Month: May 2019

A group of Black doctors are teaming up to open the first Black-owned Urgent Care Center in Chicago’s Hyde Park. 

Premier Health Urgent Care, will be the Southside’s first Urgent Care facility and hopes to provide affordable healthcare to a population in desperate need of it.

“We are happy to open an urgent care in Hyde Park because the community needs it. I see so many urban professionals who either delay or go without care because of time constraints,” said Dr. Reuben C. Rutland.

“No one has 8 hours to wait in the emergency department for a minor illness or the flexibility to wait 3 weeks because their primary care doctor is booked solid. We are here to help fill that gap.”

The Urgent Care’s founders include Dr. Airron Richardson, Dr. Michael A. McGee, and United States Navy veteran Dr. Reuben C. Rutland. They opened the facility in a partnership with former Chicago Bears wide receiver Dr. Gregory Primus. 

After his football career ended, Primus became the first Black person trained in orthopedic surgery at the University of Chicago.

Rutland made it clear that the Urgent Care was not trying to replace any other form of healthcare but sought to fill the gap in the middle.  

“We are not in competition with the doctors offices or the emergency department,” Dr. Rutland said.

“We are a supplement to them both, to help relieve the stress on those two facilities.”

Urgent care centers have become wildly popular in cities across the country for providing quick, same-day treatment without the lengthy waits.

“Once a patient is seen, they are typically treated in less than an hour, making Premier’s walk-in clinic an ideal provider of the immediate care when it’s needed the most,” the founders said in a press release.

“Premier accepts many major types of insurance and offers services at a fraction of the cost of hospital-affiliated urgent care or emergency rooms.”

In a press release, the center’s founders said they will be able to treat a variety of illnesses and ailments. They also plan to donate a cut of the profits to the Project Outreach and Prevention (POP) organization, which they said, “aims to prevent youth violence in surrounding neighborhoods by providing resources, services and education to assist teens in making better life-long choices.”

Dr. McGee told Chicago’s Fox 32 that it was difficult and distressing to deal with injuries from shootings, which are common in some parts of the Southside. 

“When you have a kid come in who is 11 or 10 and they’ve been shot, and you can’t do anything about it, and you have to tell their parents and look them in the eye and say hey, I’m sorry, your child is dead. Their parents grab me and tell me to bring them back,” he said in an interview with the news station.

Over the last year, dozens of black-owned businesses have sprung up across the Southside, including Peach’s Currency Exchange Cafe, Justice of the Pies and Brown Sugar Bakery. 

Original article was published here.

In 1956, Autherine Lucy Foster broke racial boundaries when she enrolled at the all-white University of Alabama. Her enrollment was preceded by a lengthy court battle. She first applied to the university in 1952 but her acceptance was rescinded because of the color of her skin.

After finally being able to attend, like many trail blazers of her time, her courage was met with intolerance and outrage. So in its efforts to restore order, the school expelled Foster just three days after she enrolled due to persistent protests and death threats. 

But on Friday, 63 years after she was removed from campus, Foster received a warm welcome and a standing ovation upon her return to receive an honorary degree during graduation ceremonies. 

“I wasn’t crying, but tears was just rolling down my eyes because it’s just so different and so unique for me to be able to come back to such a university as this,” Foster told WBRC.

“A legendary moment,” the school tweeted on Friday. “Thank you to civil rights pioneer + #UA legend Autherine Lucy Foster for her tenacious spirit in the face of adversity.”

After Foster was ousted in 1956, black students weren’t welcome on campus until 1963—five months after Gov. George Wallace infamously pledged“segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever” in one of the most divisive outbursts in the history of the United States. 

But thankfully, that shroud of overt hatred on campus is no more. 

“The difference is the crowds are here,” Foster said. “I see laughing faces instead of people frowning and displeased with me being here.”

She added, “I feel elated. Somewhat embarrassed because I don’t feel exactly worthy of what I’m getting. But I’m going to thank them and act as if I can.”

Foster earned a Master’s degree in Education from the university in 1991.

Original article was published here.

Queen Latifah is no stranger to experiencing discrimination in Hollywood. She’s also no stranger to breaking barriers.

The renaissance woman recently launched The Queen Collective, a program that provides women behind the camera with funding, resources, mentoring and a platform to debut their work. In its inaugural year, the collective selected two black women, B. Monet and Haley Elizabeth Anderson, to debut their documentaries, “Ballet After Dark” and “If There Is Light” at Tribeca Film Festival and stream them on Hulu.

Leading up to the premiere, the queen spoke with a roundtable of journalists on the importance of supporting these filmmakers along the way.

“Here we are with two wonderful up-and-coming directors who deserve to have their stories told in the way they want to tell them with the support of Tribeca Film Festival and all this amazing experience and talent,” she said. “From having your idea selected to you now being at the helm, to having the finances to be able to create that project. To having people to mentor you through the entire process, to having a line of distribution to have your project seen by people, by the public which is where you want it to be. To get that story to the people and to have support along the way to let people know about it every step of the way.”

For B. Monet and Anderson, this is the first time they’d ever gotten the privilege of “yes” in this industry, they told HuffPost. Though Hollywood has more women behind the camera than ever before getting their films produced and making history, there are still major disparities that exist when trying to get access and resources to thrive in the film industry, especially for women of color.

“To be given money, not even just $5,000, but adequate resources to make a short film is mind-blowing,” B. Monet said. “I think what also is so great is that we have mentorship and support. Because I’ve not always had that, and so it’s just really beautiful to have different mentors. Whether they be editors or fellow directors, or just other people who can go and dig deep into the story with you and say ‘Hey, do you want to put this part in your film?’ or ‘Do you want to expound upon this?’”

The queen also reminisced about her first big break as a producer, which, surprisingly, wasn’t too long ago with “Bessie.” The rapper, actress, and beauty icon said that she went from being in the film to not having control at all until she got to the point where she could take over the project as producer, with Dee Rees coming on as a director for her sophomore effort, almost 22 years after the movie’s inception.

“[Pariah] was her first film and when we started shooting Bessie, she went from basically no money to $18-million dollar budget,” Queen Latifah told HuffPost of the HBO production. “She was so used to not having money that we had to tell her, you have money. This is what money feels like. You can go for some angles. You can go close-ups. We can go right. We can get artistic shit you want to do… Then you see what it can become. It can become a beautiful work of art.”

Queen also had some wise words specifically for black creatives to protect their work and lessons she’s learned since the 1990s show “Friends” co-opted many of the themes in “Living Single,” the black sitcom which premiered a year prior.

“We invented jazz. We invented rock and roll. We invented hip hop. We invented house music, which is now dance music, and further on and further on. We are the core and the essence of all of these things and we can continue to do that,” she said. She stressed the importance of knowing black history and collaborating with likeminded people to continue to make history.

“Ownership has been important to me and my partner,” she told HuffPost. “We want to own what we create. You have to be willing to sacrifice with certain things and not take all the upfront money. You get to own it in perpetuity and make money on it forever if you own it. If you sell it, then you don’t own it. Get as much money as you can if you’re going to sell it, but just know that somebody else is probably going to make the bulk of the money.”

Original post was published here.

Tyra Banks is back like she never left.

The first black woman to ever land a solo cover of Sports Illustrated’s iconic swimsuit issue came out of modeling retirement to unveil her 2019 cover on Wednesday. The High Priestess of Smizing, the Pope of “Kiss my ‘fat’ ass,” and One of the O.G. Capital S Supermodels, Banks posed in an itsy-bitsy yellow string bikini by Andi Bagus—a re-creation, she says, of her 1997 S.I. look.

“We couldn’t find the exact one in the archives—it was the polka dot bikini so we recreated that bikini,” the model and media mogul said on Good Morning America. “I recreated [the shoot]—25 pounds heavier.”

No one seems more thrilled about the shoot, photographed in Great Exuma, Bahamas, by Laretta Houston, than Banks herself, who noted it had been 23 years since her first solo SI cover.

“How crazy is that?” Banks gushed. “I’m like damn—I’m 45 dog!”

And finer than ever, it must be said.

In a recent Sports Illustrated Instagram video, Banks said she never dreamed about landing her first swimsuit issue cover “ because I never thought it was possible.”

“Almost like this—never thought it would be possible,” added the three-time SI covergirl. “I’m 45 years old, on the cover of this magazine again?”

If there’s one person who didn’t sound so shocked about the latest issue, that would be SI Swimsuit Editor MJ Day, who said Banks is “nothing less than a mogul, a cultural force and a supernova of inspiration and empowerment.” 

“She’s kind of the Swimsuit Issue ethos come to life, everything we know this franchise can be,” she added.

Swimsuit ethos, and make it Tyra.

Original post was published here.

The stories of Nipsey Hussle’s entrepreneurship and community activism were legion following his being gunned down in front of the store he owned in South Los Angeles.

But in the weeks since his death, new reports are coming out showing how extensive Hussle’s plans were, not only for his native South Los Angeles, but disenfranchised black and brown communities around the country.

“He wanted to be a symbol and really spark a movement,” Hussle’s business partner, real estate developer David Gross, told the Los Angeles Times. “Basically, it was the economic version of Black Lives Matter. [That] is what we were trying to create.”

Part of that movement was conquering the ills of gentrification that so often mean communities of color are further disadvantaged, even to the point of being pushed out of their neighborhoods completely.

As the Times explains:

At the time of his death, Hussle was reaching out to a diverse array of partners — from fellow musicians and L.A. politicians to a Republican senator from South Carolina [Tim Scott] — to make the revitalization of [South L.A. neighborhood] Hyde Park something larger and potentially longer-lasting.

Hussle was part of an investment group that was planning to use a tax incentive carved out in a recent federal law to revive not only his neighborhood, but other forgotten, low-income communities in 11 cities, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

But to the end, Hussle always thought of the community first, and he came up with a way to allow members of the community to own a piece of every new project in their city.

So, instead of just investing in new residences and businesses that would be out of reach for the existing community, Hussle planned to give the community the opportunity to own a piece of every project — through crowdfunding.

“ … it was the economic version of Black Lives Matter.

[That] is what we were trying to create.”

Shortly before his death, he was set to meet with Sen. Scott, the Republican from South Carolina, to discuss an investment fund he and his business partners had created called the “Our Opportunity” fund.

As Gross, who also grew up in South L.A. told the Times, its mission was to work with the hometown heroes “of every large, majority black city to, in a systematic way, acquire and develop transformative projects.” 

From all reports, Hussle was a real visionary, with powerful plans to uplift our communities across the nation. It is indeed a tragedy that he is gone way too soon, but hopefully his story—his ideas—will inspire others to continue along the path he was only beginning to carve out.

Original post was published here.

Original post was published here.

If you’ve been to even one ESSENCE Festival, then you already know that our annual Gospel Celebration on Sunday is a true highlight of the weekend.

This year, as part of our range of citywide experiences celebrating 25 years of ESSENCE Fest moving the culture forward, we’ll be celebrating 25 years of Black women in Gospel music. 

It’s no secret that Gospel music roots run deep in the music industry, with many of today’s most beloved musicians even getting their start singing Gospel in church as children or teens. Part of the beauty of the genre is the consistent presence of immensely talented Black women whose powerhouse vocals are second to none. 

Scroll down to see just a few of the Gospel music superstars who will be joining us this year as we celebrate 25 years of Black women in Gospel music and be on the look out for more names to come.

See you in NOLA!

Three-time Grammy winner Donnie McClurkin debuted as a solo artist in 1996 with his self-titled album, which featured the mega-hits “Stand” and “Speak To My Heart.” Before launching his solo career, McClurkin started the New York Restoration Choir and recorded his first album, I See A World. The classic songs, “We Fall Down” and “Great Is Your Mercy,” both from the double platinum-selling Live In London and More album were released in 2000. In 2010, he accepted his third Grammy for Best Gospel Performance for the song, “Wait On The Lord,” featuring Karen Clark Sheard. His other top honors include over 12 Stellar Awards; two BET Awards, three NAACP Image Awards, two Soul Train Awards, three Dove Awards, to name a few. McClurkin is excited about sharing new music on his upcoming eighth solo album set for release in 2019 on RCA Records| Camdon Music.

Yolanda Adams triumphantly carries the torch for contemporary inspirational music. With 13 releases Yolanda has earned a multitude of accolades including four Grammy Awards and a Tony Nomination.  Not only is Yolanda a phenomenal vocalist, she is a record label owner, an author (Points of Power), a designer of Yolanda Adams’ Handbags & Apparel, www.YolandaAdamslive.com, proud mother, and the host on her award winning nationally syndicated radio show “The Yolanda Adams Morning Show”.

GRAMMY®-winning singer/songwriter Tasha Cobbs Leonard is one of the most prominent artists in gospel music. Named Billboard’s Top Gospel Artist of 2018, she continues to dominate the charts with unprecedented sales and streaming success stemming from her recent album, Heart. Passion. Pursuit. With national TV appearances abounding, including her powerful performance on Good Morning America, Cobbs Leonard has been a force in music since her debut single in 2013, the Gold-certified smash “Break Every Chain.”

Mary Mary is the multi-award winning gospel duo of Erica and Tina Campbell. The sisters broke through in 2000 with the pioneering hit “Shackles (Praise You).” After seven albums and 19+ years of professionally singing, the critically acclaimed Mary Mary has sold more than 5 million albums, toured internationally, graced the covers of high-profile magazines and launched successful, award-winning solo careers. They are loving wives and mothers who are devoted to their faith and families.

Lester Love serves as the Pastor of The City of Love in New Orleans, LA and Executive Secretary of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International. He travels across the country and abroad, presenting leadership sessions for ministries and corporations.Love is host of the The Lester Love radio show on WBOK in New Orleans and stream worldwide. He has garnered national attention for his “Love Songs” clip, which has surpassed millions of views.

April is Minority Health Month. So we invite you to be “selfish” and to fill your cup first. Research on thriving and flourishing tells us there are at least six key areas of well-being worth investing in. They include your self, community, sufficiency, pleasure, relief, and purpose.

Self

Knowing yourself, accepting yourself, self-love, and self-compassion are building blocks for self-preservation. This world bombards us with the notion that we should be white, thin(ish), rich, “the best,” tough, sexy, straight… It’s a lot. You might have to look online to find fat Black femme fam. You might choose to work with a therapist to unravel how repeated rejection has impacted you. Whatever your path, the journey to self-love is important.

Pleasure

Laughter, satisfaction, bliss, orgasm, delight, and contentment help quiet hardships. People can find joy through everything from completing weekend chores to using a planner, to making love, dancing, kiki-ing with friends or being alone.

Community

We all need support. It is critical to be seen, accepted, desired, and celebrated for who you are as you walk in your truth. The folks who show up for your success help refill your cup and help you stay well. Don’t accept anything less.

Relief

Stress infiltrates our lives in countless ways. Sometimes we don’t even know it’s there. It steals time. Finding ways to reduce stress is part of our fundamental work. Moving around or breathing deeply can help. It can help to talk about it, so consider a therapist. Also, sleep to heal your body and brain. Turn off when you can. Remember relief. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

Purpose

Research on flourishing suggests that activating a sense of purpose can protect against stress and depression. If you’re passionate about something, make it a focus in your life. Notably, research on Black LGBT resilience suggests that social activism is one place we reclaim hope. There are many ways to engage: everything from volunteering at a freedom school to marching to making sandwiches for marchers to disrupting “the academy” with Blaqueer scholarship. Whatever mode you choose, moving purposefully against the status quo can contribute to well-being.

Sufficiency

A key element of thriving is having the resources required to meet your needs. Black precarity–the constant state of un/under employment or financial instability– is nothing new. It’s as American as guns. Add intersectionality by gender, sexuality, disability, etc. and it gets harder (nod to Crenshaw). In the face of this, self-care as yoga retreats and all-organic food can be beyond reach for many, but self-care can also be regular sleep, a multivitamin, or walking in sunshine. It can be food prepping to save money, taking a hot shower, or watching a feel-good show. You might ask for a work-from-home day once a week. There are many possibilities. Look here, here, and here for more ideas.

Getting Help

We joke about therapy being for white people, like bland food and taxidermy. It seems self-indulgent. It requires time, financial resources, and other privileges many of us don’t have. The forces making it difficult for Black LGBTQ+/SGL people to access quality and affordable housing, employment opportunities, advancement, and essential resources are the reasons we need to find ways to heal, flourish, and thrive. If you decide therapy is something you’d like to explore, consider: The National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network, the Therapist Resource Directoryor TalkSpace. This April and beyond, take the time to nourish yourself so that you can show up – both for yourself and others. Schedule quality time alone or with friends or supportive family. Seek whatever spiritual, professional, or other help you can benefit from. And please remember that you are necessary. This walk is tough, but you are not alone.

Original post was published here.

Tobechukwu “Tobi” Phillips, a student from Alvin High School in Texas, is making history as the first Black valedictorian in her school’s 125-year history. Originally established in 1894, the school was integrated with African-American students in 1965.

Boasting a 6.9 GPA, Phillips earned all A’s throughout her high school career and took Advanced Placement (AP) courses. She opened up about achieving academic success during a recent interview with Because of Them We Can. 

“Maintaining the highest GPA in my class is a difficult task. It truly takes time management but more importantly acknowledging what you do it for. I know that I am no longer just representing myself,” Phillips said.

A well-rounded student, Phillips plays volleyball, runs track and is a Sunday School teacher at her church. She’s also a member of the Rho Kappa Honor Society, the president of the National Honor Society and an AP ambassador. 

Phillips’ journey toward academic success has been met with challenges and scrutiny from her peers. Despite the odds, she offered words of encouragement to other students. 

“My biggest advice to other scholars of color is to truly adopt the mindset of Rosa Parks — ‘No.’ Do not conform to the stereotypes that have held us under thumbs for so long,” she explained. “Do not be discouraged when someone speaks out against you, simply allow what they say to fuel your fire. But more than anything, do not remain tight-lipped. Stand up for what you believe in and take it upon yourself to be the change you’ve always wanted. Say ‘No’ to the ways of the world and stick out.”

Phillips, who wants to own her own clinic as a pediatric nurse practitioner, will be attending the University of Texas (UT). She received a full-ride courtesy of the school’s Forty Acre Scholarship. Out of 4,000 students who applied for the award, only 16 were chosen.

Original post was published here.

Naomi Campbell is one of the most well-known models in the world, which is why it’s such a shock to realize the timeless beauty has never been the face of a beauty brand, until now.

The supermodel has just landed a deal with NARS Cosmetics, founded by makeup artist François Nars, who gushed over his muse on Instagram.

“Naomi is a living icon and brings such strong personality to the camera. She and I are like family. I have known her since the very beginning of her career. From the start, I have admired her, her beauty, and her style.”

Campbell posted the same campaign shot on her own page, writing, “Very excited to be the new face of NARS Cosmetics  Shot by my dear friend François Nars.”

Glamour reports the British beauty was the first black woman to appear on the cover of French Vogue. In 1989, she became the first black model to grace American Vogue’s coveted September issue. Considering her accomplishments, the fact that this is her first beauty campaign proves the beauty industry has a long way to go.

“I’ve never done [a beauty campaign] for anyone. People say, ‘Oh you’ve got beautiful skin’ and yet I’ve never done one,” Campbell told The Evening Standard just last year.

The writer of the piece added, “She gives me a look that says, ‘You know why.’”

Original post was published here.

Zendaya is the new face of Lancôme. The 22-year-old actress and singer joins the stellar cast of the French beauty behemoth’s ambassadresses, which includes Lupita Nyong’o, Penelope Cruz, Julia Roberts, Isabella Rossellini, Kate Winslet, Lily Collins and Taylor Hill. “It’s a huge honor to be able to represent a brand like Lancôme and join such an incredible line-up of iconic women,” said Zendaya.

We’re definitely here for her adding her flavorful, diverse vision to the luxury Gallic house of maquillage. Well-known for her adventurous fashion and beauty sense, the highly influential starlet, with over 54 million social media followers, is a role model for her generation and uses her voice to educate others and promote positivity. Plus, the self-professed makeup lover often does her own makeup for events and passes along beauty tips to her social set to boot.

“We look forward to a joyous future with Zendaya, whose charisma, influence in film, music and fashion is undoubted. Zendaya brings a youthful and a unique approach to beauty that perfectly complements Lancôme’s vision and creativity,” said Lancôme Global Brand President Françoise Lehmann.

Later this year, the busy starlet will star in Spider-Man: Far From Home and the HBO and A24 series Euphoria. In addition, as the new fashion global brand ambassador for the designer Tommy Hilfiger, she’s also set to debut her Tommy x Zendaya capsule collection with a runway show on March 2 during Paris Fashion Week.

Original post was published here.