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I’m sure these intentionally attention-seeking articles do much for the bottom line, but it’s coming at the expense of groups that deserve better. The latest offense is the New York Times published op-ed, “Why Are Black Women Fat,” in which the author, Alice Randall, of the piece calls for a “body-culture revolution in Black America” in light of growing obesity and diabetes rates among the Black community.

Yes, health is a problem within the community, but it’s one that’s just as American as peach cobbler.

To that end, if you’re going to address a widespread issue as it relates to a specific community, why not do so within context?

Randall writes:

How many middle-aged White women fear their husbands will find them less attractive if their weight drops to less than 200 pounds? I have yet to meet one.

But I know many black women whose sane, handsome, successful husbands worry when their women start losing weight. My lawyer husband is one.

Another friend, a woman of color who is a tenured professor, told me that her husband, also a tenured professor and of color, begged her not to lose “the sugar down below” when she embarked on a weight-loss program.

And here we are again: victim blaming and self-loathing.

Yes, cultural attitudes are a problem among certain sects of the Black community, but guess what the bigger issues are? First, let’s start with using White women as the control group. That’s problematic in of itself, though even if you are going to use them as the “model,” one should highlight how differences in social and economic equality between Blacks and Whites make the proper diet and exercise regimens Randall is advocating for all the more harder to attain.

The same can be said of access to health care and nutritional education. All of these are leading factors in the fight against obesity, and it’s disingenuous at the very least to make an argument about health without listing them in full detail.

And yet, Randall says:

I live in Nashville. There is an ongoing rivalry between Nashville and Memphis. In Black Nashville, we like to think of ourselves as the squeaky-clean brown town best known for our colleges and churches. In contrast, Black Memphis is known for its music and bars and churches. We often tease the city up the road by saying that in Nashville we have a church on every corner and in Memphis they have a church and a liquor store on every corner. Only now the saying goes, there’s a church, a liquor store and a dialysis center on every corner in Black Memphis.

The billions that we are spending to treat diabetes is money that we don’t have for education reform or retirement benefits, and what’s worse, it’s estimated that the total cost of America’s obesity epidemic could reach almost $1 trillion by 2030 if we keep on doing what we have been doing.

She then asserts about Black women, “WE have to change,” and goes on to talk about eating egg whites, taking Zumba classes, and remaking the notion of what constitutes as soul food. It all sounds so easy – to a person with the means and knowledge to do so. Such is not a reality for many, which means this “WE” Randall speaks of goes far beyond just Black women and the thick-thigh-loving Black men Randall believes enable them.

Therein lies the problem with her essay and others bemoaning presumed problems within our community, i.e. why Black women are single (a point which has since proven to be a grossly exaggerated issue), why Black women ought to date White men (does miscegenation cure disease, too?), why Black women ought to give Katy Perry another listen, and so forth. It’s getting sillier, and thusly, more offensive with each passing headline.

How much longer do Black women and the rest of us – that is, anyone else who knows better than to over simplify for sport – have to continue enduring these asinine opines about Black women that distort statistics to suit a pseudo-well-intentioned argument that shamefully generalizes an entire race of people? If you won’t knock it off, could some of your editors at least present pieces that offer critical thinking and thoughtful analysis?

In the meantime, congratulations to the writers for having their works go viral, but shame on them for using shallow arguments to attention whore and boost their own profiles under the guise of advocacy.

What do you think?

Michael Arceneaux is a Houston-bred, Howard-educated writer currently based in Los Angeles. You can read more of his work on his site, The Cynical Ones. Follow him on Twitter: @youngsinick

Who says Black women don’t workout?

Two sistas, Toni Carey and Ashley Hicks, founded “Black Girls Run!” in 2009 in an effort to fight growing obesity rates in the African-American community. The U.S. Department of Heath And Human Services reports that black woman have the highest rates of obesity.

CNN interviewed Toni and Ashley about their group and asked how valuable they feel their grassroots efforts are in fighting Black female obesity.

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As Minority Health Month reaches its end, the Nebraska report turns a glaring eye on well-known differences in how women of color are affected by health issues. American Indian and Hispanic women in the state outpaced all others in developing diabetes and American Indian women are more likely to die from diabetic conditions. Also included in the report is the lack of health care and other services used to treat the conditions. Black women were shown to have less mammograms performed, while Hispanic women were less likely to get cholesterol screenings. Due to costs, all women of color were less likely to visit doctors.

Education and poverty levels were also determining factors. “The socioeconomic status of women strongly influences their health and overall well-being.  Striking disparities in non-completion of high school and in poverty were found in Black, American Indian, and Hispanic women in Nebraska,” shared Josie Rodriquez of the DHHS Office of Health Disparities and Health Equity.

Department officials in the state hope that the released data will inspire a change of views in how health care is administered to the minority women who need it most. “Addressing health disparities is one of my top priorities,” said Dr. Joann Schaefer, Nebraska’s Chief Medical Officer and Director of Public Health for the Department of Health and Human Services.  “While multi-cultural and ethnic issues are challenging, it’s our goal to close the gap and help more Nebraskans live healthier lives.”

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Doctors have long thought that less access to screening and follow-up health care were the reasons black women are 40 percent more likely to develop cervical cancer and twice as likely to die from it. The new study involving young college women suggests there might be a biological explanation for the racial disparity, too.

If further study confirms this novel finding, it would make the HPV vaccine even more important for black women, said Worta McCaskill-Stevens, a prevention specialist at the National Cancer Institute. The vaccine is recommended for all girls starting at age 11.

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The study was presented Sunday at an American Association for Cancer Research conference in Chicago.

Certain strains of HPV, the human papillomavirus, cause cervical cancer, but brief infections are very common in young women. They usually go away on their own within a year or so and only pose a cancer risk when they last long-term.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina in Columbia studied 326 white and 113 black students taking part in a wider federal health study. All were given Pap tests – lab exams of cells scraped from the cervix – and HPV tests every six months throughout their years in school.

Although the groups were similar in how many new HPV infections were detected and risk factors such as how many sex partners they had, doctors saw striking differences in how long their infections lasted.

At any checkup, blacks were 1.5 times more likely to test positive for infection with one of the HPV strains that raise cancer risk, said study leader Kim Creek.

“The African-American women weren’t clearing the virus as fast. They were actually holding onto it about six months longer,” for 18 months versus 12 months for whites, he said.

Ten percent of blacks had abnormal Pap tests versus 6 percent of whites.

Two years after initial infections were found, 56 percent of black women were still infected but only 24 percent of whites remained infected.

The government’s National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities sponsored the study. Creek is a paid speaker for Merck & Co., one of the makers of HPV vaccines.

The results are “provocative” and need validation in a study that looks beyond this one region, said McCaskill-Stevens of the cancer institute.

“We have known there are genetic differences between the races,” and it’s possible that a gene from certain ancestries such as African might play a role in the ability to clear an HPV infection, she said.

Cervical cancer has declined dramatically in the United States because of Pap tests, which are recommended every three years for women 21 to 65. Starting at age 30, women can also have an HPV test every five years; they’re not recommended before then because brief infections are so common, they would give too many false alarms.

About 12,000 new cases and 4,200 deaths from cervical cancer occur each year in the United States, mostly in women who have never been screened or not in the past five years.

Paps cost $15 to $60; HPV tests run $50 to $100.

Doctors don’t know how the vaccine will affect HPV test results or how long the vaccine lasts, so women should still be screened for cervical cancer if they are within the recommended screening ages.

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During this women’s history month,  we at NewsOne are honoring the remarkable accomplishments of 10 sheroes whom we love and who have demonstrated the noblest qualities of humanity:

1) Michelle Obama:  She is the 44th First Lady, an attorney, Mother, and wife. Mrs. Obama has focused her attentions on the issues that face military families, the plight of homelessness, helping working women balance career and family, encouraging national service, promoting the arts and arts education, and fostering healthy eating and literacy amongst our youth.  As a Mother to two young girls, Sasha and Malia, the First Lady has led a staunch campaign against childhood obesity, an effort which she wants to leave as her legacy.  Mrs. Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign challenges the problem of childhood obesity, so that today’s youth can reach adulthood at a healthy weight and possibly avoid all of the chronic ailments that plague those whom are overweight.

2) Dr. Mae Jemison:  Dr. Jemison was working as a general practitioner in Los Angeles, Calif., when NASA selected her and 14 others for astronaut training.  Dr. Jemison completed her training as a mission specialist with NASA in 1988.  In September of 1992, as a mission specialist aboard the Shuttle Endeavour, Jemison became the first African-American female astronaut and the first Black woman to orbit the earth.  In 1993, Dr. Jemison resigned from NASA and founded the Jemison Group, Inc., which focuses on the integration of science and technology into daily life.  Among her current projects are several that focus on improving health care in Africa and advancing technology in developing countries.  She also created The Earth We Share, a science camp for 12 to 16-year-olds that helps improve students’ problem-solving skills.

3) Ruby Dee:  An actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years, Dee, who has also worn the hats of writer and activist, is the sheer epitome of a phenomenal woman.  Miss Dee and her late husband, actor Ossie Davis, collaborated on several projects that promoted Black heritage, which was evident in their 1981 series “With Ossie and Ruby” for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).  In civil rights matters, Miss Dee was front and center at countless demonstrations, lending her full-fledged support to demonstrations like the Dr, Martin Luther King Jr.’s  1963 March on Washington.  Among others, Dee has been a member of Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Dee and Davis were personal friends of both Dr. King and Malcolm X, with Davis giving the eulogy at Malcolm’s funeral in 1965.  In 1999, Dee and Davis were arrested for protesting the fatal shooting of an unarmed West African immigrant Amadou Diallo by White police officers of the New York City Police Department.   Miss Dee has been the recipient of countless awards and accolades and at 88 years young, she is still unstoppable.

4)  Dr. Patricia Bath:  A true ground breaker, Dr. Bath, an ophthalmologic surgeon, inventor, and activist for patients’ rights, has dedicated her life for the right to sight.  Cataracts affect African Americans at higher rate than Caucasians and Dr. Bath’s invention of the Laserphaco Probe in 1986 increased the accuracy and results of cataract surgery, which had previously been performed manually with the more riskier and harsher mechanical grinder.  Dr. Bath became the first African-American female doctor to receive a patent for a medical purpose.  In the late sixties as an intern at Harlem Hospital in New York City, Dr. Bath conducted a study documenting her observation that blindness among Blacks was nearly double the rate of blindness among Whites. She concluded that this was largely due to many African Americans’ lack of access to ophthalmic care. With this finding, Bath established a new discipline known as Community Ophthalmology that is now studied and practiced worldwide. She also helped bring eye surgery services to Harlem Hospital’s Eye Clinic, which has since helped to treat and cure thousands of patients.  In 1975, Bath became the first African-American woman surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center, and eight years later, Dr. Bath was named chair of the Ophthalmology Residency Training Program that she also co-founded, at Drew/UCLA. She was the first woman in the country to hold such a position.  In 1976, she co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness (AIPB), an organization that aims to “protect, preserve, and restore the gift of sight” for all persons, regardless of race, gender, age, or income level.  Dr. Bath holds four patents for her invention which is also utilized overseas.  Although now retired, Dr. Bath, now 69, continues to devote her time to her lifelong cause, the prevention, treatment, and cure of blindness.

5) Areva Martin:  A developmental disabilities advocate superhero, who has come to the rescue of countless families direly seeking advocacy training and resources for their special needs children, Areva Martin has been their source of salvation.  A Harvard law school graduate and co-founder of one of the premier Black-owned law firms in Los Angeles, through grassroots outreach programs and legal initiatives, she has made immeasurable strides in the quality of diagnosis and treatment options available to the families of thousands of special needs children in her South Los Angeles community.  As a Mother with a child who has autism, her son’s diagnosis has only fueled Martin to help empower people who have been dealt a hand that has left them powerless.  An author, lecturer, and broadcasting legal analyst, Martin has a dream and she is feverishly working toward achieving it and that is to create a top-notch center in L.A. for special needs children that will provide parents with even greater access to diagnosis and treatment plans for their children.

6) Ellen Johnson Sirleaf:  As the 24th President of Liberia and the first elected female Head of State in Africa, Sirleaf has worked hard at good governance, while advocating for the rights of women and the importance of education to provide a better future for her country and its people.  Born on October 29, 1938, Sirleaf entered politics in 1972 by not holding her tongue, criticizing the then regime and speaking truth to power.  After fighting for freedom, justice, and equality in Liberia in all of the high-level government and business posts for over four decades, in 1997, she contested the Presidential elections and was exiled to the Ivory Coast but kept monitoring the political goings-on in her native land.  In 2005, Sirleaf successfully contested the 2005 presidential elections, resulting in her historic inauguration on January 16, 2006, as President of Liberia. During her time in office, Sirleaf has spent more than four years rebuilding post-conflict Liberia. The Mother of four sons and 11 grandchildren has revived national hope by strengthening the institutions of national security, leading the revitalization of the national economy and infrastructure, including the construction of more than 800 miles of roads, and restoring Liberia’s international reputation and credibility. In 2010, Newsweek magazine listed Sirleaf as one of the 10 best leaders in the world, Time placed her among the top ten female leaders, and The Economist called her “the best President the country has ever had.”

7) Marlene Jennings: Jennings, an attorney, was the first Black woman from Quebec to be elected to Parliament in the history of Confederation. She is also one of the few parliamentarians with a physical disability, having become partially blind due to an illness last year. Jennings was first elected as the member of Parliament for NDG-Lachine in June 1997, then re-elected in November 2000, June 2004, January 2006 and in October 2008.  Professionally, she has been active at the trade union level and in the areas of employment equity and communications for women, aboriginal peoples, and ethnic and racial minorities.  Now 60 years old, Jennings still ardently campaigns police ethics, race relations, and minority women’s issues, and has volunteered in many community associations.

8) Cathy Hughes:  A radio maven, entrepreneur and a force to be reckoned with Hughes went from being a stereotypical statistic, a young black unmarried teen mom, to becoming a major boardroom player. She now stands front and center as CEO and president at the forefront of corporate America, as she runs two of the largest minority-owned broadcasting companies in the U.S., Radio One, which owns NewsOne, and TV One.  Hughes, who grew up poor in an Omaha, Nebraska, housing project knew she wanted to be in broadcasting by the time she was 8 years old.  She has had plenty of obstacles on the way to the top but met her challenges head on.  Hughes managed to raise her son and receive a college education although she never had the opportunity to graduate.  The 64-year-old managed to land her first radio gig in 1969 as a volunteer at an all-Black Omaha radio station.  A mere six years later, Hughes served as a station manager to the Howard University radio station in Washington D.C.  In 1978, Hughes took a job as the general manager of WYCB-AM in Washington, D.C., the move established her as the first African-American to hold such a position in the Washington, D.C., media market.  Hughes continued to soar purchasing radio stations across the country until she put Radio One on the map.  The company currently has a network of 69 radio stations, located in 22 American cities, with 13 million listeners.  In 2004, Hughes launched TV One, a cable television channel that targeted at African Americans.  Hughes has used the power of her broadcasting medium to empower blacks, to infuse her community with positive images and vital information that is pertinent to their very existence and she has done so with a thoroughness and integrity.

9) Rev. Alveda King:  Deemed the “voice of the voiceless”  and an enemy of pro-choice advocates everywhere, King, the niece of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believes that unborn babies have a right to life.  She says her mother wanted to abort her so she could continue college but her Grandfather was able to convince her to keep her child.  King, a pro-life activist and evangelical minister is driven by a strong spiritual conviction which is to keep the  controversial issue of abortion before lawmakers.  The mother of six, who once had an involuntary and a voluntary abortion herself is fighting to keep women from undergoing what she feels is the extremely painful and emotional detriment that she underwent after losing her unborn children.  Once a staunch Democrat who even held office as a Congresswoman in Georgia’s 28th district from 1979 to 1981, the now very conservative and fundamentalist King is currently also campaigning for  women everywhere  to go to their pastors and speak out for the rights of the unborn.  King firmly believes that the abortion industry specifically seems to target and harm the black community.   She says that Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America. 78% of their clinics are in minority communities. Blacks make up 12% of the population, but 35% of the abortions in America. “Are we being targeted? Isn’t that genocide?”  King, 60, claims that we are the only minority in America that is on the decline in population and is crusading to offer women alternatives to abortion.

10) Thelma Golden:  In a white male dominated profession, Golden broke the barriers by becoming one of the world’s most revered curators.  As director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem in New York City’s Harlem, Golden has been a staunch supporter, a true driving force in the arts world.  Golden spent ten years at one of the world’s most premiere art museums the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, and there, she tried to get the public to look beyond stereotypes and to open up the mainstream museum to African-American and other previously under-represented artists and art-lovers.  Golden then made the decision to join the famed Studio Museum in the year 2000 and within five years she was at the helm of the world-renowned institution.  Golden came in like gang-busters with a plan to showcase forward-facing art from throughout the African Diaspora.  The Queens, New York native who at age 12, knew that someday she would be a curator also serves on numerous international art prize committees and is a juror for nearly all of the public art commissioned in New York City.  She also travels the globe in search of new black artists to champion.

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1) After Josephine Baker, an African-American dance and singing icon, moved to France for opportunities unavailable to her in her home country, she smuggled intelligence to French allies during World War II.  Source [Biography]

2) Actress and singer Pearl Bailey earned a Bachelor’s degree in Theology from Georgetown University after her career ended. Source [Biography]

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3) During Shirley Chisholm‘s run for president in 1972, she survived three assassination attempts. Source [Biography]

4 ) Billie Holiday made “Strange Fruit,” the song about Black lynching in the South, famous, but it was originally a poem penned by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx.
Source [Biography and  PBS.org]

Watch Billie Holiday Perform “Strange Fruit” Live

5) Back when Blacks could be severely punished for being able to read, Harriet Ann Jacobs, a former slave, published “Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl” in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent. As Jacobs’ Biography profile notes:

The book chronicles the hardships and sexual abuse she experienced as a female growing up in slavery. Jacobs fled slavery in 1835 by hiding in a crawlspace in her grandmother’s attic for nearly seven years before traveling to Philadelphia by boat, and eventually to New York.

Source [Biography and PBS.com]

6)  Coretta Scott King was well-known as a singer before meeting her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mrs. King won a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Source [Youtube and Biography]

Watch The Late Coretta Scott King Discuss Her Singing Career

7) Alicia Keys has brains to go along with that great voice of hers. She was accepted into Columbia University, but decided on a music career instead. Seems like her bet paid off! Source [People Magazine and Biography]

8)  Halle Berry‘s parents named her after Halle’s Department Store, a local landmark in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Source [Wikipedia]

9) Even though Octavia Butler was dyslexic, she went on to become an award-winning science fiction author. (How many of you knew Black folks write science fiction to begin with?) Source [Biography and The Seattle Times]

10)  Ever wonder who the woman behind the Aunt Jemima image is? She is Nancy Green, a former slave who was employed to promote the Aunt Jemima brand. Green “signed a lifetime contract with the pancake company and her image was used for packaging and billboards,” according to her profile on Biography. Source [African-American Registry]

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An estimated 2 maternal deaths occur daily among black women in America, according to an Amnesty International report, which also considered that disparities in health outcomes are driven by unequal access to health services.

However, pregnancy and childbirth in America remains a relatively safe experience compared to other world regions. Of the 1000 women who die daily from preventable pregnancy-related causes, 99 percent die in developing countries. Similarly, most neonatal deaths occur in developing countries.

Yet, this safety is not seen in data among black women. Black women in America also have the poorest pregnancy-related outcomes.

For the rest of the story, go to theGrio.

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Beginning in March, a black woman will be at the helm of a major fire department for the first time in U.S. history.

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Theresa Deloach-Reed, 52, was named chief of the Oakland city fire department. Reed has been fighting fires for nearly 30 years, has seen many changes on the job and calls her appointment “exciting.”

Reed is leaving her position as assistant fire chief of San Jose, California. She said that her career as a firefighter began when her brother asked her to pass an application along to another brother. In 1986, Reed was working a job for a telephone company that involved her climbing poles to install new lines. Afraid of layoffs and with climbing experience, she decided to fill out the application herself.

“There are still a lot of departments that don’t have any women,” said Deloach-Reed in an interview with Reuters. “We still have a long way to go in regards to breaking down the doors.”

For the full story, please go to theGrio.

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The study, “Can an Agentic Black Woman Get Ahead?” tallied the results of 84 non-Black persons watching a staged event, where business executives were shown being either critical of an employee or offering words of encouragement.  Afterward, the data and results were collected in an online poll.

The study is awaiting publication in the Psychological Science journal and was co-authored by Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, an associate professor of management and organization at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. Rosette spoke with the Herald-Sun of Durham about the study.

“There’s a substantial body of research showing a penalty for women when they display dominant, assertive, angry, commanding or demanding behavior,” Rosette said. “All of those resources presumed that the women under consideration were white but hadn’t necessarily looked at what would happen if the women were of a different race.”

The study contended that because business leadership is typically male and White, Black women in that position would face fewer backlashes because they are not the norm for those roles.  Further, the research proposed the idea that dominant behavior from Black women would have led to more criticism, which the study found to be opposite of the expected.

“Our findings show that Black women are evaluated comparably to white men,” Rosette said. “If that’s the case, why are there not more Black women represented in top leadership positions?”

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In a vastly conservative part of the country, how many Black women are Republicans and how many participated in the famed caucus?  As the focus now shifts to the New Hampshire primary, I realize more and more that my thoughts aren’t random at all; they are actually very relevant.  As the GOP attempt to “diversify” and branch out (so they say), whose issues are they really addressing?  Do we ever hear poor people’s concerns, women’s issues or young folks’ apprehensions ever answered?  The answer is a definite, “Hell, no!”  But, the real question is, who is to blame?

Growing up as a Black woman in a multicultural city, I was exposed to differing viewpoints and ideas at an early age. What I quickly grasped as a young kid is the notion of  “a closed mouth won’t get fed.”  If you don’t speak up, raise your concerns, let your voice be heard, nobody will pay attention and nothing will change.  Silently going along with the status quo and accepting unfair practices will get you nothing but more injustice and frustration.  You must make your issues a priority if you intend on seeing a different result going forward.  That’s a vital lesson that I’ve carried with me throughout my work at National Action Network and in my everyday life.  If you do not make others recognize and respect your grievances, things will remain the same forever.   And that’s precisely the concept we must remember when it comes to politics, the 2012 election, and our future.

Over the last several months, I carefully observed the Republican debates to see what these candidates were discussing and more importantly, whom they were addressing.  Never did I hear concern for the poor, or policies that would improve the lives of the impoverished.  Instead, what I consistently heard was talk of more tax breaks for the wealthy and improvements for big business.   Never was there a mention of African Americans (forget about Black women specifically) and the unjust hurdles facing us.  And never did I hear any concise solutions for this nation’s youth and how we could improve their possibility for a stable tomorrow.  After these past few months of campaigning, the GOP has made it abundantly clear that they are not concerned with my issues, nor that of the next generation.

Now as these candidates head to the next primary, we must ask ourselves, how can we make our issues a priority? How can we get them to acknowledge us and address our concerns in a respectful manner?  To all the Black Republicans out there, I say raise your voice and try to shed light on some of the Black communities’ issues.  That’s the only way we will truly see if all the talk of “inclusion” is a reality.  Let’s hold all of the contenders accountable and let’s watch if they really have the backbone to match their rhetoric.

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Hudson is the most well-known for her dramatic weight loss and endorsement of Weight Watchers. The Daily Beast reports that the former “American Idol” star’s very public victory over her weight improved her health, while keeping her in the public eye amid the dearth of acting roles for African-American women:

By signing on as a weight-loss spokeswoman, Hudson may have shed 80 pounds, but with eye-catching commercials showcasing her newly svelte figure and incredible vocal range, she gained much more. Her highly stylized ads for Weight Watchers received a dizzying amount of airtime in 2010 and 2011, earning her a level of visibility few film roles or hit singles could provide.

I knew who Jennifer Hudson was from Dreamgirls and her family tragedy, but that was about it,” said Lisa Franklin, a 55-year-old teacher from Boston. “But after the Weight Watchers commercials, I really knew who she was, because those commercials came on six or eight times a day and she looked good.

That Franklin recognized Hudson only from those two life-altering events reveals how vital the Weight Watchers commercials have been in sustaining image in the public eye.

Another black female superstar who has boarded the weight loss-promotion train is Jackson. According to the DailyBeast, her promotion of Nutrisystem seems to be as much about career vitality as it is about health consciousness:

I was really surprised when I saw Janet Jackson doing a weight-loss commercial,” said Fred Mwangaguhunga, editor of the popular African-African entertainment website MediaTakeout.com. “I don’t think this is something she would have done five years ago, given her personality. But times have changed and the way you have to sell yourself has changed, so you use what you have.

Perhaps these weight loss commercials will help give black women the control needed to create their own narratives of African-American imagery and femininity for public discourse.

Check out the rest of the story at The Daily Beast.

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1) Hattie McDaniel

Hattie McDaniel is best-known for winning the 1940 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as “Mammy” in “Gone with the Wind.” While her role is widely considered demeaning to blacks, viewing McDaniel’s performance through such a narrow lens overlooks the dignity with which she handled her limited-acting opportunities.  McDaniel’s Oscar acceptance speech showed a grace and class that should have put the racist directors, executives, producers and actors of Hollywood to shame.

Hattie McDaniel’s Oscar Acceptance Speech

2) Fannie Lou Hamer (pictured)

Fannie Lou Hamer was easily one of the hardest-working women during the Civil Rights Movement. She was a plain-spoken and devout woman known for her fiery speeches at the various civil rights conferences she attended. Hamer was critical in organizing the Mississippi Freedom Summer, a 1964 effort to register as many black voters as possible. At the time, voter registration was a dangerous task that could easily get one killed by white segregationists determined to keep blacks powerless. Later, she reflected on her fearless work:

I guess if I’d had any sense, I’d have been a little scared – but what was the point of being scared? The only thing they could do was kill me, and it seemed they’d been trying to do that a little bit at a time since I could remember.

Now that is what we call “hard core”!

3) Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells was a journalist and civil rights activist back in the late 1800s, when blacks could still remember being slaves. Wells, who was born just before Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, is credited for documenting lynchings in the South and researching how white segregationists used violent methods to keep African Americans “in their place.”

Wells was also known for being outspoken and unafraid to challenge whites, an attitude that could have easily gotten her lynched. During an 1884 train ride, Wells was asked to give up her seat to a white passenger and refused, which occurred more than 70 years before Rosa Parks. After the conductors dragged her out of the train car, she sued the train company — and won!

Though the ruling was overturned, Wells proved that she could unabashedly stare racism dead in the eye.

4) Sojourner Truth

An abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Sojourner Truth escaped from slavery in her late 20s with her infant son. At the time, Truth was forced to leave her other children behind, and one of them was sold to another slave master in Alabama. Never backing down, Truth took the master to court, won the case and got her son back. She is one of the first black women to take a white man to court and win. Known for her speech, “Ain’t I a Woman,” Truth spent the rest of her free life speaking at anti-slavery and women’s suffrage conferences and was one of black America’s first-leading women who spoke against slavery long before the system ended.

5) Vivian Malone

One of the first two African Americans to enroll at the University of Alabama, Vivian Malone faced down a menacing George Wallace who vowed to never allow blacks to enroll in the all-white institution. Not only enrolling and graduating, Malone went on to retire as director of civil rights and urban affairs and director of environmental justice for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2000, the University of Alabama awarded her a doctorate of humane letters.

Any woman who could stand up to a segregationist governor should be on anyone’s list. See a short clip of Gov. Wallace’s infamous speech on segregation below.

6) Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman led about 70 slaves to northern freedom through the Underground Railroad. At age 29, Tubman escaped slavery but eventually returned for the rest of her family after several trips. When the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was enacted, Tubman lead slaves to Canada, where slavery was prohibited. Years later, when discussing her dangerous missions, Tubman said:

I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say – I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.

7) Elizabeth Eckford

A member of the Little Rock Nine, Elizabeth Eckford was one of nine high school students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. On the tumultuous day, racist white crowds accosted Eckford and the rest of the teens, making their first day of school one of the worst educational experiences any child could ever have.

But what puts Eckford on this list is her steely resolve in this iconic photo. She was as solid as a rock.

8) Mary McLeod Bethune

How many women, of any race, will be able to say that they founded a nationally recognized university that flourished well after their death? Mary McLeod Bethune is one of them. Like many universities founded not too long after slavery, Bethune Cookman-University began as a school that taught basic math and reading and eventually grew into a college over the years.

Now the university has a sizable sports program, a graduate school and thousands of alumni who have Mrs. Bethune to thank for their upwardly mobile careers and lifestyles.

9) Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey will always be remembered for having the strongest grip on white female television viewers ever. A dark-skinned black woman who struggled with fluctuating weight issues defied the stereotypical notions of what it takes to dominate prime-time television. There are very few people, of any color, who can make an up-and-coming author or business person an instant millionaire just by saying of their product, “I like it.”  Now that’s power.

10) Women of the Civil Rights Movement

Social activist Julian Bond says of women during the Civil Rights Movement:

There’s a Chinese saying, ‘Women hold up half the world.’ In the case of the Civil Rights Movement, it’s probably three-quarters of the world.

And he’s right. In an Msnbc.com article, civil rights leaders from that era admit that women were marginalized within the movement. For example, when major speeches took place, you seldom heard a female voice. The names of women who should be memorialized will likely never be known.

So to those women who went unrecognized for their laborious efforts to perfect America, we say thank you.

Did we miss anyone? Feel free to recommend some women who made the race proud and America better.

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The study reports that mixed-race people are socially placed below whites, but ahead of blacks. Moreover, the article cites another study that reveals dark-skin black women are given stiffer prison sentences than their lighter-skin counterparts.

The study, which sampled over 12,000 black women imprisoned in North Carolina between 1995 and 2009, showed that light-skinned women were sentenced to 12 percent less time behind bars than their darker-skinned counterparts. The results also showed that having light skin reduces the actual time served by 11 percent.

Even employers seem to prefer the lighter-skin blacks among us:

A 2006 University of Georgia study showed that employers prefer light-skinned black men to dark-skinned men, regardless of their qualifications. We found that a light-skinned black male can have only a Bachelor’s degree and typical work experience and still be preferred over a dark-skinned black male with an MBA and past managerial positions,” said Matthew S. Harrison in 2006, then a doctoral student in applied industrial organizational psychology at Georgia.

But when it is not mainstream society (code words for white folks), it is people within our own community making light of our historical pain:

In Oct. 2007, a Detroit party promoter caused an uproar when he promoted a party giving free admission to light-skinned women only. Ulysses Barnes — or “DJ Lish” — promoted a party for “Light Skinned Women & All Libras” but promptly cancelled it after women and activist groups protested the party’s premise.

Barns’ defense of the party theme was hardly comforting. The Michigan Citizen quoted him as saying “he had plans for “Sexy Chocolate’’ and “Sexy Caramel’’ parties too, and that “it was just a party thing.’’ Read the rest of the article to see how other women didn’t see his casual reflection of his ill-conceived party theme as “just a party thing.”

Read more at the TheGrio too, and tell me what you think about this subject. I am very eager to hear your responses!

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The current study was published in Psychological Medicine earlier this year, and compared the premenstrual experience of over 1600 black women (including Afro-Caribbean) and over 900 white women (including Latinas). Black women’s risk of PMDD in this population was less than 50% that of Caucasian women, and that they also were less likely to have premenstrual symptoms overall.

The authors of this study hypothesize, and point to other findings that support the hypothesis, that blacks are less susceptible than whites to psychiatric disorders. This study confirms one possible health advantage that black women experience compared to white women.

Read more at PRWeb.com

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The poll consisted of 2,000 people of all races and colors from across the country.

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The Huffington Post reports:

That may sounds trivial or shallow, but a little self-love goes a long way–especially in the face of those hateful reports that black women are the reason for the falling marriage rates in the African-American community.

Beverly Bond, founder of “Black Girls Rock,” is trying to plant the seed of self-confidence early. Her organization helps create, reaffirm and/or reclaim that self-worth in young girls across the country.

Read More At The Huffington Post

A few days ago, R&B superstar Rihanna gave a trademark edgy performance on the London leg of her tour. But perhaps this time, even the not-so-shy entertainer pushed the envelope a bit too far when she allegedly placed two of her fingers in her private area while on stage. As people from all age brackets watched her in that arena, and subsequently around the world in videos and pictures, I have to ask what sort of message is being sent to young women? And just as importantly, what are we saying to the world about the role of Black women in society?

To be fair, Rihanna isn’t to blame for all of our problems, but when we begin to openly display ourselves in this manner, we simply can’t turn around and then command respect. Just as we are tired of supporting Black men who can’t get it together, many of them who have it together don’t want some of us and rightfully so. Bottom line is, if you want quality, you must also give quality – and that means in every aspect of life.

And ladies, maybe we are sometimes passing up on the good men out here. Instead of looking for someone with good credit, a steady job, ambition and education, we are sometimes blinded by money, cars and flashy materialistic things and he better have gangsta sex (stop acting like you don’t know what I’m talking about). It’s important to remember that just like Rihanna’s performance is entertainment and not reality, so too are many of the superficial things we value around us.

When it comes down to it, it’s all pretty simple: you get what you give priority to. In these tough times, it’s important to figure out precisely what’s important to us as women so that there’s no question as to whether or not we’ll be sticking by our men or if they are sticking by us, but that both sides are worthy to be loved!

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Yesterday, Atlanta’s V-103 invited local teachers to discuss the effects of reality TV on their students.

According to the teachers that called into the radio show so many impressionable girls are taking on the negative characteristics of the characters of the reality shows. These characteristics includes promiscuity, chasing after the trappings of the good life, relying on the external instead of refining the internal, and not loving themselves.

Read more at YourBlackWoman.

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Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, who is Black herself, knows the issues Black women have when it comes to “sweating out” their hair.

“Oftentimes you get women saying, ‘I can’t exercise today because I don’t want to sweat my hair back or get my hair wet,’ Benjamin said.

Dr. Rebecca Alleyne, a breast cancer surgeon in Los Angeles, said she ran, cycled or swam six days a week until a year and a half ago, when she stopped wearing hair extensions, which required little maintenance, and began pressing her hair.

“I noticed I would stop for two or three days when I got it pressed,” she said. “The barrier for me was the $60 and two-and-a-half-hour investment in a hair salon that kept me wanting to preserve my hairstyle.”

Read more at the New York Times.

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And yet, the list is long: Fannie Lou Hammer, Ella Baker, Dorothy Height, Septima Clark, Marian Wright Edelman…

So as the masses gather in Washington D.C. to pay homage to Dr. Martin luther King Jr. at the unveiling of his new memorial, some are taking the time to remember the many African-American women who risked their lives, and worked tirelessly in the battle for racial equality.

I am not necessarily calling for the establishment of a new memorial in honor of black women on the National Mall, but I am suggesting that in this “age of Michelle Obama” that we start to acknowledge and celebrate the incredible sacrifices and service of the black women who did so much of the important work that helped propel the civil rights movement forward.

Read more at the Grio.

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Even more troubling are the various solutions offered by authors and scholars on how Black women can find a man. According to their so-called marriage advice, Black women should consider dating outside of their race and some have even asserted that Black women should marry bi-sexual men.

Indeed, much of these articles don’t appear to be genuine yearnings for Black women to open their minds (they shouldn’t be singled out for such anyway); rather, they read as works confirming its creator’s own desperation be it for publicity, profit, or desire to offer some shallow quick-fix to a perceived problem. It’s becoming increasingly pathetic.

The Grio offers a rebuttal on the so-called crisis in defense of Black women.

Read more at the Grio.

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Four Black Female Victims The Media Portrayed As Villains

Traditional media continues to play a crucial role in the way the world perceives Black women. For years Black women have been portrayed as the hypersexual jezebel, money-hungry gold digger, welfare queen, or loud-mouthed-liar. In recent years, some Black media outlets and their viewers have also joined their mainstream counterparts recasting the Black female victim as villain.

Here are just a few examples in recent history:

Nafissatou Diallo

Nafissatou Diallo is the 32-year-old refugee from Guinea who has accused former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault at the Sofitel hotel where she worked as a maid.  Originally depicted as an innocent-poor-African woman who assaulted by a rich and powerful man, she has quickly become the villain.  According to media she is a greedy, lying, “AIDS predator” in cahoots with her incarcerated boyfriend. She has been reduced to a “cheap trick” who voluntarily performed oral sex on DSK, and only got upset after he refused to pay her.

Rihanna

In 2009, Rihanna, a chart-topping singer known for her strength, beauty, and voice was severely beaten by then-boyfriend Chris Brown. Despite photographic proof of her bloody and beaten body, Rihanna was put under social media’s microscope and picked apart – her every move was painfully and publicly scrutinized. By some writers and fans, she was no longer regarded as a victim of domestic violence, but instead a provocateur with a bad attitude. She was cast as a hot-tempered Caribbean woman who made a living gyrating before a camera, scantily clad in her music videos. She was the epitome of “bad girl.”

Robin Givens

In 1989, Robin Givens went from a star on the small screen to being called “the most hated woman in America” after her marriage to Mike Tyson ended with a reported $10 million settlement. Givens went public on a number of occasions alleging that she was the victim of repeated domestic violence at the hands of the world’s former heavyweight champion. Despite her claims of being abused by Tyson, she was portrayed as a lying, violent, gold-digger who was out to sabotage her husband.

Anita Hill

Anita Hill alleged that Clarence Thomas, her then-supervisor at the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, had sexually harassed her. At Thomas’ 1991 U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearing she testified that he subjected her to vulgar descriptions of pornography he had watched and continuously bragged in graphic detail about his sex life. Despite her brave stance to come forward when sexual harassment cases were uncommon, she was boldly painted as a “nutty” and “slutty” woman who had a “perverse desire for male attention.”

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Demings planned to make a formal announcement Wednesday afternoon in downtown Orlando.

She has served as chief of police since December 2007.

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By Tamika Mallory

If you didn’t know a thing about Black folks, what would you think if you turned on your TV?

Whether it’s “Basketball Wives,” “Love & Hip-Hop,” “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” series, or “Single Ladies” (although not a reality show, it’s along the same lines), chances are, you would leave those shows with a negative view of Black women. In this world of fiction portrayed as reality, what is the message being sent to those in the community and the rest of the world? As a Black woman working diligently to empower and embolden other women, I can unequivocally say that I’m downright frustrated.

On a daily basis, we are bombarded with images of women of color dancing half-naked in music videos, or prancing around fighting each other on one of these TV shows. If reality TV is purported to depict real lives, what does that say about us and what others think of us? What sorts of examples are we setting for young, impressionable women out there?

These days, it’s very difficult for me to pinpoint a single reality program that showcases positive, accurate images of Black women and our role in society. As doctors, lawyers, educators, mothers, care takers, political activists and more, we are responsible for calling out networks that don’t correctly portray who we are as women and as a people. But, is the ugly truth that there are more women conducting themselves in the manner we see on reality shows than those doing actual, constructive things in real life?

The reality in all of this is that we must decide ourselves who we are and what we’d like to represent us on a national and global scale. For it isn’t just Americans that tune in to popular programming; there are countless others around the planet that may never come across a Black woman in his/her entire life and the image on TV is all they have to go by.

Even though there may be extensive money in reality TV, have we decided that it’s worth the cost of selling our souls and misleading our children?

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In their study, “The Impact of Light Skin on Prison Time for Black Female Offenders,” the authors uncover a startling reality: courts systematically reward black women with light skin with significantly shorter jail sentences compared with their darker counterparts.

Clutch Magazine reports:

A recent study of women prisoners in North Carolina found that lighter complexioned Black inmates served less time than darker ones.

“The Impact of Light Skin on Prison Time for Black Female Offenders,” by Jill Viglione, Lance Hannon, and Robert DeFina of Villanova University, used a sample of 12, 158 women who were imprisoned between 1995 and 2009. Those who were perceived to be light skinned received sentences that were, on average, 12% shorter than their darker counterparts. The amount of actual time served was approximately 11% less. According to The Minority Brief, the study authors controlled factors including prior record, conviction date and weight; they also considered if the woman in question was serving time for robbery or homicide, which tend to carry long sentences.

This is not the first study to examine how having lighter skin can help a person of color make an easier way in the world. A 2006 University of Georgia study found that light-skinned black men are preferred by employers over dark men, regardless of qualifications. These new results regarding lighter black female prisoners fit in perfectly with previous findings.

In 2009, CNN health reported on a related study. Research evidence demonstrated that most participants held racist beliefs they were unaware of, which negatively impacted their choices in social situations. It’s not a stretch to predict the results of these combined phenomena: people in power will give preferential treatment to those perceived as closer to the white ideal our society promotes as an expression of unconscious racism.

African-Americans often discuss how colorism affects us within our ranks, but rarely consider how skin tone relates to our treatment by greater society. Recognizing this, we may want to reconsider how we judge our peers. It is possible that lighter and darker blacks have vastly different experiences that each group cannot perceive. If we talk about these differences, we might reach greater understanding.

Using language that compares abortion to slavery and the infamous “three fifths” clause of the Constitution describing blacks as subhuman, these anti-choice messages attack African-American females with loaded words.

Instigated on Juneteenth, a day founded to celebrate blacks’ liberation from true slavery, the Radiance Foundation has used this date to make an offensive case, claiming legal access to abortion shackles blacks in modern chains.

Through statements such as “The 13th Amendment Freed Us. Abortion Enslaves Us,” and “Abortion Makes Three Fifths Human Seem Overly Generous,” the Radiance Foundation has co-opted the suffering African-Americans have endured to promote its pro-life agenda. Their justification? “Roe v. Wade has made a mockery of Civil Rights history by offering destruction and bondage instead of possibility and freedom,” according to their press release. But black leaders are balking at this simplistic line of reasoning.

Rep. Barbara Lee issued a statement blasting what she called “race-based billboards that… stigmatize women of color and perpetuate myths about parenting skills.” Yet some people agree that abortion is disproportionately killing children of color as part of a larger conspiracy to keep the number of African-Americans from growing. Leftist news site Think Progress reports:

Like other similar campaigns, the new slavery billboard is based on the conspiracy theory that abortion is actually a secret plot by groups like Planned Parenthood to execute “Black Genocide,” since the African American community has a higher rate of abortions than whites. In reality, as the Guttmacher Institute notes, the higher abortion rate reflects a greater prevalence of unintended pregnancies resulting from, among other factors, a lack of access to effective contraception. This problems, ironically, is exactly what groups like Planned Parenthood actively seek to solve.

But this theory, nonetheless, has some some powerful believers. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) said last year that African Americans were better off under slavery than they are now, because abortion was illegal then. Franks also has a bill to criminalize race- or sex-based abortions. GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain actually served as a spokesman for a group pushing the black genocide theory, cutting a radio ad that accused Democrats of wanting to kill “black babies.”

Regardless of whether such a conspiracy could be true, the fact that abortion is a choice renders such an implausible secret plan ineffective. It is precisely because women have the right to an abortion, or to carry a child to term, that they maintain power over their lives. And power is freedom. The Radiance Foundation and other anti-choice groups who want to seize this freedom by reducing women’s options in life are actually trying to recreate slavery by making women submit to dogma. This is a bondage to which African-American women will never return.

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With presentations by Sebelius and Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to President Barack Obama, our women’s power luncheon stressed the importance of recognizing health issues specifically impacting women of color; preventative care; and methods of eliminating the disparity in access to treatment. But perhaps most importantly, our luncheon — like all other NAN events during the 20th anniversary convention — focused on taking decisive action.

Over the past few weeks, many of us watched and listened to a national budget “debate” that somehow transitioned into an attack on women, Planned Parenthood and our health needs. But what this mainly male-dominated conversation left out was the slew of vital services, such as cancer screenings and regular gynecological exams that Planned Parenthood provides to so many disenfranchised women who would otherwise be forgotten. Although we can rejoice that Planned Parenthood is off of the negotiating table for now, it will come up for a vote again in the future — as will other gender and equity issues. This time, we must be prepared.

We at NAN recently formed our own women’s council designed to monitor gender and race relations across the board, ensure equality on the hill in D.C., and urge other young women to actively engage in the process. The day after our national convention closed, we opened an office on Capitol Hill to stay engaged in important dialogue about women’s issues. We cannot simply hear about legislation; we must read it and study it. We cannot think of governmental policy as something happening over there; we need to understand how and why it directly impacts everyone. As Supreme Court cases based on gender and equity issues arise, we must comprehend what’s at stake and what the outcomes are. NAN’s women’s council will relentlessly work to level the playing field so that every female is strengthened, educated and empowered to shatter whatever glass ceiling she desires. We will lobby and impress upon the government that that African American women are still suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, AIDS and many other diseases at higher rates than other women and therefore we need resources that will break down this disparity.

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The views expressed by this academic are his own and do not in any way represent those of LSE as an institution,” the school said in a statement to FoxNews.com. “The important principle of academic freedom means that authors have the right to publish their views – but it also means the freedom to disagree. We are conducting internal investigations into this matter.”

Psychology Today Says Black Women Are Less Attractive

Tiffany Scott Says She Was Stabbed Over “Ugly Baby” Comment

Psychology Today has posted a controversial article on their site titled: “Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?”

The article posted by blogger Satoshi Kanazawa is based on a study conducted in which several people were interviewed (number undisclosed) on the scientific fundamentalist blog.

The post goes into speaking about why African American women are found to be less attractive. He goes on to disregard differences in Body Mass Index and intelligence, and focuses on the unfounded claim that “testosterone” is the reason why.

In each wave of this study, black women are significantly less physically attractive than women of other races.

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Candice Wiggins has already made history with professional women’s basketball, but that’s only her half of her story.

In high school she was listed as the best shooting guard in the nation and won a scholarship to Stanford to play volleyball and basketball, an amazing feat, but not the whole story.

She chose Stanford over Duke. Now that’s the whole story. (Just kidding.)

She became the all-time leading scorer in Stanford women’s basketball history. And she continued to make history with her professional career with the WNBA team, the Minnesota Lynx.

But that’s still not the whole story.

What separates her from other athletes is her commitment to something bigger than herself. As a 3-year-old little girl, she didn’t understand why her father, Alan Wiggins, a professional baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles and then the San Diego Padres, had to be away from her so often. She later learned that her father was in the hospital, dying from a disease that in the early ‘90s, no one wanted to talk about. As a heavy drug user he had contracted AIDS during a time when medicine and awareness were scarce and stigma ran rampant. Some of the same issues prevail today concerning the disease.

Because of that enduring stigma, Wiggins works tirelessly telling her story around the world and being the face of the non-profit organization, Until There’s a Cure (www.until.org <http://www.until.org/> ). The organization raises awareness and funds to combat AIDS. To date, the organization has raised $9 million for vaccine development, care services, and youth education.

Wiggins took some time to speak to newsone.com before the WNBA season begins:

Q. How did you get started as an AIDS activist and what are you doing now with the organization now?

A. We’re working with a lot of non-profit organizations right now. There has been huge change since my father was alive with awareness of AIDS. The most recent thing I’ve done is with Greater than AIDS, the campaign I did with my mom. I do speaking engagements telling my story. Until There’s A Cure—a non-profit organization that sells bracelets to help fund education and prevention, I am working with them. My life is about eradicating the stigma of HIV/AIDS because to me that’s where the problem lies.

Q. During the time period your father contracted the disease there was a different perception about AIDS….

A. The thing that shocks me is that the face of AIDS has changed from the early ’90s. It used to be drug users, homosexual males, and now it’s the leading cause of death for African American women in a certain age range, I think 5-36-years-old. It shows how AIDS/HIV has spread to different communities and a lot of it has to do with a lack of awareness, a lack of education, and a stigma. I highly recommend watching the documentary produced by Sheila Johnson who owns the Mystics, The Other City, about the AIDS rate in Washington DC and how it rivals African countries. It’s eye-opening.

Q. Have you ever worked with her [Sheila Johnson] as an AIDS activist?

A. I met her at the screening of the The Other City in San Francisco, she’s happy about the work I am doing. And I’m happy she was able to make such a great documentary about what HIV/AIDS is about now. It’s not just an international issue, it’s also a domestic one targeting African American women.

Q. How old were you when you found out your father had contracted the disease?

A. I have a vague memory of it, the time of his death was the beginning of my life. I vaguely remember it being a tumultuous time, I was 6, 7, 8, and I was reading articles about my Dad and trying to figure out what AIDS was. It was a vague thing until 7th grade science class where we learned about AIDS and I starting learning about the technical aspects of the disease. In the 9th grade I participated in my first AIDS walk. I felt like I don’t have to be afraid of it, I felt a lot of comfort and solace to be with people who weren’t afraid to talk about it.

Q. What age were you when your dad died?

A. I was 3 about to turn 4. He was in and out of the hospital. I was sheltered from him, no one wanted his kids to see him like he was. He was 97 pounds when he died. At that time in the 90s, there wasn’t the medicine like they have now. It was scary, I remember being scared.

Q. Had Magic Johnson come out by then?

A. Magic Johnson had really saved our family’s optimism. He taught our family how to live. He came out with it after my father died. I remember seeing as a kid this campaign he was in with McDonalds. I saw it in a kid’s magazine. He was just so brave and so strong. We felt like we weren’t alone. I actually got a chance to speak to Magic at the NBA All-Star game. He knew who I was and he knew what I was doing, he gave me a big hug. It meant the world to me.

What I learned through my work is that a lot of people are living with HIV and that’s important for people to understand that too. In the ‘90s it wasn’t really a healthy time to have HIV, psychologically healthy, that is. Nowadays people need to know that it doesn’t make it a death sentence.

Q. But what about people that cant afford the medicine?

A. Yes, there are a lot of people who can’t afford it. But there’s also physical health and mental health—being strong-willed. I met a lot of people who are HIV positive and a lot of them have touched my life because they were so happy, they cherish life, every minute of it.

Q. Your father played professional sports?

A. Yeah, he played baseball for the San Diego Padres. In 1984, he led the Padres to their first World Series. He’s a legendary baseball player. He went to same high school as Jackie Robinson and that’s who he wanted to be like. My mom used to tell me he had been playing baseball since he was a little boy and growing up as an African American boy in the ‘60s and ‘70s he had a Jackie Robinson baseball card that was signed by him. My mom said that was his most prized possession. I think a lot of people don’t realize how much he was influenced by Jackie Robinson and even followed in his footsteps. He even got drafted to the Dodgers.

Q. Do they did tell you how he contracted the disease?

A. My father was a heavy drug user. He came from a poor background. When he grew up drug use was very prevalent. He ran with gangs and drugs and his upbringing was in the inner-city. He goes to play baseball and he’s making millions and all of these troubles befall him. I can see without having that support, that solid upbringing like I had, what could happen. I was very privileged–I live in the house that he bought in San Diego, I went to private school. I knew my Dad’s story. I wanted to go to Stanford. Unfortunately no one saved him because he didn’t save himself.

Q. How long did he live with the disease before he passed?

A. I don’t think very long, the needle use goes straight to the bloodstream. I think he deteriorated fast. It was like ‘89, ‘90, and not much was known about it except if you have it, you’re pretty much dead. So I think that was what happened.

Q. In your AIDS outreach do you deal with needle exchange?

A. I was actually invited to the White House in 2009–that was the first time they invited anyone to the White house to talk about HIV/AIDS in the country and that was about putting pressure on the government to allow for needle exchange programs in the DC area and trying to lift the ban because there was a government ban. The exchange program really helps to lower the numbers.

I am really terrified of drugs, but I do feel like I have to be brave. I’m always thinking a surrender/exhange program—that maybe that could have saved my father. I don’t know. I think a lot of people turn their backs on drug users. But that’s my father. You have to have some compassion to want someone to be better, to get help, rather than turn a blind eye, because that’s how the rates get higher.

Q. What is happening in June, that’s a pivotal month for AIDS awareness, right?

A. Yes, National Testing Day is June 25th. I want to do a video to show people about getting tested. I hope that more African American women come out since this is the leading cause of death for African American women.

Q. Was your father vocal about having AIDS?

A. From what I remember and what my mom told me, he didn’t come out. I read an article in 1992 in Reader’s Digest and that article really hurt, a lot of ugly things were said and I don’t think that helped the situation.

Q. What do you think he would say about your success as an athlete and your work as an AIDS activist if he were alive today?

A. I think he would feel proud that he didn’t die in vain. And I really feel like my father, he has all of his life in me. I feel like everything that was positive about him transferred into me. I look a lot like him, I play like him, I’m built him, I talk like him–everyone tells me this. I feel like he’s been reborn in me and I’m proud of that. I always wanted to say, if he could leave his mark on the world he left me. It shows that life does goes on. I hope he’s looking down on me and is proud and that he knows he actually served a bigger purpose.

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NeNe Leakes, Star Jones, Latoya Jackson, and Dionne Warwick have all gone toe-to-toe in past episodes; as they get louder, angry, and aggressive, the ratings seem to keep on going up. Some worry that they are reinforcing the “angry black woman” stereotype.

Below is a brief example:

“Not all black women act as we too often see on TV,” says Dr. Melody T. McCloud of Atlanta, “The media shapes all of us in ways we don’t even discern; I hope it will take steps to mitigate the negative images it puts forth. I also wish those who have that national exposure would seek to present a more positive view of their character. Exhibit grace, or disgrace? “

Read more  at AJC.com

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