February is known worldwide as being the month of love but it is also the 50th anniversary celebrations of The British Heart Foundation, who funds research in curing heart disease and American Black History Month! So what better place than to celebrate these fantastic occasions at Cardiff's very own piece of America the 411 bar and Nightclub who will be hosting alongside the Zachariah Reid Foundation a Red After Party with proceeds being donated to The British heart Foundation.
The 411 bar and nightclub has been open for nearly 2 years in Cardiff, and seen celebrities such as Ms Dynamite, Shola Ama, Montell Jordan, and Lemar to name a few grace its doorways.
The cool laid back DJ Moniz was born in Birmingham, he studied a politics degree in Kingston University during the 90's where he would meet his now business partner Habeeb. He then undertook a post graduate course in Business Studies in Cardiff where he fell in love with the city.
Moniz comes from a traditional family he is one of five children, his father comes from Nigeria and is an accountant and his mother from Guinea Equatorial. In a bid for Moniz to have an appreciation for his own culture, something not embraced within UK school systems he was sent to a Nigerian mixed boarding school where he would experience the school of hard knocks, the senior boys above his year would expect homage to be paid by making him iron their clothes. In Moniz's opinion "these trials and tribulations" would be the fuel which would drive him to want to succeed in life.
For four years of his life Moniz found himself living and working as a DJ in Ibiza. His resume includes clubs like 'Amnesia' and 'Privilege' which both have a capacity of over 5,000 people, it would be here that he would forge friendships with the likes of Ms Dynamite, further fuelling his passion for the entertainment business.
His goal with the 411 nightclub is to make people feel at home in his club like it is their party, ladies can feel free to come to the club without being harassed, as the 411 has a strict door policy thanks to Moniz's head door man Ashton. The 411 was commended by the council when renewing their license due to the fact they have had no cause for concern.
When asked if he his thoughts of why he feels Barack Obama has been so successful he states "He didn't feel sorry for himself, he didn't play into society not wanting him to succeed for some strange reason". His words of encouragement for BME males today are, don't let your race or negative stereotypes be a shackle, when you wake up in the morning free your mind and think you can do anything and that you are capable. Although there are barriers for black people you can't go around thinking about it all the time or you are not going to get anything done. Young black people should be able to think outside of the box and do your best to succeed by believing in yourself."
2011 at the 411 promises to break the mould 'The Red After Party Valentines Special' held on the 12th February raised a respectable £401 which will be presented to The British Heart Foundation in a Thanksgiving Ceremony. Later on in the year we can look forward to 'Miss 411' a competition where all women are welcome to enter and the winner not only gets automatically entered into Miss Universe Wales but wins £4,000 worth of prizes, beauty products and hair treatments. For more information visit www.411cardiff.com
I would like to thank Lloyd Nandra Events Management student in UWIC, Genaya Parris, Sarah Lopez, Camilla Abdul, Cardbored-Box, UWIC SU, Go Wales and BVSNW.
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