Category: FridayReads

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FridayReads

Friday Reads Roundup – September to December 2020

Friday Reads is a series I’ve been doing every Friday over on my LinkedIn page. I share articles that have piqued my interest, especially around topics and headlines from that week. Here’s my last roundup of 2020. Have a great time reading over your holiday break!

See my previous lists.

SEPTEMBER 2020

Week of September 14 – 18

Title of Article: Why I Alwaysve Two Jobs (Zora by Medium)

Quick Analysis: This is a very good article that I can definitely relate to.

Excerpt: “My biggest takeaway from watching the entrepreneurial journeys of both my parents was that in order to achieve any level of success I would have to work harder and sacrifice more than most. I learned that there would be many things I cannot control in life and business — but the one thing I can always control is what I put into achieving any goal. I learned that racism would play a role in my journey, but I must never let it knock me off my path. I also realized that because of the turbulence of their entrepreneurial paths, my parents were not in a position to help me financially as I transitioned into adulthood. I decided that I should put myself in a position to help them, my family and community, instead.”

Week of September 21 – 25

Title of Article: The Verzuz Effect (Billboard)

Quick Analysis: Verzuz may be one of my favorite events/things created this year. It has been a joy to watch Black artists I grew up on and listen to regularly receive their flowers in real time. As this has grown, it has been incredible to witness how much the marketing has improved for each event; for example, the commercials created for Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight fit both of their personalities, music, and branding — everything we know and love.

Excerpt: “”Since April, Verzuz itself has become a cultural institution — one with its own characters, lexicon and community — and its ability to both revive and spark new interest in the Black legacy artists who take its virtual stage has become known as “the Verzuz effect.” Fans, music executives and celebrities all participate equally, whether keeping unofficial score in the IG comments or singing along in their tweets.”

Week of September 28 – October 2

Title of Article: The Real Reasons Millennials Are Burned Out (Gen by Medium)

Quick Analysis: I remember reading writer Anne Helen Peterson’s original essay on millennial burnout last year, so I will definitely be checking out her new book on the topic.

Excerpt: “”The incredible economic disparities, which only continue to get bigger and bigger, are at the heart of much of the profound unhappiness and burnout that we see in our country. People who are falling out of the middle class, who are barely making ends meet, they are constantly struggling just to keep their heads above water. All around them are these examples of what they should be achieving. You need to be working harder so you can consume this way and look this way. You can send your kids to college so they can have a better life for you. There’s just always this striving.”

OCTOBER 2020

Week of October 5 – 9

Title of Article: Older People, Got A Pandemic Problem? A Club to Help You Figure It Out – Yourself (NPR)

Quick Analysis: This is community building at its finest.

Excerpt: “It’s a bit hard to describe Vietnam’s Intergenerational Self Help Clubs. But one thing is easy to say. If you’re older — like above the age of 60 — and need help, the club will help you get it. That could mean a microloan if times are tough, a drum lesson as a chance for self-expression and social activity (and to prove that old people can play drums, too). And during the pandemic, the clubs have played a critical role informing and supporting its members. There are around 3,000 of the clubs in Vietnam, with 160,000 participants, most of them older people. The goal is to help older people and people with disabilities — and people in any age group can volunteer. That’s why “intergenerational” is part of the name.”

Week of October 19 – 23

Title of Article: I Started A Support Group for COVID-19 Survivors (Zora by Medium)

Excerpt: “I feared that my symptoms wouldn’t be taken seriously. I suppressed my cough so they didn’t think I was milking it to get a test, tried to sit up straight, and then I felt an immediate nervousness, that I’m too good of an actor and hiding my symptoms won’t get me help. Why am I thinking like this during a pandemic? I’m in pain. I should be believed regardless of how I present myself.”


Title of Article: Going Sohla (Vulture)

Quick Analysis: Bon Appetit’s Test Kitchen, especially their home series, was one of my favorite things to watch during this pandemic. But I’m happy Sohla El-Waylly is getting her rightful (and paid) due.

Excerpt: “After the restaurant folded, El-Waylly made her way into food media — first at Serious Eats, where she quit after about a year (“They kind of treated me like a maid”), and then at Bon Appétit in 2019. The eventual Test Kitchen implosion was unavoidable. “Sohla’s never changed,” says Ham. “She’s not one to stay quiet and eat her words if she sees something wrong.”

Week of October 26 – 30

Title of Article: To Get People to Wear Masks, Try Comparing Them to Seatbelts and Helmets (Bloomberg CityLab)

Quick Analysis: This article is a good example about what goes into creating a good health communication campaign. Have you noticed any mask wearing PSAs from your state’s department of health? What type of images or depictions are they using? 😷 I noticed on Johns Hopkins School of Public Health’s social media that they are using more pop culture examples to illustrate mask wearing, like this one from the movie “Zoolander”. https://www.instagram.com/p/CGkueIsHUKZ/

Excerpt: “The finding adds evidence to the argument that linking masks to safety measures already widely adopted — and legally enforced — could increase compliance with mask mandates. It may also reflect hard-won progress in persuading more Americans to buckle their seatbelts in the first place.”

Title of Article: The Bind of Being First (Harper’s BAZAAR)

Quick Analysis: This is a fantastic essay about the burdens of being the “first”.

Excerpt: “”“I tell my students,” Toni Morrison said in a 2003 interview, “ ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.’ ” I think this is the only way you can approach the bind of being a first: by working as hard as possible to make sure that you are not an only in whatever room you have been admitted to—by ensuring that others join you.”

NOVEMBER 2020

Week of November 30 – December 4

Title of Article: In Lousiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’, a Black community battles an industry that threatens its health –and history (Popular Science)

Quick Analysis: This is a very good read.

Excerpt: “Abandoned and overgrown Black cemeteries turn up during construction of highways, housing developments, and industrial plants, prompting calls for greater protections and new efforts at documentation. In add­ition to helping archaeologists study America’s hidden history, these sites are also sacred spaces for descendants.”

DECEMBER 2020

Week of December 7 – 10

Title of Article: The Giving Apps (OneZero by Medium)

Quick Analysis: This was a very good read on the current state of direct giving. I wonder how it will look as the pandemic continues across the country.

Excerpt: “These older models of giving often surge to prominence in the wake of disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, when grassroots community networks distributed groceries and operated health clinics in New Orleans. Groups associated with Occupy Wall Street organized door-to-door donation drives and food distributions when Hurricane Sandy hit New York City, publicizing their efforts under the hashtag #occupysandy. Even then, a mere three years after the launch of Venmo and a year before the release of Cash App, organizers asked supporters on Facebook and Twitter to send them donations directly through online payment apps.”

Week of December 14 – 17

Title of Article: Donny Hathaway’s eternal Christmas gift (The Undefeated)

Quick Analysis: “This Christmas” is one of my favorite Christmas songs by one of my favorite vocalists of all time, Donny Hathaway. This is a great oral history of how the song came to be.

Excerpt: “Created in the fall of 1970, the record is an annual event and, at 46, older than Hathaway was when he died on Jan. 13, 1979. This Christmas is a yearly tradition, especially in black America, in large part because that was the audience Hathaway targeted. The song is as much as an anticipated fixture of the holiday season as TBS’ 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story or the NBA’s yearly quintuple header. It’s also a number that, much like Hathaway’s career, almost never happened.”

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FridayReads

Friday Reads Roundup – May to August 2020

Friday Reads is a series I’ve been doing every Friday over on my LinkedIn page. I share articles that have piqued my interest, especially around topics and headlines from that week. Here’s what I shared since February 2020. Have a great time reading!  

See my previous lists.

From the Week of May 4 – 8, 2020

Article Title: The Dangers of Trying to Be Superwoman (ZORA by Medium)

Quick Analysis: Dr. Woods-Giscombe’s “superwoman schema” research was frequently cited in my graduate school projects I did around Black women’s mental health. This is a great read.

Excerpt: “For women of color, burnout can be the end result of trying to be everything to everyone all while dealing with a multitude of biases, microaggressions, and harassment. Even now, as much of the country is on pause, there is a weighty weariness that some women of color must work through with the added grief of a pandemic.
For Black women, specifically, showing up for everyone is much like being superwoman. Early in her career, Cheryl L. Woods-Giscombe became interested in the connection between stress and health disparities. In 2010, she developed a framework for measuring and quantifying the impact of stress on Black women in the United States, which she refers to as the Superwoman Schema. The concept has five defining characteristics: the obligation to manifest strength, the obligation to suppress emotions, resistance to being vulnerable or dependent, a determination to succeed despite limited resources, and feeling an obligation to help others. Woods-Giscobme believes that the tendency of many Black women to put their own needs last is tied to historical discrimination that Black people have suffered in the United States.”

FROM WEEK OF MAY 11 – 15, 2020

Title of Article: Marketing Meets Mission (Harvard Business Review)

Quick Analysis: A very important discussion that focuses on how brands can pivot towards more of a social good strategy, especially in the midst of this pandemic.

Excerpt: “Implicit in these questions is the need for any brand claiming a social purpose to be accountable for its performance. Stakeholders, including nonprofits, governments, investors, and consumers themselves, are reflexively skeptical when commercial brands say they care about social welfare. Reliable measurements can reassure all parties that the brand’s efforts are actually doing good and aren’t just window dressing.”

FROM WEEK OF MAY 18 – 22, 2020

Title of Article: As Stevie Wonder turns 70, a look at how he wrote the soundtrack for a fragile America (The Undefeated)

Quick Analysis: A very good analysis celebrating the genius of one of the greatest artists of all time in honor of his 70th birthday last week. I did learn from reading this article that he was 26 when he wrote and released “Songs in the Key of Life”, which is incredible; “As” from that album is my favorite song of his.

Excerpt: “What followed was an instant return on investment with the 26-year-old Wonder’s magnum opus Songs in the Key of Life, his third and final album of the year. It is, by every metric, one of the most lauded albums ever recorded and a North Star for future greats such as Prince, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey. Two decades later, Songs inspired hip-hop double albums such as Tupac Shakur’s All Eyez On Me and The Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death. Ranging from songs such as “I Wish,” “Sir Duke” and “Isn’t She Lovely” to “Love’s In Need of Love Today” and “As,” Wonder reflected, “I challenged myself [to write] as many different things as I could, to cover as many topics as I could, in dealing with the title and representing what it was about.” Reportedly, Wonder recorded well over 300 songs for the album.”

FROM WEEK OF JUNE 8 – 12, 2020

Title of Article: On the Minds of the Black Lives Matter Protestors: A Racist Health System (ProPublica)

Excerpt: “When speaking out against the loss of black lives, it is tough to separate those who die at the hands of police from those who die in a pandemic that has laid bare the structural racism baked into the American health system. Floyd himself had tested positive for the coronavirus. Eighteen black protesters interviewed by ProPublica were well aware that black lives were being lost to the virus at more than twice the rate of others, and that societal barriers have compounded for generations to put them at higher risk.”

Title of Article: Black Communities Have Always Used Food as Protest (Food & Wine)

Excerpt: “Food was a central part of the mission of the Black Panther Party and their contributions to African American activism and resistance, as well as their contributions to the American educational system. Started in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, the Black Panther Party initially began as a way to combat and prevent police brutality in Oakland. Deemed as “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country” by the U.S. government, the Black Panther Party implemented programs that held their government and society accountable for their actions (or lack thereof), and that provided compassionate aid to their communities. Food was an explicit part of the mission. When co-founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale co-wrote the Ten Points Program, a set of guidelines to the party they published in the second edition of the organization’s newspaper, they underlined their commitment to food justice: “We want land, bread, housing, education, clothing, justice and peace.””

FROM WEEK OF AUGUST 10 – 14, 2020

Title of Article: Netflix’s ‘Strong Black Lead’ Marketing Team Shows the Power (and Business Benefit) of Amplifying Black Voices (The Hollywood Reporter)

Quick Analysis: Although they haven’t been around a long time, the Strong Black Lead team at Netflix has already made a lasting impact on marketing and their work has been great to follow.

Excerpt: “Strong Black Lead is a sub-brand of Netflix that amplifies content specifically targeted to various slices of the Black experience. While it has its own vertical on Netflix, boasting the deepest bench of Black programming among the top streaming services, it has also become a popular brand outside the platform at the cross-section of technology, culture and community-building.”

FROM WEEK OF AUGUST 17 – 21, 2020

Title of Article: The NBA bubble is a grand experiment in epidemiology (The Undefeated)

Quick Analysis: I hope a lot of schools of public health will be doing a case study of the NBA’s coronavirus strategy as a part of their introductory epidemiology courses and have students identify ways that can become usable to the larger US population. This article would be a great starting point.

Excerpt: “The policies were developed as a collaborative endeavor between a range of experts, including epidemiologists who understand the latest science behind the spread of the coronavirus. These experts helped to create a set of policies that are based on interventions — the wearing of masks, social distancing, frequent testing — that have demonstrated their effectiveness in minimizing the spread of the coronavirus in many settings. But the NBA is constantly reevaluating and keeping up with the latest information on COVID-19 epidemiology so that the league can implement changes to the policy if necessary.”

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FridayReads

Friday Reads Roundup – February to April 2020

Friday Reads logo (2)

Friday Reads is a series I’ve been doing every Friday over on my LinkedIn page. I share articles that have piqued my interest, especially around topics and headlines from that week. Here’s what I shared since February 2020. Have a great time reading!
See my previous lists.

Week of February 3, 2020

  1. Title of article: The New + The Next: Why Black Women are Aging Alone
  2. Analysis/commentary:  This was a very sobering read about the implications about older Black women are aging alone.
  3. Excerpt:  “Meanwhile, their social support is shrinking too. Without kin, friendships and community relationships are crucial. For Jennings, now a part-time teacher, a tight-knit group of five female friends — along with school colleagues and her ironclad church community — have been a source of joy. When a friend died three years ago, she was devastated. “She was my rock,” says Jennings, who lost another close friend last September — a scene she stumbled upon herself. “Another friend and myself, we found her,” she recalls.

Week of February 10, 2020

  1. Title of article: At Work with Mjeema Pickett, Spotify’s Head of R&B and Soul
  2. Analysis/commentary:  Personally, I have used Spotify since my freshman year of college. It changed the game for me when it comes to storing my already huge music library and to finding new artists to love. Reading this Q&A with the Spotify’s Head of R&B and Soul reaffirms me that there’s a lot of thought that is put into their streaming service.
  3. Excerpt: ” Interviewer: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten in your career? A: To learn as much as I could, to ask questions, and to follow the doors that are opened. You have to work at it, and you have to know it’s going to be a marathon. There have been times I’ve been discouraged, but I knew deep down that this is what I was born to do and that I’d just have to keep pushing through it. I would give everyone this advice. I don’t want to pay attention to outside forces; I just want to keep moving forward.”

Week of February 17, 2020

  1. Title of article: How Instagram Changed Black Women’s Relationships with Stylists
  2. Analysis/commentary:  I still remember many an afternoon after school and a Saturday morning at my mom’s beautician’s shop in the late ’90s and early 2000s, and so much about Black hair has changed since then. Now we all have access to Black hair, hairdressers, and styles at a fingertip.
  3. Excerpt:  “One byproduct of the immediacy of social media is near-instantaneous “ability to critique or praise stylists, salons, or products” and share it, says Ingrid Banks, PhD, ethnographer and associate professor of Black studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. If you “listen” closely to younger Black women discussing the state of the beauty industry online, you might hear them mention “IG hair stylists” in a pejorative sense. An “IG stylist” could be a beautician they found using Instagram or one who is heavily followed on the application.”

Week of February 24, 2020

  1. Title of article: He Was ‘Star Wars’ Secret Weapon. So Why Was He Forgotten?
  2. Analysis/commentary:  This is an incredible read to conclude Black History Month with. Because of Ashley Boone, Jr., we have Star Wars and Rocky Horror.
  3. Excerpt:  “Although his contributions have been mostly lost to history — he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page — Boone, who died in 1994 at age 55, was a marketing and distribution wizard who championed Lucas’ space opera [Star Wars] when nearly everyone else — including the board of 20th Century Fox — thought it was a wacky idea doomed to fail. He shaped its release date and the number of theaters in which it rolled out and renewed its promotional campaign four times in order to keep it surging in theaters. He worked on a slew of other milestone movies, too, including The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Chariots of Fire, Ghostbusters and Thelma & Louise. Eventually, he became the first black president at a major Hollywood studio — even if that job lasted a grand total of four months — and went on to break many other barriers. And his kid sister left her job as a Pan Am flight attendant to follow him into the business and in 2013 became the first black president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.”

Week of March 2, 2020

  1. Title of article: Johnson: Alabama’s black doulas aim to affect racial disparities in health care and infant mortality
  2. Analysis/commentary:  Incredible work being done here in Alabama around maternal and child health!
  3. Excerpt: “The number of African American doulas— descendants, as it were, of the “midwives” who, as far back as four centuries ago, guided enslaved women through painful, natural births—is growing, too. The need for them now is as paramount as ever. Particularly in Alabama, where we go to costly, holier-than-thou lengths to “save” babies—stripping from women here the right to make choices about their own bodies, their own lives. Yet we do little, so little, to birth healthy babies or keep them alive for at least a year.”

Week of March 9, 2020

  1. Title of article: Scamming Pizza Hut Was My Family Tradition
  2. Analysis/commentary:  This might be the most fascinating essay I have read about Pizza Hut. Just like the author, I remember BOOK IT! being at my elementary school, and getting those certificates for reading. Say what you want about Pizza Hut, their personal pan pizzas are still great.
  3. Excerpt:  “For those who are unfamiliar, Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT! initiative is a school-age children’s reading program that has been rewarding bookworms with free pizza since 1984. While the program still very much exists, BOOK IT! arguably reached its peak cultural influence during the early 1990s, when I was in elementary school. The premise for it was beautifully simple: fill out a BOOK IT! slip, get it signed by your teacher, then take it to your local Pizza Hut and exchange it for a free personal pan pizza. The more you read, the more pizza you got to stuff into your prepubescent face. It was a brilliant way to encourage kids aged 5-12 to read, and in my own experience at least, a boon to cash-strapped parents who still wanted to be able to take their rugrats out for a treat now and then.”
  1. Title of article: Avoiding Coronavirus May Be A Luxury Some Workers Can’t Afford
  2. Analysis/commentary:  This is a must-read.
  3. Excerpt:  “They’re going to push you to do it anyway,” said Ms. Green, who is a member of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United in New York, an advocacy group. “You go to work, pop a vitamin C and if you can do it, you do it.” The biggest disparity for workers is access to health care: In the United States, some 27.5 million people lack any form of health insurance. That makes them less likely to seek medical care when they become ill or to have access to preventive health benefits that can help them stave off illness. The uninsured are disproportionately low income.”

Week of March 16, 2020

  1. Title of article: The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies
  2. Analysis/commentary:  I was just reading through Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies list and I recognize a few favorites: Canva, Spotify, Color of Change, Teachable, and Omaze. Are any favorites of yours on the list? If not, what are some innovative companies you are following?

Week of March 23, 2020

  1. Title of article: These Alabama teachers are reading bedtime stories to their students
  2. Analysis/commentary:  Here’s a feel-good story to end your week. Teachers here in Alabama have been reading books to their students and to anyone who needs a moment of calm online.

Week of March 30, 2020

  1. Title of article: DJ D-Nice hosts epic virtual dance party
  2. Analysis/commentary:  I have viewed a few of his sets and it was just incredible.
  3. Excerpt:  “To understand the appeal of D-Nice’s endeavor is to embrace an undeniable truth. Black creativity, throughout history, has so often been manufactured through time of peril. There’s boxer Joe Louis’ dominance throughout the Great Depression. Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddamn” in response to the assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers and the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. Or Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” channeling the frustrations of an America in strife at home and aboard. Or how TV host Don Cornelius’ Soul Train became a safe haven for black expression. Or, in recent times, Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” or Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” and their roles in soundtracking an exasperated young black America.”

Week of April 6, 2020

  1. Title of article: When The “Hustle” Isn’t Enough
  2. Analysis/commentary:  I love a good and relevant linguistic breakdown, especially a word whose meaning is definitely shifting due to the pandemic.
  3. Excerpt:  “Throughout the 20th century, hustle was used to describe the reality of what many poor black people had to do to make ends meet. In his 1965 autobiography, Malcolm X wrote, “everyone in Harlem needed some kind of hustle to survive.” whether that meant illegal gambling, selling drugs, or flipping stolen merchandise. A 1969 passage from New Black Voices, a literature anthology, reads, “I got me a good hustle. I write over $200 worth of numbers a day, which gives me a cool 40 bucks.”

Week of April 13, 2020

  1. Title of article: Has the Coronavirus Made the Internet Better?
  2. Analysis/commentary:  This is a great analysis of how people on the Internet are providing assistance and community in the midst of coronavirus.
  3. Excerpt:  “On Twitter, writers like Shea Serrano and Roxane Gay helped raise money for bills and groceries for those who are struggling. Programmers connected online to create a tool to schedule cooperative child care. Prison-reform organizations worked to bail out incarcerated people and send hand sanitizer to prisons and jails, where the virus is rampant. Google Docs files began circulating with information on food pantries and how to apply for unemployment. Go-Fund-Mes quickly popped up to distribute money to people hit hardest by the crisis, including sex workers, restaurant workers and underinsured artists.”

Week of April 20, 2020

  1. Title of article: The Black Plague
  2. Analysis/commentary:  This is an excellent analysis of how COVID-19 has uniquely affected Black communities more than others.
  3. Excerpt:  “The intersecting threats of hunger, eviction, and unemployment drive poor and working-class African-Americans toward the possibility of infection. Fewer than twenty per cent of African-Americans have jobs that allow them to work at home. Black workers are concentrated in public-facing jobs, working in mass transit, home health care, retail, and service, where social distancing is virtually impossible. And then there is the concentration of African-Americans in institutions where social distancing is impossible, including prisons, jails, and homeless shelters. African-Americans make up the majority of the incarcerated and the homeless. Forty-six percent of African-Americans perceive COVID-19 as a “major threat” to their health, and yet race and class combine to put black people in danger. These numbers are the crisis wrapped inside of the pandemic.”
  1. Title of article: The Writer of “Demolition Man” On The Predictive Power of His 1993 Movie
  2. Analysis/commentary:  I couldn’t count the number of times I have seen “Demolition Man” in my life. Given the current events, it definitely was predicting the future, from no-contact handshakes to other changes in hygiene.
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FridayReads

Friday Reads Recap – Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Friday Reads logo

Friday Reads is a series I’ve been doing every Friday over on my LinkedIn page. I share articles that have piqued my interest, especially around topics and headlines from that week. Folks are definitely taking it easy this Fourth of July week; I know I am while patiently waiting for the new season of Stranger Things.  There’s no better time to catch up and read some of my favorite articles!

Also available on Flipboard.

WEEK OF MAY 31

1. I create presentations at Microsoft. Here’s how I avoid “Death by PowerPoint”. , Fast Company

As I am gearing up for summer, I  have been researching professional development methods to strengthen my skill set, including evolving the way I  make creative products. This includes presentations, such as Google Slides, PowerPoints, and even in Canva. This is a great and quick article from Fast Company on creating PowerPoints for multiple audiences more efficiently.

Excerpt: “For any project, this is my first line of questioning. Where’s the event, how many people will be attending, and who makes up the audience? The story will be different if it’s a speech for technical experts versus one for students or a sales team. And the deck should look different for a conference room than it will for an auditorium. It isn’t uncommon for us to tweak the graphics or font size in a deck once we get onsite at a venue and see how the deck looks from the back of the room during practice runs.”

LINK: The best PowerPoint tips from a Microsoft expert

2. Femtech Could Be The Solution to Medicine’s Male Bias, Medium

As someone who is always fascinated in the role technology plays in making our lives better (see my #TechTuesday blogs), this is a great read in how some women in the VC world are re-centering women’s health technology, such as the speculum, to the needs of the intended population.

EXCERPT: “This created a huge gap in knowledge about women’s health and the ways in which women’s biology and health needs differ from men’s,” says Amy Miller, president and CEO of the Washington-based nonprofit Society for Women’s Health Research. “Although we are now trying to backfill this missing knowledge, women and their doctors are still forced to make health care decisions with information that is often based solely on male biology.”

LINK: Femtech Could Be the Solution to Medicine’s Male Bias

WEEK OF JUNE 7

1.“When They See Us” and the Persistent Logic of ‘No Humans Involved’, The Atlantic

As many folks did, I  spent last Friday night watching When They See Us, a mini-series addressing the wrongful imprisonment of the Central Park Five, on Netflix. It was such an emotional, searing, and empowering series that provided the CP5, now the Exonerated 5, the proper vehicle to take back control of their narrative stolen so long ago. This is a great article from The Atlantic about the dehumanizing language used by the criminal justice system and by the media to describe the then-13 through 16-year old boys from Harlem and other Black youth now.

EXCERPT: “In its early installments, When They See Us implicates New York media, and the ensuing frenzy of the public, in spurring along the boys’ wrongful verdicts. The series re-creates the glee with which people seized upon words such as wildin’, common slang for any range of boisterous behavior, as evidence of the boys’ inherent criminality. When They See Us answers the how.”

LINK:‘When They See Us’ and the Logic of ‘No Humans Involved’ – The Atlantic

2. How Well Did ‘Sharp Objects’ and ‘The Act’ Portray a Rare Psychological Disorder?, The Hollywood Reporter

Having seen both series and studied child development in my undergraduate psychology courses, I  wonder if both “Sharp Objects” and “The Act” actually portray this disorder for the longest time. This article from The Hollywood Reporter answers this question of accuracy with a lot of clarity.

EXCERPT: “Despite all this media attention, Munchausen syndrome by proxy “has not grown all that much in terms of correct understanding” since the ‘70s, says expert Louisa Lasher, co-author of Munchausen by Proxy: Identification, Intervention, and Case Management (she now prefers to call the disorder “abuse and neglect by deception”).

Lasher could be forgiven, then, for skepticism about the latest projects to spark newfound interest in the disorder, Hulu’s The Act and HBO’s Sharp Objects. Nevertheless, she and another top expert in the field, Marc D. Feldman, the author of several studies on the syndrome and co-author of the book Dying to Be Ill: True Stories of Medical Deception, say that HBO’s and Hulu’s series have brought necessary attention to the condition, which they believe to be underreported, undertaught and misunderstood.”

WEEK OF JUNE 14

1.The Mothers Who Fought to Radically Reimagine Welfare, NPR Code Switch

It’s always riveting to read how public health systems, such as ADC, SNAP, and Title V (maternal and child health programs), were formed and regrouped throughout history, starting with President Johnson who established Head Start. Here’s a fascinating exploration from NPR of how Black mothers challenged the status quo to redefine the welfare system.

EXCERPT: “As more Black folks moved out of the South during the Great Migration and civil rights activists chipped away at discrimination in welfare policy, it became easier for poor Black women to get welfare. But even though the biggest share of welfare recipients were white (as it is today) the face the public associated with welfare became much browner. Backlash to welfare and aid programs like food stamps began to grow.”

LINK: The Mothers Who Fought To Radically Reimagine Welfare : Code Switch : NPR

2. The Day The Music Burned, The New York Times Magazine

As soon as I  saw the cover of this month’s New York Times Magazine with a photo of guitar icon Chuck Berry burning, I  knew I  had to read this very sobering piece of the true aftermath of the 2008 fire of the Universal Music Group’s warehouse. As someone who has purchased music in the last three existing forms (cassettes, CDs, and streaming files), I  wonder the best practices to preserve personal music collections, especially after Apple announced they were splitting up the iTunes application weeks ago.

EXCERPT: “The resurgence of the record industry in the streaming era would seem to bode well for the cause of preservation. In 2017, Bruce Resnikoff, the head of UMG’s catalog division, told Billboard that “the catalog business is having its biggest expansion since the CD.” A report by BuzzAngle, which analyzes online music consumption, found that about half the music streamed on demand in the United States last year was “deep catalog,” songs three or more years old. A catalog boom could theoretically push labels to digitize more archival recordings. But a question remains as to how deep “deep catalog” extends. The old songs most listeners are streaming are either recent hits or classics by huge artists like the Beatles and Bob Marley. Labels may not see much incentive to digitize less-popular material.”

LINK:  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/magazine/universal-fire-master-recordings.html?smid=tw-nytmag&smtyp=cur

WEEK OF JUNE 21

1. America’s Job Listings Have Gone Off the Deep End, The Atlantic

This was such a fascinating read from The Atlantic on the colorful language used in many job descriptions nowadays and how it can repel candidates. I  definitely have come across many of these throughout my job search in the past few years.

EXCERPT: “A short scroll through a popular job board revealed thousands of results with similar keywords. More than ever, it seems, hiring managers are looking for extremists: You can’t just be willing to do the job. You must evince an all-consuming horniness for menial corporate tasks. In an American labor market where wages are stagnant and many workers feel their jobs seeping into their personal time, such demands only create even more anxiety and dread for Americans looking for a new gig.”

LINK: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/06/looking-for-a-job-americas-listings-are-inscrutable/591616/

2. LGBTQ+ Youth Prefer to Seek Mental Health Help Digitally, WIRED

This is a very important read from Wired about how LGBTQIA youth choose to inform and express themselves across online forums, especially when they sadly don’t have places in real life to do so.

“It’s also clearly important for LGBTQ+ youth to be able rely on social media and the internet to find information without having to come out online, necessarily. Despite their digital preference and desire for safe spaces online, the Trevor Project found that only 36 percent of young LGBTQ+ people have shared about their sexual orientation online, and 30 percent about their gender identity. In this way, the internet allows passive information gathering without overt disclosure.”

LINK: LGBTQ+ Youth Prefer to Seek Mental Health Help Digitally | WIRED

WEEK OF JUNE 28

1. I Went From Making $60K To $210K By Becoming A Product Designer, Refinery29

I turned one year older this past Wednesday, and thoughts and/or plans about my career trajectory has definitely crept across my mind since. I  have definitely been reading more about jobs and money in the past year and a half, including Refinery29’s infamous Money Diaries series.

Reading this article from them and the advice the writer provided me with some comfort.

EXCERPT: “It’s okay to quit your dream career. Life is more than just your career. If your career is negatively impacting your ability to enjoy life, then maybe consider a different one. Think about the type of life you want to live, and find a career that can provide that life.”

LINK: I  Went From Making $60K To $210K By Switching Careers

Categories
BestOf FridayReads

Feature Friday/Friday Reads Recap – Friday, May 24, 2019

Friday Reads logo

Friday Reads is a series I’ve been doing every Friday over on my LinkedIn page. I share articles that have piqued my interest, especially around topics and headlines from that week. Since it’s Memorial Day weekend, most people will take time to slow down and will have the day off. There’s no better time to catch up and read some of my favorite articles!

Also available on Flipboard.

WEEK OF APRIL 12

The Atlantic – The Human Cost of Higher Education: A devastating but necessary read.

LINK:  https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/04/adjunct-professors-higher-education-thea-hunter/586168/

WEEK OF APRIL 19

The Atlantic – Beyoncè’s Black Intellectual “Homecoming”: Like most people, I watched Beyoncè’s documentary #Homecoming and have been listening to the accompanying live album mostly nonstop since Wednesday. I have found the documentary necessary, empowering, and encouraging. This piece focuses on how Beyoncè incorporated the words of many essential Black intellectuals, artists, and legends into the documentary to instill hope into the viewers.  LINK: Beyoncé’s ‘Homecoming’: A Scholarly Coachella Documentary – The Atlantic

WEEK OF APRIL 26

1, The New York Times – Op-Ed: Why I Am Stockpiling Insulin in My Fridge: I was very saddened when I first read the title of the op-ed, but felt overwhelmed by the last sentence of the piece because so many folks are dealing with the price increase of insulin and other life-saving drugs.

(Here’s an additional primer on drug pricing from the ever clever and insightful comedian Hasan Minaj’s show Patriot Act:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7LgT4_jkLA )

LINK:  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/09/opinion/insulin-drug-price-increase.html

2. ReWire News – Meet Three Innovators Shifting The Maternal Health Initiative: I’m always fascinated by inventive solutions to old problems, including the first one in this piece. Someone definitely should provide Ms. Robinson with grant funding and support to expand her Reneè Project to women who need it across the nation.

EXCERPT: “Robinson thinks that technology can help people—especially Black women—”hack their pregnancies” and focus on getting the information they need, making their own decisions, and experiencing joy when much media coverage about Black people and pregnancy concentrates on dire statistics about death, poor health care, and disrespect from providers.

In the first phase of what she’s calling The Renée project, she’s traveling to cities across the nation to talk to people about their pregnancy experiences, brainstorm what they needed, and develop a tech resource that can fill the gaps. She envisions these “jam sessions” as something like community block parties—where there’s something to eat, music, the kind of storytelling that happens when the vibe is right, and everyone walks away with something (in this case, a chance to think about their own lives and a cute succulent plant as a parting gift).”

LINK: Meet Three Innovators Shifting the Maternal Health Narrative – Rewire.News

WEEK OF MAY 3

1.Harvard Radcliffe Institute – An Order of Public Health – Hold the Fat Shaming: I first read this article from Harvard’s Radcliffe Magazine a few weeks ago with a sense of inquisitiveness and worry in how we public health professionals as a whole are approaching the obesity epidemic and the individuals affected by it. Reading the article again this week, I still have that sense.

EXCERPT: “Obesity exists. It’s getting worse,” Bleich says. “The solution to obesity does not lie with you or me. It does not lie with individuals. Yes, there are people who will get it together and will actually be able to lose weight and keep it off. But the fact that we have a $66 billion diet industry demonstrates that we’re forever falling off the wagon.

“There aren’t obvious solutions. There’s no pill that can fix it. Public health has limited reach and resources. I  think the goal is finding sweet spots where the food and beverage industries maximize shareholder dollars but also maximize the population’s health.”

LINK: An Order of Public Health-Hold the Fat Shaming | Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University

2. Mel Magazine – Understanding Black Boyz through the Empathetic Lens of John Singleton: I’m still reeling from the death of the late and legendary director John Singleton, whose work I  started getting familiar with as a teenager, first with his 2005 film “Four Brothers” and then with his 1995 film “Higher Learning”. Mr. Singleton was able to capture and display so many relatable yet multi-dimensional forms of Black life on the big screen.

I read this fitting tribute/analysis from Mel Magazine about  how well he represented Black boys and men on screen through his prolific career.

EXCERPT: “There’s no doubt that, like others, Singleton often showed urban violence in his films. But he didn’t casually glamorize it, even when he portrayed it in stylized and often melodramatic ways. At a deeper level, he didn’t portray black violence the way Hollywood so often does, and seems to prefer it — as a personal failing of black people. Singleton showed black violence as the natural result of structural racism. He showed the traps and dangers of structural poverty. He aimed his lens to capture what he saw, such as how a black boy desires beauty and love, too, even if, and especially when, he expresses his rage. Singleton showed black men and boys in ways the studios never imagined them to be. You can’t get to Moonlight without John Singleton.”

LINK:  https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/understanding-black-boyz-through-the-empathetic-lens-of-john-singleton

WEEK OF MAY 10

1.WIRED – You’re Not Getting Enough Sleep and It’s Killing You: I read this article on sleeping habits on Wednesday, and it made me immediately thought about my own. As I  am getting older and rapidly approaching my thirties, sleep has definitely become more of a higher priority than when I  was in college and grad school, so I  can be more efficient at what I  do.

EXCERPT: “His message came across as a rebuke of the idea that sleep deprivation and success somehow go hand in hand. Tim Cook reportedly wakes up at 3:45 am to start work. Barack Obama said he only sleeps about 5 hours. He’s a “night guy.” Donald Trump and Elon Musk both have said they sleep only a few hours a night. But Musk has also admitted to The New York Times that his work schedule was taking a toll on his mental health and whole life. Walker argued that it’s time to stop thinking that needing sleep is a sign of weakness or laziness. In fact, it’s the opposite.”

LINK: You’re Not Getting Enough Sleep—and It’s Killing You | WIRED

2. VICE – Offices Can Be Hell For People Whose Brains Work Differently: This is a very interesting and fantastic read on office accommodations for neurodivergent folks that can benefit everyone at work.

EXCERPT: “For neurodivergent people, this can be a big ask. Neurodivergence describes the variations in the ways our brains function, and encompasses people on the autism spectrum and people with ADHD or dyslexia. The term has been expanding to include those with anxiety, depression, OCD, and PTSD—anything that makes a person think a bit differently.

Advocates for neurodiversity at work argue that rather than expecting neurodivergent people to conform to a traditional office setup, workplaces should strive to make offices more accommodating. When allowed to work on their own schedules and in amenable environments, neurodivergent people can thrive. But even while tech companies like Microsoft, HP, and SAP are expanding their hiring and work practices to be more inclusive, for many neurodivergent people, finding and keeping work is a struggle. Around 50 to 75 percent of autistic people with higher education are unemployed. The unemployment rate for people receiving public mental health services is approximately 80 percent.”

LINK: Offices Can Be Hell for People Whose Brains Work Differently – VICE

WEEK OF MAY 17

1. The New Yorker – Netflix and 13 Reasons Why: I  read this article last week on the study findings on the increase of suicide contagion among teens due to Netflix’s hit show “13 Reasons Why”.

Full disclaimer: I  watched both seasons of the show after being intrigued by the plot of the story: Hannah Baker’s life story and the circumstances of how she died recorded on tapes that were given to her most trusted confidante.

Considering the fact that Netflix chose to green-light this series, the company should have had a plan in place, such as PSAs, content warnings, and watching guides, that would have addressed a lot of fears before Season 1 was launched. They tried to do this with all the episodes of Season 2, but it was simply too late.

When it comes to shows, especially ones marketed to teens and sensitive topics such as suicide, the networks and the production companies should pair their entertainment with a little bit of education.

EXCERPT: “Netflix responded to the recent National Institute of Mental Health study with circumspection: “This is a critically important topic and we have worked hard to ensure that we handle this sensitive issue responsibly.” Except, of course, when it came to the option of not doing the show at all. Those who predicted the association between the show’s release and a rise in the suicide rate have met the fate of so much expert opinion in the twenty-first century: their predictions were ignored or cast into doubt by financially interested parties; the research, which came too late to matter, gave evidence that the predictions were true; and there were no consequences.”

LINK:  https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/netflix-and-suicide-the-disturbing-example-of-13-reasons-why?utm_source=twitter&mbid=social_twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_brand=tny&utm_social-type=owned

2. NBC News – Black women and the fight for abortion rights: As a public health professional, a Maternal and Child Health specialist and a Black woman born, raised, and still living in Alabama, I  was frightened and terrified by the passage and signage of HB314. I  was terrified because I  knew how the abortion ban would affect an already-dysfunctional reproductive health system and the women/other folks who have no other choice but to participate in it here in our state. So I’ve been researching and reading up on policy and previous organizing, starting with this great analysis on the historic “We Remember” pamphlet.

EXCERPT: “There are multiple reasons why black women sought abortions throughout history, reasons that should not have ever been policed, according to the “We Remember” document.

“We understand why African-American women risked their lives then, and why they seek safe legal abortion now,” the statement read. “It’s been a matter of survival. Hunger and homelessness. Inadequate housing and income to properly provide for themselves and their children. Family instability. Rape. Incest. Abuse. Too young, too old, too sick, too tired. Emotional, physical, mental, economic, social — the reasons for not carrying a pregnancy to term are endless and varied, personal, urgent, and private.”

LINK:  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/black-women-fight-abortion-rights-how-brochure-sparked-movement-reproductive-n983216

Happy reading!

psych laptop

[Gif description: A gif of Burton “Gus” Guster from the television show “Psych”, sitting and preparing to read whatever is on his laptop.]

Categories
FridayReads Public Health Reads

Public Health Reads, Vol. 1

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Volume 1 – Friday, February 1, 2019 

Welcome to my public health curation series, Public Health Reads, which will be released every 1st and 4th Friday of every month!
As a young public health professional, it’s important for me to keep up with topics within my field and to make sure that people I serve (including you, that is reading this intro) are informed and well-versed in public health issues.  All of the articles below were picked with that in mind.
You may be wondering what exactly is public health. Here’s a short and excellent primer from the University of Michigan School of Public Health on what our field is about.
Along with learning the definition of public health, there are three core functions of public health: ASSESSMENT, POLICY DEVELOPMENT, and ASSURANCE. All of the articles are divided by the functions to add a critical lens to understanding what constitutes a public health issue and need. Some of the articles featured in this volume showcased how community folks have created their own solutions to their own issues, which I find to be empowering.
Happy reading!

ASSESSMENT: “ to assess the health needs of the community, to investigate the occurrence of health effects and health hazards in the community, or to analyze the determinants of identified health needs” (Public Health Association of Nebraska (PHANE), n.d).

ARTICLES: 
The Rebel Midwives of Alabama by Rebecca Grant, Highline
LINK
Excerpt: “The 1964 Civil Rights Act, as well as the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid, eventually led to the integration of medical services. By the 1970s, 99 percent of American births took place in hospitals and states were passing laws preventing midwives from practicing, ostensibly for health and safety reasons. Alabama ended the legal practice of lay midwifery in 1976. A tiny number of home birthers persisted, mostly white, middle-class women seeking an alternative to the hospital. It was technically a misdemeanor for midwives to assist them, but the likelihood of being prosecuted seemed slim.”

When Racism Anchors Your Health by George Johnson, Tonic
LINK
Excerpt: “Consider the medical crimes committed against us—the Tuskegee study or J. Marion Sims’s experiments on slave women sans anesthesia, for example—that have planted seeds of mistrust for doctors. Consider that medical professionals often don’t believe some of us when we say we’re in pain—it’s reflected in the underdiagnosis of disease and the denial of pain medications for black Americans who actually need them.”

“Freedom Farmers” Tells The History of Black Farmers Uniting Against Racism by Cynthia Greenlee, Civil Eats
LINK
Excerpt: “Agency is mostly defined as a very individual thing. The language has to capture that as an individual, yes, you make the decision that you’re going to grow food. But what about when several people decide they want to [farm] as a strategy for increasing access to nutrient-rich food and pool our resources together? What happens when we care about each other in terms of health, education, safety, security, and wellness and there’s this collective decision to move in these directions? I couldn’t find a way to explain it other than “collective agency.””

America Is Failing Its Black Mothers by Amy Roeder, Harvard Health
LINK
Excerpt: “ “Barfield and others in the field are pushing for wider adoption of Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs), now operating in about 30 states. Every time a mother dies, these volunteer expert panels meet to review official data as well as other information about the mother’s life, such as media stories or her social media postings. The goal is to identify what went wrong and to develop guidelines for action. In Georgia, for example, where the country’s maternal death rates are highest, the committee has found records of women who developed hypertension during pregnancy and didn’t receive medication soon enough, women who died waiting for unavailable ambulances, and women whose providers didn’t understand warning signs that led to a hemorrhage, just to name a few gaps in the system. “We need these stories to save women’s lives,” Barfield says.”

Lightning, Struck: How An Atlanta Neighborhood Died on The Altar of Super Bowl Dreams by Max Blau and Dustin Chambers, The Bitter Southerner
LINK
Excerpt: “Over a quarter century, 37 million people flocked to the Georgia Dome for Falcons games, two Super Bowls, and the Atlanta Summer Olympics. The stadium elevated Atlanta’s image in the eyes of the world. But the city’s profile ascended at the cost of families who not only lost their fight against displacement but also their right to be remembered.”

The Instagram Community That’s Decolonizing Fitness by Deonna Anderson, YES! Magazine
LINK
Excerpt: “Queer and trans people often experience discrimination in fitness spaces. The very design of gyms, both in the physical buildings and their processes, is often gendered. Intake forms offer “male” and “female” gender options, and restrooms and changing rooms typically don’t make room for people who identify as nonbinary. Additionally, people point to other patrons misgendering or harassing them. That’s where the Decolonizing Fitness database comes in. Ilya Parker, owner of Decolonizing Fitness LLC, posted that callout to confirm the need to create a free, downloadable list of fitness trainers and movement trainers who provide affirming services for queer and trans clients.”

POLICY DEVELOPMENT: “to advocate for public health, build constituencies, and identify resources in the community; to prioritize among health needs, and to plan and develop policies to address priority health needs”. (PHANE, n.d.)

ARTICLES: 
Black Patients Miss Out on Promising Cancer Drugs by Caroline Chen and Riley Wong, ProPublica
LINK
Excerpt: “Still, trial protocols are rarely designed with minority communities in mind, Burhansstipanov said. It has long been rumored among Native Americans, she said, that a clinical trial in the 1990s required patients to take a medication upon rising in the morning. In many Native American tribes, the first thing people do when they wake up is greet the sun with morning prayers. For some tribes, prayers can take more than half an hour. Because of the delay, the tale goes, Native American patients were kicked out of the clinical trial for violating the protocol. “The story spread and became a barrier for people to take part in clinical trials,” she said.”

Two-Thirds of Low-Income Women In 1 Major City Can’t Always Afford Tampons and Pads by Catherine Pearson, Huffington Post
LINK
Excerpt: “In most of the U.S., tampons, and pads are subject to sales tax because they’re not classified as products that fill a basic, essential need. Only a handful of states have abolished the so-called “tampon tax.” Food assistance funding like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cannot be used for menstrual products, nor can Medicaid. Women’s advocates say there is a pressing need to make menstrual hygiene products more accessible to all women, regardless of their economic situation.”

ASSURANCE: “to manage resources and develop organizational structure; to implement programs; to evaluate programs and provide quality assurance; to inform and educate the public” (PHANE, n.d.)

ARTICLES:

In Columbus, Expectant Moms Will Get On-Demand Rides to the Doctor by Laura Bliss, CityLab
LINK
Excerpt: “To her, the fact that the transportation pilot includes trips to grocery shopping and other daily errands signals a greater recognition by city officials that infant mortality is about more than getting moms to doctor’s offices. “You can’t have an impact by just addressing prenatal care,” she said. “You have to look at the overall holistic picture of women’s lives.”

Chicago’s Jail Is One of the Country’s Biggest Mental Health Care Providers. Here’s A Look Inside. by Samantha Jones and Lili Kobielski, Mother Jones
LINK
Excerpt: “Chicago may be the biggest example of the mental health crisis in jails, but the problem there is not unique. Between 2009 and 2012, state legislatures around the country cut $4.35 billion in services for people with psychiatric problems, even while the need for services increased. Today, roughly 2 million people with serious mental illness are booked into jails each year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. That’s about the population of Houston, the fourth most populous city in America. In 44 states, jails or prisons care for more mentally ill people than hospitals, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.”

This article list is also available on Flipboard.
If you have an article you feel like more people should read, contact me and I will credit you!

References

Public Health Association of Nebraska (PHANE). (n.d.). Core Government Public Health Functions in Basic Duties of Public Health Departments. [Article]. Retrieved from http://publichealthne.org/phan-sections/public-health-education-section/marketing/core-functions-of-public-health/
University of Michigan School of Public Health. (2018, November 13). What Is Public Health? Pt. 1. [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWZFyI5eegY