Mind, Body & Spirit
An Update on Maintaining Those New Year’s Resolutions
With us being several weeks into 2019, you might have already gotten slightly discouraged or fallen off track when it comes to the goals you’ve set for the year, so we thought it may be a good idea to revisit those resolutions with an update.
Feeding your Temple: Body, Mind, and Spirit
God gave each of us these beautiful temples that were made in His image. It is imperative that we take care of them and treasure them just as He treasures us.
Dying While Black
The U.S. health care system can improve care for all patients at the end of life. However, this system still denies black patients the kinds of interventions that white patients often take for granted.
8 Ways to Pull Yourself Up When You’re Going through Hell
We don’t mean to lie, but when someone asks us how we’re doing, it is much easier to say that we are “fine” or “blessed” than to tell the whole truth. We are not always fine. Pull yourself up with one of these eight suggestions.
End-of-Life Decisions an Act of Justice
Making healthcare decisions bears witness to the power of agency, advocacy, and the humanity of African-Americans. For some, it may seem like just a document, but for us it is an act of resistance, and an act of freedom, and an act of justice.
Get Fit with These Black-Owned Businesses
One of the top resolutions on everyone’s list is losing weight and getting in shape. Working out can be no fun at all, but over the last few years people have created dynamic fitness programs that are fun and effective.
How Spirit-Filled Thinkers Can Influence the Cut-Throat Healthcare Industry
“I think we should all be faith-based. We would all treat each other better, respect each other more. It should permeate everything we do.” — Dr. Shreni N. Zinzuwadia, a critical care specialist in Newark, NJ
Take Your Christmas Celebrations from “Ho Hum” to Happy and Healthy
Experts share menu ideas and a list of healthy tips and tricks to help navigate the holiday season without sacrificing the flavor or fun of celebrating.
Why Do So Many Kids Have ADHD?
Researchers, using federal survey data, note a significant increase in diagnosis and also find a rise in the rates among girls and people of color.
The Wall Street Journal: Churches Can Help Reduce Heart Disease
Health workers operating at faith communities in New York City were able to significantly lower and manage hypertension in black communities
Black men more religious than whites, research shows
Historically, women tend to be the stalwarts when it comes to religion, while men attend religious services less often and are less likely to say their faith is very important to them. But a new analysis shows that black men defy this trend.
Rhymes Of Their Times: Young Poets Riff On Type 2
Young people are harnessing the power of poetry to raise awareness about Type 2 diabetes.
What You Need to Know About Breast Cancer
The fight to bring awareness to the most commonly diagnosed cancer among Black women is a year-long battle.
Mixed martial arts and Christianity: ‘Where Feet, Fist and Faith Collide’
The notion that MMA and Christianity are compatible bedfellows is loosely based on the ideology of Muscular Christianity, a mostly-male, Victorian-era movement that linked the gospel with physical and mental toughness.
What’s All the Buzz About Brothas, Barbers, and Lower Blood Pressure?
Amid the buzz of hair clippers and the beat of hip-hop, barber Corey Thomas squeezes in a little advice to the clients who come into his shop for shaves and fade cuts.
Sickle Cell Patients Suffer Poor Care, Discrimination — And Shorter Lives
Patients and experts alike say it’s no surprise then that while life expectancy for almost every major malady is improving, patients with sickle cell disease can expect to die younger than they did 20 years ago.
10 Habits for Raising Academically Successful Kids
As a new school year draws nearer, consider these 10 habits to help your kids be successful.
Saved and Depressed: A Real Conversation About Faith and Mental Health
When you see a man walking down the street talking to himself, what is your first thought? Most likely it’s, “He is crazy!” What about the lady at the bus stop yelling strange phases? You immediately become guarded and move as far away from her as possible. I know...
Christianity and Yoga: Is it Really Okay?
As a faith-based yoga and wellness instructor, I am routinely asked whether a Christian can practice yoga.
“Black people don’t commit suicide. That’s a white thing!”
"Black people don’t commit suicide. That’s a white thing." Who said that? That is a false statement. Blacks suffer from mental illness just like their white counterparts. In fact, when you think of everyday stressors, systematic-racism such as police brutality,...
Faith communities offer a pathway to ending AIDS in Africa
(RNS) — Since the earliest days of the AIDS epidemic, many communities of faith have supported millions of people living with HIV and kept future generations free from HIV through their prevention efforts. Their engagement on the front lines of health, especially in...
What the Movies Don’t Show You About the Psychiatric Unit
I remember repeatedly telling my friends I did not want to go to the psychiatric hospital for months. I was terrified and I did not want to be labeled as “crazy.” Every time someone asked if they should call the police, I said “no.” Who would? After attempting...
Beyond the Lights: Celebrities and Mental Illness
As the conversation of mental health and illness gradually comes to the forefront of national attention, the month of May is the perfect time to raise awareness. For some reason, we tend to stigmatize mental illness and do not see it as a “real” or life-threatening...
7 Tips to Help Manage Depression and Anxiety
Dealing with a mental illness is never easy but with the proper strategies and tools, you can learn to manage your mental health while living a happy life. Self-care is the root for coping with mental illness. I never understood the meaning of self-care until I was...
Saving Our Sisters: Breaking the Silence on Black Women And Health
I’ve seen too many women die over the past few months. Women that had so much life left to live. Women that had virtually conquered the world and transformed lives. Women who were gone too soon. I took their deaths personally. I was angry that I didn’t know about...
Stories of Suicide and the Faith Community
The idea of suicide is absolutely unthinkable to most. However, if you look at it through the eyes of someone in the darkness of depression, the anxiety of schizophrenia, the confusion of bi-polar disorder and so many others, many people may consider ending it all to...
What Black Millennials Need to Know about Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is often associated with older women. However, young women are not exempt. Although October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness of the disease, many women still take their health for granted, particularly millennials....
The Simple and Hard Facts About Being a Healthy Black Person
Being healthy is pretty simple, but most people in the United States find it pretty hard. And for an African American, it's over-the-top hard. Not only is the struggle of getting healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle embedded in the culture, but there are...
Fitness Motivation: #GimmeFive
With summer just a few short weeks away writer Natasha Sistrunk-Robinson shares her fitness plans and encourages others to join in the #GimmeFive movement.
How to Practice Dietary Restraint During the Holidays
The next month and a half will be filled with food, here’s a little guidance to keep the holiday spread on the table and off of you.
Do Strong Religious Beliefs Help Cancer Patients Battle the Disease Better?
Faith and wellness expert Rev. Percy McCray discusses the validity of prayer and faith in the midst of cancer and other illnesses.
The Affordable Care Act and African Americans
An overview of how the Affordable Care Act may address inequities and improve health outcomes for African Americans.
What You Need to Know About the Affordable Care Act
Open enrollment for the ACA begins on October 1, but do you know some of the finer points about the plan? Find out here.
The Kermit Gosnell Case: America on Trial
Dr. Kermit Gosnell, the former operator of the Women’s Medical Society, is currently on trial for the deaths of four infants and a woman. What does his trial reveal about who we are as a country?
Rethinking Sacrifice
Through the lens of the cross, Rev. Toby Sanders invites us to reimagine what a healthy notion of sacrifice would mean for our vocations and our communities
Black Churches Host Kidney Sunday
African-Americans are 13 percent of the US population, but represent 32 percent of kidney failure cases nationally. To combat this public health issue, black churches are hosting Kidney Sundays to raise awareness and highlight solutions to the problem.
Common Grace Flowing at the Jersey Shore
Hurricane Sandy did a lot of mischief at the Jersey Shore, but common grace is flowing like a flood.
Pink Ribbon Warriors
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among African American women — and their most common cause of cancer death. Here are tips for reducing your risk and winning the fight.
Undecided Voters Get a Voice in 2nd Debate
Undecided voters will have the opportunity to press the candidates on domestic policy tonight, but will they get the answers they need in a tight race?
When Politicians Want It Both Ways
At religion reporters meeting, surrogates for Obama and Romney seemed to want to woo faith voters, but limit reporters’ faith questions. Should faith be off-limits?
Obama v. Romney, Round 1
President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney face off for their first debate tonight. What won’t they be talking about?
Real Girls in a Photoshopped World
A 14-year-old student’s protest against the unrealistic bodies of models in teen fashion magazines leads to a mini-revolution. But can it tamp down our culture’s obsession with idealized and overly sexual images in the media?
Obama Lets Others Outshine Him in Charlotte
Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton delivered speeches that outshined the president, and there was a lot of God-talk. What was the political message?
Meeting Dad in Bill Milliken’s Rearview Mirror
How I became reacquainted with my late father through urban ministry pioneer Bill Milliken’s new memoir, ‘From the Rearview Mirror.’
What Does It Mean to Be ‘Pro-Life’?
Why I don’t think my position on the legality of abortion defines me as a ‘pro-lifer.’
Responsibility and the Affordable Care Act
FOLLOW UP: A response to critics of my ‘Obamacare’ post and a challenge to Christian colleges that are suing over the contraception mandate.
Is Black Church Culture Unhealthy?
OPINION: From the looks of the overweight bodies in the pews and the high-fat soul food meals in our church basements, it’s hard to escape the possibility that many of the practices and traditions of the black church may be killing us.
Jesse Jackson Jr.’s Mystery Mood Disorder
Stigma and shame are common barriers to treatment for mental illness, especially in the Black community. Therapist LaTonya Mason Summers says this could be one reason Jesse Jackson Jr.’s mood disorder diagnosis remains a mystery.
Seven Olympians to Watch
Here are seven Olympians we’ll be following closely at the London Games.
Questions for Conservatives About Healthcare Reform
As a freedom-loving pro-lifer, I want to know why my conservative friends don’t seem to care about women like me when it comes to healthcare reform.