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Magazine‌ is the publication that celebrates the diversity and talent that surrounds us daily from a positive perspective. Featuring the best of the best via the arts,entertainment, luxury, lifestyle of professionals and more. Reaching various consumers across the country and overseas, our editorial content, promotion, and brand extensions communicate this ideal to the masses. For interviews, advertising or additional questions or comments: magazine@urbantmedia.com or urbantymes@hotmail.com
U.S. & Internationally Loved!
http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/1015350 https://issuu.com/urbantymes/docs 2/ Urban Tymes Magazine
iss m u o y Did ’s h t n o m last ue?Tymes Magazine is3/sUrban
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#OURVOICES
Pastor Payton 6/ Urban Tymes Magazine
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CONTENTS
JAN
www.urbantmedia.com
THIS MONTH
The Urban Perspective- pg 8
ESSENTIALS Business:
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Let’s Talk PR with Keema & Deja – pg 10
Life and Health: Teka’s Take: On…New Year, New… You? pg 15 Stay Motivated for the New Year- pg 18
URBANITY
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Contributing Writers: Shakeema Bouyer Kisha Green Teka Rose GVS Michael Snell #cwspeaks Contributing Photos: Chedon Cureton Urban Tymes www.apayton.org Queen’s English PR Angela P Moore
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Music Drea D’Nur- pg 20 Lyfe Jennings-pg 24
Literature: Kisha Green: An Interview with Imani Wisdom- pg 32 Top 5- pg 35
Fashion & Style: The Skinny Tie- pg 48
Food & Wine Tyme: Joe’s Doughs- pg 52
The URBAN perspective can’t help but think that there is so much more for us to do. With current events happening around us, the state of unrest from the highest office in the land, a clearer voice in our cities, our communities is needed now more than ever. We established this year the beginning of #OURVOICES, a platform that will allow our male readers and other brothers to bring that voice of reason, clarity and positivity to the masses. The whole purpose of Urban Tymes coming to fruition nine years ago was to be that positive voice of media. I still feel as though that is our vision, and that our readers look forward to that breath of fresh air, amidst the negativity that we have access to daily.
Hello! 2017 brings forth myriad opportunities for many of us to grow! As I look back over the accomplishments of 2016 for Urban Tymes Magazine (recently we were awarded Best Publication from the Queen City Awards) I
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Change is a must also. Each year to look at what one does, what works, and what does not. We as a magazine look to reach out to new readers and promote the positive side of media! With that said due to the cost of print, we are looking to become more of a digital publication. This undoubtedly will affect some, but will be a blessing to others, current readers and future readers. I want to say thank you to our staff, our writers, PR queens, and especially our readers for helping us grow to become the publication we are today, and the potential to be a greater magazine for the future!
Photos from the
Courtesy of Chedon Cureton
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ESSENTIALS
Business
Keema &Deja
with
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et’s Talk PR is a monthly segment on This Needs to be Said Radio. I am very excited to be able to share the interviews with the readers of Urban Tymes Magazine. This month I spoke with Deja Cromartie, founder of Deluxe Publicity based in both Philadelphia and New York City. Over the past few years, Deja has represented clients in various industries including beauty, fashion, entertainment, alcohol, and technology. She’s secured media placements in The Examiner, Madame Noire, Philly.com, The Daily News, Kontrol Magazine, and more. In addition to public relations, she’s a contributing writer at Explore Philly and Sheen Magazine. She also provides social media management and brand development, as well as mentors women aspiring to have a career in publicity.
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This is not just an interview, this is a conversation with one of my PR Besties. Deja and I “e-met” about 3 years ago through various webinars and discussions conducted by Women in PR (now defunct). We remained in contact over the years and have become a sounding board for each other to bounce ideas, collaborate and vent. We finally met at CIAA 2016 as I assisted her with a client event. It’s always great to have a Business Bestie and she is definitely one of mine! Deja is great with finding various apps and technologies to increase her productivity and brand awareness so I invited her to share some of her favs.
it will do the research if it sees that you have an appointment with someone.
Keema: How do you find the different apps and websites that you've used and how have they enhanced your business? Deja: It’s mixture of things. It could be that I need to do something in a more efficient way. I’ll do a search from my phone, through the App Store or even Google or from different webinars and seminars. So it’s really a mixture of things.
K: And if you have a website but are still using a regular Gmail account, you can go to Google for Business to get an email for your domain name. It will give you the exact same appearance as your Gmail account so it’s not like you’re learning a new email platform.
K: For someone who isn't "tech savvy" what are some starter apps that you would recommend to help with awareness and productivity? D: I would recommend starting with the Google Suite. If you already have a Google account, which most people do, it will be very easy to use. They have a graphic design app called Pixlr and of course the calendar. And most of the apps will translate to your phone. I believe Google is best because its intuitive and very easy to learn.
K: How did you use these technologies to help you get placements as a contributing K: What are some apps that you’ve used writer? and how have they helped you from a D: The big thing now is social apps, or productivity or even brand awareness mobile apps, like Slack ... It’s like inner standpoint? social media networks. It’s not like a big D: From a productivity standpoint, some of public network like Facebook. Slack is like my favorite apps are in the Google Suite. another version of Facebook groups. You Gmail has a really awesome calendar, can connect with people based on where Google Docs, just the whole entire suite. you work, type of employment, etc. A lot of Even if you are not a business account companies and organizations are creating holder there are still a lot of apps that you these groups. One of the groups that I am in can use from your phone or from your is called Minorities in Media. They have a computer. group for individuals interested in media – From an awareness standpoint, again I and not just traditional PR or journalism but would go back to the Google Suite with any form of media. That’s how I was able to Google Alerts. I also use Calendly (calendly.com) to book client appointments get my placement at Sheen Magazine because someone posted that they were I forgot to mention Charlie looking for writers. (https://charlieapp.com). It’s one of my Two other groups that are good are Blavity favorite apps that ‘I’ve been using for a couple of months. It’s great if you want to do and I Don’t Do Clubs. You have to know research on someone. You just type in their people that are in the groups in order to get name and you can also link it to your Gmail in. I think that is the trend now with using or whatever calendar you’re going to use so different mobile apps and that’s how I’ve
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been able to get some of my opportunities that are not out in the mainstream. You can also use GroupMe to find other opportunities and media placements. It’s another avenue to find opportunities that may not posted other places. I’ve been able to connect with people that may not have been on my radar because of these inner social media groups.
K: On that same note, when you were adding on being a writer as an extension of your own brand, outside of the apps and technologies, what is something that helped you transition into the role? D: I would say knowing how to pitch myself. This is where the PR piece comes in because you have to pitch yourself to your editor. I’m assigned stories mostly for print but for the online piece I’m responsible for K: For our fellow PR dolls and gents, how would you say being a media contributor will coming up with my own content. If you can’t pitch yourself or convey why you should covhelp with their own brand development? B: I feel like the greatest advantage from the er the story then you’ll be in a bad place. PR perspective is knowing a good pitch and K: What is an outlet that you would like to a bad pitch. I know everyone has their contribute to? nuances and how they want to be pitched D: Well, since I’m already doing beauty I but you can simply tell Oh this is a good would like to diversify. I would live to be a pitch or this is a good format. It’s given me contributor to Forbes or Black Enterprise. ways to help my clients gain media placements because it’s given me appreciation of the art of pitching because of K: What advice would you give an aspiring the ways that people are pitching me. publicist? Also, its help me to sharpen my writing clients. Whether you chose to have your own D: Get out of your comfort zone. Yes you should know how write. Yes you should platform where you are writing your own know how to present yourself. Yes you content or distributing content on behalf of should know how to carry on a conversation. your client your writing skills. As well as You’re going to have to be creative, speaking – I feel like if you write well then especially if you are going to go the you speak well. I think speaking is equally freelance route. These clients are not just important. going to come to you on whim. Not when you first start. You’re going to have to get K: With you now being a journalist, so to creative on where to find your clients. You’re speak, what is one thing that you’ve seen going to have to show them why they should with receiving pitches that has helped you work with you. When you’re starting out they change the way you pitch media outlets. D: I would say the format. There have been are going to have to trust you with their brand. PR agencies that reached out to me and have given me a full story. Another thing that journalist don’t have is a lot of time. So when Connect with Deja I look at a pitch, what makes me want to Website: www.dejamonee.com write about it is if you’ve given me all of the information. If a story is already formulated, Instagram, Twitter & Periscope: it makes it easier to add additional commen- @iamdejamonee tary and send it off to the editor. Email: info@deluxepublicity.com
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Keema Bouyer is the
founder of The Queen's English PR (www.queensenglishpr.com ). The Charlotte, NC based agency specializes in branding and public relations for Beauty and Lifestyle Brands &Non-Profit Organizations. Let’s Talk PR airs every 2nd Wednesday at 230pm EST on This Needs to Be Said (www.blogtalkradio.com/thisneedstobesaid) Follow Keema Bouyer on Social Media Instagram, Twitter & Periscope: @queensenglishpr Request a consultation info@queensenglishpr.com Visit the website www.queensenglishpr.com
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Teka’s Take On…New Year, New… You? You will always have those people who choose to be set in “their way”. No change needed (as far as they can see), which usualSo if you’re reading this you triumphantly de- ly isn’t very far at all. Leave those people be and continue to focus on your own growth. fied the year that will always be remembered as 2016 (dun dun duunn)…and For those growth seekers, they are loaded with the optimism of winning, learning, growlived to ring in 2017! So maybe it’s not as ing and doing better for themselves this year dramatic as all of that, but I believe the only thing agreed upon in and about 2016 is that it by any means necessary. was quite a tumultuous year for us all. The problem typically enters around February. The appeal of the New Year has A country so divided-races, sexes and cultures clashed year-round; which ended in worn off, the weather has taken a turn for the majority refusing to claim or acknowledge our worse and spirits are down. How do you change this? Persistence! If you’ve President-elect Trump, a good bit of the celebrities we grew up on passed away and our committed yourself to a real change, you country collectively watched countless acts of must fully submerge yourself in your own terrorism, natural disasters and Mari- expectations and surpass even your own ah Carey’s New Year’s Eve performance. Af- ideals of success. Do not allow yourself to be ter navigating vigilantly through the past year, a statistic of your own making. Create a vision, a step-by-step list of how you will progeveryone is excited to see what the New ress successfully through your goals and Year has in store for them; with that comes stick to it unabashedly. It’s not so much a the popular saying “New Year, New Me”. Some cringe at the phrase, some are indiffer- “New You”, but another version of yourself that is improved in YOUR eyes. It may be a ent and most genuinely feel it’s another physical goal obtained, a new career path or chance to change or evolve into the person business venture seen through to fruition, a they’d like to become. Since I personally long lost passion rediscovered or anything choose to side with the former in my most under the sun. The goal here is to be a non-judgy unbiased fashion, I will elaborate happier/better/more content version of as best I can for those that prefer the latter. yourself, whatever that may be….do what it A new year it is indeed, but you are still the takes to get it! If the past year taught us same person. The sentiment of change is nothing else, tomorrow is never promised. however, one that will always resonate with Don’t lose the person that you wish to those invested in personal growth. become to the person others wish you were.
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ESSENTIALS
Your Life, Your Health & You!
So set forth on your journey to growth, wealth and success or whatever you believe 2017 forsake all others, remember to be kind, treat holds in store for you. For those that cringe at others well and give back to those who need it. the phrase, cringe quieter and let those that I could move this discussion in so many wish to make a plan for themselves do so, different directions, but I’ll spare you the novels without your critique of what they have planned that typically play out in my mind…hey everyfor their own lives. one has room for growth right? If it helps at all, my goal this year is to face my fear of advanc- Change is inevitable, try to make it a change ing towards success. No, I don’t live in loserfor the betterment of your life and the lives of ville, but I have always put off big opportunities those that count in yours. Love each other and that could have potentially created more oppor- be kind to others, that’s being the change you tunities for growth and success. wish to see. Happy New Year to all! That’s my take on that! Love love! So 2017 is my year to take more chances on myself. If this article helps even one person ~ Teka Rose realize a goal, dream or accomplishment, than Urban Tymes Contributing Writer I’ve succeeded in my goal!
Be you, do you. That’s not to say
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Your Life, Your Health & You!
ESSENTIALS
Stay Motivated With Your Personal Goals 1. Discover your "why". Why do you want to lose weight? Is it so you can live a long and healthy life for yourself and loved ones? Why the job change? Identify your why and stay focused. 2. Make SMART goals. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. SMART goals helps to give your goals more structure and clarity. 3. Chew. Chew simply means to take one step at a time. Looking at the entire vision/goal can become overwhelming and discourage you from doing anything. But, simply chew and you will get closer to achieving your goal. 4. Get an accountability partner or join a group that shares your interest. They will help you to stay motivated when you know you're not alone and you have to check in with someone who is expecting you to stay on task. 5. Get organized. Putting measures in place that will help ensure your success. For example, if eating healthier is a goal for you then making a weekly menu along with meal prepping is a way for you to organize and stay on track. 6. Visualize yourself achieving your goals. Take some time to see yourself at the finish line. Envision yourself 25 pounds lighter or in your new career. 7. Keep track of your progress and make necessary changes. Keeping track of your progress helps you to chart how things are going and if you need to make adjustments. 8. Post motivational quotes around your house, work place or car. Read positive messages, which will inspire and motivate you daily. 9. Slipped up, forgive yourself and get back up. Remember that there will be highs and lows in achieving your goals and you may lose focus but don't get discouraged and throw in the towel. Repent and get back on track.
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10. Stay positive! No matter what! You have to believe in yourself and in your ability to achieve what you set out to do. Staying positive will bring about the your desired outcome.
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URBANITY MUSIC
Drea D’Nur Her Light …Shines So Brightly
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Photo by NATHYIA JACKSON @mwop1 (instagram)
A
few years ago I had the opportunity to listen to singer and songwriter Drea d'Nur. The place was at Dupp & Swat, the event was Rare Soul hosted by R&B artist Eliah. During this event, the music and mood that Drea laid upon those in attendance was powerful and heartfelt. As an independent artist for 10 years, she’s traveled to Germany and recorded her debut album Day of D'Nur (2013), collaborating with many industry greats and artists alike.
Honestly, I still listen to this album to this day, especially when I have to reconnect and remember the journey traveled by many (listen to track 1: Beautiful, which my wife Renee loves) From her works featured on ABC World News to her music moving up various charts, she is attuned to the audience she performs to. This was very evident in her passionate piece: Cry For Change, which speaks to listeners about those killed due to senseless violence. Poignant and timeless it seems, as you listen to the words, it reflects on today’s societal woes, yet can even speak on past and future events. What really spoke to me was her transparency during her performance. She openly shares the trials and tribulations that she’s experienced as an artist, mother, and especially as a woman. She pulls no punches, but she also offers and brings encouragement…'the nur', arabic for 'light' which she is so appropriately named for. 22/ Urban Tymes Magazine
Photo by DARRON WHITSETT @darronlw (instagram)
Yes Drea d’Nur, is honest, transparent, and simply passionate once again for the music she creates. During the Rare Soul event, she shared with many her struggles, her hopes and dreams, and how music is a tool not only for communication, but for healing as well. A mother and an artist, she states she is influenced by Bob Marley, Lauryn Hill and Nina Simone. Ironically in 2017, she will embark on a special project dubbed “The Spirit of Nina” which hails to be: “A riveting multimedia musical & visual homage to Nina Simone by Drea d'Nur.” This will take place at Kleinhans Music Hall at 8pm. Also, her website shows a photo series of sisters paired with the iconic Nina Simone in various poses styled by Johanna Rodriguez of AKEWU. From her recent 2016 tour in Montreal at the House of Jazz and various countries throughout Europe, to today, directing her projects, being a clear voice to our struggles daily, and uplifting listeners with her voice…. Drea D Nur light shines brightly. And her vision remains clear. 23/ Urban Tymes Magazine
URBANITY MUSIC
Platinum-Selling R&B and Soul Singer
Lyfe Jennings Scheduled to Perform at 22-city NuSoul Revival Tour By Angela P Moore 24/ Urban Tymes Magazine
Billboard charting soulful R&B Superstar Lyfe Jennings, with his gritty falsetto and lyrical songwriting is gearing up for the cross country 22-city NuSoul Revival Tour, set to kick off February 3, 2017, in Raleigh, North Carolina, with Musiq Soulchild headlining the show, the beloved Grammy-nominated "First Couple of Soul" Kindred the Family Soul, and Multi-Award winning Artist Avery* Sunshine. Urban Tymes/Musiek Magazine's Entertainment Journalist Angela P. Moore recently caught up with Jennings for a super quick interview. Also appearing on the tour in select cities are Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Chrisette Michele, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter
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and record producer Dwele, and the Grammy-nominated group, The Foreign Exchange. Jennings, a platinum-selling R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and instrumentalist released his sixth album, "Tree of Lyfe" in 2015. Listen carefully and you can feel Jennings raw emotions when he sings. His lyrics often reflect the life he has endured. He plays the guitar, bass, and piano, which he integrates into his music. Jennings often sings about love, turbulence, redemption and things that come straight from the heart. "I actually write my own music. Some of the things I sing about, I have experienced directly or indirectly, and sometimes I have friends who have gone through what I'm singing about,"
On his latest album, Tree of Lyfe, Jennings says it is his most personal work to date and that he produced the majority of the album at his home studio in Greenwood, Mississippi. Currently, he is busy in Atlanta working on a new album that will drop in 2017. When asked about recording in different studios, Jennings says, "Different studios bring me different energy."
being true to yourself. Every story is unique." When asked what fans can expect at the NuSoul Revival Tour, he says, "Fans can look forward to a lot of energy. It's definitely going to be a lot of energy. I just want to say this might be the only chance you get to see me because I'm heading overseas after the tour."
Advice that he lends to up and coming Visit Lyfe Jennings @ R&B artists are, "You should do what https://www.facebook.com/LyfeJennings you love. If you are putting conditions on you music to make it to radio, you aren't
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WWW.ELIAHSOUL.COM
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Photographer
J_ AKA_ Julio http://twitter.com/ J_aka_Julio
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URBANITY 32/ Urban Tymes Magazine
Literature
I
mani Wisdom is the founder of Pink Noire Publications. Based in Indianapolis, IN, Pink Noire is a groundbreaking company with an unpredictable brand of literary storytelling. Wisdom is also the creator of Pink Noire Blog, which hosts inspirational posts for the soul, along with social commentary. Born and raised in “Indy,” Wisdom spends her days overseeing a family of five, writing short stories and books, cooking vegan dishes, running 5Ks and mini-marathons, and enjoying quality time with her friends and family. Wisdom is a graduate of Ivy Tech Community College, earning a degree in Paralegal Studies. She is a prolific storyteller whose works depict an honest portrayal of societal issues. As a blogger and author, she has received numerous honors including 2012 nominee for Poet of the Year (AAMBC Book Club), March 2012 Up and Coming Author (The Writer’s POV Magazine), September 2011 Blog of the Month (The Writer’s POV Magazine), and February 2011 Editor’s Pick (BlackShortStories.com) for her short story, The Shattered Mogul. Her works include Zion’s Road: A Love Story about Faith and Redemption, and her debut novel, The Journey of Ruthie Belle.
KG: When did you decide to write professionally? IM: Around my late thirties. Prior to that, I wasn't sure if I had it took to be a published author. However, after publishing my novelette, Zion's Road, I told myself I had nothing to lose -- go for it! KG: Did you ever consider hiring a literary agent and shopping your manuscript to a major publisher, why or why not? IM: I'd submitted, The Journey of Ruthie Belle, manuscript to a few literary agents, and all were very nice in their responses, or nicely rejected. Nevertheless, one of them had consulted with their agents in the firm, but decided to pass. I'm cool with that. I'd rather take the self-publishing route, anyway. I enjoy being my own boss.
KG: What is one word to best describe your writing style? IM: Provocative KG: Describe your writing life. IM: At one time, I woke up five or fivethirty in the morning, worked-out, meditate, and then write. I could pound my keyboard for four to six hours, and then logged out to work on other responsibilities. Later that evening, its back to writing, but now? I'm lucky to write KG: What is your favorite genre, and a blog post once a week. why? KG: What is your greatest literary IM:I prefer to read nonfiction, because I accomplishment? love to learn about my history. Forefathers and sisters, like Booker T. Washing- IM: Finishing my first manuscript. ton, Malcolm X, and Harriet Tubman, are fabulous reads. Their historic background KG: How have you handled an unhappy reader regarding a book you is inspiration enough, and useful for my wrote? writing. IM: I move on -- not everyone is going to KG: How many books do you read a like your work. It may sting a little bit, but month? there are more readers in the world than IM: Before I worked outside the home, it that ONE! was a couple of month. Now, if I'm lucky because of my hectic schedule, it's once KG: What advice would you give an a month. aspiring author?
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KG: Do you feel you could have written TJRB without mentioning abuse and conveyed the same message to readers? IM: No. If you read the original version in third person, it was a lot graphic. I'd watered-down the most intense scene in chapter one, and other chapters involving sexual abuse, so I wouldn't upset most readers. I understand this topic is very sensitive; I would know, because I'm a survivor myself. But conveying the message without mentioning the abuse, IM: Keep writing. Do your research, and never, wouldn't have worked. ever give up or give in. There are plenty of doors KG: What's next for Imani Wisdom? that need to be opened. IM: Well, there's the sequel to TJRB, "The Rites of Passage". It'll have a new journey, new KG: Who is the target audience for readers villain, and an expected guide for this new of Imani Wisdom? arrival. You have to wait and read. IM: The 25-45 year old women from many socio-economic backgrounds. KG: Your latest release, The Journey of Ruthie Belle deals with a taboo topic such as abuse, were you afraid to write about this sensitive issue? Why or why not? IM: No, I wasn't worried at all. In fact, I don't classify topics like abuse as "taboo". It's real, and it's an unfortunate occurrence that happens every day. So, I have no fear when it comes to the truth.
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To follow Imani Wisdom, visit: http://www.imaniwisdom.com http://www.twitter.com/imani_wisdom http://www.facebook.com/imaniwisdom http://www.linkedin.com/in/imaniwisdom http://www.pinknoire.com http://www.pinknoire.tumblr.com
5 THE
Top
With Kisha Green! These are some buzz worthy books! Each month Kisha brings further enlightenment to reading by featuring 5 phenomenal books plus one extra(1 will always be a nonfiction or one children's book) for you to learn more about and add to your persoal library! 1. Man on the Run by Carl Weber 2. Forged in Desire by Brenda Jackson 3. Copycat by Kimberla Lawson Roby 4.Wives, Fiancees and Side-Chicks of Hotlanta by Sheree Whitfield 5. Cop & Blow by Peter Mack
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*Nonfiction Pick: The Meaning of Michelle by Various Writers Edited by Veronica Chambers
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Author Latise M. Howie
The Chronicles Trilogy
www.latisemhowie.com 37/ Urban Tymes Magazine
URBANITY
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Pastor
Anthony Payton
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hen you read the story of Anthony Payton on the church website and other outlets via online, you truly do not get the full measure of the man….
AP: Well I appreciate everything that you all are doing; making sure that the community gets the truth and encouragement. And I appreciate your time as well!
His life, as he tells it, is transparent and open for all to see. Like our elders would say back in the day, “the covers laid bare!” And to the Senior Pastor of Come As You Are Church in Fort Wayne Indiana, the Father, Husband and Mentor to many that is important. Because without doing so, how can you truly connect to one another? From his ministry here in the states, to his heartfelt “second home” which is the ministry he leads into Brazil. His flourishing shoe company and various projects that echo his mission statement, Pastor Payton reaches each individual, to get beyond the good, and welcome the great. Our interview lead into spirit lead discussion and reflection on many of the things we take for granted in life, and how the power or prayer prevails. So let’s learn more about this amazing brother and the work that he embraces.
CW: Thank you! Well, we want to share with our readers about the pastor Anthony Payton, and how that things, as well as blessings, don’t come naturally or a snap of the fingers just like that. That there is a message of how you came to be where you are right now and the ministries you have. Can you please share with our readers? AP: Sure, I’d honored. I agree with you 100%, I tell people that we don’t understand the metanarrative of our story, so therefore we don’t communicate it like we should. My story is dramatic but it’s common to everyday people. I was raised in Mississippi by my Grandmother, lived in New York for a number of years early on, and my step-father and his brother got me involved in some illegal activities. So my Grandmother decided that I needed to come there (Mississippi) and stay. Unfortunately for me, that seed of “lifestyle” had already been planted. Without a relationship with my biological father, certainly no relationship with my step-father, I became involved with drugs and alcohol at a very young age, and I tell people I became my best customer. I dropped out of school, was a heroin and cocaine addict, sleeping outdoors, in and out of treatment centers for drugs and alcohol. I was the only child of my mother’s and the eldest child of my grandmother, so
CW: Good evening how are you this evening AP: I’m doing very well sir, how are you? CW: Doing great! We thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to sit down and chit chat with us in regards to what you have going on, as well as to give words of encouragement to us and our readers this evening.
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they had high expectations that I totally blew off in context. I ended up with a three year grand larceny charge which I was sentenced to do. I escaped before finishing those three years and was a fugitive from justice for five yeas, and my heroin and cocaine habit just continued to intensify until one day I got sick and tired of the lifestyle and the pain and all of that. And took a 3cc syringe full of synthetic heroin and cocaine, what we called “keys and blues” back then and tried to kill myself. Upon shooting that into my arm, did I realize that I didn’t really want to die, in an old abandoned house in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I begged God to give me another chance and take the habit away. The next day I was at a treatment center, a familiar place I had been. Six days later I was back in Mississippi visiting my grandmother who was dying of Parkinson’s disease. But at this point that was it for me. I was tired, so I went back home to say my apologies to my grandmother, why she could still understand. I knew that I was a fugitive, but I needed to be there to apologize. After being there for maybe thirty days, I was downtown picking up some medications for my grandmother and the police pulled me over, they thought I was somebody else. Upon checking my social security number, they found out who I was and locked me up. They gave me three years for the original charge and five years for the escape charge. During that time there was a Gideon, a Southern Baptist Gideon that came to the jail for Chaplain duties, had bible studies. And so one evening I stayed behind and asked him what he meant by being “born again.” And he led me through the Roman’s Road of Salvation, and I was free for the first time in my life. I was about twenty-three going on twenty-four and at this time this whole drama started when I was about seven. He (the Chaplain) believed it was more than just a jail house confession. He pulled together several of his friends who were business people in the community, and this was in Hattiesburg Mississippi. All of them white and he asked them to sign a petition and take it before the
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“….I just wanted to be the
judge. Eighteen of them signed the petition, I believe along withvessel. my aunt, Because my grandmother and my mother, and took it before the we judge. The that some way are all judge tookbroken, those eight years and turned and so I refer tome over into the hands of those men who as a vessel” decided tomyself mentor me. So“broken I walked out of jail only doingall nine months the timeof ..’ an eight year sentence. And they (the men) mentored me for about two years. I then decided it was time for me to go to Fort Wayne to go to school. They gave me a one way ticket to Fort Wayne, where I went to Fort Wayne Bible College and met my wife here in Indiana. I joined a local church and became the Christian Education Director at that church. I became a Mental Health Counselor, as a matter of fact, my first office as a Mental Health Counselor was the same office I went to when I wanted help years earlier for my drug and alcohol addiction. I worked there for about seven years, it was something I enjoyed doing. Before that I worked as a Plant Manager at an engineering company, started off as a machine worker, and the owner of the company made me Plant Manager. I went from a strung out junkie to a plant manager at an engineering company, to a mental health service worker with probably the largest caseloads in the department, to Pastor at Come As You Are Community Church where I served for twenty-one years. I’ve traveled from Israel to Brazil doing leadership conferences …God has been good! CW: That is truly impressive! From being down at your lowest to where you currently are now. It’s amazing, nothing but God! AP: I know I can say that with you. I went to those same treatment centers and sat on those couches and told my story and it wasn’t until I said “Ok God, this ain’t working for me!” “I’ve tried counseling and I’ve tried this and that, take this away from me, and I’ll do whatever you want me to do!” And man, I tell you, I’ve had a fantastic life, now it’s been a little over thirty=five years…I’m fifty-nine years old. I still have scar tissue on my arm
Pictures reflecting the journey of Pastor Payton: Mission work in Brazil, His meeting President Obama His book: Leadership Reflections
“A personal mission statement helps you filter through all that, and it reminds you that you didn’t get to where you are by yourself! I think personal mission statement keep us humble and keeps us from saying yes to so many good things that rob us from the best for us. “ Pastor Payton 42/ Urban Tymes Magazine
mission! They didn’t know why they were here. They didn’t have a purpose, and so I spent some time examining my own life and saying “okay, what is my purpose?” At that time I’d done a number of things, but I was still more reactionary than proactive. So after prayer I came up with this whole idea of this being my mission statement: “I exist to recognize, inspire and promote the purposes of God in individual and collective life.” And CW: One of the things, when I got a chance the first thing I did was to come back to that class and I helped them to frame a mission, to look at your website and it was so what they felt that their purpose was. Man, profound that you noted: “We exist to recognize, inspire and promote the purposes I’m telling you that changed my life, that became my personal mission statement, of God in individual and collective life.” even long before it became a webpage. It AP: Yes, that’s my personal mission helped me guide those young guys and girls statement. at that time to a sense of direction. I never forget, five years after that class in the city I CW: When I read that, I felt as though that was out west in a whole other area of Fort came from a very deep place within you to Wayne, and I heard somebody calling me. share with others as well that maybe are “Mr. Payton, Mr. Payton!” And I turned going through, or have went through certain around and it was this white kid running trials and tribulations that you went through. toward me, and I yelled “stop, stop, you’re AP: You are absolutely right! After I got going to run in front of that car!” At this time saved and started working at the mental health hospital, I also had a private business he’s about twenty-five, and he stopped then where I did pro social groups for Fort Wayne was on his way over, and he said “there you go again Mr. Payton, saving my life! I want to Community School as well as East Allen County here. I went and taught young people thank you for everything that you taught me in that class.” “My father and I have a good what we call life skills. I had done that for relationship; I’m now living in Miami Florida about two years, and I realized that I was with him. I just want to thank you for all that missing a component. I was able to give you did.” I’m telling you man, if that doesn’t them principles, but principles without a float your boat, nothing will! purpose didn’t mean anything to them. So I took a sabbatical, and started reading and praying and seeing what I could do, what was CW: We should have a mission statement, the hook going to be for this generation. So I without it, we too would have no sense of direction! read a book by Laurie Beth Jones, she’s a AP: A personal mission statement helps you Christian motivational speaker whose wrote several books, such as “Jesus in Blue Jeans” filter through all that, and it reminds you that you didn’t get to where you are by yourself! I and “Jesus Christ CEO” and a number of think personal mission statement keep us books. But the book I had read was “The humble and keeps us from saying yes to so Path” and she articulated a story in there many good things that rob us from the best where her grandfather had told them if a for us. soldier served a period in the night and could not articulate his mission, then they considered him an enemy. That resonated to CW: Many of what you mentioned is very prevalent in your book Leadership me, because it said to me that there was a Reflections….what prompted you to write that number of young people that I was attemptbook?” ing to give principle, but they didn’t have a to remind me where I came from. From all the needle marks and from all that. It’s amazing that I didn’t die in those streets, from 14th and Key St in DC to Liberty City in Miami. It’s only by the grace of God that I’m alive, and mind you I dropped out of school and I went back and got a GED through the help of some friends who encouraged me to go back and get a GED.
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AP: I was going through a tremendous, painful season in my leadership journey. I don’t think you really know the depth of your leadership until you’ve gone through a painful season. I had went through a painful season; people I had trust, people I had vested in, paid their bills, treated like my children, basically lied and conspired to destroy me. I was ready to go back and get a secular job, leave the pastoring alone and I had went to Mississippi for a conference and this church there offered me this building in Jackson MS. It was everything that I dreamed of; at one time it was the largest Southern Baptist church in the state of Mississippi. The community around it subsequently becomes African American, Hispanic and poor White, so the church itself had not changed with the community so they moved out. So here you have this building with a gym, a sanctuary that would seat 1500, a smaller chapel, a television studio, a recording studio, all this in the building and they said, “You come, it’s yours.” And I’m coming back and I’m going through this turbulent time here in Mississippi not because I had done anything. I hadn’t cheated on my wife or stole any money. People just lied, and I was just tired of it. So I was on my way back with my wife and I said “oh, we’re gone! We’re leaving! “And she says to me “is that you, or is that God?” I said “You just don’t want to leave; you just want to stay here!” She said “well, we know that you haven’t done anything, people are just lying.” So I said “ok, I’m gone” and Laura said “no you can’t leave, you can’t leave.” So I’m sitting in the basement of my house, and my house is like in the woods, a wooded secluded area. I’m in the basement, don’t want to go to church, don’t want to do anything. And I hear these voices outside, and I go outside and it’s the men of the church circling my place and praying “Lord help us encourage our pastor.” “Get him out of this depression; get him out of this funk.” And they are hand in hand, they are coving sixteen acres, all over the land, praying! And so that old Negro spiritual goes; just when I thought I was lost, my dungeon shook and
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my chains fell off! So I just started writing, I went to the Dominican Republic, hadn’t been there before. I got a room there and I just started writing. I started journaling my life and leadership, the things I’ve done and the things I’ve been through, and how it applied to leadership. And that became my book: Leadership Reflections. The first chapter deals with my wife and what she was and is to me, and the last chapter deals with my son and what I want him to be. CW: How do you allow AP Shoes (Anthony Payton Signature Shoes) to reflect your ministry and everything that you’ve learned during your journey in life? AP: Man, you.. (pause) I am so glad you asked that question, and here’s why. I had this dream of a shoe company and designing my own shoe line when I was nine years old. My grandmother and my mom put together their money to buy me a pair of shoes when I was moving out of the ninth grade. I still have those Florsheims today. I kept them through my various drug addictions, selling everything else. The only thing I kept bruh, were those shoes. When I lost everything, the only thing I had, which was a connect to reality for me was that pair of shoes that my grandmother and my mother put their pennies together to buy me. So seventeen years ago I went to Brazil, and didn’t want to go, but glad I went. And out of that has come this shoe company. But here’s the heart of Anthony Payton Shoes it’s in this program. Anthony Payton Shoes is not just a company, yes I believe in social entrepreneurship. I consider myself a social entrepreneur, I do things, I create things, whether it taking old buildings and converting them and leasing them out, which is part of our ministry. I do it so I can do some social ministry projects that I want to do, and here’s where Anthony Payton Signature Shoes fits into that. My goal in the summer of 2017 from Anthony Payton Shoes is to take a group of inner city boys to Brazil, all expenses paid. They will spend their summer there, they will work alongside my designers and my manufacturing company, and their goal is to come up
with their own design of shoe. It has to be a dress shoe, I don’t want a tennis shoe, I want them thinking “dress.” I don’t want them thinking Nike, Timberlands, all that, I want them to think suit and tie. So they will work on that line, and bring it back just before school starts here in Fort Wayne. The city will have a big greeting with various churches in the community and various businesses in the community, and they will give a presentation on their design. What inspired them, they’ll talk about their experience, and the community then will vote for the best design, presentation, etc. That young man’s show will go into production, and 25 percent (from sales) will go towards his college education, another 25 percent will go towards his local charity. I’m trying to get them to plug into their community; they have to identify a charity that they want to help. And 50 percent goes to continuing this program for the next group of young men, so we build it and it becomes a national program. Now, they may never become a shoe designer, that’s not the point. The point is to tap into that creative side of them, tap into that business side of them. To grasp it at an early stage and say, “ok even though you may not like designing shoes, but you do like corporate business. You
a structure here that helps you to understand what it means to take a product from dream to reality. And at the end of the day, that fits my mission statement; “We exist to recognize, inspire and promote the purposes of God in individual and collective life” and that fits my ministry! CW: Full circle! Love it! How can our readers learn more about you, follow you, sow seeds into your ministry or get words of encouragement? AP: We have several outlets that people can visit to get in contact with me, to stay involved and see the work that we are doing. www.APaytonShoes.org http://www.cayacc.org To me, this was more than an interview. After ending the interview and further discussion, one could truly see that this brother is an example of what it means to be rebuilt, restructured, and following in the steps that God has placed before him. During our interview, he mentioned that at a Gideon Conference that he spoke at, three of the eighteen men that signed his petition was still alive and present at the conference. One of them spoke to him and told him that out of all the men that were presented the opportunity to change and give their life over to Christ, he was the only one….. Anthony Payton’s story makes you wonder, how many opportunities have we missed over the years, when we simply could have let go, and let God! Thank you brother!
will get
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Why The Skinny Tie is Still In By GvS -Michael Snell Clothier
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O
ver the past few years, the skinny tie fell to to the perils of fashion and has gradually become a faux pas in today’s fashion scene for the most part. While this is generally true of the skinny tie being used as a widespread fashion accessory just about everywhere, it doesn’t mean that the skinny tie has met its maker and won’t ever be coming back. In fact, acceptable wear of the skinny tie never really went anywhere in the first place. It is all down to a man’s own image, his clothing, and his physique.
Size of Skinny Tie The old adage rings true for neck ties: size matters. It is all down to a man’s own physical proportions that will determine whether or not a skinny tie is appropriate and the key hint is in the garment’s name. The skinny ties are fashion faux pas when it comes to well-built, stocky men, but those who are on the leaner side of average will find a skinny tie accents their build properly. Those who are larger than average will want to reach for a tie of average width in order to have the proper fit against their bodies as skinny ties look far too out of place when compared to a smaller frame wearing the very same tie.
Lapels Similarly, a dress shirt’s lapels will determine whether or not a skinny tie is appropriate. Those with smaller necklines and measurements, as is more common on skinnier men, will find that a half Windsor knot will fit the notch far better than when used with wider lapels where the outermost areas of the knot are exposed to onlookers. It goes without saying that the schoolboy knot is usually inappropriate for skinny ties wear nowadays (although this was all the rage a few years ago).
Perception How a man perceives his own body will largely govern whether or not a skinny tie is appropriate for him. This mostly applies to those who are in the fringe between skinny and average, but can also apply to men who hold their weight below the waist rather than on their torso. Should a larger man want to wear a skinny tie, then it would be best to pair it with the tightest lapels possible in order to create the impression of a larger tie. Without it, it will give an obvious “skinny” impression that looks out of place. To learn more style tips, or to have a custom consultation, visit:
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