Thinking of starting a business or already own one? Take the Plunge with marketing expert L. David Stewart.

 Take the Plunge Event speaker L. David Stewart

Meet  L. (Leroy) David Stewart: architectural designer as well as marketing strategist.

With over 12 years’ experience in architecture working on various projects such as Northwestern Memorial Hospital, 950 N Michigan, and Tilted Kilt. In 2009, Mr. Stewart, took on a new endeavor of marketing and starting his own consultancies, Design AnalySynth & KNOWPE!!! CounterBranding Bureau. As a consultant, Mr. Stewart has worked with various organizations around the world, and has done work marketing and design in Toronto Canada, Croix-de-Bouquet, Haiti, and various regions of the United States. Currently Mr. Stewart teaches MCD 510 New Media Seminar as well teaches at Everest Online. L. David Stewart holds a B.A. in Architectural Studies from The University of Illinois-Chicago, a M.S. in Real Estate from Roosevelt University and a MBA with a focus in Marketing from American Intercontinental University, as well as beginning to pursue his Ph.D. in 2015. His areas of expertise include, architectural design & theory, communication design, brand strategy, and social media strategy, as well as photography. In his spare time, Mr. Stewart is an avid fan of hip-hop music, and a roller skating enthusiast.

See him and other business experts at the first event in the informative learning series Take the Plunge
Tix: Take the Plunge Event tickets

#morningmotivation from Ladonna Raeh!

#morningmotivation from Ladonna Raeh:

This mom has a drive out of this world for one main reason that stands 6'3"...her son. As she runs a business, she has to continue closing deals that are a win win win situation so that she can continue putting two of her sons through college. "I don't want them to be like me, I want them to be way better than me", says LaDonna Raeh, Business Development and Marketing Director at LR Media Group.

The Legendary Booker T Jones of Booker T and the MGs fame in town for concert!

Mr Jones, acclaimed as a progenitor of soul music and the organ based sub genre which descended from gospel music, will scintillate fans tonight at the suddenly hot City Winery.

Jones'  gospel roots can be traced back to his learning to become a multi instrumentalist while growing up in a Memphis church. By age 16 he was a sax playing professional on records released by Sattelite recrods and wrote the classic instrumental Green Onions featured below for the newly formed Booker T and the MGs

A slight gospel influence can be heard in the organ play on Green Onions, which is one of the first of the new wave of cool "soul records" produced by Southern acts.




He later became a vaunted session musician before leaving Stax for disrespectful treatment and then segued into a career as tourer and producer .

Catch him tonight at City Winery: Booker T. Jones Concert at City Winery

Show your young daughter how to Express Herself Through Art :Second Saturday's Program

Second Saturdays Program is a community-based program held at the Chicago Urban League every 2nd Saturday of the month from 10:00 a.m to 12:00 noon. For the month of November, we are having our very first art gallery! There will be local artists, including photographers, painters, sculptors and jewelry makers. Each artist will display 1-2 pieces of their art work, talk about their background, and hold a question and answer session with the girls about their art work.

As the focus of Polished Pebbles is about providing girls with strong communication skills to succeed in school, at home and in their communities, this event will teach girls about how to express themselves through art. Art is yet another form of communication and self-expression that the girls can learn about!

General info on Polished Pebbles:

Polished Pebbles (est. 2009) is a Chicago-based, nonprofit organization that mentors girls ages 7-17 on the effective life skill of communication. We have worked with over 300+ volunteer mentors who help 500+ girls via 21 program sites to solve their problems rationally as opposed to retaliating and develop the confidence to: speak up in class, join groups and seek leadership positions, communicate effectively and respectfully with adults, have peaceful interactions with their peers, and prepare for future careers.

Website: Polished Pebbles

#Bronzeville Glory Days #tbt

Circa early 1940's
Inside the Palm Tavern at 446 East 47th Street , a favorite hangout of popular Black entertainers, especially those who had performed at the nearby Regal Theater












Opened in 1933 by James "Genial Jim" Knight, the first Mayor of Bronzeville. In 1956, upon his retirement, James Knight transfered ownership to Geraldine "Mama Gerri" Oliver, who proudly operated the Palm Tavern until July 3, 2001.

#tbt Bernie Mac WHO YA WIT?Tour Pic

Bernie Mac and the Mac-A-ronis Dance Group and Man Man Band. Toured on Bernie's "Who Ya Wit!?" & "Midnite Mac" Tours Circa 1994

#tbt lesson: Chicago Blues is the Father of American Rock and Roll

Chicago Blues the Father of American Rock and Roll

MaxwellSt in 1930's Chicago
Blues musicians using amped electrical guitars- a precursor to the power rock bands formed by white musicians .

Maxwell Street is significant to the history of blues not just because music was performed there, but because music was created there. Beginning in the 1920s, Maxwell Street was the first stopping place for thousands of African-Americans newly arrived from the Mississippi Delta. There, the newcomers could hear established city musicians, and vice-versa. This continuous interaction over the course of several decades produced, in the period immediately following the Second World War, what is usually called Chicago Blues, but which could just as easily be called "The Maxwell Street Blues." Where in previous decades, recorded Delta Blues had been modified to fit the popular song styles of the day, on Maxwell Street it was left raw and simply amplified, both in volume and dramatic intensity. 

Musicians introduced amplification intensity at unheard of volumes too stand out above others. When recorded, the result became not only the dominant form of blues, but radically changed the emerging sound of rock and roll. The sound of bands like the Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin and many others came about when English teenagers tried to duplicate the music of Maxwell Street Bluesmen

Newberry St. between Maxwell St. and 14th St., Chicago, Illinois, 1960s 

Chicago's Delta Blues eventually faded as a part of African American culture into becoming a main stay of lounges on the South Side, particularly in Bronzeville but to this day is extremely popular among the city's white patrons at select north side clubs such as Kinsgton Mines and the legendary ( and often packed) Buddy Guy's Legends.

The website Escape Here actually has a decent list:  Escape Here's Top 10 Blues Spots in Chicago