He was a champion for reducing gun violence and supported game-changing legislation like the Build Back Better Act and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. His commitment to creating a more just and equitable society was unwavering.

But what really stands out is his ability to drive change beyond just legislation. He was instrumental in securing funding for clean drinking water projects, which has had a huge impact on infrastructure across the country. He also worked tirelessly to make childcare, housing, and prescription drugs more affordable.

And let’s not forget his dedication to fighting climate change. Rep. Payne Jr. was a true champion for our community, and his loss is felt deeply. As we say goodbye to an incredible leader, I want to honor his memory and legacy. He inspired us to fight for progress, justice, and equality, and his spirit will continue to guide us.

May his memory be a blessing, and may his legacy continue to inspire us to make a difference in our community and beyond.

Unsung Hero

Nominated by: Jennifer Huntley

As we continue to celebrate Black Excellence at Minding My Business, we introduce you to our next highlighted Unsung Hero and we are honored to do so.

With over 20 years in ministry and 13 years in mentorship and leadership, Orlando Vick ministers the preached word of God, serves as a transformative consultant and powerful motivator for leaders worldwide. His purpose is to serve others by helping individuals, youth to adults, establish healthy coping skills and strategies to resolve their traumas and excel in life. He fosters healthy environments inclusive of emotional and social support, cultivates resilience, and creates impactful working strategies. Orlando uses his experience in mental health and music psycho- therapy to successfully develop and enhance the self-confidence of individuals through empowerment and establishing transformative programs in schools and churches across the globe.

By focusing on Music Psychotherapy and Mental Health, Orlando has been able to gain significant experience in mentoring individuals through their healing process. Orlando leverages his sphere of influence in efforts to combat the mental health challenges that continue to plague minority communities across the country.   In January 2023, Orlando established the non – profit, mental health organization Wounds Healed Out Loud (WHOL). WHOL provides therapy and support to individuals who face personal challenges in life by embracing their gifts and telling their truth through various avenues, while creating a global platform of healing. WHOL impacts the lives of diverse groups and communities through its efforts to help restore troubled minds in a mentoring experience that supports the mind, body, and soul.

Before founding Wounds Healed Out Loud, Orlando facilitated programs in prisons, mentored in academic institutions including Berklee Music College and empowered many through motivational speaking around and outside the US. Orlando’s influence extends beyond motivational speaking. As a renowned music producer, vocal arranger, and songwriter, Orlando has left an indelible mark on the music industry through his collaborations with gospel and secular superstars including Kirk Franklin, Vashawn Mitchell, Anthony Brown, Todd Dulaney and Lonnie Hunter. In addition to his remarkable achievements, Orlando hosts a captivating podcast, bringing together influential figures to inspire, uplift individuals and ignite their dreams and aspirations. Orlando’s multifaceted endeavors and unwavering dedication allows him to be an awe-inspiring force that motivates and empowers individuals from all walks of life.

Social Media

• Personal Instagram: @orlandovickjr
• Podcast Instagram: @convoswithvick
• Youtube: Convos with Vick
• Personal Facebook: Orlando Vick Jr.
• TikTok:@OrlandoVickj https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdVP4WH9/

e: wholoud.org@gmail.com p: 404.500.8415

Dr. Kevin R. West was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey to the late Joseph and Mary Lou West.  He is the second of three sons. Married to Mary E. West, together they have two beautiful daughters: Latisha and Arielle West. They also have two phenomenal granddaughters: Mikayla and Jailynn.

Kevin is a proud product of the Newark Public Schools where he graduated from Barringer High School in 1978. He continued his education at Seton Hall University earning a Bachelor’s Degree with honors in Elementary Education in 1982, a Master’s Degree with honors in Educational Administration & Supervision in 1984, and a Doctor of Education Degree from Nova Southeastern University in Educational Leadership in 2003. Kevin also attended and completed the Princeton University Principals Center for Educational Leadership in 1994, the Harvard University Institute for Educational Leadership in 1985 and the Yale University School Development Program in 2001.

Dr. Kevin West worked for the Irvington Public School District from 1982 – 2005 in several different capacities: Teacher at Union Avenue School from 1982 – 1989, Assistant and Acting Principal at Grove Street School from 1989 – 1991, Vice Principal of Irvington High School from 1991 – 1992, Principal of Augusta Street School from 1992 – 1995, Principal of Thurgood Marshall School from 1996 – 1999, and Principal of Chancellor Avenue School from 1999 – 2005. Kevin also worked in the Newark Public School District from 2005 – 2010 as Principal of West Side High School, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent, Associate Superintendent of Special Programs, and as the Assistant Superintendent of Special Programs, overseeing 15 departments. More recently, Dr. West served as the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for the Roselle Public School District 2010 – 2011. He was promoted to Superintendent of the Roselle Public Schools on October 27, 2011 and was serving in that capacity until he decided to apply for the East Orange Superintendent of Schools position. Dr. Kevin R. West became the proud Superintendent of the East Orange Public Schools on November 1, 2016.

During his numerous years in the field of education, Dr. West received The New Jersey Principal of the Year Award from the New Jersey Department of Education and the NJ Principals and Supervisors Association for the school year 2003-2004. As a result of the numerous initiatives such as reading book clubs, successful implementation of school uniforms, a restructuring of the basic skills and special education program, effective looping, developing a master schedule to include common planning periods and PLC’s for teachers, development and integration of challenging and rigorous curriculum, enforcement of a clean, safe, orderly learning environment, daily classroom observations to teachers with immediate feedback, progressive writing sample displays, creation of over 27 school clubs/organizations, school beautification projects, free daily before and after care program until 6:00pm for working parents, after school enrichment/tutorial program, Creation of a Saturday Academy and SES program, establishment of a school restaurant, maintaining highest test scores in the district for 6 consecutive years before leaving district, significantly increasing parental involvement, writing and receiving several grants, organizing a concerned fathers group, fostering community partnerships, etc., Chancellor Avenue School was able to meet all 41 “No Child Left Behind” mandates and was deemed the only “Achieving School” in the Township of Irvington NJ during his time there. In addition, test scores rose significantly under the leadership of Dr. West during the six years he was Principal of Chancellor Avenue School (97.3% of his students passed the NJASK in Language Arts Literacy, and 93.1% of his students passed the NJASK in Math). Governor Christine Todd Whitman visited and officially recognized Chancellor Avenue School as a model Abbott School on the cutting edge of making a positive difference.

While Superintendent in Roselle for five years, the Roselle Public Schools improved dramatically in every area. Under the leadership of Dr. West, seven of the eight schools in Roselle became National Award Winning Schools, and the high school graduation rate rose to 91%.

While Superintendent of East Orange, Dr. West restructured the middle school complex to an effective middle school model of success, created a magnet middle school (future Ready Prep) within a school, brought in numerous partnerships, had a laundromat built inside of two schools to assist students and families, dramatically improved the culture/climate of the schools and district, positively transformed the troubled comprehensive high school and helped bring it out of state status, started and coordinated a male mentoring program for over 80 middle/high school males to help close the achievement gap, helped decrease suspensions, helped improved state test scores, ensured that quality and meaningful PD was provided to staff, created a unified lesson plan template, hosted numerous Superintendent community/parent forums, and the list goes on.

Kevin has not only impacted the lives of thousands of students as an Educator, he has gone far beyond by cultivating, molding, directing and mentoring hundreds of inner city males (elementary, middle school, and high school) through the Sigma Beta Club Male Mentoring Program. The Sigma Beta Club is a National Male Mentoring Program initiative sponsored by Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.  Dr. West has served as the advisor of this club in his local chapter since 1983. While in Newark, he started 6 new Sigma Beta Clubs; one at Weequahic  Malcolm X Shabazz, Central, West Side, Barringer, and Arts High School where he mentors over 150 high school male students and over 50 female students that were members of the Blue Diamonds. Dr. West also started a Sigma Beta Club at Abraham Clark High School in Roselle where he advised and mentored 52 male students in addition to his responsibilities as Assistant Superintendent/Superintendent. Dr. West also started and supervised the Sigma Beta Club (male mentoring program) in East Orange which provided mentorship to over 82 middle/high school males. Under the tutelage of Dr. West, the Chi Sigma Chapter Sigma Beta Clubs have won the Eastern Regions Sigma Beta Club of the Year Award for over 17 consecutive years, and they have won the National Sigma Beta Club of the Year Award more than six times. There are currently over 200 elementary, middle school and high school male students (Northern NJ) that are members of the Chi Sigma Chapter Sigma Beta Clubs. These and other outstanding accomplishments earned Dr. Kevin R. West the distinction of being inducted into The Elite Distinguished Service Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. This is the highest honor that the fraternity bestows upon very few of its outstanding members.

Dr. Kevin West is a member of several civic and professional organizations including: Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. (Chi Sigma Northern NJ Alumni Chapter); New Jersey Association of School Administrators; Seton Hall University Community Advisory Board; Roselle Branch of the NAACP; International Masons; The Urban League, The National Alliance of Black School Educators; New Hope Baptist Church Trustee in Newark; National Education Association; Organization of African American Administrators; Kappa Delta Pi National Education Honor Society; NJDOE Urban Education Committee; NJ School Boards Association, NJ Superintendents’ Study Council, Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD); NJ Department of Education’s NCLB Advisory Committee, and the National Association of School Superintendents. He has received numerous awards, honors, citations, and recognitions, too many to list here.

Kevin believes that it’s all about making the right choices and having a heart for kids. He states, “When it seems like nothing is going my way, I just stop and take time to adjust my perspective. I recall how far I’ve already come, and remind myself that positive actions will indeed have positive and valuable results. Don’t lower your expectations to meet your level of performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations. Each one must reach one (or one thousand). For to accomplish great things we must not only act but also dream, not only dream but also believe. If it is to be, it is up to me, but teamwork makes the dream work.”

Lieutenant Akilah Jenkins has been employed with the Irvington Police Department, Irvington, NJ for the past 22 years. She has been assigned to several units throughout the Irvington Police Department. However, the most rewarding was working at Irvington High School as a school resource officer and currently a lieutenant in charge of the Community Affairs Division.

Lieutenant Jenkins graduated from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.  She now has a 14-year-old daughter who she cherishes dearly. Her goal in life is to WOW my ancestors and pave the way for other women in law enforcement.  

Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture has acquired the largest collection of Phillis Wheatley’s work to date!

Phillis Wheatley Peters was born in Senegal, kidnapped from her home when she was around 7 years old, and enslaved in Boston. There she was sold to a prominent family, the Wheatleys, who named her after the slave ship she arrived on, theNew York Times reports. In her enslavers’ home, Wheatley maintained a dual identity, as both servant and savant. Learning to read and write while enslaved, the family helped her publish her works as a poet. Wheatley then grew to prominence as one of the most prolific poets of the 19th century. 

In September 1773, after traveling to London to promote her upcoming book, making history as the first published Black author in the United States, Wheatley returned to Boston again by ship, this time as a world-renowned poet. It was on this voyage that she penned “Ocean,” a piece dedicated to the wonder of the moment and her simultaneous desire for freedom. While Wheatley’s first book catapulted her to fame, manumitted shortly after its release in December 1773, Wheatley failed to achieve similar success with her follow-up works. She married John Peters, a free Black grocer, in 1778. And while it is believed she had 3 children, none of them survived infancy and Wheatley eventually passed away in 1784. 

A copy of one of Wheatley’s poetry works from the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

While Wheatley’s work brought with it controversy in the centuries after her passing, her impact on the abolitionist movement is undeniable, Wheatley serving as a figurehead for the antislavery movement. As for her work, “Ocean” went unpublished and was lost for more than 200 years, the manuscript resurfacing in 1998 at an auction. Now the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has acquired the work, in what they’re calling “the largest collection of Phillis Wheatley material in public hands” to date. 

“You’re seeing her handwriting and seeing her write in this language she had fairly recently learned, and had become a champion of. And here she is in this moment where she has traversed the ocean, which she had initially done in a horrible way, but she was doing now as [a] celebrated poet. I’ve always thought of that moment and what it might have been like for her,” said museum director Kevin Young of the recently acquired manuscript. 

A page of the unpublished 1773 poem “Ocean,” in Wheatley’s handwriting from the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The collection includes 30 items featuring newspapers and books from Wheatley’s lifetime that include references to her and document her life after publishing. Young called the manuscript “stunning” as one of the only surviving Wheatley poems written by her. He also refers to an issue of The Boston Evening Post that announces Wheatley’s return for London alongside an ad for the return of a runaway slave named Nancy who would’ve been about Wheatley’s age, all published just before the Boston Tea Party incident. 

“This is all the contradictions of this American moment,” explained Young. 

The NMAAHC already holds several Wheatley artifacts including a copy of her 1773 book “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral,” and a statue of Wheatley that features an inscription of the Declaration of Independence. The newest acquisition was brokered through dealer James Cummins and includes items that speak to her prominence and early scholarly efforts documenting work and impact. 

The Black Arts Movement of the 1960s brought criticism for Wheatley but in recent years, her work has been revisited and praised by poets like Nikki Giovanni and Amanda Gorman. Wheatley is also featured in the NMAAHC’s “Afrofuturism” exhibit, showing the writer’s work as a part of a larger continuum of African American history makers who were actively crafting the future and reimagining new possibilities through their life and work. 

Young said the newest collection will help people to connect with Wheatley and her work in a way that we’ve never been able to before Not only will it give more context to her life and her work as it existed at that time, but also to the art of poetry then, which was less about personal experiences and more about the public affairs of the time.

Photo by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

As we say at Minding My Business, let the celebration continue, we present to you our next nominated Unsung (s)hero, Nakita Williams.  Nakita relocated to Georgia from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2017. Nakita was raised in the foster care system and moved around consistently to various foster homes and group homes. As an adolescent, she had several traumatizing experiences. At an early age, she found safety and security in youth organizations. She participated in programs that allowed her to express herself and build her confidence. Nakita made a vow to herself to one day support to the youth in her community.

Nakita is currently the Site Director for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta at Promise South location. She is the founder and CEO of POETIC SERVICES Inc a nonprofit organization providing mentoring services to youth. Nakita is also the CEO of Purpose Inspiration Coaching & Consulting, LLC where she specializes Life Coaching, Couples Coaching, and Business Consulting and services

Nakita is an award-winning Youth Advocate, mentor, and community leader. Her dedication to community development has also allowed her to be awarded the Community Leader Award as a token to her contribution to her community. She has a strong passion for youth development and strives to motivate and inspire the youth she encounters.

Nakita has over 15 years of experience working in the Human/ Social services field. She exhibits a broad knowledge in youth engagement and support as well as a proven commitment to ensuring the highest quality of services. The foundation of her success lies in her talent and passion for the youth and bringing real-world learning experiences to them. Nakita has had much success in implementing best practices for youth growth and development throughout her career at organizations including the Boys & Girls Club of America.

Nakita holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Bryant & Stratton College, Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy , Graduate Certificate in Counseling specializing in Contemporary Theory in Mental Health Services as well as a Graduate Certificate in counseling specializing in Contemporary Theory in Couple and Family systems from Capella University. Nakita was also nominated for Covington’s 40 an award bestowed up her for her community service to Newton County, GA for starting the 1st Boys and Girls Club there.

Nakita also served on various committees including the Youth Arts Initiative which focused on allocating resources funding Art Programs for youth. To prevent more youth from experiencing the traumatizing experiences that she had as a child, she served as an advocate with the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare and provided insight on policies and procedures that were recommended to be in place to protect children.  Nakita is a member of the National Honor Society for Leadership and Success.  She also is a member of the Chi Upsalon Chi chapter of Chi Sigma Iota  

Nakita has overcome many obstacles which makes her “relatable” to youth. These obstacles fuel her passion for youth development. She also lives by the quote ” I want to inspire people; I want someone to look at me and say, Because of you I didn’t give up.” This mindset has helped her become a pillar in the community.  Her Story is Our Story.

DJ Ran had something special and approached Against All Odds, retail chain (United States) store’s management team with a proposal in 1998, that allowed him to DJ in the store free of charge for one year with the promise to review the impact of his presence and the potential increase in sales. After a year, the comparison was made, and it was discovered that sales had increased by 30% and Against All Odds chain store hired DJ Ran as their marketing director. DJ Ran worked all the locations and ultimately assisted the owner to expand his retail chain from 3 stores to 60 locations worldwide. DJ Ran toured the country displaying his mixes and artistry.  Against All Odds had stores in the following states: New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and California, needless to say DJ Ran was a fixture in them all.  DJ Ran has also performed internationally at destination weddings in St. Lucia, Jamaica, Mexico, and St. Martin.  

In 2013, He was also the 107.5 WBLS Harlem Week DJ Competition Finalist and is now one of the WBLS featured Holiday Mix Masters for this accomplishment for the past 8 years. Additionally, he is also a member of Explore Talent Casting Agency where he is available for movies, videos, tv ads & tv commercials. DJ Ran is an accomplished hyphenated artist, like all art there are different techniques, and DJ Ran’s technique are one that the world should take notice of.

In 2018, DJ Ran left Against All Odds to pursue his own career, as the CEO of “DeeJayRan Entertainment, LLC”, where he specializes in luxury and destination weddings, proms, fundraisers, corporate events, and mobile gigs.  He hosts high end parties and social gatherings for Actors and Actress such as Darren Henson of “Soul Food” and “Stomp the Yard” Mi Mi of VH1 (Love and Hip Hop of Atlanta), comedian Michael Blackson and Queen Latifah, etc.

His most rewarding work is when he gives back to the community and supports the youth.  He has been found providing his DJ expertise to events and fundraisers to many nonprofit organizations, to name a few: Newark Boys and Girls Club, Broadway Unit, Newark, NJ for 7 years and the East Orange Police Athletic League, also in New Jersey for 5 years.  One of his most memorable moments is when he DJed for a formal Black and White Ball held by the East Orange Police Athletic League, what an event.  You can also find him lending his skills to the NJ Bulldogs and AAU Basketball Organization to help keep the youth engaged and enjoying themselves.  DJ Ran is all about our youth and providing them with a healthy and safe environment to be entertained.

A new star is on the rise and there’s no doubt that he has the potential to achieve his goal to become one of the world’s most notarized DJs.  DJ Ran is not an artist lacking focus or desire. DJ Ran knows what he wants and believes that it’s only a matter of time before he shares his musical talents with the world.

DJ Ran can be reached on all social media platforms @DeeJayRan or on (973) 220-5488.