In Los Angeles, Akua Shabaka and her mother Rebecca Henry take part in a video call. They are similarly illuminated by light from the window, although they connect from different locations: Henry sits in his studio, while Shabaka appears on screen from a comfy alcove. They have matching sets of warm eyes. The two have been skilled partners in the development of their heritage brand, House of Aama, for nearly 10 years. Beyond their familial bond, the duo shares purposefulness of their sartorial practice – they create materiality for undervalued Americana.
House of Aama is Henry and Shabaka’s lifestyle storytelling brand; her fall/winter 2024 collection was shown in February during New York Fashion Week. During the celebrated show, designers and co-creative directors unveiled greater than 30 recent creations in an intimate presentation at a downtown jazz club honoring their Los Angeles and hometown roots.
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“Over the last two collections, we have really entered the world of my paternal heritage,” Shabaka reflects. She is referring to her father and Henry’s late husband, Jamaiel Shabaka – a prolific avant-jazz horn player who died in 2021. This latest period in the history of the House of Aama may be very much rooted in the family heritage of arts and crafts, and even sheds light on the fusionist Pan-African ethos that brought Henry and her husband together.
, released in 1988, is considered one of the elder Shabaka’s most continuously referenced works. The highly improvised album combines traditional woodwind jazz musicality with Yoruba and other Afro-Cuban sounds, transforming an already culturally reflective genre into something much more dynamic. This source music reflects the textiles that inspired mother and daughter to take a cohesive approach to design. “I have always been someone who combined materials – new and vintage, as well as heirlooms with things I made myself,” says Henry, explaining how she continued the cycle of appreciating the family’s artistic heritage through clothes and their construction.
Isaiah from Texas
House of Aama, especially in its earliest collections, drew on the post-war history of the Henry family and mystical tales of the southern United States. “The association with crafts comes from the fact that both of my parents are Southerners,” Henry says. “My father is from South Carolina, my mother is from Louisiana, and I was in those places a lot of the time as a child. My grandfather had a farm in Shreveport, Louisiana, and my cousins from Detroit would meet us there every summer.” During these childhood exchanges, Henry observed her family’s sewing traditions, watching her mother and aunts go to fabric stores and hand-create their summer wardrobes. “It was important that you could express yourself with something you created yourself,” he says.
This practical legacy is tied to Henry’s understanding of southernness and black culture on a visceral level. She carried it together with her as she grew up and later settled in Los Angeles, where she practiced law for a few years and raised her daughter. As the younger Shabaka got here of age, she clung closely to her maternal lineage in Louisiana and coastal Carolina, along together with her father’s Los Angeles and Caribbean roots. Jamaiel Shabaka’s skilled journey as a jazz artist, DJ and educator has been his own cultural memory practice, engaging a variety of African-Cuban musical traditions across multiple instruments. A longtime Los Angeles family, the Shabakas retain their ties to the Compton, Watts and Long Beach communities to this present day.
Isaiah from Texas
Inspired by the creative influence of her parents, Shabaka began her own work, delving into physical and oratorical archives reflecting her heritage. Recently, her family’s participation in the creation of a novel piece of jazz history in Los Angeles became the inspiration from which the House of Aama collection for fall/winter 2024 was born.
Tasked with finding recent ways to attach with heritage, Henry and Shabaka followed the stories that got here to them organically – including the thread of Jamaiel Shabaka’s walking patterns in Leimert Park and Central Avenue. After inheriting and exploring her father’s archives, Shabaka discovered the depth of a neighborhood art movement that has global resonance – not only in the music world, but additionally in her and her mother’s work today. “We landed on the Free Jazz movement,” Henry says. “The Ornette Coleman and Billy Higgins that I knew were the stories that were presented to us, so we really took stock of everything and focused on that particular piece of jazz history in Los Angeles.”
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Isaiah from Texas
The Free Jazz movement emerged in the avant-garde Nineteen Fifties and developed right into a dynamic mental revolution at the end of the twentieth century. Closely tied to the anti-war and Black Power consciousness of the time, this musical reframing celebrated collective improvisation and non-traditional forms to push the boundaries of what was considered jazz. Many of the period’s luminaries, who were themselves friends and mentors of the late Mr. Shabaka, formed a community during jam sessions, rehearsals and performances in the historic cultural centers of Black Los Angeles in the Watts and Leimert Park neighborhoods.
“Between the previous collection and the current collection, I spent a lot of time talking to many of my family members who were very active at the time,” Shabaka recalls. She notes how her aunts made her aware of her family’s connections to this prolific movement, and thru the accompanying study of archival photos, she was capable of imagine what this era meant to her parents’ past and her artistic present. “Discovering music and understanding the spirituality of it was really interesting – understanding the desire at the time for Black people to really look at themselves beyond their current situation, and using music as a way to achieve that,” he says. By allowing herself to be guided by history, she inadvertently tapped into the same creative expansion that had guided her paternal family for generations.
Isaiah from Texas
During the fall/winter 2024 presentation, titled “Sun Records,” viewers were treated to quite a lot of shades that reflect the light and heat of this era. Kaftans and semi-sheer maxi dresses moved along the sidewalk, immediately brightening the dimly lit venue. These pieces, in various shades of gold, orange and royal blue, energized everyone present on that dreary February day. For some time, the energy of Nineteen Seventies Los Angeles was in the basement of New York.
House of Aama, as a narrative-oriented label, creates collections based on the consistency of the narrative from previous seasons. The sources of inspiration – family history and the journeys of Black Americans – are vast and at all times ready for a brand new look, as evidenced by subsequent brand launches. The 2017 release “Bloodroot” spawned one other, after which one other, line evoking the poetry of African-American folklore: incl. “Salt Water” for spring/summer 2022 and the “Parable” capsule for 2023. In each version, Henry and Shabaka discover a historical place of kinship and reimagine it with a surreal, contemporary twist. In 2021, the couple arrived at “Camp Aama,” a reimagining of a sun-drenched community gathering place with a classic summer camp aesthetic. It is an ode to Black freedom, set in a mythical resort, that emerges from the latest collection and can likely be visually developed in future clothing releases.
Isaiah from Texas
The work of designers constructing a socio-political narrative through clothing may be in comparison with the work of Black femme visual artists working in other media. Julie Dash’s groundbreaking film similarly uses fashion and adornment as modes of subversive cultural identity, dressing historically inspired characters in their very own specific context of black heritage in the South Carolina Sea Islands. This screen world, much like the one which viewers enter in House of Aama presentations, reconciles multi-layered stories with almost utopian ideals of identity, memory and tradition. Many of the pieces capture the haunting charm and poetic melancholy of a past when generations of black families were often at home and least protected.
In the 2017 “Bloodroot” collection, Edwardian blouses with high, lace-trimmed necklines and delicate satin buttons check with the neo-Gothic image of the black south. It is historical in nature, but thematically current. The collection was released in a 12 months of racial tensions in America, heightened by the inflammatory whistles of the then-president. The same fall that the collection was released, a crowd of white nationalists fearing the lie of the “Great Replacement” gathered at the Confederate monument in Charlottesville, Virginia, singing a version of “Dixie” and chanting “Blood and Soil.” At the same time, the focused mother and daughter created their works with no considered hatred, as a substitute embodying the spirit of cultural triumph that the antagonists feared most.
Isaiah from Texas
In an interview Shabaka gave to the now-defunct British publication for girls and non-binary people of color, she expressed the relevance and thematic focus of the work, which was widely praised for its liberal use of color and seamless mix of traditional craftsmanship with contemporary aesthetics. “Blood root is a rare herb used by ancient magicians and root makers as a powerful guardian of the family,” Niellah Arboine explained to the author.
Like jazz itself, Rebecca Henry, Akua Shabaka, and House of Aama are children of the same meditation on expansive Black connectivity, pursuing a body of labor that may withstand an unknown future. The brand’s pieces offer insight into Shabaka and Henry’s family tree and the designers’ countercultural engagement with African American aesthetic practice and American heritage branding. As for the future, Shabaka and Henry proceed to speak with one another, expressing intentions and vision in a way that only a mother and daughter can truly understand. As designers, each of them follows in the footsteps of a deep family mission, similar to their moms and dads before them.
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This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
As the very best within the country, the healthcare agency, CDC goals to save lots of lives and protect people from health threats through critical scientific research and health information. However, as NPR notes, communication with the audience on its platforms died down or was not recurrently updated, as before.
“It works best when his experts can convey the work they do in real time, and this does not happen,” said Kevin Griffis, former communication director at CDC until March.
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He says that people’s lives could be threatened without critical health updates.
Which has modified to CDC
Before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, CDC managed most of her communication through social media platforms and newsletters. The staff communicated health messages every single day, weekly, monthly and quarterly via their network of 150 Bulletins on topics, including diabetes and food safety.
After the inauguration of President Trump, the Department of Health and Social Welfare, who supervises CDC, instructed CDC to vary his communication. Trump The administration sent directives to HHS, which stopped communication At the National Institutes of Health, FDA and CDC until further notice, reports.
As Americans, the change in CDC in health warnings affects
Social media is considered one of the fastest and effective ways to disseminate CDC information. Doctors, scientists and researchers could quickly update the platforms. CDC has over 13 million people on Instagram, X, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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ACLeading to the NPR study, some publications that died down include CDC and a weekly publication on diseases. This is among the many historical growth of the Oder in some parts of the USA, Salmonella, Listeria and Viral Inflammation A and C.
The approval of HHS is currently a requirement for publishingBut CDC employees told investigators that the health department officials didn’t accept their content Social media.
However, the communication director at HHS Andrew Nixon says that CDC staff spread false rumors.
Looking on the CDC social media account, Last post on the foremost Facebook The page is a reel with germs and humidifiers on March 31 on the time of this report.
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In the last post of May 14, preliminary data showing a decrease in overdose deaths in 2023–2024 was discussed. Post previously responded to the message of May 3 on inaccurate reports.
(Tagstranslate) Centers for control and prevention of diseases (T) CDC (T) Department of Health and Social Welfare
This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
Do you think you are too late to build wealth? This is why your 40th is actually the perfect time – essence
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13 hours ago
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May 24, 2025
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Portrait of a stupendous and trendy young woman on a white background
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For many ladies, achieving a 40-yr-old character is a key moment.
Career stability is often in place, life is in full bloom, and the vision of the next many years begins to crystallize. But for many who haven’t yet began saving for retirement, the same milestone could cause a distinct feeling – a shade. Racquel Oden, head of property management at HSBC USA, is determined to dismantle the myth that it is too late to start constructing wealth.
“The biggest barrier is the fear of starting and the feeling that it is too late,” divides Oden. “I am always clear with everyone – there is no such thing. It is never too late to start thinking about financial health, breath and investing.”
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Confrontation with fear and variability
Traveling towards financial security is often affected by fear – especially in the climate of economic variability. Inflation, changing markets and an unpredictable global economy could make the idea of investing more discouraging than ever. Oden recognizes these reality, but encourages women to confront them.
“Regardless of whether you are in the 1920s, 1930s, 40 or even the 50s, we all feel the same uncertainty,” he explains. “At the moment, many people are paralyzed – they are doing nothing because they do not know what to do. But it’s time to get involved and not reverse. When such an active administration introduces changes every day, it is important to remain active in their investments.”
Instead of avoiding market fluctuations, Oden encourages women to accept financial knowledge as a tool to strengthen. “Understanding how your money works is the first step to grow it,” he insists. “The variability we see is not a reason to resign – this is a reason to resist and learn.”
Building wealth, not only reading skills
Under the leadership of ODEN HSBC, USA focuses on raising financial knowledge amongst women and colourful communities, but he wants to focus outside of education and creating tangible wealth. Through initiatives corresponding to Workshops on the aspiration of wealth, HSBC USA equips women with the ability to build generational wealth.
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“We only need to bypass the ability to read and go towards creating wealth,” emphasizes Oden. “It is not enough to understand what a check account is – you need to know how to earn your money.”
Oden suggests that considered one of the fundamental steps is simply starting. Regardless of whether it is 401 (K), Roth IRA, or diverse investments in shares and everlasting income, the key is to engage in financial planning. “Many women think:” I haven’t got enough to hire a wealth advisor, “but that’s not true. It is about obtaining the right advice, not necessarily having millions in the bank, “he confirms.
Oden also emphasizes the strength of building clear financial goals. “Financial literary without a plan is just information,” he explains. “What are you building? House? Comfortable pension? Set the goal to make your investments a goal.”
Intelligent investments for late starters
In the case of ladies starting their financial travels at the age of 40, Oden recommends low -risk investments that also offer a solid return. “Treasuries now have a good return. Gold is extremely popular, and hedge funds can be intelligent arts,” he advises. “You want to separate your long -term needs from short -term and make sure that your money is still working for you, even if you are just starting.”
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He also emphasizes the importance of remaining in the market despite its variability, citing that many individuals will paralyze fear. “If you withdrew, you would miss the fact that he literally returned to the place where he was – slightly above. Stay on the course with what you have.”
According to Oden, the 40s. They are also a really perfect time for looking for skilled financial advice. “Because you have a shorter window – maybe 10, 15 or 20 years – it is important to get professional tips. It also receives anxiety related to thinking, you need to know everything about investments. That is what a financial planner is for.”
Heritage constructing: why does it matter
Oden also wants women to understand that constructing wealth is not just for individual safety – it is about heritage. “When you take control of your finances, you not only influence your life. You establish a standard for your children, communities and generations,” he says. “We need more black women building wealth, not only for today, but for the future.”
Looking into the future, definitely
Despite the challenges, Oden believes that girls aged 40 are in a perfect position to take control of their financial future. “You are not too late. The best time to start was yesterday. The next best time is today,” he insists.
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Thanks to strategic planning, reasonable investments and the right suggestions, constructing wealth after 40 is not only possible – this is powerful. “Wealth is not just about money; it is about freedom,” sums up Oden. “And every woman deserves it.”
This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
Walking is one of the most important things that we do for our quality of life. In fact, Research shows It contributes greater than another physical activity in how well we live overnight. Already one in three People over the age of 60 report some difficulties in walking.
With age, gradual changes in our bodies and health can change the way I walk, often without realizing. But the way we go, known as our gait pattern, is more important than we might sound. Poor gait not only makes walking harder and more tiring; It can result in joint deformation, instability and greater risk of falls.
Think about your walk like a heart rhythm. Like electrocardiogram (EKG) shows whether your heart works properly, your walk also has a rhythm. When this rhythm is turned off, it will be one of the earliest signs that you’ll not age as well as you’ll be able to.
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Thanks New technologyWe can now easier and thoroughly measure the quality of gait. One promising tool is Heel2toe wearing sensor. This small device attaches to the shoe and follows the movement of the ankle while walking, grabbing the series of gait in real time.
A healthy step begins with a heavy heel impact. Your weight moves on the sole of the foot, ending with pushing out of your toes. When the foot rises, it changes cleanly – without dragging or drawing. This smooth sequence creates a rhythm in the movement of the ankle, which, when it is coherent, resembles the type of “walking ECG”.
Weak gait reduces confidenceIt increases the risk of falling and might discourage people from walking in any respect. The less we walk, the weaker our muscles turn out to be – deterioration of the problem. This is a flawed cycle.
The Heel2toe sensor not only monitors your movements – that is also Encourages higher walking. When he detects a superb step (the one which starts with a heavy heel impact), provides audio guidance as positive feedback. Over time, the following pointers help discover a stronger, more stable walking pattern. Good gait becomes your latest norm. Tools such as Heel2toe help people tune in to their body signals and achieve sustainable progress.
The goal is not only to maneuver – it’s higher.
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Of course, being physically energetic is Only one aspect What does it mean to live well as you aged.
To get a more complete picture of healthy aging Researchers have developed A tool that measures how often older adults experience key facets of well -being. This tool – a tan measure (elderly people to energetic life) – goes beyond tracking what people do. He asks how they feel about their lives.
Opal may help people understand their very own well -being and offers decision -makers and communities a option to assess how their services support older residents – not only physically, but in addition socially and emotionally.
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For people, which means that even small improvements, such as higher gait, can result in significant changes in how you’re feeling: more confident, more mobile and more independent.
For the community, it is a reminder that promoting physical activity is important – but insufficient. We also need programs, spaces and services that support the combination, goal, creativity and joy.
What does “active life” really mean?
IN International study 2024Older adults in Canada, Great Britain, the USA and the Netherlands shared, which suggests “active life” for them – in 4 languages and cultural contexts.
They identified 17 different “ways of being” that contribute to activity. Physical health was just one part. Others included the feeling: self -confidence, combined, creative, energized, encouraged, engaged, glad, mentally healthy, independent, interested, mentally, motivated, resistant and self -sufficient.
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In other words, energetic life is not only taking (or counting) steps, it’s about how you’re feeling while taking them.
Aging is inevitable. But is getting old well? This is something that we are able to shape – step-by-step.
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This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
