Antoine Dodson, an Overnight Brand
Laugh if you want to, but where else, other than in America, could a news story become one of the most downloaded songs on the iTunes singles music chart while at the same time catapulting the interviewee into one of the hottest brands on the Internet?
Antoine Dodson, a young man living in a housing project in Huntsville, Ala., thwarted what would have been adevastating crime committed against his sister, when he stopped an intruder in his home from raping her. The crime, in and of itself was very serious, but what happened after the incident and with Antoine’s animated interview with WAFF in Huntsville, in any other day and time, would have not been taken seriously. But our day and time is unlike any other in our history when it comes to instant branding and notoriety. Admittedly, when I first saw the news report in a friend's Twitter feed, I had to write back and ask if the interview was a joke because I had never seen anyone act the way he did, but as I and others have discovered, the interview was legit and what happened next even more legitimate.
Auto-Tune the News, a company owned by the Gregory brothers out of Brooklyn, NY, is a company that has made the brothers famous from making music out of the news, saw Antoine’s animated rant in the Huntsville TV interview and decided to set it to music. “The Bed Intruder Song,” was the result. What is incredible to me is that after the song went viral, so did Antoine, making him an instant brand. At the end of August, the song hit number 37 on the iTunes Singles chart ahead of Lady Gaga, and with that position came the national news stories on The Today Show and a one-on-one interview with Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News.
The media correctly reporteed that the Gregory Brothers are giving 50 percent of the sales of the song to Antoine. And it has sold big. Some may argue that the Gregory Brothers were capitalizing on Antoine’s family and their tragedy, I could argue that with Antoine’s buy-in, they have made negative tragedy a positive and some good is coming out of it.
The song has been so popular that it hit Billboard’s Top 100 in late August and Antoine now has enough money to move his family to a safer neighborhood. Antoine also is capitalizing on his “new found” fame (and in my opinion rightfully so) through sales of t-shirts and other items on his website. His Facebook page has more than 186,000 fans and he tweets, which keeps him Top of Mind in my eyes. He’s doing what other celebrities, companies and organizations do; he has found a niche and is marketing it. Only time will tell if his "brand" will go beyond its 15 minutes. But for now, Antoine is doing what he needs to do to keep his brand alive. What likely was supposed to be a spoof by Auto-Tune the News continue to make big bucks for the Gregory Brother's company as well as for Antoine. Antoine’s popularity has grown to the point that he is getting invitations to entertainment awards shows.
What’s even more fascinating to me is how marketing and branding on the Internet has become that powerful. Most of us who are veterans in the PR field would like to think that social networking and social media are passing fads. In my personal opinion, they are not, but rather a sea change in the way PR practitioners market their clients. What use to take PR professionals years to accomplish in getting their clients noticed, can literally only take days or hours to accomplish if the messaging is appealing, catches on and goes viral. But finding the message that catches on is key. For now, it seems the Gregory Brothers have, leaving Antoine the one who’s laughing. Laughing all the way to the bank that is.
Out of The Darkness Into the Light - Article Reprint from B-Metro Magazine
Editor's Note: October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Tahiera has chosen to shave her head in to bring awareness to Domestic Violence. I wrote this article in April as part of my Leading Women Blog for B-Metro Magazine.
If you knew that by attempting to take your own life, that you would be saving the lives of your children. Could you do it?
Tahiera Monique Brown did.
After two years of living as prisoners in their own home in Atlanta, Barbara Clark as she was called, attempted suicide to save her children from being sexually assaulted and abused by a stalker that decided one day after calculating her every move, that he would hold Tahiera and her children hostage and in plain sight.
He did so in front of her family and friends threatening to kill anyone who interfered. Even colleagues at work were intimidated to the point that they would not offer Tahiera any help. I wasn’t sure she would allow me to interview her about this ordeal, but she did. I have read her book Annihilator of Innocence, and I have to admit it was difficult for me to read about what happened to her during those two years.
I cannot even get my hands around it because it is so unimaginable to me that Tahiera went through what she did, let alone survived it. But she did and her children have too. Her stalker virtually had total physical and mental control over Tahiera and he was able to do so by constantly threatening to kill her, her children, her family and others she knew. He was behind bars, convicted of raping Tahiera’s daughter, but has been released. Taheira's fight is far from over. She now has embarked on a mission to help others who are survivors or who may suffer from domestic violence.
The defining moment for her after two years of horror, Tahiera told me was that she had to do something to save her children after the ‘Old Man’ told her that he was going to kill the children and bury them on the way to California. Somehow, she said knew that this time, he meant what he said. There was no turning back for her at this point so she made the decision to do what she had to do to save her children’s lives.
“The story of my journey: It isn't only about tragedy and pain ... it's not a catharsis or a healing ... it's about the triumph of my survival. As a survivor telling my story, it constantly puts salt in the wounds of the past. If I had died then others would try to reason my demise, by analyzing what made me choose my victimizer, instead of why did this victimizer choose this victim? After my victimizer was sentenced to prison for raping my daughter, I had to face the challenge to raise my children in a foreign land. You see the choice I took to save my children's lives left me in a coma and then amnesia. I had to relearn everything all over again, including my children, who were now strangers to me. We dealt with poverty and seeing our meager belongings put out on the side of the road to face homelessness. I have stood in the food stamp lines and the welfare lines, but I was not ashamed. I realized quickly that you had to arrive early to be in the number. Too late ... no help,” said Tahiera Monique Brown, author and lecturer.
I asked why she decided to tell her story and she said that she had lived in fear long enough. “One day I visited a priest at a convent and I asked God this question; "What am I supposed to do? God, I know you didn't save me for nothing ... help me Lord to go through this fear. Give me the courage to help others!" The priest answered to me; "Why not you! It is you ... now what are you going to do about it?"
What the priest told her she also remembered hearing before when she was struggling with what to do with her life after she got out of the hospital. She knew, she told me, deep down in her soul what she needed to do. She had to start sharing and enduring, and begin speaking as a survivor.
When she did start speaking she said she was mocked, criticized and loathed. Tahiera added, “I took my stripes and God brought into my life, people who needed to be a part of change, and they wanted to be loved and they loved me with no strings attached. These friends burned the midnight hours with me as I prepared for this journey. Even when it seemed like I was looking to do the impossible, they stood by to push me forward into my dream to be doing what I am doing today.”
Tahiera is a remarkable woman who often speaks about this journey as she calls it. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Prescott House, an organization that focuses on children who have been sexually and physically abused. She also supports the work of Alabama organizations and state lobbyists, who lobby for tougher laws against domestic violence. She also told me that she has signed an option agreement to make a movie about her life.
“My goal is to be able to reach out from beyond the darkness and share how I overcame victimization and became a survivor. I plan to increase my presence and the presence of others,” Tahiera stated.
At the close of our interview, I asked Tahiera for some words of advice and she had this to say: “Challenges are a part of life. Life is a privilege and you have to work at it. Don't be afraid of change and you will be able to walk away from pain and suffering. You are taught to always say yes, but learn the power of 'No'. Look your challenges square in the face and you will see that it is only there to stay if you are not willing to make a change. When I was about to be homeless for the third time ... I looked at the situation, not as a problem, but the beginning of a solution. I realized that I had to rethink poverty and why it was in my life. I believed that in spite of two heart broken children that had endured the unthinkable and a child with cerebral palsy, success was beckoning me.”
The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence defines battery as a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over another person with whom an intimate relationship is or has been shared through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence. Battering happens when one person believes that they are entitled to control another.
In Alabama, SOAR and the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence are working hard to update and address some issues in the Protection From Abuse Act (PFA) which is a law that allows a victims to provide civil protection from her abuser and any violation would be a law enforcement intervention unlike a restraining order, as well as on another law that changes some of the domestic violence offenses to more stringent charges. These are SB 168 and SB 134. (Thank you to Lisa McNeil at the Alabama Coalition of Domestic Violence for providing the lobbying information to me for this article).
If you are a victim of domestic violence or feel you are being stalked please seek help now.
Agencies that can help:
SOAR (Survivors Overcoming Abusive Relationships)
Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence
For more information about Tahiera Monique Brown’s book: http://www.annihilatorofinnocence.com/
B-Metro: www.b-metro.com
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The Impact of September 11
Eight years ago as I sat at my desk at the National Headquarters of the American Red Cross watching live television news coverageof the twin towers being hit by airplanes and then crumble to the ground in New York. Little did I know that in a few short minutes later another plane would crash into the Pentagon just across the Potomac. It’s the aftermath of 9/11 I want to concentrate on now. We all as a nation were shocked beyond belief that such a horrific event would happen in our day and time. But what came after the attack was truly extraordinary by anyone’s account.
We came together as a nation to fight those who attacked us so viciously and to help those in need. We respected each other. We were united. I wonder now as we reflect on the eighth anniversary of theseattacks, where has all of unity and respect have gone.
Since 9/11 we have seen devastation with disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Since 9/11 we have seen a financial crisis and since 9/11 we have seen a historic election. But also since 9/11 wehave seen a nation further divided politically to the point that disrespect is now the norm. Instead of finding ways to work together, there seems to be those who want to further divide us. We see volatile language, violent threats against those who don’t always agree with another’s point of view. I ask for what reason?
