Skincare and Sisterhood. The Drum October 2022

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Dorrian

Wilson grew up around guns. In her hometown of Franklin, Louisiana, having guns was so common that it wouldn’t be unusual for a 5-year-old to receive a rifle on their birthday.

“We hunted, we fished, we grew our own vegetables and guns were not seen as something taboo,” Wil son said.

Wilson, who now lives in Char lotte with her husband, Rob Austin, has an extensive family history of using guns as a form of protection. Her uncles, she said, used firearms in Franklin to fend off white people who wanted to prevent them from voting in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

But her own reason for owning and shooting guns isn’t connected to a specific cause.

To Wilson, guns are a necessity.

“For me owning a gun is, ‘I need shoes so my feet don’t get wet, I need gloves if it’s cold outside. I carry my gun on the off chance that somebody wants to kill me today,’” Wilson said.

She is a part of the growing num ber of Black women across America who own guns. The National Afri can-American Gun Association has 30,000 members and 60% of those members are women, according to its website. And during the pandem

ic, the number of new gun owners grew, with 21% of them Black and over 50% women.

But these numbers, and stories written about them, attempt to make Black women a “new” face of gun ownership in America. That ignores the rich history of Black women with guns and attempts to generalize a demographic full of nuance.

Wilson’s reason for stepping into the world of guns is a bit more di rect.

“The real reason why I carry my gun is to kill men,” she said. “I’ve had instances in my life where guns were pulled on me by men, just try ing to get to my apartment. So, my number one goal is still safety.”

A 2020 Washington Post investi gation found that since 2015 Black women have accounted for 20% of the women fatally shot in America and 28% of unarmed deaths, despite only making up 13% of the popula tion overall. And a 2019 report from the Violence Policy Center found that Black women had the highest rate of homicides perpetrated by men.

“So, if I post a picture of myself shooting, carrying or something like that, the majority of the responses from women are ‘I need to learn how to shoot.’ And men, almost 100% of their responses are ‘I know not to

mess with you,’” Wilson said. “In your predatory mind you know now that I’m not prey.”

Black women have always used guns to protect themselves from men and other threats, said Antwain K. Hunter, an assistant history pro fessor at UNC Chapel Hill who is writing a book about the history of race and firearms in North Carolina between 1729-1865.

“Certainly when you get to the 1820s and ‘30s and then heading through the U.S. Civil War and even through reconstruction there are women who are armed,” Hunt er said. “And so, one of the things I think stands out to me the most is thinking about why these wom en are armed. And a lot of it boils down to pragmatism. They’re able to

defend themselves and their fami ly members in ways that unarmed people are not.”

To Erica Maness, co-owner of Sharpshooterz Tactical, a firearm educational company in Greens boro, the idea of the woman as pro tector has stood the test of time.

“Women in general usually are the caretakers of their family, so they have to be in protective mode at all times,” Maness said. “Of course, that doesn’t always mean you have to have a firearm to do that, but to have that as an option, if and when it’s needed, is wonderful.”

Most Americans have an under standing of history that is incom patible with the idea that Black women may choose to own guns, Hunter said.

“As an American people we do a disservice to our history,” he said.

“You hear it in the debates around textbooks, you hear it in the debates around the boogeyman of critical race theory that everyone is up in arms about. Many Americans like history that coddles us and makes us feel warm and fuzzy about the past.”

And to Wilson, that fuzzy feel ing has led to an apathy regarding Black women and their experiences, making recent statistics seem more

BATON ROUGE

The East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council passed an ordinance called ‘Devin’s Law” in memory of Devin Page Jr., a 3-year-old-boy who was killed by a stray bullet as he was sleep ing in his home. Page’s mother, Tye Toliver said she com plained to her land lord several times about her family’s safety due to criminal activity that was happening around the home. The last complaint she made was on the day her son was killed. According to Councilman Cleve Dunn Jr., the Sept. 14 ordi nance mandates that landlords provide potential tenants with a source, where they can access the criminal incident and/or crime data in the area of the rental property. It also encourages landlords to have a security camera system at rental properties, encourag es rental properties to have adequate lighting. “I feel that citizens and ten ants have the right to access and know the crime data that’s in that area. I think they need that data before enter ing into a lease,” said Dunn.

BOGALUSA

fense group that protected civil rights workers from violence. The living room was an unofficial office for the civil rights attorneys who pioneered groundbreaking lawsuits in education, housing, and employment.

NEW ORLEANS

The Bogalusa home of civil rights ac tivist Bob Hicks has been added as the seventh marker of the Louisiana Office of Tourism’s Louisiana Civil Rights Trail. On Aug. 11, city officials and friends joined Lt. Gov. Billy Nung esser, daughter Barbara Hicks Collins, wife Valeira Hicks, and son Charles Hicks at the home for the dedication. In 2015, the House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located at 924 Robert “Bob” Hicks Street in Bogalusa, the house served as the base of operations for the Bog alusa Civil Rights Movement in 1960.

It was a regular meeting place for the officers of the Bogalusa Civic and Vot ers League and the local Chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality. The house was a safe place for civil rights work ers and served as an emergency triage station. The breakfast room became the communications center for the Bogalusa Chapter of the Deacons of Defense and Justice, an armed self-de

Mayor LaToya Cantrell recall or ganizers say they’ve amassed 20% of signatures needed to force vote while Cantrell says she’s received “nothing but sup port” across New Orle ans. In its latest issue, The New Orle ans Tribune assert that this recall effort is not about Black New Orleanians or the quality of life issues it has grappled with for decades. It encourages resi dents to take the recall efforts serious ly, saying organizers are not grassroots, community centered activists and are using “longstanding issues that predate Cantrell, like Wisner and Gordona Pla za, or ridiculous ones like outrage over her threat to cancel Mardi Gras 2023 so long as it helps paint Black elected leaders with broad brushes of ineffec tiveness, ineptitude or, even worse, de pravity. And when that happens it will

Slavery—forced prison labor—is on the Nov. 8 ballot in La.

1. Figure out how much relief you may qualify for President Joe Biden announced in August that most federal student loan borrowers will be eligible for some forgiveness: up to $10,000 if they didn’t receive a Pell Grant, which is a type of aid available to low-income undergraduate students, and up to $20,000 if they did.

To learn if your financial aid pack age in college included a Pell Grant, you can check your account on Stu dentaid.gov, under the “My Aid” section. Most recipients come from families with incomes of less than $60,000, said higher education ex pert Mark Kantrowitz.

The relief is also limited to in dividuals earning no more than $125,000 a year, or households mak ing less than $250,000.

2. Review your loan details

Most federal student loans quali fy for the cancellation.

However, there are roughly 5 mil lion borrowers with older student loans, known as commercially held Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL), that are actually with pri vate companies rather than the gov ernment. (You can check your loan type at Studentaid.gov, again, by go ing to the “My Aid” tab.)

3. Contact your loan servicer (if needed)

If you have questions for your ser vicer about forgiveness, reach out as soon as possible, experts say.

You’ll also want to make sure your servicer, as well as the Edu cation Department, has the most recent contact information for you.

You can make sure that data is cur rent at StudentAid.gov, Kantrowitz said.

This will make sure you don’t miss any important information on the forgiveness process.

The Education Department said it’s working to make sure that bor rowers with these loans get the for

giveness, too, even though it doesn’t hold the debt itself.

But if you have these loans and want to make sure you’re included in forgiveness sooner rather than later, you may want to consolidate them into the main federal student loan program.

Borrowers should aim to apply for forgiveness no later than Nov. 15.

The Education Department is saying it will take up to around six weeks for borrowers to get cancellation af ter they apply, and you want your balanced reduced or eliminated by the time the pandemic-era payment pause on federal student loans ex pires on Dec. 31.

More than 150 years after slavery was officially outlawed in the United States, it will be on the Nov. 8 ballot where Louisiana voters will decide to keep or strip a pervasive “exception clause.”

In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude—except as punishment for someone convicted of a crime. The “exception clause” loop hole led to repressive laws in the South known as Black Codes and Jim Crow laws that allowed authorities to incar cerate Black people for petty crimes, such as vagrancy, and then force them to work.

About 20 state constitutions have exception clauses that allow either

slavery or involuntary servitude as punishment for crime. Louisiana, Ala bama, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont are voting on changing the law, and 3 others have already approved similar proposals to end forced prison labor. Opponents of the exception said, “With involuntary servitude allowed under the Louisiana Constitution, prisons can legally force people who are incarcerated to work jobs by the use of threat of physical restraint or with no repercussions. There are many companies utilizing this kind of la bor in Louisiana, including 5,000 in varying different locations, and about 39 of those are oil and gas companies, exposing the forced workers to toxic materials. So long as this exception is

in the state's constitution, prisons will continue to get away with physically abusing those incarcerated across the state.”

Last year, Republican lawmakers killed the proposed ballot question to remove the exception clause. On a sec ond try this year, State Rep. Edmond Jordan who filed the bill, agreed to compromise language requested by Republican lawmakers, and the Louisi ana House and Senate passed it unan imously.

The Nov. 8 ballot question reads: “Do you support an amendment to prohibit the use of involuntary servi tude except as it applies to the other

deter other Black leaders from running for elected office and allows an unfair, untrue stereotype to deepen,” Anitra Brown, managing editor wrote. “A suc cessful recall of LaToya Cantrell is bad news for Black political leadership and the Black citizenry in New Orleans.” Historically, recall elections in Louisi ana have been successful at a margin of more than 2 to 1. Recallers have until February 22, 2023 to submit the pe tition with at least 53,343 signatures to the Registrar of Voters. It will then need to be certified. If successful it will be sent to the Governor’s Office to issue an election proclamation on or around April 6, 2023.

ST. JAMES

19th Judicial District Court Judge Trudy White has thrown out the air permit Louisiana gave Formosa for its planned $10 billion plastics plant in St. James. The Court reversed the Loui siana Department of Environmental Quality’s decision to issue air permits that Formosa Plastics needed to build its proposed petrochemical complex in St. James Parish. The decision throws out the air permits and sends Formo sa Plastics back to the drawing board.

The permits would have allowed For mosa Plastics to emit over 800 tons of toxic pollution into the air, exacerbat ing environmental racism and harming the health of St. James’ predominantly Black residents in a region known as “Cancer Alley.”

“Stopping Formosa Plastics has been a fight for our lives, and today David has toppled Goliath,” said Sha ron Lavigne, founder and president of RISE St. James. “The judge’s deci sion sends a message to polluters like Formosa that communities of color have a right to clean air, and we must not be sacrifice zones.”

“This decision is the nail in the coffin for Formosa Plastics. They won’t build in St. James Parish, and we will make sure that they won’t build this monster anywhere,” said Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. This victory comes days after a victory against the South Louisiana Methanol petrochemical complex which was also planned for St. James Parish. It would have been the largest methanol production facility in North America

ONLINE: RiseStJames.org

X by Clay Morris Special to ThE druM

Dorrian Wilson (Photo by Dustin Duong)

CANTRELL

HICKS HOUSE

In the United States, someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds. But they aren’t just an issue for your grandpar ents’ generation, though it’s easy to see why many would think that.

The average age of a first heart attack is 65 for men and 72 for women, but research continues to mount that heart attacks are on the rise among people under 40 years old. Another study found that hospitalizations for heart attacks are becoming more prevalent among those under the age of 55, par ticularly Black women. These young er women were more likely to have a history of conditions that can increase the chance of a heart attack, including hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and stroke.

More research noted that those who experienced a heart attack under the age of 45 were more likely to be male, smoke, have obesity and have a fami ly history of premature heart attacks. A related study found that 1 in 5 pa tients who suffer a heart attack when they were under 50 years old also have

diabetes. These patients have worse outcomes and to have re peat cardiovas cular events.

Traditional risk factors for heart attack -diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking, fam ily history of premature heart attack and high cholesterol -- were similar between the two groups, older and younger. But, the youngest patients were more likely to report substance abuse, including mar ijuana and cocaine, but had less alcohol use.

Though alarming numbers, many heart attacks in young people could be prevented with earlier detection of heart disease and aggressive lifestyle modifications (and managing other is sues like diabetes properly!) The best

way to reduce your risk for heart attack is to avoid tobacco, get regular exercise, eat a heart healthy diet, lose weight if you need to, and manage your blood pressure and cholesterol. Major symptoms for a heart attack include chest pain, trouble breathing, sweating, dizziness, fatigue and nausea. And while we all associate chest pain with heart attacks, women often have symptoms that aren’t related to chest pain at all. If you or a loved one is expe riencing these symptoms, call 9-1-1.

M o T r P A C i s a n a t i o n w d e r e s e a r c h s t u d y a i m e d a t u n d e r s t a n d i n g h o w t h e b o d y c h a n g e s w i t h p h y s i c a l a c t i v i t y . R e s e a r c h e r s h o p e t o l e a r n w h i c h e x e r c s e s b e s t f o r e a c h p e r s o n s u n i q u e b o d y t y p e .

D O Y O U Q U A L I F Y ?

1 8 y e a r s o f a g e o r o d e r

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E a r n u p t o $ 1 5 0 0 f o r p a r t c p a t o n

ON THE WEB

IN THE NEXT ISSUE

Meet the men of Muse Farms

A group of journalists with Louisiana ties has launched a new calendar and awards program hon oring outstanding women of color.

The Shades of Success 2023 Calendar, which will be available for purchase this fall, features 12 busi ness women who also were born or reared in Louisi ana.

It was nearly a year ago that veteran television news anchor Valentina Wilson ap proached friend and longtime TV photojournalist Virnado Woods about partnering on the calendar. They assembled a team of fellow journalists who pooled their talents to showcase the women and their accomplishments.

“We wanted to do a project that would bring together some of our journalism friends we’ve known for decades, with a goal of giving back and honoring our roots,” said Wilson. Collectively, the group of journalists has al most 150 years of experience in the field. Wilson has worked for both WAFB and WVLA in Ba ton Rouge and is currently an evening anchor in North Carolina. Woods has worked for Louisi ana Public Broadcasting for about 30 years. The other journalists involved with the project are Chante Warren Pryer, a former longtime reporter and Saturday columnist for The (Baton Rouge) Advocate; freelance writer/editor and copy editor Donald Lee, who also spent many years at The Advocate; Ken Brumfield, a retired TV photo journalist; Rahsha Holmes, a former TV news manager and producer; and Cecily Holland, who has worked in both journalism and public rela tions.

According to Wilson, more than two dozen well-accomplished women applied online to par ticipate. A few others were identified based on their achievements. Then the group of journalists made their selections.

“It’s important to recognize change agents from various professions, and of varying ages... Louisiana has so many women who’ve achieved

great things, but many don’t get the recognition they deserve,” said Wilson, who grew up in Pride, La., just northeast of Zacha ry. “These are women who work in ministry, education, business and technology, media, medicine ... the list goes on and on. These women uplift their fam ilies and communities, set the bar higher, and make their communities better for all.”

Wilson, who is also the founder of the Teen Fashion Academy mentoring program for girls, will be featured, along with Avis Kado Brown a clinical social worker and self-care coach; Kay la Brown a speech language pathologist and business owner; Krystal Brumfield associate administrator of the Office of Government-Wide Policy for the Biden administration; Kia Cal lender-Price, Ph.D. a program director and entrepreneur; Labeaud Colbert, a marketing executive, life coach and entrepreneur; Cheryl Duhon, L'Auberge Baton Rouge vice president for marketing; Joy Russell a realtor and HGTV host; Terri Porche Ricks, deputy secretary for the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services; Dr. Krystal Shelmire, a na turopathic physician; Dr. Tanisha Toaston, a rehabilitation physician with a focus on spinal cord injury; and Sevetri Wilson, an author and serial entrepreneur.

The calendar will be published annually, spot lighting a different group of women each year.

“Our mission is that The Shades of Success Calendar will become a valuable resource in

classrooms and other settings,” Valentina Wilson said. “It is a tool that can be used during Black History Month and Women’s History Month, filled with role models that children can reach out and touch.”

The goal of the calendar is to share the stories of powerful women through pictures and biogra phies, said Virnado Woods, a Brusly, La., native.

“Each woman featured in our calendar will have several photographs showcasing different aspects of their personalities in different loca tions,” he said. “We chose some of the most beau tiful, scenic settings Louisiana has to offer. You’ll also be able to read about their many accomplish ments and what inspires them to succeed.”

The Shades of Success calendar and website will showcase these women’s legacies while leav ing its own and offering a platform where women of color shine. The 12” x 12” full-color calendar will soon be printed, and those interested will be able to buy copies before the upcoming holiday season.

In August, The Shades of Success hosted a cal endar launch party in Baton Rouge. Several hon orees attended the event, along with community members and business professionals.

In February 2023, the journalists will host a Shades of Success banquet where each honoree will receive an award, and the group will reveal a short film on the ladies’ success stories.

A portion of proceeds from The Shades of Success calendar sales will go to a nonprofit that supports domestic violence survivors. Companies and individuals looking to partner with the group can do so via ads and sponsorships.

ONLINE: www.theshadesofsuccess.net

Dr. Tanisha Toaston, Dr. Kia Callender Price, Kayla Brown, Valentina Wilson, Virnado Woods, Avis Kado Brown, Joy Russell and Terri Porche Ricks announce the launch of the Shades of Success calendar, Aug. 6 in Baton Rouge, La. Below, Cecily Holland, marketing director, introduces calendar honorees.

What happens when police vio late your ‘right to remain silent’?

The Supreme Court decided that people cannot sue police officers for failing to read them their Miranda rights before question ing. Former Department of Justice attorney Michelle Coles explains online at www. thedrumnewspaper.info.

Expanding Skincare into Total Wellness: microbiologist Erin White takes therapeutics to sisterhood

X by CandaCE J. sEMiEn JozEF syndiCaTE rEPorTEr

Erin White has entered a phase where life is seeming to come full circle.

Yes, post COVID, post surgeries, post career challenges, and during her turn into the forties, White—a Baton Rouge microbiologist—is living in a stage of life when you realize the path you are on is pur poseful.

White excelled in math and science at McKinley Middle Magnet and Baton Rouge Magnet High. She earned a master’s degree in molecular biology and un dergraduate degrees in microbiology and physics.

For years, she’s researched and dissected microscopic skin cells, studied cell cy cle regulation, cultivated topogenic bacteria, and probed cancer cells—nearly three decades after her mother gave her a microscope.

“I still have that thing.” White laughs. “That is where it all began.”

The microscope that she received in elementary school became a harbinger for the work and purpose White carries today.

“Though my degrees are accomplishments, I only really ever mention one—the BS in microbiology. Had all gone to plan, I would have had a full BS in physics, not just a BA, and a doctorate in cell cycle regulation. Those two degrees represent failures to me; points in my life where I was showing signs of burnout and weak ening mental health. These failures continue to drive me to succeed, push harder, and never accept less than, again.”

That desire is pushing White to use her aptitude for research and science to help others through her sootheURskin products at Thomas Therapeutics and her social enterprise Black Wom en’s Wellness.

“I have realized over time that I am a natural leader, though it is not a position I always race to occupy. I am sarcastic and have a dry wit. And, lastly, I am a good bit of a nerd,” she said. “I love the feeling I get from solving problems. I actually get giddy.”

White said she is most inspired by her maternal grandmother Bobbie June Simmons Thomas the first Black teacher at Bak er High School. “There were so many students that looked up to her. And, I think that knowing this made her shoulders fall back and her head that much higher. She knew the trail she was blazing and the footprint she would leave behind. The blood that runs through these veins is most definitely that of dominion,” said White.

“I can only hope to make her proud,” she said. “My body of work is beginning to show my lineage—not to say that any of my ancestors were widely-known leaders,

I mean, neither am I. But they were leaders in their own right.”

Through her therapeutic products—balms, soaps, tinctures— she is solving dermatological, beauty, and esteem problems for thousands who use Thomas Therapeutics.

It began when White returned home from college and noticed her younger sister’s eczema hadn’t cleared but had worsened. “She never really seemed to grow out of the childhood plaques of infec tion. She had eczema surrounding her eyes and inside her eyelids. It was inside her elbows, behind her knees, on every surface that experienced friction.”

As a researcher, White hypothesized. “There’s got to be a nat ural way to clear this up. So, we started the search for a natural, steroid-, and antibiotic-free remedy. We scoured the pharmacies and pharmacy departments of our local area. Everything con tained a steroid: cortisone or hydrocortisone. Upon seeking as sistance in dermatologists’ offices we were loaded with topical steroid and antibiotic cream combinations or even oral medicines of similar content.

She began researching natural ways to treat and heal derma titis. The end-product became the start of Thomas Therapeutics which was “not only moisturizing and hydrating but also an ti-itch—allowing the skin to heal itself,” she said.

“There are several ways to decrease inflammation naturally, to decrease itch naturally and give skin its integrity back and balance its moisture,” she said.

She knew nature worked and botanical extract would stop inflammation. To that end, Thomas Therapeutics’s line of products are blended to decrease the discomfort of irritated, dry skin. “They decrease inflammation and itch. They allow the skin to heal itself,” she said.

With her microscope and research nearby, White–who is affectionately called Sensitive Skin Scientist–said she is at home in the organized chaos of her innovations lab. “(It is) where I belong. I am a problem solver and that is where I solve them.”

Even during the COVID-crisis, White stayed true to her focus. “While I am a soap maker, I did not jump to make hand sanitizers and other gimmicky products. I felt like it was just feeding into the fear mongering and taking advantage of what little was known versus what we did not know about the virus

ERIN WHITE

at the time. As a direct result, I had very slow sales during the beginning of the pandemic.”

“It gave me time to pause. It gave me time to reflect on where my business was going and whether I wanted to continue to have a business at all.” White said she learned to maintain discipline in all things and that feeling an emotion is a choice. “I am learning to take cues from my surroundings. I listen to my body. I listen to the Creator and creation. This has become an important practice for me simply because these are constants.”

Then, White’s mission expanded into Black Women’s Wellness, a social network for women across the world.

The Drum: We evolve and life circumstances shape us. Was there an event that shifted your journey?

White: The entire COVID-19 experience has shifted my journey and changed my trajectory. Between 2019 and now, we have experienced a global pandemic on a scale never before seen. In the Fall of 2020, I’d become fed up with “Say Her Name” and “I Can’t Breathe.” I was tired of being locked away with my outlets

to the outside world telling me that this was no safe space to be Black or especially, a Black woman.

I participated in a virtual panel discussion on hair and skin health with the Urban League of Louisiana Young Professionals of New Orleans and was granted the ability to network online. But, I felt there was something more that had to be done. It was too much to endure alone in my office or alone in my home. Feelings of rage, exhaustion, anger, and hurt were common to me. And I knew that other Black women felt them, too. What did you do as a result? In Septem ber of that year, I set up the inaugural Black Women’s Wellness Panel. I had experts in mental health, nutrition, fi nancial health, maternal health, and even spiritual health. We logged on to the virtual platform the evening that a hurricane was actually terrorizing Baton Rouge. Reception and connectivity were horrible but we trudged through a dis cussion on why we all of us were feeling these emotions. The differences that we had long been trained to hide were being revealed. We talked about code-switch ing and professionalism, we talked about our hair and professionalism. We discussed the violence against us and our people. And in the end, we prayed a little, we meditated a little, and I think we felt a small sense of relief because we’d created a safe space for those discussions to occur. My mission was no longer just about skin health but also skin color. The ultimate goal is to breed confidence.

What has your journey been like that has led you to this day? Why is there a need for BWW? In my personal journey, I have had to deal with feeling “less than.” I was never liked as a child—too dark to be a pretty or even a girl. I was a depressed child. Dark skin and even darker patches where eczema left its scars, oozing plaques that had yet to heal. I even had eczema at the corners of my mouth, making it painful and unsightly (in my own opinion) to smile. My hair was frizzy and natural until maybe middle school. I remember the hot combs, curling irons, and rollers that marked holidays, school picture days, and other special occasions. I hated my hair. I hated my skin. I didn’t like myself. At every point of self-acceptance, there was a rebuttal from my father, but my mother and grandmother would build me up. Black Women’s Wellness began because I realized that my childhood was not an anomaly. We need safe spaces for these discussions. We tiptoe around white fragility, racism, and inferiority complexes. We need spaces where explanations are neither required nor desired. We need spaces where Black women are beautiful in all of our shades, shapes, and sizes. So, I am creating that space. Black Wom en’s Wellness events evoke meaningful discussion, provide delicious healthy meals, and promote rest among a group that is so often overwhelmed, overextended, and overwrought.

What would you desire others to remember about you? I would like to be remembered for my lineage and how I have made them proud. I would like to be remembered for the supportive roles I’ve played in the lives of friends and family.

ONLINE: https://sootheurskin.com @sootheurskin https://blackwomenswellness.black @OurTraumaMatters

Black Women's Wellness held its inaugural retreat and panel at The Red Shoes in Baton Rouge

BOBBIE THOMAS

NEW ORLEANS—Marcia Griffin, founder and CEO of HomeFree-USA, has been on a mission to strengthen people of color, elevate partners, and enhance communities across America.

On Monday, September 19, 2022, HomeFree-USA solidified a monu mental partnership with Southern University at New Orleans when Grif fin and Center for Financial Advance ment executive director Gwen Garnett presented $25,000 to SUNO Chan cellor James H. Ammons,Ph.D.

Through partnerships with universi ties, the Center for Financial Advance ment creates paths to homeownership for students by providing financial ed ucation, professional development, as well as career growth opportunities. The CFA and SUNO partnership will help to develop the whole student

of partnering with HomeFree-USA to elevate each student’s financial knowl edge.

“We understand the importance of financial knowledge and homeown ership for our students and for their

partners with recruits, trains, and plac es students from historically Black col leges and universities into internships and careers in partnering mortgage and real estate companies. This SUNO partnership is one of

the 8-month program at partnering universities.

CFA Scholars are exposed to credit, money management, and homeowner ship in order to become savvy consum ers and future homeowners. Students are fully engaged in the program and participate in a Day of Empowerment, Learn to Earn sessions, and Mortgage

“Scholars can even earn a stipend based on a scorecard for gaining finan cial knowledge,” said Gwen Garnett, CFA executive director. The CFA vi sion is supported by a host of banks and financial institutions that un derstand the benefits of investing in HBCU students.

HomeFree-USA is a national inter mediary that oversees a network of more than 53 affiliated community and faith-based housing counseling agen cies. HomeFree-USA and each affili ate are approved and regulated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

HomeFree-USA Center for Finan cial Advancement is on a mission to level the playing field and lessen the wealth gap. Griffin said, “when we partner, we win” and HomeFree-USA has been winning by creating powerful partnerships that are building bridges to savings, homeownership, and gener ational wealth.

ONLINE: HomefreeUSA.org

What your feet can tell you about your health

If you are living with pain and dis comfort in your feet, legs, thighs or butt, it may be a sign of a serious health problem. Many adults in the United States are suffering and may be at risk of amputations of their toes, feet or legs as a result of an undetect ed disease known as peripheral artery disease. PAD affects the blood vessels outside the heart, reducing blood flow to the area with the diseased blood ves sel. In the most common type of PAD, lower extremity PAD, blood flow is re duced to your legs and feet. Learning more about PAD is import ant for detecting problems and getting early treatment so you can avoid dev astating complications such as ampu tation or even death. Learn more about PAD, including symptoms, risk factors and treatment, from the experts at the American Heart Association:

ARMS cont. from page 2

monumental than they are.

“They don’t ask us a lot of different things,” Wilson said, referring to Black women. “Unless we are in service to something else: our personal opinions on how we feel aren’t usually record ed. Or why we do things, or if things are happening to us, they aren’t usual ly taken into consideration in a larger

Symptoms

The most common symptoms of PAD are burning, aching, numbness, fatigue or discomfort in your leg or hip mus cles while walking. The symptoms are caused by your legs not getting the blood they need. This pain usually goes away with rest and returns when you are active again.

“These symptoms can impact a per son’s quality of life, making it difficult to walk and hard to do usual activities at home and work,” said Amy W. Pol

lak, MD, American Heart Association volunteer expert serving as a leader of the national PAD Collaborative and cardiovascular medicine physician at Mayo Clinic. “For some, PAD can progress to cause pain when you are resting and even amputation of your toe, foot or leg.”

Risk Factors

PAD affects more than 8.5 million peo ple in the U.S., the majority of whom are 65 years and older, according to the American Heart Association. Approxi mately 46-68% of patients with PAD also have coronary artery disease or cerebrovascular disease.

“We see PAD more commonly in peo ple living with diabetes, people who smoke and people with other common risk factors for heart disease, like high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity,” Pollak said.

Prevention and Treatment

While some causes of PAD are be yond your control, the best method to prevent PAD is managing risk factors by making lifestyle changes including quitting smoking, managing diabetes and high blood pressure, staying active and eating a heart-healthy diet.

Working closely with your health care professional at the first sign of PAD is an important step in achiev ing the best treatment outcomes and avoiding serious complications like amputation.

“PAD is a lifelong medical condi tion, but people with PAD can lead ac tive and long lives,” Pollak said. “If you notice walking is more difficult, keep ing up with others is hard or you have pain when you walk, talk with a doctor and describe when it happens and how it feels. Don’t be afraid to get a second opinion.”

ONLINE: heart.org/PAD

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story.”

Wilson also made it very clear that she sees her connection to guns as dis tinct from the broader “psychosis” and obsession with shooting that many Americans associate with gun owners.

“Sometimes you can look in the 2A community around Instagram and Facebook and you see people whose

SLAVERY cont. from page 3

wise lawful administration of criminal justice?”

What practical effect the amend ment would have in Louisiana is a mat ter of dispute, writes Marsha Mercer, reporter at the Louisiana Illumniator.

“If this amendment passes, then the incentive to incarcerate Black peo ple will no longer exist,” said former inmate Curtis Ray Davis II who served 25 years for second-degree murder in Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary. He never made more than 20 cents an hour working while incar cerated. After he was released in 2016, he founded Decarcerate Louisiana, a criminal justice reform organization based in Baton Rouge. “Most people believed it was im

possible to get the amendment on the ballot in Louisiana, but Louisiana and America should not be in the business of legalized slavery,” he said.

Davis lobbied state legislators ar guing the constitutional change is a moral and religious issue, and he said he plans to visit all 64 parishes in the state before Nov. 8 to encourage voters to turn out.

But Louisiana state Rep. Alan Seabaugh, a Republican who opposed the measure in committee, said the effect would be “absolutely none, whatso ever. It’s essentially just symbolic. It says what’s already on the books — al though potentially worse.”

The state constitution currently prohibits slavery and involuntary ser

lives are consumed by thinking that everything and everyone and every instance is a threat,” she said. “I don’t ascribe to those things and I don’t let them penetrate my thinking.” The specifics, though, of where other peo ple think Black women fall within the landscape of gun culture in America is neither here nor there.

“I’m not really sure how Americans perceive Black women who own guns. I just know we’re here,” said Rhonda Carson, owner and founder of Girlz on Fire, a firearm instruction acade my in High Point, thinks the face of

gun culture in America is so white that Black people, and Black women in par ticular, are getting lost in the parade of white men commonly associated with gun culture.

vitude, except in the latter case for pun ishment of a crime. The new wording says slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, but the provision “does not apply to the otherwise lawful ad ministration of criminal justice.”

In other words, “the new amend ment technically allows slavery,” Sea baugh said. “I don’t think anybody thought of it that way, but that’s what it says.”

“Anyone of good conscious should want to see this go away. While some might consider it brave or contro versial, in fact it’s probably embar rassing that we haven’t tackled this before today” said Jordan.

The state needs more than 50% of voter approval to change the consti

X Special from Family Features

Southern University New Orleans Chancellor James Ammons (center) receives

from HomeFree-USA Center for Financial Advancement for financial education program.

Stop kids from being sent to the world’s deadliest adult prison

LETTER TO THE PUBLIC

A call for public response was posted by Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Youth when the organization posted this tweet. “The Governor is planning to move kids to Ango la, one of the most dangerous adult prisons in the coun try. Take action! Sign the petition and tell Gov. John Bel Edwards: Invest in Louisiana's kids, not in punishment.”

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards is planning to move kids to the largest prison in the country, Angola. This would make him the first governor in modern Amer ican history to move children to the grounds of a maxi mum-security adult prison.

Under Governor Edwards’ un precedented plan, kids will be housed in Angola’s former death row. Kids who have not been con victed of a crime will be housed in the same cells that previously held condemned men.

Angola is a symbol of white supremacy and racial oppression, as it has transformed from slave plantation, to labor camp for con vict leasing and now, the nation’s largest prison known for its human rights abuses. There is a direct line between slavery and Governor Ed ward’s plan to move mostly Black boys onto the grounds of Angola.

“We deeply reject this decision and extend our concern for the well-being of the children who will be transferred to Angola. The judge’s decision to uphold Governor Edwards and the Office of Juvenile Justice’s (OJJ) unlawful plan to transfer youth to Angola will cause irrevo cable harm and trauma. Locking children behind the bars of an adult prison instead of addressing the longstanding history of systemic abuse, mistreatment, and racism within OJJ is unconscionable. Governor Edwards must reconsider his decision and completely abandon these plans before we lose another generation of children in Louisiana.”

Gina Womack

Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incar cerated Children

Louisiana was once a national youth justice leader, investing in a system based in rehabilitation, treatment and care. It can be again, if Governor Edwards makes a different choice and invests in kids, hope and care, instead of punishment. ONLINE: NoKidsinAngola.com

Federal judge moves to allow incarcerated youth to be moved to Angola

On Friday, Sept. 23, Federal Judge Shelly Dick ruled that Gov. John Bel Edwards’ controversial plan to house juvenile inmates on the property of Louisiana State Peni tentiary at Angola can move forward. The governor plans to move incarcerated teens in the state’s juvenile justice system to a building on the grounds of one of the largest maximum security adult prisons in the country.

The plan was put in place after multiple inmates es caped the Bridge City Center for Youth facility, attacking staff, stealing cars, and being accused of shooting a man during a carjacking. The plan includes transferring 24 of the most violent inmates to a temporary transitional treat ment unit at Angola. Office of Juvenile Justice officials said those youth offenders will not come in contact with adult inmates, as the unit is more than a mile away.

Edwards’ administration has spent the past two months converting a building designed to hold adult death row in mates into a secure care center for incarcerated minors.

It’s eventually expected to house between 24 and 30 young people. The occupants could be as young as 10 years old, according to officials’ testimony in court. The governor and other state officials have pushed the Angola building as the temporary solution to existing youth lockups being overrun with violence and escapes. Incarcerated teens and children in the facilities have repeatedly attacked each other and staff over the past two years.

In her ruling, Dick said she believes sending children and adolescents to Angola will likely be distressing for them, but she considers the more pressing concern to be the safety of incarcerated minors who aren’t acting out.

“The Court is mindful that the specter of the prison surroundings alone will likely cause psychological trauma

and harm. However, the public interest and the balance of harms require that [state government] be afforded the lati tude to carry out its rehabilitative mission for the benefit of all youth in its care,” she wrote in her ruling.

State officials claim the building at Angola will be more secure than its other juvenile justice centers. Its concrete walls, individual cells and remote location – the prison is more than 20 miles away from the nearest town – should make it more difficult for incarcerated youth to terrorize each other, attack staff or run away.

But civil rights attorneys said a building on the grounds of an adult prison could not be transformed to adequately serve the juvenile justice system’s needs. Unlike the adult prison system, the purpose of the juvenile justice system is to be therapeutic and rehabilitative, not punitive.

Federal law also requires adult prisoners and incarcerated youth to be kept far enough apart that they cannot see or hear each other. Critics say that will be a challenge at An gola, which houses more than 4,000 incarcerated adults.

Dick said in her opinion that she has faith the Office of Juvenile Justice will be able to maintain the required “sight and sound separation” between adults and youths however.

Among other things, the agency plans to wrap the pe rimeter fence encompassing the new juvenile justice facility with a solid fabric to prevent the adult prisoners and young people being able to see each other.

The judge is also confident that other problem areas at the Angola site – including lackluster recreational facilities and impersonal vistiaton areas for family visits – will be addressed before the building opens.

Source: Louisiana Illuminator

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Stephen Goudeau, of Shreveport, is getting his own show at NY Fashion Week. The fashion de signer, a University of New Orleans alumnus, said his goal is to make an impact as a person of color and to show peo ple, especially people in Louisiana, that it is pos sible to reach high and achieve their dreams.

degree in secondary education with a minor in English and a master’s degree in educational lead ership from LSU.

Opelousas native Rebecca D. Henry was the only U.S. artist represented in the international art show at the Acadiana Center for the Arts. A Creole folklorist and a specialist in folk med icine traditions, she is the founder of the Cre ole Heritage Folklife Center in Opelousas, where she has dedicat ed the last 30 years to preserving the Creole traditions of her home. Born in 1941 to share croppers, Henry spent her youth picking cotton in the fields with her brothers and sisters. She portrays this experience in her painting, “Just the Three of Us.” The international exhibit “Poetics of Selfhood/Poétique de l’Ipséité” features five artists at the Acadiana Center for the Arts and is in partnership with La Station Culturelle, Fort de France, Martinique. The exhibit is open through January 2023. (photo by Patrice Melnick)

The Louisiana Department of Education and Dream Teachers Louisiana named Lowery Mid dle School principal Michael Hilton III, the 2023 Louisiana Middle School Principal of the Year. An 18-year educa tor, Hilton started his career in Baton Rouge where he served as a teacher, coach, teacher for instructional sup port, and administrative dean of students. He served as a graduation coach, mentor teacher, and assistant principal at Donaldsonville High School an Ascension parish before being named principal of Lowery Middle School in 2020. There, he focused on recruiting, retaining, and developing teachers. Hilton earned a bachelor’s

Grambling State University head men’s basket ball coach, Donte’ Jackson, has been appointed as the next president of the Louisiana Asso ciation of Basketball Coaches. As he heads into his sixth season leading GSU, Jackson becomes the third Tiger coach to be named pres ident of the organiza tion, following Fredrick C. Hobdy and Larry Wright.

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael Langley has earned Congressional confirmation as four-star general in the U.S Marines—the highest rank in the military. The Shreveport native is the first Black American to earn this rank. Langley is Commanding Gener al, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic and Com mander, Marine Forces Command and Marine Forces Northern Com mand. He has com manded Marines at every level from platoon to regiment, serving in Okinawa, Japan and Afghan istan. He graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington and was commissioned in 1985. He holds multiple advanced degrees including Mas ters in National Security Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

Brandon V. Lewis has been named educator and public programs manager for the LSU Muse um of Art as of June 2022. He is an artist, teach er, and Baton Rouge native, and has dedi cated the last decade to educating tradition al and non-traditional students. He graduated from the gifted and talented program at McKinley Senior High School and then earned a bachelor of arts in his tory with a minor in fine arts from the University

of Louisiana in Lafayette. He served as the fine arts chair and African-American Studies instruc tor in the City of Baker School System for more than nine years, eventually becoming the district fine arts coordinator/director. For the past three years, he has spearheaded the neighborhood se nior Art Pack Initiative, which engages partici pants and provides a fine art experience for senior citizens impacted by the pandemic. At the muse um, Lewis develops, manages, and implements a cohesive group of education programs that link school and community audiences of all ages with the museum’s collections and exhibitions.

Retired Southern University Lab girls’ track coach Rebecca Marshall was inducted into the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame. The 1st ballot Hall of Famer fostered a distinguished legacy at Southern Universi ty Laboratory School since she became the girls’ track coach in 1990. Under her direc tion, the track and field program dominated at the district, regional, and state levels in outdoor track and field, indoor track and field, and cross country. Her teams won 16 consecutive championships and 21 total.

Southern Lab won the 1990 Outdoor Cham pionship, the Outdoor Championships from 1993-2008, the 1993 and 1994 Cross Country Championships, and the 1993 and 1996 Indoor Championships. Marshall was also awarded the 1995 State Girls Track Coach of the Year. She re tired last year.

Kiwana McClung has been named the Uni versity of Louisiana at Lafayette’s chief diversity officer. She will oversee UL Lafayette’s Office for Campus Diversity and lead the University’s fo cus on fostering diversi ty, equity, and inclusion among students, faculty, and staff. She will also ensure that underrep resented groups have equal access to educa tional opportunities and resources. while helping to coordinate faculty development and diversity training for employ ees. McClung, who is an accomplished research er, is also an associate professor in the School of

Architecture and Design and has earned national recognition for developing initiatives to increase diversity in architecture programs and curricula. The Baton Rouge native earned a bachelor’s de gree in arts and humanities from Southern Uni versity in 2008, and a master’s degree in architec ture from LSU in 2012.

The Opelousas Museum and Interpretive Cen ter has received a grant from the Atchafalaya Na tional Heritage Area and a Rebirth Grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities to develop a new exhibit recognizing Free People of Color in St. Landry Parish from 1700 to 1865. Through images, text, maps, and artifacts, the ex hibit will describe lifestyle, trades, and culture. It will also explore how despite being free but with many legal restrictions, the people thrived and left important legacies, said museum represen tatives. The exhibit will open in February 2023 with special presentations. Exhibit developers include historian Sarah Senette genealogist Etha Simien Amling designer Jerome Ford exhibit technician Stephen Ford, research assis tant Taylor Suir, and education specialist Brandi Meche The museum is located at 315 N Main St., in Opelousas.

A Louisiana trio of talent connects in the new Netflix film, “A Jazzman’s Blues,” which is produced by Tyler Perry, a New Orleans native, features songs ar ranged and produced by New Orleans trumpeter Terrance Blanchard and includes choreogra phy by Debbie Allen a native of Port Allen. A Jazzman’s Blues is a tale of forbidden love and family drama that unravels 40 years of secrets and lies against a soundtrack of juke-joint blues

JACKSON

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PERRY

EXHIBIT

in the Deep South. High on Films write, “The film is a simple story of a time when the colored folk of America struggled to make a life for themselves and survive. It has hints of the darkness that lurked at the time in the lives of colored folk and places they would run to and escape to cope with their struggles.”

Dillard University’s director of human resources Brittney Richardson has been selected as an honoree in CityBusiness’ 2022 Women of the Year and Nonprofit Orga nizations. The Women of the Year award rec ognizes women whose success and contribu tions in the community have moved the region forward. Since 2015, Richardson has served as a workforce advocate and is responsible for implementing policies and practices that positively impacted employ ees, while being an advisor and strategic partner to University administration. She is chair of the City of New Orleans Civil Service Commission.

Richardson and other honorees will be celebrated at an in-person event on Monday, Nov.14 at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Alma C. Stewart-Allen, RN, has dedicated her professional and personal life to improving experiences of health and well-being for the most vulnerable mem bers of her community. As a result, she has been awarded the Robert Wood Johnson Founda tion Award for Health Equity. The award is presented by the Na tional Civic League and recognizes individ uals who, over the past two years, have sought to address health inequity and improve health outcomes in their community through the im plementation of a systems change approach. Stewart-Allen was recognized for the work she’s done as a researcher and public health advocate with the Louisiana Center for Health Equity, a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the increasing disparities in health and well-being across Louisiana. LCHE promotes the elimination of health disparities caused by poverty, lack of access to quality health care, and unhealthy en vironmental conditions. Along with community organizations, she has launched several programs and initiatives to extend the impact of LCHE such as the LA40by2030, Youth Peace Olym pics, LYFE Teen Summit, LEAD in LYFE League,

Louisiana Resources and Educational Assessments for Children’s Health, and other interventions. Stewart-Allen received a $3,000 honorarium and recognition at the National Civic League’s annual All-America City Awards ceremony.

Clourth Wilson has been named the director of technology at the Southern University Ag Cen ter and the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences. Wil son currently serves as the assistant director of information technology for the Southern Univer sity System and adjunct professor in Southern University’s Department of Computer Science for online courses. As director, he will serve as the chief information technology officer and will be responsible for the implementation of new and existing technology to support current and future initiatives at the SU Ag Center and the CAFCS. Wilson earned a bachelor of science degree in computer science with a minor in forensic science and criminology from Southern University and a master’s in information technology with a special ization in information assurance and security from Capella University.

Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine has been inaugurated as president of the Louisiana Munic ipal Association, becoming the first Black female to serve as president. She also earned the associ ation’s distinguished leadership award during the annual convention on July 26. The LMA is a state wide member organization that advocates for all 303 municipalities and two parishes to strengthen community development because we all call a vil lage, town, or city “home”. Vidrine said the first thing on her agenda is getting people access to the necessary funds they need in their communities.

Allen P. Vital has been appointed chief of staff for the Southern University System and South ern University and A&M College. He is an alum nus of Southern Univer sity and A&M College, Jackson State University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. With more than three decades of Higher Educa tion experience, Dr. Vital has held positions at in stitutions such as South ern, Alcorn State University, Xavier University, and Baton Rouge Community College..

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