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THE H MAN BRINGS THE HEAT: GHETTOHEAT


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THE ‘H’ MAN BRINGS THE HEAT

By Alina Oswald, Beyond Race Magazine 7/06

 

H is for Heat. H is for Harlem. H is for HICKSON, a native of Harlem with an ear for the heated stories of the inner city and with a few tales of his own. “Harlem is where the heart is,” 36-year-old HICKSON says, willing to talk just about everything but his first name (which, at least for now, remains a mystery).

 

He graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1998, with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications. While attending college on a full-time basis, HICKSON also worked as a freelance fashion stylist, a job that led to a wardrobe coordinator position with Audrey Smaltz and the Ground Crew, a recognized backstage management team. It was here that he was put in charge of coordinating catwalk queen Naomi Campbell’s outfits.

 

Five years into his work, on September 10, 2001, HICKSON decided to leave the industry, unaware of the tragic events about to happen the following day. “After 9/11, I was living off my savings,” HICKSON recalls. He also started to put his life experiences into words at that time. Soon, writing became a creative outlet for HICKSON. He was writing poetry in between job interviews. At the advice of his friends, HICKSON published his poems in GHETTOHEAT®, a collection of verse portraying the experiences, energy, and vibe of urban inner city life. HICKSON says life on the streets of Harlem includes “the good, the bad and [definitely] the ugly, [but also] the beauty of it, too. It is not all tragic, it’s love as well,” he says. “I love my people and my native place, even if, sometimes it [can] get chaotic.”

 

To self-publish his poetry book, HICKSON founded his own multimedia company, GHETTOHEAT®. It all happened in 1996 in the Village during Veteran’s Day weekend. HICKSON was wrongly accused of not using a token for his train trip. He was handcuffed and locked in a men’s bathroom in the train platform…without being allowed to use the bathroom. It took the police four hours to release him, because they were waiting for the shift change to collect overtime. Taken to Central Bookings, ten officers were involved in an enforced illegal strip search of HICKSON, violating his rights. This led to a class action suit, which HICKSON won in 2000.

 

Three years later, HICKSON received his check. Two days later, on June 4th, 2003, he started his company, GHETTOHEAT®, “What exists before, during and after the fire,” as defined on its website, WWW.GHETTOHEAT.COM GHETTOHEAT®’s mission is to educate and empower everyone through entertainment by creating awareness, be it for safer sex, HIV/AIDS, or street-life awareness, in its products.

 

While starting with only one author (HICKSON) GHETTOHEAT® now publishes six authors and is seeking other new and original voices. GHETTOHEAT® authors come from all paths of life and from everywhere across the country. Two of them, JASON POOLE and DAMON “AMIN” MEADOWS, are co-authors of CONVICT’S CANDY, a novel inspired by actual events and the authors’ personal experiences. It exposes the reality behind bars and issues like HIV/AIDS and sexual harassment among convicts through the story of a transgender woman locked together with male inmates. While the two authors are awaiting their soon-to-come release, HICKSON is promoting CONVICT’S CANDY through book events around the nation. After all, HICKSON believes in the powerful message in CONVICT’S CANDY. That’s why he decided to make it a GHETTOHEAT® production.

 

But GHETTOHEAT® is much more than a multimedia company. It is a movement against illiteracy within inner cities, providing a creative outlet for youth to express themselves freely through the art of writing. GHETTOHEAT® has established a college scholarship fund intended for young adults pursuing careers in journalism and or creative arts. Funding for the scholarship comes partly from the sales of GHETTOHEAT® products.

 

THE GHETTOHEAT® MOVEMENT is also about everyday people across the world united in their efforts to promote the importance of reading. As defined on HICKSON’s web site, the movement’s mission is “to find a solution for the serious, ongoing problem of illiteracy within urban communities.”

 

HICKSON has been dedicating his life’s work to improving the lives of others through fighting illiteracy and bringing into the open real issues of life on the street. He hopes that soon it will be possible to make GHETTOHEAT® books into movies and, therefore as to the ways in which GHETTOHEAT® can help. After all, HICKSON concludes, “[GHETTOHEAT®] is all about making a difference.”

 

HICKSON: CEO of GHETTOHEAT® & GHETTOHEAT® TV!

 

GHETTOHEAT® PRODUCTIONS:

 

GHETTOHEAT® 

CONVICT’S CANDY 

HARDER 

AND GOD CREATED WOMAN 

LONDON REIGN 

SONZ OF DARKNESS 

TANTRUM 

HICKSONBELIKE... 

LOVE DON’T LOVE NOBODY 

THICKNESS 

GHOST TOWN HUSTLERS 

BANJEE CUNT 

ULTRAFABNABULOUS 

BROTHERS BEHIND BARS 

SO SEXY 

TOUGH 

MR. GHETTOHEAT® 

SKATE ON! 

GHETTOHEAT® EATS 

TURF 

GHETTOHEAT® MAGAZINE!

 

GHETTOHEAT® | P.O. BOX 2746 | NEW YORK, NY 10027 | HTTP://GHETTOHEAT.COM/ | HICKSON@GHETTOHEAT.COM

 

GHETTOHEAT®: THE HOTNESS IN THE STREETS!!!™

 

 

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#GHETTOHEATEATS 

#GHETTOHEATCOM

 

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