Tré Magazine: Juneteenth + Pivot + 2021 by thetremag

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MONEY, TAXES & INSURANCE TRÉ MAGAZINE Anniversary Edition JUNETEENTH 2021

YOUR HEALTH Marlene McNeese and Dr. Fauci discuss COVID-19 sary

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Luxury • Fashion • Arts Culture and Community

35 AN SOLDIER REFLECTS The Vietnam War seen through the eyes of a young man in combat.

94 EDUCATION + COMMUNITY Educators shape the future through their commitment to our children and the profession. Recognizing the exemplary service of those who go above and beyond is essential and encourages talented individuals to enter and remain in the profession.

20 A LOOK BACK IN HISTORY The Tulsa race massacre (known alternatively as the Tulsa race riot, the Greenwood Massacre, the Black Wall Street Massacre, the Tulsa pogrom, or the Tulsa Massacre) took place on May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, many of them deputized and given weapons by city officials, attacked Black residents and businesses of the Greenwood District.

99 BUSINESS + INNOVATION We celebrate young innovators of tomorrow as industry leaders share their journey for sustained success.

MONEY + HEALTH ISSUE

FEATURES

94 APPEARANCE IS EVERYTHING Kenneth and Kentavious Jones are co-founders of LevelOne Fitness Kenneth shares a look at his ultimate fitness lifestyle and his goal to create a gym and fitness lifestyle for everyone.

103 A LIVING LEGEND During his career Carl Lewis won nine Olympic gold medals, attended four Olympic Games, earning himself international respect and a place in history as one of the truly great athletes of all time.

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Letter from the Publisher

Breathe... This year, we have been gifted an extraordinary opportunity to reset our minds, rebuild our families and redefine our personal and collective destiny.

ré has always celebrated innovation, rejuvenation and renewal. Like you, we are evolving to embrace change in a variety of ways. We are rebuilding Tré online and allowing international subscribers to support local efforts and entrepreneurs.

If I am in harmony with my Family, that’s success.” — UTE PROVERB

We Are One We grieve the loss of lives and communities due to the pandemic. The compounding stress of multiple crises

STEPHANIE COLEMAN Publisher, Founder

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in recent years means our resiliency as residents is being tested more than ever!

Abusua Pa You are our Family and you matter to us. We launched the Tré TV series and we’ve created new products designed to celebrate you. In addition, we have brought together an increasing number of experts to discuss critical issues regarding mental, fiscal and physical health. Even our classic Tré publication now features a fresh new design.

We Love You A formidable life awaits each of us. Your words transform your reality and I hope you speak with love and boldly declare your truth. I have so anticipated this Health Issue hitting the stands, especially as mandates ease. Tré is here for the long haul and I am looking forward to an exciting journey ahead.

I’M ASKING YOU TO BELIEVE— NOT IN MY ABILITY TO CREATE CHANGE, BUT IN YOURS. www.obama.org

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Letter from the Editor

Connect What is community? It can be a physical place, neighborhood, around the corner, your state, country, or any relatable place in the world.

ommunity can be a shared experience, either traumatic or pleasurable. It can surround what we do professionally. All are connected at a point that we identify and gain a sense of belonging.

In This Issue We look at those who have made a significant impact in Policy and Law in Houston honoring new innovations that are positioned to create jobs in the Black community— the Ion. We also acknowledge a recent study conducted by Texas Southern University noting historically bias state funding disparity with the University of Texas.

Dr. Vickie McBride DR. VICKIE McBRIDE Editor-In-Chief Special Collectors Edition

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Moving Forward Historically and globally, what is an apology when compared to reparations? As we strive to emerge from over a year of upheaval due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that we follow the science and get vaccinated. Finally, let’s look to the future and find ways to return to normalcy. Glimpse the creativity employed by entrepreneurs to survive and thrive during the pandemic. Then, join our fashion team and learn global travel trends that will inspire you to rest and reset. I hope you gain a greater appreciation of the Tré community in this issue. We hope your reading takes you on a journey around the neighborhood and far places all connected and belonging.

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CONTENT

Combating COVID-19

Navigating Stress

Top infectious disease specialist discuss prevention efforts, the black community and life beyond the pandemic.

Stress can lead to serious health problems. It’s important to remember that our sustained wellness lies in our capacity to be resilient and self-aware.

FEATURES

REGULARS

25 Healing and Moving Forward

18 Controversy of the Month

Reparations are not simply about money; they represent the acknowledgment of a wrong.

41 Houston’s Favorite Fashion Boutique Melodrama is where fashion meets community.

58 Game Changers and Our Health African-Americans have consistenly worked and pushed for health solutions that benefit everyone.

Anti-maskers protest personal freedom, but many people of color have been falsely incarcerated due to false eye witnessess who could not actually see their face.

52 Our Health Huey Newton and Bobby Seale created the PFMC to overcome systemic discrimination against blacks in hospitals and private medical practices.

SMALL STUFF 129 Events & Calendar Explore the new and notable around Houston and the world.

58 Resources for when stress it too much Too much stress, especially over a long time, can harm your health. Seek help from a professional.

130 Quotes + Notes Quirks, insights and a little humor for thought.

Inclusion in this Publication does not constitute an endorsement of the groups listed, nor does this list indicate that these groups have performed, or are presently performing, work for the Tré. This Directory and publication has been compiled from information submitted and/or gathered. TheTré can not guarantee the accuracy of this listed content nor assume any responsibility for transactions that may result from the use of the information contained herein. In no way does inclusion guarantee the quality, competence or fair dealing of any particular service provided by the resources listed.

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37 On the Cover Realizing the role insurance can play in your finances is an important first step.

99 DRIVING POSITIVE COMMUNITY IMPACT Jet It is putting plans in motion to expand their workforce and provide jobs for many left in the wake of the pandemic.

Let nothing come in the way of your truth. 100% Drama-free

television

Premiering the best local titles that showcase the topics that matter most to you. Experience

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your stories, your way; without the spin. TréTV

Experience the Sunnyside of Life

brings you Real News. Real Facts. Real People.

Learn more and visit Maldives, which is an extraordinary nation of islands that spans across the equator.

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Global-leading Innovation

A Call to Social Change

NIO says it will launch more cutting-edge smart electric vehicles and technologies, and offer users an experience that exceeds expectations.

SUNY Cortland theater program perform through the pandemic and tackle issues of race and sexuality, through a mix of song, poetry and readings.

CONTENT GET ELEVATED

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Contributors ON THE COVER

ARTS + CULTURE

Eva Elias

Here are a few of our featured insights Follow our social media feeds. Join the Tré Nation @thetremag for more! HE ALTH + WELLNESS

Eva Elias is a Houston-based Director, Editor, and Fashion Consultant with over 7 years of experience in the fashion industry along with an extensive trajectory in finance. Though she completed a degree in International Business, Eva found herself drawn to the world of fashion and eventually opened up a boutique talent and modeling agency, Revalushion Management Agency. She regularly works with music artists, actors/actresses, designers, and producers. When she’s not creating, planning, or directing, she plays an active role in mentoring and supporting upcoming and aspiring artists, designers, and models.

PUBLISHER

Marlene McNeese is a global force and leading expert in public health. The Assistant Director for the Division of Disease Control and Prevention for the Houston Health Department, she provides insights on COVID and speaks with her colleague Dr. Fauci. ARTS + CULTURE

KUJICHAGULIA

Daniel Andrew Asberry El Eclipse the Earthstar is Co-founder & President of Solel International. An educator, performer, and arts activist, He believes the arts have the potential to unify and that the arts do not discriminate. He can speak in many languages without a translator. MONE Y + BUSINESS

Keer Orr

George J. Kalergis

Point and Click Photography specializes in creating breathtaking and visually stunning images that compare to no other. Since 2001 they have been committed to excellence behind the camera and beyond.

George is an INCURABLE VISIONARY & DREAMER who is a passionate advocate for using augmented reality and leveraging social media to develop empathy and ROI with consumers. Kalergis is leading the way in Design Your Own Interactive Community.

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Michael Cunningham has 30+ years experience in the financial world. He is a chartered certified accountant with a MBA from Rice University. He works extensively with individuals, self-employed and business owners in areas of financial education, investments, retirement and tax planning.

“I want our retirement savings to be as strong as our partnership.”

Visit AceYourRetirement.org for: • 3-minute online chat with a digital retirement coach • Free personalized roadmap based on your retirement goals • Free tips to start boosting your retirement savings now

STEPHANIE COLEMAN Publisher and Founder

EDITORIAL VICKIE McBRIDE Editor-In-Chief Managing Editor, Digital Content Adrianna Cool Style Editor-At-Large B2 Group Director of Custom Publishing & Branded Content Dawn J. Malone Contributing Writers and Editorial Support Dr. Myron E. Cloyd, Ruth Nasrullah, Susan Phillips, Jan Huff

FASHION Makeup Grace for GG Cosmetics Senior Stylist and Groomer Tee Styles, Co-CEO for Trill Kutz Assistant Tiffany Cambric for Trill Kutz Agency Revalushion Management Featured Models Ahmad Waddel Wardrobe (Publisher, Editor-in-Chief) Jackie Adams for Melodrama Boutique Contributing Photographers & Illustrators Fred Baldwin, Alvin Tran, Roy Harvey II

CREATIVE Creative Director Adrianna Cool Managing Director, Social Content Kamaria Monmouth Consulting

OPERATIONS National VP, Sales and Partnerships George Kalergis Technology Director Consultant Harlon Hill Technology Strategy and Training Consultant Roman Villarreal of Lumenbrite Community Engagement Consultant Valerie Anderson Wallace CFO, Accountant Consultant Darrell Groves of DWG CPA PLLC Financial Planning Consultant Ryan Firth, Mercer Street Consulting Digital Media Consultant Emilian White, COO for A Star TV Streaming Media Consultant Alise Lyles, Director of Operations for A Star TV Advisors & Partners Frank Perez, Duane Bradley, Karla Montejo, Catherine Swan, Mae Deas, Elsa Lawrence, Donna Jackson, June Marsh, Jan Huff Ramblin’ Rick Campbell, Maverick, Josh, Mouton Bazile

STEPHANIE COLEMAN President & Chief Executive Officer

CONNIE FOO GOR Executive Vice President of Operations

BASEL SIMON Director of Emerging Markets & Innovation

GEORGE KALERGIS Senior Vice President of Interactive Technologies

Corporate 1302 Waugh Drive, #443, Houston, Texas 77019 347 687 3624 Phone | thetremag.com | @thetremag FOR SALES INFORMATION sales@thetremag.com TO CONTRIBUTE contribute@thetremag.com

JOVAN FOUNTAIN Human Resource Managing Consultant

People’sDAWN Politics

WITH

MALONE

REAL NEWS THAT MATTERS

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www.astartv.com

AGITPROP

Policy and Trends

Controversy of the Month Have you walked pass or mistaken a friend or family member while wearing a COVID mask?

Why Police Lineups Can’t be Trusted The single biggest cause of wrongful convictions is mistaken eyewitness identification. Studies show that people have more trouble differentiating faces of races not their own and more in cross-racial identifications. #innocenceproject.org

$1.4 Trillion Spending Power

Strange Fruit

Future Growth

The Power of the Black Community–From Moment to Movement A Nielsen report on African American consumers shows that Blacks have increasing cultural, economic and political influence on culture, driving significant moments in history and change across industries and digital platforms. #DiversityEquityInclusion

What Should be Public Art Policy for Change There are two known “Hanging Oaks“ in Houston dating back to 1836. If you are interested in tales and legends about hanging trees, visit them in Downtown Houston and Freedmen’s Town. #eji.org #AntiLynchingMovement

States Are Losing Population in 2021 Although Texas did not experience a population decline last year, it is a growing trend. The impact on a state are lack of skilled workers, slower economic growth, and reduced representation in government.

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Tré Featured and Celebrated in the Community

Cultural Arts and Entertainment District

Inclusion vs. Bottom Line Black Lives Matter Moves Corporate Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Center Stage The current corporate environment is showing that diversity and inclusion are important to everyone. People want society to be fair and just. Today corporations are interested in starting supplier diversity programs that facilitate introductions to corporate and government procurement opportunities.

Homecoming

Resilience

Ghana Invites African Americans to “Come Home” in Wake of U.S. Protests Ghana’s 2019 “Year of Return Initiative” successfully attracted Black Americans who resettled permanently and were granted citizenship in the country. #EscapeRacism #StevieWonder

Diversifying supply chains to reduce risk promotes recovery with resilience. The economic vulnerabilities in global supply chains stem from an overreliance on China. Now, the world’s biggest economies are working to diversify their sourcing, production, and distribution.

Discover something new and special every day.

Houston’s Midtown Cultural Arts and Entertainment District is an urban community infused with cultural enrichment and culinary expression. The vibrant, trendy District is worth exploring for a day or night. www.midtownhouarts.com

AGITPROP

Sankofa

Tulsa and Black Wallstreet Black Wall Street was destroyed in two days by white rioters’ envy and their terrorism of the Mecca of black entrepreneurs.

I Tulsa City Archives, public domain

LEARN Discover first hand accounts and read the true story of the heroic men and women of Greenwood valiantly fought for their family and community during the Tulsa Race Riots and Massacre.

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n 1921, the Greenwood district neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was the site of one of America’s most devastating mass execution. In early 1900, the Archer and Pine Streets were known as Black Wall Street, a thriving business district of African-American owned businesses located on the northeast side of Tulsa that included schools, hospitals and theaters.

Little Africa Wall Street’s demise was due to a terrorist attack of whites perpetrated on affluent Blacks. Three hundred blacks were killed and 800 injured. Black families fortunes evaporated overnight. Black Wall Street came about as Blacks made do with their lot as red brick buildings sprang up along Greenwood

Avenue to be occupied by businesses owned by a thriving Black middle class that came about from the 1910 oil boom. In Tulsa, the Frisco railroad tracks divided the white part of town from the Little Africa Greenwood District. Laws of the period prevented whites and bBlacks from living in neighborhoods that held 75 percent of the other race.

Rebuilding and Recovery Much is owed early Black pioneers that built self-sustaining business only fifty years after emancipation. Blacks are owed for Greenwood’s destruction. Black Wall Street was the

Above is a family group picture of A.J. Smitherman, former editor and publisher of the Tulsa Star. His plant, valued at more than $40,000.00, and his home were destroyed in the massacre of June 1, 1921, he and his family miraculously escaping with their lives.

personification of Blacks owning and operating businesses. Acts perpetrated during the two days inflicted $50 million in damage in today’s dollars.

In Spite of It All The men and women of Greenwood are models of outstanding business acumen, and evidence of the Black race which has always overcome tremendous odds and accomplished great feats while in America. Black Wall Street showed Black strengths and accomplishments separate from whites.

AGITPROP

Sankofa Transformational Leadership

Does History Repeat Itself ? What are your plans for when the global economy transforms and White Fragility can no longer uphold its entitlement narrative. #TippingPoint #NowWhat

Positive Change

Help & Healing

The George Floyd Memorial Center needs your support to develop a scholarship fund and center focusing on education, training, advocating for justice and equality as well as a museum of urbanistic art. #Raleigh #APlaceToHeal

Resources are available for all HISD schools to help students/ parents with questions or emotions after the verdict rendered in the trial of police officer, Derek Chauvin who killed George Floyd. Call the Let’s Stay Connected Hotline at 713-556-1340 (open 24 hours a day, seven days a week).

Meta G. Carstarphen, Ph.D., APR, professor, is an award-winning magazine author as well as a faculty member in the Strategic Communication area of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oklahoma. Her research interests are to explore the intentional use of mediated communication to create transformative, collaborative and diversified social change. She explores these themes through topics defined by rhetorical theory, historiography, race/gender/ class inclusivity, and the intersection of tourism media and culture. @DrMCar #HigherEducation #Diversity www.ou.edu/gaylord

“Soiling of Old Glory” ©Stanley Forman, April 5, 1976

Past vs Present

Who is a Good American?

A predominately Black high school in Florida is trying to change name from Robert E. Lee. Alumni passionately leverage everything from Jesus to Aunt Jemima as they strive to defend the Confederate general. Scan and watch the video, then tell us what you think?

Theodore Landsmark, a Black Boston attorney and civil rights activist fighting for justice, was openly attacked in 1976 with a steel-shafted flagpole bearing the American flag by a gang of white youths protesting against integration of Boston, Massachusetts schools and court-ordered desegregation of busing. #Patriotism #MobRule #MAGA #HistoricAmnesia #ModelMinority #CriticalRaceTheory

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AGITPROP

Game Changer

Garnet Coleman A fierce fighter for working families, Garnet F. Coleman is a trusted policymaker and proud Houstonian who has served the people of District 147 in the Texas House of Representatives since 1991.

hroughout his years of service, Representative Coleman has earned a reputation as a leader in the areas of health care, economic development, criminal justice, and education.

JOIN Rep. Coleman cares passionately about his constituents. Have a message to share, please visit garnetcoleman.com

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fostering urban redevelopment. He authored and passed legislation that created the Greater Southeast Management District, the Downtown Management District, and the Fourth Ward and East Montrose Improvement Districts. Additionally, he passed legislation creating Houston’s

convention center hotel and expanding the convention center itself. Representative Coleman also jointauthored legislation during the 2017 legislative session which will help increase the number of affordable housing units in communities of color.

Equity by Design Striving to increase economic development in Texas, Rep. Coleman has been instrumental in passing legislation

Representative Coleman also passed the Sandra Bland Act which included de-escalation training for officers, improving the process to make a complaint or compliment of an officer, jail diversion, jail safety, improved data collection, and improvements to mental healthcare. ABOVE: HBO Documentary

AGITPROP

Policy and Law Houston Negro Hospital in 1927, now known as Riverside General Hospital.

TSU vs. UT

Houston Negro Hospital

While remaining separated by key racial metrics, the two universities also have never come close to equality in resources or programs of study. One of the bigger sources of that disparity is the source of funding.

In spring 2018, Harris County was able to purchase Riverside Hospital with a grant from the Houston Endowment. Riverside’s closing had widened the gap in access to care in Third Ward. Talks are underway to reopen the hospital.

Rodney Ellis

Ion Center

Legal Defense

Harris County Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis believes the role of government is to guarantee that everyone has the opportunity and ability to build a better future for themselves. He believes advancing fair and inclusive economic policies to bolster longterm success will help create jobs and wealth within Harris County.

In partnership with the City of Houston, Microsoft, and Intel, The Ion Smart and Resilient Cities Accelerator (The ISRCA) supports startups working on smart city solutions.

Lawyer Buck C Franklin’s detailed eyewitness account of the 1921 Greenwood Massacre provides unique documentation of the unlawful attack committed by the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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AGITPROP

Reparations An apology is an important ritual, a way of showing respect and empathy for the wronged person or nation.

APOLOGIZE & MOVE FORWARD Apologies, above all else, are stories about the past, what happened and why it happened. Rather than denial, dismisal or victim blaming, which is the common response, an apology can provide healing and also act as a deterrent, reminding us to not repeat the act.

Accurate, Inclusive & Factual Out of fear the case against countries and corporations might become legal and this might pave the way for reparations, Western nations, America most notably, often state “regret” and won’t use the language of apology for enslaved African descendants. Historically, reparations have been paid to slave owners who “lossed their property”, rather than those who were enslaved. #GetTheFacts

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AGITPROP

A Historic Action

Reparations

More than money, postwar Jewish reparatory justice claims are about “mass murder, the human suffering, the annihilation of spiritual, intellectual, and creative forces, which are without parallel in the history of mankind”. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/german-holocaustreparations

Russia is Righting a Wrong

Debt for Free Labor Repaid

Putin says Russia will combat the rewriting of WWII history with new free-to-all archive center. The Moscow collection of WWII documents will be open to all persons anywhere.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to offer a formal apology to tens of thousands of British children forcibly sent to Commonwealth countries during the last century, many of whom faced abuse and a regime of unpaid labor rather than the better life they were promised.

Ireland’s Prime Minister Apologies

Reparations for Survivors and Victims of Nazi War Crimes

Prime Minister Michael Martin issued a state apology for the pain and abuse suffered by generations of children in its care. Decades of harm was done by church run homes for unmarried women and their babies where thousands of infants died.

Sixty years after a landmark accord started German government compensation for victims of Nazi crimes, fund administrators and German officials say increase in reparation payments to Holocaust survivors are needed more than ever as they enter their final years. TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

AGITPROP

Politics and Policy

A Soldier’s Apology Words by George Kalergis

A collection of stories based on the combat experiences of LT George Kalergis in Vietnam. Some are 100% “factual” and some are based on a “compilation” of actual events, dramatic language added, separate events combined, a few names changed etc.

mmobilized by fear, he is plastered to the leech infested rice paddy. Lifting his head is impossible, the sharp cracks of bullets continue to just miss him. Ten inches of rice paddy dike are all that is between him and sure death. Cringing lower and gasping, he inhales some of the

slick soup of the rice paddy. It coats the inside of his mouth with a slime as bitter as the war he is embedded in. His legs tremble uncontrollably from jolts of adrenaline blazing through them. With a desperate sense of relief, he hears the loud whop, whop of helicopters. Tearing

the sky asunder with their giant blades, the air cavalry has arrived, bringing hope that he can escape his imminent peril. Rescue is on the way! “Rescue!” … He repeats it like a prayer from the damned.

The combat assault Prep! Flying just above the treetops, the giant metal war birds scream a cry of lead and shrapnel. Rockets and machine guns, like one-eyed witches, point menacingly, lasering red fingers of death to saturate every square foot of the jungle with lead and shrapnel. Two-hundred-pound artillery projectiles come screaming in just over his head, to strike the Viet Cong. Even from one hundred yards away, these “Hippos” land as giant thunderous feet, striking him with mammoth blows … Boom - Clap! He is concussed from the sheer magnitude of their plundering tread. He feebly tries to ward off the

"Red Team” Flying Death! Gunship with 2.75 Rockets, 40 MM grenade launcher & 2 M-60 Machine Guns.

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AGITPROP

Politics and Policy

sheets of water that are pushed across the paddy by the resulting shock waves. They sharply sting his face and hands, as if he is caught in the fiercest of sandstorms.

The Troop insertion to the hot LZ The rice paddy is quaking, filled with acrid black smoke and explosive, bright red flashes. In his dazed panic, the jungle seemed like a nightmare Salvador Dali painting melded into his live and vulnerable flesh. Shrapnel from the artillery, razor sharp, jagged pieces of metal, scientifically designed to wreak havoc on soft tissues, saw their way through the air. Angry hornets, they attack everything in their path, tearing branches from trees and amputating limbs while devastating a swath of jungle, twice the size of a football field. Finally, a White Phosphorous round explodes a whipped cream cloud of dense, brilliantly white smoke. It leaves a pungent smell as it dissipates, a surreal fog, that rises over the rice paddy. It is as if the ghosts of

His rescuers leap from their helicopters, firing their rifles into the veil of smoke. ”How could anyone survive that f-cking artillery nightmare of lead and steel?” the dead combatants, are disappearing as fading white whispers of sad goodbyes, ascending to the heavens. The white smoke signals the chopper pilots the artillery preparation is complete and they immediately swoop in, to discharge platoons of adrenaline-spiked, cavalry troopers. His rescuers leap from their helicopters, firing their rifles into the veil of smoke. “How could anyone survive that f-cking artillery nightmare of lead and steel?” Impossible! But, despite the massive and lethal carpet of firepower laid over them, the Viet Cong somehow continue firing

at him, and the incoming choppers. He crunches deeper into the quaking rice paddy, trying to make himself invisible to the angry lead wasps coming too close. A sudden pain sears his back like a whitehot poker pulled straight from a furnace. “Damn, another Purple Heart! Enough already!”

More troops assault the enemy position Now, more helicopters are arriving, filled with dozens of troopers. Like the cavalry of old, they leap out to fiercely attack the Viet Cong who have him pinned down. Splashing through the fetid, muddy water, others sprint to where he is lying

Oluptat modiam, quia pre iust quodit od eum qui qui blab il et aut animo et.

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AGITPROP

Politics and Policy

and manhandle him to a waiting Medivac chopper. Lying bleeding on the floor of the helicopter, he watches the lush, verdant jungle speeding away below him. Its’ foliage, becoming like a discarded emerald, green evening gown, blown swiftly away by an angry wind. The scene fades in the distance, its’ form becoming smaller. With every turn of the helicopters’ blades, he is closer to the hospital. Finally landing, the giant bird, with wings folding, settles back into its’ sand bagged nest. The chopping, whop, whop of its’ giant blades rotating ever slower cease and now it rests quietly, as if spent from its’ journey through hell. Medics rush to place him on a stretcher and swiftly carry him into the hospital. As they are wheeling him into the operating room, he suddenly jerks awake. Sitting up, he is back to the present, sweating profusely in his own room.

dreams, a voice that transports him back to where he was frantically alone, clawing deeper into the mud with his bare hands, wounded, afraid, and very much alone in his own naked skin.

The price of the Bronze Stars Thunder rumbles in the distance, punctuated by jagged flashes of light. They momentarily illuminate his Vietnam medals, making them glow

with a white flame where they hang. A storm rages in his mind and outside his window. Flashbacks still plague him. The thunder and lightning bring him back to the crash and flash of exploding munitions. “Greek” as his fellow war fighters once called him, looks disdainfully at the medals. Once or twice, he has thought about chucking them. He can never quite bring himself to do it.

The nightmare again! He has awakened to a dark rain, slate grey in a twilight like gloom, it pelts a staccato, drum beat on the treetops just outside his window. He watches the rain drenching the landscape, his mood gloomy. Although the room is muggy and warm, he shivers as he feels a cold sweat trickling down his spine, past the foot-long, old scar on his back. The wind is gusting, and branches forlornly scrape the window. The storm is summoning him in a voice he hears often in his

WHAT COMES NEXT? PTSD and Vietnam Veterans: A Lasting Issue 40 Years Later Info and support for Vietnam-era soldiers and their families are available at www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/ publications/agent-orange/agent-orangesummer-2015/nvvls.asp

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AGITPROP

Politics and Policy

Dark Memories He goes to the sink to look in the mirror. His ocean-colored eyes, once bright and lively, now subdued, take in a tall, white bearded, still fit, veteran of countless combat missions. He can’t help it, his mind wanders, past the shadows of the roiling night, and out into his other brutal dream place, filled with the shapeless specters of the long dead… “So much useless suffering. Fighting for peace is like f-cking for virginity!” He obsesses on the nightmare past the medals represent. Are they symbols of valor for a noble cause, or do they merely signify his desperate actions to survive in a useless, conscripted war? A war in which he had no choice, but to continue hurling unjustifiable rage and death against an evil and repugnant enemy. An enemy who really, was not too unlike himself, not too unlike his comrades. Almost hypnotized, looking at the medals—he can’t tear his eyes away. No matter how hard he tries to avoid it — he still vividly recalls the action one of the medals was awarded for --- a night ambush, in which his company wounded two young North Vietnamese soldiers.

blood-soaked wallets, the faces of the dead soldiers loved ones’, now smiled back at him, the round eyed, foreigner who has just killed their loved ones. He is tortured with remorse for them and momentarily hangs his head—not in shame, but in sober contemplation.

Death knows no nationality

“What shall we do with these wounded?” The Company Commander ordered …. “Finish them off!”

No matter how long their families waited and prayed, these two teenage patriots, fighting for “freedom”, and the hearts and

Unlike the American invaders, no jet plane would carry them back home. Americans, we Americans, he had to remind himself, stacked our dead

minds of the people for a unified Vietnam, were not going to be coming home. In his mind’s eye, he saw the sun beating down on the jungle trail, rotting their flesh, bleaching their bones.

The human tragedy With bullets to their heads, they stopped writhing and moaning to assume a position of rest, limbs akimbo, torsos seeping blood, contents of their minds so much grey matter on the muck of the ground. No question about it, carrying two wounded North Vietnamese back through the dense jungle was not an option. Later, as he looked at the photos from their

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

WHAT DO YOU REGRET? Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is defined as having flashbacks, upsetting memories, and anxiety following a traumatic event. It was first officially recognized as a mental health condition in 1980, only five years after the end of the Vietnam War. Resources for you and/ or your loved ones, visit www.publichealth.va.gov/

AGITPROP

heroes in boxes, their bodies precious freight. And… their arrival home, our arrival—would be celebrated on TV, flag draped coffins plastered on the news to influence more young people to become patriotic fodder for the money-making war machine. Finally, their usefulness over, they are given the dignity of private mourning and burial by their loved ones. Soon enough, it didn’t really matter to him anymore as he came to realize the dead combatants were just “body count”. “A meaningless scorecard for white haired, cold hearted, self-serving politicians and their generals.” Regardless of how their remains were disposed of, the “Freedom Fighters”, from both sides, were just as tragically and ironically dead, “fighting for freedom”, and the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people. It no longer mattered to their families who were equally sorrowed, by what would eventually prove to have been tragic and meaningless sacrifices.

Fighting for peace is like F-cking for virginity

innocently knew as a younger person…

His priority rapidly became just trying to stay alive and not to be sent home in one of those boxes. After seeing many comrades lying dead and still, boots sticking stiffly from under their ponchos, he became less sympathetic. He just refused to think about It, a defense mechanism to ward off the constant, never- ending horror of a nightmare war. He could not come to grips with it—it was mind numbing insanity, utterly confusing.

“Would the anger and madness return with him?”

“Something must be terribly wrong with us and the world?” He wondered about a future day, if he made it back to the world he once

Shooting their Water Buffalo!

He has long since learned, the answer is a tragic yes—the unthinkable, unimaginable, experience of the Vietnam War, will continue to haunt him, and hundreds of thousands of other once young people, horribly physically and mentality damaged. Much older now, they are still trying to cope with the maddening mental and physical dysfunction. Many try drugs, alcohol and even suicide to remedy the pain. None of these strategies work very well and they will struggle with it for the rest of their lives. “When will we ever learn?”

STORIES FROM NAM THE ATTACK ON LZ COLT AND OTHERVillagers STORIES... Being “Relocated”

Tré will feature extended editorial via our digital platforms. This series will expolore The Vietnam War seen through the eyes of a young man in combat. It describes the battle of LZ Colt where LTC Wickham lost his entire 5th of the 7th Battalion Headquarters to an NVA attack. He was seriously wounded and given “last rites” but survived to become 4 Star General, COS of the Army. This is that battle as seen from the perspective of LT Kalergis, a young artillery officer and Major Tran who planned and executed the attack for the 3rd NVA Regiment. The unusual actual description of the battle from both sides was made possible when George Kalergis discovered decades later that Major Tran had been killed, and his notes describing that battle were discovered on his person. Raw and realistic, this and other stories tell the tragedy of war for both sides.

The Vietnam War seen through the eyes of a young man in combat. Raw and realistic, this and other stories tell the tragedy of war for both sides. www.Thetremag.com

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

i f L e s A t y s ’ le It “How passionate the professional is about their art will tell you the value of their quality of service.”

WELCOME TO THE L AND OF THA TRILL!

TRILL KUTZ

APPOINTMENT ONLY

TRILL LOCZ

TRILLKUTZNLOCZ.COM

(281) 819-5650

MONEY

Perspective

FINANCIAL FREEDOM

inancial success rarely happens by accident; it is often the outcome of a journey that starts with education. Imagine driving a car without a basic understanding of the rules of the road or even how to operate it. Scary thought. Sadly, many Americans lack the power to control their financial futures and are making financial decisions with minimal knowledge of investing, budgeting, and credit.

Don’t Guess, Know. The TIAA Institute conducted a survey asking 28 basic questions about retirement saving, debt management, budgeting, and other financial matters. The average respondent answered only about half of the questions correctly.1

Knowledge is Power

One of the obstacles to greater financial literacy is the so-called “Lake Wobegon effect.” In other words, we all consider ourselves above average, and based on that belief, it only follows that our financial understanding is above average.2 Unfortunately, this perspective may limit our efforts to be open to learn as much as we need about money and adapt to an everchanging financial environment.

Next Steps The more informed we are, the more informed our financial decisions may become. If you are committed to increasing your financial literacy, think about turning to financial professionals with your questions or visit a U.S. Treasury-sponsored website, mymoney.gov, which was created for that very purpose.3

TIAAInstitute.org, 2020; 2 PewResearch,org, 2020; 3 MyMoney.gov, 2021

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

MONEY

MONEY+ INSURANCE INSIGHTS

Realizing the role life insurance can play in your family’s finances is an important first step. A critical second step is determining how much life insurance you may need. - Michael Cunningham

Overcoming The Financial Literacy Crisis

One widely followed rule of thumb for estimating a person’s insurance needs is based on income. One broad guide suggests a person may need a life insurance policy valued at ten times their annual income. If you are looking for a more accurate estimate, consider completing a “DNA test.” A DNA test, or Detailed Needs Analysis, takes into account a wide range of financial commitments to help better estimate insurance needs. TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

MONEY

Financial Literacy

Auto

Health

Home

Life

Premiums vary depending on age, gender, experience, accident history, etc. This policy helps provide financial protection for you, and possibly others if you’re involved in an accident.

If you don’t have health insurance through a job, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), etc, contact your insurance agent or visit www.healthcare.gov.

A home warranty and home insurance both provide peace of mind, but they offer different types of coverage. Research to learn how they differ and if you need both.

Life insurance provides financial protection for your loved ones after your death and living benefits while you are alive. Permanent life insurance provides you coverage that builds cash value.

Business Insurance

Are you Covered?

Business interruption insurance protects your business from lost income and replaces business income lost as a result of a crisis. Professional liability insurance protects your small business against lawsuits.

If you are a victim, your losses may be deducted. In addition, catastrophe insurance protects businesses and residences against natural disasters, such as earthquakes and floods, and against man-made disasters.

The content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information. The information in this material is not intended as tax or legal advice. It may not be used for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties. Please consult legal or tax professionals for specific information regarding your individual situation. This material was developed and produced by Tré Magazine to provide information on a topic that may be of interest. Tré Magazine is not affiliated with the named broker-dealer, state- or SEC-registered investment advisory firm. The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information, and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Copyright 2021Tré Magazine.

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

MONEY

Kujichagulia

Qurate Retail Group has a longstanding commitment to nurturing entrepreneurs, so that startups can become sustainable sources of income, inspiring others to pursue their dreams.

THRIVING BUSINESSES A sustainable way to retail requires we support entrepreneurs of all backgrounds, including women and other under-represented entrepreneurs.

N INSIGHTS For Women Entrepreneurs, the Pivot From ‘Doing’ to ‘Leading’ is Critical

ew Initiative Shines Light on Small Businesses During Critical Time. QVC and HSN are once again tapping the expertise of their vendor community to offer mentoring sessions for the winners of The Big Find.

most successful brands through the power of live video storytelling, discovery-driven shopping experiences, and loyal customer communitybuilding. Qurate Retail Group recently announced the 2021 expansion of its Small Business Spotlight, a collaboration with the National

Retail Federation (NRF) Foundation to support small businesses outside of the company’s vendor base.

An Opportunity For Your Brand To learn more about The Big Find, search “The Big Find” on QVC.com and HSN.com.

The Big Find The Big Find builds on QVC and HSN’s foundation of launching and fostering the growth of some of today’s Scenes from The Big Find - Nude Barre Pitch Session

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

MONEY

Good Habits

Budget Tips Tax Season TAX TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME Tax preparation may be the only time of year many households gather all their financial information in one place. Whether you navigate boxes full of receipts; gathering mortgage, retirement, and investment account statements; or leverage apps to take advantage of every tax break the code permits, this is a perfect time to take a critical look at how much money is coming in and where it’s all going and give the household budget a checkup.

Make Categories

Track Everything

Look Forward

Divide expenses into useful categories. Some possibilities: home, auto, food, debt, clothes, pets, charity, etc. Don’t forget savings and investments.

Go through all the receipts and statements and get a better understanding of where the money went last year. Be as specific as possible.

Review categories. Will expenses rise in the coming year? By how much? The results of this projection will form the basis of a budget for the coming year.

Create A Vision

Do The Math

Stick To It

Determine your expected income. Add together all sources of income. Make sure to use net income.

Subtract projected expenses from expected income. If expenses exceed income, consider changes. Prioritize until the budget is balanced.

If it’s not in the budget, don’t spend it. If it’s an emergency, make changes elsewhere. New money habits may help you achieve your long-term goals.

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

MONEY

Showcase

Located in Historic Third Ward, Texas, the idea for the business Melodrama Boutique came about after many years of learning the fashion business.

MELODRAMA BOUTIQUE www.melodramaboutique.com

Where Fashion Meets Community

Founded in 2002 by Jackie Adams, Melodrama Boutique is a retail business that caters to the woman on the go in business, social occasions, business travel or leisure.

ave you ever wanted to treat yourself to something special? Located in Houston, Texas, and online, Melodrama Boutique is the place for upscale women’s fashion boutique and a celebrated local haven where image and style compliment the moment.

The Power of a Name Melodrama is an upscale fashion boutique that caters to the woman on the go in business, social occasions, business travel or leisure. “We cater to all occasions”.

Founded in 2002 and a local favorite for socialites, the name for Houston Boutique was created by a family member. “I am a mellow yet dramatic person, so my cousin thought Melodrama would be a great name for the Boutique,” says Jackie Adams, Owner.

How it all Began Adams, who is originally from Detroit, Michigan, credits her grandmother, who was her role model and always fashionably dressed and showed the value of being well groomed and ready for any occasion.

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

Do you have a plan for when life happens?

Learn how to create a financial plan to achieve your dreams. Protect you and your family when you need it most. https://tinyurl.com/michaelcunningham

Michael Cunningham (281) 840 1783

Book your 1-ON-1 Styling Session With Jackie Adams. Appointments are available Wednesday - Saturday 12 PM - 6 PM.

Michael Cunningham Michael Cunningham

EVENTS AND MORE Birthday coming up? Need outfits for a trip? Need a look for that holiday weekend? Come into Melodrama Boutique for a personalized shopping experience and a complimentary styling session with Jackie Adams.

Upon moving to Houston, Adams finished from Barbara Jordan High where she majored in high fashion and marketing and later graduated from Grambling University with a degree in Physics. For many years she worked as a Geo Chemist in health care as well as oil and gas industries. But her continued interest in fashion inspired her to always kept a part-time job in retail and even worked as a wardrobe stylist for video shoots for Rap-A-Lot Records and others. Needing more sustainable income, she worked for a company in Memorial Mall and learned about buying throughout the country. Due to instability in the company and a lack of opportunity for advancement, she decided to step out on her own. While driving down Almeda Street, she saw a building that she thought would be ideal for a boutique. After research, Adams found out that it was owned by Senator Borris Miles. She knew nothing at the time about renting commercial real estate. He told Adams to do a business plan for the space and the business. “That was a real learning experience that resulted in him taking a chance with me,” states Adams. The boutique

Our future plans are to open a department store that takes care of the entire family on a boutique level. was opened in 2002 as a family owned business. In the beginning, she also kept her job as a buyer. They struggled in the beginning. They had two breakins during the first 30 days, but they persevered and overcame the setback. Growth of the business caused her to stop her job as a buyer. She needed to be on hand in the store to nurture the growth. She connected with community organizations, attended many galas, attended women’s conferences, participated as a vendor in sorority events. She cross promoted with community events to get people to not only shop in the Galleria and other malls but to shop in Third Ward. Adams plans to open a boutique level store that takes care of the entire family and is working to develop small affordable retail spaces. “I was one of the first retail spaces in Third Ward 18 years ago,” states Adams. “Today, more retail growth is sprouting in Third Ward and I am happy to see what the future holds.”

Learn Learn How How Money Money Works Works JOIN JOIN USUS

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(281) 840 1783 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84751576861 https://tinyurl.com/ Meeting ID: 847 5157 6861 michaelcunningham Interactive Q&A Session included

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W W W . A S TA R T V. C O M

HEALTH A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN

COVID 101 Marlene McNeese and Dr. Fauci discuss vaccines and a Unified Plan for all Americans

RECLAIMING YOUR LIFE

Recovery and making a long-term lifestyle change

A lack of clarity among contributing entities about the roles and responsibilities of health systems in addressing root causes of health disparities make the challenging goal of eliminating them even more challenging.

FOR THE GREATER GOOD Ignoring the facts does not fix the problem. Henrietta Lacks and the Tuskegee experiment are just a few injustices and only the most recent discoveries of poor moral choice for Government, people and public health.

H MASK UP Are those who fight to not wear a mask: selfish, self-centered or free to be American? @thetremag

ealth systems play a vital role in enhancing the health of the communities they serve, including historically underserved populations with disparate health outcomes. Eliminating health disparities is a critical aspect of enhancing population health that requires collaborative input from multiple entities including health systems, government agencies, community organizations, and residents.

Trust and Believe Trust in healthcare has been declining and, most concerningly, has accelerated during the current COVID-19 Pandemic. Some sobering facts from the NEJM and the NY Times: In 1966, more than three-fourths of Americans had great confidence in medical leaders; today, only 34 percent do. Compared with people in other developed countries, Americans are considerably less likely to trust doctors, and only a

quarter express confidence in the health system.

The Need for Vaccines If you can not trust ths system, find (or build) a better alternative, but do not deny the need for care. The Black Panther Party started Peoples’ Free Medical Clinics (PFMC) in 1968 because of systemic discrimination against blacks in hospitals and private medical practices. PFMCs primarily provided first aid and basic services such as childhood

vaccinations and screenings for high blood pressure, lead poisoning, tuberculosis, and diabetes. In 1971 PFMCs began community education and screening of sickle cell anemia.

Ownership A lack of clarity among contributing entities about the roles and responsibilities of health systems in addressing root causes of health disparities make the challenging goal of eliminating them even more so. This raises questions in

communities served about the extent to which health systems are truly committed to advancing health. The resulting tension compounds the historic lack of trust between health systems and underserved communities and undermines collaborative work toward mutually beneficial outcomes of improved health. Health system leaders need to lead in addressing this tension by building and sustaining trust with and for their communities.

DID YOU KNOW? The Black Panther Party: Pioneers in Modern Medicine and Community Healthcare Prior to the distruction and dismantling of the party formally in 1980 due to FBI counterintelligence activities, The Black Panther Party campaigned against medical discrimination: set up free clinics, raised awareness for genetic disease, and advocated that poor Blacks were underserved by mainstream medicine. The Black Panther Party created the first nationwide screening program for sickle cell anemia and is the influential innovative force in the development and implementation of community based health programs of today.

CHARTING THE RIGHT COURSE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH houstonhealth.org

A Not So Distant Past From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany carried out a campaign to “cleanse” German society of individuals viewed as biological threats to the nation’s “health.” The Nazi leadership enlisted the help of physicians and medically trained geneticists, psychiatrists, and anthropologists to develop racial health policies. These policies began with the mass sterilization of many people in hospitals and other institutions, included testing on children, and ended with the near annihilation of European Jewry.

AMERICA’S UNETHICAL ROOTS The Challenges of Building Trust in Health Systems and Government to Eliminate Health Disparities

Did You Know The Nuremberg Code was created to address medical abuses during the Holocaust and included the principle of informed consent and required standards for research.

WELLNESS

Bad Medicine

Small Pox

Unethical Medical Practices

European colonists’ warfare against Indigenous People was often horrifyingly brutal. One example being the gifting of blankets and linens intentionally contaminated with smallpox. The virus causes a disease that can inflict disfiguring scars, blindness and death. During the 1770s, smallpox was used to eradicate at least 30 percent of the native population on the Northwest coast of North America, including numerous members of Puget Sound tribes.

Throughout slavery, Black people were subjected to cruel and inhuman medical studies, racially bias protocols and experiments. Most notable, J. Marion Sims, the “father of modern gynecology.” Sims reportedly, conducted experiments and surgeries on the women without using any anesthesia because he believed the operations weren’t “painful enough to justify the trouble,” he said during a lecture in 1857.

The ‘Hottentot Venus’

Creating A More Ethical Approach

Medical malpractice has a long history for citizens of color and is not limited to America. Saartjie Baartman, was kidnapped, sold into slavery, tortured and studied by French anatomists, zoologists and physiologists including Georges Cuvier, whose racial studies provide the foundation for scientific racism. Cuvier’s published autopsy compared Baartman to monkeys and concluded that she was a link between animals and humans. There is a movement to gather her disected remains which are currently displayed at the Musee de l’Homme in Paris # BringBackBaartman

Dr. Henry Knowles Beecher, an acclaimed professor of anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School and department chair at Massachusetts General Hospital, boldly accused scientists at some of the nation’s top medical schools, hospitals, and other research institutions of unethical research that could have, and sometimes did, harm research subjects. An article by Beecher in 1966 on unethical medical experimentation in the New England Journal of Medicine — “Ethics and Clinical Research” — was instrumental in the implementation of federal rules on human experimentation and informed consent. TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

MEDICAL PIONEERS WHO CHANGED PUBLIC HEALTH FOR THE BETTER

African America Pioneers In Medicine African Americans have been everything but victim. Resilience of spirit and underestimated capacity has led us to revolutionary change. These pioneering men and women helped change the course of healthcare and race relations in the United States. They invented first-of-theirkind medical devices, developed innovative surgical procedures, paved the way for improved patient access to quality care, and raised awareness about quality-of-life issues. Their legacies live on in hospitals and clinics, doctors’ offices, schools, universities, and research laboratories.

ABOVE: Mary Seacole (1805-81)

WELLNESS

Two Steps Forward

Flying Black Medics

Dr. Joycelyn Elders

Consisting of nurses, pharmacists, social workers, dieticians, paramedics and biochemists from Chicago, the Flying Black Medics flew to Cairo, Ill., to address the medical needs of its impoverished residents, even during the Cairo race riots of 1970.

Dr. Elders is an American pediatrician and public health administrator who served as Surgeon General of the U.S from 1993 to 1994. Dr. Elders is best known for her frank discussion of her views on controversial issues such as drug legalization, masturbation, and distributing contraception in schools.

Dr. James McCune Smith

Dr. Lovell Jones

Dr. Jones

Due to racist admissions practices at U.S. medical schools, Dr. Smith enrolled and received his medical degree at the University of Glasgow Medical School and became the first black American to own and operate a pharmacy. As the first black physician to be published in U.S. medical journals, he debunked shoddy science, including racist theories in Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia.

Dr. Jones was the first director of the Center for Research on Minority Health which addressed the causes of health disparities and translated scientific results back to the communities affected by those disparities.

In 1948, pioneering medical physician Dr. Edith Irby Jones became the first African American admitted to the University of Arkansas College of Medicine and in 1986, she led the U.S. Task Force on Health to Haiti.

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

President Barack Obama The Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, expands affordable health care coverage. It levels the playing field, and provides health insurance to all, regardless of income. It also prevents insurance companies from hiking up premium costs and from charging different rates based on varying health conditions. The law allows federal and state governments to set up exchanges, which are marketplaces through which Americans can buy insurance.

Black Lives Matter (BLM)

Keeping Houston Safe

As part of the BLM Movement, Harvard medical students wear white coats over black hoodies to signify Trayvon Martin. Challenging the thought “If I took my white coat off, and was just a black dude in a hoodie, what would you think of me then?”

Dr. Ann Barnes is chief medical officer at Harris Health System. She is responsible for clinical quality, patient safety, research, and medical staff affairs, and has a special interest in health system integration and social determinants of health.

Ben Carson

Imhotep

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams

Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. was a neurosurgeon and the

Africa is the birthplace of life and medicine for all people. Imhotep was vizier, sage, architect, astrologer, and chief minister to Egyptian King Djoser. He was later worshipped as the god of medicine by the Greeks who renamed him Asclepius.

Founded in 1891 by Dr. Williams, Provident Hospital in Chicago was the first black owned and operated hospital in the U.S. For nearly one hundred years (until 1987), it provided training for black nurses as well as interns, and medical treatment for black patients, both of whom had been denied access to white hospitals.

Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. In 1984 at age 33; he was the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in America.

WELLNESS

Feature

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

Marlene McNeese is the Assistant Director, Division of Disease Prevention and Control for the Houston Health Department. McNeese oversees and coordinates a set of bureaus that responds to cases of communicable disease such as HIV, STDs, contagious diseases in restaurants and labs. She is essential to Houston’s COVID prevention efforts and the innovative visionary for the award-winning “Better. Together.” campaign and city-wide recovery strategy.

A UNIFIED PLAN

Building A More Coordinated Response for COVID-19 Recovery Beyond survival and resilience, Marlene McNeese and Dr. Fauci discuss equity, HIV and the benefits of leveraging proven infectious disease prevention strategies to develop public health systems that are more unified and better prepared for the unexpected.

he Houston Health Department, in alignment with its mission, created an award-winning public health effort for COVID-19 prevention and outreach. At the foundation of Houston’s recovery success is Marlene McNeese and her ability to successfully facilitate the development and implementation of an inclusive and scalable strategy that is innovative, grounded in the best science, focused on the areas of greatest need, and that provides a clear direction for moving forward together.

We knew to address COVID, we needed to follow the science. -Marlene McNeese McNeese oversees and coordinates a set of bureaus in the Health Department that responds to cases of communicable disease such as HIV, STDs, and contagious diseases in venues such as restaurants and labs. In addition to surveillance and monitoring disease, the division is also responsible for area flood and hurricane preparedness.

Prevent. Promote. Protect. In her role as Assistant Director, Division of Disease Prevention and Control for the Houston Health Department, Marlene

McNeese has a background in behavioral health. She started her career providing support services in the non-profit world. She then

Dr. Anthony Fauci Talks To The Black AIDS Institute About Surviving COVID-19 As part of their “The Blacker The Plan: Our People. Our Problem. Our Solution” speaker series, Fauci provided a better understanding of how COVID-19 is transmitted, the reason for contact tracing and continued testing, and why the Black community needs to be a part of the vaccine trials and future therapies. The conversation is A Uniquely and Unapologetically Black Conversation With Dr. Anthony Fauci and keeps the Black community informed on culturally relevant information about the pandemic.

SPREADING KNOWLEDGE NOT FEAR

transitioned to the Texas prison system, offering counseling and support services. “That’s where I began my work with medical units and teams, responding to crises such as riots,” she said. The pandemic was on the Health Department’s radar as early as December 2019. “We have a strong history of responding to crisis such as mumps, measles, Ebola and flu breakouts,” said McNeese. “But this was like nothing we had ever seen. In the beginning it was overwhelming. What emerged broke all rules of what we were accustomed to seeing in disease like the flu and colds that spread mostly during the winter months.”

We created the “Better. Together.” media campaign for the public, which included simple messaging about the need for testing and vaccination. Such illnesses are generally slow to emerge in the summer months, but COVID-19 did not respond to weather changes for transmission. Symptoms could present as very mild to deadly in a short period of time. “We knew that to address COVID, we needed to follow the science,” said McNeese. “My division served as Incident Command responsible for outreach,” McNeese explains. “Our early steps fortunately were quite successful.” First, they made testing available to the public with ways to easily access tests and quick reporting on the results. They initiated a public facing call center, one of the first to answer all kinds of questions

The Houston Health Department is committed to facilitate the development and implementation of an inclusive and scalable Strategy that is innovative, grounded in the best science, focused on the areas of greatest need, and that provides a clear direction for moving forward together.

WELLNESS

The National Forum for Black Public Administrators (NFBPA), an organization dedicated to the advancement of black public leadership in local and state governments.

A Unified Plan

NFBPA FIRESIDE CHAT WITH DR. FAUCI NFBPA welcomes Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for a candid conversation with Marlene McNeese, Assistant Director of Disease, Prevention and Control with the City of Houston Health Department. During the Fireside Chat, Dr. Fauci will share relevant data for the future of public health and safety.

regarding COVID-19. Finally, their website was updated daily, making it simple for the user to become informed with the latest Centers for Disease Control (CDC) information. Then she created the “Better. Together.” media campaign for the public, which included simple messaging about the need for testing and vaccination. “To coordinate our efforts with the county, state and national reporting, data collection and infrastructure had to be updated to quickly disseminate information,” said McNeese. “We also had to upgrade local reporting with

hospitals, clinics and other health organizations. This collaborative approach helped us to respond faster and in a targeted manner.” Once again, she notes, her department relies on the science for public health threats. “We have to battle the myths that happen with many health conditions. On a national level there has been mixed messaging that has impacted how we respond,” she says. She goes on to point out that they encourage the public to also rely on the data and science that is guided by what has been proven.

“We use a consistent overarching message as a strategy and tactic.” - Dr. David Persse Chief Medical Officer, Houston Health Department “We know now that some time has passed since we have been experiencing COVID and many people are experiencing fatigue,” she says. Critical interventions are dropping off. But we want people to know that testing is still important and is still available.” Some demographics are still hesitant about the vaccine, particularly young people and McNeese wants to do more to address this group. A lesson learned from the COVID pandemic is that we not only need to have PPEs available for hospitals, and medical personnel, but must be able to manufacture it in mass quantities and maintain adequate inventory for all citizens.

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

WELLNESS

Best Practices

Stephen L. Williams Pioneering COVID recovery efforts, Stephen L. Williams is the Director of the Houston Health Department and shares rare insights and a unique view into the services and initiatives available to keep Houstonians safe and healthy. bettertogetherhouston.com

Giliad Compass Initiative The Gilead COMPASS Initiative® is working to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Southern United States by collaborating with local community organizations and stakeholders to use evidence-based solutions to meet the needs of people living with and impacted by HIV/AIDS. COMPASS Coordinating Centers are comprised of Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Southern AIDS Coalition, & University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, which create collaborative partnerships to share knowledge on increasing organizational capacity, building awareness, reducing HIV-related stigma, and promoting holistic wellness of individuals through mental health services and trauma-informed care to end the HIV epidemic. To learn more or to find services in your area, visit aidsvu.org/services or www.gileadcompass.com.

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

Leading the Way Open Journal host a timely little sit-down with subject matter public health experts Marlene McNeese and Decrecia Limbrick to talk thru some of the uniques challenges with COVID recovery. Host Duane Bradley and Stephanie Coleman along with Rick Campbell, Susan Phillips and Maverick strive to gain some insights and perhaps obtain access to information and tools to help everyone during these trying times.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how risky is...

Please assume that participants in these activities are following currently recommended safety protocols when possible.

Pumping gasoline

Playing tennis

Going camping

Grocery shopping

Going for a walk, run, or bike ride with others

Playing golf

Staying at a hotel for two nights

Sitting in a doctor’s waiting room

Going to a library or museum

Eating in a restaurant (outside)

Walking in a busy downtown

Spending an hour at a playground

Having dinner at someone else’s house

Attending a backyard barbecue

Going to a beach

Shopping at a mall

Sending kids to school, camp, or day care

Working a week in an office building

Swimming in a public pool

Visiting an elderly relative or friend in their home

Going to a hair salon or barbershop

Eating in a restaurant (inside)

Attending a wedding or funeral

Traveling by plane

Playing basketball

Playing football

Hugging or shaking hands when greeting a friend

Eating at a buffet

Working out at a gym

Going to an amusement park

Going to a movie theater

Attending a large music concert

Going to a sports stadium

Attending a religious service with 500+ worshipers

Going to a bar

Texas Medical Association | 401 W. 15th St. | Austin, TX 78701-1680 www.texmed.org

@texmed

@wearetma

HIGH RISK

MODERATE-HIGH

Getting restaurant takeout

MODERATE RISK

Ranked by physicians from the TMA COVID-19 Task Force and the TMA Committee on Infectious Diseases.

LOW-MODERATE

Know Your Risk During COVID-19

Opening the mail

LOW RISK

BE INFORMED:

WELLNESS

Frontline Heroes

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

WELLNESS

Frontline Heroes

GUIDED BY THE SCIENCE

ecrecia Limbrick is the Assistant Director of Children’s Health in the Houston Health Department, where she serves as Co-Incident Command head for the COVID pandemic. In this role she is responsible for operations, planning and logistics for the Health Department’s pandemic response. In her more than 21 years with the Department she has held positions with responsibility for immunization oversight, home visiting partnerships, WIC, and milestones for My Brothers Keeper. She also serves on the Executive Leadership Team that manages outbreak responses.

NAVIGATING THE PANDEMIC

BELOW The Houston Health Department in collaboration the Astros Foundation launch mega site for COVID-19 vaccine.

“Nothing totally prepares you for a crisis such as COVID,” said Limbrick. “I joined the response team one or two weeks after its inception in late February/ early March 2020. At that time, we were still determining what our roles were and we were

looking at how the disease was going to behave.” The first phase focused on interrupting how the virus was transmitted. This was done in three stages of public awareness and outreach. First, warning the community about the virus, second, educating about the virous,

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Frontline Heroes

social media and other differing voices, continuing to speak from science.”

HELPING ALL HOUSTONIANS The pandemic did not necessarily reveal new health care issues in vulnerable or disadvantaged communities; rather, its effects illuminated and highlighted disparities including communities in need of access

and third, empowering the community to address the pandemic.

resources at hand and how to target our messaging to various communities.

Limbrick notes that coordination with County, State and national work has been continuous, including data sharing with the CDC, webinars, conference calls, and more. “We set a rhythm early on during daily calls with the CDC, local officials, and experts,” says Limbrick. “During meetings, we discussed public health and health care generally and how it impacts the community.” Her department also shared information with the County. In the early stages she said her team discussed how to work with sometimes

When asked how she navigated any discrepancies that arose between messaging at the national level from the Health Department she stated: “We are guided by the science.” She went on to describe in more detail how they kept science at the forefront of their strategy. “When the science shifted, we pivoted. When masks became the best way to address the issue we pivoted. When social distancing became the way to address the disease we pivoted,” she says. “We had to be the louder voice above various

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SHIFTING WITH SCIENCE

For example, advantaged communities have had the opportunity to receive care as they have transportation to drive thru sites and computer access to set appointments, but unfortunately disadvantaged communities did not have access to such resources. Also, those with underlying medical conditions were more susceptible to COVID. Disadvantaged communities’ already existent vulnerability resulted in their starting several steps behind in addressing COVID. The bright spot in this pandemic is there will be greater resources and intention in addressing health disparities in disadvantaged communities going forward.“Those of us in public health will have to work to create a better health care system,” said Limbrick.

A COMMUNITY-BASED NETWORK According to Limbrick, an ideal health care system would address trauma caused by lack of access to health care and an informed provider community. She feels there should be a community-based network

that caters to the community being served. “This will turn the provider driven health care system to a communityinformed health care system,” she says. “There would no longer be a brick-and-mortar health care system, but a neighborhood-based system accessed at community health facilities such as the local pharmacy”.

SHAPING HEALTH To address the next health crisis, she would like communities to play a greater role in preparing and learning to serve as their own best advocate, working alongside the Health Department and other resource providers to stay informed. “I would urge citizens to remain engaged and empowered to ask for needed resources and to know how to create a safe space and shape their own destiny,” she says. Finally, as it relates to mental and physical health, she sees a disconnect of talking about what affects us above the neck versus below the neck. “We have no problem with seeking medical help for physical problems but addressing mental health issues are often neglected,” she says. “We don’t see the trauma or invisible wounds that can often lead to the physical wounds.” Above all, Limbrick emphasizes that the Health Department has to do a better job in all communities getting the message out about COVID and other health care issues in underserved communities.

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Umbutu Helpful Houstonians Many have gone above and beyond to collectively improve and elevate the rate of recovery. Although not all, these are a few of our Tré favorites.

Deloyd Parker

Megan Thee Stallion

A tireless warrior and servant leader, Deloyd Parker, founder of SHAPE Community Center has contributed his time and resources towards COVID-19 prevention. SHAPE is a beacon of light. #shape.org

Megan Thee Stallion has partnered with Amazon Music, donating money, supplies and more to a nursing facility in Houston amid the coronavirus pandemic.

#IDidMyPart

Anthony ‘R.A.G.S.’ Sutton

Recognizing that African American communities have an escalated rate of infections and fatalities, Beyonce’s BeyGOOD Foundation and her mother, Tina Knowles-Lawson, brought 1,000 coronavirus tests to Houston’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.

Recording artist and producer R.A.G.S. created the Better. Together. commercial which contains cameos from prominent Houston figures such as Amanda Sapp (host, Amazing 102.5), Marcus Bowers, (owner, She’s Happy Hair), Ingrid (recording artist) and more.

The Power of the Black Church Community Resilience in Times of Disaster Segregation, poverty and discrimination led to disproportionately high rates of sickness and mortality among the African American population. Historically, Civil rights groups, churches, and community organizations have always been essential to change these conditions through outreach and educational initiatives such as National Negro Health Week (1914–51). The same is true today. STRONG IS OUR FAITH

Positive Perspective Mentors & Educational Services is committed to “Achieving healthier communities by mentoring, educating and strengthening at-risk youth, individuals & families”. PPMES worked in collaboration with the City of Houston Health Department and INTV (channel 21) to share pertinent and reliable information about COVID-19. The goal is to help faithbased communities be physically, emotionally, and mentally safe and healthy while navigating the current pandemic. ppmes.org

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Profile

“Amazing community outreach has allowed us to produce work we are proud of consistently.” Barry Barnes, Houston Health Department

INNOVATIVE OUTREACH BEGINS HERE Ending the Epidemic Barry Barnes is committed to the mission of the Houston Health Department (HHD) and has over 12 years of experience working as a Marketing Coordinator and stakeholder advocate. Barnes has an extensive background in media, communications, fashion and entertainment. In addition, he has a proven capacity as a liaison between HHD Bureau of HIV/STD and Viral Hepatitis and community stakeholders.

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Barry Barnes is a public health liaison that focuses on innovation, strategy and design.

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Sexual Health

Ending the Epidemic

Take the Pledge

Houston has the highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Texas. According to HHD, one out of every 200 people reports living with HIV, a reality with incalculable public health and social consequences. endhivhouston.org

Amid sharp increases of congenital syphilis, the Houston Health Department launched a new campaign emphasizing the importance of prenatal care and syphilis testing for expectant mothers. HHD promotes education, testing, prevention and treatment. Take the pledge at myprenatalpromise.com

Safer Sex and COVID-19

I am Life® Campaign

Sex is a normal part of life and should always be with the consent of all parties. During this extended public health emergency, people should consider using harm reduction strategies to reduce the risk to yourself, your partners, and our community. HoustonHealth.org

Rooted in empowerment and self-affirmation, the effort is lead by Beau J. Mitts, MPH, Bureau Chief, HIV/STD and Viral Hepatitis Prevention HHD. It is a pledge to: Be Truthful. Be Responsible. Be Safe. It is driven to help each individual reaffirm “who they are” while living life to the fullest as a responsible, sensible and supportive member of the LGBTQ community. houstoniamlife.com

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Are You STRESSED? Tips for Surviving Traumatic Events Stress affects us all, but we can decrease the negative outcomes with personal and professional support.

WELLNESS

What is your tipping point?

Care for Self

Do you know common signs that you may be experiencing stress? How do you manage? When is it time? Who do you call for help?

tress isn’t always bad, in small doses, it can help you perform under pressure and motivate you to do your best. Although being #HoustonStrong is important, on the road to recovery, it is also important to monitor your physical and emotional health. #SelfCare

Take a moment It is common to show signs of stress after exposure to a disaster (flood) or other traumatic event (car crash). You can be affected just by witnessing a disaster or other traumatic event and you may be affected regardless of whether you were hurt or lost a loved one “survivors’ guilt”.

What is stress?

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? COVID is difficult, add to it unresolved issues from Harvey, financial burdends, grief, loss of income or the trauma of a wrongful conviction. The compounding effect can be devestating.

Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. When you sense danger— whether it’s real or imagined—the body’s defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction or the “stress response”. The stress response is the body’s way of protecting you. Stress can also help you rise to meet challenges. It’s what keeps you on your toes during a

presentation at work, drives you to study for an exam when you’d rather be watching TV, or sharpens your concentration as you look to find clarity after the storm. But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health and your quality of life.

Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems. The effects of chronic stress and recovery Your nervous system isn’t very good at distinguishing between emotional and physical threats. If you’re super stressed over an argument with a friend, a work deadline, or a mountain of bills, your body can react just

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Care for Self

You have a right to grieve. Stay connected, monitor your health and learn when your stress level is becoming harmful.

as strongly as if you’re facing a true life-or-death situation. And the more your emergency stress system is activated, the easier it becomes to trigger and the harder it becomes to shut off. If you tend to get stressed out frequently—as many of us do in today’s demanding world—your body may be in a heightened state of stress most of the time. This can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems.

Possible Reactions to a flood’s Disaster or Other Traumatic Event The most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on you. You get used to it. It starts to feel familiar — even normal. You

don’t notice how much it’s affecting you, even as it takes a heavy toll. Be it a day or a year afterwards, try to identify your early warning signs of stress and be aware of the common warning signs and symptoms of stress overload.

CREDIT Segal, J., Smith, M., Segal, R., & Robinson, L. (2017). Stress Symptoms, Signs, and Causes: Improving Your Ability to Handle Stress. Helpguide.org. Retrieved from www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/stress-symptoms-signs-and-causes.htm

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Care for Self

SIGNS & SYMPTOMS Tips for taking care of yourself and key signs of stress. Self evaluate often. You may be able to “see” these stress signs better in your family, friends and teammates than in yourself.

tress usually shows up in the four areas shown below, but everyone should check for ANY unusual stress responses after a disaster or other traumatic event. Below are some of the most common reactions.

NEED HELP? Need help for you or children recover from the trauma of a disaster, visit www.samhsa.gov.

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COGNITIVE SYMPTOMS

Having trouble remembering Concentration problems Poor judgment Seeing only the negative Anxious or racing thoughts Constant worrying Feeling confused Worrying a lot

Difficulty making decisions Difficulty talking/listening to others about what happened

EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS

Anxiety, fear, and agitation M oodiness, irritability, or anger Depression, sadness, or general unhappiness Feeling overwhelmed Other mental or emotional health problems Heroic, feeling invincible F eel too much energy or no energy at all Numb, unable to feel either joy or sadness Guilty, even when you had no control over the traumatic event

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS

Aches, headaches, and pains for no clear reason Diarrhea or constipation

Nausea, dizziness Chest pain, rapid heart rate Loss of sex drive Frequent colds or flu Sweating or having chills T remors (shaking) or muscle twitches B eing jumpy or easily startled

BEHAVIORAL SYMPTOMS Eating too much or too little S leeping too much or too little Withdrawing from others Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs or prescription medication to relax N ervous habits (e.g., nail biting, pacing) Blaming others for everything Difficulty accepting help or helping others

CREDIT U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2013). Tips for Survivors of a Disaster or Other Traumatic Event: Managing Stress. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from https://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//SMA13-4776/SMA13-4776.pdf

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Emergency Responders

REMIND YOURSELF: It is not selfish to take breaks. Survivors’ needs are not more important than your own needs and well-being. Working all of the time does not mean you will make your best contribution. There are others who can help in the response.

Tips for taking care of yourself All disaster responders can benefit from identifying the symptoms of stress and learning how to engage in self-care activities.

esponding to disasters is both rewarding and challenging work. Sources of stress for emergency responders may include witnessing human suffering, risk of personal harm, intense workloads, life-and-death decisions, and separation from family. Stress

prevention and management is critical for responders to stay well and to continue to help in the situation. There are important steps responders should take before, during, and after an event. Here are a few:

SELF-CARE TIPS Try limiting work hours to 12-hour shifts (max). Work in teams and limit time spent working alone. Write in a journal. Talk about your feelings and experiences. Practice breathing and relaxation techniques. Maintain a healthy diet. Get sleep and exercise. Know that it’s okay to draw limits and say “no.” Avoid/limit caffeine and use of alcohol/drugs.

PRACTICE SELF-AWARENESS Recognize your (self/ teammates) stress signs. Agree to accept instruction when signaled to stop for a “stress break.” Avoid over-identifying with survivors’ grief/trauma. Be aware of your limit and “compassion fatigue.”

AFTER THE RESPONSE: Pay extra attention to rekindling relationships with friends, loved ones, and coworkers who did not share the experience with you.

HELPFUL RESOURCES + MOBILE APP SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center 1-800-308-3515 www.samhsa.gov/dtac

CREDIT Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Coping with a Disaster or Traumatic Event. Emergency Preparedness and Response. Retrieved from https://emergency.cdc.gov/coping/responders.asp TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

Be kind to yourself Remember to be patient with yourself. Take deep breaths or gently stretch to calm yourself before you tackle each task.

A Little Help Can Go A Long Way If you’ve been involved in a disaster or other traumatic event, a number of tasks likely require your attention fairly urgently. Completing one task at a time may help you feel like you are gaining back some control, so make a list of the most important things you need to do.

WELLNESS

Care for Self

Tips to Relieve Stress

Practical Tips for Relieving Stress These stress management activities seem to work well for most people. Use the ones that work for you. Plan to do something relaxing after working for a while.

Diet

Exercise

Laugh + Humor

Eating nutritious food is important. Also, having a well-balanced diet benefits overall health.

Exercise once daily or in smaller amounts throughout the day can release the buildup of extra stress hormones.

Despite tough times or struggles, being able to have a good laugh can possibly reduce stress.

Relax

Connect

Get Help

All your tasks may overwhelm you, but they do not need to get done all at once. Remember to take it easy and take time to relax.

Talk with others or reach out to a trusted friend, family member, or faith-based leader to explore what meaning the event may have for you. Connect with other survivors and share your experience.

If you or someone you know is struggling after a disaster, you are not alone. Get help and support 24/7; please call 1-800-985-5990 or you can text “TalkWithUs” to 66746. www.disasterdistress.samhsa.gov .

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Following a disaster, teens may feel overwhelmed but be unable to talk about their feelings.

The Struggle IS REAL Stress affects us all. Identify and seek counseling, support and monitoring are effective ways to take care of your family and self.

NEED HELP? Need help for you or children recover from the trauma of a disaster, visit www.samhsa.gov.

hildren who experience a disaster are more likely than adults to be emotionally traumatized. But parents, teachers, and caregivers can help prevent serious psychological consequences by observing, listening, and talking to children. It is okay to need guidance and you should seek professional help where possible and when needed.

Young Children Common signs of distress include: crying more than usual increased irritability changes in eating habits stomachaches and headaches fear of the dark bad dreams regressing to immature behaviors like bed-wetting and thumb-sucking Some children may become noisy and hyperactive whereas others may become shy and cling to parents.

School-Age Children. Like younger children, schoolage children might experience physical symptoms, nightmares, and childish behaviors.

Teens and Young Adults Instead of wanting to socialize, some adolescents may become afraid to leave home. Others who feel they have lost control over their lives may begin to experiment with high-risk behaviors like: drinking drug abuse sexual activity reckless driving If you, or your child, are experiencing trauma or high levels of distress, seek crisis counseling. Early intervention can help prevent worse problems in the future.

WELLNESS

Care for Others

Look for signs of distress:

HOW WELL IS YOUR STUDENT?

Young Children

Teens and Adults

Children who are preschool-age and younger may not have words to describe their experiences, but that does not mean they are unaware of the circumstances around them.

It is common for adolescents to experience intense emotions. Following a disaster, they may feel overwhelmed but be unable to talk about their feelings. The adolescent years are normally a time when teenagers are interested in moving out into the world. Disasters can change that natural inclination, making the world seem dangerous and frightening.

School-Age Children

Stay Strong

School Rules

Children from about age 6 to 11 are better able to understand the consequences of a disaster. Because of this they are likely to feel sadness, anger, and grief over losses. A sudden drop in grades could indicate distress.

When the stress or trauma is continuous or particularly intense, it can take a toll on both the psyche and the body of a child.

Some may fear what’s next or become so preoccupied by thoughts of the disaster that they have difficulty concentrating on schoolwork.

CREDIT Houston Health Department. (2017). Factsheet: Helping children recover from the emotional aftermath of a disaster. Retrieved from http://www.houstontx.gov/health/Epidemiology/Informatics/documents/Helping_children_recover_Factsheet.pdf

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Healing

Talk to children during disasters: Tell children the truth, but make sure the amount and kind of information is age-appropriate. Reassure children that adults are doing everything possible to keep families safe. Explain what emergency responders are doing to help. Putting the focus on good deeds rather than the disaster will help create positive outlooks. Talk to children about your family’s faith traditions. Spiritual beliefs and practices can increase well-being during times of crisis.

Solutions and Help for Families Tips for taking care of your student. To find crisis counseling services in your area, visit local Mental Health Authority or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, www.cdc.gov.

elf evaluate often. You may be able to “see” these stress signs better in your family, friends, and teammates than in yourself. Make time to listen to children: Give children opportunities to talk. It will

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help relieve their stress. Some children, particularly teenagers, may be reluctant to talk. Try getting them to open up while you are engaged in activities like chores, driving, or recreation. Give children permission to feel and express their emotions. There is no such thing as a bad emotion. During times of disaster, it’s normal to feel sad, angry, and afraid. If children have difficulty talking about their experiences, encourage them to draw pictures, tell stories, or play makebelieve games. It will help them express their feelings and give adults an understanding of what they are experiencing.

Other help for children: Keep daily routines intact as much as possible. Routines will offer a sense of stability in times of uncertainty. Practice your Family Disaster Plan. If you do not have one, now is a good time to start one. Talk with all members of the family about a plan and give each member a responsibility. Limit children’s exposure to violent media such as video games, TV programs and even news reports about the disaster. Take care of yourself. It will help you take good care of your children. Be conscious of how you react because children will be looking to you for clues on how they should react and cope.

Jacob Sanchez Diagnosed with autism

Sensory sensitivity is a sign of autism. Learn the others at autismspeaks.org/signs.

WELLNESS

Resources NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE 1-800-273-8255 www.suicidepreventionlifeline. org/#main

Suicide Resources For Special Populations GAY & LESBIAN SWITCHBOARD HOUSTON 713-529-3211 www.montrosecenter.org/hub/ services/avp/switchboard/ 401 Branard St. Houston, Texas 77006

MORE SELF-CARE RESOURCES

HOUSTON AREA

HARRIS CENTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND IDD (Formerly Mental Health & Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County) MHMRA 713-970-7000 www.mhmraharris.org/ 9401 Southwest Freeway Houston, Texas 77074

MIND Self-Care Resources In Crisis? Call these 24-Hour Hotlines 24-HOUR CRISIS HOTLINE 3-Digit Crisis Line Call 2-1-1 24-Hour Toll Free Crisis Line 1-800-362-8255

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LIFE CYCLES COUNSELING 281-299-8607 www.lifecyclescounseling.com/ 5870 Highway 6 North, Suite 320 Houston, Texas 77084

Suicide Prevention Resources CRISIS INTERVENTION SERVICES 24-HOUR CRISIS HOTLINE Immediate Free Counseling‎ 1-800-662-4357 (Disaster Distress Helpline) www.samhsa.gov SAMHSA’s hotline provides counseling for anyone experiencing emotional distress.

CRISIS HOTLINE 713-468-5463 IMALIVE 1-800-784-2433 www.imalive.org/ SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH HELPLINE SAMHSA 832-416-1177 www.crisishotline.org/

WOMEN’S CENTER 713-528-6798 www.hawc.org/ 1010 Waugh Drive Houston, Texas 77019

Addictions Help ALCOHOL TREATMENT & DRUG ADDICTION RECOVERY www.recovery.org/browse/ houston-tx SEX THERAPY & SEX ADDICTION TREATMENT THE CENTER FOR HEALTHY SEXUALITY 713-785-7111 www.centerforhealthy sexuality.com 2400 Augusta Drive, Suite 120 Houston, Texas 77057 NATIONAL COUNCIL ON PROBLEM GAMBLING 24-Hour Confidential National Helpline 1-800-522-4700 www.ncpgambling.org/ TEXAS HOTLINE GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS 1-888-442-7105 www.texasga.org/

Counseling and Support Groups Resources DEPRESSION AND BIPOLAR SUPPORT ALLIANCE GREATER HOUSTON 713-970-7000 www.dbsahouston.org KRIST SAMARITAN CENTER FOR COUNSELING AND EDUCATION 281-480-7554 www.samaritanhouston.org 16441 Space Center Boulevard, Suite C-100 Houston, Texas 77058

Drop-In Centers Mental Health RECOVERY HOUSTON INSTITUTE 713-692-4000 10525 Eastex Freeway Houston, Texas 77093 SUPPORT GROUPS LIFE CYCLES COUNSELING 281-299-8607 5870 Highway 6 North, Suite 320 Houston, Texas 77084 www.lifecyclescounseling.com

WEST HOUSTON COUNSELING CENTER 281-940-8515 www.westhoustoncounseling. com/ 707 S. Fry Rd. Katy, Texas 77450 MEDICAL ASSISTANCE CRISIS HOTLINE 713-468-5463 (English) 713-526-8088 (Spanish) HOUSTON OCD COUNSELING 832-971-0025 www.houstonocdcounseling. com/ 9432 Katy Fwy, Ste 400 Houston, Texas 77055 ST. JOSEPH MEDICAL CENTER 713-757-1000 1401 St. Joseph Parkway Houston, Texas 77002 www.sjmctx.com

BODY Fitness Resources

TRI-COUNTY BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE 1-800-659-6994 www.tcbhc.org BEHAVIORAL HOSPITAL OF BELLAIRE 713-600-9500 www.bhbhospital.com/ 5314 Dashwood Drive Houston, Texas 77081 ADDICTION COUNSELING ASSOC. 713-520-5492 2990 Richmond Avenue, Ste 207 Houston, Texas 77098

YMCA OF HOUSTON 281-392-5055 www.ymcahouston.org SEHAH YOUTH AND FITNESS 713-747-0271

Health Care Resources LEGACY COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES 832-548-5000 www.legacycommunityhealth. org ST. JOSEPH MEDICAL CENTER 713-757-1000 1401 St. Joseph Parkway Houston, Texas 77002 www.sjmctx.com

SPIRIT Faith-Based Resources AGA KHAN FOUNDATION HARVEY RELIEF HOTLINE: 1-877-362-8759 www.focus-usa.org/harvey/

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BELLAIRE JEWISH CENTER THE CHURCH OF JESUS 832-971-3781 CHRIST OF LATTER DAY 12 Triangle Arc www.facebook.com/chraudio SAINTS Bellaire, Texas 77401 281-376-6804 www.bjchouston.org/ 15725 Champion Forest Dr Spring, Texas 77379 CATHOLIC CHARITIES www.lds.org/temples/details/ 713-874-6664 houston-texas-temple (Flood Relief Hotline) 713-526-4611 (Main) EVELYN RUBENSTEIN www.catholiccharities.org/wpJEWISH COMMUNITY content/uploads/2017/08/List-ofCENTER OF HOUSTON Shelters.pdf 713-729-3200 5601 S. Braeswood 2900 Louisiana St. Houston, Texas 77096 Houston, Texas 77006 www.erjcchouston.org/ www.catholiccharities.org

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713-533-4900 3303 Main St. Houston, Texas 77002 www.imgh.org

ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF GREATER HOUSTON 832-941-0766 (Volunteers) 713-524-6615 (Office) www.isgh.org 3110 Eastside Drive Houston, Texas 77098 JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER HOUSTON 713-729-7000 5603 South Braeswood Blvd Houston, Texas 77096 www.houstonjewish.org/ MEYERLAND MINYAN 713-664-1687 www.meyerlandminyan.org

ROBERT M. BEREN ACADEMY 713-723-7170 11333 Cliffwood Drive Houston, Texas 77035 www.berenacademy.org/ SEWA INTERNATIONAL 281-909-7392 1712 Highway 6 Houston, Texas 77077 www.sewausa.org/chapter/ houston/houston-overview SOUTHERN BAPTISTS OF TX www.sbtexas.com TZU CHI HOUSTON 713-981-8966 www.tzuchi.us/houston/ 6200 Corporate Drive Houston, Texas 77036

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Learn more about your breast health at

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COMMUNITY

A NEW HOPE Words by Rachel Williams · Photos by Martin R. Rodgers

Seeking A More Wholistic Approach to Protection and Service During his 30+ year career with the Houston Police Department, Chief Finner has garnered the trust of citizens and officers alike.

olicing in the modern era requires a myriad of skills and abilities, along with tremendous personal character. No doubt Mayor Turner was considering all of those elements when he chose Troy Finner as the new chief of police for the City of Houston.

he has garnered the trust of citizens and officers alike. Chief Finner was a key support during, BELOW Chief Finner is head of the Houston Police Department which is the fourth largest City in the United States.

Hurricane Harvey and other natural disasters as well as during major events. However, he considers the everyday

needs of the community to be the most important aspect of the job. He often says his philosophy is “I tryto help someone every day.” He is happy to help people of all walks of life, in particular young people is evidenced in

A LONG CAREER Chief Finner is well-known and his character his endeared him to many in Houston. Throughout his tenure with HPD he has forged strong relationships in the community. Chief Finner spent more than 12 years as a patrol officer before ascending through the ranks of HPD leadership During his 30+ year career with HPD

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COMMUNITY

the good will that has come his way since his selection of Police Chief. Chief Finner certainly has his work cut out for him but he is ready and eager to serve as Chief. Chief Finner began his career with the Houston Police Department in 1990 and has worked in every aspect of the department. As Executive Chief, Finner oversees the HPD Field & Support Operations, which includes responsibility for three patrol region commands and one support command encompassing 15 patrol divisions, the Traffic Enforcement Division, Emergency Communications Division, Mental Health

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ABOVE On the Road to Eagle Dr. Myron E. Cloyd leads the Boy Scout Troop 740 on their visit with Troy Finner as they work on their merit badge.

Division, and the Gang Division. His oversight encompasses approximately 3,550 classified and sworn personnel and 230 civilian support staff.

Born in the Nickle Troy Finner was raised in Houston’s Fifth Ward. He graduated from Madison High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University and a Master of Criminal Justice from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Throughout his career, Chief Finner has also completed specialized professional development training. He is a Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP) graduate and attended the Police Executive Leadership Institute (PELI) and

the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Executive Institute (NEI).

Committed to Excellence Executive Assistant Chief Finner. “I have a proven track record of bringing unity within the community balanced with leading operational improvements and initiatives,” says Finner. “These have enhanced departmental productivity and reduced costs.” On the heels of the Chauvin verdict and Houstonian George Floyd, Tré will look to share future initiatives for accountability and plans to reduce excessive use of force and bias towards vulnerable populations in Houston.

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Education

MILLENNIAL MAKERS A passionate educator who is committed to the mission of education and community, Dr. Davetta Daniels is the founder of Millennium Makers, a non-profit mentorship organization based in Houston, Texas.

r. Davetta Daniels is an innovative leader known for her tireless work ethic, energetic presentation and hands-on approach to finding solutions for a myriad of issues affecting minority based communities.

Commitment and Character A trusted advisor among administrators, educators, editors and politicians that leverages intense educational and small business expertise to build a competitive

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advantage for students and teachers everywhere. Dr. Davetta Daniels earned her Doctorate of Education from NOVA Southern University. She obtained her bachelor of Science degree in Sociology with a minor in Psychology and her Master of Science degree in Counseling and Guidance from Tennessee State University.

A Celebrated Legacy Davetta is a member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Black Go Texan Committee, William A. Lawson Institute for Peace and Prosperity (Charter School) Board Member, Houston Area Alliance of

Black School Educators (HAABSE), National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE) and Deltra Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She has served as the Houston NAACP Education Chair. She has been named Principal of the Year, Texas Association for Secondary Administrators & School Principals, Educator’s Roundtable (Oxford, England Class of XII), Principals Leadership Institute (Invitee) Harvard Univesity Graduate School of Education, In addition to her numerous awards and honors, she is founder of Proverbs for Teenage Girls and is expanding the mentorship work of her non-profit entitled Millennium Makers.

COMMUNITY

Game Changers

NASCAR Pit Crew Brehanna Daniels is an alumna of NASCAR’s Drive For Diversity program which began in 2004 and aims to diversify the sport. Drive for Diversity’s director of athletic performance, Phil Horton, realized that athletes, rather than mechanics, make the best pit crew members. Should Daniels continue to rise through the ranks, she would become the first African-American female pit crew member in NASCAR history. COURTESY BREHANNA DANIELS

Able Flight’s mission is to offer people with disabilities a unique way to challenge themselves through flight and aviation career training, and by doing so, to gain greater self-confidence and self-reliance.

Central Park

Leslie Irby

New Yorkers Miles Chamley-Watson, Daryl Homer use different styles in quest for fencing gold. Myles Cleveland Chamley-Watson is a U.S. fencer whose main game is Fleury. Daryl Homer is an American Olympic saber fencer. Their accomplishments are extensive and their competition videos are inspiring.

Inspired by her idol Bessie Coleman, Irby is becoming the first known African American female with a disability to receive a pilots license. Irby flew her first plane at a local Atlanta airport at 16 through a OBAP program, called ACE (Aviation Career Enrichment). Selected among nine other aviators, Irby was apart of Able Flight’s 10th anniversary class and started flight training at Purdue University.

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#StopAsianHate Jet It drives positive community impact As demand for Jet It increases, Glenn Gonzales Founder and CEO is putting plans in motion to expand their workforce and provide jobs for many left in the wake of the pandemic. Key aviation leaders in the PTI community including HAECO, FedEx, and Textron joined Jet It to highlight the resurgence of industry growth and what that means for the Piedmont Triad Area.

Congressman Al Green expresses solidarity for those who have been negatively impacted by recent anti-Asian sentiment stating “A year ago, I and several of my colleagues from the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) sent a letter to thenPresident Trump calling on him to cease use of pejoratives to refer to the coronavirus - including China virus, Chinese virus, Wuhan virus, and Kung flu. There had been an uptick in physical assault and verbal harassment of Asians unfairly associated with the spread of COVID-19. A year later, approximately 3,800 attacks on Asians across our nation have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate.”

Character Building 4 Life Derrick Jibril provides an insightful and informative digital newsletter and host ‘The Narrative Show’ on blogtalkradio.com/ derrickjibril

Resilient Cities Mayor Turner Named as Board of Directors Chair of Resilient Cities Network which is a global city-led nonprofit organization that integrates diverse effort into a collective, comprehensive, and well-coordinated call-to-action to deliver urban impact-driven resilience solutions. Visit resilientcitiesnetwork.org.

Inclusion DEI With the leadership of Dennis Kennedy, Founder & Chairman, The National Diversity Council is dedicated to being a resource and an advocate for the value of diversity, equity and inclusion.

COMMUNITY

Feature

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Training with Ken Jones A look at his ultimate fitness lifestyle and celebrating his goal to create a gym and fitness lifestyle for everyone.

ppearance is everything. That is the motto that Ken Jones has built his career and lifestyle.

Jones is a Miami native who found his home in Houston after college.

Health and fitness have been a part of his life since earlier on. He played football all throughout high school and college, first at Florida International University, then at Texas Southern University, and he even played arena football for a few years. While in school he studied health care administration and went

on to get his master’s in health care from Ashford University. Pursuing a career in the health and fitness field was something Jones knew he wanted to do. Upon completing school, Jones took a position in neighborhood health with the City of Houston. After working three years for the City of Houston, he went on to work for Central Care Community Health Clinic as a project manager. While at this job, Jones started taking an interest in personal training. He started with training some of his coworkers who were looking to improve their health. “I got interested in personal training and the idea of changing people’s

Appearance is everything. That is the motto that Ken Jones has built his career and lifestyle on.

Level One Fitness Level One Fitness started off as a small fitness group, led by Jones, that met in the park to do fitness boot camps. Level One Fitness now offers athletic sports training, personal training and competition training.

lives,” Jones said. “Basically, I started training my coworkers that were having health problems and just kept it going. It brought happiness to me and the client, so I took it further and ended up starting Level One Fitness in 2012.” Level One Fitness started off as a small fitness group, led by Jones, that met in the park to do fitness boot camps. When interest and attendance began to increase, Level One Fitness moved into its first facility, a 1,400 sq. ft building on Dowling Street, now known as Emancipation Avenue. After three years, the gym moved to its current location on Cleburne Street in Houston, Texas and is now a 10,000 sq. ft., fully-equipped gym. Level One Fitness now offers athletic sports training, personal training and competition training.

“We are a one-stop shop,” Jones said. “Everybody has different fitness levels and fitness goals. Certain people want to be super ripped, but then you’ll have someone that wants something completely different. We want to meet all those different goals at Level One, so we work with anybody and everybody.”

Level One Fitness opened their L1 Sports Center in March 2019. This is the new 10,000 sq. ft. building behind Level One Fitness that offers things like boxing, mixed martial arts, physical rehabilitation services, CrossFit, spin class, basketball and much more. In addition to the sports facility, Jones’ next step for Level One Fitness is to franchise.

Oluptat modiam, quia pre iust quodit od eum qui qui blab il et aut animo et.

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home and start Level One Fitness, Texas was ranked as one of the most obese states in the US. He saw a need for physical fitness opportunities and education specifically in Third Ward, which is where he chose to open his gym. Starting off with boot camps in the park and eventually opening the Level One facility, Jones met that need. He also began doing speaking events on health and fitness to help educate the community on the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Another way Jones and his staff at Level One Fitness give back to the community is through an “adopt-a-park” program. This program allows them to take on the responsibility of cleaning up and improving parks in their neighborhood. Level One Fitness’ current park project is Peggy Park.

“We want to be worldwide,” Jones said. “We want to be the one-stop shop gym that has everything you need.” Jones has several other business ventures in addition to Level One Fitness. One of those ventures is his personal training business, Train with Ken. While he has a team of certified personal trainers at Level One Fitness, he also offers personal training sessions with him through Train with Ken. Around the time Level One Fitness began, Jones also began training for bodybuilding competitions. In 2013, he competed in his first bodybuilding show and placed 2nd, which qualified him to be nationally recognized. In 2014, he competed in the Miami Nationals show and became a IFBB professional bodybuilder. He has been competing professionally since then. Jones is also launching his own fitness clothing line, AIE. This clothing line stems from his motto, Appearance is Everything and is a fitness-meets-fashion line set to launch soon.

“My appearance, my model, my clothing line, they are everything,” Jones said. “I am my own billboard. Being that I’m fit, it triggers the question of ‘Hey, what do you do?’, and I am able to use that conversation to tell people about my businesses and lifestyle.” One of the main components that motivates Jones to work so hard on his fitness and health is his battle with severe asthma. He has suffered two major asthma attacks, causing him to be hospitalized and intubated. Jones wants to be an advocate for others who suffer from asthma and show them there is a way to overcome it. “The more I work out, the more I stay fit, the healthier I am,” Jones said. “As soon as I get out of shape and stop working out like I should, my asthma becomes a problem. I am trying to be an advocate by just encouraging others to stay healthy. A little walking, a little jogging every day keeps your lungs healthy and clear. That is one reason that I push so hard and keep working out.” When Jones isn’t training or working, he can be found giving back to his community. When he first decided to make Houston his

Within the community, Jones noticed another area where needs were not being met: the youth. Jones started The Shift Project in 2013 to provide a platform for helping teenagers build social skills and character development and prepare them for eventually making a successful transition into adulthood. A group of 15 teenagers meets twice a week to work on physical fitness skills as well as participate in community service, leadership and life skills training and literacy enrichment activities. “This program is a way to ‘shift’ their minds away from crime, drugs and other trouble in the world and focus that energy on bettering themselves physically and mentally,” Jones said. Jones has used his love for health and fitness to create several successful businesses and community outreach efforts. He has established himself as a leading business owner, and his passion and persistence set him apart from others. Jones has much more to show the world, and it seems all his current successes are just the beginning for him. “Fitness and health are big topics right now, but they are lifestyle changes. That is what I try to teach at Level One Fitness and through my lifestyle. It is a life change, not just a quick fix.”

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Tré Legend

LOS ANGELES - AUGUST 11: Carl Lewis #915 of the USA runs the anchor leg of the Men's 4x100m relay race of the Track and Field competition of the

ATHLETE OF THE CENTURY Carl Lewis is one of the most decorated athletes of all time, having won 10 Olympic medals, including nine gold, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. An activist for family, youth, education, wellness and fitness, Carl Lewis goes the distance for those in need and brings his international celebrity to attract awareness for the challenges and opportunities surrounding these issues around the world.

s an Olympic athlete, Carl Lewis was part of five American Olympic Teams, winning 10 medals, nine of them gold. With unsurpassed talent in the long jump and his speed in the sprints, he has gone places where no other track and field athlete has ever visited. His five Olympic appearances are a record for a male athlete, and many of his Olympic performances were in world or Olympic record time. His impressive track and field performances earned him

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the title of “Athlete of the Century”

Historic Legacy His 65 consecutive victories in the long jump achieved over a span of 10 years is one of the sport’s longest undefeated streaks. Over the course of his athletics career, Carl set world records in the 100 m, 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m relays, while his world record in the indoor long jump has stood since 1984. His accomplishments have led to numerous accolades, including being voted “World Athlete

of the Century” by the International Association of Athletics Federations and “Sportsman of the Century” by the International Olympic Committee, “Olympian of the Century” by Sports Illustrated and “Athlete of the Year” by Track & Field News in 1982, 1983, and 1984.

Giving Back Since his retirement from active competition in 1997, Carl Lewis has devoted a great deal of his time and energy to charity, founding “The Carl Lewis Foundation,” which serves as an umbrella for the many charities that Lewis supports

1984 Olympic Games held on August 11, 1984 in the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images)

A Living Legend During his career Carl Lewis won 9 Olympic gold medals, attended four Olympic Games, earning himself international respect and a place in history as one of the truly great athletes of all time.

www.youtube.com/

COMMUNITY

Culture

LIVE MUSIC Tommy Hammond and his band are award-winning musicians based in Houston, Texas and offer one of the most unforgettable live music shows. Book or see them live at 347.300.5247

THE QUIET REBEL As part of a recent pledge to uplift Black

@tommyhammondoldbrowneyes

voices and become a better advocate for change, “Voices of Freedom: An Adrienne Arsht Center Tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” was hosted by Traci Cloyd, who bravely called for a moment of silence to commemorate the lives lost at the hands of police and others due to aniella Levine Cava, present for the virtual ceremony, shared her thoughts on its importance. quietrebellife.com

MOTIVATIONAL FASHION CONSULTANT INNER SELF DISRUPTOR

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INTUITIVE AFRICAN DANCE AND DRUM

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Do you want muscle definition plus weight loss and the fun of dancing and connecting to community? You can exercise, preserve and cultivate the art and spirit of West African dance, drum and culture. @intuitiveafricandance

Sambo + Jiu Jitsu = SAMBOFUSION! NEW JERSEY Whether you’re a novice or you’re bringing your belt with you, Koulikov Grappling Academy is here to help you succeed. With the leadership of founder Vlad Koulikov, KGA provides hands-on coaching, inspirational mentors, and the earnest accountability you need to achieve amazing things every step of the way. Located in Hewitt, KGA harbors an infectious passion for Martial Arts and will train you to become an expert at both Jiu Jitsu and Sambo. Begin your journey today. 845-421-8809 vlad@sambofusion.com or sambofusion.com

MORGAN ORIAHI Fury FC 45 took place Sunday, April 18, 2021 with 15 fights at Bayou City Event Center. After a tough battle with Derrick Ageday, Houston native Morgan wins with a TKO (Flying Knee and Punches). Joshua Ferraro

@isaacandmoore

LIFESTYLE

Thrifting

Angelina shows you how to make thrifting fun, resale shopping an adventure and vintage clothing modern again. #SewingOptional

VINTAGE IS BACK Words by Eva Elias

Blue Print DIY Sustainable Fashion Together we can make clothes that fit our amazing personalities and sizes. Let’s get creative!

Blueprint DIY specializes in upcycling clothes with a creative spin and can take your wardrobe to the next level! Learn how to remake (refashion/repurpose) old clothes, make your clothes fit your size and style, thrift haul like a pro, and so much more.

Try Something Different Every woman is different, so our clothes should be, too! Angelina, the creator/founder of Blueprint DIY

walks us through how together, we can make clothes that fit our amazing personalities and sizes. SUBSCRIBE to her youtube channel and remake your wardrobe as unique as you!

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Vintage Take the Challenge: Could you commit to upcycle one garment per month with the goal of creating one cohesive look at the end of 5 months? www.blueprintdiy.com

WITH A CREATIVE SPIN, UPCYCLING TOOK MY WARDROBE TO THE NEXT LEVEL! -ANGELINA Next Top Upcycler Follow upcyclers from all over the world on their journey to complete the Ultimate Upcycle Challenge. This season is all about denim! At

the end you’ll vote for the winner who will receive $800 dollars worth of dream upcycle tools. The process for these contestants was grueling, but the outcome... you don’t want to

miss it. The series premieres February 27th at 9am CST on YouTube and Facebook. See you in the chat! I’m just a girly architect who started upcycling clothes because all the clothes I like never seem to fit just right. Every woman is different, so our clothes should be, too!

Want to learn more?

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DIY SWEATER MITTENS

MAKE JEANS LONGER

Part of the Way Too Easy Series, this is no, 2 of Clothing Hacks that don’t take a whole lot of effort. #Bernie Sanders

Host of Next Top Upcycler, host Angelina makes Super Cute Instagram Inspired Jeans Upcycle!

NEW SEWING ROOM

DIY WIDE LEG PANTS

Turn Your Living Room into the ULTIMATE Sewing Studio!

Inspired by Michelle Obama fierce Monochromatic Innaugration outfit on a budget. #churchladysuit

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Eco-friendly, budget-conscious fashion tutorials are available online! Follow her on instagram, facebook, pinterest @blueprintdiy www.Blueprintdiy.com

How do you express your style and unique voice? What is your Fashion Legacy? #trenation

A RETRO FIT A Swag Like No Other

The African-American impact on fashion is innovative, consistent and undeniable. From turning a feedbag into a dress in the 1700’s to the 1920’s style of “The Harlem Renaissance”, Zoot Suits of the 30’s and Jazz styles worn by Miles Davis in the 40’s, From the Black Panthers to Jimi Hendrix is born the Golden Age of Hip-Hop, FUBU and the expressive T-shirts of today’s Black Lives Movement. Perhaps the greatest gift to the economy and identity of America came from Blacks through the eras – whose culture evolves rapidly and is born out of creativity, resilience and an unwavering capacity for selfexpression.

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INNOVATION

SHOP WHERE YOU MATTER SHINES’ SHOE BOOT POLISHING & REPAIRS

YOU GOT THE JUICE Juicing is a great way to rid your body of toxins and restart your system so that you can begin to change the way you think about the food you consume and how it is related to your overall health and wellness. juiceeasyonline.com

BUY LOCAL Building your local economy is the best way to support your community. Live. Work. Play. Grow. @thetremag

ZAYD’S NATURALLY NATURAL HAIR STUDIO Ten year Licensed Cosmetologist Shawna Farooq- Judson is a native Houstonian, Educator, and sole proprietor of Zayd’s Naturally Natural Hair Studio. Her main focus being heath, natural beauty, education and last but not least community development. zaydsnaturalhair.com

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With his exclusive expertise of 33 years, founder Nash develop an ultra-perfect shine. He is one of only a hand full of Master, Boot, Black, Cobbler, Artist, Griot, Visionaries left in the United States. mistershines.com

GRACE & GRIT FITNESS Founded by Tia Alexander, Grace and Grit has a new location and will kick start your health with a high intensity training session with varied techniques that use many different training styles. graceandgritfitness.com

CANDLES THAT MAKE SCENTS Vibrant, creative, dedicated, and passionate are not only words that describe Houston-native Shanquita Greggs but they also transcend and embody her products and as a result her company−Simply Scents Candle Company. simplyscentsbyshan.com

Artz strives to provide a safe and fun environment to learn all things aerial and circus arts related. They believe that working out can be fun and challenging while building self confidence which can have a major impact on one's overall health. theartz8.com

@SECILY1 H-town native, Secily is a talented artist that produces, sings, and writes her own music! She is living her truth and enjoying the journey of this thing called life. Listen & download the song here: https://linktr.ee/secily

A CULTURAL MECCA Delivering to downtown Houston and surrounding areas, and located in Historic Third Ward, Texas, Turkey Leg Hut is transforming community one bite at a time.

Before, After is Now

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“Past performance is not indicative of future performance” The same can be said of history-yet we can see that we continue to follow past performance in different afor the phrase “let them eat cake” can be seen here while looking at Moorish royalty through a mirror that reflects them both while in different eras but at the same time

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Featured Designer

Audyssy Designs

Passport Protocol The National Airline of the Maldives, Maldivian announced that they will operate direct flights from Mumbai, India to Noonu Maafaru starting 13th April 2021.

Maldives

Experience the Sunnyside of Life Now that the barriers to travel are easing, experience Maldives, a picture-perfect archipelago, situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

LIFESTYLE

Travel

Things You Need to See The Maldives is a nation of islands in the Indian Ocean, that spans across the equator. The country is comprised of 1192 islands and its unique geography mesmerizes the visitor. Maldives is 99% water and just one percent land. It is famous for the beauty it carries and is celebrated as one of the best travel destinations in the world. Now that it is reopening its borders and commencing safe tourism, why not make the best of it?

The Places

The People

The Experiences

The Maldives is home to about five percent of the planet’s reefs that comes with an explosion of color contributed by soft and hard corals that form them. Maldives has one of the most delicate environments anywhere on the planet.

The Maldivian race is the result of several waves of settlement from various parts of the Indian subcontinent and over 2500 years of interactions of people of different races and ethnicities that crisscrossed the Indian Ocean over several centuries

The beauty of the Maldives is not only above the water. Maldives is a Muslim country, with its own language and currency. A 30-day visa is issued on arrival make sure your passport. Due to COVID, a health declaration card may be required.

More info: www.visitmaldives.com/en/experience

More info: www.visitmaldives.com

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Best Decision Ever. Ebony S tarr Founde rO f Travel

Stylz LL C

Luxury T ravel Ad

visor

SPECIALIZING IN ALL INCLUSIVE VACATIONS INCLUDING HONEYMOON & DESTINATION WEDDING

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On the Move A VISION OF THE FUTURE As a creator Jackson sets out to intertwine the dreams of yesteryear with the reality of tomorrow. “With Nomad, I’m combining the world of 80s retrofuturism and the energy efficient era of today. I aim to create a piece that not only lets you see what the future may look like, I want you to be able to experience the future through it.” www.nomad-1.squarespace.com

A Milestone for NIO

Let the Electrification Begin

CHINA Electric cars are on the rise. It took NIO just 1,046 days to complete the production of 100,000 smart electric vehicles, with an average price of RMB 428,000.

Jeep introduces the Jeep 4xe Charging Network and has begun installing EV charging stations at or near Badge of Honor trailheads across the country. #jeeplife #jeeplove⚡️

Marriot Innovation Labs

Record-Breaking Drone Display

Marriott is creating the hotel of the future and has developed a collaborative innovation lab to differentiate their 30 different brands and get insights into the smallest details–from the shape of wall sconces to the location of electrical outlets.

CHINA More than 3,000 drones flew in formation to create the logo of Genesis Motors above Shanghai’s iconic skyline. Drone light shows pave the way for the large-scale deployment of small drones. In a few years, enough small drones could combine their power to deliver a luxury car to your driveway. TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

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HISTORIC CHANGES Souls of Black Folk is a first for the Scarab Club, in Detroit, Michigan which honoring and showcasing the artistic genius of Detroit’s Black artists. The experience was led by Donna Jackson, founder of DMJ Studio and Black female curator who has brought this exhibition to the historic Scarab Club. soulsofblackfolk.com

ART+ CULTURE

The Souls of Black Folk

W.E.B. Du Bois

DMJSTUDIO.COM Souls of Black Folk: Bearing Our Truths is the beginning of a a collection of works by African American artists based on W.E.B. Du Bois’ Soul of Black Folk AND our daily experiences as Black Americans and artists. Donna Jackson curates and develops develops community-based art projects and exhibitions. She is owner of DMJStudio which specializes in strategic development of branding and design services to cultural and non-profit institutions such as United Way, Charles H, Wright Museum of African American History to Focus Hope, Neighborhood Service Organizations, City of

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Houston, and Detroit Public Schools. dmjstudio.com

BAKER COLLEGE, RICE UNIVERSITY FranVictoria Stephens, Esq. leads America’s But: Our Contradictory Truth. Invoking Dr. Martin Luther King’s fierce urgency of now, how do we finally resolve the enduring contradiction of America as sanctuary of democracy and battlefield of freedom? A discusses this centuries-old conflict with new insight and resolve.

HARMONY IN THE AIRSM The vision of the Houston Airports is to establish itself as a fivestar global air service gateway. Tony Henry is one of Houston’s finest professional musicians and is selected to perform live. tonyhenrymusic.com

NETHERLANDS Fabrice Monteiro’s series entitled Marron, is a photographic reenactment of one of the horrors of slavery – the shackle. The devices depicted are based on historical documentation of these savage devices used to subdue, prevent escape and punish. africanah.org

ROBERT HODGE HOUSTON Conceptual artist Robert Hodge launched one of Houston’s most resonant art pieces, a mural entitled “Resilient,” and a new vinyl record ‘Friendly

Fire’ available through the Station Museum of Contemporary Art lead by James Harithas. GreenStreet commissioned Hodge, to create a unique art installation comprised

Robert Hodge is rolling out another artistic endeavor, a vinyl release called "Friendly Fire." Featured here is the album cover. Melanie Dunea

WASHINGTON, DC

of thousands of Postit® notes featuring names of local heroes submitted by the public. #StickTogetherHou

Kevin Young, poet and the new director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture is in a key place to shape how the story of America gets told to a new generation primed to see it with fresh eyes. He envisions a museum where visitors can make sense of what happened in history and convey some idea of what it felt like to go through that history on an emotional level.

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RAIN MUST FALL

TRUTH TO POWER

This Magical Africa Rain Dance Pleased the Rain Gods so Much it Ended a Drought. AFRICA The exquisite Rain Dance was performed in the middle of the Theewaterskloof Dam, of which is the main reservoir that had dried up.

About a week or two after dancing at the reservoir, it started raining in the Western Cape

INSIGHTS Associate Professor Kevin Halpin, directed and choreographed the production. “Raise Your Voice” was created with Jacob Carll, visiting assistant professor and music director. Filmed by costume designer Mark Reynolds, who also coordinated ways for students to perform together in a safe manner.

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A CALL TO SOCIAL CHANGE SUNY CORTLAND Chrisitian Deas and the student cast, will touch on a number of topical subjects, including race and sexuality, through a mix of musical theatre, song, poetry and readings.

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Traci Cloyd/Courtesy of Adrienne Arsht Center

When a young woman meets an aspiring saxophonist in her father’s record shop in 1950s Harlem, their love ignites a sweeping romance that transcends changing times, geography, and professional success.

MIAMI As part of a recent pledge to uplift Black voices and become a better advocate for change, “Voices of Freedom: An Adrienne Arsht Center Tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.” was hosted by Traci Cloyd, who bravely called for a moment of silence to commemorate the lives lost at the hands of police and others due to racism-fueled events. The virtual event encouraged everyone to reflect on King’s six principles, and to apply them to aspects of their own lives in the fight for racial justice.

EPIX With Afua Hirsch, Ty Hurley, Samuel L. Jackson, Simcha Jacobovici. Enslaved is a look at 400 years of human trafficking from Africa to the New World, from the perspective of three different storylines.

MALCOLM & MARIE NETFLIX As a filmmaker and his girlfriend return home from his movie premiere, smoldering tensions and painful

revelations push them toward a romantic reckoning. Emmy winner Zendaya and Golden Globe nominee John David

Washington star in this intimate romantic drama from Sam Levinson.

NETFLIX Netflix’s period drama Bridgerton is a new TV obsession. The show is based on a series of historical romance novels written by Julia Quinn and focuses on, you guessed it, the Bridgerton family.

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DAVID GROGGINS

BASQUIAT Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent who first achieved fame in Manhattan during the late 1970s.

Publishes acclaimed book Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds

$41.9 MILLION

BOOK For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare -- poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself

from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world’s top endurance athletes. In Can’t Hurt Me, he shares his astonishing life story and reveals that most of us tap

into only 40% of our capabilities. Goggins calls this The 40% Rule, and his story illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential.

HONG KONG “Warrior,” a 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat that was said to symbolize the struggles of Black men in a white-dominated world, recently sold for $41.9 million, with fees, at Christie’s auction house in Hong Kong. In 2017, Sotheby’s New York sold Basquiat’s “Untitled.” to Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa for $110 million. Christie’s was leveraging Basquiat’s global appeal to help energize the art market as it tried to emerge from the pandemic-year slump.

Amanda Gorman Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman delivered her original composition, ‘The Hill We Climb’. at the inauguration of the 46th U.S. President Joe Biden on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. At the age of 22, she is now the youngest poet to recite at a presidential inauguration. (Getty Images)

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UPCOMING SHOWS Comedian Dave Chappelle will be performing at Connecticut’s Foxwoods Resort and Casino on June 25 and 26, 2021. Buy tickets foxwoods.com

THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

HOUSTON The Smithsonian’s

National Portrait Gallery a nnounced a five-city tour of the portraits of President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama by artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy

Sherald. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will be the final stop of this national tour, displaying the portraits.

MARCH 25 TO MAY 30, 2022 MFAH.ORG

DAVE CHAPPELLE ”The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.” WATCH THE VIDEO Listen to “I NEED YOU” and order the album ‘WE ARE’: https://jon-batiste.lnk.to/WeAre

JOHN BATISTE A JULLIARD graduate, Batiste is an American musician, bandleader, and television personality. At 17, he released his debut album. He has recorded and performed with artists in

various genres of music, released his own recordings, and performed in more than 40 countries. Batiste regularly tours with his band Stay Human, and appears with them

nightly as bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Sign up to receive official updates at jonbatiste.com

“CHAPPELLE’S SHOW” will be returning to Netflix which was pulled after Chappelle publicly complained. Chappelle was the creator, star and executive producer of the show. “I asked you to stop watching the show and thank God almighty for you, you did. You made that show worthless because without your eyes, it’s nothing,”

Chappelle told the audience. “And when you stopped watching it, they called me. And I got my name back and I got my license back and I got my show back and they paid me millions of dollars. Thank you very much.” Chappelle thanked co-CEO Ted Sarandos in his set and named Chris McCarthy of ViacomCBS for “making the past right.”

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THETREMAG

Quotes + Notes We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” ARISTOTLE

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” Maya Angelou

Being honest may not get you a lot of friends, but it’ll always get you the right ones. John Lennon

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR

The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off. I AM NO LONGER ACCEPTING THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE.

Photo byFred Baldwin

Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed by the masses. -Plato

I AM CHANGING THE THINGS I CANNOT ACCEPT. Angela Davis 0- Photo: Bob Gruen/PRNewsFoto/Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. Frederick Douglas

YOUR

FOCUS DETERMINES YOUR

REALITY

”If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” Malcolm X

GEORGE LUCAS

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Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

It’s a slow process, but quitting won’t speed it up.

TRÉ Magazine · thetremag.com

Mark Twain

Assata Shakur “Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.”

“ Take care of each other” DUANE BRADLEY

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PRACTICE IS HIGHER THAN THEORY M. BABA SHANGO

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Juneteenth 2021 THE EVOLUTION OF THE REVOLUTION

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