Brooklyn, NY; May 13, 2013-- Ruth J. Morrison, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and a resident of East New York (Twitter: @NYCPol), issued the following statement on the possibility of launching a campaign for Brooklyn Borough President:

"I am exploring the viability of launching a campaign to be elected to the office of Brooklyn Borough President.

I have lived all over Brooklyn: Bedford-Stuyvesant; Brownsville; Crown Heights; East New York including Starrett City; Prospect Lefferts Gardens (Lefferts Manor); Boerum Hill; and Park Slope.

I see and love the vibrant cultural diversity in Brooklyn and the positive changes that Brooklyn is currently experiencing. However, I also see Brooklyn as a city with huge disparities in a number of areas. There are communities such as Brownsville, Coney Island, and East New York that have special needs that are not being addressed by the announced candidate for Brooklyn Borough President and the Mayoral candidates.

Not one to color inside the lines, Ruth J. Morrison is the CEO and Founder of What's The 411 Networks, a media, marketing, and events company. What's The 411 Networks provides marketing and public relations advice to corporations, nonprofits, small businesses, authors, and political candidates.

A video streaming pioneer, she developed and launched from conception the City of New York's multi-channel cable television network, which included licensing content for the network. She also served as a senior telecommunications policy analyst for the New York City's Mayor's Office of Energy and Telecommunications, and directed the design of a nationwide data communications network for AT&T.

Ms. Morrison is a former Communications Director and Legislative Advisor to a New York Member of the U.S. Congress; she was the first African-American independent television producer to have a weekly show on WNYC-TV; the first African-American woman journalist to cover the New York Knicks as a beat reporter; she was a public relations consultant for the largest football game held at Giants Stadium; and, for three years, she worked as an entertainment and television licensing consultant for an American company in Brasil.

Ms. Morrison was also the first Executive Director for the Brooklyn International Trade Development Center (BITDC), New York City's first and only small business development center whose sole mission was to assist small businesses with selling their products and services to foreign markets. In this capacity, she partnered with the US Commercial Service and the International Trade Administration's Western Hemisphere Unit. She signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Export Import Bank of the United States and the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency. She developed a partnership with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and helped to launch the Allied African Nations Chamber of Commerce. She is an active member of committees implementing the U.S. – Brasil Joint Action Plan, which is under the auspices of the U.S. State Department and the government of Brasil.

Under Ms. Morrison's leadership, BITDC promoted and recruited companies to participate in business opportunity missions to many countries around the world, most notably Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the Canary Islands, the UK, and Haiti following the earthquake. She also created an Emerging Market Seminar Series.

Ms. Morrison earned a master's degree in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University, completed her coursework towards a Ph.D. in political science at Columbia University and she was a Communications Fellow at the Annenberg Washington Program of Northwestern University. Ms. Morrison is a member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, the MIT Enterprise Forum of NYC, and the New York Association of Black Journalists. She has served on many non-profit boards including the New York Software Industry Association; Brooklyn Information and Culture (BRIC); and Neighborhood Housing Services of Bedford Stuyvesant. Ms. Morrison has received numerous honors including awards from the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners in London, and Nation to Nation Networking for her work in building bridges among cultures.

Twitter: @NYCPol
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Maya Angelou Tops What's The 411TV's List of 25 Most Interesting People of 2013

List contains celebrities, authors, protestors, Motown royalty, a billionaire, entrepreneurs, and more

BROOKLYN, NY; December 30, 2013 - What's The 411, a weekly entertainment and lifestyle television show from the Brooklyn-based independent television producers, What's The 411TV, released today its list of 25 Most Interesting People of 2013.

What's The 411's 25 Most Interesting People of 2013 was developed from interviews conducted by What's The 411 reporters between January 1, 2013 through December 13, 2013. The list consists of people from a variety of industries from celebrated personalities to artists and entrepreneurs seeking to break through to ordinary people doing extraordinary things to New Yorkers rallying for justice for Trayvon Martin in the aftermath of George Zimmerman's acquittal. Many people on the list are local to the New York City metro area, while others are global figures.

"Throughout the years, What's The 411 reporters have interviewed so many amazing and interesting people," said Ruth J. Morrison, CEO and Founder, What's The 411 Networks. "Our list is a way to congratulate and celebrate accomplishments, and similar to last year, it was not an easy task for our reporters and producers to narrow down the list to 25 and since we couldn't, we also have a list of eight honorable mentions."

Below is a list of What's The 411TV's 25 Most Interesting People of 2013 with links to their respective interviews. They fall into the categories of sports; film; theater; music; television; fashion and beauty; small business; and literature:

1. Maya Angelou, author, poet, and recipient of the National Book Foundation's Literarian Award
2. Berry Gordy; Legendary Founder of Motown, entrepreneur, and film and theatre producer
3. Mahen Bonetti; Founder, New York African Film Festival, celebrating 20 years of bringing renowned African films and filmmakers to international audiences
4. Bishop T.D. Jakes & Mrs. Serita Jakes; Chief Pastor, The Potter's House, film producers, authors, and more
5. Mikhail Prokhorov, billionaire, and Brooklyn Nets Principal Owner
6. Willis Reed, Legendary NBA and New York Knicks basketball player
7. Dr. Makaziwe Mandela and Tukwini Mandela, daughter and granddaughter of Nelson Mandela, the late former President of South Africa
8. The Tankards: Ben and Jewel Tankard; music producer, Godfather of GospelJazz, and bestselling GospelJazz instrumentalist in the world; Mrs. Tankard is a financial advisor and empowerment coach; and they are both non-salary senior pastors at Destiny Center Church in Murfreesboro, TN; and reality TV stars of Bravo's The Tankards: Thicker Than Water
9. Carolyn A. Butts; Founder and Publisher, African Voices; and producer of African Voices' 16th Annual Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival
10. Duane Jackson, Times Square Hero, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and author of MAY FIRST
11. Martha Reeves; singer, former elected official, and lead singer of the Motown group, Martha and the Vandellas, and still performing since the 1960s
12. Sonya Lamonakis; balancing being a New York City school teacher and a professional boxer
13. Allison J. Davis, Co-Founder, National Association of Black Journalists
14. Producers and Cast of Classical Theatre of Harlem's A Midsummer Night's Dream
15. James McBride; Author and winner of the National Book Award for Fiction
16. Nelson Frank; three-time Grammy-nominated artist (songwriting and producing) and he just added recording artist to his list of accomplishments
17. Justin Tuck; New York Giants defensive end and Founder, Tuck's R.U.S.H. for Literacy
18. Jeremy Lin; former guard with New York Knicks (NBA) whose unsuspecting basketball skills lit a spark and a winning streak that New York basketball fans called "Linsanity;" he is now with the Houston Rockets
19. Mike Tyson; former heavyweight boxing champion and Executive Producer, Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth; life knocked him down a few times and he's still standing
20. Ramfis Myrthil, Producer; and Adam Lawrence, Producer and Director of the film, Love and the Small Print
21. New Yorkers Rallying for Justice for Trayvon Martin after the Acquittal of George Zimmerman
22. Michael Brooks and Rotimi Akinnouye; fearless and smart marketers, and owners of Bed-Vyne Wines, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
23. Todd Jones; charismatic owner of Sweet Dreams Mini Donuts, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
24. Cynthia Bailey-Thomas and Peter Thomas; reality TV stars, Real Housewives of Atlanta; and authors of the book, Carry-on Baggage: Our Non-Stop Flight
25. Dashaun Wesley; Dancer and Choreographer and taking vogue to new heights

HONORABLE MENTION
• Lynn Whitfield, actress, producer, and an ambassador to a Nigerian film festival
• Vivica A. Fox, actress, producer, and a supporter of literacy projects
• Adrian Matejka, Poet and 2013 National Book Award Finalist for Poetry
• AJ Calloway; Former Host, BET's 106th and Park, and lover of real old school hip-hop
• Red Hook Residents Demonstrating for Hurricane Sandy Restoration
• Jared Fogle, Subway restaurant spokesperson and supporter of weight-loss and literacy initiatives
• Big Daddy Kane; pioneering Hip-Hop MC with longevity
• Grandmaster Caz, Hip-Hop Pioneer

About What's The 411TV

Based in Brooklyn, New York, What's The 411TV is a division of What's The 411 Networks, a media/news, marketing, and events company. What's The 411TV connects sophisticated multi-cultural audiences with its content through its distribution platforms of television, online, mobile, and social media.

What's The 411TV's celebrity portfolio consists of interviews with Magic Johnson, Beyonce, Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Hudson, and many, many more.

What's The 411 TV is the television programming division of What's The 411 Networks, a Brooklyn, NY-based celebrity-driven media, marketing, and events company with a focus on sports, entertainment, and lifestyle.

What's The 411 TV produces the celebrity-driven half-hour weekly entertainment and lifestyle television show, What's The 411 and What's The 411SPORTS.

The company established its roots in television production in 1993, producing its flagship television show, What's The 411, a weekly entertainment news program. Distributed on WNYC-TV, a broadcast television station previously owned by the City of New York, What's The 411 entertained millions of households in the New York metro area (NYC, Nassau, western Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Dutchess counties, northern New Jersey, Fairfield Connecticut, and as far west as Reading Pennsylvania).

The company later licensed its programming to a broadcaster in South Africa.

What's The 411 TV boasts a celebrity portfolio featuring interviews with Beyonce, Magic Johnson, Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Blair Underwood, Carmen de Lavallade, Morgan Freeman, Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson and many, many more.

Today, in addition to entertaining and informing viewers in New York City, What's The 411 has a national television footprint reaching 14 million subscribers on Dish TV's video on demand service through the simplyME network.

It's hard to believe, but there was a time when CNN's Business 2.0 had Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, on its list of "10 People Who Don't Matter."

Yes, that's right, CNN's Business 2.0, a magazine that once lived as part of CNN Money, listed Zuckerberg as No. 10 on that list. The article also dismissed Netflix as a passing fad; thanks to Mashable for digging up this story.

The article also proclaimed MySpace as the most important player in the social media game, calling the network, the "80-million-user gorilla," whose success Facebook was simply chasing.

In entrepreneurship, timing is everything. So we'll give Zuckerberg credit for launching his online social directory for college students just as the social-networking craze was getting underway. He also built it right, quickly making Facebook one of the most popular social-networking sites on the Net. But there's also something to be said for knowing when to take the money and run. Last spring, Facebook reportedly turned down a $750 million buyout offer, holding out instead for as much as $2 billion. Bad move. After selling itself to Rupert Murdoch's Fox for $580 million last year, MySpace is now the Web's second most popular website. Facebook is growing too - but given that MySpace has quickly grown into the industry's 80-million-user gorilla, it's hard to imagine who would pay billions for an also-ran.M

Well what a difference a decade makes; we all know what happened to MySpace.

One lesson here for aspiring entrepreneurs is to be careful from whom you take advice. Imagine if Zuckerberg had followed the advice of CNN's Business 2.0.