N'KOSI

Next Thursday (Jul. 15) DMV artists and activists unite on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building to edu-tain an audience about the importance of political participation and the need for D.C. citizens to have full voting rights in Congress. Backyard Band, Uptown XO and RaTheMC, Black Cobain, Fat Trel, Rasi Caprice, Phil Ade, K-Beta, and PHZ Sicks are among those providing the soundtrack.

“Congress wants to put unregulated guns on the streets of D.C., including assault rifles, and we can not let that happen,” said Johnny Barnes, one of the event organizer’s and Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation’s Capital. “Congress tries to tell us how to live and tell us how to die, by deciding how we spend our own money and by interfering and intervening in our laws.”

The speakers and entertainers will present the virtues of D.C. Statehood and protest the proposed Gun Amendment that Congress is seeking to impose on the D.C. Voting Rights Bill. “This free concert and ‘teach-in’ is a great opportunity, especially for young people, to raise their voices and make clear their interests,” said Barnes. “I expect it to be an evening where people learn, get involved and hopefully, Congress listens,” concluded Barnes. Congress is scheduled to be in session during the event.

The scene will be captured as part of, “HoodStock,” a documentary project being produced by N’KOSI. “’HoodStock’ is about developing a sustainable market in the District through the lens of hip-hop,” said producer, Sia Tiambi Barnes. “In our research, we found that it is fundamentally impossible to sustain environmentally, economically, without first hearing from the community. And isn’t that the purpose of our democracy – for the people, by the people? How can we campaign for democracy around the world when we turn a deaf ear to the voices of our own nation’s capital?”

N’KOSI founder, Sia Tiambi Barnes was hired as one of the lead artists participating in the 2010 Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) Media Arts Camp. The Camp is a pilot program funded by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities (DCCAH) and the Department of Employment Services (DOES), to encourage District youth to explore career paths in the creative economy, of which, the District’s Media & Communications Industry makes up 43 percent and a single job averages $94,000/year in salary. The District is the nation’s leading market for Marketing Communications jobs (the overarching category). Sia is guiding a team of young writers in journalism workshops to help create the August issue of the Art(202) Journal.

“It is an honor to work with the Commission to help pioneer such a program,” Sia said. “Especially in this climate when, like many industries, journalism is forced to redefine itself within the confines of a recession restricted budget, it is important to offer the incoming generation insight into how invaluable story-telling is in the evolution of a community. And, for the participants to be gainfully employed as part of the learning experience, gives allowance for creativity to flourish in an environment where arts programs are otherwise some of the first to be cut.”

Other components of the project include placement in paid internships at national media companies like BET, NPR, and City Paper; and “Project Anacostia,” an examination of how business and the arts converge to create community using the historic District neighborhood as a case study. By the end of the summer, participants, who are also working in photography, graphic design, videography, radio, and event planning, are tasked with developing mini-documentaries, a radio magazine composed of oral histories, and the District’s first “green wall” – a sustainable mural – in addition to the Journal. The deliverables are scheduled to all be on display on Friday, August 13^th at The Corcoran Community Gallery at THEARC.

Since we announced in October 2009 our partnership with It’s a Movement Online Magazine (IAMOnlineMag.com) to re-launch the urban lifestyle web portal, we have been very busy focusing on fresh and original content featuring progressive artists (“Raheem De Vaughn: Creating a MasterPeace”); unique small businesses (“Broccoli City: How to Make Green in the ‘Hood”) and their founders whose passion is their mission (“Treva Davenport: No Client Left Behind”); not-yet mainstream news stories (“National Museum of Hip Hop: Building A Legacy”); fashionable must-haves (“Ally Marie: Hand-Crafted to Perfection”); sensible health moves (“Partner Yoga is Fitness Therapy”); and other technology and events which help shape the sustainability of our urban lifestyle (“Forward Drive: Eco-Conscious Trend At Auto Show”).

At IAMOnlineMag.com, N’KOSI is pleased to showcase the growing consciousness of a new generation of entrepre-sumers who set new standards of innovation and creativity. Our feature on the Hip Hop Caucus “Green and Live Campaign” is another prime example of what we believe is a redefining of urban lifestyle. Below is an excerpt from the feature. Please log onto IAMOnlineMag.com and tell us what you think of these stories.

“The Hip Hop Caucus is kicking off their “Green and Live” campaign with a series of college tours in the U.S. “Green and Live” was created to motivate young people to demand clean energy jobs and climate action from the government… click to read more of (“Hip Hop Caucus Tours with Trey Songz, Fabolous”)

It is well known that employee wellness is tied to productivity, and some forward thinking employers have already invested in their employees’ well-being (and their companies’ bottom-line) by adding wellness programs as an employee benefit. Now, with the growing interest in everything green, new studies are showing that “greening” your employees can improve profit margins too. The Environmental Science and Technology Journal in a recently published article reported the results of a series of 10 studies conducted by researchers in the UK and found that allowing employees just five minutes a day to engage in outdoor activities in a green environment can improve mood and self-esteem. Encourage your employees to take a walk in a nearby park, especially one with a lake (or more likely a fountain), and greatly reduce work related stress. For added stress relief, give the activity a benefit boost: any employee who walks everyday receives a gift certificate to a local restaurant (preferably one that uses locally grown agriculture!).

The Anderson Monarchs already rule the soccer field, but with the showing at the Tribeca Film Festival of the  soon to be released movie about them, they aim to take their game to the theaters. The film, produced by Green Film Company and directed by award winning Director Eugene Martin, is an inspiring and riveting portrayal of the skills, aspirations and tribulations of the only known traveling all African American girls soccer team. Check out the trailer!

The Anderson Monarchs trailer from Eugene Martin on Vimeo.

Congratulations to the Anderson Monarchs who won 3 games this past weekend at the Kick It 3v3 Super Soccer Shoot Out! The tournament was held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex and the Monarchs competed in a bracket of teams from Colorado to North Carolina. Some of the girls who traveled had never even been on a plane before. Click here to read a great article on the pre-game excitement by Bill Gelman of the South Philly Review.

Thank you to all those who support us!

IAM Green-Collar
Two D.C.-Based Media Companies Partner to Re-launch Online Urban Lifestyle Magazine

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 2009 –It’s A Movement Entertainment, LLC (IAM) has joined forces with N’KOSI, LLC, a green-collar media firm, to develop IAMOnlineMag.com, a chronicle of music, news, and fashion trends from urban areas around the world. IAM CEO Hamaas Khaalis, a former history major and rapper known as HK, previously launched the magazine with the URL IAM-Ent.com as an outlet for his music and passion for intelligent living. In less than a year, he led IAM-Ent to more than 65,000 monthly hits. In August, he signed on with N’KOSI and in two months the companies have developed a complete brand repositioning.

“I am excited about the partnership,” says N’KOSI founder Sia Tiambi Barnes. “The vision for IAM, a place where mainstream and underground culture connect, epitomizes what N’KOSI is about. That connection allows for the promotion of sustainability in creativity which is the foundation of how we live, the choices we make.”

“When it comes to progression and innovation from a media outlet IAMOnlineMag will be that standard,” adds on Khaalis.

Barnes, who is serving as Editor-in-Chief has written and edited for The Source magazine, maintained a daily music news column for Black Entertainment Television’s website (BET.com), and contributed to the Washington Post/Newsweek.Interactive environmentally focused affiliate, Sprig.com among other outlets. She is also a features contributor to J’Adore magazine and a contributing writer to HipHopWired.com.

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IAM Entertainment, LLC is an entertainment company founded in Washington, D.C. It operates a recording division as well as a publishing division. IAMOnlineMag.com is the company’s flagship product originally launched as IAM-Ent.com in 2007.

N’KOSI, LLC is a green-collar media firm that designs campaigns for artists, nonprofits, and corporations. N’KOSI was established in Washington, D.C. in 2007.

This Wednesday at 5:30p, some of D.C.’s most beloved local musical artists will take to the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building with long-time local leaders to protest against the gun amendment attached to the DC Voting Rights Act 2009, and give voice to the struggle for DC Statehood.

Mirroring the political scene where since the creation of the District in 1801 citizens of the nation’s capitol have had no voting representation in the national legislature, D.C.’s entertainment world has been grossly underrepresented in pop culture. One local artist making major moves to change that as headliner for the April 1^st “Equal Footing” event is Tabi Bonney. Bonney, an independent artist who has directed his own videos and managed to get rotation on every major music video network, says he’s seen the energy of young people – the human rights generation – shift towards an interest in politics.

“[The political interest] It started, I would say with the Clintons, you saw little inklings of it, but definitely since the whole Obama movement… you just see the movement of younger people carrying it and feeling that it’s something important, that we can all indeed make a difference.”

The human rights generation is marked not only by a movement of civic participation (like the record number of young people who voted in the last presidential election), but also by an environmental and social entrepreneurship mentality. “Green” companies like the organic tee-shirt line, Broccoli City and media firm, n’kosi, have helped sponsor the event as have local events companies Suite Nation and PSA Events, both of which are dedicated to social gatherings with a community awareness component.

This free concert/teach-in is “an incredible and amazing opportunity for young people especially to raise their voices and to make clear their interest to the Congress of the United States,” says Johnny Barnes, the event MC and Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area, “I expect it to be an evening where people learn, get involved, and hopefully Congress listens.”

Also joining Tabi on the Capitol is Grammy Award-nominated R&B singer Kyonte, and Vox Pupli’s 2008 Independent Album of the Year winner, Rasi Caprice whose anthemic “Free DC” has been heating up voting rights rallies among others.

“SINGAPORE, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ — The environment market globally has done business worth 650 million USD in 2008 and is growing by double digits. Expectation is that it will reach a 45% growth by 2015 from 2002. While there are niches where the growth is higher than the rest, this sector has demonstrated overall resilience to the global economic slowdown so far.”

Though during these times it seems the nation is grasping more tightly to the paper, plastic, or now invisible [online] dollar, there are always those hearts and minds who ignore fear and courageously plan for a future beyond immediate imaginations. It is an inherent quality in anyone involved in this eco-economic movement, whether recognized or not, because although capitalistic gain is a questionable practice [Madoff?], there is no doubt that greening our world means that we create a healthier space for our children, and their children…

It does not take a lot. We do not have to be the leader of an already multimillion-dollar conglomerate to invest in change. We can make our energy felt by simply buying a reusable bag ($0.99) for our grocery shopping. Each time we carry that bag, we become an advertisement of consciousness, sparking a subconscious hunger for awareness in others.

We here at n’kosi, LLC are letting the sparks fly in 2009. Each of our projects in some way enhances, empowers, and educates our communities. This year, we are working with Washington, DC-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Trinidad Concerned Citizens for Reform, Inc., to build an eco-friendly job training and placement center in Northeast, DC (just blocks from where my family lived for several years), and we are promoting the value of harmonious relationships with people and the environment as learned by reading “Tenth Letter,” the debut novel from Kayona Ebony Brown (a former Duke Ellington School of the Arts classmate of mine). And we’re doing it all grassroots-style with a reusable bag budget and courage.

Please stay connected with us this year and take part in these worthwhile projects. For us, “green” is not a buzz-word, rather, it is a way of life that colors our every choice. For us, we know the revolution will not [just] be televised… it will be in the streets of DC [and elsewhere] and on the information superhighway.

Happy New Year,

Sia Tiambi Barnes