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As the US hits record high temperatures, some people are forced to choose between food and energy bills

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Climate change, record heat, U.S. climate change, U.S. record heat, heatwaves and economics, energy poverty, record heat and energy costs, energy costs, Stacey Freeman North Carolina, theGrio.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — During the heat dome that blanketed much of the Southeast in June, Stacey Freeman used window units to cool her poorly insulated mobile home in Fayetteville, N.C. The 44-year-old mom relied on space heaters during the winter.

In each cases, her energy bills bumped into tons of of dollars a month.

“Sometimes I have to choose whether to pay the electric bill,” Freeman said, “or pay all the rent, buy food, or not let my son play sports?”

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As a regional field organizer for PowerUp NC, Freeman’s job is to help people properly weatherize their homes, especially in the Sandhills region where she lives and works and where poverty and rising temperatures make residents vulnerable to the health effects of climate change.

But Freeman’s income is just too high to afford the services she helps others obtain through her grassroots initiative for sustainability, clean energy and environmental justice.

Like a growing variety of Americans, Freeman is battling what is named energy povertyincluding the inability to pay utility bills for heating or cooling the home. Households that spend greater than 6% Some researchers suggest that around 20% of their income from electricity bills goes to the energy poor.

Energy poverty can increase exposure to extreme heat or cold, which increases the risk of respiratory problems, heart problems, allergies, kidney disease and other health problems. And that burden falls disproportionately on households in communities of color, which experience it at a rate 60% higher than in white communities.

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Public health and environmental experts say that as climate change continues to drive extreme weather, greater policy efforts are needed to help vulnerable communities, especially during heatwaves.

“Energy poverty is just one example of how climate change can exacerbate existing inequities in our communities,” said Summer Tonizzo, spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Extreme heat is the leading explanation for weather-related deaths in the U.S., and the risk increases as temperatures rise. Last yr, 2,302 people died in the U.S. died of heat-related causeswhich is a 44% increase compared to 2021. In one week in early July this yr, extreme heat killed at the very least 28 people, according to The Washington Postbased on reports from government officials, health workers and local media reports.

Yet 1 in 7 households spends about 14% of their income on energy, according to RMI, an energy and sustainability think tank. Nationally 16% of households lives in energy poverty, according to an evaluation co-authored by Noah Kittner, an assistant professor of public health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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“Old, inefficient buildings and heating systems force people to supplement their energy needs in ways that increase costs,” Kittner said.

Pregnant women, people with heart or lung disease, young children, older people, and people who work or exercise outdoors are most vulnerable to heat-related health problems. High temperatures have also been linked to mental health problems, equivalent to suicide and severe depression.

Location is one other risk factor. For example, in the historically black community in Raleigh often called Method, temperatures might be 10 to 20 degrees warmer than nearby areas with more vegetation and less development, said La’Meshia Whittington, an environmental justice and clean energy advocate. Interstate 440 runs through Method, and the city stores shuttle buses there, often with their engines running.

“That creates a lot of pollution that heats the area,” Whittington said. “There’s no ground to absorb the heat. Instead, it bounces off the shingles, the roofs, the sidewalks, and creates a furnace.”

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Method residents often complain of chronic headaches and respiratory problems, she added.

While rural areas tend to have cooler temperatures than nearby urban areas because they’ve less asphalt and more trees, they often lack resources like health care facilities and cooling centers. Substandard housing and higher poverty rates contribute to high rates of heat-related illnesses.

As Ashley Ward, director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub at Duke University, puts it, energy poverty “is about burdens piling up without any means of addressing them at the individual level.”

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In many parts of the country, extreme heat is a comparatively latest problem. Policymakers have historically focused on the risks posed by lower temperatures.

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The federal low-income home energy assistance program, established greater than 4 a long time ago, has a funding formula that favors states with a chilly climate over those experiencing extreme heat, according to a Georgetown University study. Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Texas and Nevada have the lowest proportional allocations of federal funds, while North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska have the highest.

North Carolina relies heavily on private donors and local nonprofits like PowerUp to provide fans and air conditioners during the summer, but the state doesn’t subsidize energy bills.

On extremely hot days, Freeman and her colleagues at PowerUp NC work with state health officials to direct vulnerable people to cooling centers.

On a private level, staying cool this summer meant sending my son to a free, open-air recreation center as a substitute of paying for him to play in a sports league.

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“We do things that don’t cost anything,” she said. “We’re just trying to keep up with the electric bill.”


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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

Lifestyle

You should wear a sunscreen, even if you have darker skin. Here’s why

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People with darker skin still have to Wear a sunscreen – For more reasons than one.

Too many Ultraviolet exposure From the sun it will probably result in sunburn, dark spots and wrinkles and increased risk Skin cancer.

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Melanin in darker skin offers additional sun protection, but dermatologists say that this shouldn’t be enough.

“Everyone needs a sunscreen. But the reasons why you can reach for sunscreen may vary depending on the skin shade,” said Dr. Jenna Lester, who founded the skin clinic on the University of California in San Francisco.

Do darker people need sunscreen?

White individuals are generally more susceptible to skin cancer in comparison with black and Latin people. But in response to American Cancer Society, people will less often survive probably the most dangerous kind of skin cancer called melanoma.

Black patients more often get melanoma on their hands and feet – places which are more sheltered from the sun. Despite this, sunscreen is an extra protective layer that helps to forestall many other problems, including sunburn, pimples gears, rosacea and dark patches on the face.

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Dr. Oytewa Assempa from Baylor College of Medicine often reminds her of darker carvil patients: “all the problems you come are caused or deteriorated by the sun.”

How many sunscreen do colours need?

To keep safety within the sun, it’s important to grab a sunscreen with a sunscreen or SPF coefficient at the very least 30 and re -submitting the applying every two hours. People went to the pool or beach, they should first placed on a sunscreen, remembering about folding freely and after leaving the water.

Lester said that the majority people don’t wear enough sunscreen. Make sure it’s price two long fingers and robust stains to your body in your face.

Look for chemicals for sun filters to avoid white solid ash. Two key ingredients in mineral products-tin and oxide oxide-the offender of this unbearable discoloration on dark skin.

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The tinted sun filters contain pigments that block visible light from the sun, offering additional protection against dark spots. And wearing a hat or protective clothing within the sun with an ultraviolet protection factor or UPF assessment can provide an extra increase in safety.

Regardless of the sun protection routine, it’s important to maintain it, said Lester. Some UV rays can climb through the windows of the automobile and residential to wreck the sun, even when within the room, which makes it even more necessary when caring for the skin is shining.

“It’s about trying to make it a daily habit,” she said. “Consistency over intensity.”

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The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Science and Educational Group of the Medical Institute Howard Hughes and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP bears the only responsibility for all content.

Unended and unlimited skin care suppliers and products carry a unique risk for black and brown skin

(Tagstotransate) Skincare

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Students of the South University win a lot with a short document

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Southern University


Recently there have been students from Southern University and A&M College honored A short documentary film for his or her work.

Loren Sullivan, Verbon Muhammad, Sydney Cuillar, Ashley Lovelace and Eric White, referred to as “Dream Team”, received Emmy Sportowe HBCU in 2025 during a ceremony in New York in New York.

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“This is not just a win – this is a call to act in order to invest in art,” said Sullivan, a senior from Chino Hills, California, who focuses on mass communication.

Sullivan is a member of the Human Jukebox Media team. Other filmmakers are recent graduates of the South University. Cuillar, Lovelace and White are a former office of student media members, while Muhammad is a former member of the Human Jukebox Media team.

He emphasizes the heritage of the “Human Jukebox” school marching team and its impact on sport and athletics at historically black universities and universities (HBCU).

The document was submitted as an entry in the Emmy Awards as part of the National HBCU Sports Broadcasting HBCU HBCU SPONTH competition by Coca-Cola Company and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences foundation.

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Film creators said that they plan to create scholarships for college kids of the University in southern place and transfer part of the subsidy to the human cabinet cabinet and the Mass Communication Department of the South University.

The document can be available on YouTube later this summer.

The school also announced that the Southern University School of Nursing famous The largest class of doctoral students of nursing in its history. Twelve students obtained a doctoral degree in nursing practice (DNP), and two students received a doctorate. in nursing. A graduate Darryl Davis was the first man to win a doctorate under the DNP program.

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(Tagstranslate) Emmy Award (T) The Hidden Sport (T) Human Jukebox Marching Band (T) Southern University

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Tabitha Brown refers to negativity after he talked about the influence of the target boycott on black authors: “I pray for love to find you”

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Tabitha Brown will all the time be in favor of black authors, black corporations, content creators and creations, regardless of what haters can say.

After Backlash after she told about how the target boycott affects black authors on Tuesday, May 20, a 46-year-old web personality and the writer doubled her support of her peers in the film sent Instagram.

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“This is my prayer for you”, the founder of “Donny’s Reptipe” began in a movie, returned to all users flooding her comments and DM “uneducated” hate news.

“I pray for love to find you, true love. I pray that she finds you and keeps you tightly,” she continued. “I pray that somebody will love you sufficient to see you, see you whenever you do not feel good, see you whenever you need real support, to see you whenever you need sympathy to see you whenever you need kindness. I pray that somebody loves you sufficient to sacrifice your life.

In the video signature, Vegan influence on food explained that he was not withdrawing from his support in the near future.

“There is no hatred and ignorance that will stop me from using my platform and voice to support and raise small companies, black companies, black content creators, black authors,” said. “Take it with God because he gave me my voice, blessed me with a platform and I’m going to use it.”

Earlier on the same day, Brown devoted a moment to share an insight into how the destination boycott, began at the end of January after the retailer announced that he would withdraw the DEI initiative, influenced some of her peers. In the filmShe noticed that she had just received a plaque from the New York Times bestsellers on the occasion of her kid’s book “Hello Im, Sunshine”, and made her think about other black authors who try to move the titles from the shelves at the Big Box seller.

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“Target is a huge seller of books that sells our books, so because of the boycott, many books of our black authors did not sell well, because people did not buy books because they are sold in target,” explained Brown. “This influenced their sale. This affected their ability to be on the New York Times bestseller list. But the bigger problem is that it also affects the next contract.”

Although she noticed that she wanted boycotters to be “attentive” on the impact of not shopping in Target, she also encouraged people to support black authors through other channels “because if not, they may not display their number.”

She also turned to publishers, calling them not to consider selling the last five months for the “truth” of these authors.

“These numbers do not reflect … their truth,” said the actress. “They are talented writers with beautiful stories and they have something that they did not do on them.”

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When a boycott began for the first time, Brown was one of the first to defend black corporations. In January she received a bottle when she called for consumers to consider black corporations and black authors, trying to send a message to the seller.

In his film on Tuesday, Brown updates the followers of a boycott, saying that “he prays that it has soon ended and we receive resolution.”

A member of the cast

(Tagstranslate) Tabitha Brown

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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