Video: A Farewell to Etta James

A Farewell to Etta James

By: Ryan Duncan

Via: The New York Times:

Etta James, whose powerful, versatile and emotionally direct voice could enliven the raunchiest blues as well as the subtlest love songs, most indelibly in her signature hit, “At Last,” died Friday morning in Riverside, Calif. She was 73. 

Her manager, Lupe De Leon, said that the cause was complications of leukemia. Ms. James, who died at Riverside Community Hospital, had been undergoing treatment for some time for a number of conditions, including leukemia and dementia. She also lived in Riverside.

As with any great artist, Etta James leaves behind a lasting musical legacy and impact that will definetly live, so long as there are those who appreciate great music. We hope Etta James is now in peace. R.I.P.

Has our government gone astray?

Video: Remembering the Tuscon Shooting Tragedy, One Year Later

Remembering the Tuscon Shooting Tragedy,

One Year Later

By: Ryan Duncan

Yesterday was the anniversary of the horrific shooting in Tucson, Arizona, which wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, killed six, and injured 13 more. In a new video, survivors talk about how that day has affected their lives, and the strength they've found in the days since. It's hard to believe it's only been a year since this terrible tragedy. Especially hard to believe how far Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has come in her recovery since then. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all effected by this event.

2011 Buh-Bye!

2011 Buh-Bye!

Wow, hard to believe another year is over and a new one is about to begin again! There was a lot that happened in the world this year, and it always feels refreshing to begin a new year with a clean slate. We at McKinney & Associates would like to thank you for following our Comm in the Storm blog with us all year, and hope you will continue to do so in 2012. We have a lot of exciting things coming up, a new website, a new look for the blog, and lots of PR Tips, and important stories to share. We'll be taking a brief hiatus from blogging until after the New Year, when we'll be returning on January 3rd. We leave you with this very funny 2011 year-in-review video from JibJab. We think they pretty much hit it all the major headlines in this video. What do you think? Is there anything they missed? Happy New Year everyone!

VIDEO: Black Barbies Get 'Natural' Makeovers For Holidays

Black Barbies Get 'Natural' Makeovers For Holidays

By: Ryan Duncan

It's the holiday season and that spells s-t-r-e-s-s for so many Americans trying to complete their holiday shopping lists. The true meaning of the season, "Peace, love, and good will towards all men" is usually passed over as an after thought, while over-consumption and the race to buy this year's hottest toys take precident. So it is truly refreshing to hear this wonderful story via CNN.com about a Black Barbie Drive. People bring in their barbies and transform them into natural hair barbies, free of alterations and chemicals. Their message:

"I just want them to know it's ok to be who you are. And if you don't accept who you are, no one else will." Helping little girls realize their worth. Now that's a gift that keeps on giving!

Video: A Quick Minute with Gwen on Human Rights

Video: A Quick Minute with Gwen on Human Rights

Gwen McKinney, President & Founder of McKinney & Associates Public Relations in Washington, DC introduces our week long tribute to Human Rights. For the next ten days through December 10, International Human Rights Day, our Comm in the Storm blog will be all about human rights. To learn more about International Human Rights Day visit http://www.celebratehumanrights.org/

McKPR Celebrates Human Rights

McKPR Celebrates Human Rights

McKPR is proud to launch a new blog series in honor of the upcoming Human Rights Day. We'll be posting daily blogs related to human rights issues from around the world.

"2011 has been an extraordinary year for human rights, UN Human Rights Chief, Navi Pillay says in her message to mark Human Rights Day."

Human Rights Day is marked annually on 10 December, it commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly in 1948.

 

Stay tuned for many more posts related to this important issue.

 

 

Video: Disparities in Media Coverage for Occupy Wallstreet Movement

Video: Disparities in Media Coverage for

Occupy Wallstreet Movement

By: Ryan Duncan

The Occupy Wall Street movement has been going on for months now and this week, we began to see a crack down on many of the Occupy Wall Street camps across the country. From Zuccotti Park, to Oakland, to Portland, OR, and Berkeley, CA police, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, began removing protesters from their camps, often leading to violent confrontations. There efforts proved futile, however, as protesters vowed to return no matter what, and return they have. What's interesting to witness is the disparity in media coverage of the protests and the crack downs. The video above, via the Huffington Post, provides a side-by-side comparison of the coverage between left-leaning MSNBC and the conservatively-biased Fox News. With movements like these, it's all about controling the messaging, and unfortunately it's unlikely the Occupy protesters will find many friends with the powers that be, that currently control most of our major media outlets.

What do you think? Is there a media-bias against the Occupy Wall Street movement?

Read more about media disinformation of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Video: A Protest Song For Occupy Wall Street

A Protest Song For Occupy Wall Street

Performed last night to an audience that included President Obama. From the Honolulu Star-Advertiser:

Slack-key celebrity Makana used his performance at an APEC dinner last night at the Hale Koa Hotel as an opportunity to get his pro-Occupy Wall Street movement views out to President Barack Obama and other world leaders. Makana wore an "Occupy with Aloha" t-shirt under his black blazer and sang his newest song, "We are the Many," an anthem of sorts for Occupy protestors. The lyrics include, "Ye come here gather 'round the stage; The time has come for us to voice our rage."

We hope the President and all who hear this song are inspired by its truly poignant message.

We Are The Many

Ye come here, gather 'round the stage
The time has come for us to voice our rage
Against the ones who've trapped us in a cage
To steal from us the value of our wage

From underneath the vestiture of law
The lobbyists at Washington do gnaw
At liberty, the bureaucrats guffaw
And until they are purged, we won't withdraw

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

Our nation was built upon the right
Of every person to improve their plight
But laws of this Republic they rewrite
And now a few own everything in sight

They own it free of liability
They own, but they are not like you and me
Their influence dictates legality
And until they are stopped we are not free

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You enforce your monopolies with guns
While sacrificing our daughters and sons
But certain things belong to everyone
Your thievery has left the people none

So take heed of our notice to redress
We have little to lose, we must confess
Your empty words do leave us unimpressed
A growing number join us in protest

We occupy the streets
We occupy the courts
We occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

You can't divide us into sides
And from our gaze, you cannot hide
Denial serves to amplify
And our allegiance you can't buy

Our government is not for sale
The banks do not deserve a bail
We will not reward those who fail
We will not move till we prevail

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

We'll occupy the streets
We'll occupy the courts
We'll occupy the offices of you
Till you do
The bidding of the many, not the few

We are the many
You are the few

Video: See Something, Say Something

See Something, Say Something

By: Ryan Duncan

We've been following the Occupy Wall Street protests around the country and the world, and are inspired by the passion and bravery of these Americans who have seen injustice and decided to stand up and do something about it. So often, we are accustomed to just go along with whatever is the status quo, we feel the problems are too big and complex for us to be able to truly fix or change in any way. But as we saw with Rosa Parks, sometimes all it takes is for one person, or a small group of people, to stand up and refuse to accept an injustice they see, to start a movement that can really change the world.

In this week's video post, we have a sub-group of the Occupy Wall Street protesters turning their attention to school reform and education. The group is called, Occupy the DOE and they are protesting against the Panel for Education Policy (or PEP), which enacts policy for the New York City Dept. of Education. The PEP replaced the Board of Education when Mayor Bloomberg took control of the schools in 2002. It is intended to be a democratic forum where people voice concerns, prior to the panel's vote on educational policy. However, due to special interests and lobbyists, most decisions are made prior to any votes occur. This is not a democracy. And these people, teachers, and parents have had enough and are saying something about. We challenge everyone out there, that if you see something, say something!



Video: Spices of Life - Welcome to Food Day

Video: Spices of Life - Welcome to Food Day

 We hope you enjoyed our week long series devoted to covering food related issues in celebration of National Food Day! Remember, to celebrate healthy food & healthy living this Monday, October 24 and hopefully continue all year long!

For our weekly Friday video series post, we present this Introduction to Food Day video:

Probably many of you are familiar with the Center for Science in the Public Interest or CSPI : Founded in the early 70's, CSPI has become the leading consumer activist agency in the U.S regarding nutrition, health, food safety, alcohol safety and sound science. Or perhaps you know its Its award-winning newsletter, Nutrition Action Healthletter, with some 900,000 subscribers in the United States and Canada, the largest-circulation health newsletter in North America.

Michael Jacobson, it's founder has come up with a brilliant idea:- day styled after Earth day called "FOOD DAY" on October 24th this coming fall. It's hoped it will be a day when thousands of events in schools, college campuses, houses of worship, and even in private homes will be aimed at" fixing America's food system". According to the organizers, a Food Day event could be as small as a parent organizing a vegetable identification contest at a kindergarten class—or as massive as a rally in a city park, with entertainment and healthy food.

I like to think it will be a day when all kinds of people working in parallel universes from farmers, chefs, teachers, and politicians will come together with a common goal: t to bring awareness to improving the food and diet in the U.S.

Spices of Life asked Michael Jacobson, CSPI's founder to give you an introduction, so please give him a listen.

Enjoy!!

Video: 'Occupy Wallstreet Protesters' WON'T Go Away!

Video: 'Occupy Wallstreet Protesters' WON'T Go Away!

By: Ryan Duncan

If you've been following all the OccupyWallStreet news from around the country, you probably heard about NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's failed attempts to "temporarily" move all the protesters in order for the park they've been occupying to be cleaned.

However, the Mayor backed down and protesters were allowed to stay, indefinitly. It seems as though political pressure forced the postponement of the cleanup.

When news broke that the protesters could stay, the crowds cheered for their victory:

Later, the growing crowds took their message to the streets, marching in victory down the streets of NYC...

 ...However, NYC police soon came under attack for instigating violent arrests and crackdowns...

...Even running over protesters with their motorcycles!

It's clear that the protests are going to continue, whether Mayor Bloomberg, or the Police like it or not. The protesters, who have been nicknamed "We are the 99%" refuse to back down and we wish them the best of luck in their fight for economic justice and political equality. 

PR Tips: Committed People Move a Message

Committed People Move a Message

By Nicole Hayes

For more than three weeks, Americans have witnessed a collective increase of committed people joining in a movement to highlight wealth inequality in the United States. “Occupy Wall Street,” which protests corporate tax avoidance and Wall Street bailouts,  started with angry New Yorkers and now people in cities across the country are ‘occupying’ this message. The 99% are telling the 1% “we’re not taking it anymore.” The movement has gained widespread participation, with ongoing demonstrations in Washington, DC as reported in this video clip. Organized demonstrations have been primarily driven by social media outreach. So far the demonstrations have been relatively peaceful and it’s hoped this continues. Will their message of “we’re not taking it anymore” bring about desired results?

A similar question was asked when a committed and hopeful people sought change and it happened: The resignation of longtime Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak—a decision fueled by millions of in-person and virtual protestors. These protests, though very violent, were the catalyst for giving the Egyptian people a chance at democracy and deciding their future. In this, and other instances (ex: Civil Rights Movement), committed people communicating the same powerful message can bring about change.  

Video Series: Teachable PR Tips from Howard University's CapComm Lecture Series

Video Series: Teachable PR Tips from

Howard University's CapComm Lecture Series

McKinney & Associates is proud to be teaming up with Howard University's CapComm series in providing weekly guest lectures for their communications/public relations students. During these classes, which take on a variety of public relations aspects, our team provides the students with valuable #PRTips, which we have recorded and can now share with you. We will be unveiling a different lecture each Friday, so we hope you enjoy the lesson and share the knowledge even further!

The following three videos are from the 1st CapComm class conducted by McKPR President, Gwen McKinney. During her introductory lecture, Gwen provides tips on the most important aspects of client relations, and how to conduct and the value of a SWOT analysis.

Be sure to stay tuned for more posts from our next lecture next Friday!

Video of the Week: A life in the Balance - Examining the Troy Davis Case

Video of the Week: A life in the Balance -

Examining the Troy Davis Case

Troy Davis, convicted of murdering an off-duty Savannah, GA police officer more than two decades ago, is set to be executed by the State of Georgia in two days. Davis has gained growing international support for his claim that he is innocent. Celebrities, Nobel laureates and national leaders have joined the NAACP, Amnesty International and the grass-roots group Change.org to urge Georgia authorities to grant clemency to Troy Davis, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday. They are flooding Twitter with several tweets a minute, signing online petitions and, starting today, planning to rally around the country.

Whether you think Troy Davis is innocent or not, it's clear to see from the following web videos from Amnesty International that the case against him is extremely flawed and considering the fact that 10 witnesses in the case have signed affidavits recanting their testimony and indicating that police coerced them into implicating Davis, and that nine people have signed affidavits implicating another man, we should not be convicting someone to death when their is so little evidence and so much unclear.


We encourage you to learn more about this story by watching the video series below. If you'd like to join the campaign to save Troy Davis's life, you can visit:
http://troyanthonydavis.org/
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/cases/usa-troy-davis
http://action.naacp.org/campaign/davis

Part 1: The Investigation

Part 2: A Case Unravelled

Part 3: Proving Innocence

Part 4: Clemency - The Final Fail Safe



Extra: More on the Troy Davis Case

Video of the Week: President Obama Delivers Job Initiative Legistlation

Video of the Week: President Obama Delivers Job Initiative Legistlation

Yesterday evening President Obama delivered a speech to both Houses of Congress, as well as the American people, about his proposal to spur job creation in America. Already, there are few who believe that Congress can work together to actually pass any of the bill. What will it take to get Congress to work together and do the job they were hired to do?