RezaRitesRi.com

My Health, My Community’s Health

Presented by YWCA Northern Rhode Island, The Rhode Island Young Professionals,
The Urban League of Rhode Island, and Providence VA EEO

Monday, April 6, 2009
5:30-7:30 PM

Casey Family Services
1268 Eddy Street
Providence, RI

An Event for National Minority Health Month with a (partial) screening of the documentary “Unnatural Causes” and a series of roundtable discussions about Minority Health issues and Health Disparities in RI. Topics to be discussed include Nutrition/Obesity, Natural Health, Dental Health, Maternal/Infant Health, HPV and HIV, and much much more. Specialists and guests on hand include Becky Marquez, PhD, Yvonne Freeman, RN, Sakinah Abdur-Rasheed (natural health specialist and community advocate) and Reza C. Clifton (health editor) - all featured in the upcoming 2009 Minority Health edition of YWCA Northern Rhode Island’s She Shines Magazine.

For more information, contact Clifton by calling 401-497-5246 or emailing rezayw@gmail.com.

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Calling all Providence downcity young professionals, businesses, organizations and students!

COME OUT AND NETWORK WITH THE RHODE ISLAND YOUNG PROFESSIONALS, DR.TKO ENTERTAINMENT, THE EXODUS GROUP, RESIDENTIAL LIFE & REZARITESRI.COM:

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
7:00pm - 10:00pm

SIDEBAR
127 Dorrance St, Providence, RI
entrance on Pine Street

Networking and Prizes from 7-10 PM
Reggae after hours, from 10 PM - 1 AM

For more info, contact Reza Rites, 401-497-5246

A Venus Sings Weekend on WRIU
You’ll Dance, You’ll Ponder, You’ll Sing Out Loud

by Reza Corinne Clifton

originally posted on www.VenusSings.com

KINGSTON, RI - My last two visits to WRIU have been marked by classic, smooth, or soft melodies; think Sade, Aretha, Feist, Jill Scott, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Esperanza Spalding. I love them, I do. But it’s time for dance, experimentation, blurred boundaries and eccentricities; think CSS, Lykke Li, Terri Lynn, Little Jackie, Alaine, Nina Sky, and Santogold.

Now, that’s not to say that I’m throwing out that good ol’ blues, funk, or R&B. On the contrary; I’m currently reviewing and selecting artists like Duffy, Sharon Jones, Angie Stone, Minnie Ripperton, and Lauryn Hill.

If it’s a Venus Sings weekend on WRIU’s Voices of Women: Expect the Unexpected; Confront the Unfamiliar; Enjoy the Creativity. We’re going for a ride this Saturday, 9- 11 AM (EST) on 90.3 FM or livestreaming at www.wriu.org.

Peace,
Reza Rites
(aka VenusSings.com)

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By Reza Corinne Clifton

Did you experience Rhode to Africa? The music, the conversations, the community? From the Interview Series to the Cape Verdean Jazz Reception, celebrate it all one more time: The Rhode 2 Africa Video by Executive Producers Reza Clifton and Corey Taylor.

PROVIDENCE, RI - Rhode to Africa was a Concert Series and Interview Series about Africans in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The project was produced by RezaRitesRi.com and Mount Hope Neighborhood Association Inc., with the generosity and support of The Rhode Island Foundation, Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, The Nellie Mae Education Foundation, The Van Leesten Group, Beatbox Studio, WRIU, Firehouse number 13, and hundreds of others.

The R2A Interview Series is available as podcasts on RezaRitesRi.com and iTunes, but it originally aired on WRIU 90.3 FM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from October to November in 2008. The interviews document conversations with concert series participants and community leaders representing Liberia, Senegal, Nigeria, Cape Verde, Gambia and (Black) America. A bonus conversation featuring R2A’s producers and major supporters is also available for download or broadcast.

The R2A Sunday Concert Series happened October 5, 12, and 26, 2008 at Firehouse no. 13, an art gallery and performance space in Providence, RI. The shows featured live and recorded music by Liberian, Cape Verdean, Senegalese, Haitian, and American vocalists, bands, poets, and DJ’s. It was also part of Freedom Festival, a collaborative series of events coordinated by Rhode Island Council for the Humanities.

Rhode to Africa culminated on December 10, 2008 with “Rhode 2 Africa at Black Rep,” A Cape Verdean Jazz Reception and Community Forum Celebrating Africans in America and RI. The event featured a performance by Cape Verdean vocalist, Candida Rose and the Kabu Jazz Ensemble, followed by a panel discussion with African musicians and community leaders living in RI and MA. Those in attendance received a special commemorative CD containing music and interview excerpts by R2A participants.

Did you experience Rhode to Africa? The music, the conversations, the community? From the Interview Series to the Cape Verdean Jazz Reception, celebrate it all one more time: The Rhode 2 Africa Video by Executive Producers Reza Clifton and Corey Taylor.

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There is also time to give your thoughts on Rhode to Africa. Click here to share your thoughts on how the Rhode to Africa Concert Series was or should be organized. Click here for feedback about the Rhode to Africa Interview Series.

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Minority Health, upcoming She Shines magazine Theme

Do you have information about Minority Health or Health Disparities in RI? Do you have an event happening in April, May, or June? Minority Health is the theme of the next edition of She Shines - a magazine published by YWCA Northern Rhode Island. It will be published for April, Minority Health Month, with returning guest editor Reza C. Clifton. If you have facts or events that align with the mission of She Shines and the upcoming theme, please send it by March 12. If there is room, events will be published in the calendar section (a free listing).

Want a guarantee that your info will be seen? Consider placing an ad, which will appear in print and, at no added cost, online. Reserve ad space by March 6 with ad copy due by March 12.

This edition will have a special insert celebrating YWCA Northern Rhode Island’s 85th anniversary, with a corresponding display at The Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket; it will be up from March 30 to April 19.

Along with the display, online version, and normal 8,000 mailed circulation, it will also be available at: YWCA Women’s History Event honoring women elected officials, the Girls Non-Traditional Trades Forum, and other community events featuring Clifton.

For more information about calendar events and ads, contact Lisa Piscatelli by emailing info@sheshines.org or calling 401-769-7450. For more information about the upcoming issue, contact Reza Clifton by emailing rezayw@gmail.com or calling 401-497-5246.

By Reza Corinne Clifton

FOXBORO, MA – Dr. Padma Balasubramanian has a lot on her mind. There are statistics she compiled pointing to more than 50 million Americans living day-to-day without health insurance. There is the Harvard University study she read about how an absence of insurance affects life expectancy. Oh, and there is the fact that her office recently relocated from Attleboro, Massachusetts to Foxboro.

Some doctors might be worried that a move could cause a drop in their patient load. But as an endocrinology and diabetes specialist, Dr. Balasubramanian probably has little to worry about. That is because as the doctor herself is aware, more than 60% of Americans are overweight or obese, a significant risk-factor for diabetes – and a host of other heart, joint, and breathing problems.

But Dr. Balasubramanian is not sitting in a back room comparing negative statistics with personal earnings. On the contrary; she is on the front lines, from the inner city of Dorchester, Massachusetts to her hometown in Southern India, talking to youth and adults about the benefits and habits of a healthy lifestyle – and the dangers of choosing not to pursue one.

In the midst of packing boxes and prepping patients for her office reopening, the specialist made time to talk to me about human rights, patient advocacy, and why she does not like the Atkins Diet.

About Padma Balasubramanian
Dr. Balasubramanian was born and grew up in the city of Hyderabad in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. She comes from what she calls “a middle-class family,” where her grandfather and uncle were judges, her father worked for the government, and her mother was a college educator.

She attended college and medical school in India, and, before moving to the U.S., lived in Britain doing three years of medical residency there. She moved to the U.S. as a 25 year old – with no problem adjusting “at all” – to do an internal medicine residency in Worcester, Massachusetts. She later did a fellowship in endocrinology and diabetes at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Patient Advocacy and Human Rights
Ask Dr. Balasubramanian what kind of medical advice she might give to someone without health insurance, and she clearly struggles with the answer. Why?

The doctor is very insistent about the role of regular check-ups and screenings in the battle for individuals to stay healthy, but she is aware that office visits and referrals can seem like – or are, depending on the political climate – insurmountable barriers to the uninsured and, therefore, a barrier to optimal care and health. In fact, that is why the question of advising the uninsured pains her so dearly. “Ultimately,” says Dr. Balasubramanian, “we want…medicine that helps people live long lives and reach their full potential.”

And to her, it is not a question of only some getting those benefits. “Being a physician,” says Dr. Balasubramanian, is “doing good for people and it can be looked at from a human rights perspective.” Citing Dr. King as an inspiration for her views, she reflects, “I believe health care should be a human right.”

As part of this belief, Dr. Balasubramanian believes in sharing about healthy lives; she frequently presents on diabetes. She speaks to patients, support groups, medical colleagues, community and labor groups, and to youth – especially in Attleboro, Dorchester, Boston and other Massachusetts communities. Her outreach is international in scope as well, though.

She provides voluntary care and advice on diabetes annually with a program in her hometown of Hyderabad, and she is part of an organization called The Medico Friend’s Circle, which is dedicated to addressing and improving Healthcare in India.

Calling out to Youth, Women, and People of Color
Given the doctor’s specialty with diabetes and who historically suffers from it, much of her local volunteer work, compiled national data, and presentation materials pertain to or are designed for communities of color. “About 8% of the U.S. population now has diabetes,” she explains, but African-Americans, she contrasts, are at a rate of “13%.” But she is also quite concerned with women and children in the U.S., especially those who are overweight and obese; ethnic minorities; and those living in urban areas and inner cities.

Women of all ethnicities, according to an article she showed me from the Association of Black Nursing Faculty, are more affected by obesity than men. But especially alarming is the disturbing rise of diabetes in youth, according to data – and according to what the physician herself has observed. “More and more young people,” says Dr. Balasubramanian, “with not Type 1 but Type 2 diabetes” are becoming patients of hers. “Obesity is a major risk factor,” says the doctor, “and it is to do with lifestyle.”

It was also clear among teen audience members at a community presentation she gave recently to a group of Latino peer leaders in Dorchester, Massachusetts. They themselves, she says, “discussed [obesity] in detail…as an epidemic in the U.S., especially for young people” and people of color.

Healthy Sugar, Healthy Heart, Healthy Life
As a care-provider to her patients and an informed orator to her audiences, Dr. Balasubramanian is fluent in the language of solutions, strategies, prevention and wellness. And starting with youth is a priority, insists the specialist.

“We used to think of diabetes as a disease of the middle aged,” says Dr. Balasubramanian, but we need to start addressing healthy lifestyle choices earlier. And the message, says the physician, needs to come from “governments, physicians, and communities.”

She also says it has to be much bigger than pharmaceuticals. The doctor openly recognizes the benefits of medications, saying individual problems have to “be treated,” but she also cites compelling long-range research showing the benefits of exercise and a healthy, moderate diet. Both “pre-diabetic” and “healthy” patients, studies show, prevented the development or progression of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke through “weight loss, diet change, and exercise.” Also proven was that these lifestyle changes and “interventions” worked better than medication and mere advice.

But she also recommends keeping regular appointments with general physicians, and seeing a nutritionist for in-depth dietary questions. For the morbidly obese, it is important to see a cardiologist before beginning an exercise routine, since you could be at-risk for silent heart disease, and for all, it is about age-appropriate, risk-centered screenings.

“Hitting age 45 is considered a risk for diabetes,” continues the doctor, “so by the time a patient hits 45, we automatically start screening.” And so is your family’s medical history, insists the good doctor. “A person who has a family member,” she explains, “Native Americans, African-Americans, Latinos, those with a first-degree relative, those who were born ten pounds and heavier – these people are all at risk.”

At-risk or ready to attack – YOUR CHOICE.

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“Preventing Diabetes, Promoting Human Rights” is posted online with permission from She Shines, a publication of YWCA Northern Rhode Island. This article appeared in the Summer of 2008 - in the first annual Minority Health edition of She Shines. Reza Clifton served as Guest Editor for the 2008 Minority Health edition of She Shines ™, and she is currently editing the 2009 edition. To purchase an advertisement, submit events for the issue’s calendar, or for more information, visit www.sheshines.org or contact Clifton by emailing rezayw@gmail.com or by calling 401-497-5246.

A CALL FOR “MEN WHO COOK”

Men who love to cook are being sought to participate in a MEN WHO COOK/WOMEN WHO JUDGE competition. This event is sponsored by ‘aec productions’ a group of individuals (including Reza Rites) who strive to celebrate and preserve African American art and culture. Proceeds from this event will benefit a Culinary Arts student at Johnson & Wales University.

The event is scheduled for Sunday, March 29, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. at Pat Conley’s Wharf - 200 Allens Avenue in Providence.

In past years, hundreds of men have participated in this event. The contestants create their favorite dishes and ethnic specialties which are judged on the basis of taste, originality and presentation. Cooking categories are appetizers, main courses, and desserts.

Men—amateur cooks as well as professional chefs—who are interested in participating in this event are asked to call Anne at 401-258-1910 for entry forms and additional information. For tickets, contact me, Reza Rites, by emailing rezaclif@gmail.com or by calling 401-497-5246.

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A Poem of Appreciation, A Promise to Obama

by Kalyana Champlain

Originally distributed on Nov. 5, 2008

The poet deep inside
was strangled by
Disbelief…

So I am a day late.

It took me some time for it to
sink into my
Conscious that
Yes You Did.

The One.

Who dared to believe
that we were too.
Who walked the steps needed
that held the conviction that
NOW was the time.

There could be no other moment.

My spirit was filled with this feeling
that danced with drums and the colors of
your fathers homeland
representing a healing that
mirrored the relationship between the
microcosm and the
Macro.

From Kansas to Africa.
Only in America.

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TO KEEP READING, CLICK HERE

To Read Part 1, click here

PROVIDENCE, RI - If you didn’t catch it, your girl Reza Rites is making waves in the region. And it feels good. This is no pity-party, but it’s not an easy job maintaining RezaRitesRi.com (and VenusSings.com). It requires discipline in an area or niche; diversity, human rights, and arts and culture in my case. It also takes, most times unaccompanied by the promise of compensation, countless hours in physically sedentary but mentally exhausting silos; endless face-to-face and virtual networking, researching, and verifying; and a mind-numbing number of occasions of auto- and interpersonally-validating, clarifying, and defending the medium.

But if one award for the site and one article about my work doesn’t do it…maybe two awards AND TWO ARTICLES will (click here for more info about my recent award).

The second article to which I refer was the one that appeared February 12 in the Masschusetts-based Bay State State Banner: “Black bloggers make an impact in Hub, online,” by Talia Whyte, a young woman who approached me about the interview at a conference we both attended in Atlanta, GA, where on-site during the conference, she herself blogged live.

Her goal was to look at the phenomenon of “Black bloggers,” with special attention on the pioneers of Boston and New England.

“Today, through the use of the Internet and new media tools like blogs, YouTube and Twitter, everyone can make their voices heard. An increasing share of the African American community is taking the opportunity to do just that, including a number based here in Boston.

(…)

Clifton originally started her blog, RezaRitesRI, in 2005 to archive her freelance work. But after a while, she said, she began to see the merit in publishing original content online.

Last summer, she created a series of podcasts — audio broadcasts that listeners can download to their computers and play on portable devices like iPods — documenting the black Rhode Island experience called ‘Rhode 2 Africa.’ “

Oh to be understood. To read the entire article, click here.

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PROVIDENCE, RI - From January through the end of February, I, Reza Rites, gave several presentations and workshops in and around the community. Audiences, participants, or sites include the Department of Health’s Minority Advisory Committee; African Alliance of RI; and Brown University. For dates and additional details about my community presentations, click here.

Lately I have been talking about Gender and Ethnic Diversity in the Media and within newsroom management. Sometimes I tell personal stories. Often, I cite statistics and research findings. And depending on the audience and purpose, I also distribute handouts with contact info of partners and colleagues, ideas and tip sheets, and follow-up resources.

Have you attended one of my presentations or workshops? Are you curious about what is being shared or need a few quick resources yourself? For those interested, below are PDF’s of some of my fact sheets and resource guides:

- Diversity in the Media: Your Turn to Cover Minority Health
(Minority Health Advisory Committee, January 26, 2009)

- Tips and Ideas for Maintaining a Blog…
(Minority Health Advisory Committee, January 26, 2009)

- Internet and New Media Resources…
(Minority Health Advisory Committee, January 26, 2009)

- (Community-friendly) Radio Contacts in RI…
(Minority Health Advisory Committee, January 26, 2009; African Alliance of RI, February 10, 2009; Brown University-Black Graduate Student Association, February 11, 2009)

- Gender and Ethnic Diversity in the News…
(Brown University-Black Graduate Student Association, February 11, 2009; Brown University-Active Bodies, Active Minds, February 21, 2009)

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