The Black Information Network Daily PodcastJanuary 23, 2024. Adell Henderson - AcknowledgeMint Magazine
Today's special guest is Mr. Adell Henderson, publisher and creator of "AcknowledgeMINT", a new premium business lifestyle magazine that celebrates the best in Black professionals, Black businesses, and Black experiences.
Today's Guest recently launched Acknowledgement, the Culture's premium business lifestyle magazine, which celebrates the best in Black professionals, experiences and destinations. The publication's print preview issue included features on Melvin Davis Junior, whose rise to fame exploded as the designer of Dion Coach Prime Sanders's stylish Colorado Letterman Jackets, and Black College Expo founder doctor Teresa Price, who provided over four hundred thousand dollars in scholarships and gap fees for low resource, homeless and foster students last year. As Chief Culture Officer of Georgia State University Cinema Project, Today's Guest spearheads fundraising initiatives that will increase revenue, increase brand awareness, and introduce new strategic partnerships. Cinema Careers in new emerging media arenas is an exciting, transformative workforce development initiative that will train and provide new opportunities to eighteen to twenty four year olds who are disconnected from work and or education to obtain entry level jobs and information communications technology ICEE Tea Fields. Adell Henderson is the force behind this transformative movement and he brings this thirty years of experience to today's conversation. This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast and I'm your host, Ramsis Joab. All Right, Adell, how you doing man? Welcome to the show.
Blessed brother. Man. Appreciate it, Man, thank you for having me. How you doing today?
I'm good man. It's exciting to talk to you. I love talking to people who are so accomplished and obviously a fellow media person, and you know, I feel like I got a lot to learn, and I hope that our listeners do as well. So I'm excited to get this conversation going. So as we do around here, I know that I kind of gave you a bit of an introduction, but for the gaps that people don't know, go ahead and talk a little bit about yourself, a little bit about your background, where you grew up, sort of what sparked the idea of moving in this direction, and kind of what led you to this conversation today.
Man a longtime media guy, originally born and raised in Flint, Michigan. From Flint, went to Michigan State University, where I had a ball probably too much fun at times. But the cool thing, man is when I stepped foot on campus man thirty years ago my career started. A lot of people are familiar with the whole concept of college radio. I was doing college video. So I met a guy who lived in my dorm who was a part of a student led organization that did video production that was funded by the student government, and we produced music video shows you know, that ran on our campus channel, ran on public access. So that was my introduction into the industry that I always knew that I would fire my way into. But that's when I started reaching out to the record labels get music videos. At that time, when artists would release music, they would do jumping a white fifteen pastor van and go to all of the record stores and I would go and do interviews. So even when I was in college, my career started. I'm interview with chub d, I'm interviewing a Leah, I'm interviewing Biggie and Craig Mac on that very first big Mac tour. So, you know, it's been like a thing of you know, just the ongoing thing of elevation, you know, getting into this industry. You know, from there, uh, you know, got into directing music videos at one point in time, got into magazine. Uh, you know, publishing as a writer. Start off as a freelance writer for several publications Vibe Magazine, Double XL, Rap Pages, Rap Sheet, et cetera. You know, some friends of mine, uh man at twenty six years old, you know, have to man the have the pleasure and the joy to launch a magazine, a lifestyle magazine called King Magazine. And uh from there, you know other magazines Cane Riots Magazine, and you know, also still kept a hand in production, so I've you know, produced television for Stars BT. So it's just been a very cool world win of you know, just just just a very blessed career. And you know, also have like a huge, huge pass when it comes to community in education.
Absolutely. You know, it's a funny story because when I was reading a bit of your background before today's conversation, I saw that you had done King Magazine and Rides Magazine. You were there at the very beginning, so every single one of those issues has your fingerprints on it. And so it made me think back to when I used to do production. And I've always been a big fan of cars in car culture from California, so that's kind of a given but I kept all of my Scratch magazines and all of my Rides magazines, and I took them with them with all my records, you know, because I'm a DJ, that's kind of my my profession. So I have all my Scratch magazines and all my Rides magazines. I couldn't really get away with the King magazines because you know, they would often have like the the covers were a little bit racy, so you know, those don't last as long because you know, you might have a girlfriend, or your grandma might come over or something like that. So anyway, so yeah, I still have I still have a ton of them. I'm not sure I have them all, but I still have a ton of them in my in my record collections downstairs at my house. So I just that was just kind of a fun fact here. One of the things though, that is i'd say is significant to us here at the Black Information Network because we do a lot of work with them, is you know, your your time at Real Times Media, So talk a bit about that, like sort of what what that was like for you, what you were covering, and you know, how you were able to thrive in your role there.
Man. Real Times Media was a was a great ride, man, just awesome pillar in the community when it comes to publishing, you know, just you know, being able to and that And that was a piece of my journalism career that I didn't know I was missing in terms of dealing with uh, you know, black newspapers, you know, Mission Chronicle, Atlanta Daily World, uh New Pittsburgh Courrier, Chicago Defender. Like that was the perfect transition for you know, what I'm doing now because it allowed me to you know, as I mentioned before, it's like I have a strong sense and feel for and love for community, you know, and education, and dealing with working in the black press from the perspective of you know, black newspapers doing community events and really getting out there touching the people. Is that element that I didn't know I was missing, you know. So that was such a great, great ride, a great educational tool for me to have a sense and feel of what this next chapter for me had to be in terms of I mean, because this is the first time I feel like in my career I'm doing a project that I that I that I need to do, that I have to do, you know, before it was stuff that I felt that you know, culturally, Yeah, let's let's let's do it for the cuach Let's do you know, it's gonna be great. You know, let's let's put together the publication or the television program that the people need to see or or more like the people want to see. But now, uh, this chapter of my life, I'm like, man, I need to put together content that that people really need to see, you know, the educational aspect of you know, highlight and showcasing, you know black businesses, uh, you know, just black lifestyle. Just helping to really control the narrative. That's that's the huge underlying and really emphasizing the power of the black dollar and making sure that we continue to press the reality that our dollars don't circulate in our community nearly as much as it should for us to have so much spend and power, we don't support one another. And yeah, what we're looking to do is help people understand it. There's no excuse I didn't know that you know there was a you know, a black dentist up the block, or this black restaurant or you know this you know, black car dealer. It's like there's so many of us doing so many fascinating things. But it's like we're all we're operating in silos and under the radar, so we're looking to create this community and you know, put everybody in a space to where you know, everyone's getting the right exposure. Yeah.
Yeah, I like that, and I think that that is something that kind of certainly rounds out a career that is as impactful as yours, because I think that, you know, it's all well and good for some of the folks that we talked to to do these really exciting types of things that are very popular and you know, they they are a lot of fun, and then for some people that are doing really good work might not have the reach. But for a person like you to have a career that balances both quite well, again, it's just a it's an exciting conversation, as I mentioned earlier, So I couldn't let you you come here and talk without at least kind of speaking on your time with BET. So let's talk about that a bit too.
Ah Man, great chapter. Man. You know, my my career BET started actually right around it's time bt dot com started, which was I was definitely early, like super super early two thousands. It might have been two thousand, you know, and It started there, you know, me doing a lot of writing for the site, and I started to do interviews, you know, so when they would do press junkers, you know, I would interview all the actors when the movies were dropping. And two thousand and nine, well, I've worked worked a couple of TV shows. I lived in LA but then I moved to Atlanta from LA in two thousand and nine, and that's when I had a run to our work on maybe I don't know, like five six BT shows, including the Monique show that was the first one that I worked on when I moved down here. You know, super amazing experience working with Monique. Amazing, amazing experience. I'm over emphasizing that. But Sunday Best the game, uh read between the lines with Tray sal was ross before she went over to Blackest. That was, you know, such an amazing and Malcolm Jamal warned, that was a great time. Let's stay together. So many great productions, Apollo Live, yeah, BT, you know, just to be in the space where you know we all grew up watching it, being a part of that experience, Donnie Soul, you know, watching video sool video vibrations, so to be that kid that was that couldn't wait for, you know, Reebe Jackson Centipede to come back on again and to come to a point to where you know, I'm a part of you know, reading content and you know, helping to you know, produce and move these productions along. It was such a fascinating, amazing experience. And you know, even with the BET Awards, to see that evolution, you know, I remember going to the very first BT Awards out in Vegas and to see the evolution of what has become. Uh, that was definitely an amazing chapter. Uh, you know, working working at BT.
We are here today with Adell Henderson, the CEO of Acknowledgment and the visionary behind some of Black America's other well known media brand. Okay, so with your story, your career, with your accomplishments, your accolades well established, I think it's time that we shift gears into what you're doing now. So talk to us a bit about Acknowledgment. Who you're trying to reach, what are you trying to say? Uh, just just talk to us a bit about that.
The interesting thing is Acknowledgment conceptually, the idea started maybe about six maybe seven years ago. I have a buddy of mine who owns a cigar bar. And over the years, you know, in my mind, you know, I was smoking cigars, but I didn't know what the hell I was doing, you know, but yeah, give me that expensive one. Let's celebrate, you know, because we would see people on TV, in the magazines, and it's like it seemed like the cool thing to do. When you're celebrating smoking a cigar, you coping, coughing and getting a headache, smoking the wrong. So I came into contact with an amazing guy, uh, doctor Kelly mccamps, who's also it was actually a cardiologist in Alfred of Georgia. I met him while I was doing my community work because like I said, I love community. At that time, I was working with a couple different chamber of commerces, you know, helping even then was to help usher black business leaders into a place to where they could win and take advantage of that chamber system and you know, working with the city. And so I ended up meeting uh, you know, doctor McCants. And at that time he owned this cigar bar. He also owned a medical spot. He also owned occasion restaurant that was literally in a barbershop that was all literally right next to each other in Alfred of Georgian and I was like, who is this guy? Like who does that? And you're you're, you know, one of the country's top you know, cardiologists, you know, trained by doctor Oz. I was just like, man, who is it is a brother and like a cool brother. You know, we're the same age. And so I was like, man, we definitely need to do business together. Let me figure out some things we can do. And it clicked to me, like man, the whole you know, the idea of black excellence. And then I started thinking about, you know, the cigar bar, and I'm like, you know what, you know, we think about magazines like Cigar Officionado, and like I said, it's a status thing. You know. You used to see Michael Jordans smoking the cigars and it was just like, you know what, listen, we need to do a life like a high end black lifestyle cigar magazine. It gets into fashion and sports and business and cars and all level of success, you know, because we do exist, especially here in Atlanta, it's so common for us to excel at so many different ways, at so many different levels, in all aspects of life and all aspects of business. I was like, this is a perfect place to start a publication like this. So, like I said, maybe like six seven years ago it started off. The concept originally was like a high end black cigar life, and it's like cigars are still a part of the experience, but it's not, you know, solely based on that because you know, we we know that if it was only cigars, that would limit what we would what we will want to do, and so it still has that element, but you know, at the end of the day, it's like that's what you know, acknowledgement is. And so you know, we have the print publication that will be quarterly, first issue dropping February twenty twenty four, and you know online is active podcasts. We'll do a lot of events, you know, tons of events. Will do everything from social gatherings, lunch and learns, fireside chats, just a lot of different experiences for us to connect and engage and educate one of them and you know, just you know, just my overall day to day experience. A lot of black businesses, a lot of black nonprofits oftentimes operate in silos and don't share information. That's not cool, right, It's like there's room for all of us. So's that you got somebody that's been doing the restaurrived fifteen twenty years and someone who's starting off brand new who feel as if there's no we want to, you know, break those barriers and put these people in the same room and help everyone understand that, you know, we all can be in a position to win.
That's a fantastic effort. I see how there's room for that type of media. I So what really stood out to me is the spelling of acknowledgment because it's acknowledged, like the traditional spelling of the word acknowledge, and the mint part is spelled M I N T. So there was something there where I was like, okay, acknowledgment, I get that word. But now that I'm kind of seeing what the connective tissue is with the cigars and that sort of thing, like okay, this this makes a lot of sense. So okay, so you print the magazine quarterly correct correct, Okay, and so talk to us about the spelling of acknowledgment. Is it exactly what I'm thinking?
So it was, you know, I'm a I'm a journalist man, so for me, wordplay is just is natural, all right, I'm at an aspiring rap guid just like all of us that never made it, so the word play, you know, it never went away. So now it really is, hey want to put together a platform to acknowledge black businesses, black organizations, black lifestyle. And the mint portion is the money, you know, because we every now and then someone to bring up the power to black dollar. It seems like it's not even often. It's like maybe once a year or maybe you know, every blue moon. The whole idea of like, ah, man, you know what the power the black dollar is, and how many trallions of dollars are spending power and if we were just to all stop spending money one day, and the whole world would shake like it's. One, it's just not something that we consistently talk about, and two is not something that we consistently work towards creating solutions for. We understand very clearly that financial literacy in the black community is something that we have been lacking forever in the day. It's something that we don't consistently talk about out in the black households for whatever reason. So that's where the mint part is. You know, it's the money. You know that we have. And that's another reason why, in addition to the physical print magazine, which I really felt was necessary, I want people to feel the texture. I want people to see these beautiful images of us, you know, in these spaces where we're winning, you know, because there's so many publications out there that just really don't showcase us looking that way. So again, we need to control our own narrative. And two, aside from the actual platforms with the print, the online, the social media, the podcast, it's equally as important to us to do these events, these experiences where we're touching one another, where we're learning from one another, where we're bringing people into rooms that have solutions and sharing them with people who are experiencing all of the problems. That's one of the things that I realized too, that you know, I had a gift for, you know, throughout my career path because you know, I you know, I started a nonprofit when I lived in LA back in two thousand and five. Why because you know, hell, there's like a lot of black kids growing up in uh, you know, and and and inner city. You know, I thought like, man, I'd probably be a ballplayer, you know, basketball, football, And then once I go ahead and get into league. I'm starting nonprofit and I'm gonna ahead and help the community. It's like, Okay, well I went through in a different space, but I never lost that idea and aspiration to start a foundation. And I still did that. And I started going in the community and I would take you know, Snoop into the community, you know, I would. I would take you know, you know, do advance with Nick Cannon in the community. And I started to realize, like, man, you know what these people that I'm doing, that I'm putting in magazines and putting on on television. If I ask them, they will come into these schools and talk. And I'm like, man, you know what I'm I'm you know, I have the ability to be sort of like this, this this middle person, you know, this connection you know, between a lot of the haves and the have not. So ultimately, like I said, this chapter of my life, you know, acknowledgment allows me to, uh, you know, be very strategic and making sure that these connections, you know, are very intentional, and making sure that, you know, the people who need access to information and resources are getting access to information and resources. And the cool thing is, you know, the people the people on the corporation side and the influencers and the people the money they want to do the work. You know, it's oftentimes the people in the middle they just aren't authentically making real connections.
Sure, I'd go with that. So how about this. Let's give you an unlimited budget and five years time. What is the ultimate goal? What what is the the ultimate manifestation of Acknowledgment Magazine? Where is this brand going?
It could be a combination of of of like a BT where you have actual programming, okay, with with television and film and radio and podcasts, where you have all different types of uh, you know, programming again in the same vein in terms of things that we're into. And it doesn't have to always be you know, super polystrate lace lace, because you know, we like and we like ratchet sometimes, but at the same time, you know, just something productive, you know. And I think it'd be like a combination of probably a network and a school, okay, you know, to where you know you you you get you know, training, you get information. You know, people for years have noted the arts. You know, it's always been about you know, I mean, I can appreciate stem all day. It's very important, but I do appreciate them adding that a and they're adding the arts part and turn it into steam because the arts are so important when it comes to storytelling and a lot of a lot of us are able to relate, uh, you know to uh you know, how to win just based on you know, learning about someone's story. So you know, as far as like that unlimited funding, I mean the school aspect of be a part of it, you know, which is why you know I made my way over to you know, Georgia State, which is why you know I'm on the advisory board for the Morehouse Human Rights Film Festival because like, I know that those components are also very important. You know, how many of us, you know, have learned so much from reading the book, learned so much from you know, watching a movie or television series, and now it's listening to the podcast. So you know, the media is such a huge part of it. So I mean I would that's like, that's what I would concentrate on, you know, big picture wise, you know, just telling more stories, controlling narrative, and creating you know, instructional resources so people could learn how to do the things once we expose them to what's possible, we show them how to do it.
Sure, sure, well listen, this is absolutely fantastic. I'm very excited about it. I'm more excited than I was to even get my magazine. So we're gonna have to look into that because, like I said, I was supposed to have it about a week ago. But anyway, before we let you go, do us all a favor. Plug the website. The social media is your personal website, social media, anything like that so that people can connect with you and get acknowledgment for themselves.
Definitely appreciate the opportunity. Man, it's been a you know, great time talking to you. Definitely the fan, you know, even uh you know during the real times media days and though I would you know, throw throw some guests your way that you probably didn't know about.
Oh wow, get to help.
Yeah. Yeah, so you know I've been watching man, you know, really appreciate what you're doing, uh, you know, for the network. But you know, everything is as far as acknowledgement is acknowledgement dot com. You know that's acknowledged a C K N O W L E d G E M I N T ACKNOWLEDGEMENTT dot com and uh Acknowledgement everywhere else on socials. You know, my personal you know i G which is the most most active on Instagram is A Dell A D E. L. L. Henderson one zero one. Uh, definitely active on LinkedIn as well. But yeah, just continue to look for us. Uh we we we continue to build. Grow, uh, you know, put more people in the position to win. That's that's to go fantastic.
Well, listen, I want to thank you, thank you for your time today, and thank you for your commitment to bringing some balance to the media space. This is something that obviously is very near and dear to my heart as a media slash activist. So again, I can't thank you enough. You're the sort of person that ends up being a hero in my story, someone that kind of paves the way and shows me and people like me what's possible. So I will continue to applaud your efforts once again. Today's guest is Adel Henderson, the CEO of Acknowledgment and the visionary behind some of Black America's other well known media brands. This has been a production of the Black Information Network. Today's show is produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd like to share, use the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and download all of our episodes I'm Your Host Ramsey's Jah on all social media, and join us tomorrow as we share our news with our voice from our perspective right here on the Black Information Network Daily Podcast
