Section 4 Business and Entrepreneurship

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Section 3 Business and Entrepreneurship

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Section 2 on Business and Entrepreneurship

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Christopher D. Burns: Lecture on Business and Entrepreneurship at the University of Memphis

I was invited by Dr. Frances Fabian to speak at the U of M on business and entrepreneurship. I met Dr. Fabian after pitching to VCs at the Memphis version of the Shark Tank, the Catfish Tank hosted by Innova. While I am not an expert on business, I have taken the time to learn as much as possible in launching my footwear company ARCH http://www.arch-usa.com/, CB Publishing http://www.cbpublish.com/, and CCB Sports Network http://www.centercourtbasketball.com/. I also had the experience of launching a sports brand from 2005-07 that was sold for six figures. I learned from that experience that a license is not the same as owning a company, lol. Below is the first video of four sections. I hope that you will take the time to jot down the Key Points presented in each section and maybe it will help you to venture into your own projects. If you are interested in scheduling me for a speaking engagement please contact me at cburns@arch-usa.com.  Please make sure you respond to the video by liking it or subscribing to the channel. Thanks and enjoy.

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Dexter In The Dark: A review

The third book in Jeff Lindsay's Dexter series, Dexter in the Dark, takes a detour from the first and second novels. Upon being introduced to the dark hero Dexter, I found myself drawn to the simplistic nature of his horrible, handsome, hidden desire to murder. This created a paradox and an unsettling feeling for me. I thought, "If I respect and care for this character, doesn't this create a dark passenger within me?" How can a person laugh with and attempt to justify the vigilante nature of a beast who, while completely accurate in his decision to kill those who have committed heinous acts, is a killer himself? Does this make me a bad person, or am I simply reading horror and laughing at the absurdity involved in cheering on the antihero?

Stages: A Handbook On Men and Relationships Chapter Breakdown with Links

I had a friend who recently said he wanted to read Stages, but he couldn't find the first chapter easily. I am remedying that problem by setting up this post. Here you can click on each chapter and read the book from beginning to end. If you decide to buy the e-book or the actual book just go to the right and click on the link and the book will ship to you. Thanks for the support and enjoy.

The Legends of Hip-Hop Tour

Salt-N-Pepa: 25 Years in and Still Fly

I think in 1979 or 80 I first heard Punk Rock Rap by the Cold Crush Brothers. I've written about this before, but I have to restate it, kind of like the movie Brown Sugar, I knew I was Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop was me. At that moment everything kind of shifted. When we were kids we would stand on the porch and perform songs for the neighborhood and people would stop by and listen. My sister would be the lead singer, I'd play the piano, which were actually the bricks outside of the window and Lil Willie and his brother T would play the tennis rackets, I mean guitars. We would play songs like Call Me and random songs from Parliament Funkadelic, but then came Punk Rock Rap and Rapper's Delight and all of a sudden the guys got to be the lead.  Things changed. In the early 80s we moved out of the projects, into better...projects and I met guys that would go on to become best friends. Unfortunately we still didn't have much, but we had milk crates and music. Which basically means that we had basketball and Hip-Hop. But in the early 80s Grandmaster Flash and The Message was preaching and I wasn't quite getting the moral, but I did get a transmission from NYC that told me to grab some cardboard and try to do something called break dancing. I became our crews Mr. Wave, I was serious with the moves and respected. Beat Street became our movement and Hip-Hop was officially a part of everything we did. At this time I first heard a song called The Show and for the next 8 years one of my favorite emcees was Doug E Fresh, the human beat box.

Dearly Devoted Dexter: A Quickie

After reading the Millenium Trilogy (Girl Who Played With Fire, etc.) I needed a book to read. I read the first Dexter: Darkly Dreaming Dexter a few months back and enjoyed the first book which was so unlike the show that I actually forgot what the show was about. So I went back and began rewatching the Showtime series on Netflix. What I then realized was that, like the Millineum Trilogy, Dexter is a dish best served with prior knowledge. I watched every season of Dexter prior to getting the books. So I had a general understanding of disturbing Dexter. I knew that the writer seemed to be influenced by American Psycho, but probably pitched the book as, American Psycho with a conscience and a few very funny quirks, for a killer. I just finished the second book in the series Dearly Devoted Dexter.

Toni Cade Bambara's "The Lesson"

After teaching and working in schools for 16 years, I had an epiphany yesterday. Everything that is wrong with Memphis (insert your school system here) City Schools can be found in Bambara's highly anthologized short story, The Lesson. I've assigned and discussed this work of fiction a number of times over my last six years as a college professor. During a discussion yesterday my students, which consist of both traditional and non-traditional students, raised a number of interesting theories in regard to the main character Sylvia. If you've never read The Lesson stop reading this post, pull it up on the internet, and spend about 30 minutes with Toni Cade.

The Lesson on the surface appears to be a power struggle between a young person and an adult. In many lectures students state that it is a coming of age story that utilizes society as a means to understand how a teen learns about the world around them. The story certainly has elements that would lead a discussion in this direction. However, what I realized yesterday was that, while everyone in the country is attempting to throw money at the American Educational System, while everyone is attempting to create districts that improve by joining great school districts with mediocre districts, no one is truly addressing the true issues that exist in education.

Blogs I Like, and You Will Too

While anyone that knows me will tell you my favorite book is Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, it becomes obvious one of my other favorites is the collection of essays Shadow and Act by Ralph Ellison. The title of the LOC poetry annual is So Vividly Alive, an allusion to a lie of speech Ellison wrote in this collection of essays. In my attempt to be short I'm introducing a list of blogs I like. Visit this site: http://www.shadowandact.com/, you'll like it.

Breaking Down The Myth: I’m Doing It For The Kids (Baby Momma Drama)

Guest writer:

Keosha Samuel

“You mean to tell me now that your baby mama knows we are getting serious she is finally ready to be the woman you want her to be? You really believe she now wants what you want out of a relationship? She is ready to be serious and you are falling for it? Oh, you say you are doing it for the kids?” This is how most conversations go when those aggravating words are spoken. It seems to be the main excuse men use when they need a way out of a relationship to go back to their baby’s mother. When things like that happen the commitment usually ends in turmoil because they get back together under the wrong circumstances. It is bull---- to only want to be with someone because someone else has them and it is also unsanitary (yep, unsanitary). Men have the tendency to play all of their cards and if the woman allows them to, they will do so just as freely as a bird flies. “I’m doing it for the kids” is so famous because it is understood and looked upon as a blessing if both parents are in the same household along with the children. Having “family values” and being “family oriented” become excuses when the children are used as the backbone to keep a family together even when one or both parents feel no attachment.

Get To Know: Cee Lo Green's 'Bodies'

A few weeks ago people stopped a little short of calling Cee Lo a coon for his performance at the Grammys. What most people who are not familiar with Cee Lo and the Dungeon Family is that when Cee Lo was with Goodie Mob, he was always a bit eccentric. When he left and launched his solo career even his bandmates hit him with "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show" an inside diss on him wanting to do something different. OutKast's Andre 3000 hit the same wall when he began wearing turbans on ATLiens. What no one was paying attention to was the maturation process of the emcee and the fact that Dungeon Family is one of the most musically diverse crews in the history of Hip-Hop. Cee Lo is one of the greatest emcees ever. If you want to try him, listen to Big Ole Words. This Get To Know though is about his new video and how the connection to his greatest song Gettin Grown show the growth and talent of the artist. In Gettin Grown Cee Lo uses the backdrop of a children's story/theme. The video is quirky and actually hinders the song, and makes the song great. A contradiction, yes, but it's the truth. Cee Lo Green may be the Marvin Gaye of our time. He creates concepts and performs with a passion that hasn't been seen in music for a long time. His songs go completely against the grain and rarely get airplay on traditional Black radio outlets. Cee Lo has expanded his audience in a time that is divisive and complicated. This new video, holds allusions to Michael Jackson's "Leave Me Alone" in the way it is created in 2D. Actually the whole video is a great marketing plan for the launch of a second video, new artists and is creative in its goal of showing you artists that matter. Common appears in the Shade Killer's (Janelle Monae) monuments as well as Bilal and Raphael Saadiq. Mikael Columbo has created a work of commercial art and in this case it's not an oxymoron. Enjoy and let me know what you think. Oh and Kerry Washington is in it, nuff said.

Breaking Down The Myth: Relations

Guest Writer:

Robert R. Jennings

Women are in control of their relationships based on their ability to trust their mate/s, maintain sex appeal, and control their sexual prowess. Males are  accused of unfaithfulness in relationships far too much. A woman’s ability to keep her man stimulated can lead to a non cheating partner as well as a successful partnership. Some women accuse males of cheating without any hint of uncovering the truth. A woman that can balance trust, confidence, and freakiness is a woman that will develop a partnership into a marriage.