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N'DIGOGetters
Definition of an N’Digo
Go-Getter: A business-minded
individual who takes life by the
horns and seizes their passion.
They are the movers and shakers
who know how to wheel and deal.
Some are brand new faces; others
are celebrating their second
life. Here, then, are just a few
trailblazers in arts, media,
business, sports and science.
Ask yourself, is there an N’Digo
Go-Getter in you?
The ARTS
Lynn
Nottage’s resume and list of
awards reads like a thespian’s
directory of aspirations. Here’s
a short list: New York Drama
Critics’ Circle Award for Best
Play, the Outer Critics Circle
Best Play, the John Gassner
Award and the American Theatre
Critics/Steinberg New Play
Award. Her plays like Crumbs
from the Table of Joy, Intimate
Apparel and most recently
Ruined, which is playing now
at the Goodman Theatre, have
been staged and produced at 10
theaters, and her feature film
Side Streets was an official
selection at both the Venice and
Sundance Film Festivals. And the
Brown University and Yale School
of Drama alumna hasn’t slowed
down yet. And that’s a good
thing.
Mahershalalhashbaz Ali,
whose first name is Hebrew for
“to speed the spoil, he
hasteneth the prey” hasn’t had
to hasten prey, but he has been
taking major steps toward being
a household name in the
performance industry. Known for
his roles on television dramas
like “Crossing Jordan,” “NYPD
Blue” and “CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation,” Ali most
recently played Richard Tyler on
the USA network’s three-season
hit “The 4400.” Look for him in
the Christmas release of The
Curious Case of Benjamin Button,
which also stars Brad Pitt, Cate
Blanchett and Taraji Henson.
BUSINESS
Owner/president and general
manager of Cedar Concepts Corp.,
Linda McGill Boasmond,
was a chemist in quality control
for the construction division of
a well-known global chemical
corporation in her former life.
The chemist bought Cedar
Concepts, a processor of
surfactants and lubricants in
2004 is the one of the few women
of color in the nation who owns
a chemical manufacturing plant.
In an
effort to recruit, develop and
retain people of color for
MetLife Inc., Willie Hisey
Pierson is the company’s
multicultural director—a newly
created position for the
organization. Pierson, a
financial services authority,
serves on several boards (e.g.,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boys
and Girls Club of Chicago,
NAACP, 100 Black Men, to name a
few), is an alumnus of
National-Louis University, and
is expected to further
strengthen MetLife’s ties to
multicultural communities in the
Chicagoland area.
The
18-year-old Chicago native
Rodney Walker won second
place from among 35 other
students this year’s Oppenheimer
Funds/NFTE National Youth
Entrepreneurship Challenge
through his business plan to
preserve the noteworthy moments
of life with his custom video
and music initiative “Forever
Life Music & Video Productions.”
The A.C.E. Technical Charter
High School graduate will major
in business at Morehouse
College.
TASTEMAKERS
Carla
V. Oglesby, is the principal
and founder of CGC
Communications, an organization
that focuses on business
development, agency operations,
media and presentation.
Oglesby’s creativity, drive and
hard work has paid off, she is a
recipient of the coveted 2008
Biz Over awards, one of the few
blacks in the world of public
relations to earn the
distinction.
Like many
young, urban professionals in
the Chicagoland area,
Stephanie Green, an attorney
who’s lived in the city since
1992, often found herself out of
the loop when it came to the
diversity of what to do and
where to go in The Windy City.
So after complaining one too
many times about not having
places to go and people to see,
Green’s cousin fed her an old
adage: “A closed mouth doesn’t
get fed.” Green took this as a
challenge, and from it her Web
site Soleil’s To-Dos (www.so-LAZE.com),
an online social calendar, was
born.
TRAILBLAZERS
“If it
ain’t long, it’s wrong,” is the
Sugar Bear philosophy.
Honored in November 2008 at the
Harley-Davidson Museum, Sugar
Bear, a Harley bike builder, was
introduced to bikes in the
1960s, alongside Ben “Benny”
Hardy, who helped create Captain
America and Billy Bike, bikes
seen in the movie Easy Rider.
When she
was only 7-years-old, Toya
Hamilton told her parents
her career plans: to be a
racecar driver. While Hamilton’s
father was a racecar driver
himself, his daughter’s dreams
were virtually unheard of, not
only because of the difficulties
racing posed, but because she is
female. Undaunted, the Prairie
View A&M University bought a
1977 Chevy Monza, and in her
first competition finished 14th
of 500 competitors.
NEW MEDIA
MAVERICKS
Errol
Dunlap is the man behind
InChiCity the Chicagoans guide
to all things social. With the
city’s blood pulsing through his
veins, Dunlap returned from the
University of Illinois at
Champaign-Urbana determined to
make a life for himself in the
city he loved. The web developer
is also a photographer.
Who
seriously writes about women
with excessive weaves and the
man who tried to put his
marriage license in his mama’s
name? Toure Muhammad
does. And because of this, he’s
made a name for himself. The
journalist and photographer, an
alum of The Final Call, owns the
Bean Soup Times monthly
newsletter and website. Muhammad
has written and performed his
personal brand of social and
political satire in love comedy
sketch shows.
Bryant
Thompson, the founder and
CEO of Red Level Entertainment,
a company that specializes in
e-mail marketing, branding and
special events. Thompson’s
business acumen works two-fold;
as the 30-something entrepreneur
helps companies promote their
businesses, his brand also
flourishes.
THE BEARS
Yes, they
are members of the Chicago
Bears.
But they are also caring enough
to shed the uniform and strut
their stuff for a good cause.
Saks Fifth Avenue and MasterCard
partnered with the Chicago Bears
to launch the Saks private label
clothing collection. Eighteen
Bears players modeled to benefit
Bears Care, the charitable
beneficiary of the Chicago Bears
Football Club. Photo: Russell
Barnes
Do you know
a Go-Getter? Tell us! Editorial@NDigo.com
Soleil's To-Dos
- Since 2001, providing a calendar of Chicago and
Chicagoland
events appealing to the sophisticated, African-American
professional. Theater, film, politics,
festivals, live music, poetry, dance, food & wine, art, fashion,
design,
family & children, community development and more!
Soleil's To-Dos is your
comprehensive digest of Chicago events for the Black, urban
sophisticate!
Remember - I don't
create the To-Dos, I just collect them! The
description is from the source cited.
While every effort is made to keep the events
updated, you should call ahead to confirm.
Since 2001, providing a
calendar of Chicago cultural
events appealing to the sophisticated, African-American
professional. Theater, film, politics,
festivals, live music, poetry, dance, food & wine, art, fashion,
design,
family & children, community development and more!
Your
comprehensive digest of Chicago events for the Black, urban
sophisticate!
Remember - we don't
create the events, We just collect them! The
event description is from the source cited.
While every effort is made to keep the events
updated, you should call ahead to confirm.
