Michelle Obama Opens Up About Menopause and Aging in New Podcast Episode
Michelle Obama opened up about menopause, aging, body image, and other taboo topics concerning women’s health in the latest episode of her podcast, The Michelle Obama Podcast.
The episode features the former first lady in a candid conversation with her longtime friend Dr. Sharon Malone, a Washington-based OB-GYN. During their intimate discussion, the two women talked about the relationship women have with their bodies, what it is like to get hot flashes, how men would handle the struggles women face, and the importance of having open and honest conversations about their health.
“Barack was surrounded by women in his cabinet, many going through menopause and he could see it, he could see it in somebody, cause sweat would start pouring, and he’s like well what’s going on, you know, and it’s like no, this is just how we live,” said Obama. “He didn’t fall apart because he found out there were several women in his staff that were going through menopause, it was just sort of like, oh, well turn the air conditioner on.”
She went on to talk about how women deal with menopause in the workplace on the podcast, which is produced by Spotify and Higher Ground Productions.
“There’s a lot of the functions of day-to-day life when you’re going through menopause that just don’t work. It’s like how we dress — wearing a suit?! Any person who’s going through menopause who’s going to work every day in a suit, you can be drenched in sweat, down to your core, in the middle of a freezing cold office, and have to shower, and change clothes, and fix your hair all over again. There’s a lot of stuff that women need to talk about, so some, some of these cultural norms change, like, how you dress.”
She added, “It’s happening from women beginning in their 40s. The whole system of the workplace doesn’t work for us in the right way. What a woman’s body is taking her through, is important information. It’s an important thing to take up space in a society. Cause half of us are going through this,” she said.
Lora King on the Legacy of Her Father, Rodney King, George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, and More
Decades before George Floyd’s death triggered an international uprising, Rodney King was the name synonymous with police brutality.
Shortly after midnight on March 3, 1991, a group of LAPD officers struck Rodney more than 50 times with their batons during a police stop. They also tased the then-25-year-old California native and stomped on him with their boots. Even though the vicious beating was recorded on video, an all-white jury acquitted three of the cops and failed to reach a verdict for the fourth in April 1992. The decision sparked public outrage, the L.A. Riots, and a nationwide call to end police violence against the Black community.
Today, Rodney’s daughter, Lora King, is keeping her father’s legacy alive through the Rodney King Foundation. Launched in 2016, the organization, which advocates for social justice and human rights causes, was founded in her father’s memory after he died from a tragic swimming pool accident in 2012.
“After he died, I couldn’t think of any way to honor him,” she told BLACK ENTERPRISE. However, she later recalled that he often encouraged her to start a foundation since she loved to give and volunteer to help the homeless. “I’m like, Duh, that’s what I can do.”
Although Lora took a hiatus from the foundation a few years ago, she says she’s recommitted to carrying out its mission to create stronger ties between community and police while also providing a full spectrum of care, healing opportunities, and advocacy to fight systemic inequality.
“I went through the grieving process for years. So I stopped everything.” In addition to remembering her father, she says the foundation work has “been therapeutic for me. I’m still going through it every day. It’s really hard for me to accept that my father’s not here. So, in order to find strength, I just decided to do this full time.”
Under the organization, she launched the Walk In Love initiative, which fosters cross-cultural understanding. Lora also launched the “I am a King” scholarship program, which encourages Black fathers to play a more active role in their children’s lives by sponsoring special events and activities for them to do together.
“I wanted to launch that because the media has this way of portraying black men as angry, upset or not loving, not caring for their kids,” she said. “A lot of them are just trying to provide for their family and, honestly, they don’t have the time and the money together.”
She added that the initiative was inspired by the love for her own father.
“My first love was my father. Of course, the media didn’t portray that, but he was a great dad. He loved his kids,” she explained. “We just wanted to just have that same effect for African American fathers so that it would be less of a burden that they would have to spend the bill money to take their kid out.”
During an interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE, King opened up about the police killing of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement, and why she feels like her father is being exploited for profit.
Up for Auction
Last month, it was reported that the Sony video camera that a man used to record Rodney’s police beating from his apartment balcony went to auction with a starting bid of $225,000. Lora says learned about the news from TMZ and it came as a complete surprise to her.
“I had an emotional reaction right when I found out,” she said, adding that she believes the attack her father endured is being exploited. Rather than an auction, “I feel like it should be in an African American Museum,” she said. “Any donation should be for a cause, something that’s promoting positivity in the world.”
George Floyd
Lora, who was just seven years old when her father was catapulted to the center of the modern-day civil rights movement, says she couldn’t bear to watch the full video of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police back in May.
“I get emotional thinking about that, thinking about his daughter and him, and that she has to go the rest of her life without her father. He won’t be at our graduation. He won’t be at her middle school graduation, high school. None of that. She doesn’t deserve that,” said Lora.
“It was very hurtful for me that she will have to watch that for the rest of her life because, [like] my situation, it’s in the media so it’s something that you can’t escape from. So she’s gonna have to dig deep and that’s only a cushion God could help with.”
Lora added that it would also be hard to watch for her father if he was still alive.
“I can only imagine my dad’s reaction. I know for a fact it would be super emotional for him, you know, just as a black man period is just hard to accept.”
Black Lives Matter
Although Lora stands with the Black Lives Matter movement, she says she has mixed feelings about the rioting that took place in several cities.
“I can’t speak for people that are hurting, because we all hurt differently. And we all handle things differently. I can only speak for myself. But what I can say is I understand, I understand the frustration. I understand the hurt, I don’t condone it.”
At the same time, she also empathizes with small business owners whose property was lost or damaged during some protests.
“I do feel sorry for the people that are business owners because it’s like a lot of these people work their whole life,” she said. “I do feel sorry for them because they worked hard for their businesses.”
On the other hand, she says governments declared a “state of emergency when looting is involved, but it’s not a state of emergency when a black man is killed on camera. I have a problem with that.” She continued, “what about somebody’s life? That should be a state of emergency. We shouldn’t have to get to this point.”
Defunding the Police
Black Lives Matter has been marked by the movement to defund the police, a campaign that has gained traction in recent months. Despite seeing her own father survive brutal police violence, Lora understands both sides of the debate.
“I’m mixed when it comes to defunding the police because I do have friends that are police, and they’re great people,” she said. “However, the numbers are very small. It’s like one out of eight, you know, it’s not very many good ones.”
“I do feel like the funding should go into the community should be [focused] on race relations,” she said.
“I just feel like the whole system should just be redone.”
Nike To Launch Mamba Week To Celebrate Kobe Bryant’s Birthday
Nike will honor late Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant launching “Mamba Week” on Aug. 23, which would have been the five-time NBA champion’s 42nd birthday.
According to an official press release from Nike, “Mamba Week” will honor Bryant through three major efforts. The apparel giant will donate $1 million to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation created to honor Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. The athletic brand will also release Mamba memorabilia including signature jerseys, shoes, and other athletic gear.
“Nike will continue to release Kobe Protro shoes, allowing the millions of fans he inspired around the world to keep Bryant’s legacy going,” the company said in the release. “Nike will also continue to work with the NBA to release limited quantities of Bryant’s iconic Los Angeles Lakers jersey.”
Lastly, Nike will further its support of Bryant’s Mamba League partnership with the Los Angeles Boys & Girls Club.
“The league, which strives to enroll an equal number of girls and boys and engage female coaches, is focused on giving kids a place to learn basketball fundamentals and be inspired by the game,” the statement added.
Additionally, Orange County supervisors voted to make a ceremonial day for the late Lakers legend on Aug. 24. The date symbolizes the two jersey numbers, 8 and 24, Kobe wore during his 20-season professional career.
Michelle Steel, County Board chairwoman, said the five-time NBA champion, who lived in Newport Beach, was a “treasured member of our community” and “inspired so many men and women to pursue their dreams and never give up,” CBS Sports reported.
In addition to winning five NBA championships, Bryant was a two-time finals MVP, 18-time All-Star, four-time All-Star game MVP, 11-time All-NBA first team, and back-to-back NBA scoring champion.
Bryant and his daughter were killed in a plane crash on Jan. 26. The cause of the crash is still unknown and there was no black box to record the last moments if his and his daughter’s life. Seven other occupants were killed in the crash.
Conservatives Are Questioning Kamala Harris’ Biracial Heritage
The news of presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden selecting Kamala Harris as his VP running mate for the upcoming election has polarized the media, ranging from those celebrating the historic moment to those refuting that she is an African American woman.
Many conservative critics are coming forward to debate whether Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian heritage, would, in fact, be the first African American and are arguing against media outlets labeling her as such. One longtime Republican operative told Fox News that Black Americans should be more apprehensive about embracing Harris as Biden’s running mate.
On Fox News, Ari Fleischer suggested Black Americans simply wouldn’t embrace Harris. “She’s just not that historically exciting to African Americans,” Fleischer told NPR. “She certainly wasn’t during the [Democratic presidential] primary—and that was one of the biggest reasons Biden picked her. He needs that boost in African American turnout in order to win. I just don’t see it.”
Conservative legal pundits added to Fleischer’s point by saying “Kamala Harris is not an African American,” he said on the Blaze according to NPR. “She is Indian and Jamaican. Jamaica is in the Caribbean. “India is”—he paused—”out there near China.”
CNN correspondent Don Lemon lashed out against critics saying that the comments echo the same birther sentiments that were used against former President Barack Obama.
Harris has said in the past that she identifies as an American and a Black woman who embraces her biracial identity. In a 2019 interview with The Breakfast Club radio show, in regard to her ethnic background, Harris stated that “I’m Black, and I’m proud of being Black,” she said in the interview. “I was born Black. I will die Black, and I’m not going to make excuses for anybody because they don’t understand.”
Texas Judge Accused Of Shooting At Husband’s Girlfriend
A Harris County, Texas, civil judge is facing charges after being accused of shooting at her husband’s girlfriend following a verbal dispute.
According to Essence, Judge Alexandra Smoots-Thomas of the Civil District Court in Texas, is facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the incident that occurred on Monday.
Police say the altercation took place at the girlfriend’s home, where Smoots-Thomas drove up to the woman’s residence honking her horn. The woman, who remains unidentified, came out of her home after Smoots-Thomas continued to honk her horn, causing a disturbance. Eventually, the situation escalated and Smoots-Thomas allegedly fired a gun at the woman, who Smoots-Thomas’ attorney, Kent Schaffer, identified as the girlfriend of his client’s husband.
“My client was in a car and the other woman was outside the car. I believe she was carrying a club or some sort of stick with the intent to assault my client and a gun appeared. A shot was fired but nobody was hurt,” Smoots-Thomas’ attorney Kent Schaffer said.
The Texas judge was arrested on Wednesday but is out on bond and not permitted to possess a weapon.
Smoots-Thomas was already suspended as a judge and in legal trouble before the incident. Last year she was accused of using campaign funds for personal use to pay for her mortgage, her children’s school tuition, and a bevy of luxury items. Prosecutors claim Smoots-Thomas used $25,000 of her campaign funds to purchase a luxury handbag, a $700 ring, and other luxury items. The Texas judge was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud related to the case. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to Shaffer, the FBI began to investigate when an anonymous complaint of bribery had been brought to their attention. ABC13 reported Smoots-Thomas took time off from the bench last year to deal with breast cancer.
Jay-Z, Yo Gotti, and Team ROC Petition Courts to Force Mississippi’s Parchman Prison to Follow COVID-19 Guidelines
Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Mario “Yo Gotti” Mims are highlighting the inhumane conditions at Mississippi State Penitentiary, aka Parchman Farm, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rappers are asking courts to compel the notorious prison to adhere to strict COVID-19 testing and compliance guidelines in legal documents filed by Team ROC, the legal arm of Carter’s Roc Nation entertainment agency, which represents Mims as well as other artists and athletes. The filings come after the rappers and their attorneys discovered that only 132 of the 2,034 individuals incarcerated at Parchman had been tested for COVID-19 as of July 30. The results revealed that 33% tested positive for the virus while one person died last weekend, according to documents obtained by BLACK ENTERPRISE.
Mississippi State Penitentiary main entrance (Wikimedia Commons)
According to Team ROC, cases at the state penitentiary continue to rise and Parchman personnel are putting inmates’ lives at risk. The lawyers argue that the prison failed to isolate infected inmates and that three prisoners who had tests pending were recklessly transferred to different units occupied by others who were not suspected of carrying the virus. Their test results later revealed that the three men were carrying the virus.
Team ROC also claims Parchman employees do not “verbally screen attorney visitors, and did not screen staff at the entrance to the facility.” The attorneys go on to accuse some prison employees of not wearing personal protective equipment. Furthermore, they argue that inmates were not informed about the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ copay waiver and that some inmates with COVID-19 symptoms have been physically threatened when bringing their health issues to correctional officers.
In a statement, Team ROC attorney Marcy Craft blames Parchman’s high infection rate and virus-related death on the prison’s noncompliance with coronavirus guidelines.
“It’s a travesty that Parchman continues to neglect the lives of the people in their prisons and expose them to the deadly COVID-19 virus,” said Croft. “Not only are they failing to comply with the basic COVID-19 prevention and testing protocols, but they’re recklessly spreading the virus within the prison by housing infected people with healthy ones. We even have concerns that our attorneys may have been exposed while visiting Parchman, which is why we’re calling for immediate transparency and stricter compliance.”
Earlier this year, Carter and Mims’ team filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of dozens of people locked inside Parchman over “barbaric” prison conditions and “deprivation” of healthcare.
Black Women With Natural Hairstyles Are Perceived As Less Professional, Report Says
Over the last decade, the natural hair movement has become a powerful force within the beauty industry with more and more Black women embracing their natural textures. Despite the popularity of the movement, many still have to fight against racist attitudes and connotations linked to natural hairstyles. This week, a new study showed that Black woman professionals still struggle with negative perceptions in corporate environments.
New data collected by the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University recently showed that many companies still discriminate against Black women wearing natural hairstyles and found that they were deemed less professional than women with straight hair.
Ashleigh Shelby Rosette who works as a senior associate dean of the university explained the findings illustrated “the impact of a woman’s hairstyle may seem minute, but for Black women, it’s a serious consideration and may contribute to the lack of representation for Blacks in some organizational settings.”
“In the aftermath of the George Floyd murder and the corresponding protests, many organizations have rightly focused on tactics to help eradicate racism at systemic and structural levels,” says Rosette about the findings according to the Huffington Post. “But our individually held biases often precede the type of racist practices that become embedded and normalized within organizations.”
“In many Western societies, whites have historically been the dominant social group, and, as a result, the standard for professional appearance is often based on the physical appearance of whites. For women’s hair, that benchmark is having straightened hair,” she added. “When a Black woman chooses to straighten her hair, it should be a personal preference, not a burden to conform to a set of criteria for which there could be adverse consequences.”
The study found that women who worked in a less conservative and more creative environment like ad agencies faced less discrimination. “Some organizations strip away biographical information, such as a person’s name and other clues about gender or race from application materials. This procedure is known as blinding and has been shown to reduce similar types of bias as what we found in our research,” Rosette said.
“But there fundamentally has to be a level of awareness that the natural hair bias exists. If you don’t know that it exists, you can’t know its influence on your decision-making processes.”
Black Alabama Man Protests Against Removal Of Confederate Flags
A Black Alabama man is protesting against the removal of Confederate flags and statues in his hometown because his White ancestors fought in the Civil War.
According to The Grio, Daniel Sims of Huntsville, Alabama, told local CBS affiliate WHNT Thursday he was protesting against the flags’ removal because of his ancestors. Not his biological ancestors, but the ancestors of the White family that adopted him.
“My whole family is White,” Sims told WHNT in an interview about the Confederate monuments being removed in Guntersville and Albertville, Alabama.
The situation began when Say Their Names Alabama organized a protest outside the Marshall County courthouse, where a Confederate monument stands.
“The rebel flag does not represent all Americans so it should not be at a place where all Americans in the county come, which is the courthouse. So, it is out of place and it has been out of place since they placed it here in 2005,” Say Their Names Alabama leader Unique Dunston told WHNT.
Sims is a member of Captain John Rayburn Camp 452 Sons of Confederate Veterans. A group of about two dozen counter-protesters from the group, including Sims, showed up to protest against those who want the monuments removed.
“[I] went to all-White school, grew up in all-White neighborhood. My grandfather was White and he was the main one that fought in this war here. And he’s taught me everything I know,” Sims said.
It’s highly unlikely Sims’ adopted grandfather fought in a war that ended in 1865, but Sims said the Confederate statues and flags are part of his heritage.
“It may make my blood boil if they just feel like they can come up here and feel like they can just tear it down. I don’t see me still living if they do that. That monument ain’t hurting nobody. That monument ain’t killing a soul. It ain’t talking bad to nobody. It ain’t even racist!” Sims added.
When news of the situation spread to social media, many began comparing Sims to the fictional character Clayton Bigsby, a blind Black man who believed he was White to the point he identified as a White supremacist on The Chappelle Show.
Breonna Taylor’s Mom Hopes Charges Will Be Filed After Meeting With Attorney General
The case around Breonna Taylor’s death has gotten a lot of social media attention—countless people have called for justice against the cops who fatally shot the 26-year-old in her Louisville, Kentucky, home.
This week, Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, said at a news conference that she hopes charges will be filed against the police officers after the family met with the state’s attorney general.
Attorneys for the family called for charges to be brought against the officers just a day after Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron met with Taylor’s family to express his condolences, according to the Courier Journal.
Palmer said she learned from Cameron “that he wants to have the right answer at the end of this,” according to NPR. “He doesn’t want to rush through it. So for me, I’m trying to accept that and be patient with that. Because I definitely want him to come out with the right answer.”
The state attorney also followed up with a statement further explaining the context of their meeting.
“The meeting provided an opportunity for Attorney General Cameron to personally express his condolences to the family,” said Cameron in the statement. “The investigation remains ongoing, and our Office of Special Prosecutions continues to review all the facts in the case to determine the truth”
Breonna Taylor was killed on March 13.
Statement from KYOAG:
Attorney General Cameron was grateful today to meet with the family of Ms. Breonna Taylor, including Ms. Tamika Palmer, Ms. Juniyah Palmer, Ms. Bianca Austin, and the family’s attorneys, as well as Christopher 2X from the Game Changers organization.
As of right now, none of the three officers have been charged. Two of the officers, Jonathan Mattingly and Miles Cosgrove, were put on administrative leave. Officer Brett Hankison was fired by the Louisville Metro Police Department in June.
CNN’s April Ryan Says Trump Can’t Handle ‘Strong Black Women’
The words of President Donald Trump have often been flagged as borderline, if not outright, callous, racist, and/or sexist. After the announcement of Sen. Kamala Harris being added to the Democrat’s presidential ticket in pursuit of the vice presidency, Trump immediately went on the attack in the fashion we’ve become used to hearing and witnessing. CNN political analyst April Ryan wasn’t taking his remarks lightly and had some choice words of her own about him, according to Essence.
Soon after Joe Biden’s announcement of Harris as his running mate, Trump quickly went after Harris and called her ‘the meanest, the most horrible, most disrespectful’ U.S. Senator because of how she questioned his Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh, who was later confirmed to sit on the bench.
While discussing a CNN panel, longtime White House correspondent Ryan stated that this is just the impeached president’s modus operandi whenever he is challenged by “strong, Black women.”
“Personal attacks and race is what this president always falls back on,” Ryan stated when the subject of Trump using the word “nasty” was brought up. “At the end of the day, this president is limited.”
She also said that the president typically falls back on racist, sexist comments.
“Strong, Black women, let’s go there; let’s not just say strong women, strong Black women … when he has nothing to say and when he can’t find anything in his limited approach to speak what he will do is fall back on racism and sexism,” Ryan noted. “So we can expect that throughout the rest of this campaign.”
Ryan has had her own run-ins with the president, who, at one time, used the “nasty” moniker when describing her less than two years ago.
According to Yahoo, while appearing on ABC’s The Real in late 2018, she was asked if she thought that Trump had a problem with women of color. She responded, “The president is an equal opportunity offender, but when it comes to women of color, it gets very personal.”
