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Showing category "Black Beauty & Health" (Show all posts)

Artspeak

Posted by on Thursday, May 15, 2014, In : Black Beauty & Health 
irma photocollage 2

























I am blessed with my mother's skin.


People often stop me to compliment me on how soft and smooth my skin looks.
When asked how I keep it that way, I can only smile and say "good genes."


Having recently celebrated a birthday, I am increasingly aware of the aging process.
It takes its toll, ultimately, on all of us. I have a younger brother, who died too early
 – in his 50s, of complications from obesity. Another friend died in her early 60s of
breast cancer and another in his 60s of co...

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"Race" and the persistence of health disparities: How far have we come?

Posted by on Friday, April 5, 2013, In : Black Beauty & Health 

McClaurin with Shirlynn LaChapelle, MNBNA President  
 
 
  MNBNA Website

This is an excerpt of a speech delivered at the first annual "Springing Towards Health Gala" of the Minnesota Black Nurses Association on March 9, 2013 at the Crowne Plaza Minneapolis North, Brooklyn Center.

In 2000, I was part of an historic panel organized by the Congressional Black Caucus on Black Health. At the time, I was a Diplomacy Fellow at USAID just returning from a trip to South Africa. During that trip, one parti...
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Artspeak: New Year’s promise: “Live Simply, Laugh Often, Love Fully”

Posted by on Saturday, January 26, 2013, In : Black Beauty & Health 
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The three maxims in the title greet me each morning. They are kitchen magnets placed above my stove, meant to guide me on the attitude I should carry into my day and into life generally. I take them to mean: 1) do not overly complicate my life (with work, obligations, possessions, other people's problems, or needless drama); 2) find joy and fun in my daily routines; and 3) make time to be connected and deeply embrace the passions that arise from friendships, family, and special friends/partn...
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Artspeak: The Nuding of Michelle Obama—Art or Insult?

Posted by on Thursday, December 6, 2012, In : Black Beauty & Health 


 Karine Percheron-Daniels’ seemingly photo-shopped painting of First Lady Michelle Obama is embroiled in controversy (http://fineartamerica.com/featured/first-lady-karine-percheron-daniels.html ).  With the exception of the face and the insertion of the American flag, Percheron-Daniels’ portrait is an exact replica of Portrait d’une négresse painted by Marie-Guilhelmine Benoist and exhibited in Paris in 1800 at the Salon. Read More
Original Posting: 12 Sept 2012
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Artspeak: Tyra Banks, supermodel, super executive and super motivator, spreads words of Empowerment

Posted by on Thursday, December 6, 2012, In : Black Beauty & Health 

 On March 17, 2012, in Raleigh, N.C., at the 18th annual Radio One Women’s Empowerment Expo, several thousand Black women sat enraptured with Tyra Bank’s “booty” talk.  Although not as well attended as the previous year, the Women’s Empowerment Expo brings primarily Black women from the Triangle Area and across the country together.  The event is part social, part educational, part marketing, part self-affirmation, and simply sisters hanging out to just having a good time amo...
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Beyoncé, beauty and the all mighty dollar

Posted by on Sunday, August 5, 2012, In : Black Beauty & Health 

Still from “Find your True Match with Beyoncé” by L’Oreal

Racial Passing

Centuries ago, before Black was defined as beautiful, those individuals whose
features (nose, hair, lips) and color suggested European ancestry hid the origins
of their one Black parent and “passed.”  These offspring were generally the result
of a liaison between a white man and Black woman, and on occasion, between a
Black man and a white woman.  The latter unions were often the motivation for
lynchings in an...

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Remember your heart, says Circle of Red

Posted by on Friday, February 24, 2012, In : Black Beauty & Health 

Photo credit: trianglegoesred.org


Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but now is not a time to forget about your heart.  That’s the main message of the Circle of Red, a member organization committed to educating women in their community about the dangers of heart disease.


Two days after V-day, on February 16, 2012, I was fortunate to attend a chocolate and wine event sponsored by a Raleigh-based group, and led by professional CPA Sheila Ahler, the current Circle of Red Chair (COR).  ...
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Anatomy of the Whitney Houston Tragedy

Posted by Irma McClaurin on Friday, February 24, 2012, In : Black Beauty & Health