Tag: black

Michelle Obama’s ‘When We All Vote’ Is Partnering With Watch The Yard To Reach Black College Students and Alumni

On Thursday, Watch The Yard signed an official partnership with Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote in order to help reach the Black college students and alumni across the nation.

When We All Vote is a national, nonpartisan, non-profit that brings together citizens, institutions, brands, and organizations to increase participation in every election. Launched in 2018 by co-chair Michelle Obama, When We All Vote is changing the culture around voting using a data-driven and multifaceted approach to increase participation in elections. The organization is committed to closing the race and age voting gap and empowering all eligible voters to cast their ballot by harnessing grassroots energy, establishing strategic partnerships, and implementing digital organizing strategies.

“When We All Vote is proud to partner with Watch The Yard to mobilize, amplify, and support the mission of increasing voter registration and participation in 2020. Watch The Yard’s reach and multidimensional position within the Black college community makes it a perfect partner to help with our mission of making sure that as many people as possible get out to vote this year. As a leading destination for Black news, culture, and conversation online, Watch The Yard is uniquely positioned to be a powerful When We All Vote partner to help make sure the Black community is represented and that their voices are heard this election,” When We All Vote stated.

Through the partnership Watch The Yard will be creating content surrounding voter registration and highlighting important updates, information and messaging around voting in the 2020 election.

“Watch The Yard is committed to helping When We All Vote get out the word about voting to our audience of Black college students and alumni across the nation,” Watch The Yard’s founder Jonathan Rabb stated. “Reaching over 11 million people a month across our platforms, we at Watch The Yard believe we will be able to greatly mobilize, amplify, and support the mission of increasing voter registration and participation in 2020. Our plan is to do it in an innovative and fun way that our audience can engage with.”

Source: www.watchtheyard.com

Why is the coronavirus deadly for so many African Americans in LA?

NEWS STORIES

Why is the coronavirus deadly for so many African Americans in LA?

Written by Nigel Duara May. 11, 2020 HEALTH & WELLNESS

Spread of the virus has been fairly egalitarian among races. But the death toll is hitting L.A. County’s black residents the hardest.Graphic by CalMatters.

When he worked at a hospital in downtown Los Angeles, Dr. Gregory Taylor saw cases that reflected the community where he grew up: a host of underlying health conditions killing black patients.

Taylor, an internist, called those conditions —diabetes, high blood pressure, respiratory diseases —“a part of the community fabric” among black residents of South Los Angeles.

“It’s true across our ethnicity as a whole,” said Taylor, who grew up in Leimert Park and now works at Keck Hospital of the University of Southern California. “What you see over and over is black folks in a poorer state of health.”

Now those underlying conditions are contributing to African Americans’ vulnerability to COVID-19, which is killing them at the highest rate among all races in Los Angeles County.

Of the 1,418 people who died in Los Angeles County –by far the largest number in California –12.5 percent are black residents, even though they make up 8 percent of the population, according to the Department of Public Health’s dashboard.

A disparate death rate

The spread of the virus in Los Angeles County has been relatively egalitarian: No matter how rich, or white, or educated the neighborhood, nearly every area has confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Some of the highest infection rates are in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Melrose, wealthy ZIP codes where more than 75 percent of the population is white.

But the impacts once the coronavirus reaches a neighborhood are a different story.

For instance, in Inglewood, which has one of the largest black populations in Los Angeles County, the death rate from the virus is 34 per 100,000 residents, while in majority-white Glendale, just 14 miles away, it’s 18 deaths per 100,000,according to the county’s dashboard data.

Part of the explanation could be the high rates of underlying health conditions among the area’s black residents. Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma all lead to more severe outcomes for people with COVID-19.

Residents of the county’s South region, which includes Inglewood, have nearly twice the rate of diabetes as residents of the San Fernando Valley area, which includes Glendale. When asked by UCLA researchers to rate their own health, 25 percent of residents in Inglewood answered fair or poor, the lowest scores in the county, compared with 15% in Glendale.

Source: -cont- https://www.kcrw.com/news/articles/why-is-the-coronavirus-deadly-for-so-many-african-americans-in-la

It’s No Surprise Black and Brown Communities Are Hit Hard by COVID-19

At age 26, recently engaged and about to start my first grown-up managerial position in city government, I was handed a hefty report summarizing the results of my “comprehensive executive health assessment,” an onboarding requirement for all the city’s newly hired managers. The process had included an extensive physical examination, a lengthy written questionnaire, and an hourlong in-person interview with a nerdy, non-smiling white guy who took detailed notes on my diet, lifestyle and mental health.

I relaxed immediately when I saw I had received an overall rating of “excellent health.” Then I turned to the last page of the report and read some alarming news. If I were to die in the next year, the report informed me, the likeliest cause of death would be homicide.

The next day, my first call was to Mr. Non- Smiley.

“Hey, I got my health assessment,” I began, trying to sound managerial and calm while feeling anything but, “and I have a few questions. Since I was found to be in excellent health, I was a little surprised to learn about my risk of being murdered. Do you know something I don’t know?”

“Well, first, Miss Belk, let me just say we are very objective,” he replied in a dry monotone. “It’s all about data and the model.”

“OK, so why did the model conclude that I’m at risk of being killed?”

“You’re an otherwise healthy African American woman between the ages of 21 and 30. The data show that if you were going to die today, it would likely be the result of a homicide.”

“So, what’s that about? My age, my race, my gender?”

“Oh, race by far,” he said quickly. “If you were white, it would likely be some type of accident. Car, probably.”

The “it” part — the likely cause of death; in my case, homicide — jarred me. Silence. Mr. Non-Smiley, breaking the silence, and finally showing a little compassion in his own awkward way.

“You know, Miss Belk, it’s only data. Besides, once you make it to your 30s, heart disease, stroke and cancer kick in as key data points.”

I did make it to 30. But my big sister, Vickie, and cousin Darryl didn’t. They both were murdered, victims of gun violence in their 20s.

Neither of us knew it at the time, but Mr. Non-Smiley had given me my first lesson in what public health professionals call “the social determinants of health,” a fancy way of saying that your income, ZIP Code and race can and often do determine your health, longevity and even your cause of your death.

What I know now is that the long history of racial discrimination in our country has led not only to economic disparities but to poorer health outcomes for black people.

Consider what’s happening right now with the coronavirus. In cities across the country, COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting black and brown communities.In Louisiana, black people account for 32% of the population but 56% of the COVID-19 deaths. In Chicago, black people account for about 55% of the deaths, but only about a third of the population. Americans have lived with this kind of data for a long time, on disease after disease. It’s about time we did some new modeling where racial equity is front and center.

Source: -cont- https://www.calwellness.org/stories/its-no-surprise-black-and-brown-communities-are-hit-hard-by-covid-19/

Stars Get Real About Their Natural Hair Colors After Salons Close During COVID-19 Pandemic

Going back to their roots! As the nation continues to uphold the government’s social-distancing guidelines amid the COVID-19 pandemic, stars are missing their hair appointments to keep up with their color or subtle root maintenance. But for some, it’s proving not to be an issue.

Across the country, businesses such as hair salons and other beauty-related services have had to close their doors for the foreseeable future as the coronavirus continues to spread at a jarring rate. And since everyone’s self-quarantining, that means home visits from their glam squad are basically out of the question for stars, too.

Some of the first celebs to get personal about their hair color on social media were Kelly Ripa and Kevin Hart. On Saturday, March 21, Hart shared a 4-minute IGTV video as part of a series he’s named “Confessions With Kev.” In the accompanying caption, the comedian wrote, “P.S I have always had a shit load of grey hair…I was just a frequent dyer …I’m not working right now so I said F–K IT .”

Other stars are getting open and honest about their grays, too including Tamera Mowry who have shared their struggles on social media — along with empowering messages of self-love.

Mowry is a great example of celebs staying positive during such a confusing and scary time. The Disney Channel alum shared a fresh-faced selfie with her hair away from her face in a braid. She captioned the stunning photo, “Hello grays. No getting my hair done during #socialdistancing, and I’m okay with it!”

Source: -cont- https://www.usmagazine.com/stylish/pictures/stars-reveal-natural-hair-colors-during-covid-19-outbreak-pics/meghan-mccain/

How 9 Black Women Are Taking Care Of Their Hair In Quarantine

Going to the salon is an event for many black women. The salon is a place of community, therapy, and ritual for a hair strand that is often overlooked and mistreated. On a recent episode of Blackish, youngest daughter Diane has her first experience in the salon where she also receives her first relaxer and is immediately brought into the day-long epic that is common at a black beauty salon. Black Girl Church, a documentary about black women and their relationships to beauty supply stores and the salon experience, treats the experience as a near-religious ceremony and a sanctuary for one of the most marginalized communities. And in late 2016, #BlackSalonProblems began trending on Twitter as women shared their horror stories, which mostly followed the same plot. (Who knew everyone would want a straight look like Beyoncé’s but always ended up looking more like James Brown?)

But when COVID-19 shut down all non-essential businesses—salons and black beauty stores among them—many black women were forced to take matters into their own hands. “Eighteen hours to braid my hair?” Makeup artist and producer Diamond Hawkins said in an email to ELLE.com. “Not a big fan of that!”

To echoe Hawkin’s sentiment: I am also not a big fan of that. I’ve never had to do my own hair before, but the pandemic has forced me to tirelessly learn how to install twists without the help of a stylist, who has the touch that I just don’t possess. For some of the women we spoke to, dealing with their hair amid the crisis has proven to be yet stressor, while others have found joy in spending timewith hair masks and curl treatments rather than heat and chemicals.

Below, nine black women share how they are dealing with their hair during a global pandemic—plus offer resources and advice, if you’re struggling at home, too.

Source: -cont to read- https://www.elle.com/beauty/a32213253/black-women-hair-coronavrius-covid-19/

Dr. Chandra Ford Explains Why Coronavirus Is Hitting African American Communities the Hardest

Although there is still so much medical professionals don’t know about COVID-19, preliminary data throughout the country point to racial disparities in the pandemic.

Recent Southern California numbers show African Americans account for 15 percent of the novel coronavirus-related illnesses and deaths, despite the fact that they only make up 9 percent of Los Angeles County’s population. Dr. Chandra Ford, Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health and Sciences at UCLA and Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Racism, Social Justice and Health, tells Inside the Issues that, initially, data didn’t seem to suggest high rates of illness in African American communities.

“In Los Angeles when we first started getting data, the data suggested that the highest rates of COVID-19 infection were actually occurring in the wealthier communities and that seemed premature to me and my colleagues,” she said. “In part because testing was not widely available to everyone and that seemed to reflect people who had access to testing and people who had traveled abroad.”

Dr. Ford said the messaging in black communities has gone from seeing it as a virus that affects groups differently to stigmatizing why certain groups are contracting the coronavirus. She said lower-income communities aren’t able to easily access hospitals or high-quality health care.

Source: https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/inside-the-issues/2020/04/23/why-the-coronavirus-is-hitting-african-american-communities-the-hardest