About 360 MAGAZINE

360 MAGAZINE is an award-winning international publishing on popular culture and design. We introduce avant trademarks to efficacious architects. We are a LGBTQIA2S+ friendly publication--officially recognized by the NGLCC. Our core demographic ranges from 19 to 39-year-old college-educated trendsetters within their respective international communities. The pages in this art book satisfy their strong interests including music, art, travel, auto, health, fashion, tech, philanthropy, design, food and entrepreneurship. It's an introspective digital/print/tablet portrait series, which encapsulates artists/brands/entities who embody the true essence of our publication- empowerment, equality, sensuality and most important of all, humanity within a global society.

Rolls-Royce Beverly Hills Celebrates Lunar New Year: Year of the Rat

Leave a reply

On Friday evening, Rolls Royce Beverly Hills hosted the Fifth Annual Lunar New Year: Year of the Rat Celebration presented by The Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, Asian Business Connection Committee at the Rolls-Royce Beverly Hills Showroom.

Upon arrival, guests were ushered on to a red carpet where photographers snapped pictures for a true Hollywood experience. Stationed at the end of the showroom was a red Rolls-Royce Cullinan specially commissioned by the Rolls-Royce Beverly Hills team in honor of the Lunar New Year. Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin, and a Marilyn Monroe impersonators lead guests into a tented area with decorative lights, lanterns, cocktails, and light bites provided by iconic Beverly Hills restaurants including Xi’an Restaurant, Il Fornaio, Crustacean Beverly Hills, Kazan and The Grill on the Alley. The night’s entertainment was kicked off with a traditional Chinese lion dance. To celebrate the year of the rat, the entertainment focal point for the night, were the Cufflink Crooners, a quartet of singers who impersonate the iconic “Rat-Pack” complete with the aforementioned Marilyn Monroe impersonator fluttering throughout the audience. Additional entertainment for the night included performances from cultural dance troupes and martial artists. A second electrifying lion dance closed out the night’s festivities.

Instagram

@rollsroycebeverlyhills

@ogaracoach

#LNYBeverlyHills #BHCC #BeverlyHills #OgaraCoah #RollsRoyceBeverlyHills

About O’Gara Coach

O’Gara Coach, established in 1976, has served Southern California for more than 43 years, with locations in Beverly Hills, San Diego, and Westlake Village. O’Gara Coach is a factory-authorized dealer for Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Automobil Pininfarina, Bentley, Bugatti, Genesis, Karma, Koenigsegg, Lamborghini, McLaren, Maserati, Rimac and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Through unparalleled performance, O’Gara Coach has become respected as one of the largest and most prestigious dealer groups in the entire world. http://www.ogaracoach.com

About Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Beverly Hills:

Rolls-Royce Beverly Hills, an O’Gara Coach Company, is dedicated to an unmatched Rolls-Royce buying experience in Beverly Hills. Rolls-Royce Beverly Hills is the number one Rolls-Royce dealership in the Western Hemisphere, with the largest offering in the country featuring bespoke models, expert factory-authorized service technicians and access to Rolls-Royce parts and accessories. Rolls-Royce Beverly Hills has the finest collection of Wraith, Phantom, Dawn, Ghost and Cullinan models.

About the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce:

The mission of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce is to empower businesses to thrive by being an invaluable resource for optimizing connections. We serve the luxury capital of the world through marketing, advocacy, and education for the Beverly Hills business community. The Chamber – with its committees, board, councils, staff, and valuable members – works with city officials, local businesses and the community at large to promote the local economy.

The Chamber has been the voice of business in Beverly Hills since 1923. We are a membership organization comprised of more than 800 local businesses who believe in the importance of creating a solid foundation within the community. To accomplish our mission, the Chamber relies on the efforts of our members, our Board of Directors, volunteers and the generosity of companies who sponsor our events and programs.

Three Interesting Ways to Keep Your Anxiety in Check

Leave a reply

Did you know that approximately one in four individuals suffer from a mental health issue? Although it can often feel like you’re alone in your struggles, roughly a quarter of the people you come into contact with each day will have experienced similar, which means it’s nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about.

Generalized anxiety disorder is particularly common, with 5.9 percent of people affected. For these individuals, the condition can often feel debilitating, as if your fears have taken over and you’re no longer in control.

Luckily, there are lots of ways you can deal with this, from medical intervention to a few simple lifestyle tips that can help you get on top of the way you’re feeling. Here are three you might want to try.

Exercise more

We understand that when you’re anxious, you often feel an urge to curl up in bed and hibernate for the day, but sometimes doing the opposite can be beneficial. Indeed, taking yourself down to the gym or going out for a walk or a run in your local park can be really helpful when anxiety strikes, as it not only gives you something else to focus on, but sends a dose of feel-good endorphins rushing around your body. This can alleviate feelings of worry and panic both short- and long-term (for those who exercise more regularly), which is why those in the know recommend a minimum of three to five 30-minute workout sessions a week for individuals who are affected.

Play games

When feelings of anxiety strike, one of the best ways to combat them is to give your mind something else to focus on, whether this is reading a book or planning what you’re going to have for dinner. Playing games can be particularly helpful. That’s because the experience is relatively immersive, especially when it’s online slots or some other form of interactive game. The extensive offerings from sites like Captain Spins are a good example, but if you do want to give this tip a go, we recommend shopping around to make sure you find the best offers out there. For example, the bonus from Captain Spins lives up to the brand name with a huge 260 bonus spins, meaning you won’t have to break the bank every time you desire to distract yourself.

Try aromatherapy

Last but not least, it can be a good idea to try aromatherapy. While you might find the thought of burning candles or incense unlikely to help you, there is plenty of research to support the fact that certain scents seem to soothe and calm us. These include lavender, chamomile, and sandalwood, with aromatherapy and essential oils believed to activate certain sensory receptors in our brains that calm our nerves and can alleviate anxiety.

When it comes to managing anxiety disorders, every individual is different, and what works for one may not help another. This doesn’t mean you should become disheartened. Try different approaches, aim to identify triggers, and don’t be afraid to speak to a health professional if you feel like your anxiety is starting to negatively impact your life. Stay proactive, and you’ll undoubtedly find a way to make each day just a little bit easier than the one before.

ARIZONA ZERVAS – ROXANNE

Leave a reply

Check out Arizona Zervas’ new remix of “ROXANNE” featuring Swae Lee – listen HERE. They performed the track together last week in Chicago during Swae’s set on Post Malone’s “Runaway Tour.”

Arizona released the official music video for “ROXANNE” last week – watch HERE.

Visit http://arizonazervas.com/ for more music and additional info.

Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan

Leave a reply

Kid rapper and pint-sized powerhouse Young Dylan will join the Nickelodeon family with the premiere of the brand-new live-action series, Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan, on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 8:30 (ET/PT). Executive produced, directed and written by Perry, the series follows a family whose world is turned upside down when their nephew, Young Dylan (Dylan Gilmer), an aspiring hip-hop star, moves in unannounced. Michelle Sneed is also an executive producer, with Will Areu and Mark E. Swinton serving as producers. The series is currently in production at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Ga.

In Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan, Dylan’s grandmother Viola (Aloma Wright) realizes that raising her grandson is too much to take on, so she decides to send him to live indefinitely with her affluent son Myles Wilson (Carl Anthony Payne II), his wife Yasmine (Mieko Hillman) and their two kids Rebecca (Celina Smith) and Charlie (Hero Hunter). Suddenly, the Wilson family household needs to adapt as lifestyles clash between rising hip-hop star Young Dylan and his straight-laced cousins. From Dylan giving Charlie, Rebecca, and her best friend Bethany (Jet Miller), lessons in “swag” and street smarts, to learning that even rappers have rules in the Wilson house, the series follows the hilarious hijinks this family faces as they try to get on the same beat.

Nickelodeon’s partnership with Perry is part of his long-term pact with ViacomCBS, producing original series for BET Networks (The Oval and Sistas) and other ViacomCBS networks, with exclusive licensing rights on this programming. Additionally, Perry recently announced his joint venture with BET Networks for the new streaming video on demand service BET+. Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan marks Perry’s first kids’ scripted series.

Born and raised in Annapolis, Md., Gilmer is known for his many appearances and performances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and at NBA All-Star Weekend. He will next appear at Nickelodeon SlimeFest, a two-day family-friendly music festival on Saturday, March 21, and Sunday, March 22, at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Gilmer has an overall talent deal with Telepictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Television, and has previously guest starred on the revival of Nickelodeon’s hit series All That.

Gilmer is represented by Sherry Kayne of The Green Room and Chris Abramson at Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson.

The production of Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan for Nickelodeon is overseen by Shauna Phelan, Senior Vice President, Live-Action Scripted Content. Brian Banks serves as Nickelodeon’s Executive in Charge of Production for the series.

Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan underscores a key element of Nickelodeon’s content strategy, to mine social platforms for the talent that kids love. Nick’s new content slate is informed by the network’s ongoing research and insights into today’s generation of kids, who: are the most diverse generation ever and expect to see themselves authentically represented in media and in the world around them; want to make a positive difference in the world as they grow up; consider social media stars as their top role models, alongside their parents; and increasingly meet their much-desired need for family time by co-viewing entertainment content together.

About Tyler Perry Studios

Tyler Perry Studios is a state-of-the art film and television production facility founded in 2006 by actor, producer, filmmaker, playwright and philanthropist Tyler Perry. Located in Atlanta, Georgia on the historic grounds of the former Fort McPherson army base, the new 330-acre campus is one of the largest production studios in the country. It boasts a variety of shooting locations including 40 buildings on the national register of historic places, 12 purpose-built sound stages, 200 acres of green space and an expansive backlot.

About Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon, now in its 40th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location-based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of ViacomCBS Inc. (Nasdaq: VIACA, VIAC).

HBO REAL SPORTS

Leave a reply

ALL-NEW EPISODE OF REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL PREMIERES TUESDAY, FEB. 25 AT 10 P.M. ET

——–

Segments Include A Peek Into The World Of Extreme Mountain Climbing;

A Profile On Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Trevor Bauer;

And A Look At The Tragic Death Of Boxer Patrick Day

——–

REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL, which will mark its 25th anniversary in April, returns for an all-new episode of enterprise reporting when the program’s 275th edition debuts TUESDAY, FEB. 25 at 10 p.m. ET (9 p.m. CT), exclusively on HBO.

The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and partners’ streaming platforms.

For up-to-the-minute updates about REAL SPORTS, follow on Twitter at @RealSportsHBO or join the conversation using #RealSports, and on HBO.com/realsports

Segments include:

*Extreme Mountain Climbing. In recent years, the ever-competitive world of rock climbing has been ratcheted up a notch, as elite athletes have been climbing some of the world’s most harrowing rock faces faster and with less protection than ever before, like Alex Honnold, whose daring ambition was the source of the Oscar-winning documentary, “Free Solo.” While these extreme exploits from the sport’s upper echelon have become more and more visible, in just the last three years, more than a dozen premiere climbers have been killed or seriously injured while amid their adventures. Jon Frankel reports on the mounting risks of new age climbing and explores whether the sport has gone too far.

Producer: Max Gershberg.

*The Fighter. Last October, 27-year-old boxer Patrick Day died due to a traumatic brain injury he sustained in the ring. Correspondent Jon Frankel sits down with his trainer Joe Higgins as well as Day’s three brothers, all of whom are grappling with Patrick’s death and the sport of boxing itself.

Producer: Chapman Downes.

*Trevor Bauer. One of the most outspoken and unique athletes in sports, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer has been fascinated by physics and how science can be applied to baseball. His unorthodox approach to pitching has labeled him an outcast of sorts, but the non-conformist is now considered one of the intellectual misfits who is at the forefront of changing the game. Bernie Goldberg sits down with Bauer, who dishes on how radar technology and high-speed cameras – tools more often used by scientists – are helping his game, and ultimately revolutionizing the art of baseball.

Producer: Nick Dolin.

REAL SPORTS received last May its 19th Sports Emmy® Award for Outstanding Sports Journalism. In total, REAL SPORTS, the most honored sports journalism program on television, has been honored with the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports News Anthology five times in the past seven years, capturing 34 Emmys® in 24 years overall.

The executive producers of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL are Peter Nelson, Rick Bernstein and Joe Perskie.

Raising Children to Eat Greens

Leave a reply

Getting children to eat their greens? Both parents need to set an example

A positive example set by both the mother and the father promotes the consumption of vegetables, fruit and berries among 3–5-year-old children, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland. The study explored the association of the home food environment and parental influence with the consumption of vegetables among kindergarten-aged children. The findings were published in Food Quality and Preference.

Children eat inadequate amounts of vegetables, fruit and berries across Europe and elsewhere, too. As the health and nutrition benefits of these foods are well-known, increasing their consumption among children is a challenge many countries are struggling with. Dietary habits also track from childhood to adulthood, and the period of early childhood is critical for adapting to a diet rich in greens.

The researchers studied the consumption of vegetables, fruit and berries, and the family’s home food environment, through a survey taken by parents. The study looked at 114 kindergarten-aged children and their parents (100) in Finland. Raw and cooked vegetables and fruit and berries were analysed separately.

The researchers found that to a certain degree, the consumption of vegetables is affected by different factors than the consumption of fruit and berries. Maternal example was associated with the consumption of raw and cooked vegetables as well as with the consumption of fruit and berries. Paternal example, on the other hand, was the strongest for cooked vegetables.

“This shows that teaching children to eat their greens is not something mothers should be doing alone. A positive example set by both parents is important, as is their encouragement of the child,” Researcher and Nutritionist Kaisa Kähkönen from the University of Eastern Finland says.

The study also showed that dinner is the most important meal at home when it comes to teaching children to eat vegetables. The families participating in the study often ate dinner together, highlighting the role of parental influence on the development of children’s dietary choices and preferences.

Dinner constitutes a daily opportunity to serve vegetables in a variety of different forms: as the main course, as a side dish, and as salad.

“Variation can be created by serving raw vegetables, such as the ever-popular cucumber and tomato, accompanied by cooked ones. In fact, many root vegetables, cabbages and squashes are best served cooked,”
Kähkönen says.

When it comes to eating fruit, evening snacks were the most important meal.

The study shows that many families still eat less vegetables, fruit and berries on average than would be beneficial in view of health promotion. Cooked vegetables and berries were the least eaten food items among the study population.

The Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition at the University of Eastern Finland studies how food education in early childhood can support good nutrition among children and promote the establishment of healthy dietary habits.

The newly published study was carried out in collaboration between researchers from the Universities of Eastern Finland, Jyväskylä and Turku. The study was funded by the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Fund.

Angama Mara x Tented Camp

Leave a reply

Angama Mara the award-winning safari lodge overlooking Kenya’s Maasai Mara, has announced the July 2020 introduction of Angama Safari Camp, a seasonal sole-use tented camp situated in a remote wilderness region of the southwestern Mara Triangle.

The team that created Angama Mara has reunited to launch the new Safari Camp with Jan Allan‘s tent design and interiors by Annemarie Meintjes.

Comprising four tents, sleeping up to eight guests, the camp will offer absolute privacy in the midst of the mega herds of the migration and abundant resident wildlife. “The design, quite unlike any other mobile tented camp, will be fresh, light and uncluttered, making for easy living while echoing many of the most loved elements of its older sister. There will be Fermob and Vogel furniture, there will be red and blue. As with the Angama Mara lodge, Angama Safari Camp will have the very best of everything, but also just the right amount of everything,” adds owner of Angama, Nicky Fitzgerald.

The tents are unprecedented in design with a distinctive look created through a playful and unusual roof shape. Below the roof sits a landscape-oriented inner tent, allowing for the bedroom, dressing room and bathroom to open up onto the view. Designed for maximum cross-ventilation, the tents also have a four-layer roof system to help keep them cool. Inside, the guest tent beds will be extra-length king and can be made up as a double or twins. The ensuite dressing room, double bucket shower room and private toilet offer the same high levels of comfort as Angama Mara.

Tucked away in a forest below the towering western wall of the Great Rift Valley, guests will have access to extraordinary wildlife experiences right on their doorstep and can tailor-make their safari days, leaving the Safari Camp as early as 6am and returning after sundown at 7:30pm. Aside from the migration, the region of the Mara Triangle where Angama Safari Camp is located is home to cheetah, resident prides of lion, large elephant herds, buffalo and abundant plains game.

Angama Safari Camp will welcome its first guests in early July and will operate until the end of September, with October on request. There is a minimum three-night stay and children of all ages are welcome. “Angama’s little camp will delight our guests by capturing the essence of the glorious adventure of the Golden Age of the African safari – romance, privacy, unconstrained freedom, stories shared around the campfire, dinners lit only by starlight, gentle Kenyan service, the nights either wrapped in silence or filled with sounds of hyena and lions calling, surrounded by a million migrating wildebeest,” concludes Fitzgerald.

ABOUT ANGAMA MARA
High above the Maasai Mara where some of the most romantic scenes from Out of Africa were filmed, Angama Mara comprises two separate and intimate camps, each encompassing 15 tented guest suites. Built on the edge of the Great Rift Valley on one of the most sought-after sites on the continent, this lodge offers heart stopping views as far as the eye can see. The lodge, helmed by industry veteran Nicky Fitzgerald (formerly of &Beyond), boasts outstanding game viewing 12 months of the year, with private access to the reserve. Inspired by the Swahili word for ‘suspended in mid-air,’ Angama Mara floats 1,000 feet above the Maasai Mara, where, every morning, hot air balloons sail past the 30-foot-wide floor-to-ceiling glass fronts of each suite.

In addition to consistently excellent game viewing, including Africa’s Big Five, guests enjoy walking safaris, garden-to-table lunches in the shamba, editing their images in the Photographic Studio a fitness center, a 40-foot-long swimming pool, a curated gallery of African art, clothing and jewelry, and a sun-filled studio where local Maasai women work at beading bespoke items. Angama Mara was named #1 Safari Lodge in the World by Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards 2018.

Oliver Malcom Debut Single

Leave a reply

INTRODUCING OLIVER MALCOLM

DEBUT SINGLE “SWITCHED UP” OUT NOW!

DIRECTED BY JESS KOHL IN COLLABORATION WITH OLIVER MALCOLM

WATCH HERE

Swedish born, London raised artist Oliver Malcolm delivers his debut solo effort — new single “Switched Up” (released on Darkroom/Interscope Records). The efficacious single blurs the lines of hip hop, alternative and R&B showcasing the twenty-year old’s pension for genre blending production and songwriting. “Switched Up” was offered with an equally dynamic visual directed by Jess Kohl in collaboration with Oliver himself — watch now!

Oliver Malcolm began his musical endeavor early, teaching himself how to spin records at 12 years old. Shortly after, he downloaded a cracked version of Logic and taught himself how to produce, which would turn into working with IDK, MF Doom, Joey Bada$$, Jay Rock, Masego, Tinashe and more. Now 20, Oliver has developed his own voice and songwriting ability. Touching everything from the production, vocals, songwriting, engineering, mixing and mastering, Oliver’s sound is unique and does not fit the mold of one genre. A multidisciplinary at heart, this is just the beginning of what music lovers can look forward to from the new artist.

STREAM “SWITCHED UP” HERE:
Retail
Amazon
Apple Music
Google
iTunes
Spotify
YouTube Music

Don’t Sleep on Oliver Malcolm, Follow Now on:
INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | YOUTUBE

Blood Spot Testing

Leave a reply

Blood spot tests set to replace costly vials

Blood testing technology developed by South Australian medical researchers is poised to transform the nutrition industry.

Adelaide-based Trajan Nutrition is starting to market its new nutrition testing globally after proving the technique can replace costly and time-consuming vial blood testing with a simple finger prick.

The team is looking to break into the United States, European and Asian markets targeting five key customer groups: researchers, pathology labs, vitamin supplement companies, health insurers and corporations.

“After preparatory work we are now at development stage, we’re almost ready to start training our global team to start promoting,” Trajan Nutrition chief executive officer Marco Baccanti said.

Baccanti said the technique would have a major impact on the nutrition industry by cutting testing costs, improving efficiencies and reducing the need for invasive blood testing for patients.

He said the blood spot testing had numerous potential income streams.

Vitamin supplement companies for example could provide customers with a testing kit where they could make a blood spot at home, dab it onto specially created paper, then send it to a lab for testing before they bought their products.

“This could offer people the opportunity to first see if their diet is imbalanced,” Baccanti said.

“Pathology labs can also now start using this methodology with far less invasive collection of blood of patients and using faster analytics and more cost effective techniques.”

The breakthrough includes the development of special contaminant-free paper to protect the specific blood compounds being tested. Solvents have also been developed to help transfer the dried blood samples from the paper to testing instruments.

University of Adelaide Professor of Functional Food Science Robert Gibson began work on the technology 10 years ago with Professor Maria Makrides.

Prof Makrides is one of Australia’s leading research experts into the nutritional needs of mothers and their babies, she leads the Healthy Mothers, Babies and Children Theme of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) in Adelaide.

Both professors now also lead Trajan Nutrition, after making the breakthrough while overseeing large clinical nutrition trials of mothers and babies throughout the Asia Pacific Region.

Prof Gibson said the work was sparked by the mothers and babies trials initially relying on costly and invasive blood vial sampling.

“Measuring blood samples for thousands of babies is costly in transporting traditional blood in vials, it needs to be frozen and then sent back via special dry ice post to the lab,” Prof Gibson said.

“And imagine a pre-term baby is very small, many only weight 500g and have very little blood, now we don’t have to take large blood volumes, we only take a drop.

“It’s more efficient, less painful and that means lower cost in training blood-taking nurses, now it can be done with this little automatic lancer that pricks the top of a finger.”

Melbourne-based Trajan Scientific and Medical established the joint venture with Prof Makrides and Prof Gibson in 2017 and since then the technique has been trialled and tested in the Australian market.

A recently signed Memorandum of Understanding with SAHMRI was expected to accelerate moves into the global market as the company leveraged expertise from the SAHMRI nutrition lab, recognised as one of the largest and best equipped in the Asia Pacific region.

“We are one of the leading labs now at developing the new dry blood spot tests for a variety of nutrients and compounds,” Prof Gibson said.

Baccanti was previously chief executive of the state’s Health Industries SA, where he was responsible for economic development in the life sciences sector.

Over his four-year tenure, Baccanti oversaw the establishment of 23 companies with more than 600 new direct jobs, clinical research investments from 10 overseas biotech companies and numerous university-industry collaborations.

He said this world-leading blood testing research needed to be matched with a company to commercialise – and creating Trajan Nutrition with Trajan Scientific and Medical meant it now had capacity for manufacturing and distribution.

Trajan was founded in 2011 and operates in Australia, Europe, the US and Asia with around 450 employees and customers in more than 100 countries.

Baccanti said the new blood spot testing kits and associated analysis would meet growing demand around the world for blood tests to move away from hospitals and dedicated blood test sites.

“In future we will stay at home and will receive modern technology posted to the home, we will use the test and post the paper back to the lab,” he said.

“This type of need is global and it has started with an invention and solution at SAHMRI for nutrition testing.”

Trajan Nutrition, Blood Spot Testing, 360 Magazine,

Trajan Nutrition Chief executive officer Marco Baccanti and University of Adelaide Professor of Functional Food Science Robert Gibson

Bernie Sanders × ESSENCE.com

Leave a reply

In an exclusive op-ed for ESSENCE.com, Sen. Bernie Sanders explains why Black women will benefit from medicare for all. He talks to ESSENCE about:

AMERICA’S DYSFUNCTIONAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM: “It is impossible for any rational person to deny that our current healthcare system is dysfunctional and cruel. As a nation, we spend more than twice as much on healthcare as the people of almost every major country on earth while achieving worse outcomes. Even worse, Black Americans see only a fraction of those sub-par returns. In America today, Black babies are more than twice as likely to die in infancy than babies born to white mothers, and Black women are three or four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than their white peers. To change those unacceptable outcomes, it’s important to recognize that maternal health disparities don’t start at pregnancy. They start before mothers are even born…”

HOW THE “MEDICARE FOR ALL” BILL WILL BENEFIT BLACK MOTHERS: “In my view, any plan that targets Black maternal health that doesn’t include unequivocal support for a universal healthcare system that is free at the point of delivery is not good enough. The “Medicare For All” Bill I’ve introduced will help prevent Black mothers from being discriminated against as they’re poised to give birth — left laboring in hallways because of their perceived inability to pay. It also means that large numbers of Black Americans who live in southern, Republican-controlled states like Mississippi will no longer have to suffer because local legislators rejected President Obama’s Medicaid expansion. Medicare For All will provide long-term home health care and community-based services for everyone…”

HOW AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARE DISADVANTAGED BY AN EMPLOYER-BASED INSURANCE SYSTEM: “In America today, Black employment rates remain disproportionately low due to well-documented employment discrimination, unequal public education, and other systemic biases. While 65 percent of white families receive insurance through their employer, only 46 percent of Black families do, which in part explains why the uninsured rate for Black Americans is 11 percent – over 50% higher than that of white Americans…”

For more on this piece, visit ESSENCE.com.