Greetings Everyone!

TALKING ABOUT STR8NOCHASR! I’m gonna need one after this!

So here goes! It’s been a long time coming lol! First, I would like to apologize to every sister that attended the All Nude dinner party. The apology is for not having the blog up and running on the date that was originally given. You know, life is super funny at times and you may think you have everything all planned out and then life shows up and tells you that you don’t run SHIT! Initially when i thought of this party, of course I envisioned it being spectacular! I wanted every woman in the building to be treated with love, respect and admiration. I wanted you guys to have a wonderful time, a good meal, and walk away feeling empowered and motivated. That was my ultimate goal! I feel that my wants were a SUCCESS! Of course, everyone doesn’t necessarily feel that way, but it’s ok!

Let me tell you about some of the details surrounding this event. This event was sponsored by myself, my husband, and our companies; Str8nochasr Llc. and Conscious Minds Ent. Llc. I put my heart into it! Although my ultimate goal of treating you ladies to a good night was a success, there were so many other things that didn’t go as planned and didn’t turn out successfully. Now you know I have to tell you about it because i gotta be real!

I secured the venue. I chose the entertainment, caterer, event planner, DJ, theme, colors, speakers and most importantly the photographer!  Yes, the photographer was the most important person at the event! Why?… because in this day and age photos are so important and relevant to almost everything we do. We take photos every single day. Some people take over 200 photos a day trying to get the perfect selfie! Yes, it’s vain to some, but it’s the norm. It’s apart of our society now and with social media leading the way, how can you not have the perfect picture? So, I selected the perfect photographer. A photographer that my company has used on several occasions because I knew that no matter what this party’s turnout would be, he was good enough to make it look like the Grammys in photos. Nothing BUT the Best for us!

I  personally purchased several women’s attire including my own, because I wanted everyone to have an opportunity to dress up for a change and strut their stuff!  While in Hawaii, I purchased my attire. I later went shoe shopping with my sister when I came home for the event. I’m certain that most of you ladies did the same exact things that I did to ensure that you’d look your best. I got mine and my daughters nails done. I got their weaves done… and i hate weaves! Lol

My mother and grandmother eagerly waited with excitement and anticipation for the event. They  looked for their perfect dresses! I couldn’t wait to get a picture with all 5 generations of my family. My grandmother, mother, me, my daughters, my aunt and sister. I would cherish the picture for a life time! Seven beautiful black women all different skin tones, all wearing shades of nude.  The photo would be priceless and remain in each of our homes for lifetimes…

Now, to elaborate on this apology being given… This is how I envisioned the party would go. After the event was over, I’d planned to have everyone log onto the website for the first time in hopes of being able to see all of the wonderful pictures, videos and special moments that took place as well as read all of the old and new blog posts I’d written.  The photographer that I hired had to leave early, even though he was paid for the full time. So, I didn’t get pics or video footage of the end of the event. The key note speaker’s address was not documented…BUT, I was understanding of his wanting to get to his next job. I know people need their coins and I was happy that everyone else appeared to be happy so, i didn’t sweat it. I smiled, thanked him, and paid him.

So, a few days go by and I was expecting to get a call or text from the photographer so that I could proof the photos and video for the event. Unbeknownst to me, 38 of the pictures had been released to Facebook! I thought, why would a PROFESSIONAL photographer take pictures of an event that I paid for, as well as paid him to shoot, post MY bought and paid for pictures on his Facebook page before even allowing the purchaser (Kiki) to view them? Upon hearing the news that they were on fb, I immediately drove to my cousin’s house to charge my phone so that I could see what’d been posted and so that I could contact him to remove the photos because that was not my plan. My plan was not for the photos to be on Facebook. I have a website for Str8nochasr and I wanted the photos to be used as a vehicle to draw viewers to the website. I was disappointed to say the least!  After seeing and taking about 11 screenshots of personal photos of myself, close friends and family, I contacted the photographer and asked him very professionally and nicely if he could remove the photos because I didn’t want them on Facebook. I wasn’t ready for anyone from the event to see them yet. I explained to him my purpose for the photos….he said, “Sure no problem”.

Unbeknownst to me, this apparently made him livid! Livid is the only word I can use to describe what his emotion must’ve been due to the result of his actions shortly thereafter.  Days later, I asked him if he could email the photos. He said that he couldn’t… that the file was too large. He stated that he wanted to mail them to me and asked for my address. I felt confident that he’d done this before.  After all, he’s a photographer and surely he has mailed other client’s photos, so i had no reason to doubt that he would be able to take care of the task. I travel quite a bit so, I rested in the fact that when I returned to Georgia, that my photos would be waiting for me in the mail box.  Weeks go by, I return to Georgia eagerly waiting to check my mail.  I arrived at the mail center, took out all the mail….. There it was, the envelope!  The envelope was as flat as the day it was when he purchased it!. There was nothing in the envelope! One corner of the envelope, clearly  hadn’t been sealed. The envelope looked as if someone had purposely tried to make it look like it had come undone.

This is so hard for me to type! I’ve been putting it off day after day! I’ve suffered a barrage of emotions from pure rage to disgust, simple hurt and pain to grief and loss!  It was just a party for a lot of folks, but it was far more for me as an individual as well as for Str8nochasr.com.

I immediately called my husband because to me he knows how to handle everything; he’s my hero!…and I knew he’d know just what to do as well as how to calm me down. We talked about it… I called the photographer, no answer! I called again the following day, no answer!  Then, I texted him in detail explaining the disappearance of the media. I never got ugly with him, just stated that I didn’t receive it. I asked what type of media device it was, he stated that it was a jump drive. There were no indications of anything bulky or with substance being inside that envelope! None! I offered to pay him for another jump drive and asked that he resend the media.

YALL READY FOR THIS??!!!

I received no response! Days later I get a phone call from him. When I saw his name popup on my caller id, I was elated! I answered the phone all happy go lucky and I  said, “Hey! did you get my text?”, he responded, “Oh yeah, I’m 80% sure that I deleted your pictures!”. I said,” 80% sure, are you kidding me?….Why would you do that?”,  he didn’t respond. Now, I’m beginning to get emotional! I feel tears welling inside my eyes. At the time, I was inside of a restaurant, so I removed myself in case the conversation went left. This…this…this…MAN told me that he “just” did it. I said to him, “Didn’t you just send us footage from an event that you did for us in 2014?, so it’s not customary for you to delete your hard copy of pictures and events, why this one?”,  he then begins to tell me how he’s mailed things to other clients in the past and that they received theirs. So, I calmly said, “What does that have to do with me?”, he continues to speak in regards to some wedding photos he took. I then interrupt his dialogue and say louder,” I don’t care about someone else’s wedding, and I don’t want to hear about anything but the photos for Str8nochasr!”, he then interrupts me and tells me, “YOU’RE GETTING EMOTIONAL!”, and I said, ” Of course I AM!”. I then calmed myself down and simply addressed him by his name and stated that I no longer wanted to continue the conversation with him, I’d contact him via text to see if there’s a 20% chance that he still has the photos.

Weeks go by… I sent out one last text professionally regarding the events surrounding the photos and stated that I would be contacting my lawyer.

How did something so beautiful and thoughtful become something horrible and disgusting because of one person? Why and how could any human being, especially a black brother, look at each of those photos and faces of all the beautiful women in the room (women ranging from ages 16 to 79 ) and be so vindictive, so mean, so cruel! SO thoughtless, just to hurt KIKI!

It’s my belief that when I initially contacted the photographer and asked him to remove the photos from his Facebook page, that he became infuriated. Somehow, I think this man lives vicariously though other people’s businesses via the photos he shoots. I believe this is true because of a statement that he made to me. He said, ” I POST ALL OF MY EVENTS ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE!” . At that moment, I knew that he felt that the photos were his to do what he pleases with.  He thinks that the events he shoots are his events, but they aren’t! The only thing that belongs to him, is his camera. The photos were purchased before he shot them and they belonged to Nikiki Franklin-Bey, and Str8nochasr.com

It’s my belief that he never had media to send to me, and that he purposely suggested mailing them so that he could concoct a scheme to make the media appear to be lost in the mail…But, he didn’t know that Kiki is not the average bear, she’s very smart and she’s a slick detective that pays close attention to detail. I’m not a person that just takes any or everything at face value. I have an analytical mind and you just can’t pull average BULLSHIT over on me…Even if you think you have and thought you got away with it… TRUST ME, you didn’t…and I KNOW!

I didn’t think men could be this type of lil girl petty!…or in their feelings!. I know that power is in the tongue as well as thought. I know that I HAVE THE ABILITY TO BLESS AND CURSE with my own mouth. So, what do yall think my thoughts and words for this…this…this…MAN will be!!!????

I’m sorry, the first post you read on the blog couldn’t be butterflies and lilies…instead it was bullshit and lies!…But hey that’s why it’s STR8NOCHASR and now you know what happened.

I HAVE ONE REQUEST FOR YOU ALL, IF YOU HAVE ANY PICTURES OF THE EVENT  THAT ARE OF A DECENT QUALITY, PLEASE EMAIL THEM TO me at niki_frank@str8nochasr.com