Reading, Writing and Publishing!

Sunday - February 13, 2011 - 3:00 PM EST

Black Teen Empowerment Radio welcomes Loretta Faith Harris to discuss the importance of not only getting our youth to read and write but introducing them to the world of publishing.

According to the website CH Publishing:

Loretta is the Founder and President of CHPublishing. CHPublishing aphorism is, Capturing the heart of the writer. Publications include seven young adult books that she coauthored with her middle and high school students and the award winning memoir, The Journey Less Traveled: Choose to Turn Your Tragedy into Triumph” which highlights Loretta’s personal story of overcoming death defying odds. This gifted author is also the publisher of CHPublishing in the Spotlight News and contributing writer for B.I.G. The Magazine, Signature Women Today, and The Florida Sun.

Do you think more teens would be interested in the fundamentals of reading and writing if they were informed about becoming published authors using desktop publishing tools, social media and distribution websites like Amazon? If Bristol Palin can write her memoirs despite her limited “accomplishments”, why can’t any young person? We are sure some of our youth have stories that are just as if not more interesting. Considering that youth are often credited with having vivid imaginations, with a little help many of them could be the next great fiction writer.

Loretta will also talk to us about her new book “101 Reasons To Live”!

In the news:

·         Student Athletes Accuse Basket Ball Coach of Using the N-Word

·         Consequences of Not Voting: School Re-Segregation

·         Lowering School Suspensions A Priority

Missing Child Spotlight of the Week:

Destinee Silva

Destinee Silva is 13 yrs-old and has been missing from Daly City, California since January 18, 2011. She is believed to be possibly be in the Oakland or San Francisco Area. If you have information concerning this case, 

Please Contact: Daly City Police Department - (650) 991-8092 or (650) 991-8147

Modest Models Inc, Missing Black Children and Federal Court Upholds Equal Opportunity Admissions

This week we spoke with Sister Tamorah Shareef Muhammad and Sister La Tika Daania Muhammad about Modest Models Inc.

Sister Tamorah is the Founder of Modest Models Inc, which she started December of 2010. She says:

“Our Mission is 1 Timothy 2:9-10 (New International Version)I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. The Mission and goal of our group is to obtain Righteous decency of the Beauty of the Righteous Woman. The Qur’an says, "Do not allow Satan to remove your Garments". With the removal of Garments in which guards us from evil. This Garment is of the mind, body, and soul!

We will allow the viewer to see the Beauty of what Allah has bestowed on us. By not exposing ourselves to Nakedness and Shame, which the industries are very, obsessed with. This gives the viewer not only to see the clothing and Garments in a descent way. But it will show that We as women are beautiful without the removal of our Sacredness. It stands True Each Civilization Is Judged By it's Treatment of the Woman.

Modest Models Inc has 589 Members but Tamorah does not run this group alone she has Excellent Administrators. Sister Latika Muhammad, Sister Arian Muhammad, Sister Lorraine Muhammad, Sister Melanie Butler Muhammad, Sister Lakisha 2X, and Sister Mecca Donna, Sister Amanda, Michelle X Oliver.”



This week Scotty Reid had the opportunity to talk with Sister Gaetane Borders of Peas in their Pods, an organization that assists in alerting the public about missing children. He spoke to her about the recent comments of a Baltimore Police spokesperson who expressed disappointment in the national media coverage of missing teen Phylicia Barnes. We will hear what Sister Gaetane thinks about the national media coverage of missing teens in general and the amount of coverage given to black teens by the Black national media.

In the news this week, The Leadership Conference is reporting that a federal court recently upheld an equal opportunity admission policy of a major university. New Jersey is moving closer to offering school vouchers, what do you think about school vouchers for the black community? We shall share that news and of course share our views and opinions.

The lines will be open after we talk to the sisters about Modest Models Inc and welcome your calls about the topics of the day.

Today’s featured music is by Big Ace.

Radio: Can The Black Community Take Back The Airwaves?

There may be a ray of hope when it comes to the Black community and media. Congress recently passed the Local Community Radio Act that should soon be signed into law by President Obama. Many media advocacy groups were upset that the new Net Neutrality rules will allow the telecommunications industry, (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc;) to discriminate against Internet content producers who can not afford to pay fees so that mobile phone subscribers can access their content, the passage of the Local Community Radio Act may be a consolation prize if groups can act quickly enough to take advantage of the new legislation.




Reclaim the Media writes:
"Washington State elected officials played a pivotal role in passing the bill into law; Senator Maria Cantwell championed the bill in the Senate, and House cosponsors included Washington Rep. Jay Inslee.


"This is a huge win for communities across the northwest and across the country who have been pining for more and better local radio, more support for local music and more diversity on the airwaves," said Jonathan Lawson of Reclaim the Media, a Seattle-based media justice organization which has worked alongside other advocacy groups since 2002 to expand community access to media, including LPFM. "Senator Cantwell deserves our thanks for seeing this through to the end."


The FCC initially created the Low power FM service radio in 2002, as a way to counter the dramatic consolidation of radio ownership which followed the 1996 Telecommunications Act, and the resulting drop in diverse programming and local voices. However, pressure from commercial broadcasters quickly led Congress to impose substantial barriers to LPFM, so that only a relatively small number of stations were able to launch, and mostly in rural areas.


The new law removes most of those barriers, creating the opportunity for many more stations to occupy unused space on the FM dial. LPFM stations are noncommercial, must be operated by a local nonprofit, religious organization or public institution, and are limited to 100 watts. read more


Low Power FM has long been a part of the vision of Scotty Reid, President of the Black Talk Media Project, which was founded as an North Carolina non-profit in 2008 to encourage the Black community to produce an alternative to the corporate media that currently pollutes the public airwaves and as a way to engage our youth in new media production.




However, getting Black media online producers to work together has proven to be challenging. Funding has also been challenging but with the passage of the new legislation, the Black Talk Media Project hopes that it can gain support and traction. Today Black Teen Empowerment Radio will discuss what this new legislation can mean to youth and the Black Urban community at large.