500 Men Made a Difference in Brooklyn

By Journalist Ms. Jones

BROOKLYN – On Saturday, December 16, the community supported Black-owned businesses at the In the Black NYC Small Business Expo “Holiday Shopping Edition.” It was hosted by 500 Men Making a Difference in collaboration with New Day New Opportunity at the Magnolia Tree Earth Center.

“500 Men Making a Difference is a non-for-profit organization that mentors young men fourteen years to eighteen… We help the young men become young leaders in their community. We [also] do STEM… New Day New Opportunity is an organization I formed… basically doing business mixers and small business expos,” said James Frazier, Board Member and Networking Event Coordinator of 500 Men Making a Difference and CEO of New Day New Opportunity.

This is the second In the Black Small Business Expo.

“In the black means you are financially sound. When you’re in the red, you’re broke… It’s a mindset… Even though you’re in the red, you have the opportunity to be in the black about financial literacy. That’s why we had Anthony Lolli here,” said Frazier.

Anthony Lolli is the Founder and CEO of Rapid Realty NYC. He shared how he achieved in the world of real estate. Lolli became a millionaire at age twenty-three and is now a multi-millionaire. He discussed his new book “The Heart of the Deal” which teaches people how to reach their financial goals. Lolli had humble beginnings.

“I’m the son of an immigrant woman who came to this country with twenty dollars in her pocket, lived in an abandoned building, worked in sweatshops,” said Lolli. “I grew up in a one-bedroom rent-controlled apartment in downtown Brooklyn. There were a lot of things we couldn’t afford to do… I wanted to change that and real estate was the way.”

The In the Black Small Business Expo also included authors, jewelers, candlemakers, artists, image consultants, chefs, chocolate vendors, clothing designers, a live DJ, and more.
Children’s book author Reea Rodney just launched a self-improvement workbook series. The series includes topics on self-esteem, self-love, self-confidence, self-celebration, and bullying. She plans to add self-talk as well.

“In each book there are… twelve activities,” said Rodney who also authored the Juniper and Rose series. “It’s about twin sisters… I tell real issues that children deal with… It teaches teamwork, compromise, and acceptance… It [also] talks about… healthy eating if you have a picky eater.”

George “Hutch” Hutchinson discussed the Race 4 Excellence Mentoring Program for middle school boys.

“I use remote-controlled… electric race… cars… to foster the mentoring process,” said Hutchinson who showed some of the cars that were painted by some of the students in his program. “It’s a team-building type of program.”

“Stars on the Rise” sold candy and other treats to raise money for young performing artists to go to Los Angeles to audition for several weeks in January.

“We act, model, dance, and sing. In January we are going to LA. We’re going there for pilot season… so we can star in a show,” said Jada Tillett, Logan Randolph, Morgan Randolph, and Khyiah Johnson of “Stars on the Rise.”

For more information about 500 Men Making a Difference, visit www.500menmakingadifference.org.

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