CNN: Black in America

If you didn’t watch the Black in America series on CNN then you missed out.

The two-day special highlighted more than Black America. It focused on American issues and solutions to work towards a more unified nation.

CNN discovered the exact problems facing Black America and tried to break down stereotypical barriers that divide races.

This yearlong investigation gave hope to the hopeless. Many tears were shed, many dreams were answered, many relationships were destroyed, some friendships were born and many Americans were at set at ease in this series. CNN examined the lives of many Americans and used their real-life situations to teach Americans about one another.

One touching story I recall from the first day of the series was an organization encouraging a young man to register for high school. This young man dropped out of high school before he completed his senior year. The memorable part was that this organization went to the gentleman’s house and wouldn’t leave until he left with them to register for school. The organization was successful in getting the young man to register but, according to CNN, he did not return.

I admire the work ethic of this organization. Their tenacity and effort to save the future of America's youth is a key method that many organizations, parents, and school faculty should consider. "No” was not an option that this organization was willing to consider- it shouldn’t be yours either.

The show left no questions unanswered. If you did find yourself with a question after a segment, the panel, which was comprised of celebrity experts, touched on it during the recap after the show.

The two-day special was awesome. If you missed it then you're not completely lucked out. You can catch the re-run this Saturday. You can even purchase the special on itunes. Either way, make sure you see it. There's a lot to learn.

I'm a CNN Finalist: Exercise Your Right and Vote!

I just found out that I am one of ten finalists for the CNN iReport challenge. YAY!

The challenge was to create a 30 second promo to promote iReport.com, and the winning iReport may air on CNN. CNN has chosen the finalists, now it’s up to the general public to decide who should be the grand prizewinner.

Please exercise your right to vote and visit http://www.ireportchallenge.com/gallery.asp and vote daily (now until Aug. 3, 2008) for the commercial you feel is the most meaningful in promoting and encouraging iReporters to upload their stories. Just for voting, you could be entered to win a flip video camera courtesy of CNN. You can even start your own iReport quest if you so choose.

This CNN iReport challenge means a great deal to me. I will be honored and thankful if you all pitch in and help me reach one of my many career goals.

I put a lot of effort into creating my very first commercial. I am delighted to share it with all Rock the Vote viewers. Below is a copy of my original commercial. Unfortunately my original video was not submitted in the promo challenge because I couldn’t shrink the file size, but a similar video with less detail was entered in the contest. You can view the submitted version on the voting website.

Your vote DOES count so please vote! YOU deserve to be heard.