A few weeks ago, I joined a Prince George’s County Town Hall Meeting convened by the Faith Based Advisory Board to address mental health. The special guest speakers included, Timothy Jansen, Executive Director of Community Crisis Services, Inc., Jean Moore, Executive Director of NAMI, Dr. Earnest Carter, the Health Officer of Prince George’s County and Tara Jackson, the CAO for Prince George’s County.
At noon, this Wednesday, August 19, the Faith Based Advisory Board will convene another Town Hall Meeting for Prince George’s County. The focus of this town hall will be distance learning and strategies for educators and families. This promises to be a time of sharing useful information that will address concerns and anxieties that many have as schools reopen.
I made a quick trip to New York last week, on the train I read this article about plagues. It’s informative on how plagues force change in a society. The author discusses the early plagues in Rome and the integral, though not emphasized in school, role of smallpox during the American Revolution. It is a worthwhile read.
By now, you have likely seen the stunning photographs of Viola Davis on the cover and for the article in Vanity Fair. What you may have missed is that Dario Calmese, is the first (yes, first) African American photographer to shoot the cover in the 35 years of publication of the magazine. Dario Calmese is a man of numerous gifts. A writer, and classically trained dancer and singer, Calmese began taking photographs while studying fashion photography at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. In this recent nytimes article, he spoke about his start into photography. He mentioned, Lana Turner, a collector of vintage fashions, whom he photographed every Sunday for five years at Abyssinian Baptist Church. Calmese also details how the portrait of Gordon (The Scourged Back) inspired him for the cover pose that Viola Davis marvelously executes.
Finally, if you could use an additional source of spiritual inspiration, check the inspiration section of Empowering Everyday Women online magazine. It will bless you.