Need to lift your spirits?
Meteorologist Ted Phaeton and his friend Charles Russ are giving us life in a new viral dance video that makes you want to tag a friend and do it too.
The clip shows Phaeton and Russ in front of a weather screen doing the #tzanthemchallenge and a bunch of different hot moves. The video already has earned more than 280,000 views on Facebook.
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Phaeton, who works for FOX Carolina in Greenville, SC, says it’s one of many videos he’s produced with Russ, who is one of his closest friends and an independent financial planner. Their goal is to present the news with a fun twist.
“I told him it was going to be nice the next day,” says Phaeton, recalling a conversation he had with Russ about the weather last year. “And he said, ‘Why don’t you let me know when it’s actually going to be nice out with a ‘Sunshine Alert?'”
Phaeton thought he was kidding at first, then decided to make it happen. “I have to give credit to my station,” he says, saying the creative services department was nothing but supportive.
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For Russ, who is also a father of two twin 13-year-old boys, the image of carefree black men is especially important during troubling times in our country.
“I hate to open up social media and see hours of negativity and nothing positive,” says Russ. “I also want my kids to see it’s okay to have fun in this world and still be professional and classy.”
“It sheds another light on men of color,” says Phaeton. “To be able to dance and be myself and show that I am an authority and know my stuff when it comes to the weather… It’s not ignoring what’s going on, but it’s combating it with positivity.”
Check out the clip below and if it brings you joy, share it too!
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