For 20 years, Conrad Cooper has been teaching children in Los Angeles to swim by earning his young students’ unwavering trust. (Elissa Nadworny/NPR)
If you looked at the children at the edge of Conrad Cooper‘s pool, you’d think you were watching an ad for something. Jell-O, maybe. Or a breakfast cereal kids like. They’re that cute.
They’re lined up on the steps in the shallow end, 10 little ones, ranging from age 2 to 5. The boys are in board trunks, many wearing rash-guard shirts like the weekend surfers they might become years from now. The girls wear bright one-piece suits and two-pieces that show their childish potbellies.
They are a rainbow tribe: black, Asian, white, biracial. And every eye is trained on the large man in the middle of the pool.
Conrad Cooper has been teaching little kids (and some adults) to swim for 20 years now. His business, Swim to Me, operates out of his pool in the View Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. He has taught kids who scream with fright at being put in the water, and adults who never thought they’d ever be able to swim.
“After two or three times in the pool with me,” Cooper says, “they recognize, ‘OK, this guy is serious. He’s not taking no for an answer. I’m going to do this.’ ”
His families come from around the corner and across the ocean, because word of his effectiveness travels. “He does not fool around,” parents will tell you, “but it works.”
It’s not a method that works for everyone.
“If you think this is someplace you can come and do monkey-walking by the side of the pool and sing songs … you’re in the wrong class,” Cooper says. A tall brown man with sun-bronzed dreadlocks and Pacific Islander tattoos, Cooper radiates authority, in and out of the water. To hear audio of this story, click here.
Helicopter parents are politely instructed to find a landing place in one of the comfy chairs that ring the large saltwater pool — and stay there. Parents who want Cooper to teach their children have to promise to abide by his rules: They’re there to support the method, not to comfort their children.
That sometimes comes as a shock to his students.
“After two or three times in the pool with me,” Cooper says, “they recognize, ‘OK, this guy is serious. He’s not taking no for an answer. I’m going to do this.’ ”
8 Year-Old Zion Harvey (photo via newsone.com)
An 8-year-old Baltimore boy who is being dubbed a medical phenomenon is looking forward to finally being able to play with his little sister and, hopefully, the new puppy he asked for.
And while Zion Harvey’s wishes seem simple enough, picking up his 2-year-old sister or eating a slice of pizza were both things he had difficulty doing after losing his feet and hands to sepsis as a toddler. But as the youngest patient to receive a double-hand transplant last month, the possibilities are endless.
While debuting his new digits at a Tuesday news conference, the little boy with wisdom beyond his years asked his family to stand so that he could thank them for helping him through his struggles.
“I want to say to you guys, thank you for helping me through this bumpy road,” he said.
The surgery, one of a few in a “small, but growing, transplant field, which has moved beyond internal organs,” the Baltimore Sun writes, was the first pediatric double hand transplant performed at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia.
More than 100 people worldwide have received upper-extremity transplants since the first was performed in France in 1998, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“This is a monumental step,” said Scott Levin, chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Penn Medicine and director of the Hand Transplantation Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “I hope personally we can help many more patients like Zion in the future.”
Zion, who was already taking drugs to prevent his body from rejecting a kidney transplant he received at 4-years-old, was considered a good candidate for the hands. Doctors were less concerned that Zion would have a negative response to the drugs, since he had been exposed to them for a while.
Only about 15 children a year are eligible to donate hands, so doctors weren’t sure when one would become available. They had to find hands that were the right color and size for Zion. While waiting for a match, the surgery team practiced the procedure on cadavers. They developed a step-by step playbook for the day of surgery. Then the call came: Hands were available. Ray was both nervous and excited. Zion was preoccupied with plans for a sleepover he would now have to miss, and it wasn’t until he arrived at the hospital that reality hit.
“Mom, I think I am nervous now,” he recalls sayingas he lay in a hospital bed that engulfed his small body.
“There is no need to be nervous,” Zion’s mother, Pattie Ray, responded. “This is a good thing.”
The painstaking surgery took about 10-hours to complete. Two days later, when Zion finally took a look at his new hands, he was beyond excited. And along with using his hands to do everyday activities, Zion is looking forward to finally being able to play football.
His mother, who called the sport “dangerous,” is probably less excited about throwing around a football, but says she just wants to see her child do well. article via newsone.com
Jay Ellis and Visual Artist Shanell Martin with “Be Epic, Cure AIDS,” Limited Edition AmfAR towel
My first memory of being directly affected by the death of someone who lost their life to AIDS was when tennis legend Arthur Ashe died. My father broke the news to me. It was one of those unshakeable things — nearly impossible to process and even harder to understand. In a lot of ways it hit my Dad pretty hard. My parents had gone to college at UCLA with Arthur and growing up in our household, they made sure we knew he was way more than an incredible tennis player… he was an activist that paved the way for so many. He was “a great kind guy,” their classmate and hero.
Arthur had certainly had his health challenges… but athletic superheroes weren’t supposed to succumb to an incurable disease at 49. It was unfathomable. The news of his death hit over twenty-two years ago… and sadly we still do not have a cure for a disease that affects the black community (Africans & African- Americans) the most. Statistically, we make up more than forty percent of all new cases… and Jay Ellis (“The Game”) and famed British visual artist, Shantell Martin, know its time to do something about that. Their collaboration with amfAR (the Foundation for AIDS Research) and its “Countdown to A Cure for AIDS” initiative is something I can really get behind.
Out of this amfAR collaboration comes a limited edition beach towel. Designed exclusively for amfAR to help raise awareness and find a cure for HIV/AIDS, the towel’s design features Martin’s black & white illustrations and the inscription, “Be Epic, Cure AIDS,” a nod to amfAR’s “Countdown to a Cure for AIDS” initiative, aimed at developing the scientific basis of a cure by 2020.
This summer, I can’t think of a better accessory. This towel is exclusively sold at Scoop NYC locations and on amfAR’s website: http://shop.amfar.org/shantell-martin-amfar-towel.html for $40 with 100% of the proceeds supporting research to find a cure for HIV/AIDS. Let’s all do what we can.
Did you know:
Nearly 37 million people are now living with HIV. 2.6 million are under the age of 15.
In 2014, an estimated 2 million people were newly infected with HIV.
220,000 were under the age of 15.
Every day about 5,600 people contract HIV—more than 230 every hour.
In 2014, 1.2 million people died from AIDS.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, nearly 78 million people have contracted HIV and close to 39 million have died of AIDS- related causes.
As of March 2015, around 15 million people living with HIV (41% of the total) had access to antiretroviral therapy.
Evelyn Crayton (Photo via eatrightpro.org) Evelyn F. Crayton, professor emerita at Auburn University in Alabama, is the new president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The academy is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The academy was founded in 1917 and has 76,000 members. Dr. Crayton is the organization’s 90th leader and the first African American to hold the post.
A native of Jones, Louisiana, Dr. Crayton is a graduate of Grambling State University. She earned a master’s degree at Saint Louis University and a doctorate from Auburn University.
When she was granted emerita status at Auburn University, Dr. Crayton was a professor of nutrition dietetics, and hospitality management and assistant director of extension family and consumer sciences. She is a past president of the Alabama Dietetic Association. article via jbhe.com
Source: Paul Archuleta / Getty
2015 has been a breakout year for Empire star Jussie Smollett.
Before performing at the 2015 BET Awards, Jussie was honored by the Black AIDS Institute during the annual Heroes In The Struggle (H.I.T.S) gala. H.I.T.S pays tribute to Black Americans and the Allies who have contributed in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Previous inductees of the gala include Maxine Waters, Magic Johnson and President Bill Clinton.
According to Euroweb, Smollett was overjoyed when he heard the news about the honor.
“I got the call from Phil Wilson (President and CEO, Black AIDS Institute) who’s been one of my mentors since I was sixteen. He asked if I would be honored by the organization and I said of course. I love what the Black AIDS Institute has done and all of the lives that they’ve changed. I love Phil and to be honored by him is everything.”
Jussie was presented the honor by his sister Jurnee Smollett-Bell and actor/activist Wilson Cruz. Other recipients of the 2015 award include the executive director of Empower U community health center, Vanessa Mills, Gregorio Millett, the Vice-President and Director of public policy for AMFAR and Janssen Therapeutics.
Jussie even spilled the tea about when we can expect his album to drop and what we can expect to hear from season two of Empire.
“It’s going to be fun. For ‘Empire’ season two, I’ve been recording with everybody from obviously Timbaland to Jim Beanz and also Swizz Beatz and Ne-Yo so it’s going to be dope. It’s going to be excellent!” article by Veronica Hilbring via hellobeautiful.com
Have you ever had trouble finding that perfectly sexy one-piece or tantalizingly comfy bikini to show off your assets in the summer? So did a few designers we met, and they say it was their quest for a curve-contouring swimsuit that drove them to start their own companies.
When it comes to swimwear, these sisters are making waves. From itty-bitty, teeny-weeny string bikinis to formfitting, flattering one-pieces and everything in between, The Root has a list of nine bathing-suit designers who offer something for all shapes and sizes.
1. Tennille McMillan
Nakimuli swimsuit (M. JONES IMAGING)
Tennille McMillan began designing bathing suits in 2012 after fans of her clothing line, Nakimuli, wanted more from the Brooklyn, N.Y.-born and -bred designer. Her suits favor African-inspired prints, and she tells The Root that she has just started designing her own patterns, too, which come in all shapes and sizes. The 34-year-old designer says that Erykah Badu wears her line, as does Danielle Brooks from Orange Is the New Black.
2. Desiree D’Aguiar
BRANDSXBROTHERS FOR WINIFRED TAYLOR
Designer Desiree D’Aguiar does only one thing: swimwear. The 25-year-old started her Winifred Taylor label last year. Although D’Aguiar works in Toronto, where she grew up, the beach plays a large role in her life, thanks to her Caribbean roots. D’Aguiar tells The Root she gets her inspiration from artists, using their work to drive her collection. Her next collaboration will be with Tosh Jeffrey.
3. Altrichia Cook
A. LEKAY
Altrichia Cook is the designer behind the A. Lekay label. She’s been in the swimwear business for two years. The 28-year-old is based in central Florida, where she grew up. Cook tells The Root that her quest for a high-waisted swimsuit that would hide certain imperfections led her to start designing her own. It caught on with her Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority sisters, and the company was born. Nicki Minaj is a fan and wore an exclusive bikini in July’s issue of Cosmopolitan. This year A. Lekay showed its suits during New York Fashion Week.
4. Risque Dukes
RISQUE DUKES SWIM APPAREL
Risque Dukes founded her swimwear company of the same name in 2013. It’s based in Miami, which seems like the perfect location for an über-sexy line. The 25-year-old Army veteran tells The Root that she always wanted to be an entrepreneur and designer, so when she couldn’t find a “selfie-worthy” bikini, she decided to design her own. Her current collection includes bikinis featuring prints of Haitian, Bahamian and Jamaican flags. This year Dukes showed her suits during New York Fashion Week.
5. Monif Clarke
MONIF C.
Monif Clarke, the designer behind the Monif C. label, is from New Jersey but traces her roots to Barbados, where the 36-year-old gets some of her inspiration for her sexy, bright and tight line of swimwear. She was one of the first to introduce plus-size bikinis five years ago, when she couldn’t find suits she liked that fit her figure. The swimwear line is an offshoot of her clothing line, which started with the “Marilyn” convertible dress and is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
6. Kambili Ofili-Okonkwo
KAMOKINI/’ANUEL MODEBE
Nigerian designer Kambili Ofili-Okonkwo came up with idea for Kamokini a few years ago while living in England. The 27-year-old tells The Root that she wanted a swimsuit “that would make a woman feel confident when she might be at her most vulnerable.” So she sketched some designs and had them made during a trip to China. She started by selling to friends and family, then last year officially launched her company. Kamokini is a combination of her family name and “bikini.”
7. Marie-Jean Baptiste
RUE107
New Yorker Marie-Jean Baptiste is the designer behind the Rue107 line, founded four years ago. The name comes from her own Haitian background. The brand, the “home of confidence and curves,” includes swimwear and caters to all sizes. Baptiste weaves the rich and bold colors of her home country into the feminine swimsuits, which she says are perfect for a day at the beach. Baptiste, who was studying nursing before pursuing her passion, tells The Root that her detour only helped her understand even more how to design for the body.
8. Shakedria Mathis
MICHAEL DAUGHTRY/8TH & OCEAN SWIM
Shakedria Mathis’ swimwear company, 8th & Ocean Swim, was born in 2013 out of her love of travel and her obsession with finding the perfect bikini. She combined the two into the “travel-kini,” which she says is perfect for the “pretty young traveler or PYT, who loves and lives on vacation in a bikini.” The 29-year-old designer hails from Miami but lives and works in New York City.
9. La’Daska Mechelle Powell
Ladaska Mechelle swimsuit (COURTESY OF SHAMAYIM.NET)
La’Daska Mechelle Powell started making swimsuits while in design school in Tampa, Fla., in 2009. One year later she launched her swimwear company, Ladaska Mechelle. The Texas native has designed for the Dallas Stars Ice Girls and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. She tells The Root that she finds inspiration everywhere and makes most of the suits herself. The 31-year-old now lives and works in New York City.
The United States Supreme Court has upheld a key portion of President Barack Obama‘s healthcare law in a 6-3 decision. The court ruled the law made subsidies available for people in all 50 states, not just those who bought insurance through a state exchange.
Thursday’s decision is a major victory for the Obama administration. “We’ve got more work to do, but what we’re not going to do is unravel what has now been woven into the fabric of America,” Mr Obama said.
The high court case was the second major challenge to the healthcare law – often known as Obamacare – since its passage. “Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion.
If the law had been overturned, 6.4 million Americans would have been at risk of losing aid.
The 2010 law set up a federally run insurance exchange where Americans who were not covered by employers or other U.S. health programs could buy health insurance. Opponents argue that a phrase included in the law, “established by the state,” demonstrated that the healthcare subsidies should have only been available for people in states that set up exchanges.
However, most Americans receiving subsidies purchase healthcare through the federal exchange after many states decided not to set up their own marketplaces.
The Obama administration argued that was a too-narrow reading of the law, which spans nearly 1,000 pages, and the rest of the legislation makes clear subsidies are intended for those who meet income requirements, regardless of which exchange insurance was purchased from.
Justice Roberts voted with liberal colleagues in support of the law. He was also the key vote to uphold it in a 2012 case. Justice Anthony Kennedy dissented in 2012, but sided with the majority on Thursday.
Justice Anthony Scalia’s wrote in his dissent that the Supreme Court is setting a precedent of favouring some laws over others.
“We should start calling this law SCOTUS care” Justice Scalia’s wrote. “Today’s interpretation is not merely unnatural; it is unheard of.”
The upholding of the law cements President Obama’s biggest legislative victory.
ActorLamman Rucker joined Roland Martin on NewsOne Now to discuss the American Heart Association Blood Pressure Awareness Campaign as well as some of his upcoming projects.
According to the American Heart Association, more than 40 percent of Blacks in the U.S. have high blood pressure (compared to about 30% of U.S. adults in the general population).
“If you’re African American, there’s a good chance that you, a relative or an African American friend has the disease, which is also known as HBP or hypertension. Not only is HBP more severe in blacks than whites, but it also develops earlier in life.”
Rucker told Maritn, “we actually are experiencing high blood pressure at higher levels than the average” demographic of Americans.
“We’re dying at a greater rate from high blood pressure — it being the leading risk factor heart disease and stroke which are the leading causes of death and disability in the country.”
Later on in their discussion on hypertension in the the African American community, Rucker explained that one of the major initiatives of the American Heart Association Blood Pressure Awareness Campaign is a simple mantra of “check, change and control.”
He continued, “Get your blood pressure checked regularly, change your habits — so sometimes even if your habit is stop not getting checked, start getting checked.”
Rucker suggested individuals who are suffering from high blood pressure or are unsure of what their blood pressure is to change their eating habits, get up and exercise and start trying to live a more healthier, active lifestyle.
“There are some really minor changes that you can make which will make the most impact on your life,” said Rucker.
To see the video of this conversation, click here.
A’Ja Booth, left, and teacher Nadirah Muhammad are honored with the red carpet treatment by their West Side Academy peers as they enter the gym Tuesday. Muhammad was motivated to get tested as a potential donor when she found out A’Ja needed a new kidney. (Photo: Photos by Clarence Tabb Jr. / The Detroit News) A’Ja Booth walked the red carpet into the school gymnasium Tuesday with a shy smile and a new kidney.
It was the 18-year-old senior’s first day back at West Side Academy since a successful transplant five months ago. Ten classmates and a counselor on either side of the red carpet greeted her with confetti while 11th- and 12th-graders seated on bleachers cheered and applauded.
The woman close by her side on the red carpet, the one who linked arms with A’Ja and couldn’t stop smiling, was not just the physical education and health teacher. She was A’Ja’s donor.
They were a perfect match.
“This is what we do as teachers,” said Nadirah Muhammad, 39, who is a wife and the mother of a son. “I did not do it for the accolades. I saw a human being in need and if it were my child, I’d want someone to step forward and help him.”
When it was A’Ja’s turn at the microphone, inside the gym decorated with black and silver balloons, she was overcome with emotion and covered her eyes, crying softly.
The students applauded and shouted, “We love you,” urging her to take her time. “I am really thankful and blessed,” said A’Ja. “I can’t thank her any more than I already have. I look at her as my second mother. She’s a wonderful woman.” Andrea Ayler, principal of West Side Academy, said she had to push the teacher to go public about her gift to A’Ja. “Mrs. Muhammad did not want a lot of publicity, but I told her we have to tell this story,” Ayler said. “People just don’t do this. I myself would be hesitant. … I’m just so grateful to be principal of a school of educators who love children unconditionally the way Mrs. Muhammad does.”
The donor and recipient came together after Muhammad met A’Ja in her dance class during winter semester last school year. In May 2014, the teacher noticed a book A’Ja had written, “My Dialysis Journey” and asked if she could read it.
The book was A’Ja’s story of being a kidney patient. She described undergoing dialysis for four hours at a time, three days a week, and how she needed a transplant. Muhammad was immediately moved to help.
“She had been in my dance class for about two or three months before I even knew she was on dialysis,” said Muhammad. “Now she’s healthy and it’s just great to see her back in school and graduating in a few weeks.”
In her book, A’Ja wrote: “I’m tired of living day to day like everything’s alright. Being in a chair and hooked up to a machine is not a choice. I have to do it.”
After doctors determined teacher and student were a match, Muhammad’s kidney was removed Dec. 15, 2014, at Henry Ford Hospital and transplanted into A’Ja at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Nearly seven weeks later, Muhammad returned to work at West Side Academy, an alternative education school. A’Ja, meanwhile, is set to graduate June 8, pending completion of online courses.
Dr. Jason Denny, a surgeon at Henry Ford Health System and the Henry Ford Transplant Institute who performed the transplant, explained that kidney failure requires dialysis, which means a curtailed life. “The best medical treatment for patients is a transplant, and donors can be living or deceased,” he said.
He emphasized the need for more organ donors. According to the National Kidney Foundation, as of April 22, 101,662 U.S. kidney patients were awaiting transplants.
A’Ja’s friend Dakota Crowder, 18, also a senior, said at first he was frightened for her because he had never known anyone who had had a kidney transplant. “I felt relieved when I found out Mrs. Muhammad was the one who was donating the kidney,” he said. “When I found out everything was OK after the transplant, I was happy for A’Ja and Mrs. Muhammad.”
A’Ja said she plans to attend Oakland University and hopes to become a nurse.
“She will have a long and prosperous life taking good care of my kidney,” Muhammad said. article by Shawn D. Lewis via detroitnews.com
When you’ve been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, all sorts of questions and concerns start racing through your mind: “Am I going to be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of my life?” “Will I no longer be able to do the activities I love?”
These are very legitimate concerns and you may even feel as if you’re losing control over your life, which is understandable, but one of the best ways to regain control is by gathering your thoughts so that you can ask your doctor all the right questions.
Multiple Sclerosis is a disease to the damage of the covers of nerve cells which disrupts the ability of parts of the nervous system to communicate, resulting in physical, mental and sometimes psychiatric problems. It is the sisease that forced comedy legend, Richard Pryor, into a wheelchair in the last days of his life
With the help of Dr. Bola Oyeyipo, a family physician in San Antonio, Texas, we’re answering some of your most common questions regarding MS so that you can live your best life. 1. “What kind of MS do I have?” There are four types of MS: Relapsing-remitting MS, Primary-progressive MS, Secondary-progressive MS, and Progressive-relapsing MS. Knowing which form you have is essential in fighting the disease because you will know what to expect in terms of how it effects your body.
“The conventional treatment for MS is often not pleasant – injections of immune-suppressing agents so it’s important to know the type of MS you have so your treatment can be tailored accordingly,” Dr. Oyeyipo says.
2. “How far along is my MS?” MS can be difficult to diagnose due to the fact that it cannot be detected by one single test and the symptoms tend to vary from person to person. As a result, many individuals have MS for quite some time before being diagnosed. By then, the disease will have progressed.
“The current way of diagnosing MS is finding evidence of damage in at least two separate areas of the central nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves,” Dr. Oyeyipo says. “This usually start months to years before the physical symptoms show up.”
She adds, “Knowing the extent of demyelination of the brain and spinal cord helps to guide what treatment options to take. The more extensive the disease is, [the patient will require] a more aggressive approach, [such as treatment] with immunoglobulins and steroids to preserve physical function and to achieve remission.” MUST READ: Do You Know The Different Types Of Multiple Sclerosis?
Opponents argue that a phrase included in the law, “established by the state,” demonstrated that the healthcare subsidies should have only been available for people in states that set up exchanges.
When you’ve been diagnosed with