Many young men in this day and age tend to idolize certain aspects of life that the media portrays as the “
American Way
” for men to be viewed by society. Some of those influential traits include: money, cars, an assortment of women, and name brand urban clothes and shoes. It seems like so much of the media, along with rap and hip-hop, has swayed our youth into believing that this “jockish” way of living is the ideal way that our young men should live.
We recently got the chance to chat with up-and-coming author Martez Burks. Mr. Burks isn’t the typical author that most of you guys are accustomed to. Not only is the crafty
Tennessee
State
University
graduate a witty author, he is also an acclaimed promoter with the
Nashville
,
Tennessee
based entertainment company FlyMajor.com. Not the one to be satisfied, Mr. Burks is also in the works of getting his Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology.
Martez Burks had some knowledge that he wanted to drop on the readers of the Fab Life Blog.
Doc P – So Martez, with so many people showing you much love with your first published work,
Memoirs of a Gentleman: The Unspoken Truth, how does it feel to get such a positive response back?
Burks – It’s actually a blessing. To visualize all of this happening then to see it actually come true is amazing. The positive feedback is encouraging. Sometimes when people step out on faith, a little anxiety creeps in. You’re not sure as to how your peers will receive you, so the positive feedback is very encouraging.
Doc P – I am really feeling the title of the work so what was the inspiration behind the title?
Burks – The title came from the idea of wanting to tell my story from Martez Burks’ perspective, but realizing that there are a lot of males I encounter with similar situations, so I wanted to make my first book something that each male can call his own. Something like a personal journal. That’s why I present questions at the end of each scenario, to get the mind going and working as well as to allow us to think about the situations we put ourselves in and how we should respond to them.
Doc P – While we’re on the subject of inspiration, what inspired you to actually go through with expressing your memoirs on a global front? A lot of males wouldn’t put themselves out there like that because some may feel that they would lose some of their swagger because they may get labeled a wimp. So what made you ultimately pursue this vision?
Burks –The vision is more personal then people may think. The purpose is driven from my brother. While growing up in the same home with the same parents, I never understood why or how we both ended up on opposite spectrums. After surpassing adolescence and entering adulthood, I finally realized that my brother suffered from a learning disability, which deprived him from achieving in school as well as I did. Having a comprehension problem while understanding literature, I wanted to prevent someone else from experiencing such by writing a book they could read and would actually consider reading. From that situation, I was inspired to pursue my dream of becoming an author, disregarding the stigma on intellectual males that I knew was bigger than me. I also felt a need to help someone else, which I feel that I am doing by inspiring others to seek greatness and by letting others know that anything is possible.
Doc P – I know you’re studying Clinical Psychology so I know the critical and cognitive thinking aspects may have come easier to you than it may have to others, but how difficult was it to actually grasp those concepts and put them with your own thoughts and ink them to paper?
Burks – I had a lot of help from others. Normally I would have the story/scenario in my head, but my peers helped me to articulate my vision into words. Often times I would write with no regards, overlooking grammatical errors and sentence fragments then afterwards have my girl read it over and fix the minor mistakes, which is helpful. A lot of the scenarios are a compilation of my situations combined with my peers.
Doc P – Now I know the feedback from the ladies has been real strong, but how have the men responded to your critical memoirs?
Burks – Actually, the men have been my biggest supporters, surprisingly. They are cooler and more laid back, often times catching me walking around campus or via emails, which seconds my reasoning for doing this. They have more questions pertaining to each scenario asking questions like “Which character were you?” or saying things like “Aye man, I got some scenarios for you next time you write a book,” which in terms means “I’m feeling the book” or they are “rocking” with it.
Doc P – I want to say big ups for recently becoming a top-ten best selling self-published author for this past March!
Memoirs of a Gentleman has only been on bookshelves for a couple months so how does it feel to have reached such success already? We can already dub you as a “worldwide” author!
Burks – It’s funny because actually, I’m my worst critic. It’s hard to have the mind set as being successful because honestly I don’t feel I am, but it takes people like my mom (who is my biggest fan), my girl, and my peers to remind me to stay humble. I have high expectations for myself and anything less is not acceptable, but there are times when I reflect back before the book was published and I stated to myself that I would be thankful if one person believed in me and my book. So during those moments, I just tell God thank you and I keep pushing and striving for greatness. The response thus far has been an honor. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. To have your peers acknowledge you and believe in your dream is simply a blessing.
Doc P – Martez you are a self-proclaimed gentleman. So since you are the co-founder of the highly successful club promo company FlyMajor.com, how do you separate the stereotypical lifestyles of being a big club promoter and an author, since those two industries don’t typical cross paths?
Burks – I just lead by example. Prior to writing this book people didn’t know I was a writer, graduate student, and so forth so I just do less talking and more doing. The title as an author has brought a lot of maturity my way. I realized that I’m under a microscope and people are waiting for a slip up. I’m honored to represent both titles. It’s like a challenge from within.
Doc P – You were stated as saying, “Giving into temptation is a typical occurrence in my line of work.” So inform our male readers of how they can give into temptation, but remain a gentleman.
Burks – The concept behind being a gentleman is understanding and accepting the fact that we make mistakes. It’s not the circumstances that make the man, but how he handles himself afterwards. Owning up to your mistakes and learning from them allows you to maintain your G. No one is perfect and we all have flaws. Respect women and listening to them because we all know that men say what they feel and women feel what we say, which highlights how we think differently.
Doc P – What do you ultimately consider being a gentleman is and how do you think young men today can strive at possibly becoming a gentleman?
Burks – To add to the answers in the previous question, I can add that the cover of
Memoirs of a Gentleman exemplifies the pure essence of a gentleman. The cover has a G spray painted on a wall, with multiple layers peeling off, basically reflecting how each person is comprised of different characteristics. I believe we have various traits embodied in us and we should never judge a person from one characteristic or trait. In order to get to the pure essence of a G you have to peel back each layer until you get to the core, just like the G on the cover.
Doc P – Dating and relationships have changed greatly from just a few decades ago. How do you feel about the current state of the dating scene and where it’s heading in the future?
Burks – Personally I feel it’s headed down hill. That’s why I wrote this book. I actually view
Memoirs of a Gentleman as a conversational piece, something to start an intellectual conversation with the opposite sex. With technology steadily advancing like Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc., face-to-face conversations do not exist anymore. So I wanted to revive that moment by writing intriguing scenarios that people can relate with.
Doc P – What advice would you give both men and women about dating and relationships in this day and age?
Burks – Just talk and listen to each other. I believe everyone has something valuable to bring to the table (depending on their mind frame and maturity level). Dating should be fun like the good ole’ days (referring to high school or middle school depending on your age) when you use to talk on the phone all night and actually take the time out to get to know someone. I believe in order to love someone else, you first must love yourself. You can’t have what you’re not willing to pursue.
If you haven’t gotten a chance to read
Memoirs of a Gentleman: The Unspoken Truth make sure to go to the websites for Barnes & Noble and Amazon and order your copy of the vividly appealing published work.
By: Eddie “Dr. Philosophy” Yancey, III
Today’s dating scene in the is totally different from how it was decades ago. Back then, signs of courtship and chivalry were very visual and existent. Nowadays, it seems like finding a man with those beneficial traits is few and far in between.
