Celebrities and Athletes Team Up to Host a Virtual Telethon to Benefit HBCUs and Minority Students amid COVID-19
College students, especially those at HBCUs, are being hit hard by COVID-19. For many of them, the freedoms of being away at school, pursuing their dreams on campus, and college life as they once knew it have come to a screeching halt as the doors of campuses closed.
For those reasons and more, NBA veteran George Lynch, Tracey Pennywell, co-founder of HBCU Heroes, and Ryan Johnson, Executive Director of Cxmmunity, have partnered to host Tech 4 COVID, a two-day virtual telethon to benefit HBCUs and students of color at various colleges and universities on May 2-3.
At a time when many students and their families around the nation are facing food, housing, and financial insecurities, the trio of entrepreneurs and way-makers decided to work together with their celebrity friends for a greater good. The fundraiser is expected to reach over 30 million people and raise over $3 million. All of the proceeds will benefit student-athletes at HBCUs, as well as underrepresented K-12 schools, complete remote learning.
Celebrities participating in the Tech 4 COVID event include Offset, Jeezy, DL Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, Eddie Griffin, Bill Bellamy, Blair Underwood, Malik Yoba, Desi Banks, Dionne Warwick, Dean Crawford, The Hamiltones, Mr. Serv-On, and more.
(Image: Tech 4 COVID)
Paying It Forward
In a statement released by Tech 4 COVID, Lynch, the NBA veteran and former head coach ofClark Atlanta University’s men’s basketball team, said, “We’re pulling out all the stops for this virtual telethon. HBCU student-athletes and K-12 minority students need this movement to galvanize help. I’ve witnessed dozens of student-athletes scramble during this pandemic to get laptops. Many of them were using school computer labs or the library and now they have to find their own technology resources. Something has to be done.”
To that point, Pennywell added, “Our goal is to ensure all HBCU athletes have the resources they need to compete academically and athletically. No student-athlete left behind.”
Many students are impacted by the digital divide and the group and supporters are insistent on helping to close the gap.
“It’s important that we do not allow HBCU and minority students to be affected inadvertently by this pandemic. By supplying computers for these students, this partnership is keeping them properly equipped during these ever-changing times,” said NFL veteran Everson Walls, a former Grambling State University student-athlete.
Johnson, who is an HBCU graduate of Oakwood University, said, “This is a phenomenal opportunity to leverage entertainment, esports, and music to increase awareness for this amazing cause. The esports industry has been an amazing resource for nonprofits who are able to leverage the industry properly to do good.”
Monumental Support for HBCUs
In addition to the support of celebrities and former athletes, JP Morgan Chase is supporting the effort through its Advancing Black Pathways initiative. Programming will also include discussions on STEM led by Tuskegee alumnus Dr. Lonnie Johnson, inventor and aerospace engineer. Milton Little of United Way of Greater Atlanta, Tirrell Whitley of Liquid Soul, and Jeff Clanagan of Codeblack Life will also lead discussions on strategies to support HBCUs, tech, and more.
The star-studded event will also include–and be supported by–a number of media personalities and influencers to help get the community and the nation engaged in supporting students of color.
The event will be live-streamed May 2-3 from 12 p.m.to 12 a.m. EST both days, on Twitch, Kevin Hart’s LOL Network, NFL Alumni’s ESTV, Codeblack Life, Instagram Live, YouTube, Facebook Live, ESPN Syracuse Radio, HBCU go TV, Black College Sports Radio, Axis Replay, and more.
To read more about how COVID-19 is impacting communities of color, click here.
Report Shows Coronavirus Kills More Americans In One Month Than Seasonal Flu Killed In One Year
The COVID-19, or novel coronavirus, pandemic, has become the public health crisis of our generation, with the U.S confirming more than a million cases of the virus. The virus has been notoriously hard to treat and is extremely contagious, far more dangerous than the flu.
In a report by the News Atlantis, data shows it took 12 months and 61 million infections for the H1N1 swine flu to kill 12,500 Americans between 2009 and 2010. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that the more common seasonal flu killed 34,200 Americans during the 2018–2019 flu season. As of right now, the current death toll for the coronavirus in the United States is estimated to be over 60,000.
Despite the severity of the viral outbreak which has killed tens of thousands of Americans, some on the right still argue that the pandemic will end up being no more serious than a bad flu season. Fox News commentator Bill Bennett said that “we’re going to have fewer fatalities from this than from the flu.”
The seasonal flu kills 0.1% of people infected, but the novel coronavirus has already killed 0.1% of the entire population of the state of New York. Imagine the entire country getting hit as badly as New York state: 0.1% of the U.S. population is 330,000 people.
While there are 1.07 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States—that’s 0.3% of the U.S. population—former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb has noted that anywhere between 1% and 5% of Americans may have actually already been infected with the virus.
The seasonal flu, by contrast, is even less deadly when you take into account that it has a much higher infection rate: the common flu infected 12% of the American population last year.
In U.S., experts suggest to me rate is lower. My informal survey of thought leaders in this area puts estimate anywhere from 1-5%. Ultimately we must confirm this with serology studies (which are underway). But it falls short of the 50-70% needed to achieve “herd” immunity 8/n
— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) April 8, 2020
HistoryMakers Announces Its 2020 Digital Archives Awardees
HistoryMakers is the nation’s largest database for black stories. The national nonprofit research and educational institution committed to preserving and making widely accessible the untold personal stories of both well-known and unsung African Americans. As a part of that mission, the organization houses The HistoryMakers Digital Archive program, which recently announced its 2020 Awardees who will be contributing the archive.
The HistoryMakers Digital Archivesis an online database of thousands of African Americans from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. Unlike other resources, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive provides high-quality video content, fully searchable transcripts, and unique content from individuals whose life stories would have been lost were it not for The HistoryMakers.
This year’s awardees are forces to be reckoned with. Each of the storytellers and historians highlight and explore complex issues within the community—both past and present. Each of the projects adds diverse stories to the archives ranging from self-preservation within black civil rights movements to the history of African American gay and lesbian politics—and so much more in the categories of Academic Research, Digital Humanities, and Creative Studies.
Meet the 2020 Awardees.
Academic Research Awardees
Paula Austin, Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies, Boston University
Project Title: A History of Black (un)Rest
Project Description: This second book project aims to examine practices of “self-care” in Black (and people of color) activist and organizing communities from early civil rights through the Black Power era. The project seeks to identify discourses and artifacts of ways in which individuals and groups theorized, articulated, and practiced self-sustainability and care in struggles for economic, racial, and gender equity and justice. It will examine early racial and economic justice movements like black laundresses who mobilized for pay equity in post Reconstruction Atlanta, Ida B. Wells and early NAACP’s anti-lynching campaigns, through movements of the Black Power era, inclusive of an array of organizations from the 1950s through the 1990s.
Simon Balto, Assistant Professor of African American History, University of Iowa
Project Title: I Am a Revolutionary: The Political Life and Legacy of Fred Hampton
Project Description: I Am a Revolutionary is a biography of the life and political afterlife of Fred Hampton, the brilliant organizer and leader of the Illinois Black Panther Party, who was murdered by the FBI and the Chicago Police Department in 1969 at the age of twenty-one. The book explores Hampton’s maturation from child of the Great Migration to youth organizer to his emergence as one of the leading lights of the Black Left in the United States, and also examines the enduring nature of his memory and legacy. In so doing, it winds through the larger ecosystems of post-World War II-era Chicago and America, the long Black freedom struggle in the United States, and the nature and necessity of interracial solidarity and struggle.
Gillian Bayne, Associate Professor of Science Education, Lehman College (CUNY)
Project Title: African American Scientists: Strengthening a New Wave of Hope and Inspiration in Youth
Project Description: The African American Scientists: Strengthening a New Wave of Hope and Inspiration in Youth research project analyzes uncovered motivating factors that can facilitate and support the achievement of vulnerable youth in science through examining select dimensions of interviews housed in
The ScienceMakers Digital Archive. The project qualitatively examines intersections of scientists’ professional and personal identities; expectations, persistence and enhancement of self-efficacy; personal and family histories; and moments that reveal inspiration. Emergent themes detailing scientists’ means of support, culture, and impactful experiences are utilized creatively in the development of curricular tools that embed the African American scientists’ lived experiences into culturally responsive pedagogical resources. Through engaging in activities that underscore the sociocultural influences in science teaching and learning, and examining individual “case studies” of select ScienceMakers in this manner, a prototype is forged, providing for a holistic and realistic interpretation of the experiences had and contributions made by African American scientists.
Kevin Quin, Ph.D. Student, Cornell University
Project Title: Queer Visions of the Black Past: A History of African American Gay and Lesbian Politics, 1970-1989
Project Description: This dissertation examines how changing attitudes toward gender and sexuality shaped the scope and direction of black activism in postwar urban America. Centering the lives and experiences of black gays and lesbians, this project investigates how a vanguard of black queer and feminist activists developed and mobilized a unique political practice in their individual and collective efforts at contesting sexual discrimination and antiblack racism while advocating for better housing, education, and employment opportunities in their communities. Using archival research and oral histories, this project illuminates how black queer activists used a diverse range of political strategies from grassroots activism to cultural production to forge new paradigms for understanding the relationship between race and sexuality. The project builds on and extends historical scholarship that has examined the gendered and sexual dimensions of black nationalist politics by examining how black queer advocates of black power challenged the forms of sexism and homophobia that undergirded prevailing expressions of black nationalism.
Digital Humanities Awardees
Denise McLane-Davison, Associate Professor of Social Work, Morgan State University
Project Title: Mapping Black Thought and Resistance: Digital Storytelling Through Primary Data Resources of The HistoryMakers Digital Archive and the National Association of Black Social Workers, Inc. (NABSW) National Repository at Morgan State University
Project Description: Mapping Black Thought and Resistance applies the use of Black spatial and public humanities techniques for curating and reconstructing Black intellectual identity research through the historic preservation practices of the National Association of Black Social Workers, Inc’s National Repository at Morgan State University. The HistoryMakers Digital Archive provides accessible use of the largest collection of oral histories by Black thought leaders whose contributions have shaped remarkable American and African Diaspora events. Mapping Black Thought and Resistance advance pedagogical and epistemological stances of intergenerational knowledge through Black storytelling cultural traditions by repurposing the use of complex technology to create corrective narratives and representation of Black experiences towards self-determination and liberation. Working with a transdisciplinary team of Morgan State University faculty, staff, and students, as well as, external content experts, the overall goal is to produce an interactive ARcGis StoryMap of the Black Social Work Movement (1968-1978) and Hashtag Syllabus.
Julian Chambliss, Professor of English, Michigan State University; Justin Wigard, Ph.D. Student, Michigan State University; and Zack Kruse, Ph.D. Student, Michigan State University
Project Title: The Michigan State University Comics Open Educational Resource
Project Description: What do comics tell us about community, culture, and identity? The Graphic Possibilities Research Workshop (GPRW) group at Michigan State University (MSU) believes The HistoryMakers database can be a vital tool to understand how black imagination has shaped modern culture. While Michigan State University has been home to several avenues of comics scholarship for many years (the MSU Comic Art Collection, a minor in comic art and graphic novels, the long-running MSU Comics Forum, and the Graphic Narratives Network), most recently, the GPRW has centralized critical questions concerning identity and representation in comics through digital means. To this end, over the past year the GPRW at MSU has developed a collaborative Comics Library Guide as an Open Educational Resource (OER) centered around the Comic Art Collection, a collection of over 300,000 items including American and international comic books and comic strips, along with “several thousand books and periodicals about comics.” This Comics OER will serve as an introduction to working with the Comic Art Collection, but more importantly, it is a public-facing, foundational resource that serves students, educators, and scholars invested in Comics and Popular Culture Studies. In this latter capacity, the OER will include a number of videos and resources from The HistoryMakers, including, but not limited to interviews with readers and creators of comic books and graphic narratives.
Creative Studies Awardees
Yunina Barbour-Payne, Ph.D. Student, University of Texas at Austin
Project Title: One of a few: Performing Black Experiences in America’s Appalachia
Project Description: This project proposes a devised theater and dance performance focusing on Black experiences in the Appalachian region, foregrounding the role of Black Appalachians (Affrilachian) and African Americans in resisting discrimination in the U.S. at large. One of a few: Performing Black Experiences in America’s Appalachia is committed to stimulating discourse around identity, activism and artistic practice. The performance process carefully considers the role of archives in dramaturgical approaches to Affrilachian performance. During rehearsal, director Yunina Barbour-Payne will draw from The History Makers Digital Archive interviews based in the Appalachian region to foster spaces for cultural exchange. The process will involve exposure to Black Acting Methods, Affrilachian art forms and advocate for theater-making as a tool for activism in and outside the rehearsal room.
Catherine Valdez, MFA Student, University of Michigan
Project Title: Dinner at My Body
Project Description: Dinner at My Body is a hybrid poetry and graphic short story collection that explores the relationship between self-image and food in Black communities. Using personal anecdotes, interviews, and archival sources as anchoring documents, this creative work demonstrates the many ways in which discussions surrounding food and food production impact self-narratives. Food exists as a mode of celebration, an act of labor, insecurity, frustration, a political-tool, an item of scientific inquiry, tradition, rite, a religious experience, an item of mockery, joy, a racially and ethnically coded object, an entry point from which to think of one’s own body, and more. Jointly, image and verse paint an honest and intimate portrait of body-food.
This Entrepreneur Wants To Educate Black Women About Firearm Safety
America has always had a complex relationship with firearms. According to a Pew Research study, 30% of American adults say they own a gun, and an additional 11% say they live with someone who does. One of the many reasons owners use for obtaining a firearm was for safety and protection. For one entrepreneur, it was her chance to use her knowledge of firearms to teach others in her community how to protect themselves.
Javondlynn Dunaganisthe owner of JMD Defense, a company focused on workplace safety, firearm training, and safety education. She founded the security and firearm safety company in 2017 in addition to the Ladies of Steel Gun Club after retiring from her career of 25 years as a United States probation officer based out of Chicago.
“Then I married a police officer; so I was around guns all day. When we divorced, I called the job and said, “I’m ready to carry a gun now because I’m scared to be at home without protection,” said Dunagan in an interview with Rolling Out. “I was the only person in the class. After having this one-on-one experience for the entire week with an excellent instructor, I fell in love with firearms.”
One of the reasons Dunagan wanted to create her business was to give a space for black women to learn about concealed carry and self-defense. “When I started the business, initially I was just teaching concealed carry. That was my initial vision,” she said. “I said [to myself], “Whenever I go to the gun range, I never see other black women by themselves shooting or even in a group,” and that’s how the Ladies of Steel Gun Club came about.”
In addition to firearm safety, the company also offers self-defense classes and offers safety seminars for women.
Omar Medical CEO, Chicago Officials Disagree Over Sale of PPE Equipment
As previously reported, the founder of an Illinois-based medical supply company said he tried to sell more than 1 million pieces of PPE to the state but was rebuffed.
According to The Grio, Dr. Willie Wilson, founder and CEO of Illinois-based Omar Medical Supplies, tried to reach a deal to sell PPE to the state but was denied by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Instead, Gov. Pritzker paid nearly $1.8 million to retrieve PPE from China for the state in addition to paying about $17 million on PPE itself.
Wilson, who is also running for a senate seat in the state, said he hit roadblocks when trying to set up a deal with the politicians. However, Gov. Pritzker blamed the situation on Wilson.
Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokeswoman for Gov. Pritzker, claims Wilson wanted “an open purchase order, with no specific pricing set,” adding “the state does not enter into open purchase orders.”
Wilson said the open order was necessary.
According to Wilson, he expressed his desire to help and his staff explained the process of purchasing PPE to Gov. Pritzker’s office. If the order from the state was a one-time order, all Wilson’s company would need was one purchase order.
Wilson added if the state needed more than one PPE order, Omar Medical Supplies would need an open purchase order to secure additional PPE for several months. If not, the company would run the risk of not being able to secure the PPE.
“I believe it was a misunderstanding in how business is transacted in China at this critical time,” Wilson said. “As for pricing, we are very clear on pricing per order. However, the price could fluctuate over time due to the emergency nature of the pandemic and availability of materials to make (the) product.”
Mayor Lightfoot also blamed Wilson, saying he requested a cash payment upfront. Wilson also denied this claim saying pricing was never discussed.
“That you would misrepresent my statements to you on this issue so blatantly and dishonestly is not only disturbing, it is, in light of our current public health crisis, profoundly disheartening,” Wilson wrote in a letter to Mayor Lightfoot.
According to the Illinois State Comptroller, the state spent nearly $180 million on COVID-19-related purchases, including ventilators and PPE, through April 21.
Although Wilson couldn’t secure a deal with the state, Omar Medical Supplies is still doing its part to help. After Gov. Pritzker made it mandatory for all citizens to wear face masks beginning May 1, Omar Medical Supplies donated 20,000 masks each to 50 Chicago alderman.
Face masks are paramount to keeping the coronavirus at bay. According to researchers, the virus lingers in the air of crowded spaces. Additionally, the virus has significantly affected African Americans.
Doctor Develops New Clinical Treatment For COVID-19 Patients That Will Increase Oxygen Levels
Since the spread of COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus, took over the globe, there has been a race in the medical community to find a vaccine and ultimately a cure for the disease. One scientist is coming forward claiming that he has developed a clinical treatment to help patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms that can help to effectively combat the spread of the virus.
Cuthbert Simpkins, MD, is a physician-scientist and the founder of Vivacelle Bio Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology firm that develops products for critically ill patients. He says that his firm has developed a clinical treatment called VBI-S to treat COVID-19 patients by increasing their oxygen levels.
According to Dr. Simpkins, 70% of deaths of COVID-19 patients are due to septic shock, which is a result of a lack of oxygen. Using this information, he began to develop a new clinical treatment, VBI-S, that could save thousands of lives. This comes at a critical time when standard treatments have been failing.
“It is fulfilling to serve both as a critical care physician providing direct care to COVID patients and as a scientist whose invention could rescue people who are dying of this disease,” says Dr. Simpkins according to Black News.
However, while intravenous infusion of the treatment has demonstrated encouraging preliminary results in a Phase 2a clinical study, Dr. Simpkin’s invention is still currently an experimental drug with more phases to go. Experts say the results give hope that better treatments are on the way.
“I am greatly encouraged that Vivacelle Bio through its innovative discoveries has proposed therapeutic solutions for the most critically ill patients,” said Mallory Williams MD, MPH Chief of Trauma and Critical Care and Director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Howard University Hospital.
“Severe sepsis claims the lives of over 250,000 Americans and 10 million globally each year and now there is a reason to believe that we are closer to significantly decreasing this number.”
Vegan TikTok Talent Tabitha Brown Signs With Creative Arts Agency
The short attention span of audiences these days works for social media. After showcasing her skills and amassing more than 2 million followers on the short-form video platform TikTok, actress and vegan influencer Tabitha Brown has signed with the Creative Arts Agency, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Brown announced her achievement on her Instagram account, “I’ve specifically prayed for this day for about 15 years!!! When I first moved to Los Angeles I use to work at Macy’s in Century City. On my lunch breaks I would sometimes walk the block and pass @creativeartistsagency (One of the Top Entertainment Agencies in the world) and just say out loud “One day Lord”🙌🏿. I’ve been praying fiercely for the last 2 years for God to increase my territory and send me a team!! Well today is the day!!!!”
Brown, who is a Los Angeles-based video blogger and ambassador for Whole Foods, shares her vegan recipes and reviews vegan meals. She has also made guest acting appearances on Freeform’s Switched at Birth, Bounce TV’s Family Time, and NBC’s Will & Grace.
All Star Code Founder Christina Lewis Is Learning to Celebrate Failure
Featuring a broad cross-section of women who have distinguished themselves across a rich variety of careers, our Portraits of Power series is a celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Black Enterprise, and of black women. It’s a place for today’s businesswomen to share their own favorite images and their own stories, in their own words. Today’s portrait is the founder of All Star Code, Christina Lewis.
My first job was being my Dad’s stockbroker, paid on commission. I was 9 years old.
My big break came when an acquaintance introduced me to a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, my dream publication, where I eventually became a staff writer.
I’ve had to work hardest at speaking less, listening more.
I never imagined I would be in leadership roles in my career and have children and a family.
I wish I’d learned sooner how to manage my fear of failure.
The risk I regret not taking is not trying out a computer science class in college.
If I could design my fantasy self-care day, it would be spent hiking somewhere beautiful alongside a stream and ending the day with a massage and facial.
The news keeps me up at night.
When I’m struggling, I say to myself, “celebrate this failure, Christina, because it means you are trying to do something really difficult.”
I am unapologetically all-in for black and brown people.
Portraits of Power is a yearlong series of candid insights from exceptional women leaders. It is brought to you by ADP.
Former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume Wins Seat Held By Elijah Cummings
Former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume has won a special election to finish the term of the late Rep. Elijah Cummings.
According to BET, Mfume, who ran the NAACP from 1996 to 2004, beat Republican Kimberly Klacik for the heavily Democratic 7th Congressional District Tuesday. Mfume held the seat for a decade before resigning to lead the NAACP.
Mfume, 71, acknowledged those who voted for him during the gripping coronavirus pandemic which has sharply affected the district as well as Baltimore.
“To them, to their families and to the families of so many others who have lost lives prematurely to this disease,” Mfume said in his address after winning, according to the Associated Press. “I want all of you to know that from day one, all of my attention, all of my energy and all of my focus in the United States Congress will be on using science, data and common sense to help get our nation through this dark hour in our history.”
Only three polling stations were open due to the pandemic as most ballots were mailed-in.
According to the AP, Mfume said he would spend his term addressing issues that have affected residents in the district such as food deserts, an aging infrastructure, and an underfunded school system.
“I promise you that as your congressman I will use every ability that I have to bring about that change,” Mfume said during his acceptance address.
Mfume also pledged to help African Americans through the coronavirus pandemic. The virus hit the district’s heavily African American population hard. The Maryland Department of Health reports more than 2,631 confirmed coronavirus cases with 94 deaths in Baltimore County. Of those cases identified by race, 921 are African American.
Tia Mowry Talks Health, Family, and Her Life in Quarantine [Video]
When Tia Mowry launched her new vitamin supplement line Anser in January, she had no idea that a public health crisis would shift the entire world just weeks later. At the time, the actress, wife, and mother of two wanted to ensure that busy moms like herself received a healthy dosage of daily nutrients. However, with the mass devastation and disruption caused by COVID-19, many people have become more health-conscious and are turning to vitamins as they prioritize their health.
In an exclusive interview with BLACK ENTERPRISE, the 41-year-old actress, entrepreneur, and best-selling author opened up about expanding her supplement line and the chronic health condition that triggered her to launch Anser in partnership with BioSchwartz. The self-professed workaholic also talked about how she and her family are adjusting to life in quarantine.
Tia Mowry’s Wellness Journey
Mowry became a household name when she starred alongside her twin sister Tamera in the hit 90s TV sitcom Sister, Sister. Back in her 20s, she was diagnosed with a life-altering health condition, which caused her to struggle with fertility. Today, she’s an avid fitness and health advocate and the co-founder of Anser, a line of multivitamins, beauty supplements, and prenatal care initially made for women.
“It was inspired by my personal wellness journey. I’ve been very open with telling everybody that I suffer from something called endometriosis, which is a highly inflammatory condition that causes infertility,” she told BE. The illness, which affects more than 11% of women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the U.S., can also cause painful periods, chronic lower back pain, excessive and irregular bleeding, painful bowel movements, and stomach problems. After enduring excoriating symptoms and two surgeries, Mowry took her doctor’s advice and changed her eating habits and lifestyle.
“At first, it was hard to adjust to that, but I changed my diet. I started to eat more veggies, to eat more fruits, [and] to stay away from foods that caused inflammation within the body, which can exacerbate an inflammatory condition. I started exercising. I started meditating. I started taking supplements. And I saw this huge change within my health. I no longer had eczema. I no longer had migraines,” she said. “The biggest change, of course, was I was able to have children.”
After experiencing such positive results, Mowry said she wanted to share her holistic approach with others. “I didn’t want to keep all of that to myself,” she said. “That was one of the inspirations to why I came up with Anser.”
In March, she expanded Anser for men and children, professing that both her husband, actor Cory Hardrict, and 8-year-old son, Cree, love the supplements.
On Manifesting Success
During the interview, Mowry said she’s not surprised that her show, Family Reunion, has become the most-watched family series streaming on Netflix. The show, which was created by Meg DeLoatch, premiered in July 2019 and has been flourishing ever since.
“I have a vision board and I mediate and I manifested. I’m a huge Netflix fan and I said I want to be on Netflix,” she said. “And lo and behold, I ended up getting this show.”
She’s most proud of its multicultural representation both in front and behind the camera. After starring in four different television series throughout her career, Mowry says, “this is the only show that I’ve been on where I have seen huge diversity from not only having an amazing staff of writers that are black but also women [and] black women directors.”
On Adjusting to Quarantine Life
When she’s not cooking healthy meals for her family, working out, or creating content on her multiple media platforms, Mowry, like the rest of us, is adjusting to the new COVID reality.
“You have survival mechanisms. You have a bag of tools that you do to survive. But now that we’ve been put into this situation, you have to adjust and maybe change those tools,” she said. “With us focusing on that, we’re able to get by instead of just holding on to the old.”
Despite being locked down, she says she’s found a silver lining in the midst of the pandemic.
“I’m grateful for learning new things because I think that’s how you become a better person. It’s when you’re constantly evolving and constantly changing,” she said. “My goal for this pandemic is for people to come out changed and for people to come out with a whole new perspective.”
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