SoundBalming with Dr. LaMarr Darnell Shields

People know him as the Digital Lifestyle Expert® on NBC’s TODAY Show, CNN, NPR, FUSE, and more. They’ve watched him on Steve Harvey, Inside Edition, Dr. Oz, and other popular talk shows and news programs.In recent years, Mario has become an even greater pop-culture presence as host of multiple events and shows, including filling in for Carson Daly in the TODAY Show ‘Orange Room’ and hosting an event with judges from the popular TV show Shark Tank.Mario has now launched his own interactive talk show, the Emmy Award-winning Never Settle Show. This is the world’s first crowd-produced, livestreamed talk show with live participation from the in-studio & online audience.

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Charnele Brown's role of Kim Reese in A Different World was one of the most relatable ones during the run of the show. Striving for educational perfection while experiencing real world issues, there was no denying Brown's talent in her role on the show. Charnele joined me in the BalmShelter to talk about acting, colorism, God, Bill Cosby, and so much more.

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After an interaction with Howard County police in 2012 that he found deeply troubling, filmmaker A.J. Ali says he was motivated to address relations between police and the African-American community.AJ — teamed up with Errol Webber, a Maryland Institute College of Art alumnus and cinematographer who previously worked on an Oscar-winning documentary short. With Ali as director and Webber as director of photography, they produced "Walking While Black: L.O.V.E. Is the Answer," which discusses bridging the gap in police-community relations throughout America. The acronym "L.O.V.E.," coined by Ali, is to encourage people to "learn about others in their community, open their heart to them, volunteer to be part of the solution in their life, and empower others to do the same.The solutions-focused documentary features nearly 30 interviews with members of communities across the country. Current and retired law enforcement members — including Baltimore Police Chief Melvin T. Russell, commander of the department's community collaboration division, and retired Los Angeles police Sgt. Cheryl Dorsey — appear along with community leaders, social workers and psychologists who discuss the effects of racial profiling on American communities and tragic instances in the history of police-community relations, which include the deaths of Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland and the five members of law enforcement who died in a shootout in Dallas in July.

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I recently caught up with Dr. Adair White-Johnson, the author of eleven self-published books and the founder of the Johnson Tribe Publishing.In this interview, she told me about:1)How to self-publish a book in 20182)The one thing you must do before you write or self-publish your book3)How to avoid the common mistakes new writers (not authors!) make4)The simple rule that helps Adair balance writing with running a successful business5)And so much more

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Jan. 12 will mark the nineteenth anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Among the millions of Haitians still homeless and rebuilding their lives are artists — painters, musicians, dancers, writers. On a recent trip to Haiti, I caught up with Jean Appollon and Stephanie Scherpf at the Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince to witness the beauty their work, dance.Jean talked about his home country and its art, its history and future, and how its artists are surviving in the earthquake’s aftermath.Jean Appolon Expressions uses dance to celebrate Haitian cultural expression and empower young people through innovative dance performance and community programs. JAE is one of the few companies in the world to synthesize Haitian folkloric dance and modern technique. As an ambassador of Haiti, and the Haitian, Caribbean and African diasporas, JAE showcases artistic expression of a specific cultural community.JAE is proud to call Boston, with the third largest Haitian population in the U.S., its home. JAE conducts community classes,teen programs, and performances in the Boston area and beyond with the goal of enriching and enlivening communities through authentic cultural programming.Every summer, JAE conducts The Jean Appolon Summer Dance Institute in Port-au-Prince. Sixty young Haitian dancers are selected to participate in a free, high quality dance program directed by Jean Appolon. https://jeanappolonexpressions.org

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'13th' Cinematographer Hans Charles On 'Mr. SOUL!' And Being Deliberate About The Black Image Selma director Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th examines America’s prison industrial complex and its effect on African Americans from slavery till now. The 2016 film, named for the Thirteenth Amendment, has been nominated for an Academy Award. LaMarr Darnell Shields spoke with Hans Charles, the film’s cinematographer and an assistant professor of cinematography at George Mason University, about what it was like to work on 13th, being an “angry” Black Male in America, his creative process, and Hip-Hop music, just to name a few.

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This episode is dedicated to people who are feeling lost, stuck, or stagnant in their lives, people who are in jobs that they don’t love, and people who are struggling with finding what it is they’re really meant to do. Dr. Joe Johnson shares key insights on how to pursue your purpose while getting paid to do it.

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The extraORDINARY: Mr. Nobody follows Tsanonda Edwards, a young man growing up in inner city Baltimore, MD, as he strives to find his way through high school, college and life having grown up in a strict religious home. After death significantly impacts his family and upbringing, Tsanonda struggles to understand the world around him.

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Some experts say domestic violence is a common thread in mass shootings. Mildred Muhammad, D.C. Sniper John Allen Muhammad's ex-wife, said she knows about the connection first-hand. She joins me in the BalmShelter to describe her living nightmare.It is not just “a” story – it is “one of the many” stories built on the experiences of domestic violence and the depths of its terror. After her children were kidnapped and her inability to go on living without them, she began the silent struggle of looking for them, knowing that if she exposed herself, John Allen Muhammad would locate her and kill her. She was triumphant in her struggle to get through those 18 months of not knowing where her children were and re-gained full custody of them. She fled from her estranged husband and moved to Maryland with the children. She was frightened during the horrific sniper shootings, sat through court proceedings during the trial, and last but not least, began re-gaining her strength to start a non-profit organization, After The Trauma, to assist survivors of domestic violence.

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