City. Life. Style. B1 | April 22-28, 2020
Where City Meets Life and Life Meets Style
michiganchronicle.com
The New Norm of Quarantine Dating By Alan Hunt II
B
lind dates have been around since the dawn of time; when you think about it, the first blind date was Adam and Eve. Humans have always sought companionship. But the creation of the internet was arguably dating’s greatest game changer. For the first time you could encounter strangers first via email, then through dating websites and more recently social media. Quarantine has brought about dating’s latest evolution, speed dating live. Detroiter Bria Renee has been hosting live speed dating via Instagram. Here’s how it works. Renee announces when she is going live on Instagram and potential suitors have the opportunity to request to go live with her for a seven-minute speed date.
Bria Renee
“If our date goes well or if they feel like it’s some sort of connection, they can leave their number in the DM (direct message),” said Renee. The 27-year-old recent Wayne State grad says she put off dating while in school, and looked forward to 2020 being her year to explore conventional dating scenes like happy hours and networking events. “Then the coronavirus hit and I wasn’t able to. I still want to date, but because of social distancing I’m not able to meet anybody, so I [thought] I should do a speed dating live.” Thus “DateLIVE: Speed Dating with a Twist” was born, and in an era where some people under 30 won’t dare to post even a hand of someone they are romantically pur-
suing, this approach is unique to say the least. Renee admits her first attempt was not as successful as she initially hoped. There wasn’t any advance notice, nobody was willing to go live with her, and only about eight people viewed the live Instagram feed. Renee tweeted about her disappointment and someone responded with a fix: announce before you go live. “I did and it turned out to be this amazing thing,” said Renee. This time around she dressed up, had a glass of wine, and a playlist ready in the background. She even pinned her Cash App information so people could “buy” her drinks, and yes people did take her up on her offer. “People were actually dating me and the engagement was off the charts. It was really fun.” For those not familiar with Instagram live, it’s essentially a public FaceTime. The app allows you to go live with anyone with an account. Your followers, their followers, and anyone else on Instagram can view the live feed and also comment. For a first date, the task of making yourself that available could be daunting to some, a challenge Renee did not foresee. “I didn’t think as many people were going to be in the lives, so I was like oh, it’s not going to be that big of a deal.” Once Renee saw how many were participating, she realized that this put a lot of pressure on some people. “I feel like if you want to date somebody you have to be courageous in a sense.”
See SPEED DATING page B-2
The Aretha Amphitheatre, Right Productions Partner with Detroit ACE Fund to support artists during COVID-19 crisis The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre and The Right Productions Inc. on Wednesday announced its support for the Office of Arts, Culture, and Entrepreneurship’s effort to support local artists and cultural workers who are experiencing a sudden and severe loss of wages during the COVID-19 public health crisis through the Metro Detroit Covid-19 Artist Crisis Emergency Fund (ACE Fund). The Aretha will host The Virtual Aretha Friday Night Dance Party on Facebook Live from 8 to 11 p.m. Friday, April 17. Those who join in can donate using the Cash App $The Aretha. All proceeds will go to the DJs and the ACE Fund. Last week’s dance
party a ttracted more than 50,000 people. The dance parties will continue until further notice. The ACE Fund is providing rapid-response, unrestricted, $500 grants to fine and performing artists and other creators in Wayne and Oakland County who live from gig to gig, event to event. “Artists are the life’s blood of our industry and our culture,” said Shahida Mausi, President of The Right Productions, Inc., which manages and operates The Aretha. “We are grateful to be able to lend support in this way to artists through the ACE Fund. We encourage everyone to dance and let the music play!”
Detroit to Benefit from BET’s Saving Our Selves: A COVID-19 Relief Effort on April 22 Detroit is among a select group of local United Ways that will benefit from the new COVID-19 Relief Fund created by Black Entertainment Television (BET) in partnership with United Way Worldwide to support African American communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. BET will host a broadcast special, Saving Our Selves: A BET COVID-19 Relief Effort, to raise money for the Fund which will go to support community-based programs of local United Ways in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans and New York City – cities where the African American population has been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Saving Our Selves: A BET COVID-19 Relief Effort will be co-hosted by Grammy Award-Winning singer and actress Kelly Rowland, TV personality Terrence J, actress Regina Hall and actor Anthony Anderson. Celebrity guest ap-
and closures in sectors like retail, hospitality, and healthcare, where African American workers are over-represented; and low-income African American students face a greater risk of learning loss and inadequate access to nutritious food with massive school closures.
Kelly Rowland
Anthony Anderson
Regina Hall
pearances and performances will include DJ Khaled, Charlie Wilson, Chance the Rapper, Kirk Franklin, Fantasia, Melvin Crispell III, and many more. The special will give up-to-date information and drive viewers to needed resources during this unprecedented time.
will benefit organizations serving people of color in Detroit and in five other communities across the country. As the pandemic continues to impact everyone, it’s even more important to make sure vulnerable populations are supported, Dr. Darienne Hudson, president and CEO, United Way for Southeastern Michigan. “Everyone can make a difference. It’s im-
portant to mobilize our collective power during this crisis.”
“We are so grateful to BET for holding this relief telethon that
While the COVID-19 pandemic has left no state untouched, recent studies show that it is having a disproportionately negative impact on African American communities in multiple ways. Death rates from COVID-19 are higher for African Americans; financial instability is being worsened by layoffs
Financial donations from the BET COVID-19 Relief Fund will allow United Way for Southeastern Michigan to support the work of our community partners, including Neighborhood Services Organization who provides support services to individuals experiencing homelessness. During this crisis, Neighborhood Service Organization has launched a recuperative care center, which will provide 50 beds for discharged patients recovering from COVID-19 who do not have safe places to continue their recovery. The goal of the project is to offer a safe place for recovery, prevent re-hospitalization and allow for more efficient use of hospital beds.
