Category: African-American

Essence Magazine:

Sisterhood is undoubtedly one of the strongest vertebras in the spine of the Black community. Whether we are playfully catching up on the latest “Real Housewives” episode in our group chats or pitching in as “Auntie” to our best friend’s kid, generations of Black folks have survived off of the nurturing nature and emotional generosity of Black female friendships.

Some of entertainment’s most powerful stars admit they would be nothing without the love and support of their best friend. Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King are one of the most famous friend duos of our time. The two met as work colleagues forty years ago and went on to build phenomenal careers as journalists and media moguls.

“I believe God put the two of us in each other’s path to do exactly what we’ve been doing since that night in Baltimore when I was 22 and she was 21,” Oprah wrote of her friend last year.

“Listening. Listening. Talking. Listening. Laughing (a lot). Building dreams. Standing in the gap. Cheering. Being a shoulder to cry on. Supporting. Speaking the truth. Being the truth!”

And Destiny’s Child (and the global superstar that is Beyonce), wouldn’t even exist without the long-held friendship of Beyonce & Kelly.  The two pop stars grew up in Texas where they gravitated towards one another with their love of music and dancing. The two joined a group called Girl’s Tyme, and Kelly eventually moved in with the Knowles’ family due to familial conflict in her own home.

“We grew up in this industry together; we’ve shared ups and downs and we are closer than ever. I can tell her anything, and she’ll never judge me. She’s a real friend: genuine, loyal and trustworthy. She’s also one of the sweetest people you ever did meet,” Kelly told Marie Claire in 2019.

And while some connections are forged through experiences, there are some best friendships that are born through blood.

Venus and Serena Williams aren’t just super-talented world-renowned athletes; they are also sisters and friends. Coached by their dad Richard Williams, the pair started training to be tennis champions before they were teens.  They went on to dominate the sport and earned millions and multiple titles between the two. Even when the two square up as rivals, they always see each other as family first.

“As a sister, when they’re doing something it’s your own success too,” Venus told E! in 2018.  

While these are just some of the more famous examples of Black sisterhood that shaped Black history, game-changing friendships are happening every day between Black women all over the world. Share a story of your best friend and talk about how your connection influenced your life.

The post These Famous Celebrity Women Credit Sisterhood And Friendship As A Necessary Part Of Their Success appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

Even though many of this month’s pride parades and festivals have been canceled due to social distancing rules, there are plenty of ways to celebrate even if you are homebound.

You can live-stream Global Pride 2020 with your friends, host a virtual happy hour, donate to an LGBTQ+ charity, or show your support with a commemorative manicure. To achieve the latter, all you need is a little inspiration.

Since nail salons are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, we took the liberty of rounding up eight pride-themed nail designs to D.I.Y.

Grab your polish and check them out in the gallery below.

The post Show Your Pride With These Stunning Nail Designs appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

An independent autopsy into the death of George Floyd requested by his family has ruled his death a homicide as a result of “asphyxiation from sustained pressure.”

According to CNN, the autopsy determined that compression to Floyd’s neck and back cut off the blood flow to his brain, leaving essentially “dead on the scene,” family attorney Ben Crump noted.

Video footage from the incident that went viral and prompted outrage and protests showed officer Derek Chauvin causally and callously putting his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. A different video that later surfaced showed other officers kneeling on his back.

All four officers that were on the scene at the time of the incident were fired. Chauvin has since been arrested and charged with murder.

This ruling from the independent medical examiners comes after the Hennepin County Medical Examiner claimed in preliminary results that there were “no physical findings” to “support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”

That autopsy said that Floyd died from combined effects of being restrained, any potential intoxicants in his system, as well as underlying health issues, including heart disease, as CNN notes.

Dr. Michael Baden, one of the independent medical examiners, refuted those results.

“There is no other health issue that could cause or contribute to the death,” Baden said. “Police have this false impression that if you can talk, you can breathe. That’s not true.”

The post Independent Autopsy: George Floyd Died Of ‘Asphyxiation From Sustained Pressure’ appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

You know what a new month means? There’s a new batch of content from Netflix that we can add to our binge rotation.

And it’s coming at a perfect time, especially when we’re looking for distractions from the heavy news cycle.

A few of our favorite sitcoms will be releasing their new seasons this month on the streaming platform, such as the final season of 13 Reasons Why, along with Spike Lee’s highly anticipated film, Da 5 Bloods—his first film since the Oscar-winning feature, BlacKkKlansman.

Below, check out the titles coming in June that you absolutely must stream on Netflix this month.

The post Here’s Everything Coming To Netflix In June appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

In 2017, essie, the nail polish authority, founded National Nail Polish Day on June 1 to celebrate the love of color. Today the celebration continues in hopes of bringing the world closer together in light of the recent incidents that have devastated so many Black communities. 

“Four years ago, we founded a day to celebrate color. Today we stand in solidarity and know that our colors go beyond nail polish,” essie tweeted. “We stand for equality, inclusivity, and connecting the world through color, today, and every day.”

And in the vein of inclusivity and bringing the world together through color, we’ve rounded up ten Black-owned nail polish brands with beautiful pigments to help boost your manicure and mood.

The post 10 Black-Owned Nail Polish Brands To Put On Your Radar appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

In light of everything happening in regards to police brutality, the fashion industry is scrambling to find the right words. In the past, the industry has arguably turned a blind eye to the Black Lives Matter movement and designers like Kerby Jean-Raymond have found themselves speaking to an industry that see’s his work as “groundbreaking” but ultimately ignores the message he encompasses through his garments. While there are few black industry mavens that hold high-power positions, Off-White creator and Louis Vuitton menswear designer Virgil Abloh is one of them. This weekend, black creatives expressed their distaste for the designer after he sent out mixed messages regarding the chaos that has transpired regarding the death of George Floyd.

While there were peaceful protesting throughout parts of the country, other protest resulted in multiple luxury stores in Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago being completely looted. Abloh and his white streetwear counterparts were not exempt as most of them hold store fronts in LA. “We’re about of a culture together, is this what you want,” Abloh wrote on Instagram after Sean Wotherspoon’s Round Two Vintage was ransacked.

His outcry left Black creatives confused due to Abloh’s unusual silence on Black and brown issues. While Abloh employs rappers like 21 Savage to model campaigns, his touch on the culture usually stops there. He’s been able to grab the masses and support of the black community while separating himself from social issues.

There were many telling instances with Virgil but the one for me was when this young Black designer, Wole Olosunde, shared how excited he was to meet Virgil + show him a glasses design he completed That young man’s glasses were ripped off in the Off-White SS19 Collection smh pic.twitter.com/jqCWCOdANm

— Shelby Ivey Christie (@bronze_bombSHEL) June 1, 2020

Shortly after the internet caught word about Abloh’s post, photos including his rumored all-white staff pictures began to circulate and fashion historian Shelby Ivey Christie pointed out that Abloh was under fire last year for allegedly stealing from a young black designer by the name of Wole Olosunde.

Amidst the backfire, the designer donated $50 to a fund created by Fempower to bail out protestors in Miami. For some, this donation was a little too late. “A donation is a donation we suppose? Thankful for all the humor that this has brought,” wrote a rep on the Fempower Instagram story.

The question of if Virgil is truly “for the culture,” arises again.

The post The Internet Reacts To Virgil Abloh Seemingly Donating $50 appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was captured on video putting his knee on George Floyd’s neck for more than 8 minutes, has been transferred to a maximum-security facility, KSTP reports.

Chauvin, who was fired and subsequently arrested and charged with murder in Floyd’s death, who was most recently being held in Hennepin County Jail has been transferred to the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights, where, according to the report, many inmates “need a higher level of security.”

Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson requested the transfer, according to the DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell.

According to KARE11, Schnell said the transfer was made due to concerns over the coronavirus, as well as matters of jail safety.

The move was also ironically made on Sunday in anticipation of the arrests of demonstrators protesting against Floyd’s death.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – MAY 31: Protesters demonstrate against the death of George Floyd on May 31, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Four Minneapolis police officers have been fired after a video taken by a witness was posted on social media showing Floyd’s neck pinned to the ground by an officer during an arrest. Floyd was pronounced dead after being transported to Hennepin County Medical Center and former officer Derek Chauvin was charged with his murder. Photo by Joshua Lott for The Washington Post via Getty Images

“A large number of people could be booked into Hennepin County Jail tonight, and as a result of that Sheriff Hutchinson handed me the request and the DOC accommodated that request and the transfer has been made,” Schnell said. “He is safe and secure in the prison at Oak Park Heights.”

The post Derek Chauvin Transferred To Maximum-Security Prison appeared first on Essence.

Essence Magazine:

Humans are creatures of connection. Perhaps the most powerful example of this is how we come into the world: completely vulnerable in our caregiver’s arms. As we develop, touch governs many of the ways we relate, trust, and collaborate with other people. This could be with a parent-child relationship, friendship, romantic partnership, or business. Touch is crucial to our mental, emotional, and physical health, as a significant portion of our brains and millions of epidermal cells are devoted to processing information through the skin.

Touch is also beneficial for our immune systems, with one 2014 study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University finding that receiving hugs makes people more resistant to one of the respiratory viruses that causes the common cold. Positive touch also coincides with the release of the powerful oxytocin hormone, which reduces stress and improves immunity.

Unfortunately, touch is the one thing that we’ve all been studiously avoiding since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold this year. While those quarantined with spouses, children, or roommates still have access to certain forms of touch, those who are living alone are likely experiencing some level of touch deprivation or skin hunger. This occurs when a person experiences little to no touch from other living beings which can result in loneliness, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, difficulty sleeping, and similar symptoms.

Here are five simple ways to satisfy your need for touch during isolation: 

The post Five Simple Ways To Combat Touch Hunger While Social Distancing appeared first on Essence.