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Culturati Socialite

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on - Sir Winston

About Me

I'm the founder & president of Savvy Events & Marketing (thehouseofsavvy.com), The Talented (thetalented.net) and Soulstice (soulsticesound.com). I'm a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc (Kappa Chapter Spr 96, Alpha Mu Omega currently), graduate of Indiana University and a 2006 honoree of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business inaugural Symposium for Women Entrepreneurs. I'm a former Marketing Executive for Radio One and was most recently Manager of Global Business Development for Simdesk Technologies, where I was instrumental in developing the United Kingdom Trade & Investment Association, Habitat for Humanity, Magic Johnson Foundation, World Congress on Information Technology and National Urban League accounts. I'm an arts & culture buff, serving on numerous museum and org boards including: Indianapolis Museum of Art-Contemporary Arts Society Board (PR & Marketing Chair), Herron Young Professionals Culturati (Board Member-Development), Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority-Alpha Mu Omega Graduate Chapter (Arts Committee), Indianapolis Downtown Marketing, Inc. (Board of Directors), Indiana Avenue Cultural District (Marketing & Tourism Chair) and Indy Hub (Arts/Culture & Diversity Spoke, President’s Roundtable). whateverlife.comRead my VisualDNA ™ Get your own VisualDNA™

My Interests

Traveling, traveling and traveling...then visiting every museum of modern or contemporary art in that city! Studying the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Henri Matisse, writing, discovering new music, beating A.D. at tennis, developing strategic marketing plans, wine tasting, interior design, shopping, my board and committee involvement in arts and civic organizations, ethnic cuisine, spending time with my family/friends/sorors, learning French and Amharic (which is soooo hard) and learning more about my Ethiopian, Somalian, Sudanese and Tunisian heritage (every African American should get DNA swabbed and ethnocharted)!

I'd like to meet:


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Music:

Heavy rotation in the Rover: Dwele, Lupe Fiasco, Raheem DeVaughn, Gaelle, Common, The Roots, Esthero, Miles Davis, Van Hunt, John Coltrane, Terence Blanchard, Aya, Wynton Marsalis, Anthony David, John Legend, Maxwell, Heavy, Portishead, Kenny Garrett...any old school Native Tounge, eclectic soul, underground hip hop (Mos Def, Talib Kweli, DJ Spinna, J. Dilla (was a genious!), Slum Village, K-OS, Kardinal, etc...)80's pop, 80's R&B, Down Tempo, Bhangra, Parisian Hip Hop, Ethiopian, everyone on my dad's label Stones Throw Records and of course Soulstice artists DJ Limelight, DaFilled, Blackberry Jam (shout out to my cousin C. Black),BeatRoom & my dad, funkmaster Tony Black................................................Copy and paste the link below to read my dad's Stones Throw Records interview: http://www.stonesthrow.com/funky16/revolution.html

Movies:

The Human Stain, Downtown 81, Ocean's 11, Sleuth, The Italian Job, Something the Lord Made, Pan's Labyrinth, Crush Groove, Basquiat, all Audrey Hepburn (Breakfast at Tiffany's, Funny Face, Sabrina, etc...) the total Spike Lee repertoire, Alfie, Lakawana Blues, Old Black movies particularly between 1930-1965 (Carmen Jones, Hallelujah!, The Emperor Jones, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, etc...) Buppy Films (The Wood, Brown Sugar, Love Jones, Best Man, etc...), Dave Chapelle's Block Party, 80's movies (Goonies, Dirty Dancing, Coming to America, The Money Pit, The Blue Lagoon, Can't Buy me Love, etc...), Old Disney Movies (The Parent Trap, Freaky Friday, etc) and anything by M. Night Shyamalan

Television:

The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, Most TV One shows, HGTV (House Hunters, Designed to Sell), All shows on FINE Living, Oxygen, MTV2, BETJ, VH1 Soul, TMC, NBC (THE OFFICE, THE APPRENTICE, 30 ROCK), The Twilight Zone classics (Nightmare at 20,000 Feet is the best episode) and most anything on BRAVO (I can't wait for Project Runway...Tim Gunn is back!)

Books:

Bible, The Tipping Point, The Covenant, Shaken and Stirred (Coming 2008), Don't Play in the Sun, From Good to Great, The Jungle, That's My Story and I'm Sticking to It, The Blacker the Berry, The Devil Wears Prada, any marketing/advertising related book

Heroes:

Christ, my best friend and husband Anthony for holding it down while earning his MBA full time, My Parents, My Grandfather (former Indianapolis City-County Councellor Elwood Black), My In-Laws, My sister April for being a great mom to lil D, Iman, Oprah, the Donald, Ethel Hedgeman Lyle, W.E.B. DuBois