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Jake Lyons caught the insects in Seattle this time for the documentary The Rise and Fall and Eventual Return of The Insects from Sector Six.

Raleigh, North Carolina – In the movie “American Gangster,” Ike Atkinson appears as the minor character “Nate,” who is depicted as gangster Frank Lucas’s cousin and as the drug trafficker who helped Lucas established the Asian heroin pipeline from Thailand to the U.S. These were two of many of the Lucas’ lies exposed in the recently released. award-winning book, Sergeant Smack: The Legendary Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson, Kingpin, and His Band of Brothers by Ron Chepesiuk. This month Sergeant Smack was awarded the Best Crime Nonfiction by Books & Authors.net.

“‘American Gangster’ is a fairy tale told by Hollywood,” Chepesiuk said. “It should have been produced by Walt Disney.”

But now in a fascinating documentary interview, “Ike Atkinson, Kingpin– In his Own Words,” Atkinson tells own his story and further sets the record straight. The former kingpin, who operated the largest drug smuggling enterprise in the 1970s, talks about growing up in the rural south, his life in the military and as a gambler and a hustler, his rise and fall as a big time drug dealer, his relationship with Frank Lucas, the 32 years he spent in prison and his life since his release. Those who have an appreciation for the truth will want to listen closely and take note, as the real American Gangster at long last speaks out. The production’s running time is 63 minutes.

Ike Atkinson, then and now

“It has been really gratifying to get my true story told both in print and on the screen,” Atkinson revealed. “The DVD and book complement each other and provide a complete picture.”

Atkinson led a remarkable life as an adventurer, gambler and drug trafficker. He never carried a gun, never committed murder and never bowed down to the infamous Italian La Cosa Nostra. Atkinson was the first African American drug kingpin to have a DEA task force set up specifically to bring him down.

As a former U.S. Army Master Sergeant, he utilized his intellect and charm to smuggle, by conservative estimates, 1000 pounds of heroin annually from Bangkok, Thailand, through U.S. military bases into the United States from 1968 to 1975. Atkinson’s legendary enterprise was so complex and profitable, it easily rivaled that of modern day hoodlums, the Black Mafia Family.

Ike Atkinson is also the subject of the cover story for the current Don Diva magazine issue. The title of the cover story reads:”The Biggest African American Drug Dealer in History.”

On Saturday, October 16, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST, Ike and Ron will be signing copies of the new DVD and their book, Sergeant Smack: The Legendary Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson Kingpin, and his Band of Bothers, at Hue-Man Book Store and Café in Harlem. On Sunday, October 17, Ike Atkinson and Ron Chepesiuk will sign copies at Black Star Music and Video in Harlem from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

People in the Philadelphia area can catch Ike and Ron on October 13 at the Black and Nobel Book Store from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and at the Mill Creek Tavern from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Come to any these venues and meet and chat with Ike and Ron. For further information contact Strategic Media books at strategicmediabooks@gmail.com

The DVD, “Ike Atkinson, Kingpin, In His Own Words,” and “Sergeant Smack: The Legendary Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson, Kingpin, and His Band of Brothers” are available at http://www.ikeatkinsonkingpin.com, http://www.strategicmediabooks.com, www.Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble, and through local book stores.

See and hear from Ike Atkinson himself at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xuic5LtoUI and read about him at http://www.IkeAtkinsonKingpin.com.

For more information about Ron Chepesiuk, go to http://www.ronchepesiuk.com/ . You can also ‘friend’ both Ron Chepesiuk and Ike Atkinson on Facebook.com.

Los Angeles – When author turned filmmaker, E. Raymond Brown first released Will the Real Pimps and Ho’s Please Stand Up: Peeping the Multi-Level Global Game, in 2002, he envisioned his book as a battle cry, a wakeup call to America and beyond. The independently published tome emerged as an underground, cult classic, breaking down the dynamics of the ‘powers that be’ in laymen terms that the ‘man on the street’ could easily relate to. Inflation, foreclosure, unemployment, healthcare issues, pollution, crime, recession and depression: somebody was benefitting – pimping – and somebody was being played for the ho! Brown’s message spread like fire through the streets. The battle call was heard and received loud and clear !

Filmmakers E. Raymond Brown and
William Arntz
On October 8 in major markets around the country, and on October 22 in Los Angeles and New York, Brown’s book will debut as the film, “GhettoPhysics, Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up.” Author, visionary and hip hop griot, E. Raymond Brown, expands on theories of street science by incorporating the dynamics of spirituality and metaphysics. His unlikely collaboration with filmmaker William Arntz (“What the BLEEP Do We Know!?”) is indicative of cultures colliding and merging around the world as the human thought spectrum strives toward survival. The film, directed, written and produced by Brown and Arntz, is the result of Arntz’s two years of total immersion in the project with Brown. With the emergence of “GhettoPhysics” Brown and Arntz are partnered as a formidable team out to change the game again!

“GhettoPhysics” (http://www.ghettophysics.com) is a cutting edge hybrid documentary that initially whisks us to the streets depicting very real street players, the pimps and ho’s, as they play out their game. The film then transitions us to the classroom and the corporate boardroom, where the same game is being played, only at a much more subtle and globally consequential level. The underlying theme is “dominators and the dominated” or in street lingo, “pimps and ho’s.” “GhettoPhysics” reveals the universal game of control, manipulation and subterfuge that is escalating in the world at a maddening pace, then offers a solution.

“‘GhettoPhysics’ is a film about the nature and structure of power, and the dynamics of power, as they’re played out in every corner of our society, and in every society around the world,” according to Arntz. “We see these power dynamics expressing in government, in business, in the military, in academia … in our families … everywhere. It’s a nonpartisan political film that exposes the root of all of the world’s dysfunctions – an imbalance in the dynamics of power.”

Explosive, controversial, insightful and comedic, “GhettoPhysics” leaps from the screen with input from personalities and celebrities that include author, social activist and Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West; MC and producer KRS-One; rapper/actor Ice T; economist, author and social activist John Perkins; Emmy Award-winning television producer and social activist Norman Lear; former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney; and Brother Ishmael Tetteh, Founder and Spiritual Director of the Etherean Mission in Ghana, West Africa, a trans-denominational metaphysical organization. A colorful contingent of ‘real life’ pimps also flavor the cast including street legends “The West Coast Godfather of the Game” Fillmore Slim, Hook da Crook, Mac Breed and Lo Da Show.

Brown is a visionary African-American author, director, actor, producer, musician, lecturer, and workshop facilitator who attended California State University – Long Beach, majoring in Pan-African Studies. He has studied somatic, archetypal and aboriginal psychology, Taoism, shamanism, metaphysics, quantum theory, transformation facilitation, geo-politics and Pan-Africanism.

As a new author, his collaboration with Arntz is the stuff dreams are made of. E. Ray reflects, “I was a big fan of ‘What the BLEEP, ‘ and was looking around for help developing my film. So, I approached John Raatz, who had done much of the marketing for ‘What the BLEEP.’ John was always getting asked to pass things along to Will, but he knew Will wouldn’t like most of these ideas … except for ‘GhettoPhysics.’ Will watched an earlier version and then I had lunch with him the next day. He gave me 30 pages of notes he’d written on the film and the rest is history.”

Expresses Brown, “The people running the show (a.k.a. the Pimps) and the people putting up with it (a.k.a. the Ho’s) have been doing a lousy job taking care of the planet, the environment, and each other. It’s time to say ‘Game Over’ and time to start a new one. Pimps and Ho’s is not about right and wrong, good guys vs. bad guys. It’s about awareness of ‘the game’ and letting people know it’s up to them to choose the role they play in every situation. ‘GhettoPhysics’ exposes the powers that be and refuses to let those in control rule our lives anymore.”

Will the Real Pimps and Ho’s Please Stand Up: Peeping the Multi-Level Global Game is available as an e-book at http://www.eraymondbrown.com/Book-Merchandise.html. Expand your consciousness now with “GhettoPhysics” and view the trailer at http://www.ghettophysics.com . Also check out exclusive film gems under the “Video Section.”

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Fishbone have been at for 25 years only to watch lesser bands surpass them in commercial success. It’s been a hard road for them as Black men doing a blend of rock, funk, ska and R&B. From ’86 to ’96 they had a deal with Columbia and produced some of the most wickedly good music around. But by the late ’90’s they lost their contract and went with Dallas Austin’s Rowdy Records to record the intensely fierce Chim Chim’s Badass Revenge which Austin also produced. They’ve continued to record marvelous albums and tour but they remain mostly unknown outside of the underground because they had the bad luck to have swarthy complexions. Even the so-called best rock critics have been too ignorant to understand the rhythmic Nettwerx that is Fishbone. Thankfully Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler have shot Everyday Sunshine, a new documentary about the band narrated by Laurence Fishburne. Make sure to check out the website to see if it’s coming near you.