Kick Push:
Bear Walker From his art studio in Alabama, famed skateboard designer and pop culture/street artist Bear Walker is changing the face of skateboarding with his iconic one-of-a-kind wood carved works of art that have collectors and celebrities buying up his limited edition skateboards as soon as they are released. His collaboration skateboard with actor Zachary Levi (SHAZAM!, THOR) raised over $50,000 for the Covenant House Foundation. Bear is a true pioneer in the pop art/skate world, taking it from the street to your feet, and has an avid celebrity fan base. He has collaborated with Jason Momoa (“Game of Thrones,” AQUAMAN), Grant Gustin (CW’s “The Flash”), hip hop legend Killer Mike, the Paul Walker Foundation and more to create custom boards. What makes Bear Walker Premium Boards different than any other skateboard is their complete lack of grip tape. Instead of applying traditional grip, Bear hand carves the top of each skateboard to strategically gain ultimate traction in his stunning designs, and as a result, each board is a work of art. Bear’s distinctive and pioneering creative process has made his skateboards into must-have, ridable works of pop art. Ushering in a new golden age of skateboarding art, the American-handmade boards are not only hung on the walls of art collectors around the world, but they can also be seen cruising skateparks, pools, and boardwalks. As a diehard comic/sci-fi/horror fan, Bear is also known for pushing his designs into the future by partnering with film and TV studios to produce custom boards featuring superheroes and pop culture legends like Spiderman, Star Wars, The Joker, Stranger Things, Black Panther, Avengers, and The Flash. Bear is carving culture with a distinctively jaw-dropping new approach.
5 Tips From
Your Trainer
JC White
1. WEIGHTS: For someone who is just starting out and has no injuries or limiting conditions, I would recommend focusing on the core, fundamental movements. These movements include, a pushing movement (bench press, dumbbell bench press, overhead barbell press, overhead dumbbell press, push up), a squatting movement (a goblet squat with a kettlebell or dumbbell, barbell squat with bar placed on your back, or a box squat where you are squatting to parallel and then coming back up), a hip-dominant movement (kettlebell deadlift, hex-bar deadlift, barbell deadlift) and lastly a pulling movement (pull up, lat pulldown, dumbbell row, barbell row, seated cable row). The reason being is that you want to train your body to become familiar with all the compound, multi-joint movement patterns. This is going to maximize your return on investment when you go to the gym as you get the most bang for your buck when doing these exercises. 2. CARDIO: How much cardio someone should be doing, that depends on your goal. Are you looking to lose body fat? Are you looking to gain muscle or strength? Or are you just wanting better overall health? If you’re looking to lose body fat, I’d recommend doing cardio 3 times a week. However, if you’re looking to gain muscle, cardio could impede this as it does reduce the amount of calories your body could be using to build muscle. In this case, I would recommend you do cardio once a week for cardiovascular health benefits. In order to get an effective workout, I would say as a general ruIe you’re going to need at least 30 minutes. The reason is because your nutrition and lifestyle are going to play the most important role in creating change within your body. The workouts and training only stimulate that change. 3. RECOVERY: Here are some key things to focus on: Nutrition - quality and quantity of calories Sleep - 7-9 hours a night Hydration - this is going to vary from person to person but usually consuming more water on the days you workout is a good idea, and on off days drink roughly half a gallon Stress - stress plays a major role in the body because if your stress levels become elevated, a hormone called cortisol is released which can slow down fat loss and even stop it. That depends on how quickly you optimize your lifestyle in order to get the biggest return on your time in the gym. Like i said previously, focusing on the 4 core factors nutrition, sleep, hydration and stress - are going to dictate how quickly you are able to reach your goals. As a rule of thumb, it generally takes about 3 months before you will
see any real, meaningful changes in your body. 4. NUTRITION: The best diet for you to follow is one you can stick to long term. There are so many diets out there such as, Keto, Paleo, Vegan, Weight Watchers, Intermittent Fasting and to be honest, they all will work if done correctly because they are putting your body into a calorie deficit, which means you are burning more calories than you’re consuming. So the question you should ask yourself when choosing the right diet, is whether it fits your lifestyle and habits as this will ultimately dictate the long-term effectiveness. For example, if your friends or family consistently enjoy get-togethers that revolve around soul food, then maybe Paleo isn’t the diet for you because it requires you to eat all earth-grown carbohydrates with no added sugars or processing. In this circumstance, counting calories like If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) may be most suitable for you. 5. SUPPLEMENTS: You don’t need to take any supplements and I will reiterate again that it’s all about the 4 core factors I mentioned above; however, if you do have a little extra money these are some supplements I would recommend you consider taking: • Creatine monohydrate - 3-5 grams on training days. This is the most studied sports supplements since the 90s and may aid in muscle building and strength. • Beta-alanine - 1.6 - 3.2 on training days. This supplement delays the onset of fatigue during strength training and cardiovascular exercise. • Citrulline malate - 4-8 grams a day. This helps with increasing blood flow and nutrient partitioning. It essentially helps to ensure the nutrients from your food reach your muscles to help them grow. • Protein powder - I would only recommend this if you have a hard time reaching your protein requirements throughout the day through food, because in my opinion, it’s best to get it through the food you eat. • Fish oil - again, if you were to eat 1-2 servings of salmon per week you would be able to get all the benefits from omega 3 supplements such as fish oil. Some of those benefits are brain function and health, eye, skin and joint health, lowering bad cholesterol and increasing good cholesterol and overall heart health. • Multivitamin - there has been a lot of speculation surrounding multivitamins in recent years regarding their absorption rate and bioavailability to your body. For this reason, I’m a huge proponent of having a very broad and colorful diet to make sure you’re getting enough micronutrients, but it can’t hurt to add a multivitamin to your daily regimine
Can you workout TOO much? with Alex Carneiro
When it comes to working out at a gym or with a celebrity personal trainer, we want to go with the best. Whether you are new to fitness or in need of an expert and a gym to work out in Colorado, go with the best: we’re talking about Alex Carneiro and Modevo Fitness. Alex Carneiro is a celebrity fitness trainer, author of Fitting In: The Mask of Health and is the founder of Modevo Fitness. Modevo Fitness is a private studio that focuses on caring about people’s transformations and health. Modevo Fitness offers personal training to bootcamp classes. How much exercise is too much? What are the signs to look out for? Outside of physical changes like losing body fat and increasing lean muscle, exercise can help with other aspects such as mood, sleep and stress management. However, there is such a thing as overdoing it when it comes to physical activity. When the physical changes start happening and you are feeling really good about your fitness it’s easy to not take enough time to rest the body or properly nourish it to function optimally. Doing more isn’t always best and you need to allow the body to recover. In fact, recovery is as important as the actual workout one does. Some signs to take notice are lack of sleep, headaches, muscles that don’t recover properly, feeling tired from waking up, loss of strength, to being unable to perform at the same level, and or potential injuries. What can happen if you’re working out too much? How much exercise should you be aiming for instead? The intensity in which you should train weekly will depend on your goals. If you’re currently doing no physical activity, start by doing some exercise and gradually build up. Whether training for endurance, performance, power, size or any other goal, taking a day off every 3 consecutive workouts is highly encouraged. People feel like more is always better but when it comes to working out it should always be quality over quantity. These workouts shouldn’t last more than 90 minutes either. Just because your body isn’t feeling it doesn’t mean your mind and or central nervous system don’t need a break. Aim to train 3 days on and 1 day off. If you feel like this isn’t enough and you still feel signs of over training then add a second day to your rest day. Ensure that you are properly sleeping, hydrating and eating to sustain your recovery. Fitness is supposed to aid you, but when you take it too far the side effects can easily take over the benefits. Individuals should be exercising because of the many proven benefits exercise has, but when exercise starts to become compulsive behavior than the side effects will take over the benefits. Make sure you have a regular exercise routine to help your overall health. If you want to feel energized, motivated, and want the best when it comes to fitness, visit Modevo Fitness. Modevo Fitness is located at 441 Wadsworth Blvd, #215, Lakewood, CO, 80226. Alex Carneiro’s Fitting In: The Mask of Health is available at retailers and online. For more information, visit: https://www.amazon.com/Fitting-Mask-Health-Alexandre-Carneiro/dp/1641110309 For more information, visit: www.alexcarneiro.com Follow celebrity personal trainer Alex Carneiro on these social media platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/alex_mcarneiro Facebook: www.facebook.com/alexmcarneiro Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexcarneiro_
Photo Credits: Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Marc Sacro, Penguin Random House
Kickin’ Life Into High Gear Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins
TLC’s Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins’ life is one filled with overcoming insurmountable odds and finding blessings in unexpected places. Watkins was diagnosed with sickle cell disease at the age of seven and spend much of her childhood in and out of hospitals due to episodes with the potentially fatal condition. She was told she wouldn’t make it past early adulthood. Her family’s move from Des Moines, Iowa to Atlanta, Georgia when Watkins was nine, and a chance meeting former singer and music executive Perri “Pebbles” Reid and her then-husband L.A. Reid would launch T-Boz, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas into the stratosphere as the biggest selling girl group in music history, taking home four Grammy awards and selling sixty five millions albums, worldwide throughout their career. For all it’s success, TLC has endured a roller coaster of ups and downs over the last thirty years, the biggest blow being the loss of group member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in a 2002 car cash, and taking away one third of the lightning in a bottle that made them superstars. Resolute in their will to go on, T-Boz and Chilli have continued to record music and tour, most recently co-headlining a tour with Nelly and Flo Rida which continues through this summer. These days T-Boz is reveling in the most recent chapter of her life as mom to daughter Chase and son Chance, author of the 2017 memoir, A Sick Life, and co-creator of her newly launched line of CBD-infused healthy and beauty products, aptly called TLCBD. I recently caught up with T-Boz, and our lengthy conversation ran the gamut with nothing left off the table. Allison Kugel: Is there a prominent memory or flashback from your life, whether it’s a really great memory that you love to re-visit, or even something that wasn’t so great, that helped shape you?
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins: I always think about the first time I saw each of my kids. No matter what’s going on in my life, that will give me a good feeling and a smile. Anytime I’m having a terrible time, I try to think about what the best thing in my life is, and that is my two kids. I think about the first time I ever saw them, and that’s a feeling you can’t really describe. Allison Kugel: At what age did you feel yourself make the transition from a girl into a woman? Was there a particular event, or did it just kind of hit you one day? Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins: You know when I think I felt like a woman? It’s probably when we did the video for the song, Creep. Everybody thought we were so mature looking in that video, and I didn’t think of myself like that until grown men started trying to talk to us. Before that there was always this stigma about us [looking] so young. Allison Kugel: Is that when you felt like a woman, or when you felt like people saw you that way? Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins: I think that’s when people saw me as a woman, but then that started making me feel like I was a woman, you know what I mean? And when you start seeing yourself as that, you start acting a little differently, like, “Oh, I got some grown and sexy going on now (laughs).” I used to be so skinny and I would wear two pair of pants to look curvier. I was tired of guys saying, “She’s cute.” I was like, when are they going to say, “She’s fine,” and when am I going to get some grown woman hips? Allison Kugel: Do you talk to Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes when you’re alone? And has there ever been an unmistakable sign that she’s around you? Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins: No, I don’t want to talk to anybody who’s passed away, because that’s spooky (laugh).
Spread My Wings Titus Makin by Greg Poblete
Titus Makin has been setting the television and film industry on fire in the last few years. Growing up entertaining his family by performing at homestaged talent shows, he was a natural when it came to sports, gymnastics, dancing, and singing. Recognizing this, his parents encouraged him more to when he believed gymnastics would be his career of choice. However, it would be an outing to a movie theater during his senior year in high school after watching the movie hit dance movie Step Up, that the military born singer and dancer began realizing that his love for dance may lead him to take his shot at tinseltown.
idays. He has just wrapped up holiday traveling and was happy that he was finally able to rest. Ultimately, I wanted to know about how he initially got his start in entertainment, the difference between being an actor and musician, and the growth of his character, Jackson West, on The Rookie.
Titus took his talents to The New York Conservatory and took jobs as an acrobat with the New York Knicks and a dancer/tumbler with the WNBA’s New York Liberties. Knowing that his opportunities would be more attainable if he was in Los Angeles, Titus packed up and relocated. Two years later, he was booked for FOX sensation GLEE for 3 episodes. After 2.5 seasons of working with the show, he was booked for the GLEE 3D CONCERT MOVIE and national tour.
Titus: I was a military kid, so I moved all over the place every 2 to 4 years. So being in different countries and seeing different ways of life I think played a huge factor into my creative side and opened me up.
Stretching his talents across multiple fields, not only is Titus is a self-defined storyteller and a talented actor who’s had roles in Hulu’s The Path, A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song, Pretty Little Liars, Star Crossed, and most recently The Rookie in which he plays a police officer, Jackson West. He also creates music under the name Butterfly Ali with his most recent single being the smooth and soulful “Rose.” Titus is excited to share his life experiences and make the world feel a little less lonely. I had the honor of briefly talking with the charismatic and extremely delightful Titus Makin after the hol-
Before we get into all our current projects going on, I want to get a sense of where you started. What was your upbringing like? What kind of kid were you, and where did all this creativity initially come from?
We know how you got your start in the industry. What were the main challenges you faced upon entering such a competitive field? Titus: I feel like the typical hardship, at the time when I was starting, the industry was just then awakening its more ethnically diverse lead casting, so I kinda started at a good time. They were more open to cast people of all ethnicities, and every show wasn’t typically cast. So it was a good time for me, but obviously it was still difficult not having as many credits as the people you’re in the room against. Before we move forward with what you have going on, I feel like a popular trend right now is people reflecting on the past decade and highlighting all the things that they’ve accomplished and achieved over the last 10 years. Looking back, what would you say is the project or role that you are most
Sweet Love
Rev Run and Justine Simmons Photo Credits: Joseph Rev Run Simmons’ and Justine Simmons’ personal collection In a time when life feels fragile and love can seem fleeting, there are signposts reminding us that life holds immeasurable meaning and love can last a lifetime if we have vision and faith and accrue the tools to sustain what we hold dear. Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons is a living example of iconic musical accomplishment and steady business acumen, but more importantly, as he sees it, he is living example of how to live one’s life in faith and love. As Rev Run and his wife Justine Simmons speak with me about their marriage and their new book, Old School Love: And Why It Works, it further brings home the lesson that faith and love are actions we must take every day to ensure a life of substance; one where our relationships and being of service to others takes center stage. During the 1980s and 1990s, Simmons’ rap group, Run-D.M.C. pioneered a powerful hip hop sound that acted as a wrecking ball to break new ground and cross into the mass consciousness. Run-D.M.C. helped pioneer rap music’s journey from underground urban sensation to mainstream cultural phenomenon. According to Simmons, the fame, wealth, product endorsement deals and magazine covers did little to quell what was lacking within. His first marriage had ended, and he felt he had no spiritual center from which to rebuild. For him, Christianity was the catalyst that helped him find his center and higher purpose, which created the foundation from which to build his marriage to his beautiful wife, Justine Simmons. Audiences then fell in love with their blended family on the long-running MTV docu-series Run’s House, and subsequent television shows on
The DIY network and the Travel Channel. Their new book, Old School Love, certainly saves the best for last as they open up like never before, sharing the ups and downs and intimate details about their life and their marriage. Simmons’ performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards was, indeed, a full circle moment for the artist, reverend and mentor to millions. Below, Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons and his wife Justine Simmons, discuss what makes their marriage and their family rock-solid, and the journey that has gotten them here. Allison Kugel: I want to compliment you on a job well done. I’ve read many celebrity-authored books, and rarely do I feel compelled to recommend a book. This one I’m going to recommend. I’m a single mom, like your two daughters, Angela and Vanessa, who you write about in the book. Dating can be disheartening, and I found this book inspiring as well as healing. Joseph Rev Run Simmons: What made you feel that way? I’m very interested… Allison Kugel: Reading about your loving, old fashioned courtship makes me feel quite hopeful that such a thing exists. The two of you are emotionally responsible with one another. I love how you speak about being mindful during a conflict, and not being cruel or hitting below the belt, but really taking care of each other’s feelings. Joseph Rev Run Simmons: Well, thank you!
Straight Buggin’: Vuliwear Shades
A Philadelphia native, Dionne Ellison, found herself a part of the fashion industry by complete happenstance. One day while sitting at work browsing photos of a photographer who magnified insects, her inspiration was sparked. She saw beautiful eyes from some of the most ignored organisms on the planet. Knowing absolutely nothing about the fashion accessories industry, beyond being a consumer, Dionne wanted to create a line of sunglasses emulating the bugs’ eyes. “I was dumbfounded,” Dionne laughs. “Who knew that horseflies, which we swat at all of the time, had the most beautiful color eyes? I started googling and looking at other insects to see what their eyes were like. It’s a range from horseflies to dragonflies to beetles, and ants. It was amazing. The first thing that came to mind was, wow, this would make a fly pair of sunglasses (no pun intended). I slept on it then ran it by my sister and my best friend.Their response was, ‘Ewww, the bug is ugly,’ (laughing). I’m like, I know, but get past that for one second and just look at the color and pattern. Then I heard, ‘wow, you know, you’re right.’ And I had no clue. I mean, absolutely no clue what the eyewear business was like or even where to start. But Google’s a wonderful thing.” For Dionne, the cheaper option of precut and predesigned frames from the typical China-based company wasn’t an option. When narrowing down the frame style and lens design, she decided that she
would go in the direction of making her aviator-style frames unique by closing the bridge and placing a solid focus on the lens making the frames just as recognizable. Creating a unique frame would push her price point a bit, however, she understood that quality was the most important aspect of this venture. Dionne sourced a manufacturer in Italy and the pieces of her dream began to fall in place. She began working on the business plan and had her artist sister sketch up the design concept that was in her head. While style is important, functionality and purpose are just as relevant for Dionne. Her research led her to find that 30% of glaucoma patients comes from UV ray damage. Therefore, she made sure that her lenses would be fully polarized as well as stylish. Dionne decided to name her line Vuliwear pronounced (vooh-lee). She wanted to make sure that there was some type of inspirational message behind the name. VULI means shade and autumn in Swahili. It was catchy, it was one syllable, and easy to remember. She was happy. As with many businesses, the biggest initial obstacle came from financial investment. To her surprise, that would work itself out by doing something that she wasn’t supposed to… working on leaving her job, while being at work. “I’m at work sitting at my desk looking through all of
Leader of the Flock It’s a rainy day in Atlanta and I showed up at the W Hotel in Midtown. As I walk into the lobby, I’m looking for a man that I wouldn’t recognize. In fact, I walked by him twice. I checked my phone for his photo and realized that standing 15 feet beside me, there was a large statured man doing the same thing I was. I turn to him, “Pastor Mitch?” He responds “Rashod!” We embrace the way that Black men do. (you know what I mean...dap and bring it in). Pastor Mitch Summerfield is dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a crisp white button-up shirt, a blue blazer, brown monk strap shoes, and a colorful silk pocket square. He lets me know that he found a small space that should be relatively quiet for us to conduct the interview. We go down the hallway and duck through a low passageway into what feels like a Morrocan styled library/den. The colors, lighting, and music in this room are laid back and chill. There are books all over, different sizes, colors, figurines, statues, small plush stools, and chairs. He sits on a couch against a maroon wallpapered wall (ironically right under a recessed light giving him this dramatic presence) and I sit in a leather chair off to his left. I say out loud what I thought in my head, “this would have been a great video set up.” And we both start laughing in agreement. I turn on the recorder on my phone and place it close to him, “So, Pastor Mitch…” he cuts me off. “Today, I am just Mitch.”
Pastor Mitch Summerfield
Mitch didn’t have aspirations of the cloth. He graduated college with a degree in Mass Communications and a vision that included production, writing, and directing movies. He went on to open his own mental health agency as a way to help others deal with the harsh realities of life. While having a very lucrative and fulfilling job for 15 years, Mitch found himself in the family business. He joined his father, Bishop Frank Summerfield and his mother, Pastor JoeNell Summerfield at Word of God Fellowship Church and Academy where Mitch became an associate pastor. He was the Chief Operations Officer of the church and placed number 3 in charge. Things lined up in a way that he didn’t expect. “Preaching and pastoring is dealing with the psychology at its highest form,” Mitch says as he sits forward. “You’re constantly having to talk to people, talk to their mind, and their soul of course. But primarily if they cannot think about what you’re saying and how to rationalize what we’re saying, they’re not going to listen. They’re going to get up and leave. They’re struggling with poverty, struggling with grief, struggling with lost, and struggling not having hope. They have to go back to all of that when they leave a church. You just sat, preached, encouraged them, and told them to have faith, but then they gotta leave and go back to a house where their husband is beating them, where a child is on drugs, you know? And, and how do they hold on to faith through all of that? I’ve got to deal with
Perspective of ONE Rhett Lindsey
Words by Rashod Davenport
NOT YOUR AVERAGE HOUSEWIFE Tanya Sam
is the newest cast member on the Bravo TV series The Real Housewives of Atlanta. The Toronto transplant and local Atlanta business mogul has captured our attention when she appeared on the show while shopping at a boutique owned by friend and “Real Housewives” veteran, Nene Leakes. Tanya’s fiancé, Dr. Paul Judge, is also quite successful himself in Atlanta’s tech industry as an entrepreneur and investor. When we had the chance to talk to the newest member to hold the peach, we took it. Women are full of strength, beauty, intelligence, love, everything. All of those traits made it hard for me to watch most reality shows that didn’t showcase the amazing qualities of women. Instead, jealousy, bickering, drunken fights, pettiness, and catchphrases were placed at the forefront of our television screens and we ate it up. However, I am seeing a show slowly changing the atmosphere. Housewives of Atlanta has become a discussion amongst men. “Why,” you ask? Well, it’s
simple. We see our wives, fiances, girlfriends, sisters, cousins, aunts, mothers, and friends in the characters. They are showcasing more of their business minds, overcoming issues, and what being a black woman means amongst other black women. The husband and boyfriends are included to show how the dynamic of female friendships can play a part in their lives. Ultimately, the show has won us over. SUAVV: From what I’m seeing as far as the housewives of Atlanta franchise, you’re coming in a little different than other people being that you are the business owner going into the show. Were you at any point afraid of how that would affect your business world, your business model, your brand, anything like that? Tanya: Not really. When I decided to come on housewives, and really start building with the ladies, I was excited. It was a great opportunity. I will say you pretty much have to be crazy to be an entrepreneur because most times people will be like, “Well, I don’t know” “You might fail” “That might not work” and everybody gives you the “what ifs”. So I’m used to the “what ifs” and the naysayers. So I kind of was like,
Denise Boutte Cooking Up Hollywood By Rashod Davenport There are certain people who you can remember the first time that you saw them. With actors and actresses, I can most times do the same thing. There was this one woman who caught my eye the very first time I saw her and I couldn’t wait to get more of who she was. Denise Boutte hit the big screen as the mistress, Trina, in Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married. She was beautiful, and while I didn’t like the character she portrayed, she still had this grace and mystery about her that I wanted to learn more about. A little over a year later, I got that opportunity. She landed on his 2nd Hit TV show Meet The Browns as Sasha, opposite of her movie castmate, and now TV husband, Lamman Rucker. Meet the Browns gave Denise a chance to show a range of who she was. Sasha was funny, smart, loving, sarcastic, supportive, protective, cool, and sweet. All of the things that you would expect from a southern woman. As Hollywood would say, she made it. The show was the #1 rated show for TBS and Denise was along for the ride. However, getting to this place wasn’t as easy as she made it look. We were able to sit with Denise and talk about her journey to stardom, her upbringing, her view of the future, and why this southern girl has a little spice to her. SUAVV: I know I’ve seen you on screen starting with Why Did I Get Married? Is that when you got your acting break? Denise: You know what, here’s the deal. That was pretty much a year and a half after I’d moved to Atlanta. When I actually had the audition and didn’t realize that it was Tyler [Perry] in the room when I went to the callback. At that point, he had established himself as Medea, but a lot of people didn’t know Tyler out of that costume. I personally didn’t. So when I went in for the callback and he shook my hand and was like “I want to congratulate you”. I was reading for Meet The Browns, but he said in addition to the show that I have, I would also like to
have you do my next movie. I don’t know if he told me the title of it or not, but I just remember breaking down and crying, of course, at the moment. But, then I got on the phone with my manager afterward and I’m like, “This guy shook my hand and told me that I was the one. I think this guy works really closely with Tyler and they must really like me.” Not knowing that that was Tyler Perry and gave me the job on the spot. That’s not how it goes. That person in the room doesn’t necessarily give you the job on the spot. But again, that’s testament to the man that Tyler is. When he sees what he wants, has in mind, or whatever particular character, he’s the one-man show in the regard that he doesn’t have to hear from anybody else. If he says yes, it’s a go. So I’d say that I was very, very fortunate, very early on. SUAVV: That’s amazing. And you started working with Tyler Perry while he was building his empire away from the stage. How was it working with him while he was in that development stage? Denise: I will say appreciation for working at Tyler’s studio because he shoots a lot faster than most. Most sitcoms you got five days to film an episode. Well, with Tyler, we would put them in the can by evening, you know, start in the morning and the episode is done by the end of the day. There is a luxury in being able to find nuances or whatever you know, that you may not be able to find if you’re going so quickly. So there are benefits to both sides of it, you know. But, when you come up with that under your belt, You get this crazy self-confidence because you’re like, if I could do that with that amount of time, imagine what I can do with that extra time in rehearsals. So, just a really awesome confidence builder and one of the best places to hit the ground running. Um, you know, you might see me in some really interesting horror films. Uh, that was pretty much the gist of what I did. Um, yeah. So what the revenge of bloody bill and way of a vampire sucking blood in one. And I was running in Stiletto heels through a desert and the other one. So yeah, there wasn’t
Life After
Death Mehcad Brooks Photography: Michael Letterlough, Jr. @MichaelLetterloughJr Grooming: Rodney Jon @IamRodneyJon Sytyling: Andre Hammonds @all_about_andre
30 Years of Words: Rashod Davenport Guest Interviewer: Tyrese Thomas
Mann
When you combine one of the funniest men on television and stage with one of the most powerful voices in the music industry, you may not come up with much. However, when you add in love, friendship, respect, commitment, desire, encouragement, fun, and a love for God, you have just stepped into 30 years of marriage with David and Tamela Mann. We live in a time where being married for 30 minutes is an accomplishment. 30 day, weeks, or months, may be the extreme for some. But what does it take to sustain a marriage, family, careers in the entertainment industry, and still smile and love through it all? These two would know. David and Tamela put out a book and a CD celebrating their love for one another while also giving the new generation of lovers some advice on what to do when love is not enough. David and Tamela are in their home on a dry Texas day. They have been traveling a lot and promoting the project and I was able to catch them on an off day. Rashod: I didn’t know that you guys were friends with Kirk Franklin in high school before any of this gospel world started. What’s that like to be able to look back and see the growth that you all had been a part of? Tamela: Amazing. It’s almost like living in a dream. Like, you never would have thought. David: We started off just around town, you know when you’re local famous. That’s what you call it... “local famous”. When you go to every musical, everything that’s happening at every church, and
everybody knows you. You never could have imagined that this thing could turn into something that you make a career out of. I mean it went from singing on the weekends for maybe a little of offering or some chicken, to making a great living. Tamela: Or sometimes it’s a “Bless you. God gonna bless y’all”. And He did. But, then sometimes we just needed some gas money. We were kids and riding around in Darrly Blair’s car. He also played with us in the beginning. Actually, it was those three. It was David, Kirk and Darryl, who is our pastor now. So everybody has really succeeded. I mean it’s just the grace of God and you know, we’re all still right here together... in the faith together. Rashod: What was that like in the early days for you guys? With developing, not only a personal relationships and friendships, but learning how the industry works. What did that feel like for you? David: you know, for us (David and Tamela) it kind of naturally evolved into the friendship stuff. It was, it was like we met and I mean we hit it off as friends because we just, we enjoyed each other as people. Not even as it relates to a couple, as boyfriend and girlfriend. We enjoyed each other’s personality as people and who we were as people and to see that grow into this business model and start evolving into, what people know as the brand of “The Mann’s” or whatever/however you call that. For us, that’s uncomfortable because it just started glorifying self and we don’t do that (laughing). But you know, to see how God started blessing, maneuvering, and putting us in the right places in the right season. That’s the thing. It was like in the right season with Kirk Franklin and The Family, the right season with Tyler Perry to do the plays, the movies, and television, in the right place for Tamela to do solo projects. And you know,
Chido Nwokocha Number One Gunner
Within roughly five years of beginning his acting career, Chido Nwokocha has already made a name for himself in Hollywood and does not have plans of slowing down anytime soon. Chido was originally born and raised in Sacramento, California and is the son of Nigerian immigrant parents. Growing up, he excelled in sports and dreamt of becoming a football player. However, Chido was forced to make a career change after suffering a major knee injury on the field. After taking acting lessons in the Bay Area, he had decided to pursue a career in acting and moved out to Los Angeles in June 2015 to follow his dreams. Chido has already amassed himself an extensive filmography list. He is more commonly known for his roles as Nathan Woodward on Steven Bochco’s Murder in the First and has guested on variety of television shows including Scorpion, Shooter, The Night Shift, and The Rookie. His most current lead role was the charismatic CEO Gary Marshall Borders in Sistas, which is written, directed, and produced by Tyler Perry. Similarly, Chido has starred in a few films including Destroyer (2009) alongside Nicole Kidman and soon Top Gun: Maverick (2020) with Tom Cruise. I had the honor and pleasure to talk to Chido and discuss his life as an upcoming actor, growing fame, and plans for the future. SUAVV: My first question for you is that after doing some research about your life, I realized that acting did not always seem to have a precedence. I had discovered that you previously dreamed of being a football player, but you took acting lessons after sustaining a knee injury. I wanted to know what did you find the most interesting that compelled you to pursue a career as an actor? Chido: I think the most interesting thing I found that was pretty challenging was just the work required to put into it. When I first wanted to act, I would see people on screen and was like, “This guy is good-looking and I’m good-looking. I guess I could go ahead and be an actor.” But then, I go in, get the script and as I’m reading it I realized that there’s so much more that goes into it. I really caught the “bug” when I first started taking classes and it was something that I’ve always wanted to do after football. Once I saw what else went into it, I was like “this is something I can really sink my teeth into, work hard,
and really get the chance to focus on” which I was really passionate about. SUAVV: Although your days as a football player are behind you, do you find a way to incorporate any of the lessons that football has taught you into your acting/career in general? Chido: Absolutely! I talk about what drove me to acting like wanting to perfect the craft and dive into stuff emotionally. With football, there’s so much you have to do like play one game a week. Up until that point, it’s just practice, practice, practice! That’s real similar with acting. There’s so much training that goes involved to get your one moment. In an audition, there’s so much work that goes in to preparing for it and studying and you can’t just “show-up.” It’s so competitive and so many other people are trying to do it that you have to be on top of your game. You also have to continue to grow as well. That’s one of the things with football. We’ll practice, work, lift weights, study tapes, and then watch that tape again. Then, you’ll go back and play the game and hope it goes well. If it doesn’t go well, you go right back to the drawing board. Acting, auditioning, getting to the set, being punctual, and working well with other people in the team—it’s some of the similarities that it shares with football and it absolutely helped me transition really well. SUAVV: Would you say that there’s a lot of discipline that goes into acting and football as well? Chido: Absolutely. There’s a lot of discipline and a lot of focus. For me, it’s a lot of perseverance as well because you hear of so many “no’s.” I didn’t know how much rejection was going to be involved. You’re constantly going out and you can only control what’s in your control. So yes, you have to stay focused and you have to stay disciplined in your craft. Especially out here in Los Angeles, you can get caught up in the nightlife and extracurricular activities that could pull you away from your craft because you’re not experiencing a certain amount of success that you want to experience at that time. SUAVV: I understand that you’ve only been living in Los Angeles for a few years, but I wanted to know what are some of the difficulties and challenges you have faced as an actor. This could range anywhere from rejected roles, learning lines, or perfecting a character—andhow you might manage to overcome these obstacles.
QUEEN of the RING Trinity Fatu
Professional wrestling has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up, Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan, and CoCo B. Ware were my favorites. Then there was The Hart Foundation, The Rockers, Randy Savage, and Jake the Snake Roberts. Fast forward to the late 90’s and two men took wrestling to another level. The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin’s arrogance, comedy, agility, and catchphrases were echoed throughout society. Wrestling was at a peak and Everyone wanted to be a character in the ring. Everyone except Trinity Fatu. Born TrinityMcCray, Trinity was raised, with her brother, by a single mother and a huge family in Orlando, Florida. She was always surrounded by a lot of love and extremely talented people. Her family was full of singers and Trinity wanted to dance. She started taking dance classes at age 8 and knew early on that she wanted to be some type of entertainer. She wasn’t sure what but knew that it was in her cards. At that moment, dance was her outlet. Trinity was graduated from high school and had taken that experience from the years of tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, modern hip hop, as well as competing all over the nation and began trying to figure out what was her next step. Initially, Trinity wanted to go to the renowned Alvin Ailey Dance School in New York City. However, at the time, with that dream, where her life was at the time with finances and ultimately leaving so far away from home for the first time, urged her to push her dance dream to the back burner. The decision to stay home led the lover of dance to her first audition for NBA team The Orlando Magic, which she made the team and stayed there for two and a half years. One day, randomly, she went to a wrestling event. She had no idea what it would lead to and where she would go. But, the opportunity came, she took on the stage name Naomi, and she went and became a professional wrestler. The rest is history. Trinity: My parents and my family thought I was crazy. The show came to the Amway, the Orlando magic
center at the time. A friend of mine, one of the Magic dancers, told me about it and we went together. I was just blown away when I saw the women perform. I didn’t know women could go like that and actually wrestle. Right then I was like, man, I could do that. I want to do that or at least want to try. At the time, the wrestling developmental audition was only about an hour and 45 minutes. I drove from Orlando to Tampa to audition, you know, just on a whim, just giving it a try. Nobody else wanted to try and do it with me, but I was crazy enough to attempt it. Months and months went by and honestly, I kinda forgot about it and didn’t think I would get picked to their developmental program. I was about to start my third season with Orlando magic and that’s when I got the call saying that, WWE would like to have me in their wrestling journey. My mom couldn’t believe it because, I was taught for a very young age, to be the complete opposite. To be a dancer, to be graceful, you know, all these dance skills, it was kind of like going to wrestle and beat people up was the complete opposite. She was very concerned about my health, my wellbeing, and me getting hurt. Obviously, she did support me and I swear I love about my mom. She’s always the most positive influence in my life and she just kind of waited it out to see how it was going to go. She came to those little shows at the little arenas all around central Florida. That really gave me the confidence to keep going because man it was hard in the beginning. It was really rough. SUAVV: I can, I can believe it. I’m gonna I’m to jump from wrestling and bounce back to Alvin Ailey. I know that they have adult training. Do you, do you see yourself at any point going back to classical dance? Trinity: Absolutely. I love dance and I love the arts and I love theater. So that’s still something that I would love to pursue is some point. Dancing on Broadway. Oh yeah, that’ll always be a passion. SUAVV: Now does your, your agility from being a dancer, does that correspond within your wrestling? Have you added implements of that?