Our People
Life Goals
by Jamillia Kamara
“How can you own your image, cultural pride, and history if someone else is telling your story? We need fresh voices to keep the legacy alive. Make your mark and create your own creative space. I run on PASSION.” — Lyrispect We chose Nina Ball—known by her popular stage name “Lyrispect”—as a print edition feature artist due to her demonstrated commitment to community empowerment, artistic expression, and taking proactive measures to fulfill her life goals. Look out for her work with The African American Film Festival Releasing Movement, The Philadelphia Arts Museum, Black Girls Rock! and a personal album release in the coming year. You coined your stage name, Lyrispect, from a foiled attempt at starting a program in Baltimore. What advice do you have for people experiencing challenges while attempting to carve out a creative space?
“Make a plan to put aside a consistent amount of time each week. For example, if you can’t put aside one day during your weekend, commit to spreading out 6 hours towards your creative goals each week. Goal setting and planning will be your most effective tool. Decide what you want and create a strong product. You do this by enlisting the advice of people whose opinion you respect. Once you have a strong product, you’ve won half the battle. Next you have to work on your networking and your pitch!”
We spoke briefly about the possibility of hearing hip-hop/alternative music from you in the future. Can you tell us how you are navigating that journey and when we can expect to hear it all?
“Yes! I am really excited to be exploring my creative voice through Hip-Hop! The journey has been slow but steady. I am fortunate that there is a quality handful of people that want to work with me in realizing my potential in this arena. I have done a couple of [collaborations] but I am still finding my stride in working with others. I am a perfectionist when it comes to the official writing that I release.
When it comes to my musical influences, most of them aren’t Hip-Hop. That’s why I think my body of work will ultimately sound like a mash up of a wide range of influence. I like indie, jazz, folk, Afrobeat, gritty trap, rock and R&B. I feel like you can find and ride the flow of any well-composed piece of music.”
The music and poetry scene in Philly can seem intimidating to outsiders. How do you suggest new poets and musicians break in, gain a following, and stay relevant?
“The best piece of advice I can give is [to] show up, talk to people, stick around and stay consistent. It can take people a while to connect the dots that you are here to stay and not just passing through. Express your passion about your art and talk to and support other artists. We have a community here and we all rotate through different spaces at different times. If you give up too soon, there are some people that you will never meet. If you truly do it for the love of expression, people will respect the purity of your intentions and embrace that.”
We’ve seen you work with numerous groups across the spectrum, from AFFRM to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Black Girls Rock! How do you decide who to collaborate with, and what types of programs should we expect you to be involved in for the rest of 2014?
“I have three primary stipulations: [the work] has to be something I am already deeply passionate about, aligned with my aesthetic and level of integrity, and it has to be attempting to change the world in some way.
My work with Black Girls Rock! gets to the core of how I believe we can all change the world, as mentors. We cultivate the most promising young leaders that we have access to and we seek to make them better humans and responsible citizens and leaders in their field of choice. I have been a Director for Black Girls Rock Queens Camp for Leadership and Excellence since its inaugural year in 2011. We are now in our 4th year and we have seen our graduating classes go on to prestigious colleges and make their mark in media and within their individual communities.
The work I do as National Volunteer Coordinator for the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRM) fulfills my desire to elevate and be a part of the promotion of more realistic images of Blacks across the Diaspora as told by US. It’s a lot of hard work getting the word out and translating social media interest to real-life attendance and support. Our core of volunteers is our backbone in helping our reach to go viral. I want my little nieces and nephews to continue to see accurate reflections of themselves, untainted by underlying racist themes, caricatures and cultural misconceptions… I want to be a part of changing the landscape of media offerings as both a champion of Black film and a writer, director and facilitator of art and the Black Aesthetic.
It [was] an honor to be contacted to work with the historic Philadelphia Museum of Art to produce a series of events through Art After 5. I was very lucky that Sara Moyn gave me a lot of artistic freedom in choosing the artist lineup and themes of the night. I started off doing a free event called “Pay What You Wish Wednesdays”. It brought record numbers to that particular gallery and I was subsequently offered 3 “Art After 5” slots over the course of several months. I feel I have an eye for quality and there are so many artists that I still want to get on to that big stage in the Grand Stair, so that all the [locals and] tourists from around the world can see just how much diversity Philadelphia-based artists have to offer. I love bringing people together to enjoy transformative art.
This year, I am doing a lot of writing. I have been studying more and taking notes in a few different areas and I a just about ready to pull the trigger. You can expect to see my work surface in a myriad of ways because I have so much input in various artistic arenas. I got some simple yet great advice from Debbie Allen recently, who is known to have achieved greatness as a dancer, choreographer, actress, producer and director. She said, and I’m paraphrasing, “You can only do one thing at a time. When I’m directing, everything else has to take a back seat, and so on and so forth.” That really struck me because her body of work resonates with me and I know if she is giving it to me straight like that, then I best listen and pick my first lane to own and master.”
I am so excited, I have a new book coming out! Its called “The PreCursor”, early and signature works by Lyrispect. Its the first of a series of creative projects (literature, audio, film) I’m releasing under the umbrella “Spectrum of a Supernova”. This book is my baby! I compiled it and self-published so it’s raw and vulnerable…but I wanted it to be that way. I write about love, revolution, social change, magic, and futurism. It contains most of my signature poems and some of my strongest written work to date. Its really affordable. It will be available in the U.S. then Canada, and then an international release is scheduled this fall! It will be available for order through my website. www.lyrispect.com
The cover art is original and its ballpoint pen on wood… a dope artist found my pic online and rendered it. I woke up one morning tagged by one of my friends to the pic on Swizz Beat’s Instagram page with over 7,000 likes! After I got over the initial shock, I knew this had to be the cover for one of my creative projects. The artist agreed! The PreCursor was the perfect fit!
Feel free to tell us anything else you find relevant!
“I work for myself and by the grace of God [I] haven’t had to look for jobs or commissions since I left my salaried job in 2011.”
People always see what you have and they want a shortcut to success, or they start to treat you differently. But they never really know how hard you have worked, what you have sacrificed, and what you have experienced to get there. I’m talking about changing your personal work hours to match a headquarters in a time zone that is 3 hours behind you. I stay up late into the night meeting deadlines and wake up early in the morning to get a swim or a workout in and do it all again the next day. My creativity and my intelligence fuel my income. It takes a lot of energy to be “on” so much, but I am pacing myself. I can see myself founding a company or taking an Executive Director role in an arts organization. I have a structured intellectual need that has to be filled alongside my creativity. My goal is to stay humble and to soar beyond my wildest imagination!”
To learn more about Lyrispect visit her website www.lyrispect.com/
Lonyo Holmes is the 59 year old business owner of Q&A Wholesale Smoke Shop, the only African American owned smoke shop in the city, located at 2749 Kensington Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19134, the heart of the Kensington epidemic. Along side his wife Tiesha Chandler, they celebrated 8 years in October 2022, while defending his turf from would-be thieves, and illegal solicitors. Combined with the setback of having his store robbed during the pandemic and failing to secure all but a PPA loan for his business, he’s felt everything. To this day he’s struggles to pay rent due to the economic side effects of an unchecked drug epidemic that deters those interested in learning more about this unique community space.
“During the pandemic one of my folks hit my phone and told me “yo, someone broke into your store. They broke in through the window”. So, me and my wife Tiesha go check it out… Man, they hit my displays, shelves, they cleaned me out. They left me with over 20,000 dollars in losses.”
Long before 2022, Lonyo opened his store to build and promote events by community members. So far he’s held shows around spoken word, and hip-hop, while hosting givebacks to the community, meet and greets and more. “Everyday I’m fighting for my livelihood. If I don’t open this shop, I don’t eat.”
Despite the challenges, the fight to survive lives on. These days Mr. Holmes spends his time selling food outside to keep the rent paid. “I started selling more food and water ice because that’s the only reason people were coming to my store. I gotta do something if no one is coming here to even buy a lighter”.
One of Philadelphia’s local celebrities, DJ Dior, found inspiration at Q&A, using it as space to provide food for the homeless and a give back with donations provided by Unapologetically Imperfect and The YMCA (North Philly Branch).
Mr Holmes continues to innovate his space, despite his environmental challenges. This past yr he’s added a stage, speakers and more for those blooming artist, both visual and musical. “This area is still a great space. The sound is good, the people are good and spirits here are good as well.“
Bryan Carter: What kind of work do you do in the community?
Lonyo Holmes: We feed the community as much as possible, primarily Friday and Saturday with our nonprofit Samaritans of Service. If we see someone in dire need, we’re here to help.
BC: What are you doing, or considering to rebuild your business?
LH: We are considering a way back – come to our establishment, get ya hair cut (Mr. Holmes is a certified barber), get your ID, or gently used clothes to get employed so folks can get on their feet. We also work with Take Back Philly and Momma Love Soulfood with a Twist where we give out large platters of food. DJ Dior was instrumental in meeting Alicia Joyner, CEO of Take Back Philly. Start between 4:30 and 5:30pm for an hr or until the food is gone. The donations we receive from The Rock Ministries and Richards and Friends United in the Community allows us to bless the rest of the ppl in line. We also deliver to different clothing outlets around the Aramingo area, and to orgs who share our donations with their audience.
BC: How can others get involved?
LH: I’ll tell you how to help our people and our city… Show up. We’re out here every Friday, 11am to 2pm unloading trucks, packing cars, delivers etc. and any help from you would be greatly appreciated.
If you would like to support Mr. Holmes and his community work, check out his event space, and more? Please visit 2749 Kensington Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19134 or call (267) 584-8354.
Go to school. Get a good education. Get a good job and open a bank account. Does this sound familiar? Most of us heard this from our parents. Most of us have been indoctrinated to believe that this formula would lead us to our dream life. How has that worked out? I refer to this as a covert poverty mindset. Our parents taught us this because that’s all they knew. If we don’t learn something different then we will most likely teach this to our children, and that covert poverty mindset will linger in our communities for at least another generation. Now, more than ever, we need effective and relevant financial literacy education.
- Establish an emergency fund: You should have 3-6 months of your financial obligations saved up for the purpose of protecting against unforeseen events. Studies show that more than half of American families have less than $1000 in savings and therefore struggle to survive the occurrence of even a minor financial emergency. (CNBC.com, “Here’s How Much Money Americans Have in Their Savings Accounts,” September 13, 2017)
- Get proper income protection: The industry refers to it as life insurance. I prefer the term income protection because many people believe that insurance will repair or replace the item that is insured. However, life insurance can not and will not replace a life. It will replace income. Many families lost loved ones due to COVID-19 and since many of those lost were not properly covered, their families had to endure an additional hardship trying to finance the cost of final services for their loved one.
- The last concept that I work to teach families is, “Pay yourself first.” By that I mean prioritize and put money away for retirement. Learning concepts like the “high cost of waiting” and the “time value of money” help create the necessary urgency around investing. True financial freedom occurs when your investment income matches or exceeds that of your earned income. 75% of Americans admit to wishing that they had started planning for retirement earlier than they did. (2016 Wells Fargo Retirement Study)
When I work with families, I use these concepts, along with some others: like the rule of 72 and dollar cost averaging, to help them. I’ve found that many people because of the lack of information are unable to take advantage of, and benefit from the knowledge of the rules of the money game. It doesn’t matter what game you play, if you do not know the rules you are a lot less likely to win. Therefore educating families about the strategies to win, positions them in a much better place to do so. I believe the solution to better finances starts with education. The next step is to develop a plan and lastly to get a coach to help you implement and stick to the plan.
There are financial coaches, like myself, who are actively looking for individuals and families that want to succeed at the money game. Actively looking for people who are willing to open their minds to trying something that may be different. In this regard, financial health is very similar to physical health. When you need to assess or verify that your physical health is in order, you go see a doctor or health care professional for a checkup. They may ask you to change your diet or prescribe some medication to help remedy or enhance your condition. When your finances are in need of a check up, you need to go see a financial professional. They may ask you to change some of your spending habits or put you on a plan that will help or remedy your financial situation. As a parent I feel very strongly that you have to model for your children the importance of appropriate financial planning and to start creating positive financial habits at an early age. Sean Covey says in his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “First you make your habits, then your habits make you.” When children and young adults begin to incorporate the strategies mentioned above, they maximize the time value of their money and more importantly create habits that become lifestyle.
Asante Sana,
Marc L. Wilson
Fresh Prince of Finance
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