MUST SEE: 12 Years A Slave

I'm too young to know the impact that Roots had on blacks and America back when it was released but I have to imagine that it had the same heartbreaking and inspiring affect that '12 Years A Slave' had on me.  I've seen Amistad, Glory and other films like it that capture and retell certain parts of the story of slavery but I've never seen any film as raw, honest and emotionally charged as '12 Years A Slave'.

I had the opportunity to see it this past weekend during its limited run in DC.  The theater was packed 20 minutes before the movie started with just as many pale faces as dark.  I actually ended up sitting next to a white couple and as the movie progressed I noticed the couple exhaling deeply or twisting in their seats just as myself and my fiance were as we witnessed some gut-wrenching and heartbreaking scenes that helped tell the true story of Solomon Northup.  By the end of the movie sniffles could be heard throughout the theater as guys on dates tried to fight back their tears (more than likely unsuccessfully) and as some of the women weren't able to.

It's impossible not to leave that movie changed in some way, with the images (some very graphic and detailed) hanging over your head.  I'm no movie critic but I will say that it is a film that everyone should see at least once, if not for the tale of struggle, hope, and perseverance than for the perfection of the film-making in-and-of itself.

by @julianstarks @julian_starks

Black Enterprise - Julian Starks

I'm very humbled to have been considered for a write up on the Black Enterprise website specifically in their career section!  I was asked by writer Courtney Connley  how i've managed to turn my dreams into a reality and my passion into profit, to which I replied from my own experience of really having to do all your research on what you plan to do and then take a leap of faith, check out the article here!

by @julianstarks

TOP 5 Hip Hop Cash Kings of 2013

Diddy is still king on the Forbes Cash Kings list with $580M!  Hov is second on the list with $475M, Dr. Dre, Birdman, and 50 round out the top 5 with $350M, $150M, and $125M respectively.

by @julianstarks

New Design by @julianstarks

I'm one of those people that are always busy but can't ever really tell you what I'm busy on, however between handling designs and inventory for Demeanor and knocking-out freelance work through blog.pillcollection.com, I managed to find some spare time to create one of my favorite designs to-date!

Recently I've fallen in love with bright pop-colors against grey backgrounds, and she is a perfect example of where my artwork is headed these days!

I think this design would make a great print as well as a nice shirt design, let me know what you think, also I haven't been able to come up with a name for her yet, so if you have any ideas please drop them in the comments section?

via pillcollection.com #pillcollection


by @julianstarks

Pill Collection

Been on the grind lately, really focusing on getting our Demeanor Spring/Summer collection prepared but also i've been using my spare time to knockout alot of artwork (sketches, paintings, illustrations, and graphic design) through my Pill Collection site.  Check it out and let me know what you think!

http://pillcollection.com/
http://blog.pillcollection.com/

On Instagrams and Twitter:
@julianstarks

Fashcapade Guest Blogger: Demeanor's Julian Starks

Fashcapade kicked off its MARCH MEN series, which shines a spotlight on male fashion. I was given the opportunity to guest blog on Fashcapade's site to talk about how I see fashion, the origins of Demeanor and my design process. Below are a few excerpts from the post:

What does fashion mean to me?
Fashion, is all about creativity, confidence and comfort. To be fashion forward or just ahead of the curve in any field, you have to kind of disregard other people’s opinions and be able to be push boundaries, while being confident and comfortable in your ideas. Anyone who has pioneered anything is usually the person that gets laughed at or talked about, but eventually people catch on and follow suit.

Taking chances is also a big part of fashion; you can’t fail if you never try, so even in failure you succeed at trying something new.

Why we decided to launch Demeanor?
My partners and I launched Demeanor as a lifestyle brand over a year ago. Our goal from the very beginning was to create an all encompassing company. The whole idea of a lifestyle brand is, we want you to get dressed in Demeanor clothes, with Demeanor art hanging in the background, and listen to Demeanor music on your way to a Demeanor event.

We also wanted to create an experience that spoke to our generation and our environment. No one I know wants to pay a million dollars for a high quality shirt, but we all want to look like we paid a million for it, so for us we decided to create that, high-end-quality at a reasonable price.

To read the full post, click here to visit Fashcapade's site.

by @DM_Ju

Rosa Parks once said...

"I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up."


Posted by @DM_Clunie

DMV’s “Top 30 Under 30″ by 93.9 WKYS: Julian Starks

Every year, the brightest and most achieved young people in the area are selected and recognized by DMV's 'Top 30 Under 30' presented by 93.9 WKYS.

I'm truly honored to have made this prestigious list this year, being recognized for the hard work that I've put in at perfecting my craft in the art field while also building a highly successful lifestyle brand with my brothers JeeVan, Clunie, and John!

It feels like we're on our way to living our dreams! Be sure to check out the rest of the DMV's 'Top 30 Under 30' presented by 93.9 WKYS, it's true inspiration!

by @DM_Ju

Bill Cosby once said....

"The past is a ghost, the future a dream. All we ever have is now."

Posted by @DM_Clunie

Malcolm X once said....

"Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today."



by @DM_Ju

'Thinking of Forever' Series

On Saturday November 26th, my Grandmother, the woman who raised me and motivated me to strive for greatness, passed away on her 75th birthday (due to heart related complications). Since her passing I’ve been working on a series of prints that I will be releasing next week titled ‘Thinking of Forever’. These prints will not only be in loving memory of my Grandmother but also dedicated to all of the hearts that are longing for loved ones who are no longer with us. More details about this very personal project will be released throughout next week.

by @DM_Ju

Motivation: Find

Here's some mid-week motivation for you folks. God Bless.

Find: "You weren't put on this earth to simply work for a living. Discover what you were meant to do and do it."

Posted By: @DM_JeeVansWorld

Empowerment: "Remember To Forget"

We all go through problems in life, and sometimes we just need positive energy or words to get as back in the swing of things. I'm also a firm beliver in karma, so for the next few days, weeks, or months I'm going to try to send out positive vibes throughout the internet. Today's message is "Remember To Forget"

Forgive and forget, not only because you shold, but because more than once you've also said, "I'm sorry."

Posted By: @JeeVansWorld

Everybody Has a Plan...

This has been a pretty crazy month for me. Earlier this month I was involved in a car accident (not my fault), and since then i've been having crazy neck/back pains as well as migranes, been on all sorts of meds that hurt my stomach, make me delusional, and have me thursty as fuck... all the while i've been grinding and continuing to build this brand.

Throughout this whole month i've been dealing with a bunch of frustrating people and situations but somehow watching this video made me feel a little better!

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” ― Mike Tyson



by @DM_TattooJu

The Intro

My friend hipped me to J. Cole's Intro off his new album Cole World: The Sideline Story last night because she said it reminded her of me, I guess ambitious!

J. Cole's intro's have always been inspirational to me, I honestly listen to the Warm Up intro every single morning, I can really relate to being hungry and wanting success soo bad to the point that its frustrating! With Cole's first album dropping soon it seems like he'll finally have a shot at the success that he's been working for, and with our new collection 'Last Stand' starting to roll out this weeking I hope it's the same for us!

by @DM_TattooJu

Demeanor @ Young Black Entrepreneurs Workshop

This past weekend Demeanor was invited to participate in a Young Black Entrepreneurs Workshop and speak to students at the LAYC in DC. It was a really cool and fun event. Students had the chance to play some guessing games about our brand as well as ask whatever questions were on their mind as we went through the brief history of our brand and shared our vision of where we're taking it!

I was really impressed by the students as they not only paid attention (I have a short attention span even as an adult so you could only imagine me being in my teens) but asked very relevant and knowledgeable questions about not only starting a business takes, but about startup capital, how important is working a 9-5 while side-hustling until your dream comes true, and how important recognizing our demographic is?

At the end we had a few giveaways. We asked a few questions and gave away a few shirts for students that answered correctly, we also gave away DM wristbands so we hope that everyone got something. Hopefully everyone had as much fun as we did, thanks for having us!

by @Jetsetting_Ju

Black History: Will Smith

Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, film producer and rapper. He has enjoyed success in music, television and film. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor on the planet. Smith has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won multiple Grammy Awards.

In the late 1980’s Smith acheived modest fame as the MC of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, with his childhood friend Jeffrey "DJ Jazzy Jeff" Townes as a producer. They gained critical acclaim for winning the first ever Grammy in the Rap category (1988). In 1990 the NBC television network signed him to a contract and built a sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, around him.

The show ran for nearly six years on NBC and has been syndicated consistently on various networks since then. In the mid-1990s, Smith transitioned from television to film, and ultimately starred in numerous blockbuster films that received box office success. In fact, he is the only actor in history to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office as well as being the only actor to have eight consecutive films in which he starred open at the #1 spot in the domestic box office.

Fourteen of the 19 fiction films he has acted in have accumulated worldwide gross earnings of over $100 million, and 4 of them took in over $500 million in global box office receipts. He also earned critical praise for his performances in Six Degrees of Separation, Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness, receiving Best Actor Oscar nominations for the latter two.

To read more about Bessie Coleman click here or here!

Wale "No Days Off" Documentary

RoyalRae provides this short documentary of a day in the life of Wale which was filmed during his recent show in the ATL. It's good to see Wale give advice on how to build a fanbase as he really breakdown his grassroots grind at about 5:20!

by @Jetsetting_Ju

Black History: Jack Johnson

John Arthur ("Jack") Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the “Galveston Giant”, was an American boxer, the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915).

By 1902, Johnson had won at least 50 fights against both white and black opponents. Johnson won his first title on February 3, 1903, beating "Denver" Ed Martin over 20 rounds for the World Colored Heavyweight Championship. His efforts to win the full title were thwarted, as world heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries refused to face him then as the world heavy weight championship was then off limit to African Americans.

Johnson finally won the world heavyweight title on December 26, 1908 after beating the reigning world champion, Tommy Burns, which came after stalking Burns around the world for two years and taunting him in the press for a match.

In 1910, former undefeated heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries came out of retirement to fight Johnson. The "Fight of the Century" took place on July 4, 1910 in front of 20,000. In the 15th round, after Jeffries had been knocked down twice for the first time in his career, his people called it quits to prevent Johnson from knocking him out, Johnson earned $65,000 and silenced critics.

Johnson was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954, and is on the roster of both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame. In 2005, the United States National Film Preservation Board deemed the film of the 1910 Johnson-Jeffries fight "historically significant" and put it in the National Film Registry.

Muhammad Ali often spoke of how he was influenced by Jack Johnson. Ali identified with Johnson because he felt America ostracized him in the same manner because of his opposition to the Vietnam War and affiliation with the Nation of Islam.

by @Jetsetting_Ju

Black History: Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was a composer, pianist, and big band leader born and raised in Washington, D.C. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions. In the words of Bob Blumenthal of the Boston Globe "In the century since his birth, there has been no greater composer, American or otherwise, than Edward Kennedy Ellington."

A prominent figure in the history of jazz, and a figure in the Harlem Renaissance, Ellington's music stretched into various other genres, including blues, gospel, film scores, popular, and classical. His career spanned more than 50 years and included leading his orchestra, composing an inexhaustible songbook, scoring for movies, composing stage musicals, and world tours.

Many of the musicians who were members of his orchestra are considered among the best in jazz in their own right, but it was Ellington who melded them into one of the most well-known jazz orchestral units in the history of jazz. Ellington led his band from 1923 until his death in 1974. His reputation increased after his death, the Pulitzer Prize Board bestowing a special posthumous honor in 1999.



To read more about Bessie Coleman click here or here!

by @Jetsetting_Ju