The following is a direct response to the two articles published on Bush Chicken news site, titled (LONE CONTESTANT WINS MS LIBERIA MINNESOTA; A POST PAGEANT ANALYSIS by Ben Browne 17-07-2006 and WHO BENEFITS? OLM, LIBERIAN COMMUNITY OR T&J? 18-07-2006).
First of all, T and J Ethnic Marketing and Consulting would like to thank all of those who contributed, participated and or attended the pageant on Friday July 14, 2006, when T and J Marketing hosted the Miss Liberia Minnesota Beauty Pageant at Park Center High School in Brooklyn Park.
In both articles Mr. Ben Brown tried to discredit the hard work and efforts of the organizers of the pageant. We find it interesting that the motto of Bush Chicken is “we bring you both sides of the story”. However, Mr. Brown published a story without ever speaking with any member of our staff although he claimed that he made several attempts to contact us.
The comments and accusations made by Mr. Brown were without basis and unwarranted. We believe that it is important that honesty and integrity remain the standard by which a reputable community-based information site is operated. A journalist must be careful not to allow personal feelings to alter the facts of any story. Bush Chicken has become one of the primary sources of information in our community. It is important that it does not become just another gossip site or personal bully- pulpit. Therefore, we at T&J wish to tell” our story”.
T and J Ethnic Marketing & Consulting was formed in November of 2003 by two young Liberians who desire to establish a company, that would market much needed services of some mainstream businesses to the growing African immigrant community here in the Twin Cities. We relied upon relationships and contacts we had nurtured over the years to acquire potential clients.
We knew from the inception that this would be a daunting ordeal. However, we felt that if we invested enough time, energy, effort and resources in this idea, eventually it would take off. Countless phone calls, endless journeys and almost four years later, our humble venture has made some progress. Before going any further we would first like to clarify that T and J Ethnic Marketing & Consulting is indeed a for profit entity just as any other business, Liberian or otherwise. We have a staff of independent consultants of whom we most pay for their labor, as well as compensating ourselves for our efforts.
The following listed below are some answers to some of Mr. Brown’s questions in the articles mentioned above. One line which caught our attention was “Whatever such help is, it is not know to the public.” questioning our help to OLM and the community. Another line which caught our attention was “We cannot continue to allow people with questionable track record to head major functions of OLM”. We would appreciate it if Mr. Brown or anyone else with any evidence to substantiate this claim, could step forward.
Over the past three and a half years, T and J Ethnic Marketing & Consulting has been a major contributor not only to the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota (OLM) and local churches, but also to the general Liberian Community here in Minnesota. Since the Wilfred Harris administration which began in January 2004 and ended in January 2006, followed by the current Martha Sinoe Leadership, our company (T and J) has raised or given an estimated Ten Thousand dollars ($10.000.00) for just OLM alone. Last year’s July 26, 2005 celebration guest speaker’s (Ambassador Minor) airline ticket was purchased by our company when it was brought to our attention, that the organization lacked the funds to provide a ticket for their guest speaker. We were later informed that OLM had a five hundred dollars ($500.00) debt with a local hotel due to one of its previous engagements and, if left unpaid the community organization would be faced with a law suit. In order to spare our community the embarrassment we paid the amount in full (this was in 2005 as well).
We have also been instrumental in fundraising and have donated several hundred dollars to community churches such as Garden of Gethsemane headed by Pastor Randal Cooper and Ebenezer Baptist Church headed by Pastor Tablor, to name a few. We’ve hosted health and immigration seminars for the common good of our community hoping to help educate our people on issues affecting their lives. In the spring of 2005, we produced a free community directory without charging any fee to Liberian own businesses to list their business.
Our belief as a company has always been, that through service to our clients, dedication to our community and hard work, the decent people amongst us will appreciate what we do. However, we are also aware that there are those in our midst who criticize simply because it is inherently within their nature. Nevertheless, it is also our belief that we do not need to discredit others to build our business. Thus we remain steadfast in service to our community and clients and will not stoop to maligning others or false accusation in the guise of “an analysis” to gain attention.
A few days after we hosted the Miss Liberia Minnesota beauty pageant, we received several phone calls from well wishers who attended the pageant and expressed their appreciation for our efforts or offered some “constructive criticism”.
One of the calls we received was from someone who had attended both 2005 and 2006 pageants and was outraged about the two articles on Bush Chicken by Mr. Brown. The caller observed hat Mr. Brown made no mention of the newly formed T and J Foundation which will provide scholarships for young Liberian students and of the funds for bereaved families in the community nor was there any mention of other aspects of the Foundation or the pageant.
One question raised was”Why isn’t OLM the host of the pageant as opposed to T and J”? We wish to explain that none of the Miss Liberia pageants held here in America, to the best of our knowledge, is hosted by the community organization, not even the national pageant which is held in Philadelphia. Even the Miss America USA pageant is hosted by a private company owned by real estate mogul Donald Trump. The pageant is simply a ceremonial event to empower young women and to help them feel more confident about themselves and their ability to contribute to their community. In closing, we hope that moving forward any story concerning anyone or any organization within the community will meet the highest standard of journalism ethics.
Regards,
T&J Management
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