By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — A Nashville physician worries that the Black community has a negative impression of breastfeeding when, in fact, it has far better health outcomes for both mother and baby. “Breastfeeding has a number of benefits for babies. However, we also know that there are a lot of health benefits for the mother,” says Dr. Cornelia Graves, St. Thomas Ascension Hospital. Breastfeeding helps babies gain weight appropriately (because they are not overfed), because “it takes at least 4 days before a mother’s milk comes in – and a newborn baby’s stomach is the size of a…
Author: Clare Bratten
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — “I believe it’s going to be Black folks–particularly Black elected officials–that are going to have to step up to save our nation and our democracy. Because it’s truly in peril,” said Georgia Representative Billy Mitchell, speaking to a gathering of Black legislators from across the South who met in Nashville the week of July 12th. The roundtable discussion with the Black Elected Leadership of the Southern States was hosted by The National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women (NOBEL Women) and the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) in conjunction with the…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — Black doctors and researchers have been a part of the strategy and development of the vaccine against the COVID-19 virus according to Dr. Rachel Mehr, a doctor at St. Thomas Ascension who is a Meharry Medical College graduate. Dr. Mehr said that members of the Black community who fear the vaccine for the COVID-19 virus should put those fears aside. “We have lots of Black people who have helped to develop the vaccine –Kizzmekia Corbett, PhD, is a viral immunologist at the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health. She was the…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — If you run a minority owned business and have been affected by the pandemic, the Nashville Business Incubation Center (NBIC) can help you transform more of your business into social media and digital platforms. The goal is to help businesses market and move parts of their business online so they can prosper through the pandemic and beyond. NBIC is accepting applications for the next cohort through December. Angela Crane-Jones is the CEO of the Nashville Business Incubation Center which has been around for four years and is able to cite some impressive success stories of…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — Because over 100 million voting-eligible Americans did not vote in the 2016 election, the National Football League has been recruiting voters with a “NFL Votes” initiative. The initiative is aimed at getting NFL fans to vote as well as NFL team members and staff. North Nashville native and Tennessee State alum Traci Otey Blunt is spearheading the initiative. This is not the first time Traci Otey Blunt has worked to get out the vote. In 2000, she worked on the Al Gore campaign and she had a celebrity with her to help get…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — In an era where statues of Confederate soldiers and generals are being toppled, Fisk University, Vanderbilt University, and the Frist Art Museum and a social justice media group called “Millions of Conversations” are running a webinar series called Engine for Art Democracy and Justice (EADJ) to discuss how art can be used to promote democracy and justice, instead of celebrating figures who embody oppressive or racist movements. EADJ was the brainchild of Dr. Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, a Cuban born artist known for trailblazing performance on the slave trade, race, gender and identity. Campos-Pons is…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE – Anyone who has served in the military or is a family member of a service member or a veteran is urged to take part in a national survey on the well being and needs of military families. The survey is conducted by BlueStar Families organization – a national nonprofit that works to support the families of service members. They want veterans, active duty, National Guard and reservists and their family members (including parents) to take the survey by Oct. 2020. It is the largest, most comprehensive survey of its kind. This survey will help to…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — When it comes to pregnancy and the birth of a child, Black women statistically suffer far more serious complications and mortality rates than white women. This is true both in the state of Tennessee and in the nation according to Dr. Cornelia R. Graves, medical director of Tennessee Maternal Medicine and Director of Perinatal Services for St. Thomas Midtown. Graves said that even Black women who have a college degree are still more likely to die in pregnancy than white women who do not have a college degree Graves helped form the Tennessee Mortality…
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — Every day, workers who earn a wage of $10 an hour leave their night shifts or show up early in the morning at houses across Nashville. Their job as Direct Support Professionals is to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities get out of bed, get dressed, get showered, eat their breakfast or fix nighttime meals and prepare for bed and other chores of daily life. Without the daily help of these Direct Support Professionals, life would be impossible in a home environment for most of the disabled clients who qualify for Medicaid Services. …
By Clare Bratten NASHVILLE, TN — Adults ages 19 to 50 who are unemployed or underemployed can get mentoring, training and tuition for careers as a part of a program called UpRise The program is part of a community outreach for West End Community Church and even provides a bi-weekly stipend of up to $300 a month if participants meet attendance and engagement goals. Participants need to have a high school diploma or equivalent (GED or HISET), be eligible to work in the US, have stable housing (including transitional housing) and submit to a drug screening. UpRise calls its participants…