Gerard Spinks as The Underground Millionaire

Black Girls Rock is a program in New York City that is a mentoring outreach program targeting at risk teenage youth and women of color. The charity was established to promote the arts and encourage dialogue about the images of women of color in hip hop music and culture.

Black Girls Rock seeks to raise the self-esteem and self worth of these young ladies thereby changing their outlook on life, broadening their horizons and helping them to empower themselves.

Gerard Spinks is the CEO of Spinks Industries; an original web content producer and online marketing agency in Atlanta, GA USA.

Macy Gray’s daughter Tahmel Hinds pushes the cart for her mom as they head to the car after grocery shopping at Ralphs supermarket on in Los Angeles, Ca on December 13, 2009. Chillin’ on a Sunday afternoon in LA is the way to go. Can’t wait to see what work Macy comes out with next.

Fans wear special glasses as they view a 3D broadcast during the third quarter of the Dallas Cowboys San Diego Chargers game on December 13, 2009 in Arlington, Texas. The broadcast was the first ever public demonstration of HDlogix real time conversion of 2D HDTV video into 3D and was shown on the Cowboys Stadium’s giant Mitsubishi video boards.

Being black in America has proven to be very dangerous and deadly in 2009. High school kids have been killed, athletes have been jailed, and rappers are being put behind bars at a faster pace than ever before.

Here’s what to do to stay alive and survive in America. Education, education, education. I cannot say it any clearer. Your opportunities increase exponentially with education. I’m talking about finishing high school with a good grade point average, going on to college and graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science type of degree, and heading on to business school.

No more excuses. There are all types of programs and grants and loans available to get an education today. President Obama has made sure of that. It’s now in the hands of black youth to take action and get educated. This is a state of emergency and must be implemented immediately.

Anyone who lives in the ‘hood should move. I suggest moving as far away from the ghetto as possible as this increases your life expectancy greatly. The ghetto is filled with strife, anger, despair, and destitution. Time for change and time to leave that behind. It’s time for a new way of life and a new glory. Get out of the ‘hood mentality, get educated, and no more excuses. You owe yourself glory and greatness.

Gerard Spinks is the CEO of Spinks Industries; a web content developer and online marketing agency based in Atlanta, GA USA. You can get started with a comprehensive marketing plan at http://www.spinksindustries.com.

I sure was black before the election just like President Obama. Here’s the Top Ten reasons why President Obama showed up on the David Letterman show. David Letterman is a great dude. I’ve watched him ever since I was a kid and he’s a great sport in interviewing President Obama. The thing I love about President Obama is that he has a natural sense of humor as well and can roll with the punches with Mr. Letterman and his audience.

The Underground Millionaire News Syndicate - hit me on Twitter

Now this is some great news! Two years ago, I had the pleasure and great opportunity to work with the USO in Manhattan New York for my artist Tiffany Cheri Price when she also did a USO tour and performed for our troops at Webster Hall in New York.

Now, Sesame Street is going on a USO TOUR!

Sesame Street on USO Military Tour

Who isn’t a Sesame Street fan? What? Morgan Freeman even got his start acting on Sesame Street and this great American brand is taking the show on the road to troops across the world and their families and kids. I’m really excited about this because when I was on a contract down at Eisenhower Army Hospital at Fort Gordon in Augusta, GA, I met so many great soldiers and men and women who were deployed and coming back from deployment to Iraq.

I got up close and personal working in the hospital on a HIPAA project where I taught and interacted with all hospital staff at Eisenhower. I met so many young men and women who I was just shocked to see supporting and fighting for our country. From doctors, to nurses, to hospital clerks, to mobile army hospital workers. I met and worked with Brigadier Generals and young army soldiers.

The thing I learned most is that there are tons of families on base at Army facilities. I met people who were deployed to Japan and left with their wife and 3 young kids in a 48 hour notice. Then, I went over to the PX where parents were shopping for school and was blown away. There were so many families shopping, chillin, and eating over at Popeye’s Chicken it was insane. I was opened up to an Army life world that I had never known. I quickly saw how this was real life. Real war fought be real regular people with children. Men and women that have a 3 year old child and who are deployed but their wife or husband live on base.

Sesame Street is so necessary as there are thousands of families and kids on bases throughout the world. Many of these families are on bases in other continents and feel a feeling of isolation because they are disconnected from America’s mainland. Giving them a bit of Sesame Street gives them a feeling of America and something to connect to and hang on to as well as enjoyment by their kids. This gets a HUGE thumbs up by the United States Army and USO.

Man, you can learn anything from anybody. Seriously. This is not an endorsement of anyone selling drugs to the community. The lesson lies in the story. Some names and places have been changed to protect the innocent. While running my entertainment record label, I run across many interesting people. Many of these people drive Bentley’s and Rolls Royce’s and always claim that they made a grip from the music industry and that they are a high level producer that produces mega hits.

The Continental Bentley GT

Some people I believe especially if I know their history, most I do not believe. I met this one dude who had a very nice Bentley, a Range Rover, a Jaguar, and a Mercedes Benz S500. Young dude. He said he was a music mogul yet I had never heard of his name and I’ve been around some big names in music directly including Master P and many Bay Area legends like E40, Too Short, etc. I hadn’t heard of him. He introduced himself to me through some producers in the big city. They called him Big Cat. Big Cat had it going on. He was putting on huge concerts in the city. Throwing elaborate parties where he was able to book top name hip hop artists and models regularly with no problem. He had the cash on hand to easily book the venue up front and book the talent.

Big Cat had mad respect in the recording music and fashion industries. He would go to Vegas and get escorted into the casinos because the hotel staff new of him as a big spender. When I say big spender, I mean dropping $50,000 gambling on a Friday and Saturday night with no question. Money was never an issue. He spent it as fast as it came. I was always looking at him questionable and wondering what type of music he was involved in since I was heavy in the game and pinching pennies and trying to get all of my artists roster out into the market.

Big Cat ended up getting arrested and a life prison sentence as the cities largest heroine dealer clocking $2 Million per month in cash profits. What he did was unbelievable to get in that position. The drug kingpin before him was murdered. He had no experience in the game. He saw an opening and filled a niche. He recruited and organized a strong team of players around him who knew the street game well and paid them well. They made alliances with top level gang leaders and gave them a cut of the deal. The gang leaders would make sure that he was safe where ever he went in the city because they got a cut. He knew business very well and could damn near run a corporation better than the folks at Lehman and Goldman Sachs.

He understood team dynamics and how to build successful and loyal team members and alliances. He knew how to get the product cheap, add value to it, and sell it for a cheap price as well and get more customers. Yes, it kills the community but the point is that he knew to organize people and develop a business plan around his sales efforts. He even knew to build alliances inside the police organizations so he knew what was going on in there as well. My point? Get highly organized. If a major drug dealer can organize a team of people and mobilize people around a common goal, you can too. He took big risks that I would never take but I saw how someone was not afraid to go after something they wanted.

If y’all can’t tell what’s happening in America, you’re lost. There is a witch hunt against the black male in America. America is tired of seeing us prosper, succeed, and grow financially. While I’m definitely proud of President Obama, his election has caused America to go into a witch hunt for all wealthy and prosperous black men. Time to hide your money and stop being so out there, Kanye West and you rappers.

Barry Bonds for Athlete of the Decade

If y’all cannot open your eyes and see what’s happening right in front of you, you’re deaf, dumb, and blind as much as Bernard Bernanke claiming the recession is fully over. I haven’t said anything about Kanye West debacle because it was total ignorance but seeing the latest headlines of Barry Bonds makes me fly out of my chair. In fact, I need to go on this run in the mountains in California just so I can stop thinking about this mess. Why are Kanye West and Serena Williams making us look bad? Don’t they realize they are black people and we are held to a GREATER standard than our white counterparts? Does Kanye West actually think white people and brands will embrace him and love him for grabbing the microphone from a young Taylor Swift? What?

You better ask somebody. Now, the feds are on Barry Bonds like a beast. Just like they wanted Michael Vick in front of the world on his knees crying and apologizing for days while the cops who killed Sean Bell are still eating hot dogs at Coney Island with their families. You’ve got Plaxico Burress in jail for two years for shooting himself. Racist cops are free. The feds are coming after Barry Bonds with a vengeance. The prosecutor is hell bent on making him out to be a liar and stripping him of his records and his entire career. If he were white, he’d be pat on the back with a “atta boy” mentality. Trust me. I know.

This witch hunt is on black men. If you are thinking and planning of shooting a video and throwing tons of diamond studded chains, mixed with a little swag and some strippers, I suggest highly that you do not do this. You and I have become America’s target thanks to President Obama. I watch my back constantly even running in the hills because I know that if I even seem successful to the world, there is a huge bulls eye target sitting on my back and someone has a scope pointed directly at my head.

Black men beware. They want us in prison WAY more than people want us to succeed. Lay low. Lay low. Lay low. The time is to lay low and not cause attention to yourself. Good luck Barry Bonds! You are a Hall of Fame candidate in my book. What a hall of fame career. Wish you were still playing, big dawg!

Gerard Spinks is the CEO of Spinks Industries; a web content developer and marketing company in Atlanta, GA. He is also a writer, publisher, and radio host of Beyond the Bling radio.

When I was a youngster getting out of high school and going to college, my mother didn’t know much about college. She was a stickler though about education even though she herself didn’t have one. I went to high school one day and came home with no books in my book bag. I had the type of mother that sent me back to the high school to go get my books out of the locker and bring them home to read to her. She said even though I told her I had no homework, according to her laws; I had homework every night of the week.

My brova, Jeronimo Spinx, Hollywood's best black actor

My mother never slacked on us and on me. She never let me fall through the cracks and take time off. When I played football in high school and college the coaches were always amazed at how disciplined I was. Each of my coaches always thought it was because I was well coached and they would always make mention of that. Little did they know, this discipline and standard of excellence was developed by a small, uneducated, black woman from the south.

My mother is old school. Her standards are unlike any black parent I have ever seen on her own without a man there. She had the standards of both a mother and a father. She never accepted any type of slacking and any type of poor grades. She handed out beat downs for bringing home average grades. Ask me how I know or ask Jeronimo Spinx. Ask Jeronimo Spinx how he has made it in Hollywood to be a star on CBS Criminal Minded and on the hit series 24 on FOX TV. This is because of a strong, solid as an oak, black woman who can’t read or write who came from the dirty south of Little Rock, Arkansas.

My mother can teach all of these young sisters who are misguided several things. She’s not as fiery as she was back in the day and is quite a beautiful softy now. She did her part though. She handled her business with her kids on her own. She didn’t come up with excuses for herself or her kids to be half rate, half baked success stories. She’s the fuel behind me and my famous brother Jeronimo Spinx. Without Mrs. Spinks, I dare to even be half the cat that I am today. It pays so much to have a rock solid parent like this. You don’t always need both. It’s nice if you do have both but I was blessed with the greatest gift of all: a solid black woman. Success lies in this accountability that she taught me. It lies in the responsibility that she taught me. It lies in the stick-to-it-tiveness that she drilled into us as kids. She didn’t let us skate through life. She helped me become The Underground Millionaire.

Gerard Spinks is the CEO of Spinks Industries.

A long, long, time ago in a galaxy far, far away, small business in America was the backbone of our civilization. Not so much today. According to the United States census bureau, there are approximately 307 million Americans. With an unemployment rate hovering around 10%, this puts about 30 million people out of work. Small business enterprise makes up the bulk of all American economy. Many small business owners provide services to major corporations as 1099 workers or corp to corp workers.

Spinks Small business tips for economic survival

As workers and small businesses head to the unemployment lines to find help after ending a project, many are dismayed and find out that they are rejected from pursuing and receiving unemployment benefits. Why? States paying unemployment insurance benefits are being weighed down and are spending billions in payouts. If they can stop you from receiving benefits they will. Here’s how they do it from a small business perspective.

Years ago, your small business was banging. It was doing great. You provided services corp to corp to major United States corporations and charged them $100 per hour. Banks loved you. People loved you. Life was good. You serviced a niche and you could get financing on everything. Not anymore. Corporations are getting over on you by setting you up as a corp to corp employee. In this way, the temp agency that they go through does not have to pay you a dime in insurance benefits and the most important thing is that they don’t have to pay you unemployment benefits when the contract ends.

Let me say it again. If you provide services as a contractor to a major corporation, the new American hustle is to set you up as a corp to corp contractor. When you head into the unemployment office wanting to claim benefits, you are denied because you were not a W2 contractor. Also, if you did not work the previous two quarters for that firm, you will be denied as well. So companies are getting over on you by hiring for 4-5 month contracts and then letting you go. It seems great and you are happy as a lark because you got the contract but there’s a hidden death trap in there for you and your personal economy.

You will not get health insurance, you will not be able to claim unemployment insurance, you will not get any income after the project ends and you may just be out of the project for 12 months following that. Do NOT let them hire you corp to corp. You are being tricked as part of an elaborate scheme to not pay you any benefits whatsoever. You will leave the unemployment line looking silly and feeling a true sense of let down. Watch how you work.

Gerard Spinks is the CEO of Spinks Industries, a black enterprise, and web content development and marketing company based in Atlanta, GA.