. Ummm — I still didn’t get a badge.
Eventually, I started my own publishing company called Dear Diary Publishing. I wanted to grow within my career and have full control over my work. I guess you could call it self-promotion. I knew deep within my heart I was created to be a boss. I came up with a plan that I’d write the best book the world has yet to read. I stayed up many late nights writing. It got so bad that I caught cramps in my hands.
To make a long story short, I eventually published two books under my own brand. The first book was a mystery, which brought out the weird and nerdy girl in me. The second book was a short story, a holiday story to be exact. This brings me to one more fact: Do not be afraid to branch out and write in multiple genres. Explore. You’d be surprised at how far your talent can take you. Never get too comfortable with one genre. A writer will never know how great they can be by being content in a box.
I became a bestselling author, but it wasn’t after publishing the first book. I received the badge after I published the second book. You might think I became a bestselling author because I published under my own company, but that had nothing to do with it.
I asked myself, “What did I do differently this time around that I hadn’t done before?” The answer is: Promote. Promote, promote, and then promote. I ran ads, held a giveaway, and even gave some books away for free. Word of mouth helped a lot, too.
Some people may say they’ve done the same and it hasn’t happened for them. I’m here to say the road isn’t easy, and it takes a lot of hard work. It took a total of about five or six books of mine to be published before I became a bestseller. It does not happen overnight. But, once a bestseller, always a bestseller. I’m a proud Amazon Bestselling Author, hence that makes me a national bestselling author. Amazon is one of the most popular lists to join as a bestselling author. So, to all authors and aspiring: Keep on pushing. Happy writing!
Well, I hope you all enjoyed my mini-rant. If you’re interested in checking out some of my material then feel free to check out my site at erikalatanya.com. Thanks!
erikalatanya.com
IG: @erikalatanya
Twitter: @erikalatanya
FB: fb.com/erikalatanyabooks
The post How Erika Latanya Became a Bestselling Author — and How You Can, Too! appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis / Artist: Szymon Kudranski / DC Comics
Ok, Bendis. I’m going to need you to stop making me root for the villain. Action Comics #1014 turned the Black Girl Magic up a notch right out the gate. The book starts with Perry White, editor of the Daily Planet (I was this close to writing “Daily Bugle”), meets his new boss. Marisol Leone has been a fantastic addition to Superman’s world. It has been known for quite a while that she bought Superman’s paper but that hasn’t been super relevant to the story outside of her employment/ partnership with Robinson Goode. In this issue, she has her first interaction with Perry White. In a deliciously curious creative choice, the criminal Queen Bee of Metropolis comes off as the ideal owner of a newspaper. She asks Perry what he needs to make the paper better and without either of them skipping a beat he tells her he needs money and editorial control and she agrees. Later in the comic Clark Kent gets a chance to meet Miss Leone. After stopping a rampaging monster, he writes an article about it quoting himself as Superman (I’m not sure about the journalistic ethics here) shedding light on wrongdoing on the part of S.T.A.R. Labs. Perry is excited to introduce Kent to Leone, but he is appropriately skeptical of her intentions.
In the Bridgeport, CT portion of Metropolis we’re reminded that Miss Leone is indeed a villain. The violent alternate personality of Rose, aptly named Thorn, is tearing up the hang out spots of the crime bosses working under Leone. Partially through her Punisher session, the Red Cloud arrives. With her being supercharged by Lex Luthor (There’s some Villain event that I have zero interest in) and Thorn being VERY human and not at all trained by Batman this does not go well.
My favorite part of this book is how well Leone as a benevolent owner works.
I wouldn’t buy for a second that a paper owned by Wilson Fisk or Lex Luthor could have journalistic integrity. Leone is different. Out of necessity (Superman is kind of a beast) she has preserved her empire’s anonymity so there is less of an incentive to skew a newspaper’s take on crime and scandal. This might also be bait from Bendis but the way she is written make it seem like she genuinely cares about journalism.
Another thing to note is how this book plays with the panels’ borders. During Thorn’s fight they used an appropriately themed border that they’ve done with her character before. During Superman’s they used an unconventional one that added a bit of spice to the scene.
9 “Super Speed Keyboard Clickity Clacks” out of 10
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The post Action Comics #1014 Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.