'New Music Monday' on DC Now Radio Feat. Nicole Scherzinger

Conversations LIVE's Cyrus Webb introduces Nicole Scherzinger's new single ON THE ROCKS on DC Now Radio's #NewMusicMonday!

Listen to the single here: Conversations LIVE's 'New Music Monday' on DC Now Radio Feat. Nicole Scherzinger

[Review] Kristen Moeller's WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

What I am waiting for?

It is a question we have all undoubtedly asked ourselves at some point.

Maybe it has to do with going after something that we say we want or moving to a new level in pursuing our passion. For Kristen Moeller the question forced her to do a self-examination of the good, the bad and the unknown, and what she has learned is now being shared with us in the book WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

After losing her dream home and all her worldly possessions to a raging and sudden wildfire that killed three people and demolished twenty-one homes, Moeller dove into an exploration of our cultural discomfort with grief, the existence of God, finding humor in the midst of tragedy - and what it means to be a human being with all our fabulousness as well as frailties.

I approached this book with some nervous excitement, mainly because I like others want to know the answer but then realize this will force upon me the need to do the work necessary to get what I want. Kristen went through degrees of loss in her life and afterwards found herself wondering what was really important. Sometimes we have to go through the fire (literally for some) in order to realize what is left behind, what have we chosen to carry with us and more importantly what are we going to do with ourselves now. Kristen helps us to understand the importance of not just being in the moment but embracing all the little things that it brings because those times and experiences will never come again.

This doesn't mean that we should live life in wait of the 'other shoe to drop', but we should always be mindful that what we have right now---this very moment---is unique and special, and so is what we choose to do with it.

Kristen encourages the reader to stop looking for the "perfect" time and instead focus on making the most of the time and moment we have right now. Using her own experiences and "Gentle Knocks" through the book for us to do self-reflections, she gives us everything we will need to move forward, making the leap that can result in our being present every day of our life.

Poignant and powerful, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? prepares us for the work necessary to rise to the occasion of our lives.

Stay connected with Kristen Moeller at www.kristenmoeller.com.

[Special] NBA's Chris Paul Talks Fatherhood with 'My LIfe As A Dad'

NBA star Chris Paul is the proud papa to son Chris Paul II, 5, and daughter Camryn, almost 2, with wife Jada. He recently caught up with parenting expert Daddy Nickell for My Life As A Dad, the popular new web series that delves into the lives of celebrity and professional athlete dads.

During the interview, the NBA star chats about what guys can expect when their partners become pregnant, his best advice for dads, and how he feels about traveling for games.

Daddy Nickell: What can guys expect when all of a sudden their beautiful little bride is now pregnant and starting to go through changes? How can men support and help their partners?

Chris Paul: “Those experiences are exactly why I am not having any more kids. [laughs] It was a lot of fun and, well, for me, I am not the one whose hormones are changing and whose body is changing. Especially with our first child, my wife was on an emotional roller coaster.

I’ll never forget how we were about to walk into our bedroom and I stepped into the laundry room to mess with her, and I jumped out and scared her. She was hysterical and cried and cried. It’s funny, I still think back to it now. My son is kind of scared, and I think that because I scared her that day and that she jumped the way that she did, my son is a scared person now.

You definitely have to take deep breaths and you have to understand what is taking place. She is the one who is experiencing all of the body changes, but it is an experience for the husband, too. I was reading a book, What To Expect When Expecting. Every flight that our team got on, I was into that book to see what is happening this month, what is happening that month, what’s this, what does the baby look like now?”

Daddy Nickell: What is your top advice for all dads?

Chris Paul: “Every dad is different, because you don’t know his work schedule and things like that, but I say this as it pertains to me: the most valuable thing that you have is your time. I can care less how much money you make or anything like that. I tell people all of the time that my kids are the most important thing to me.

Any time that I have to go somewhere, it kills me. I hate it and hate traveling now, because my son is old enough and will tell me ‘Dad, I am going to miss you while you’re gone. Why are you leaving me?’ When my brother and I grew up, our mom and dad didn’t miss anything. You know how you see in those movies where the kid is looking for his parents at his recital and they are not there? We never had to look because we knew that they were there. It kills me to know that there are times where my son will be playing a basketball game or something like that and I won’t be there. Time…that is one thing that your kids will never forget. They may not remember something about money, but they will remember whether or not you were there when they needed you.”

My Life As A Dad (www.mylifeasadad.com) is the first show of its kind to delve into the lives of celebrity and professional athlete dads to get their answers to important questions, such as how they feel about being a dad, their parenting philosophies, how they balance their family life with their professional life and, in some cases, how they relate their unique upbringing to being a dad today. The series features interviews with the likes Dancing with the Stars winner J.R. Martinez, NBA star Chris Paul, TV Host AJ Calloway, 2014 Super Bowl Champion Michael Robinson, and many more! You can subscribe to MLAAD on YouTube and follow them on Facebook (www.facebook.com/MLAADad) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/MLAADShow).

Recording Artist Troy Petty: Using Music to Speak to the World

by Cyrus Webb

With my schedule I am not able to attend as many live events as I would like, but when I discovered the music of Troy Petty and James Tristan Redding in 2013 (and learned they were coming to my home state of Mississippi), I know that was one event I had to attend.

Petty is a artist that definitely bares it all in his music, and the listener is better off because of it. His album FAIRY TALE PEN is one that you will find yourself listening to again and again---and each time you will discover something unique and mesmerizing about it.

"I put myself through some tests to see if this was really what I wanted to do," Petty told me after his appearance in Mississippi. "I started pretty early on (about 8 years old) and growing through my teenage years I was pretty isolated. I imagined being on stage and carried on with my life. Music has been a form of therapy, something that became a part of me. It was something I could always rely on. As I was getting into my adult years I knew I was going to do it for the rest of my life regardless."

That is how I know that Troy Petty is an artist in every sense of the word. "I don't know what it would feel like to not have music," he confessed.

I can tell you from experience that he gives a part of himself away to the audience with every performance---and his project FAIRY TALE PEN is probably his most personal to date.

"I had a group of songs that I couldn't get out of my head," he explained. "At first they were just for my own personal satisfaction. I was feeling kind of vulnerable... I can't not be honest. I went for broke and picked the ones (songs) that moved me the most. FAIRY TALE PEN tells the story of what it's like to be an artist. I dug deep and really put myself out there."

Instead of feeling afraid, Petty says the release has had an opposite effect. "It was very liberating and like a renewal," he says. "A lot of times when I hear certain songs it's like a reminder: 'Look at what you did.' Everytime I hear it (the album) I am very grateful."

Stay connected with Troy Petty on Twitter at www.twitter.com/troypettymusic as well as on Reverbnation at www.reverbnation.com/troypetty. Information about his album and current projects can also be found on his website www.troypettymusic.com.

Michael Cory Davis: Using His Gift to Make A Difference

by Cyrus Webb

When it comes to examples of individuals who know what they want in life and are going after it, you have to give a nod to actor and activist Michael Cory Davis.

Known to some for his roles on shows like the soap opera All My Children or on the SYFY network, Davis has gained international attention and respect because of the causes he has lent his time, energy and resources towards. In late 2010 he was enjoying the success of his latest project, the thought-provoking movie FOR COLORED GIRLS, directed by Tyler Perry, and this year he appeared in Tyler Perry's FOR BETTER OR WORSE on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Never one to shy away from a challenge or an opportunity to provoke discussion, Davis stripped down for his 2011 calendar BODY OF CHANGE as a way to raise awareness and funds for his non-profit Artists United For Social Justice. I have a great deal of respect for him not just because of the way he conducts himself professionally but also because of the way he uses the gift that is the public eye to make a difference. 

In 2013 he launched his new campaign I STOP TRAFFIC in an effort to increase awareness about child trafficking and child exploitation of American children by creating and distributing cause related multi-media.  In this conversation he discusses when he discovered his love of the arts, how he has chosen to use his celebrity when it comes to helping others and even how he views what he has been able to achieve.

Michael, thank you for taking out the time to talk with us. First of all, congratulations on your achievements on tv and in movies. I want to talk about what it was like to be a part of that project, but I first want to go back to the beginning. When did you realize that you were interested in being in the entertainment industry? Thank you for the opportunity. My parents encouraged creativity. I was involved in a lot of school plays. Growing up I also got involved in debate school. I realized early on that I always had a flair for being on stage.

Looking at what you have done so far and the projects you have been a part of, what surprises you the most about your career and how you are perceived?  What continues to surprise me is that people are surprised that I am a black man that has taken on what has been seen as a woman's cause. Let's face it, when it comes to topics like human trafficking. It tends to be more Caucasians bringing attention to it. It never ceases to amaze me how people perceive me. I welcome the surprise, because I am able to turn over the perceptions and let the world see black men are more than what pop culture says we are.

I as an independent filmmaker have been able to do so much. I have been able to raise tens of thousands of dollars for orphanages in a country (Bulgaria) where I don't even speak the language. My accomplishments let me know there is a whole lot more that we as artists can do to change the world in a positive way because we have the microphone to do it.

You mentioned your work in Bulgaria. That is, in fact, how I first became aware of you because of your short film. For those who haven't seen it, Svetlanta's Journey is a film you wrote, directed and produced that came about because of a victim of trafficking that you met. It was a 13-year old Bulgarian girl who had basically been sold by her adoptive parents into prostitution. The project has gone on to not only win awards but aired on national television in Bulgaria. What did you take away from that project regarding how we in the United States view issues like that?  I would say how ambivalent we sometimes are. If people are looking at children as commodities, that's a problem. If we have a society that has been victimized because they are not getting the services they need to heal, that's a problem. People don't speak enough about it,  especially in the black community. I think that's why more haven't taken on the cause. At the end of the day it deals with a form of slavery, and we should know about it and care about it. I do understand, though, that alot of the apathy about the subject is because alot of us are so focused on our own problems.

(Note: Though much of Davis' work over the past decade has focused on what's going on in other countries, through his new film project CLOSE TO HOME he tackles the issues in the United States. In a startling article for The Huffington Post in August 2013 he said this about what is going on in the States when it comes to trafficking, abuse and forced prostitution: "The United States has a child trafficking problem -- it can't be denied any longer, in particular after such horrors endured by the teen sex slaves in Cleveland have been exposed, and most recently with the FBI raids that resulted in the rescue of 150 children across dozens of cities.

I believe that one of the main reasons why this crime has been able to grow so quickly is because of the abundant supply of children, mainly girls, who are vulnerable and easily exploited for prostitution by shrewd pimps and traffickers... We as a society have done an excellent job of staying intentionally silent to abuse in its many forms that plague so many of our youth, thus leaving them vulnerable to pimps. We as a society have done the work for the pimps to make young children feel that their real core value and self worth comes from money and the "things" they possess, therefore it is okay to do whatever it takes to get that money, even if that means using their bodies for sex. We in society have done an amazing job of teaching our young girls that their beauty comes in the form of measuring up to Hollywood starlets who are air-brushed, starved, and altered for the masses to consume all the while helping to reinforce that beauty only comes from the external representation of oneself and thus focusing on developing sexuality before even truly understanding it.")

Michael you are in a business that is covered from all angles, both the good and the bad. What are your thoughts about the 24-hour news cycle and the public's desire to know so much about celebrities?

What's happened in society today is that we have made the internet a loaded gun. People learn things and share things instantly. What's worse is that you have people who make money off what goes wrong in an individual's life. I don't know why it is that whenever someone is on top and doing well, there is some need for us to wait for that person to do something wrong. When people look at me, I want them to know that I am just as human as they are. I am fully aware of the issues that we as men have with women. Though I have my faults as a man, I have empathy and compassion towards women that are victimized and that's why I do what I do.

Thanks again for this opportunity, Michael. We really appreciate the opportunity to share a snapshot of your life with our readers and your passion for the work you do. Before we let you go, I have to ask you about success. It's something that is relative to most people. What does success look like to you?  Success for me is being able to overcome challenges without having to compromise myself and staying true to my authenticity. It's having the power to create my own content and not having to have my hand out in order to do so. Success is also when I am able to fulfill my purpose being on the planet, challenging myself and using my art and talent to move us all forward.

That's not to say I'm always trying to do deep movies and stuff like that. I just want to do what I love and help others in society along the way. That's when I am most happy. That's success.

You can find out more about Michael by visiting www.michaelcorydavis.com. You can also discover more about the work of Artists United For Social Justice and his new campaign by visiting www.istoptraffic.com.

[To You, From Me] Becoming New From the Inside Out

I tell everyone that I am a work in progress.

When I see the way my life has evolved over the past decade I have many reasons to be thankful and to feel blessed, but that doesn't mean the work is over.

I, like many of you, began 2014 with a list of goals that I wanted to be able to achieve. Have i accomplished them all? No, but I choose to focus on the strides that I have made, the people I have inspired and the impact that I am able to make in my corner of the world. The same should be true for you. If you haven't achieved what you have wanted to up to this point, don't let that get you down. If you are reading this that means that you have been given another day to make some amazing strides. The choice is totally up to you.

In this issue of Conversations Magazine we hope to inspire you to become new from the inside out. What does that mean? Well, I believe the articles will get you to thinking not just about the individuals profiled but about yourself and what you are able to do beginning right now. It all begins with the decision.

For those who read scripture Roman 12: 2 says in part: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind..." That shows us that anything that we want to manifest on the outside must begin within. The three individuals on the cover of this issue (Michael Cory Davis, Glenda L. Hunter and Branden Nicholson) have all realized that. No matter what their professions they have been able to 'renew their minds', activating their gifts and seeing how they are being used in the world.

That is my challenge for you. No matter what you want to do (pursue a career, perfect a craft or improve things on the homefront), you can do it, but you have to approach it with the right attitude. As I mentioned I haven't been able to do everything I started out to this year---but that doesn't mean I am going to stop trying. Neither should you.

What is it that you are striving to do? What steps are you taking right now to do it? I want to know! Drop me a line at cawebb4@juno.com. Would love to be able to encourage you along the way to not just think about it but start doing it!

Until next time, happy reading!





Cyrus Webb, Editor-In-Chief
Conversations Magazine

Tony Lindsay Presents... Ralph Waldo Ellison

In American literature, there was a period between the Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts Movement; the Black writers of this period are referred to by the historian Lawrence P. Jackson as the “Indignant Generation.” One of the leading writers of the era was Ralph Waldo Ellison.

Largely respected for his 1952 novel Invisible Man, Ellison wrote other fiction during the period as well; his short stories were gathered and edited by John F. Callahan in a posthumous collection titled Flying Home. The thirteen stories of the work reflect the development of Ellison’s literary style along with his use of themed stories, and any student of literary technique will be well served by the collection.

Ellison experiments with point of view in the four warm hearted coming of age and friendship stories with the protagonists, Riley and Buster, two young Black boys who: brag of the conquest of Mister Toussan (Toussaint Louverture), survive the Depression with creative pastimes and diligent parents and sports heroes, learn that all actions have consequence, and that one man’s witch could be another’s vixen.

In the story, “A Party Down at the Square,” Ellison creates another boy protagonist. This time the youth is white, and he is enticed into witnessing a killing, the burning alive of a Black man. The town gathered in the square for the “party.” Ellison reduced the victim, the Black man, to what the crowd and the boy saw; the Black man was no more than “a barbecued hog.” However, Ellison interrupts the celebration with a cyclone that causes a plane to crash, and a woman to be electrocuted, but despite the catastrophes the boy and the town’s people returned to the “party.” The boy did manage to generate a simulant of respect for the Black man when he broke free of the burning ropes with his last breath, “That Bacote nigger was some nigger.”

Ellison employed another boy child character in “The Black Ball.” John, the protagonist and the loving father of the boy works as a maintenance man. Ellison expertly built tension around the father and son love while juxtaposing Jim Crow restrictions with unions; causing John to understand that working without a union was working behind the blackball.

The titled story of the collection, “Flying Home” is the lengthiest story in the work; dealing with Jim Crow, classism among Blacks, self-worth, and community belonging are some of the apparent themes covered in this multi layered story. The protagonist can be easily interrupted as a Tuskegee Airman who felt he had elevated himself above Jim Crow restrictions and the more ignorant of his brethren. Ellison used reality as a sounding board for the character and the reader by having the character in out of consciousness pulling empathy from the reader, and at the same time reducing the character’s pompousness by having him depend on those he viewed as less than himself.  

  The stories in Ralph Ellison’s Flying Home exemplify the artistry of the writer and the pain of the era he wrote in. The stories are a must read for any serious student and writer, and a pleasurable read for anyone who enjoys good stories.    

 Tony Lindsay is an award-winning author and adjunct professor at Chicago State University. His book ONE DEAD DOCTOR was chosen by Conversations Book Club as one of its Top 100 Books of 2012. Lindsay was named Conversations Author of the Year 2012-2013.  His new book EMOTIONAL DRIPPINGS is available now on Amazon.com. He can be reached at tonylinsay7045@sbcglobal.net or on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/tony.linssay2.