Check out the video interview with Po Johnson

NV Magazine has established its 15-year history as a "new vision" of business publication for urban professionals around the country. Whether scaling the ladder within corporate America or creating a successful venture from scratch, NV has chosen to not only acknowledge but honor, many of these ground-breakers with its annual Movers & Shakers Awards.

For the past five years, Founder, Kyle Donovan and Publisher, Christopher Chaney and their team have solicited recommendations for and researched their selections to identify honorees from the well-established, even famous, to the less celebrated but ascending innovators, executives and business "hustlers" within the multicultural community. This isn't for the sake of taking nice pictures and having a cocktail, NV's mission is to empower communities of color through the recognition of these trendsetters and inspire collective collaboration to generate wealth and long-term economic stability for the black and Latino market.

Singer, Po Johnson, of La La Anthony's Full Court Life reality show fame was one of the honorees. We started with Po's thoughts on the evening. Is it exciting, a surprise?

"It's a surprise," said Po with a combination of merriment and wonder. "When they called me to do the shoot with them I didn't realize what it was so once I realize that they thought I was awesome it made me feel really cool and then they were like, yeah we're going to have a little thing and this is way more than I thought it was going to be. Yeah, yeah this is all very surprising but I'm having a good time and very happy to be here."

Being a reality star veteran, is this event a big deal still for Po?

"It absolutely is, it's a blessing," she said. "We're like in our 5th season that's about to air, so that means that people like us and I get to work with my best friends and we still get to respect ourselves, respect our families and you know, set a good example for kids, so I'm proud to be a part of it."

What's coming up in terms of music, in terms of creative content? "

"Aw, thank you for asking me that," Po responded. "Well the show's about to air in March and then I just got a deal that I can't talk about now with a record label, so we're about to push my single project in a couple of months, I'm very excited and then I'm going to do UltraFest and you'll start seeing a lot more of me on not the independent realm but I actually got a name for myself now, so I'm happy yeah."

Po you're blowing up but I have to ask, who are you wearing?

Ooh, um, this is all SKINGRAFT actually, yeah, yeah, yeah, SKINGRAFT, he's huge, I love him...naw he's really dope and I like his stuff yeah."

NV Magazine has established its 15-year history as a "new vision" of business publication for urban professionals around the country. Whether scaling the ladder within corporate America or creating a successful venture from scratch, NV has chosen to not only acknowledge, but honor, many of these ground-breakers with its annual Movers & Shakers Awards.

For the past five years, Founder, Kyle Donovan and Publisher, Christopher Chaney and their team have solicited recommendations for and researched their selections to identify honorees from the well-established, even famous, to the less celebrated but ascending innovators, executives and business "hustlers" within the multicultural community. This isn't for the sake of taking nice pictures and having a cocktail, NV's mission is to empower communities of color through the recognition of these trendsetters and inspire collective collaboration to generate wealth and long term economic stability for the black and Latino market.

One of the superstar awardees of the event was Ericka Pittman, Vice President Brand Strategy of Sean Combs' Blue Flame Agency. As the brand and marketing arm of the wildly popular CIROC Ultra-Premium Vodka, we asked how she felt about the recognition.

Check out the video interview with Ericka Pittman

"When they called and told me I was nominated and I would be on the cover amongst such amazing, esteemed colleagues and peer group, I thought it was amazing, said Ericka Pittman. " I've followed the NV Movers & Shakers covers for years and so for me, it was an honor to be nominated and included in the process."

Being responsible for such an explosion of business, what's been the most exciting and challenging part for Ericka the past two years?

"With a meteoric success like CIROC, I mean five years, two million cases, we're super excited," Ericka replied. "We're the #2 Ultra-Premium vodka in the country and you know obviously it's one thing to come up but it's another thing to stay up, right? Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, so we have a lot of imitation happening in the market place, a lot of our strategy is being mimicked and it's interesting to try and stay fresh and new and stay exciting and connected to our consumers, at the same time stay authentic, so we're constantly challenged and brainstorming trying figure out what's new, what's hot and what's next!"

And when asked what's coming up?

To which Ericka replied, "So Blue Flame is Sean Combs right? So it's everything Sean Combs and obviously he has always got his hands in the mix of amazing, fantastic stuff. He's executive producing Rick Ross' new album, he's going to be working on a new project and there's REVOLT, the new television network, so we have a lot of amazing, awesome stuff happening at Blue Flame and Combs Enterprises and stay tuned for some really exciting stuff from CIROC.

What's The 411 reporter, Cristina Twitty, caught up with Bishop T.D. Jakes and Mrs. Serita Jakes at the Black Natvitiy New York premiere at the world famous Apollo Theater.

Serita Jakes is the "Christmas Kid" in the Jakes household, according to Bishop T.D. Jakes.

Mrs. Jakes loves to decorate during the Christmas season and it's the time of year that everyone offers good tidings and great joy.

When the Christmas season is over, Mrs. Jakes feels "humbuggy".

WATCH VIDEO:

Sarah Jakes, daughter, Bishop T.D. Jakes, attended the New York premiere of Black Nativity at the world famous Apollo Theater.

Sarah said tongue in cheek that being the daughter of a well-known pastor has been so dramatic, she had to write a book about it.

Sarah added, "You get to be involved in incredible moments like this so you can't really take it for granted; but it's been an incredible journey. I'm so proud of him. I'm so glad to see him stretching the boundaries of what they say ministry can be." Lost and Found by Sarah Jakes is due spring 2014.

WATCH VIDEO: Sarah Jakes

WATCH VIDEO: The Tankards on Black Nativity Red Carpet

What's The 411TV reporter Cristina Twitty enjoyed chatting it up with Ben and Jewel Tankard on the red carpet at the BLACK NATIVITY New York Premiere at the Apollo Theater in New York City.

As reality TV stars, how do the Tankards raise all of their children while maintaining all of their morals and values?

It definitely takes a lot of work and depending on God's Grace to do it because each child is so distinctly different.

If you watch THE TANKARDS: THICKER THAN WATER, you'll see some of the things they got right and some of the things that they got wrong and some things will be very funny. They have learned that when you bring a blended family together you have to come up with a new system and they're still figuring it out after 13 years.

Ben Tankard is considered the Godfather of Gospel Jazz and the most successful gospel jazz artist in history with 20 albums, including gold and platinum. The music business is what has helped the Tankards to buy the house, the planes, and cars. They are still recording and doing over 100 concerts per year and people should know that they volunteer their time as pastors.

Jewel Tankard has a very successful network marketing business with 38,000 people in her network which has generated seven figures for her. Jewel also has a financial services company, which she uses to help women to be financially secure.

Also on the red carpet for Black Nativity New York Premiere were: Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Tyrese Gibson, Jacob Latimore, Mary J. Blige, Nasir Jones aka Nas, Jennifer Hudson, Gale Gibson, Luke James, Lynn Whitfield and more.

With the specter of the New York City mayoral election looming, demonstrators gathered for a march at City Hall last Sunday and demanded that the city invest in neighborhoods still reeling from Superstorm Sandy one year later.

None of the mayoral candidates were present but Bill de Blasio's catchphrase, "a tale of two cities," resonated strongly with the participants.

"We've heard a lot about a tale of two cities and confronting inequality in this city, all of us are here today to build back one city for all of us. We do not want a tale of two recoveries," said Matt Ryan, executive director of ALIGN: Alliance for a Greater New York.

ALIGN organized the march, which brought together various union and community groups, including 32BJ SEIU, Make the Road NY and Legal Aid Society.

Some of the groups (hailing from areas hardest-hit by Sandy) organized residents who traveled to City Hall together.

Toni Khadijah James made the trek with Red Hook Initiative. She wanted to keep pressure on government officials to finish the job of recovery so that when the next storm washes ashore, her community won't be left out to dry.

"We are still in danger, nothing has changed," Ms. James said. "We need jobs, we need money, [we need] the infrastructure to be taken care of correctly. We need to know that we're safe in these buildings where we occupy, we live here, [and] we have our children here."

One year after the storm, temporary outdoor boilers are still being used at the Red Hook Houses where James lives. Some apartments have lost the battle against mold, while others have leaky roofs, all of this on top of the repairs that needed to be done before Sandy.

Red Hook Houses is the largest housing project in Brooklyn and the second largest in the city with about 6,000 residents, but community organizers say the neglect and lack of repairs is common throughout all of public housing.

"We want the next mayor to understand that the repairs here in public housing should be at the top of the list," said Julian Vigo, community organizer at Red Hook Initiative and Community Voices Heard. "The apartments are in pretty bad shape, the buildings are in pretty bad shape and there's no way we can talk about rebuilding the city if these communities don't get the repairs they need."

But repairs are just the beginning. United by the march's motto, "Turn the Tide," speakers at the event also called on the next mayor to turn the tide on rising inequality by investing in job creation, more affordable housing, sustainable energy and health care.

Iona Folkes, a nurse at St. John's Episcopal Hospital made an especially impassioned plea about the importance of good healthcare and hospitals in the fight for a fairer New York City. Citing the role of St. John's (which had been threatened with closure) in caring for Far Rockaway's patients immediately after the storm, she implored government to keep hospitals open and support healthcare citywide.

"I'm here to ask the elected officials, don't forget the community, don't forget the disenfranchised," stated Ms. Folkes. "Don't forget that the community that needs healthcare the most is the underserved community."

Whoever the city chooses to elect on Tuesday, November 5th, the new mayor will have to decide how to uplift downtrodden neighborhoods with limited resources—no easy task in a city as big as New York, but one that's fairly simple James believes.

The key to banishing a tale of two cities comes down to equal spending.

"Money is the key to everything, you just have to make sure that it's divvied out correctly, that no one gets more than the other one, that it's all split up evenly so everyone gets a chance to expand and make it a better place to live," Ms. James added.