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How Drugs Were Introduced to Black Communities:

  Drugs did not mysteriously appear in Black communities. They arrived through deliberate pathways shaped by government policy, global politics, economic abandonment, and racial control. What followed was not a mistake or an unforeseen consequence. It was a predictable outcome of decisions made far away from the neighborhoods that would suffer the most. To understand why drugs hit Black communities so hard, you have to start before crack, before the War on Drugs, and before mass incarceration became normalized. You have to start with segregation, disinvestment, and trauma.   By the mid twentieth century, Black Americans had been legally boxed into specific neighborhoods through redlining. Banks refused loans. Businesses fled. Schools were underfunded. Jobs disappeared as factories moved overseas or into white suburbs. At the same time, Black veterans returned from World War II and later Vietnam carrying untreated trauma and little support. Mental health care was scarce. Subs...
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The Brazilian Butt Lift

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     The Brazilian Butt Lift, commonly referred to as the BBL, has become one of the most sought-after cosmetic procedures of the past decade. At the heart of its popularity lies the promise of achieving the coveted “hourglass” figure. A narrow waist, fuller hips, and a rounded, lifted backside. Unlike buttock implants, the BBL uses a patient’s own fat. Harvested through liposuction from areas like the abdomen, thighs, or flanks, and injects it into the buttocks. On the surface, this might seem like a natural, even holistic approach to body contouring. However, beneath the glossy social media promotions and the before-and-after transformations lies a stark medical reality. The BBL is widely regarded as the most dangerous cosmetic procedure in the world, with a mortality rate that is alarmingly high compared to other elective surgeries.      Studies have shown that the BBL carries a death rate of approximately 1 in 3,000 though some estimates suggest it co...
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The 1963 Birmingham Tragedies

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   The tragic events of September 15, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama, stand as a true testament to the violent resistance faced by the Civil Rights Movement. On this day the bombing of the 16 th Street Baptist Church resulted in the deaths of four young Black girls: Addie Mae Collins – 14yrs old, Cynthia Wesley – 14yrs old, Carole Robertson – 14yrs old, and Denise McNair – 11yrs old. On this same day, two Black boys, Johnny Robinson – 16yrs old, and Virgil Ware – 13yrs old, were also killed in separate incidents of racial violence. These tragedies highlighted the pervasive racial hatred of the era and galvanized national support for Civil Rights reform.    The 16 th Street Baptist Church served as a pivotal meeting place for Civil Rights activist in the Birmingham area. Its central location made it a strategic hub for organizing protests and rallies aimed at ending segregation. On the morning of September 15, 1963 (less than 100 years ago by the way) as church g...
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That Time I Became A Foster Parent: FINAL CHAPTER

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  Maeve, Wild & Free “Live, Learn, Thrive!”   PART FOUR    Cora wanted to talk to me less and less and it was concerning. I would go to the hospital and visit them whenever I could, but once I got my surgery I knew I would not be able to visit as much as I was. Over the next two weeks, Cora stopped coming home altogether and just stayed at the hospital. During this time, I noticed that Cora was beginning to leave the hospital more often to go be with her boyfriend (and the baby’s father). I tried to be cool about this, but she was becoming irresponsible with it. I was always very uneasy about their relationship because her boyfriend was a grown man, he was not a teenager anymore he was 20 years old. I told Cora that if she can leave the hospital and be with her boyfriend all day then she can come home as well. Her main excuse as to why she was not coming home was because she had to be at the hospital for feeding every few hours. Cora was learning to breastfee...
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