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Posts tagged as “power”

"Woman In The Mirror": GBN Editor Lori Lakin Hutcherson’s Personal Essay on Women, Power and Leadership

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson via dumbofeather.com

Ever since I was four years old, I remember feeling powerless. I didn’t know it by name then, but looking back, powerlessness is what drove me every night, after I slid under my Raggedy Ann sheets and comforter, to wish and pray that when I woke up, I’d wake up a boy. Not because I felt like a boy inside, but because boys got to have what I couldn’t. Hair that didn’t have to be detangled or combed or braided. Action figures instead of dolls. Race cars with race tracks and pants to play in—always pants. In my four-year-old mind, boys had everything. Freedom. Choices. Power. Pants. But every morning like clockwork, the sun rose, I looked down, and I was denied yet again by The Man Upstairs. I was still Team Pink. I was still a girl.

I wore my disappointment more stoically than my dresses, because somehow I knew this was not a conversation to be had with either parent, or even my big sister (who was obsessed with boys in the acceptable way—with crushes and smiles and day dates to ice skating shows). I didn’t know how to voice the palpable inequity I was absorbing from our society, my culture, the media. That boys were considered the stronger, smarter, faster sex, who should be deferred to and in control. What I couldn’t find words for, but knew from the tips of my bobble ball hair ties to the soles of my patent leather Mary Janes, was that the way girls were devalued wasn’t fair, square or remotely close to justified.

Girls were just as smart and fast and valuable as boys—and once in a while, in between ads for EZ bake ovens and hungry toy babies and household products that would save me from a lifetime of dishpan hands, my TV echoed parts of this truth to me. I saw the “Bionic Woman” and “Wonder Woman” and Billie Jean King with the big glasses and small tennis racket beat the old, blustering Bobby guy in “The Battle of the Sexes.” And then there was Nadia from Romania who proved her ability at the Montreal Olympics, though her dainty and pretty were remarked upon more often than her athleticism and artistry. Even after her repeated displays of superlativeness, she stood there, half-smiling, as they gave most of the credit to her male coach. They might not have been black like me but they were girls like me, girls who liked to rip and run and use their bodies and brains for something other than to attract boys.

In my home, the messages were similarly mixed. My mom had a job just like my dad did. And as a teacher, when I went to work with her, I got to see a woman in charge. Of the space, the lessons, the students. I saw her leadership there, as well as in the house. Mom had as much authority as Dad (if not more) and my dad did the cooking. And since both parents were college graduates and educators, my sister and I were expected to do well in school, go to college and have a career.
Mom even gave my sister and me “School Years” memory books so we could track our progress from Kindergarten through High School. Who our friends and teachers were, our activities, awards, and what we wanted to be when we grew up. This aid to success ended up being one of the most painful reminders of the limited expectations the world had for me. The occupations listed for “Boys”? Policeman, Fireman, Astronaut, Soldier, Cowboy, Baseball Player. But for “Girls”? Mother, Nurse, School Teacher, Airline Hostess, Model, Secretary. In that order.

There was a “fill in the blank” space, so every year from Kinder on I filled it in with “Doctor.” By third grade, someone with a pink marker lined through my “Doctor” and checked “Secretary” instead. I rebelled with my blue marker and rubbed over the pink check next to “Secretary.” I didn’t remember this until I recently found the book, but it spoke volumes that someone in my life thought I was fantasizing if I wanted to be a doctor. In 1976. The same year of the U.S. Bicentennial, 200 years after independence from tyranny was declared and where colonists believed their liberty was worth their death. I, too, was fighting for liberty. My liberty. I wanted Batman, not Barbie, and I was tired of feeling wrong about it.

Years pass, and compliments about my cuteness are directed to me instead of my parents. I didn’t do anything to be cute—DNA did that—so this always feels weird. My mum tells me to not question or argue but just say “thank you.” Dutifully, I do. But being valued solely this way never sits right with me. I wanted “boy-style” compliments, about how clever or strong or skilled at whatever I was—praise that felt earned. I did receive some of this from the adults in my life, right alongside advice like, “Always have bus money so you don’t have to depend on boys for rides,” or, “No one buys the cow if the milk is free,” or, “It’s just as easy to marry a rich man as it is a poor one.”

When my parents separate and divorce, this family fracture ironically gets me more of what I want. Guilt presents include video games and model cars and Star Wars toys. And pants—jeans and corduroys! My mom says when she was younger, she was a tomboy too. She enrolls my sister (and eventually me) in softball, and buys me books about skateboarding but stops short of the skateboard—she thinks I will fall and break my head. If I were a boy, I think, she’d let me break my head. I try to build my own with a plank of wood and wheels from Mom’s ancient metal roller skates. It travels six inches, I fall off and it falls apart. When my dad gets a housekeeper for his new townhouse, she cleans my room and asks him how old his son is. Suddenly Dad won’t buy me any more model cars.

As puberty dawns, boys are still getting the better deal. Most of them grow into muscles and height and undeniable physical dominance. But should this give them more rights? Should more strength automatically equal more power? Boys (and several girls) seem to think so and this thinking is validated at every turn. In government, in movies, in the workplace, in classrooms. They can pick up girls at random and the girls squeal and laugh and cajole the boys to put them down instead of throwing them into the ocean/pool/sofa cushions. All in good fun, right? Not at all a display or reminder of dominance, right? Boys get to act on crushes and initiate kisses and ask for dates without being considered “fast” or “sluts” or “whores.” They also get no periods, no pregnancies, no abortions.

I am handed deodorant, pads and Judy Blume books as my teenage girl starter kit. I dislike the changes and growing pains and expectations of “blossoming into a young woman.” I focus on grades instead of gregariousness—studying instead of a social life. My big sister Lesa, a natural at young womanhood, follows in our grandmother and mother’s kick steps and becomes a varsity cheerleader. I scoff and diminish her choice by saying I’d rather be who people cheer for. Because some girls make fun of other girls for being too “girly.” I do not see the insidious danger of this for decades.

By 1986 I am a senior in high school, and being in the “smart girl” category has been a boon for me. I am not offered a cent for a cute outfit or a good hair day, but Dad pays good money for As and Bs. I also get to wear pants and sneakers and no make up everyday and no one cares. Mom and Lesa are officially the “pretty girls” with pretty power and that is alright by me. I have no jealousy or longing for “pretty” status— though most girls aspire to this, it seems more like a curse than a gift to me. Yes, my mother and sister get preferential treatment and constant compliments, which they enjoy. But I also see them experience the flip side. Men and boys would stalk them both. Put their hands on them without permission. Recklessly follow after them in traffic. This was weekly if not daily for them; for me it was rarely, but it should have been never. It should always be never. But as 99 percent of girls and women will tell you, it’s never never. I am approached by a pimp on a bus who tells me I look sad and he can take care of me. I exit at the next stop and walk the extra mile home to escape him. I am told to smile more times than I am asked for my opinion. One afternoon I’m followed by a man who screams I should be walking behind him and don’t know my place. I run into a 7-11 and stay huddled near the Ms. Pacman machine until he disappears. Oh hell no. Screw being treated like prey. Screw pretty.

Instead I want to be strong and quick. And thanks to Title IX, I can put my body in service to sports—softball, basketball, cross country. I do them all and excel at none. I am average in every way, but the existence of these girls’ teams does not live or die by any one of us having to prove exceptional ability. We have the freedom to suck and stay funded, just like the boys’ teams. This makes me wonder if society needs a version of Title IX not just for the sports field, but for every field. Shouldn’t we demand and legislate programs that provide equal opportunity for both sexes everywhere? So then over time, like with sports, this parity would become the norm? Why not try this out in politics, I think—like maybe in the Senate? After all, there are 100 senators, two from each state, so why not make them 50:50, one male and one female? Wouldn’t that be true equal representation? But I don’t know what to do with these notions, so I keep them to myself. What kind of power do I have to make them happen, anyway? I don’t my want my “smart girl” rep to become a “naive, silly, pie-in-the-sky girl” rep.

High school also offers me a lifelong mentor in the unlikely form of tough-as-nails, no nonsense, AP U.S. history teacher Mr. Safier. He values effort, intelligence and discipline above gender, race, class… or anything else, really. Finally I am celebrated for what I believe counts. Safier is more than safe harbor. He is an equalizer. After repeatedly killing it in his classes, one boy writes in my senior yearbook he’s lived in academic fear of me for almost two years. I love this. Now I have proof. Brains are my field-levelling power. And they are what get me into a top-notch university.

At first, college feels different than high school—better—like there is gender parity. Like “smart” is all that matters. Smart whomevers travel to Boston from wherever to spend four focused years getting smarter. But then the parties start. The blue lights, safety phones and shuttle bus stops are pointed out. Boys casually notice, girls mark their maps. We have political debates. Ideological tangles. We openly protest to take back the night. I make male and female friends of every race and religion and orientation and it all feels equitable and the way the real world should be. I don’t shave my legs all winter. I march with the Black Student Union to the freshman quad to demand I don’t remember what from the Dean. One Christmas I fly home sporting fake Malcolm X glasses, leather Africa medallions and a lot of opinions. My dad picks me up at the airport and later asks everyone in the family but me if I’m a lesbian. Dressed like that, politicized like that, with my “tomboy” history—what else could I be?

What my father does ask me about is what I want to do after college. Whatever it is, I’m told, I should want my boss’ job. That’s where the power is. If you don’t want your boss’ job, you have the wrong job. So if I still want to be a doctor, become Chief of Surgery. If I want to teach, become Teacher of the Year. I do journalism for fun at college because there’s no television station, so I tell him maybe I want to write. Then, Dad says, become the publisher. He sends me articles on mastery and how to achieve it. The bar is set high—as high for me as for the boy he never had, I think, so I accept his challenge. I try to jump that high. Into top positions. Into leadership. Into power.

Unlike Dad though, I think public sector work is for the birds, even when in the “power position.” Dad had achieved that – he rose from community college counsellor to assistant Dean, Dean (the youngest dean in California ever at the time), Vice President, President, then Chancellor of an entire district. He was the top dog, the leader. But then sometimes he would say if he were in the private sector, he would be a CEO making ten times as much money. But it just so happened his heart was in education, and he chose it over what could have been real wealth. Another mixed message I struggled to process. Go for heart or for money or for power? And do they have to be separate?

My power equation, I came to realize, extended beyond my father’s. Mine was leadership, plus affinity, plus money. And, luckily, I told myself, my heart was in writing—television to be specific—a very lucrative field. (Journalism, I’d discovered, paid even less than teaching). So I told him I wanted to follow the Hollywood path. I wanted to come back to California. Come back home.

‘Power’ Producer 50 Cent Signs Overall Deal with Starz

50 cent power starz
“Power” producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (COURTESY OF GREGORY PACE/BEI/REX SHUTTERSTOCK)

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson has signed a two-year exclusive premium television pact with Starz, the cabler that is home to his drama series “Power.”  Under the deal, Jackson will develop new projects for the network through his G Unit Film & Television, Inc. shingle and continue as executive producer on “Power.”
“Starz has been the perfect partner to make ‘Power’ the success that it is and I am looking forward to developing many more record-breaking series with them,” said Jackson.
Starz has been proud of the success of “Power”; the second season finale in August set a series record for its episode premiere viewership performance (2.39M viewers Live+3). A 10-episode third season ordered in June and production began earlier this month at the series’ home base at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn.
“Curtis is a wonderful hands-on producer and actor on ‘Power’ and we look forward to expanding his roles behind-the-camera with Starz over the next two years,” said Carmi Zlotnik, managing director of Starz.
“Power” creator Courtney Kemp Agboh signed her own overall deal with Starz in June. In addition to Kemp Agboh and Jackson, “Power” exec producers are Mark Canton, Randall Emmett and Gary Lennon.
article by Whitney Friedlander via Variety.com

Teen Kyemah McEntyre, Whose Prom Dress Broke The Internet, Designs Naturi Naughton’s BET Awards Look

Kyemah McEntyre stole the show yet again through a gorgeously handcrafted ensemble designed for singer-songwriter and Power actress Naturi Naughton at the 2015 BET Awards.
McEntyre’s orange Afrocentric-print dress featured a low cut V-neck, open cross back and trumpeting mermaid bottom. Posing gracefully in the dazzling number by McEntryre, Naughton and photographers alike were clearly impressed with the New Jersey teen’s work. Naughton specifically requested a dress reminiscent of her African roots, Pop Sugar reports. The Notorious actress also wanted to debut her hometown’s talent to the small screens, and what better opportunity than the largest Black excellence celebration of the year? The New Jersey teen told Necole Bitchie that Naughton shot her an email explaining her vision for the dress.

“Naturi and her beautiful soul welcomed me despite my experience with Fashion Designing,” McEntyre said. “She wanted to shed light on young people from her community [East Orange, New Jersey] and that she did. I enlisted a local seamstress by the name of Markell Mockabee, who brought my design to life.”
The 18-year-old first drew attention when she posted her stunning custom-made prom dress to Instagram, complete with a ravishing Afro and V-shaped headpiece. Penning a letter regarding the inspiration for her dress and messages of self-acceptance, the blossoming young designer’s gown went viral. Her story was even more gripping after she revealed that she had been bullied throughout high school for her appearance.
Since the debut of her prom dress, she said that her mailbox was never the same, but it hasn’t affected her faith nor her drive. The college-bound beauty plans to use her success to motivate other young girls to be themselves.
“People ask me all the time how does it feel, and I tell them it’s just amazing to be celebrated for just being myself. I consider myself to be an artist, fashion designer, and self-identity activist.

50 Cent-Produced Drama "Power" Lands 3rd Season Renewal From Starz

Power Starz Renewed
(PHOTO COURTESY OF STARZ)

Starz has ordered a third season of drama “Power,” on the heels of the show’s record-setting season-two premiere on Saturday.  The June 6 premiere set a new Starz benchmark as the most-watched episode of an original series in the pay cabler’s history. In live ratings the episode brought in 1.43 million viewers, a tally that rose to 3.62 million in the live-plus-same-day ratings.
Starz has ordered 10 episodes for season three.
The CBS Television Studios drama stars Omari Hardwick as a drug lord who lives a double life as a chic nightclub owner. Courtney Kemp Agboh is executive producer and showrunner along with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Mark Canton, Randall Emmett and Gary Lennon.
“I am thrilled to learn that season three of ‘Power’ has been officially ordered by Starz. It is an honor to work with Chris Albrecht, Carmi Zlotnik, Ken Segna and the whole Starz team. Their support has been steadfast from the beginning, and I look forward to a bright future together,” Agboh said.
“’Power’ is a project I have been passionate about since day one,” added executive producer and co-star Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. “I am glad the audience loves the show as much as we do, and we are just getting started.”
article by Cynthia Littleton via Variety.com

Starz Renews 50 Cent’s “Power” For Season Two After Just One Episode

Screen-shot-2014-06-12-at-9.12.55-AM-378x414
Apparently 50 Cent’s new STARZ series, “Power,” was a major hit. After just one episode, the cable network has announced that the series will be renewed for a second season, Deadline reports.
The fast-moving drama debuted last weekend “with 462,000 Live+same day at 9 PM, 1.27 million for the three Saturday night airings and 2.022 million for the nine weekend runs on Saturday and Sunday.” In case you’ve been out of the loop for a bit, the 50 Cent-produced series is “set in two different worlds, the glamorous New York club scene and the brutal drug trade” and follows the story of Ghost St. Patrick, a drug dealer and businessman with dreams of going legit. Stars include “Being Mary Jane” actor Omari Hardwick, Naturi Naughton and Lela Loren.

“Tasha St. Patrick, she’s crazy,” Naturi recently described her character to Shadow and Act. “She really is Ghost’s sidekick, the other half of Bonnie and Clyde. She came up from the streets, grew up in Queens, and had a rough life. She had desires to be a singer but those desires got cut short because she was pregnant at 19 with Ghost’s child. He’s trying to choose between going legit and staying in the drug game, and she’s pretty much the woman who’s like look, we’ve built this empire together, I’ll ride with you to the end. She’ll throw the gun away, she’ll tell you how to dump the body. She’s an edgy character and not afraid to do whatever it takes to keep the family together.”

Production for season two begins in September.
See more at: http://madamenoire.com/438064/starz-renews-50-cents-power-season-2-just-1-episode/#sthash.bcWJ1fZa.dpuf

50 Cent-Produced Starz Drama Series "Power" Debuts June 7

Omari Hardwick
Starz’s highly anticipated new original series Power will debut on Saturday, June 7th at 9pm ET/PT. Ahead of that premiere, the network has released the season’s premiere episode online, as part of a multi-platform, nationwide sampling of the first episode.

From the press release:

Power is the first-ever television show to premiere on Twitter using the service’s new in-line video feature that enables one-touch playback. The new video experience is based on Twitter Cards, which extends user interactions beyond favoriting, retweeting and replying and makes it possible for people to do things like watch videos, download apps, or view articles and photos — all from within a Tweet. Select multi-channel video distributors will offer linear, on-demand and online sampling opportunities of the first episode beginning today, May 31, one week in advance of the TV series premiere next Saturday. Approximately 79 million multichannel video households will have access to the sampling opportunities through select cable, satellite and telco affiliates in the United States.

The first episode of Power will also be available at www.starz.com/power, and online through select Starz cable, satellite, telco, and online distributors’ websites, including the Starz Power Twitter page at https://twitter.com/starz_channel, Starz Power MySpace page, the Starz YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/Starz, Starz Power Facebook page at www.facebook.com/power.starz, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Sony Entertainment Network and CinemaNow.

The series premiere of Power will also be available for sampling through the free Starz Play app for all users in the United States.

Executive produced by Curtis 50 Cent’ JacksonPower is a crime drama set in two different worlds – the glamorous New York club scene and the brutal drug trade.

GBN Quote Of The Day

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
–Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-Winning author of “The Color Purple”