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At Stagecoach, Black Country artists have their say

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INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 27: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Tanner Adell performs on the T-Mobile Mane Stage in the course of the Stagecoach 2024 Festival on the Empire Polo Club on April 27, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Stagecoach)

Come to your senses, yes. Over the weekend, Stagecoach, California’s largest country music festival, showcased one in all its most diverse lineups since its inception, with nine black bands performing over three days. This weekend, Essence kept its feet on the bottom, meeting with six artists, each of whom stated in their own way: Country music is for everybody but Black people.

Tanner Adell, Leon Bridges, Miko Marks, Willie Jones, Brittney Spencer, The War and Treaty, RVSHVD, Shaboozey and even Wiz Khalifa graced Stagecoach 2024 with their own sets for the primary time. This wave of “newness” brought electrifying energy to the stages of Stagecoach; “back to” the country, as Michael Trotter Jr. put it. from The War and Treaty.

Stagecoach was never on my radar regardless that I lived in California – that’s, until I saw this yr’s lineup. While on the festival grounds, I experienced some not-so-friendly encounters, politically coded chants, and comments stemming from an exotic fascination (everyone knows the type), all of which were to be expected on this territory. But I also experienced many beautiful moments that showed how diverse, collective and friendly the Country space is. Black festival-goers looked as if it would naturally gravitate towards one another, and one North Carolinian spotted me in the group and shared how, after a decade of attending Stagecoach, he was overjoyed to see more of our community embrace a genre where we have long roots.

At Stagecoach, Black Country artists have their say
INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter of The War and Treaty perform in the course of the Stagecoach 2024 Festival on the Empire Polo Club on April 28, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo: Timothy Norris/Getty Images for Stagecoach)

For an artist like Willie Jones, welcoming and supporting artists from the Black Country “is a dream come true” and leaves him wanting much more for the collective. During the conversation, each artist pointedly named the opposite, singing one another’s praises and showing real-time support for their small community. From Randy Savvy and Compton Cowboys spreading awareness of black cowboy culture amongst Marks and sharing how the Bill Pickett Rodeo gave her her first platform, so many features of black country culture got here together to uplift one another.

The mutual feeling expressed by each performer can only be described as elation. For Spencer, being embraced on stage for her artistry was “empowering [to see] the future of country music will create space for different types of people.”

The Stagecoach platform provides a chance to attach with country fans and show them that “we are here,” as Shaboozey enthuses. They delve into what it’s prefer to perform for an audience that does not all the time reflect them physically. Some express occasional discomfort, while others describe their goal to create a universal experience through music that transcends physical identity. Spencer emphasizes that as Black people, “we listen to music where we see ourselves,” and reflects the interests of the collective, which goals to indicate the community that this too may be possible in country music. Trotter states, “we don’t just want [the Black community] at our shows, we are there.”

At Stagecoach, Black Country artists have their say
INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Singer Willie Jones performs on stage on day three of the Stagecoach Festival on the Empire Polo Club on April 28, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Stagecoach)

Adell focuses on creating an authentic space for her audience: “I want to perform in a way that I don’t have to [explain] why I did something,” she confirms, referring to her decisions of wearing Bantu knots on the CMT Awards or highlighting Harbin sisters, six black girls to bounce together with her on the Stagecoach stage. “I did it because the people who need to see it, if you know, you know and they knew. And if you didn’t, then it wasn’t news for you. Her stagecoach performance had taken place earlier in the day and was still met with the most spirited crowd, “that just says a lot about [the presence of] the Black community.” She goes on to say, “It’s harder for independent women to break through in country music, let alone women of color. I am grateful for our community.”

Reclaiming an area long defined by homogeneous gatekeepers may be exhausting, as Marks highlights in an interview following a decade-long hiatus from the genre. “I used to be just devastated because Nashville and the industry weren’t accepting of it. They loved the music, but they didn’t like me and the way in which I presented it. As a “seasoned” figure within the genre, she talks about how beautiful her comeback was, how she’s evolved since then, and reflects on the present era of country music. While she’s grateful for the increased focus they’re currently experiencing (thanks Cowboy Carter!), she also wants Black artists to be respected for the work they’ve put in.

Current graduates discuss what they took away from the collaboration and where they’re headed. Jones appreciates the organization put into the creative process, Adell has learned the art of exercising some patience in her work, and Spencer emphatically states that she has learned to “belong.” Among other things, Beyoncé showed how versatile black musicians bring to the genre after they will not be closed off to themselves.

At Stagecoach, Black Country artists have their say
INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 27: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Tanner Adell performs on the T-Mobile Mane Stage in the course of the Stagecoach 2024 Festival on the Empire Polo Club on April 27, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Stagecoach)

Navigating the spaces where others attempt to stop him, Willie Jones finds that he simply “doesn’t give a damn.” Jones is refreshingly himself in every room he enters, and that was immediately apparent when he sat down on the table with Essence. He talks about his love for what he calls “cultured country,” talks about his excitement for what Black musicians bring to the table, and ignores closed minds.

“Music has no boundaries. I’m doing this for the ancestors, for Shreveport, Louisiana,” Joes says. His music is heavily influenced by classic country sounds as well as southern hip-hop. While this gives it an enticing sound that anyone can enjoy, Jones also wanted Essence readers to know that it is actually “for the gworls.”

The War and the Treaty describes how they face the obstacles put in front of them and it comes all the way down to this: love, unity and discernment. Their love for music, vocation and one another is beyond enjoyable. Tanya Trotter, one half of the facility duo, explains what the industry tried to do to surround her as she transitioned from R&B to country music. “I wanted to do something different,” she explains, and one in all her only examples of black women on this space is Tracy Chapman, emphasizing the importance of being steadfast in yourself and your purpose.

At Stagecoach, Black Country artists have their say
INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Tanya Trotter of The War and Treaty performs in the course of the 2024 Stagecoach Festival on the Empire Polo Club on April 28, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo: Timothy Norris/Getty Images for Stagecoach)

She highlights the broader industry’s tendency to label all black artists as R&B and points to Baltimore native Brittney Spencer, who clearly positions herself as a rustic artist. “It’s beautiful and challenging,” Spencer assures. Black artists are sometimes burdened with additional pressures or labels as a result of a racial identity that is totally out of their control. Where they need to have the option to precise art without having a lot influence through the lens of their identity, that does not occur, especially in country music. On the opposite hand, this very identity shapes and refines the art they create.

The Trotters discuss the connectedness rooted within the Black musical tradition: “Without the blues, there isn’t a country music; blues without jazz and folk; and you will not get it without the gospel and Negro spirits. I believe re-education and deconstruction are essential. We must stop pondering it is not for us. Marks adds that he wants black audiences “to know that country music is part of our heritage and our essence, so move forward knowing that your roots are rooted in this music.”

Many of those artists aren’t any strangers to combining genres. From the aforementioned genres to hip hop and Americana, their masterful versatility sets them aside from the group while connecting them to the broader black music tradition. As Miko Marks herself describes: “the basis of everything I do is black music. That is, country, gospel, R&B, bluegrass, jazz, because we are the foundation of what was created. I don’t believe in being bound by a genre.”

At Stagecoach, Black Country artists have their say
INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Singer Shaboozey performs on stage during day three of the Stagecoach Festival on the Empire Polo Club on April 28, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Stagecoach)

Shaboozey shares similar sentiments: “I’ve lived through so many eras,” he tells the audience on his set, “but [the support] means so much to me.” He develops broader diaspora connections, akin to the banjo’s origins in West Africa and the way that history influenced his own creative process. He attributes his ability to organically mix eclectic taste and sound to his Nigerian and Southern identity. “African music and country music are world music. It’s about sharing stories. [My identities] Let me see the beauty and culture in everything around me.” After a decade of natural development, Shaboozey’s powerful voice has brought him up to now.

If Stagecoach’s response to those black musicians is any indication of where the industry is heading, the long run looks brighter. Tanner Adell she decided to have fans running across the fields to arrange her set, War and treatysoulful voices filled the campsites and took us to church that Sunday afternoon Brittney SpencerThe artist’s raw talent and sensitivity made all her listeners feel like a “housewife” when she sang.

Willie Joneswealthy personality and voice shone through in his full of life performance on the Mane stage, Shaboozeythe surprise performance met with a packed house, RVSHVD’s vibrant, multi-generational audience sang along to each lyric, and Leon Bridges he couldn’t say a word without the audience erupting each time. Compton Cowboys contributed to this atmosphere by providing cultural lessons and Q&A chats for anyone thinking about the wealthy cultural history of the Black West.

At Stagecoach, Black Country artists have their say
INDIO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 28: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Singer Shaboozey performs on stage during day three of the Stagecoach Festival on the Empire Polo Club on April 28, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images for Stagecoach)

You can safely say: Yee-Hawa Program is fully valid. For those of you who have not taken up the challenge yet, or are only beginning to dip your toe within the water, this incredible line-up of Black Country stars is an amazing start. This is not Texas – it’s Stagecoach, but we’re here.


This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

How light can change your mood and mental health

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It’s spring and you’ve got probably noticed a change within the sunrise and sunset times. But have you furthermore mght noticed a change in your mood?

We have known for a very long time that light affects our well-being. Many of us feel more positive when spring returns.

But for others, big changes in light, similar to originally of spring, can be difficult. For many, shiny light at night can be an issue. Here’s what’s happening.

An ancient rhythm of light and mood

In an earlier article in our series, we learned that light shining into the back of the attention sends “time signals”to the brain and the master clock of the circadian system. This clock coordinates our circadian rhythm.

“Clock genes” also regulate circadian rhythms. These genes control the timing of many other genes activate and off in a 24-hour light-dark cycle.

But how is all this related to our mood and mental health?

Circadian rhythms could also be disrupted. This can occur if there are problems with the event or functioning of the body clock, or if someone is usually exposed to shiny light at night.

When circadian rhythms are disrupted, it increases the chance of some mental disorders. They belong to them bipolar disorder AND atypical depression (a variety of depression where someone is amazingly sleepy and has problems with energy and metabolism).

Light for the brain

Light can also affect circuits within the brain that control mood, like animal studies show.

There is evidence that this happens in humans. A brain imaging study showed exposure to shiny light throughout the day while contained in the scanner modified the activity the world of ​​the brain chargeable for mood and alertness.

Another brain imaging study found the connection between every day exposure to sunlight and the best way the neurotransmitter (or chemical messenger) serotonin binds to receptors within the brain. In several cases, we observe changes in serotonin binding mental disordersincluding depression.

Our mood can improve in sunlight for a lot of reasons related to our genes, brain and hormones.
New Africa/Shutterstock

What happens when the seasons change?

Light can also affect mood and mental health because the seasons change. In autumn and winter, symptoms similar to low mood and fatigue may appear. However, these symptoms often disappear with the arrival of spring and summer. This is known as “seasonality” or, when severe, “seasonal affective disorder“.

What is less known is that for others, the transition to spring and summer (when there may be light) can also include changes in mood and mental health. Some people experience a rise in energy and willingness to be energetic. For some that is positive, for others it can be seriously destabilizing. This can be an example of seasonality.

Most people they usually are not very seasonal. But for many who are, seasonality matters genetic component. Relatives of individuals with seasonal affective disorder are also more prone to experience seasonality.

Seasonality can be more common in conditions similar to bipolar disorder. For many individuals affected by such conditions, the change in day length throughout the winter can trigger a depressive episode.

Counterintuitively, longer days in spring and summer can also destabilize individuals with bipolar disorder in “activated” is a condition during which energy and activity are in excess and symptoms are harder to regulate. Seasonality can due to this fact be serious.

Alexis Hutcheon, who experiences seasonality and helped write this text, told us:

(…) the change of season is like preparing for a battle – I never know what is going to occur, and I rarely emerge unscathed. I’ve experienced each hypomanic and depressive episodes brought on by the change of season, but whether I’m up or down, the one constant is that I can’t sleep. To cope, I attempt to persist with a strict routine, adjust my medications, maximize light exposure, and at all times concentrate to subtle mood changes. This is a time of increased awareness and the need to be one step ahead.

So what happens within the brain?

One explanation for what happens within the brain when mental health changes with the seasons involves the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.

Serotonin helps regulate mood and is the goal many antidepressants. There is a few evidence of seasonal changes in serotonin levels, which could also be lower IN Winter.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in reward, motivation and movement, and for some it is usually a goal antidepressants. Dopamine levels may additionally fluctuate with seasons.

However, the neuroscience of seasonality is an emerging field that requires further research is required know what is going on within the brain.

How about shiny light at night?

We know that exposure to shiny light at night (for instance, when someone has been up all night) can disrupt someone’s circadian rhythm.

This variety of circadian rhythm disorder is related to a more frequent occurrence of symptoms including self-harm, depressive and anxiety symptoms and deterioration of well-being. This also comes with higher rates mental disorderssimilar to major depression, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Why is that this? Bright light at night confuses and destabilizes the biological clock. It disrupts the rhythmic regulation of mood, cognition, appetite, and metabolism many Other mental processes.

But persons are very different from one another sensitivity to light. It continues to be a hypothesis that people who find themselves most sensitive to light could also be most prone to disruption of their biological clock brought on by shiny light at night, which consequently results in a greater risk of mental problems.

Man studying at the computer late at night
Bright light at night disrupts your body clock, putting you at greater risk of mental problems.
Ollyy/Shutterstock

Where to from here?

Learning about light will help people cope higher with their mental health problems.

By encouraging people to raised adapt their lives to the light-dark cycle (to stabilize their body clock), we can also help prevent conditions similar to: depression AND bipolar disorder appears first.

Healthy light habits – avoiding light at night and looking for light throughout the day – are good for everybody. But they can be especially helpful to humans endangered mental health problems. These include individuals who have a family history of mental health problems or who’ve them night owls (sleeping late and getting up late), that are more prone to biological clock disturbances.


This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Health and Wellness

Megan Thee Stallion reflects on disconnecting her mother from life support in a new documentary

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Megan Thee Stallion’s new documentary is now streaming on Prime Video; was a hot topic of conversation on the Internet. While the main target is on the rapper’s history with Tory Lanez, it also touches on one other vital topic; disconnecting her late mother, Holly Thomas, from life support. Thomas died in March 2019 of a brain tumor, leaving the rapper without living parents. The rapper also lost her father, Joseph Pete Jr., when she was in ninth grade.

“They had to put her down. She was just brain dead,” Megan said in the documentary. “So I used to be there each day. I spent the night in the hospital. I just prayed she would recover from it.

Unfortunately, Thomas, who was also the rapper’s first manager, couldn’t cope.

“When I realized she wasn’t coming back, I thought, ‘Shit, I can’t hold her like this.’ Because I know she wouldn’t want to stay like this,” Megan recalls through tears. “So I had to make the decision to pull the plug, and she just died the next day.”

The artist coped despite great grief and three weeks after Holly’s death she returned to the stage.

“You know that 2019 was a really difficult year for me. “I don’t want to cancel any of my shows and I don’t want to stop going because that’s not what my mom would want,” she said from the stage in a clip from the documentary. “She was my number one fan, despite all the butt-shaking and swearing.”

The HISS rapper opened up in regards to the impact of losing her mother on her mental health. This sadness was compounded by a series of events that occurred after the 29-year-old was shot by Tory Lanez. The shooting occurred in 2020, and Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in 2023.

“When my mom died, I think I really forgot who I was and lost a lot of self-confidence,” she said. “I was used to my mom telling me what to do, and when life started getting crazy, I didn’t have her.”

At the documentary’s premiere in Los Angeles, Megan thanked her mother, expressing her appreciation for the girl she has grown into.

“Without Holly Thomas, I wouldn’t be the woman I am today,” she told the audience. “So Mommy, I love you.”

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Health and Wellness

New Zealand needs to rethink multi-bed hospital rooms

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How New Zealand laments its hospitals – where they’re positioned, how they must be staffed and the way they must be financed – the talk misses a key element: the necessity for single rooms in all public hospitals.

It is now normal for patients to stay in shared rooms with up to five other people. In some hospitals, this includes housing men and ladies in the identical room, despite serious injuries safety and ethical issues.

But it should not be like this. For many reasons, including infection control, privacy and price, latest hospitals and renovations must depend on single-occupancy rooms.

Our latest research brings together each the clinical and ethical arguments for adopting single rooms for all patients as probably the most basic standard of care.

Infection control

Many people might even see shared rooms as a value savings. However, certainly one of the important thing arguments for separate rooms in hospitals is the prices and damages related to infections and bacterial resistance.

Single rooms reduce the chance by eliminating exposure to common sources of infection akin to touched surfaces, unfiltered air, toilets and water systems.

They too reduce the necessity to move rooms in hospital, which increases the chance of transmitting infection between patients.

There is robust evidence that single rooms are affected reducing the variety of infections in intensive care units. AND further research also found that single accommodation reduced the chance of Covid-19 transmission in hospital.

In New Zealand, the priority is single rooms for patients known to be infectious. But the important thing word here is . This policy doesn’t take note of the proven fact that a big proportion of infectious diseases are unknown on the time of admission.

However, even when the infection is thought, our hospitals are unable to meet basic guidelines due to the dearth of single rooms. For example, only 30% of hospital rooms in Wellington and Hutt are designated for single use.

Without single occupancy as the usual in hospitals, infection control will remain in danger.

Hospital rooms in New Zealand can accommodate up to six beds and accommodate each female and male patients.
Sandra Mu/Getty Images

Delirium and dementia

Separate rooms are also required for older people. New Zealand’s population is aging; because of this, the variety of patients with delirium and dementia requiring hospitalization will increase.

Delirium affects roughly 25% of hospitalized patients and is related to an extended stay, more complications, and an increased risk of death.

Prevention and treatment of delirium requires a low-stimulus environment, undisturbed sleep, and light-weight and noise control that can’t be achieved in shared hospital rooms.

Tests showed a discount in delirium for single rooms.

The behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia also pose significant challenges in hospital. Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, sleep disturbances, depression, inappropriate sexual behavior and aggression.

They might be very disturbing for the patient and people around him and, like delirium, basic standard of care can’t be provided within the common room.

By 2050, the incidence of dementia will greater than double. Yet New Zealand’s hospitals are ill-equipped to deal with rising demand.

The right to safety, privacy and dignity

Shared spaces in hospitals clearly undermine clinical care, but additionally violate human and patient rights.

One of probably the most basic human rights is “personal security”. No one should share a room with patients who’re agitated, aggressive or sexually inappropriate due to delirium or dementia.

Unfortunately, patients often share with those that are unable to control their very own behavior. While threats to women as has been emphasized, no patient should feel threatened or frightened by one other patient’s behavior.

Dignity and privacy are also fundamental patient rights, and privacy is roofed by each provisions Health Information Privacy Code and Code of patient rights regarding health and disability.

Hospital patients often need assistance dressing, showering and toileting. Many admissions are related to vomiting, diarrhea or urinary incontinence. And the design counting on curtains for privacy makes it a farce.

Tests AND complaints clearly show patients that they don’t imagine their privacy is sufficiently protected in shared spaces.

Some may advocate for multi-bed rooms, arguing that some patients prefer company. However, patient surveys regarding privacy and confidentiality overwhelmingly favor single-occupancy rentals.

Cost consideration

Although the initial costs for constructing single rooms increase due to the larger hospital space, tests concluded that there was no compelling economic evidence in favor of shared rooms.

The potential savings in future pandemics – when it comes to mortality, patient transfer and disease transmission – mustn’t be underestimated. Better management of delirium and dementia may even reduce length of stay and costs.

Collectively, the case for single-occupancy hospital rooms on clinical, ethical and legal grounds is obvious.

New Zealand must follow international best practice and introduce single rooms as the first standard when constructing and refurbishing latest hospitals.

Failure to accomplish that would ignore the teachings learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, fail to take note of the needs of an aging population and would further render New Zealand’s Patient Rights Code a fairy tale.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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