Former Olympian Oscar Pistorius is found guilty of murder. He will be re-sentenced to prison.
(Photo: Google Images)
ParaOlympian champion Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. (Photo Credit: Google Images)
BBC News is reporting Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of murder after a South African appeals court overturned an earlier manslaughter verdict. The author writes:
“Pistorious killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 after shooting four times through a locked toilet door.
He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail.
Pistorius will have to return to court to be re-sentenced, for murder.
South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court did not correctly apply the rule of dolus eventualis – whether Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.
The minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, but judges can apply some discretion.”
Members of the championship Salmen High School girls basketball team have been kicked off the team after complaining about the head coach's inappropriate touching.
(Photo: Google Images)
Members of the championship Salmen High School girls basketball team have been kicked off the team after complaining about the head coach’s inappropriate touching. (Photo: Google Images)
Ross Kelly of CBS Sports is reporting members of a girls basketball team have been booted after making complaints against their coach who they said was too “touchy feely.” Kelly writes:
“Seven girls from a high school basketball powerhouse in Louisiana were kicked off their team after complaining about inappropriate behavior from their coach. The girls are students of Salmen High School in Slidell who won the state championship in both 2013 and 2014. The coach, Panos Bountovinas, is in his first season with the team and was accused by the girls for being too ‘touchy-feely’. Here is what Kayla Sibley, one of the dismissed players, said about their new coach to the New Orleans Advocate:
“I felt uncomfortable around him on and off the court because he was very feely. Hand on the shoulders and other places and stuff. It made me feel uncomfortable. I never had a touchy-feely coach before. I felt uncomfortable…There were two games this season when (female assistant coach Wendy Stampley) told him to get out of the locker room while we were dressing. He hesitated. (Previous) coach (Kevin) Anderson last year never had that problem. Coach Bountovinas was just standing there. It took him a while to get out. This has happened more than once.”
The girls felt that their complaints to school administrators were falling on deaf ears so they refused to show up for a recent road game in protest. That prompted the school to dismiss the girls and they also launched an investigation into the alleged behavior. The school then ruled that the allegations were unfounded and released this statement:
A thorough investigation by the St. Tammany Parish Public School System has found that allegations brought up in regards to the Salmen High Girls Basketball Coach are unfounded.”
TBW commentary: Interesting. We can’t imagine a scenario where a championship all-white girls team complaining of inappropriate touching by a new African-American male coach would go unnoticed or unpunished. A male coach of any race, lingering in a girls locker room and being yelled at by an adult female assistant coach for doing so should be sufficient evidence that this coach has boundary issues at best and is a pedophile at worst, neither of which is appropriate or acceptable in an educational or sports setting.
Black Lives Matters activists help a fellow protester shot during a protest against the police killing of Jamar Clark.
(Photo: Google Images)
Black Lives Matters activists help a fellow protester shot during a protest against the police killing of Jamar Clark. (Photo: Google Images)
Travis Gettys of Rawstory.com is reporting a group of suspected white supremacists fired into a crowd of Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists protesting the Minneapolis police killing of Jamar Clark.
At least five people were wounded when the gunmen opened fire about 10:45 p.m. Monday at the city’s Fourth Precinct, reported the Star Tribune.
Gettys writes:
“Police said all five victims were treated for non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, although authorities said additional victims may have been wounded and sought treatment on their own.
Investigators have not released much information so far about the possible suspects, saying only they were seeking three white men, but protesters said they had a pretty clear idea of who fired the gunshots.
“A group of white supremacists showed up at the protest, as they have done most nights,” said Miski Noor, a Black Lives Matter activist.
Another demonstrator said one of the three men wore a mask and stayed at the protest site since early morning Monday, taunting the protesters.”
In an update to the story, Gettys reports that emails have surfaced that reveal white supremacists plotted a confrontation with Black Lives Matters activists days before the shooting.
Filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo talks being black in France and the United States.
(Photo: Screenshot of YouTube)
Filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo talks being black in France and the United States. (Photo: Screenshot of YouTube)
The Green Space has posted a video of a discussion about being black in the United States and France that is timely in light of the recent attacks in Paris. On October 27, The Greene Space hosted a special screening of “Les Marches de la Liberté” (Steps to Liberty), an award-winning documentary about the fight against racism in France and the United States.
After the screening, The Green Space convened a panel for a discussion on the film, as well as a broader conversation on race, policing, the Black Lives Matter movement and more. WNYC reporter Arun Venugopal hosted the discussion with the filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo, educator Dr. Crystal Fleming, writer Mychal Denzel Smith and activist Brittany Ferrell. Check out an excerpt below:
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and wife Cilia Flores.
(Photo: Google Images)
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and wife Cilia Flores. (Photo: Google Images)
Caribbean News Now is reporting that new details have emerged in the drug trafficking case involving relatives of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. The latest details in the case indicate that the Venezuelan military is actively involved in transporting cocaine to Haiti for onward trafficking into the United States. The author writes:
“According to the District Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, a Cessna Citation 500 took off from a terminal reserved for government officials at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas on Sunday November 8 carrying more than 800 kg (1,700 lbs) of cocaine.
Francisco Flores, 29, and Efraín Campos, 30, the nephews of first lady Cilia Flores, were among four passengers and two pilots on the Haiti-bound Citation 500. According to the flight log, the plane was co-piloted by members of the presidential security and transportation unit, Pablo Urbano Perez, a military official, and Pedro Miguel Rodriguez, an active lieutenant colonel in the Venezuelan Air Force.
The Citation 500 in question is registered in Venezuela to Sabenpe, a waste-management company that has received a myriad government contracts in the past, according to the National Registry of Contractors.
Flores and Campos were arrested on arrival in Haiti on charges of conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States. They are being held without bail in New York after a federal grand jury handed up an indictment. They have both pleaded not guilty.”
Famed photographer and music video director David LaChapelle recently visited Morehouse College in Atlanta to screen his 2005 documentary, RIZE (Photo Credit: official Facebook page).
Famed photographer and music video director David LaChapelle recently visited Morehouse College in Atlanta to screen his 2005 documentary, RIZE (Photo Credit: official Facebook page).
David LaChapelle creates stunning visuals that are filled with extremely vibrant colors and emphasizes appreciating the body’s physical form. For three decades, the celebrated photographer built a strong body of work taking portraits of 2Pac, Naomi Campbell, Muhammad Ali, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Madonna, David Beckham, Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston, Eminem and Lady Gaga among countless others.
It wasn’t uncommon for LaChapelle’s ubiquitous work to grace the pages and covers of Details, GQ, Rolling Stone, Vogue, Vanity Fair or The New York Times Magazine. A breathy-voiced native of Hartford, CT, the visionary applied that same detail-oriented approach into incredible music video direction for artists like Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, No Doubt, Hozier, Moby, Enrique Iglesias, Kelis, Mariah Carey, Macy Gray, Florence + the Machine, Amy Winehouse and Norah Jones.
Studying photography at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the School of Visual Arts, LaChapelle’s break came when he was handpicked by pop artist Andy Warhol to shoot The Beastie Boys for Interview Magazine in 1987. Anytime LaChapelle directs videos, he drafts treatments around the music. He likes for his crew to build strong set designs and physically paint the colors onto the props and locations.
LaChapelle then explains in detail how the music and artists finally factor into the equation. “I’ll listen to the song,” states LaChapelle. “If the song moves me, then I’ll write a treatment. It starts with a story. If the song moves me, there’s a story in there. If I can translate that excitement, then I’ll keep it short and to the point.”
Now fast forward to 2002. LaChapelle was directing the provocative “Dirrty” video for Christina Aguilera and Redman. Two Bay Area choreographers told the director about krumping, a style of high energy ritualistic, interpretive dance out of the West Coast synonymous with tribal-influenced face painting, forward thrusts and gyrating legs. LaChapelle knew instantly that he wanted to make a documentary that chronicles the dancers.
Venturing into making a full-length feature film, RIZE was the project LaChapelle says he had been praying for. “I loved working with pop stars. Don’t get me wrong,” says LaChapelle during a recent visit to Morehouse College. “It was my dream to work as a photographer, but I really wanted more. I wanted to do something deeper with my life.”
For the next three years, the filmmaker and his crew embarked on creating RIZE. Growing up around countless dancers, LaChapelle, a former busboy at New York’s legendary nightclub Studio 54, self-funded the $780,000 project. He refused to give any of the final edits and rough cuts to proposed investors. RIZE opened the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival and became the last film accepted into the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
No stranger to controversy (LaChapelle’s famous Rolling Stone cover featuring Kanye West), LaChapelle was interrogated frequently by critics who didn’t think RIZE was “thoughtful.” The riveting documentary opened to theatrical releases in 17 countries and was dubbed in six languages. RIZE was never something LaChapelle wanted to make money from or use to forge his credibility as a filmmaker.
“I was the facilitator for those stars, those dancers, those artists to be seen,” says LaChapelle over recurring audio feedback. “It did its thing, and I got to really see what it was like to have a major film. I learned I didn’t want to make feature film.”
RIZE was also the catalyst for LaChapelle to rethink about the direction his massively successful career was heading in. He completely stopped photographing celebrities and high fashion. The creator moved to Maui and revisited his origins in creating figurative work. He started traveling the globe to curate installations in galleries and museums. LaChapelle even erected his own studio in Los Angeles.
“You never know where life is gonna take you,” says LaChapelle. “As an artist, you follow your intuition. There is no roadmap. The GPS is within us. [RIZE] let me be strong enough to walk away. I moved on to the next chapter in my life, which turned out to be something I could’ve never planned.”
The workaholic creator had becoming increasingly burned out by the pop life’s backlash. Too often, LaChapelle’s critics misinterpreted his artistic license, suggesting that the hue-savvy visual artist was creating sensual, soft-core voyeurism and objectifying his pop artist’s subject matter.
“You have to really love what you’re doing,” alerts LaChapelle. “You’re not really successful if you’re not happy or not passionate about it.”
Even the publications that typically published LaChapelle’s work wanted to have more control over his creative direction. LaChapelle knew it was time to abandon that phase of his career. “I was trying to say more with my pictures,” asserts LaChapelle. “Magazines just want you to shoot. I wanted to make social comments. There was really no room for that. Nobody was looking for that in a fashion magazine.”
“It was time to move on,” adds LaChapelle, “but I enjoyed it very much while I was doing it. I managed to squeeze in my own subliminal narrative.”
LaChapelle has no regrets about how his career has transpired over the years. He’s no longer in conflict with his creativity about having an imbalance in his work. He’s removed from his days of shooting commercial photography but appreciates his success. He says his art still fulfills his mission to celebrate the beauty in the human body.
“We’re in the dark ages today where the body is shameful,” says LaChapelle. “The only time you see the body is in a sexualized context. The photos I’m doing now reclaim the body from being used as sexual or erotic gratification. It’s nourishing to the soul.” In ways this is correct, almost everything in the media now is sexualized, many even enjoy sexualizing cartoon characters from shows and comics on websites like cartoonporno.xxx, and this sexualization doesn’t just stop at cartoons either.
This post was written by Christopher A. Daniel, pop cultural critic and music editor for the Burton Wire. He is also contributing writer for Urban Lux Magazine and Blues & Soul Magazine. Follow Christopher @Journalistorian on Twitter.
GOP conservative presidential candidates Donald Trump (top left), Ted Cruz (top right), Jeb Bush (bottom left) and Chris Christie (bottom right).
(Photos: Google Images and Facebook)
GOP conservative presidential candidates Donald Trump (top left), Ted Cruz (top right), Jeb Bush (bottom left) and Chris Christie (bottom right). (Photos: Google Images and Facebook)
An open letter to conservatives…
Before ISIS renamed itself ISIS in 2013, it was al Qaeda in Iraq – born of the U.S. invasion in Iraq. Before that, it was Bayat al Imam – a Jordanian group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi while he was still in prison. Zarqawi was recruited and trained by the CIA to fight in the Afghanistan Jihad against the Soviet Union. Its members were primarily Jordanians and Saudis, from firmly U.S. –backed countries.
“Governments taught them these things, Salafi Takfiri” referring to hypocritical people, in other words infidels. “And after the Jihad they compared the governments conduct with what they had taught them, according to this logic the governments were infidels… What happens daily motivates anyone to Jihad… The magic turned against the magician. When they were against the Soviets they were good but against the USA, they are terrorists.”
I’m not a fan of lawyers, especially lawyers who defend terrorists, but this guy makes a good point. Let’s remember 9/11 stopped the world clock because a handful of people with homemade explosives effectively brought the leading world power to its knees – the same tactics the CIA taught them to defeat the Soviets.
For decades, we’ve recruited, trained and armed tribal groups to fight against governments we don’t like. We’ve overtly or covertly appointed hundreds of dictators, war criminals, drug lords and terrorists. In the past, it was all about the Cold War. Now it’s all business. We’re picking dictators to suppress their people so we can rape their natural resources.
In the 1980s, we helped Pakistan and Saudi Arabia overthrow Afghanistan’s socialist government. In 1976, it was Argentina. In 1964, it was Brazil and General Castelo Branco who reigned over that country for a brutal 20 years. In 1969, it was Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. In 1970, it was Chile and General Pinochet. In Cuba, Batista was our man. His brutal dictatorship directly led to the Cuban revolution. In 1949, we overthrew the government of Albania and put Xhafer Deva, a known fascist war criminal in power. And the list goes on, El Salvador, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, and still counting.
We created terrorism.
We’re feeding the terrorist ideology with every panic-driven bonehead move we make.
It’s election season and the tomfoolery is exceptionally thick. But in respect to the recent terrorist attacks, times are too perilous for run-of-the-mill stupidity. We can’t afford to repeat the mistakes of 9/11. For the record, laying the Paris attacks solely at the feet of President Obama is delusional and disingenuous.
They say Obama’s lack of leadership created ISIS – no, that was the invasion of Iraq post 9/11.
They say ISIS was able to regenerate because Obama did not leave a significant military presence in Iraq – no, prolonged military occupations only feed the terrorist ideology; it’s incapable of destroying it. We can focus on the supply, the “recruiters and masterminds” but only immediately, it’s our presence, our control of their governments, their movements, the destruction of their infrastructure and their livelihood, their sense of self determination that feeds terrorism.
They say he didn’t finish the job in Iraq after the surge – you cannot finish an “ideology” while you actively engage in tactics that fuel the ideology.
They say he won’t use the term “radical Islam” and somehow that’s to blame – this is all marketing, Obama doesn’t want to use the term because it effectively does what ISIS wants, equating their Jihad with the plight of all Muslims thereby upping their recruitment game. In the end, it’s more B.S. It isn’t about words but policy, tactics and self-governance.
And the path forward, the rhetoric coming from the mouths of those who seek to lead this country in the future is even more idiotic
Ted Cruz wants to subject refugees to a religious litmus test – admitting only Christians. And this is supposedly the smart one? How does this square with Separation of Church and State?
Chris Christie says we need to turn them all away, even 5-year-old orphans. Where will they go? If “governments” refuse who emerges, promising salvation, shelter and security?
Jeb Bush advocates war. Really? It was your brother’s bonehead “let’s attack a country that has nothing to do with 9/11 but whose natural resources we want to secure” was that started this crap in the first place.
For conservatives, the path is clear, kill them all, when they regenerate, kill them again, new leadership, different countries, it don’t matter, just keep killing. That is not the path to keeping the homeland safe, it’s the path to ensuring a constant state of war forever—think Israel.
But terrorism is intangible. Invading a country and “killing the head of terrorism” will not solve the problem. Much like drugs, it’s a hunger, hopelessness and trauma. It can’t be cured by war. It is fueled by war. It is fed by dictatorship and corruption. It is fed by us.
Devona Walker is a contributing writer focusing on politics for The Burton Wire. Follow her on Twitter @DevonaWalker.
Ta-Nehisi Coates is national correspondent for The Atlantic. He is also the author of The Beautiful Struggle.</
Ta-Nehisi Coates is national correspondent for The Atlantic. He is also the author of The Beautiful Struggle.</
Alexander Alter of the New York Times reports Ta-Nehisi Coates won the National Book Award for nonfiction for “Between the World and Me,” a “visceral, blunt exploration of his experience of being a black man in America, which was published this summer in the middle of a national dialogue about race relations and inequality.”
The celebrated writer discussed violence against blacks during his acceptance speech.
“‘Every day you turn on the TV and see some kind of violence being directed at black people,’ Mr. Coates said in an emotional acceptance speech. ‘Over and over and over again. And it keeps happening…’
‘Between the World and Me,’ which was published by Spiegel & Grau, was one of the most celebrated and widely discussed books of the year, and won comparisons to the work of James Baldwin.
Mr. Coates, a correspondent for The Atlantic, wrote the book in the form of a letter to his son. He dedicated the award to his college friend, Prince Jones, who was shot to death by a police officer who mistook him for a criminal. ‘I’m a black man in America. I can’t punish that officer; ‘Between the World and Me’ comes out of that place,” Mr. Coates said. ‘I can’t secure the safety of my son. I just don’t have that power. But what I do have the power to do is say, ‘You won’t enroll me in this lie. You won’t make me part of it.’”
The Mali Blu Radisson Hotel has been taken over by suspected Islamists.
(Photo: Google Images)
The Mali Blu Radisson Hotel has been taken over by suspected Islamists. (Photo: Google Images)
BBC Africa is reporting Malian special forces have entered the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali’s capital, where suspected Islamists are holding dozens of guests and staff hostage. Apparently three people were killed during the takeover of the hotel by the suspected terrorists.
The hotel is popular with ex-patriot workers.
A Malian army commander told the AP news agency that about 20 hostages have been freed.
Hostages able to recite verses of the Koran were being released, a security source has told Reuters news agency.
Six staff from Turkish Airlines are staying at the hotel, and a Chinese guest told China’s state news agency Xinhua that he was among about seven Chinese tourists trapped there.
A French presidential source said French citizens were in the hotel, Reuters news agency reports.
In August, suspected Islamist gunmen killed 13 people, including five UN workers, during a hostage siege at a hotel in the central Malian town of Sevare.
In 2013 Islamists seized Diabaly, a town in government-controlled territory amid a military intervention by France located 250 miles from Bamako.
Jonathan Mannion has photographed hip-hop artists, creating iconic photos and album covers.
(Photo: Jonathan Mannion)
Hip-hop photographer Jonathan Mannion gives a lecture at the Center for Civic Innovation in Atlanta (Photo Credit: DJ Blak Magic).
In two-plus decades, Jonathan Mannion has built a solid reputation as the gold standard for hip-hop photography. The photographer born and raised in Cleveland combined his love for rap music with an infectious interpersonal savvy and tenacity for constantly finding different angles, turning passion and personality into capturing some of the most iconic album covers and portraiture to ever come out of hip-hop culture. His initial passion for photography came from his interest in capturing life’s special moments and he took inspiration from many already established photographers. This is no different today and he regularly checks the work of fellow photographers such as Olga Topchii Photographer, whose work is well regarded – see for yourself!
Mannion’s warm and patient process begins by engaging in in-depth conversations with each of his subjects. From those chats, the former understudy of famed fashion photographers Richard Avedon, Ben Watts, Steven Klein and Michael Halsband can pull comfortable, revealing moments from his clients with each click from one of his choice instruments, typically a Honeywell Pentax 6×7. The final product is a medium format portrait born out of a genuine connection.
Mannion then likes to have all of his subjects sign Polaroid snapshots at the end of each shoot. Now 44-years-old, hip-hop’s quintessential cameraman says his objectives are always to make his photo shoots run smoothly, working with the best photo editing app afterward, and to take the definitive portrait of that person. “I want to go to the core of people and create images that are that important,” says Mannion periodically looking down at his fluorescent Reebok Ventilators. “I always try to make the images personal for that artist.”
Wrapping a photo session with rapper/songwriter Future the day before this interview, Mannion spent the following morning delivering an informal lecture at the Center for Civic Innovation (CCI) in Atlanta. The extroverted visual artist’s intimate TED Talk-inspired delivery consisted of him offering success tips and sharing numerous vivid anecdotes about his photo shoots with his A-list clientele.
He simultaneously clicks through an abridged slide show of his catalog featuring images of Big Pun, Lauryn Hill, Puff Daddy, Kelis, Usher, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Outkast, Boosie Badazz, Scarface, Kller Mike, Ludacris, 2 Chainz, T.I., Nicki Minaj and Kendrick Lamar. A highly sought after professional, Mannion’s portfolio of over 300 album covers is widely known for producing eight of those covers for Jay Z. Mannion provided art direction for In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, Vol. 2..Hard Knock Life, Vol. 3…Life and Times of S. Carter, The Blueprint, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, and The Black Album.
Mannion is actually responsible for conceptualizing the multiple Grammy winner’s black-and-white Mafia-inspired gangster silhouette for his debut release, Reasonable Doubt. Mimicking the massively successful rapper and businessman’s voice precisely, a charismatic Mannion, who majored in psychology and art at Kenyon College, remembers negotiating to conduct the shoot for $300 less than the lowest bidder. That one deal jump started one of the most seminal partnerships in hip-hop.
“I had a run with [Jay] that was unparalleled,” says Mannion, once known throughout the hip-hop community as ‘Jay’s Guy.'” “He showed loyalty to me because he felt something about my work. He could never stop in his journey because his passion is so rich.” It was also Mannion who convinced DMX to immerse himself in blood for the Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood album cover.
To get the platinum-selling gravel-voiced rapper to comply, the photographer who also shot DMX’s debut LP, It’s Dark and Hell is Hot, dropped his pants in front of everyone in the studio. A resistant DMX gave in, creating yet another memorable shot. Mannion also shot another DMX LP, Grand Champ. “I have the ability to articulate what I want very clearly and to challenge people in that moment,” asserts Mannion with his easygoing delivery. “You can’t put me in a situation that I can’t make go in my favor visually.”
Mannion, a fan of Depeche Mode and New Order, broadened his knowledge in hip-hop while working at his college radio station. Following graduation, psychopharmacology or pursuing medical school seemed to be in his plans but quickly eroded. Mannion moved to New York City in 1993, witnessing first-hand some of the genre’s most important artists heading towards their glory.
The photojournalist prides himself on being someone who brings an artist’s first project to life. One particular performance featuring a recently signed The Notorious B.I.G. being flanked on-stage by Puff Daddy and Lil’ Kim proved to be just the boost Mannion needed. He told a white lie to someone at the venue about being the official staff photographer for The Source just to get a better vantage point for his image on-stage.
Mannion believes part of being a successful photographer is being able to seize and capitalize on opportunities on-the-fly. “Whatever you got to say in the moment to get the shot, go for it,” suggests Mannion. “The hustle and desire for full coverage allows me to have special moments that are different. As an artist, creatively you want to explore new ground and really have the ability to keep moving.”
Some other candid moments Mannion shared at CCI were conducting singer/actress Aaliyah’s last photo shoot before her untimely August 2001 death, Eminem (who Mannion refers to as “a method actor”) bringing him garbage bags full of lyric sheets for a spread in XXL Magazine, following Drake to see his grandmother and Lil’ Wayne telling VH-1‘s Behind the Music producers to interview Mannion for the rapper’s profile episode.
Mannion is especially proud to have covered the Straight Outta Somewhere campaign, spending anywhere between five-to-12 minutes taking pictures of 100 people in three days. That photo gallery still resides on Times Square.
Surviving the shift from film to digital doesn’t faze Mannion one bit. Admitting that he’s battled with periods of self-doubt, Mannion encourages aspiring photographers to concentrate on their art rather than compete with active social media picture takers. “Don’t compare yourself to anyone else’s journey,” he warns. “Photographers want what people don’t have. It defines their voice. Moments are given to you as gifts. It’s your own footsteps towards being the best you can.”
Mannion was also in Atlanta to donate six portraits to The Art of Organized Noize, an installation celebrating the 20-year career of the legendary Atlanta-based production and songwriting trio. He reiterates a few times the importance of patience and building trust with performers as the foundation for his successful brand.
The living legend additionally suggests to any creator to remain dedicated to their craft and be diligent at all times. “The secret to success is to bust your ass at all times,” assets Mannion. “I’m an artist, but I always want more. I want what’s next. Twenty years of work is an incredible journey. I’m looking 10 years, 20 years down the road. What I’m doing now is a look back.”
This post was written by Christopher A. Daniel, pop cultural critic and music editor for the Burton Wire. He is also contributing writer for Urban Lux Magazine and Blues & Soul Magazine. Follow Christopher @Journalistorian on Twitter.
