MetroNews
T E X A S
10
DELIVERING NEWS YOU CAN USE
• Vol-9
WWW.TEXASMETRONEWS.COM
• Mar. 4 - 10, 2021
THE UNITED STATES VS BILLIE HOLIDAY AT THE MOVIES By Hollywood Hernandez If a movie keeps you entertained I consider that a good movie. However, if a movie teaches you something you didn’t previously know or affects you on an emotional level, I consider that movie to be stellar. THE UNITED STATES VS BILLIE HOLIDAY is a stellar movie. The movie tells the story of Harry Anslinger’s personal crusade to bring down Holiday because of one song she usually closed her show with each night called, “Strange Fruit.” The song was a subtle protest against lynching in the United States. Although “Strange Fruit” made no direct mention of lynching it had a haunting melody and was an obvious socially conscious song which was based on a poem written by a white New York poet who was horrified after seeing a picture of a lynching. “Black body swinging in the Southern breeze/ Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.” “Strange Fruit” became Holiday’s signature song. The song was so offensive to Anslinger, who was the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, he became obsessed with jailing Holiday to the point of pursuing her all the way to her death bed (where he still tried to arrest her). Trevante Rhodes plays Jimmy Fletcher who was a real life narcotics agent. Rhodes is a conflicted character who
gets close to Holiday, and then betrays her when he arrests her for drug possession, and then becomes her lover after she is released from prison one year later. Andra Day, who plays Billie Holiday, doesn’t just play the character. She seems to channel Holiday’s spirit and really gets into the essence of the singer with a drug addiction and a troubled past where she was forced by her mother to have sex with men starting at the age of 10. Day also sings the Billie Holiday songs in the movie and while no one can be Billie Holiday she does an incredible vocal performance interpret-
ing “Lady Day’s” songs. The movie, while not rated, is an adult film that shows nudity, sex, and drug use. THE UNITED STATES VS BILLIE HOLIDAY is showing exclusively on Hulu. It’s a timeless story that is still relevant today. In 1918 a federal anti-lynching bill was introduced in the senate. The bill failed to pass. As of January 21, 2021 the senate still hasn’t passed a bill to make lynching a federal crime. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate THE UNITED STATES VS BILLIE HOLIDAY a JUMBO!
VITAMIN D LEVELS and COVID19 THAT CELEBRITY INTERVIEW By Valder Beebe I invited Dr. Redcross, MD, into the Valder Beebe Show studios to discuss the much talked about topic of Vitamin D deficiency and how to develop a bonding relationship with your physical. Dr. Ken Redcross, MD, is the author of, “Bond: The 4 Cornerstones of a Lasting and Caring Relationship with Your Doctor,” says vitamin D has been in the spotlight during 2020 because of how it reduces COVID symptoms, however he says this inexpensive, simple vitamin solution has been a secret weapon of his for improving many other health concerns for patients, including depression, viral respiratory infection, premature births, sleep deprivation and Type 2 diabetes. With nearly 90% of Americans being vitamin D deficient, absorbing vitamin D from sunlight is even more challenging, especially for those with darker skin tones. Redcross stresses the importance of having your doctor test your vitamin D levels (or testing with an at-home kit), so you know exactly how much vitamin D to supplement with, especially since everyone’s body processes vitamin D differently. Dr. Redcross also shares his Black doctor’s perspective on the FDA approved COVID vaccine, and his own experience with getting the COVID vaccine. Dr. Redcross inform us about the newly FDA approved COVID-19 vaccine, especially in regards to how people
in communities who are most at risk for the coronavirus can feel safe about being targeted in the first round of vaccinations. Dr. Redcross publicists provided text in conjunction with the Valder Beebe Show VBS: Dr. Redcross, give us a course of action for COVID19 prevention that you can recommend for us as an audience and what you are telling your patients. DRRC: First line of prevention is the mask, washing your hands, social distance. You are also hearing a lot about Vitamin D which is not a treatment for COVID19. Vitamin D is not a treatment for Coronavirus, we want everyone to know.
Dr. Redcross MD
Vitamin D is incredibly important to help support our immune system. That’s exactly what we want to have booted and ready to go. While we are not only dealing with COVID fatigue but influenza is still circulating. When you are thinking of the things you know you are supposed to do, think about knowing your Vitamin D levels. You want to have your levels between 40-60. You can find out your levels with your doctor you can also order an at home test kit at……… Dr. Redcross complete interview…… SoundCloud.com/valderbeebeshow; YouTube.com/valderbeebeshow: Broadcasting to a national & global audience: ValdeBeebeShow.com ; KKVI FM Radio, KRER FM, Streaming TV, Social Media, Print Publications I MESSENGER, Texas Metro News, and Garland Journal News.
Celebrating Women’s History Month with Tracey Pugh FROM MARVA WITH LOVE By Marva J. Sneed This month is Women’s History Month and who better to celebrate with than educator Tracey Pugh, who is also the author of four books on parenting and social skills, and the Lil’ Tracey series? In 2019 she founded Sociallywize, an online platform to provide social skills, tools, and encouragement gifts. Tracey has spent more than 20 years working with students and families, and implementing skills and life lessons, giving kids confidence one social skill at a time. MS: Thank you, Tracey for joining the show today. Tell us about yourself and your journey. TP: Well, I’m an educator, raised in Richardson, Texas. I have taught in Cedar Hill and DeSoto. And now I’m at a private school. I’ve been teaching for over 25 years. I have two grown children, 23-year-old graduate student at SMU, and a junior daughter at Hampton University. And so, I’m blessed. But growing up in Richardson when I was a little girl, I was the only little girl of color, and you know, it shaped me especially as I grew. Then I went to an HBCU because I really wanted to make sure that I knew my roots and my people. But then when I became a teacher, and I had children, I realized I was teaching my children history. It was really important to me to see that my children became readers and that I wanted them to see themselves and to be able to identify and see a representation of someone like themselves. I began to write Children’s books with African American
characters as the main protagonist, and as the main character, so they’re fun everyday stories and not always about race or a particular situation. MS: You tell the story about you and your sister having good manners. Is there a skill for switching behavior for your environment? TP: Well, you know, there’s something called code switching which is that as African Americans, we tend to do it and it comes naturally when we’re with our own people. When we’re comfortable with our relatives or friends, we talk in a normal voice. My kids would laugh when the telephone rang, I would say hello in a different tone. They would say ‘Mom, What is that?’ You know, that’s a code. That’s something that we do naturally.
Tracey Pugh
MS: Tell us more about SociallyWize. TP: That’s pretty much what my passion is. So that is why SociallyWize is a platform for people who want to acquire and inspire social skills and By social skills, I mean you know how to resolve conflict, you know, how deal with being bullied, how to join a group, and how to sharpen interview skills… To hear the full interview, go to BlogTalkRadio. com: http://bit.ly/3pLEyPa and the video on the TexasMetroNews Facebook page. Follow Tracey Pugh on FB, Twitter, IG & YouTube. For information, contact Tracey at the website: www. sociallywize.com. Tune into “From Marva with Love” Fridays from 11 am-1 pm. on BlogTalkRadio.com and Texas Metro News Facebook page. marvasneed@myimessenger.com