This...I...Do...For...Me: Over 50, Black and Fabulous!

Episode 18 With Karen Graham.

Today's guest is a mover and shaker in the community of Alzheimer's Research and Programming, particularly within communities of color. She has even examined programs in China to determine if and how this country's program models may serve people of color in the United States. Born and raised in Chicago, Karen grew up with a voracious thirst for knowledge, and she particularly loved the sciences. She grew up with the desire to become a physician, but transitioned into Psychology. She has achieved some very interesting and groundbreaking things throughout her career. As Manager of Community Relations at The Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Karen developed and implemented recruitment strategies and educational programs aimed at communities of color. This was significant since many of the studies at that point were aimed at Caucasian and other majority cultures and non-black ethnic groups. She has been instrumental in developing key relationships with the business community, elected officials, a variety interdisciplinary health practitioners, along with other stakeholders to provide the best services possible to people of color around Memory Care. Karen was also instrumental in the administration of a Religious Order Study that looked at the cognitive and memory abilities of Nuns, Priests and most recently church Deacons. Her additional gifts include the translation of Alzheimer research findings from the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center to communities of color for practical application and programming. She is most proud of the fact that she played a key role in establishing institutional trust with potential study participants. This was a very ambitious endeavor given the distrust that many African American seniors have as a result of historical memories of The Tuskegee Study. Karen has made a huge leap in deciding to return to school to pursue a Doctorate in Nursing Research. She states that when she applied and interviewed for this demanding program, she did not expect to be admitted. She was pleasantly surprised by her acceptance and immediately tapped into the expertise of many of the physicians and faculty members to serve as advisors and mentors. She openly shares the challenges that she has encountered, as well as her triumphs as a student in this program. Karen received her B.A. in Psychology from The University of Illinois – Champaign, her Masters in Psychology from Roosevelt University and is a Doctoral candidate at Rush's College of Nursing. Additionally, Karen is one of two African Americans who have been admitted into Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. This Honor Society is known for nursing excellence and for empowering nurse leaders to transform global healthcare. Karen can be reached at Karen_L_Graham@rush.edu Karen hopes to make inroads into the field of Foundation work, which would give her an opportunity to play a role is awarding foundation funds to organizations that are committed to working with people of color.

Episode 17 With Celeste K. Jones

Celeste K. Jones is an attorney with almost 25 years of experience advocating for the most vulnerable citizens of Cook County.  Celeste has served her entire career at the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian's Office protecting abused, neglected and dependent children and serving the needs and welfare of adults with disabilities.  Celeste has also served most of her career in leadership and supervisory roles and currently serves as Legal Director of the Adult Guardianship Division of the Cook County Public Guardian's office.  Celeste was raised on Chicago's west side and now resides on the south side.  Celeste earned her Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and Criminology from Northern Illinois University and her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.  In this episode, Celeste shares with the audience exactly what Guardianship is and why someone would need a Public Guardian.  Along with sharing how it is decided that someone is deemed incapacitated, Celeste thoroughly explains how guardianship over the estate and person works.  Depending on the capacity of the client, public guardians can make decision on behalf of the client around their finances, their health care decisions, their property, etc.  Celeste stresses the importance of leaving the client with their dignity by listening and taking in to account their wishes on who should or should not be appointed guardian.  Since guardianship is a serious matter, Celeste lays out what is required to serve as a guardian both from the Public Guardian's standpoint, along with the guidelines other appointed guardians must adhere to.  The key components that must be in place include securing the services of an attorney and getting bonded. Celeste shares the following resources – Adult Protective Services Hotline – 866/800-1409; Cook County Public Guardian Adult Guardianship Division – 312/603-0800; CARPLS (Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services); Metropolitan Family Services Legal Aid Society; Illinois Legal Aid Online; Center for Disability and Elder Law and John Marshall UIC Law School Fair Housing Clinic.

Episode 16 With Tami Winfrey Harris

Tamara Winfrey Harris is an American author, columnist and speaker.  She is currently Vice President of Community Leadership and Effective Philanthropy at Central Indiana Community Foundation.  With a B.A. in Journalism from The Greenlee School at Iowa State University, Tami has developed a national reputation for writing about the intersection of race, culture and gender.  She writes a regular column entitled "Some of Us Are Brave" for Bitch Media.  She voices her social analysis and critiques on several other media outlets including NPR's "Weekend Edition" and Janet Mock's "So Popular" on MSNBC.com.  Tami has also published a number of pieces in MS. Magazine.  Tami's first book, "The Sisters are Alright:  Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America" was published in 2015.  In this book, Tami celebrates Black women while simultaneously challenging the stereotypes that American culture has tried to saddled us with.  The books lays out how these stereotypes are damaging and how they play out in our daily functioning.  She courageously delves into how Black bodies are viewed in the United States and why. She has received a number of awards and accolades for this ground breaking work including the Phyllis Wheatley Book Award at The Harlem Book Festival.  She, along with columnist Rochelle Riley and writer DeeshaPhilyaw, is especially proud of having launched "Letters to Black Girls Project." The goal of this endeavor is to support and inspire Black girls through feminist, anti-racist, body positive, LGBTQ+ positive, anti-respectability politics and pro-Black letters from Black women.This project is designed to counteract the assault on black bodies and to pour into Black girls that they are dynamic and are capable of accomplishing anything. Tami has stated, "Maligning Black women regardless of our personal collective truth is part of American's DNA."Tami also has created and facilitates the Black Women's Writing Society, which meets monthly at the Center for Black Literature and Culture at the Indianapolis Central Library.  Tami narrated "The Journey of the Middle Passage" written by the best-selling author of the book "Wench" written by Dolen Perkins-Valdes.  It is in this work that you will experience the harrowing journey of the first enslaved Africans to Land in America.Tami shares in this episode some of the desires she plans to pursue in the future, which includes becoming a trained Yoga Instructor for Black Bodies.  She also has a number of book topics floating around in her consciousness that she plans to bring to fruition.  Tami can be contacted through her website www.tamarawinfreyharris.com

Episode 15 With Bea Watson

Bea is an established writer, director and producer of theatrical plays and is known in the Chicago theatrical community for providing acting opportunities to people in the community.  It's her way of sharing her gift.  She began performing on stage at an early age in church and high school in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan during the onset of the Motown era. Bea began performing with community theater with The Concept East Players.  She then moved to Chicago where she continued her theatrical training at Roosevelt University, along with studying sociology and urban studies.  At Columbia College in Chicago, she majored in Television/Radio Broadcasting with a minor in Creative Writing.  It was there that she earned a Bachelor's of Arts Degree while still performing with The Community Workshops throughout Chicago.  In this episode, Bea shares what was most exciting about theater versus other forms of media like film and television.  She expounds on the books that she has written and ones she is currently working on.  There are some common themes that can be found in her writing and theatrical productions, and she describes her writing process and how she determines what she will write about and what that process looks like. Her soon to be staged work "Gravy Train" happens to be her favorite work to date. For you listeners who are budding playwrights, novelists, etc., Bea describes how the community members who are featured in her productions have grown and flourished.  She often works collaboratively with other organizations, celebrities and on special projects. Bea is excited about the writing themes that she would like to explore in the future, and encourages African American women age 50+ to never let age or any potential barrier get in the way of dreaming and bringing your dreams to fruition.  When she speaks of her age, Bea says, "I'm old enough to do what I want and still young enough to enjoy it.

Episode 14 With Phyllis West

In this episode, you meet Phyllis West, MSW, MPH, Ph.D, who is a Professor at Governors State University and a soldier for health. Born on 16th Street (also known as a Holy City) on the west side of Chicago, Phyllis was the first person in her family to attend college. She has been living a plant based life for close to a decade and has explored veganism. She stresses the importance of nutrition and getting enough sleep. She has spent a number of years educating communities of color around healthy living through a weekly Sunday potluck where those gather to support each other in their desire to live a healthy life. Phyllis refers to herself as a Scholar-Activist, who consults with organizations around reducing gun violence. Additionally, she trains physicians on responsible medicine. For several years, Phyllis has escorted groups of students from Governors State University on highly successful Public Health Brigades to Ghana, Panama and Nicaragua. After intense preparation with the students, Phyllis, a faculty co-leader and the Health Brigade participants serve community members in the previously mentioned countries by building latrines, upgrading plumbing systems, setting up legal issues clinics and helping to build Bio-Digesters in Ghana. Phyllis touts the beauty, sophisticated engineering systems and the bio-diversity of Ghana and all of West Africa. Also, Phyllis shares her experience of spending time in the slave dungeons of Elmina and experiencing receiving instructions directly from the ancestors. The students experience tremendous growth through gaining a new sense of purpose, confidence and an appreciation of the host country. White students in the program learn how to be an ally by standing down and learning about the role that their ancestors played in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Phyllis and her faculty co-leader facilitate an reflection period for the students every evening; many revelations come forth. She stresses that the physical requirements associated with participation in the Health Brigades prompted the development of a multilayered and interdisciplinary pre-departure orientation. It is here that the students engage in numerous team building exercises, learn about the country's public health, governmental and cultural landscape. The students are also encouraged to go to the gym and build up their physical stamina. Students must raise the money to participate in the Health Brigade. A fully paid Global Scholarship has been established for one person who is a first generation college attendee and has never traveled before. A Global Scholarship for emerging leaders is on the horizon. To be accepted into the Health Brigade, student must complete a formal application, along with an interview. Participants range from ages 18-55 and represent a variety of college majors. As a result, the team is diverse and rich due to each student's subject concentration and interests. Phyllis' plans for the future include her developing a Rites of Passage program for previously incarcerated men to prepare them for the journey of traveling to Africa, understanding the direct relationship between incarceration and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, along with participating in the healing of their communities. Phyllis wants African American women age 50+ to not feel they are too old to seek out mentors, to work on self from the inside out, to travel and DREAM!