As Americans stock up on supplies to get through quarantine, grocery store workers have become some of the most essential workers in the country. Unfortunately, they’re also some of the most vulnerable when it comes to contracting COVID-19.
Ngl, life is hard right now, for everyone. Even as someone who’s stressed out of their mind right now, I recognize that I’m one of the lucky ones. Still, running outside helps. This article was originally supposed to be a half marathon prep guide, written over a month ago. Since then, the NY Half Marathon I was…
A popular Brooklyn YMCA employee, Janice Rodman, has become the latest fatality of the coronavirus pandemic.
At first, there were some people who believed Black people were immune to the coronavirus. It was also said that the deaths were mostly people 65 and up.
However, Rodman was 52 years old and still became a victim of COVID-19. Buzzfeed reported that while Rodman’s day job was at New York’s Sterling National Bank, she also held down the reception desk at the Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA one day a week and was beloved by the patrons there.
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The Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA is heartbroken after learning that we lost our beloved staff member, Janice Rodman, who…
Posted by Bed Stuy YMCA on Thursday, April 2, 2020
“This work for her was really her community service,” said Sonia Atherly, executive director of the Y, who worked with Rodman for 10years. “It’s a distinction between her job and her work.”
Rodman would take balloons leftover from YMCA celebrations to hand out to kids. She knew most patrons by name.
Rodman had suffered from bronchitis for years and that’s what her family originally thought was the issue when she fell ill in March. But when her daughter, Jasmine Thornton, saw that her mother was getting short of breath at the end of the month, she took her to the hospital.
On March 30, after some time on a ventilator, Rodman passed away.
The North Carolina native had lived in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy section since childhood in a brownstone shared by her family, including her daughter, niece, and parents until her parents returned to the South.
“So many memories in this house — with her friends and girlfriends, having barbecues outside, block parties,” Thornton told Buzzfeed. “Everyone knows my mom on this block.”
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Funeral arrangements are pending because of social distancing guidelines. Thornton said her mother wanted to be buried in North Carolina but she wanted to hold a service for her friends and family in Brooklyn at some point in the future.
Atherly does not know how she’ll handle telling the kids who loved Rodman she’s no longer going to be there to greet them.
“It’s not going to be the same,” she said.
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Issa Rae took the entertainment world by storm with Insecure, a comedy series showcasing modern, millennial adulthood. Through the main characters Issa (Rae) and Molly (Yvonne Orji), audiences get a first-hand look at dating, work-life, friendship and familial relationships as young Black women.
Debuting on HBO in 2016, Insecure has returned for three seasons and now, the fourth is at our fingertips.
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The season four official trailer reveals a few things: Issa remains the queen of awkward, Lawrence (Jay Ellis) is back with a new boo, and Kelli (Natasha Rothwell) dresses as Halle Berry’s character in B*A*P*S at some point this season. As trailers should, not many details are revealed about the upcoming season.
Many of the characters of Insecure have been running the same mile for three seasons. It is time for the real growth the characters inch toward each episode. Still, there are other wishes for season four, and one has already come true.
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Seasons one through three finished with eight, 30-minute episodes that occur in the blink of an eye, even with the after-show. This season, episodes will remain 30-minutes, however, Rae shares that season four will be extended to 10 episodes. What else do we wish for season four?
Will this be the season viewers get to watch an emotionally healthy Issa flourish? The situationships make for good Twitter debates, however, the former may make for better television. In season four, I hope Issa finds a healthy romantic relationship. For years, Issa Dee has dealt with awkward amorous interactions and relationships with dead-ends. For at least part of the season, Issa deserves to be loved fully and that love needs to be shown on screen.
The show-in-the-show is always a treat during the Insecure broadcast. Between season three’s rift on reboots with ‘Kev’yn’ to season two’s ‘Due North,’ a slave drama starring Regina Hall, the fictional show in the already fiction show gives insight to the character’s interest. During an interview with TheWrap, showrunner Prentice Penny shares the inspiration behind ‘Kev’yn’ was the lack of Black shows being rebooted.
“This season, we were just talking a lot about how much we love like ’90s Black sitcoms, and obviously in the wake of ‘Roseanne’ and ‘Will and Grace’ and, you know, ‘Full House’ and all the shows they brought back, we just started having discussions too about like, why aren’t they rebooting any shows of color?” Penny said. Hopefully, the show-within-the-show this season is just back, and as satisfying.
Kelli often adds a level of truth underlined by humor that Issa and Molly are incapable of delivering. Her moments on-screen are often the most refreshing. “I think people tune in every week and love Kelli is because she is unpredictable, and not the cliché portrayal of a plus-size friend,” Natasha Rothwell said on her character to ESSENCE.
Hopefully this season, Kelli gets a storyline beyond being the funny friend with her life together. Season three introduced a new vulnerable side of Kelli and I want to see more. Her outspoken, dynamic personality deserves to be humanized by emotions not simply defined by laughter, smiles, and status.
One amazing thing about Insecure is the music used to soundtrack the show. Viewers have come to expect and anticipate the playlist to follow each season. From City Girls to Little Simz, the show has featured both rising and established artists in hip-hop, R&B, and pop genres. The creative team diligently selects music that matches the story in both lyrics and sound. Music supervisor Kier Lehman, who has worked on Insecure since the show’s inception, credits Rae with adding her own personal ear to the song selections.
“It’s definitely driven by Issa. It’s her voice and her tastes, and I work with her as kind of a facilitator. So as we get into the beginning of the season, especially now that we’ve worked together for a little while, we have a shorthand,” Lehman told Variety.
“I know what she likes, so I’m reaching out to artists to get music if it’s unreleased or ahead of an album coming out, or reaching out to artists to see if they can create music.”
The official trailer reintroduced the Insecure gang with Yung Baby Tate and Kari Faux’s
“Hot Girl.”
It’s time for Insecure’s girl gang to get major wardrobe upgrades. Not wearing designer looks or couture pieces every episode, but having a clear, signature style defined by their character’s personality, means, and ideals. The predecessors of Insecure in the Black TV canon such as Living Single, The Fresh Prince of BelAir, and Girlfriends had wardrobes that captured not only each character’s persona but gave looks that captured the time.
Will future generations look back at the outfit choices on Insecure and crave the Black millennial looks? Issa’s graphic t-shirts and quirky pattern mixing and Molly’s legal looks can be taken to the next level.
The post 5 things I need to see from ‘Insecure’ season 4 appeared first on TheGrio.
A white Kentucky doctor has been arrested after strangling a Black teenager following a confrontation about social distancing.
Over the weekend, Reddit blew up with footage of a man pushing and shoving young female teens to the ground Friday night at the Norton Commons amphitheater in Louisville. At one point, John Rademaker is seen strangling a Black teenager and obstructed her breathing.
Witnesses claimed he approached the group of nine teenagers and berated them for not practicing social distancing. He was accompanied by his wife who is describing as having shoved a phone in the faces of one of the girls.
It has been advised that people stay home unless it is necessary to go out and to keep six feet apart to stop the spread of the COVID-19 disease. He is alleged to have become angry that the group was gathered and physically assaulted them. He grabbed the neck of one and continued to argue with the others.
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The young woman did not suffer any serious injury and Rademaker was arrested. He was charged with strangulation and three counts of harassment with physical contact.
LMPD provided guidance on how people should report those who are not practicing social distancing according to the Louisville Courier Journal.
“We are aware of this video and officers from the 8th Division responded to a call to this incident (Friday) and took a report,” LMPD stated.
“Obviously, we do not advise individuals concerned about social distancing to take matters into their own hands and confront people about it, especially in any physical way. We ask people who are concerned about large gatherings to call 311 or 911 to report their concerns.”
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LMPD spokeswoman Jessie Halladay stressed that there should be no vigilantism.
“We know people are out there saying, ‘Hey guys, you should probably social distance,’” Halladay said. “That’s one thing, if you’re being polite and it’s your neighbors, we don’t want you to take it into your own hands, and you certainly should never get physical.”
Rademaker is an independent contractor who works as a physician at Baptist Health. A spokesperson has stated that he is now on administrative leave and an investigation is pending.
“The partners of SIAC, a division of One Anesthesia PLLC have decided to place the physician that appeared in the video on administrative leave as of April 5th pending further investigation. Our well wishes extend to all parties involved and we will continue to monitor this situation as new information develops.”
Louisville Urban League President and CEO Sadiqa Reynolds said that accountability was needed.
“These are grown people who assaulted young people,” she said. “They’re kids, and we need to deal with it like that has to be stopped, and he and his wife have to be held accountable.”
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