More than 75 artists will gather in Oakland October 3-5 to address issues that disproportionately affect Black women.

The Black Tulip Culture Week is a three-day event where artists from various mediums will use their talents to advocate for social change for Black women. They will discuss topics equivalent to domestic violence, sex trafficking, high maternal mortality, and police brutality.

“It’s really about affirming our lives and also demanding cultural change,” said Anyka Howard, founder Betti Ono Foundationorganization sponsoring the event, he told KQED. “We want to reclaim this public space and bring in an energetic force that will not accept or tolerate these conditions, especially in Oakland, especially in the Bay Area.”

Ono will have a booth on the corner of Telegraph Ave and twenty third Street on October 4 throughout the fair First Friday Street Fair. He works with the (*70*) Youth Clinic in Oakland, which provides young individuals with free health services and meals, and with the SHADE movement, which helps victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence.

The event will end at a day of performances and workshops on Lake Merritt. R&B artist and activist Dawn Richard, who recently became famous filing a lawsuit The primary event will be a match against P. Diddy.

Some artists have direct experiences with gender-based violence. Artist Jada Imani became an anti-violence advocate after her best friend, interdisciplinary artist Zoe Reidy Watts, was murdered earlier this yr, allegedly by her boyfriend. Not only did Imani organize a mural in honor of Reidy Watts, but she can be making a community garden dedicated to her friend.

The Betti Ono Foundation also goals to rally support for a statewide version of this system Black Women and Girls Protection Act. Illinois Congresswoman Robin Kelly introduced this bill in the House of Representatives earlier this yr. If passed, the bill would create a task force to examine the disparities black women face in education, economic development, health care, employment, housing, justice and civil rights.

Maud Alcorn, Betti Ono’s arts and cultural projects manager, said constructing community, particularly in Oakland, is important to achieving her goals.

“That’s the most important part, that it’s not just Black women and girls who say, ‘Hey, our lives have value and they’re worth fighting for, they’re worth protecting.’ It is also about our allies being present and saying the same.” Alcorn said in an interview with KQED.

American travelers it’s going to be possible to renew soon their passports online.

The U.S. Department of State announced on Sept. 18 that a brand new system will likely be implemented that may bypass an outdated method that required passport holders to print a form and mail a check. In a press release, the agency said the brand new method will likely be more efficient. “By offering this online alternative to the traditional paper application process, the Department is embracing digital transformation to provide the most efficient and convenient passport renewal experience possible,” the statement reads.

“Thanks to increased staffing, technological advances and many other improvements, the average routine passport is now processed in about one-third of the time it took at this time last summer, and significantly less than the six to eight weeks announced.”

The public beta version of the brand new process was released in June 2024 and is on the market 24/7. For now, nevertheless, only adults and residents of a U.S. state or territory will give you the option to renew their passports online.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, staffing shortages led to long wait times for passport renewals, so long as 18 weeks as demand fell. In 2023, as travel restrictions eased, demand surged and strained the system much more. It wasn’t until late 2023 that the department announced processing times had returned to normal. Agency data revealed that 48% of Americans had passports in 2023, up from 5% in 1990.

According to Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter the means of for Americans living abroad, those trying to renew a second passport and passports for youngsters. “This won’t be the last thing we do,” she said.

“We want to see how this plays out and then we’ll start looking at ways to make this service available to more American citizens in the coming months and years.”

She said that whatever the recent process, processing times are still expected to be six to eight weeks. “The advantage of renewing your passport online is that it’s a more convenient service,” Bitter said. “We don’t expect the standard of service to be different for people who apply online than for people who apply by mail. We just want to make sure we give Americans the choice to do both.”

Travelers will still need to pay to renew their passports via a secure websiteThe $130 fee will remain in place.

A brand new study has found that travel has positive effects on physical and mental health, considered one of which is delaying the aging process.

Applying entropy theory to tourism, researchers at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia have found that tourist activities comparable to exercise and leisure help the body decelerate aging. According to an ECU press release, entropy is “the general trend of the universe to death and disorder.”

“(Aging) as a process is irreversible. Although it cannot be stopped, it can be slowed down,” said ECU doctoral candidate Fangli Hu. The entropy perspective sees positive tourism experiences as a possible method to mitigate the increase in entropy and improve health. “Tourism is not just about rest and recreation. It can also contribute to people’s physical and mental health,” Hu added. Wellness, health and yoga tourism have potential health advantages, comparable to boosting metabolism, energy and immune function through exposure to latest environments, positive social interactions, leisure and physical activities comparable to mountaineering, climbing, walking and cycling.

Tourism offers travelers the opportunity to have interaction in physical activity, which ECU researchers have found improves blood circulation, hastens the transport of nutrients and helps eliminate waste. Positive travel experiences might help the body maintain a low-entropy state, influence its self-organizing abilities and improve its ability to defend itself against external threats. “In simple terms, the self-defense system becomes more resilient,” Hu said. “Hormones that promote tissue repair and regeneration can be released and promote the functioning of the self-healing system.”

Leisure travel was found to potentially “help alleviate chronic stress,” which 2021 researchers said contributed to the rapid aging of black people resulting from aspects comparable to societal adversity and racial discrimination. The study, published in also linked depression to the rate of biological aging in black people.

Hu considered recreation as a way that advantages the bones, releases tension and fatigue in muscles and joints, and supports the body’s anti-wear system. These aspects help organs and tissues remain in a state of low entropy.