Lifestyle
The Shocking Reasons Black Americans Are Fleeing the U.S. for a Better Life Abroad: Racism and the Cost of Living Are Just the Beginning
More and more Black Americans are leaving the United States for a higher quality of life abroad. Black people are usually not a monolith, so the reasons are different. But the overarching theme for many Black Americans selecting to live abroad is that they’re drained of racism and discrimination of their home country.
While Black people have been doing this over the previous couple of a long time – WEB DuBois, James Baldwin and Josephine Baker, for example – in 2016 the Blaxit movement was hard to miss. A play on words taken from the name Brexit that was given to the United Kingdom’s decision to depart the European Union, Blaxit refers to Black people leaving the United States to start out a life abroad. When leaders in Ghana announced the “Year of Return” campaign for 2019, inviting African descendants to “return” home and reconnect with their roots in the 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived in the Americas, it inspired more Black Americans to return consider living in places like Ghana.
The deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor further motivated Black Americans to depart in 2020. Tired of racism and trying to avoid wasting their lives and the lives of their children, more Black Americans moved to places like Mexico, Costa Rica, Portugal, Ghana, Senegal and Panama – simply to name a few.
Just a few months before the deaths of Floyd and Taylor, 2019 report of the National Academy of Sciences found that black men were 2.5 times more more likely to be killed by police than white men.
Beyond racism, affordability plays a major role in Black Americans’ decision to maneuver abroad.
The average cost in response to the latest Federal Reserve data from January 2024, the cost of a home in the United States is $417,700. That’s almost double the average cost when taking a look at first quarter data from just a decade ago, when in 2014 the average home cost Americans $275,200.
As prices proceed to rise in a volatile market, Black Americans proceed to face mortgage discrimination from banks. Condemning CNN evaluation found that Navy Federal, the largest lending institution in the US, rejected greater than half of its black applicants for conventional mortgages, despite the fact that that they had higher creditworthiness and higher incomes than their white counterparts.
As more Black Americans consider moving abroad, various social media groups are providing resources and advice for singles, couples and families. The Facebook group The Blaxit Tribe – Black Americans who want to depart the U.S. and move abroad has over 37,000 members. The group focuses on aspects people should consider before selecting a home, find housing, job opportunities and more.
Other resources could be found on YouTube where people document their moves abroad, especially on the subject of affordability.
Maame Amoaa Boateng-Kagyah is a Ghanaian real estate agent who posts videos on her YouTube channel showing the different homes people should purchase in Ghana inside their price range, and showing what others who’ve moved from countries like the US have bought.
IN last episode, took people on a tour of Karen King’s house. She moved from Raleigh, North Carolina, and built a four-story house in Asebu, Ghana, for about $70,000.
The mother of 4, grandmother and great-grandmother of almost twenty children explains that after her first visit to Ghana, she moved for spiritual reasons.
“Every day I started to feel more and more stressed about the West leaving me,” King tells Amoaa. “I felt more and more grounded.”
King says after two weeks in Ghana, she began talking about constructing a house. She built the four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom house after receiving land from Ghana as part of the “Year of Return” campaign. The campaign encouraged descendants of enslaved Africans to “come home” by reconnecting with the land of their ancestors. The Government of Ghana has also worked with local chiefs to gift over 500 acres of land to individuals who wish to return and put money into Ghana.
King did just that, constructing a home with space for her family and even offering a room on Airbnb.
Her decision resonated widely amongst viewers, who’re also considering moving because of the reasonably priced price.
“My husband is from Croatia and we’re seriously considering retiring there because living in the US has simply turn into too expensive. I’m glad that this concept works for other retirees,” commented one of the people.
“The indisputable fact that this incredibly beautiful house costs about $70,000. dollars, it’s amazing to me! I live in Washington and we won’t buy a solid box for lower than $400,000. dollars,” said one other.
“Great movie! Gorgeous and brave, Karen! A house like that in America would cost half a million dollars around Washington and Maryland, where I live,” said one other. You can pay for this together with your blood, sweat and tears for over 30 years!
In one other video Amoaa shows Three bedroom container house Calvin Daniels built it for $33,000 in Ghana on 38 acres of land.
There’s a superb line between finding a latest home and colonization
Moving abroad comes with its challenges. Costs could also be a barrier. Couple published in r/antiwork subreddit that they spent greater than $25,000 on legal fees, leasing agent fees, flights and accommodations. Many countries require this for individuals who first turn into digital nomads before applying for everlasting residence prove you’ll be able to support yourself for a distant work visa.
Brazil requires you to earn at the least $1,500 monthly or $17,000 in your checking account. In Belize, single people must earn at the least $75,000 per yr, and couples applying jointly must earn $100,000 per yr.
In addition to financial barriers, there may be the possibility of cultural conflict between locals and visitors and the fear that visitors raise the cost of living for locals.
NPR podcast episode touches on this topicexamining how black Americans moving abroad could harm residents by increasing costs.
It is vital for Black Americans to maneuver abroad rigorously. One of the best ways to maneuver abroad is to maneuver to less popular areas to avoid displacing people from their homes in larger cities, where rent prices are inclined to be higher.
It’s also best to support local businesses, employ local people and pay them a living wage as costs proceed to rise.
The Shocking Reasons Black Americans Are Fleeing the U.S. for a Better Life Abroad: Racism and the Cost of Living Are Just the Beginning
Lifestyle
Tina Knowles will tell her story in her memoir “Matriarch,” scheduled for release next year
NEW YORK (AP) — Tina Knowles will release a memoir next spring with a title that will not surprise her many admirers.
Fashion designer and Beyoncé’s motherSolange Knowles and “bonus daughter” Kelly Rowland have signed a take care of Random House Publishing Group to publish “Matriarch,” which the publisher calls in part the story of a “determined, self-possessed, self-aware and wise woman” who raised and inspired a number of the great artists of our time.
The book’s premiere is scheduled for April 22.
“I have always been a storyteller and I learned that from my mother,” Tina Knowles said in a press release Tuesday. “When I had my own family, I believed that my daughters needed to know where they came from to know where they were going.”
“I call this book ‘The Matriarch’ because I am inspired by the wisdom that women pass on to each other from generation to generation – and the inner wisdom that we long to discover within ourselves. Even at 70, I’m still learning valuable lessons that I would have learned in my 40s or even 20s. So I decided to tell my story because I know what it means for me, my daughters and future generations of women.”
Tina Knowles was recently honored as Glamor magazine’s Woman of the Year, and Beyoncé was amongst those in attendance on the ceremony in New York. “Matriarch” will be published by Random House’s One World imprint, which also includes Ta-Nehisi Coates, Trevor Noah and Cathy Park Hong.
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Lifestyle
Johns Hopkins begins work on a building in honor of Henrietta Lacks
In her short life, Henrietta Lacks inadvertently modified the face of medicine. Now the girl whose donated cells proceed to tell and advance medical research can even change the face of Johns Hopkins, because the institution begins work on a building named after her. On Monday, several of Lacks’ descendants joined representatives from Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Medicine at a groundbreaking ceremony on the corner of Ashland and Rutland Avenues in Baltimore.
“Today we make a concrete commitment to ensure that Henrietta Lacks’ name is as immortal as her cells,” said Ron Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins University, based on the report from the institution. “When the Henrietta Lacks Building is built, it will be a vibrant, multidisciplinary place of learning, discovery and dialogue that will facilitate community-oriented medical research and support the next wave of progress in research and the promotion of research ethics. We look forward to a building that does justice to the transformative legacy of Henrietta Lacks, and we sincerely thank the members of the Lacks family for their generosity in lending this building her name.”
As documented in the best-selling book “The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks“Lacks’ history with Johns Hopkins is controversial. After starting treatment at this institution, a 31-year-old mother of five children was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Despite treatment, she died in October 1951. However, a sample of cells taken during Lacks’ biopsy proved resistant, and never only survived but additionally multiplied, a previously unseen phenomenon. Intrigued by the rarity of Lacks’ genetic material, biologist and cancer researcher George Gey, who was collecting and studying cells from cancer patients in the hospital on the time, made the samples freely available to other global researchers.
Lacks’ cells, because the cells named “HeLa” (representing the primary two letters of her name) would prove to be the idea for future medical research and innovation. In the years because the tissue was collected, its cells have been used in research on the human genome, in the treatment of cancer and HIV/AIDS, and even in currently available vaccines against polio and Covid-19, Johns Hopkins reports. Yet for all their value in the medical world, for a long time Lacks received no recognition or any compensation for her surviving family; that’s, until researcher and writer Rebecca Skloot uncovered Lacks’ story and investigated, with John Hopkins’ input, the bioethical issues surrounding the unauthorized harvesting of her precious cells.
“At several points over these decades, we discovered that Johns Hopkins could have – and should have – done more to inform and engage with the family members of Henrietta Lacks out of respect for them, their privacy and their personal interests,” he added. the institution finally relentedcommitting to cement Lacks’ legacy along with her family. In 2013, Johns Hopkins partnered with the Lacks family and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to create contract based on consent for the use of Lack’s genetic material in NIH-funded research. Two members of the Lacks family currently serve on the committee, one of whom is Henrietta Lacks’ granddaughter, Jeri Lacks Whye, who attended Monday’s groundbreaking.
“While this building will bear her name, it will also provide a space for further research, learning and inspiration for future generations,” Lacks Whye said in a statement. “We appreciate more than the scientific contributions her cells have made possible. We also acknowledge the story of a Black woman who didn’t live to see the world her cells helped create – a story that has been hidden for too long. We hope this building will continue to shine a light on her legacy.”
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At Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony, Theodore DeWeese, dean of the college of medicine and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to just do that, stating: “Today just isn’t about these immortal cells, necessary as they’re. Today it’s about immortalizing the name of the girl from whom these cells come. The idea is that her name and unconscious role will all the time be remembered by all students, all residents, all other interns, management and staff entering the building that shall be built on this plot.
“(Henrietta Lacks) is undoubtedly one of the most important figures in science and medicine, and we truly hope that this building will be an important reflection on the importance of her life to this world,” DeWeese added.
Designed by Black architect Victor Vines The future building bearing Lacks’ name, situated on the Johns Hopkins campus in East Baltimore, shall be a 34,000-square-foot facility adjoining to the university’s Deering Hall, the longtime home of the Berman Institute of Bioethics. According to Johns Hopkins, the brand new building “will support multiple programs of the Berman Institute, Johns Hopkins University and the School of Medicine, and will house flexible programs and teaching space for educational, research and community use.”
“With the new building, the scope and depth of our work will expand,” said Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Berman Institute, adding, “and the dedication to Henrietta Lacks serves as an important reminder of the need for ethics, equity, responsible science, and community-engaged research.”
As for the inspiration behind the design, architect Vines described the concept as “veil-like (and) delicate, (yet) strong, bold and beautiful, which we thought this person was.” The building’s evocative features include “a grand staircase leading up through the building towards the sky, where I believe Henrietta Lacks is today,” added Vines, who collaborated with each Johns Hopkins and the Lacks family on the design concept.
For JaBrea Rodgers, Lacks’ great-granddaughter, this architectural tribute continues to disclose the complete significance of Lacks’ long-overlooked legacy. “Today we recognize not only her cells, but her humanity,” she said of the laying of the cornerstone. “My great-grandmother was a mother, wife and friend. While we cannot change the injustices of the past, we can make its legacy known and celebrated. As we look to the future of this building, may it be a symbol not only of scientific progress, but also of the continuing journey towards recognizing the humanity behind every discovery.”
Construction on the Henrietta Lacks Building at Johns Hopkins is anticipated to be accomplished in 2026.
Lifestyle
It’s official: Rihanna is for kids
Rihanna and her family are stepping into the vacation spirit. This week, the Fenty mogul released a brand new Savage x Fenty campaign featuring two special guests — her children, RZA and Riot Rose. Posing along with her two-year-old and 14-month-old sons, Rihanna showed off the brand’s latest Christmas rompers at Instagram.
“We are officially one of those families that fits the holidays,” she captioned the post.
Since giving birth to her sons, Rihanna has been using her motherly instinct in her works, expanding her collections to incorporate kid’s sizes and more. However, it is not only her children who participate in her latest projects.
Recently, while promoting the discharge of her latest Fenty x Puma Avanti sneaker colorway, the mother of two invited a handful of her favorite kids’ social media influencers for a special press conference.
During the special event, the Fenty tycoon conducted quite a few interviews and conversations with young people, during which he gave and received advice. In an interview with seven-year-old E! News correspondent Francesca, who expressed hope of becoming “the next Rihanna,” the star encouraged her to dream greater.
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“Oh no, you must be better than Rihanna. Rihanna? It’s late. Before you grow up, I’ll be vintage. “Antique,” she joked. “Aim for the celebrities. Don’t aim at me. Aim beyond me. You shall be incredible. I need (the following generation) to all the time be greater, higher, smarter and alter the world in ways we couldn’t.
Just because the star followed her sons’ example when designing her brand’s kid’s sneakers, she also learned self-confidence by talking to seven-year-old Miles “Relaxation therapy”. Admitting that she doesn’t all the time feel confident, Rihanna asked Miles to share his secret.
“Being kind and brave,” he said, adding that it is a balance of pondering and never pondering on a regular basis. “Just look at everything around you,” he advised within the cute clip. “Because then you can barely think because you are watching.”
Outside of her work within the Fenty universe, Rihanna, like all other mom, is attempting to juggle all of it — a lot in order that she admits Halloween took her by surprise this yr. Previously known for her extravagant Halloween costumes, she teased that her family will probably try to maintain a low profile this yr.
“(Halloween) consumed me very quickly,” she said Entertainment Tonight, revealing that she won’t be making lavish costumes this yr. “We won’t be making family costumes this yr.
“I chose the easiest costume: a ghost,” she added, holding her sons’ costumes near the vest in a moment where you possibly can discover with the mother. “I don’t want to say it because if Amazon doesn’t deliver, I’ll have to come up with something else.”
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