BEST OF THE CITY WINNERS 2023: W–Z

ILLUSTRATION BY BRITTANY DEXTER

Wine, yarn, and astrology, and other W–Z winners close out 2023’s Best of the City List!


Wedding Transportation: A Savannah Nite

Having a black limousine drop your wedding party off at the reception is cool and everything. But what if you and your squad pulled up in a neon pink Hummer limo? Or a classy vintage Buick? A Savannah Nite has those transportation options and more, from buses that hold 50-plus passengers to charming red trolleys and sporty Cadillacs. 9331 Seward Rd., Fairfield, (513) 858-2677, asavannahnite.com

Wine Tasting: Skeleton Root

At first glance, Skeleton Root doesn’t look much like a winery. But don’t be fooled by its industrial exterior: All of the wines are produced on-site at this Findlay Market-adjacent location, where you’ll find plenty of intimate indoor and outdoor spaces for gathering. Order by the glass, take a bottle to go, or try a sampling of a few varieties with a wine tasting flight. 38 W. McMicken Ave., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 918-3015, skeletonroot.com


ILLUSTRATION BY NATALYA BALOVA

WEST SIDE BEST SIDE

There’s much more than these five gems to explore out west of I-75, but if you’re looking to ease into a different side of town, you can’t go wrong starting here.

Fable Cafe

Brandie Potzick and Austin Kolaczko have created a “third place” for coffee, pastries, and connection in the Westwood Town Hall District. 3117 Harrison Ave., Westwood, fablecafecincy.com

Nails By Momo

A Nailpro nail show competition champ specializes in custom designs with long-lasting results. Michael’s Salon, 3435 Glenmore Ave., Western Hills, (513) 879-1109, nailsbymomo.com

Wild Mike’s

For nearly 30 years, Wild Mike’s has ruled the roost when it comes to wings. There’s more on the menu, but we’re too in love with the house-made sauces and that best-in-class blue cheese to try anything else. Multiple locations, wildmikeswings.com

Ivory House

If the iconic Maury’s Tiny Cove represents West Side steakhouse history, Ivory House is its future. Wagyu strip, a smashburger happy hour, and a serious wine program show that IH is here for the long haul. 2998 Harrison Ave., Westwood, (513) 389-0175, ivoryhousecincy.com

White Oak Marathon

While you can fill up your tank here, it’s the craft brews (20 on tap!) that make this a destination instead of a mere pit stop. 6050 Cheviot Rd., White Oak, (513) 245-2717, @CheviotMarathon


Xavier Gear: Homage

With Homage’s quirky, vintage-style graphic tees and sweats (and even clothes for your baby!) you’ll look like you’ve been a fan for years instead of a noob who shopped the campus bookstore. 1232 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, homage.com

Yard Games: Smale Riverfront Park

Only at Smale Riverfront Park can you engage in a larger-than-life checkers match while enjoying million-dollar views of the mighty Ohio. Located right on the river in downtown Cincinnati, Smale has become a presence in the Queen City’s iconic riverfront since opening a decade ago and it’s darn near impossible to imagine life without it. The playgrounds are all a blast, and the Adventure Playground boasts an Insta-perfect photo op of the Roebling Suspension Bridge that’s iconic. When you’re done playing checkers, mosey over to Smale’s massive, playable piano and reenact that scene from Big. You know the one. 166 W. Mehring Way, downtown, cincinnati-oh.gov/cincyparks

Yarn Winder: Fiber Artist Supply Company

Turning hanks of yarn into easy to use cakes or balls requires more than just patience. You need the right tools. Enter Timothy Hale of Fiber Artist Supply Company. Though he carries everything from drop spindles to table looms, the Diva Power Winder is the star of this show. Hale also offers a hand-crank version and has teased his Instagram followers with prototypes for a mini winder that could debut in 2024. 7116 Blue Ash Rd., Deer Park, (513) 813-0504, fiberartistsupply.com

ILLUSTRATION BY NATALYA BALOVA

Yuca Fries: Chacabanas

Crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and packed with flavor, yuca fries might just give the American (fine, French) variety a run for their money. Chacabanas, the authentic Cuban restaurant near Findlay Market, is best known for its Cubano sandwiches, but it also excels at popular Latin sides like yuca fries, which it serves with a garlicky mojo aioli dipping sauce. 1809 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 717-2172, chacabanascincy.com

Ziegler Park Amenity: Chalk drawings on the new mural

Kids and families find a lot to like about Ziegler Park—a large pool with lifeguards, playground with swings, new restaurants, and conversion of Woodward Street to a pedestrian plaza—but there’s a fun new twist. When the Black Art Speaks artist collective unveiled eight new murals in and around the park in September, the plaza image left a few spots unfinished; kids are encouraged to use sidewalk chalk to join in the art-making and maybe become the next BLINK muralist. 1322 Sycamore St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 621-4400, zieglerpark.org

Anyone can be an artist and color in the mural at Ziegler Park.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JUSTIN SCHAFER

Zodiac Store: Enchanted Moments

A staple of Milford’s Main Street since 2004, Enchanted Moments is far more than your run-of-the-mill gift shop. It’s a store for all things spiritual and metaphysical, full of crystals, oils, and meditation aids, watched over by the shop cats, Sophie and Inanna. But perhaps more importantly, Enchanted Moments is a gathering place for like-minded people in search of enlightenment and community. 128 Main St., Milford, (513) 831-5508, enchantedmomentsshop.com

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

Climate change poses major threat to Black museums, says AAAM

Climate change poses a major threat to Black museums, according to the Association of African American Museums (AAAM).

As per a press release, cultural institutions on the US coast face an uncertain future as the country copes with the impact of rapid climate change. Many AAAM member institutions have faced structural threats caused by climate change.

The impact of the climate crisis is often heightened for museums that protect and preserve African and African American history and culture, AAAM said. This is due to older buildings, fewer financial resources, and smaller teams.

Vedet Coleman-Robinson, AAAM executive director, said: “Many African American-focused and African art museums were founded in the communities they serve.

“Several of them sit along the shores where enslaved Africans were brought to the United States hundreds of years ago, and they occupy the very grounds up and down the coast where people resisted inequality and fought for their freedom.

“Today, these histories are in danger of being washed away because some of these institutions lack the resources to proactively combat the effects of climate change.”

AAAM member Noelle Trent, president & CEO of the Museum of African American History in Boston and Nantucket, said she is “looking for these buildings to exist in another hundred years, so the decisions that I make today will impact what the buildings are tomorrow”.

“We’re part of the city landscape, so it is incredibly important people view it through that lens. Mitigation measures are investments in the survivability of the community,” said Trent.

Chanel Compton, executive director of Maryland’s Banneker-Douglass Museum, said: “If it weren’t for AAAM, I question what the state of African American museums would be.”

AAAM members need funding

She added: “The network is strong, the leadership is strong and the resources they provide are incredible. AAAM advocates for African American museums, and they are more than equipped to be the voice when it comes to climate change and its impact on African American museums.”

AAAM members are hoping for funding as they face flooding, storms and other weather events as a result of climate change.

“As the race to slow climate change becomes even more dire, AAAM continues to ensure its members remain resilient and nimble,” said Coleman-Robinson.

Located in Washington, DC, the Association of African American Museums is a non-profit member organisation established to support museums focusing on African and African American art, history and culture.

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

American Exceptionalism: Inequality in the US and Why It Matters

The United States is, by every reasonable measure, the most unequal of the world’s rich countries and, for more than four decades, it’s been getting worse. After too many years of inaction and complicity, a growing number of Democrats seem to get it. The Republicans and their patrons, on the other hand, are hell-bent on making it worse. Indeed, it’s an essential part of their mission.

And note well—this is not just a “troubling development” or one more example of Republican cruelty. This massive transfer of income and wealth toward the top represents a major restructuring of the US political-economy—a major shift in economic and political power in the US.

Evidence of extreme and rising economic inequality in the U.S. is overwhelming. In 1979, the top 1% earned about 9% of all income; in 2022, the top 1% earned 21% of all income. More than half of all income growth since 1976 has ended up in the pockets of the top 1%. The incomes of the top 0.1% have grown even faster, and the incomes of the top .01% (the top ten thousandth) have grown faster still. In 1965 the typical CEO earned about 20 times as much as the average worker. In 2022, this ratio was 344.And corporate profits continue to break records.

Meanwhile, the incomes of the shrinking middle class have stagnated, and the incomes of those with a high school education or less have fallen substantially. Since 1980, labor productivity—the market value of what the typical U.S. worker produces in an hour—has increased by 65% while real wages (what workers get paid for an hour of work) have barely budged. Since 1970, the purchasing power of the minimum wage has fallen by more than 40%. 11.5% of US residents (about one in nine) live in poverty.

The next time an economist or a banker or a Republican or a “fiscally conservative” Democrat tells you that we “can’t afford” universal health care or affordable higher education or Social Security or public investments in clean energy or commitments to housing security, clean air and clean water, think about this massive shift of income and wealth.

Carter Price and Kathryn Edwards estimate that from 1975-2018, there was a shift of $47 trillion (and counting) from the bottom 90% of income earners in the U.S. to the top 1%. That is, if the distribution of income in 2018 had looked like the distribution of income in 1975 (if the incomes of the bottom 90% had grown as fast as aggregate income) the annual income of the “bottom” 90% of Americans would have been $2.5 billion higher in 2018 alone. That’s enough to pay every U.S. household in the bottom 90% an additional $1,144 per month. Every month. Every year.

The next time an economist or a banker or a Republican or a “fiscally conservative” Democrat tells you that we “can’t afford” universal health care or affordable higher education or Social Security or public investments in clean energy or commitments to housing security, clean air, and clean water, think about this massive shift of income and wealth. How will we pay for a more equitable, sustainable, and secure economy? The answer starts with tax the rich.

And while much has been made of the (very real) hard times endured by the “white working class” in recent decades, profound racial inequality remains a defining feature of the U.S. economy. The income of the median African American household is about 60% that of the median white household, and this ratio is lower than it was in 1960. The wealth of the median African American household is about one-ninth that of the median white household. One in six African Americans (17%) live in poverty—twice the rate for whites—and one in four African American children live in poverty. This appalling racial inequality manifests itself in other realms of social life as well: education, health care, housing, employment, capital markets, exposure to toxins, life expectancy, infant mortality, the “criminal justice system,” and more. (African Americans are five times more likely to be incarcerated than white Americans.)

Many millions are a lay-off, a health crisis, or a divorce away from bankruptcy and/or poverty.

Tens of millions are without adequate health care. Twenty-six million are uninsured. (The U.S. is the only rich country without universal health care. Two-thirds of bankruptcies in the U.S.—more than half a million per year —are caused by medical debt.) Our schools are underfunded, we work too hard, and the organization of economic life—the ways in which we produce, distribute, and consume stuff—has put our bodies, our planet, and our grandchildren’s prospects at risk.

Isn’t rising inequality inevitable in a capitalist economy? No! It has not always been this way.

And, by the way, the burdens of climate change are (and will continue to be) felt disproportionately by the poor – in the U.S., and around the world.

OK. But isn’t rising inequality inevitable in a capitalist economy? No! It has not always been this way. Between 1948 and 1975, the income of the median US household doubled. The incomes of the bottom 20% actually grew a little faster than the incomes of the top 20% over this period. Between 1928 and 1950, the distribution of income and wealth in the U.S. actually became dramatically moreequal. And many of the world’s richest capitalist countries thrive with dramatically lower levels of inequality.

Why should we be concerned about inequality? America is about opportunity, not guarantees—right? Actually, no. Among the world’s rich countries, the US is tied for last in class mobility; a US resident’s economic success is in fact very highly correlated with their parents’ wealth and status.

And further, economic inequality inevitably means political inequality. The right-wing Koch brothers and their billionaire allies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars advancing their self-serving agenda: tax cuts, deregulation, union busting, climate change denial, cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, voter suppression, appointments of right-wing justices (who reliably affirm the Koch agenda), and political hits on legislators who dare to step out of line. When asked why he—along with virtually every other Republican in the US Congress – would vote for President Trump’s massive (and widely unpopular) corporate tax cuts in 2017, Republican Chris Collins of New York answered: “My donors are basically saying ‘get it done, or don’t ever call me again.’” Increasingly—at the federal and state level—legislation is literally being written by corporate lobbyists and think tanks funded by rich right-wingers. As Republicans attempt to explain their economic policy agenda, you can almost see the Koch Brothers’ lips moving.

Increasingly—at the federal and state level—legislation is literally being written by corporate lobbyists and think tanks funded by rich right-wingers.

There is also compelling evidence that inequality is socially corrosive. In their magnificent book, The Spirit Level, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett show that unequal societies suffer from higher rates of violent crime, incarceration, infant mortality, stress, mental illness, substance abuse, and suicide. Inequality is also associated with lower life expectancy, lower levels of educational performance, and lower levels of trust. Inequality is not just bad for the poor. It’s toxic. In her powerful book, Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society, Dr. Arline T. Geronimus shows that the deep and relentless stress associated with social, economic, and political marginalization has dramatic and, often, lethal health effects. Differences in health outcomes depend essentially on how society treats us, rather than how well we take care of ourselves.

Despite this grim reality, the Republican Party’s economic policy agenda has not changed for decades. Cut taxes for the top 1%. (The effective tax rate on the 0.1% richest Americans has fallen by a third since 1980.) Reduce corporate accountability (“deregulation”) so that banks, hedge funds and private equity can run wild and corporations can pollute with impunity. Attack the bargaining power of workers. And then blame the inevitable decline in workers’ incomes on people of color—”illegal immigrants,” “welfare queens,” food stamp recipients, those who’ve “cut the line” thanks to “quotas” and “special preferences,” and “unfair trade deals” with Mexico and China.

Sound familiar? After more than four decades years, it should. This is trickle-down economics (enriched by a shameless racist narrative). The “logic” here is that the economy will grow if we provide a better “business climate”—lower taxes and fewer regulations will liberate corporations to create jobs. The problem is that it doesn’t work. Nearly four decades of lower (and lower) taxes and reckless deregulation have saddled us with soaring inequality, the financial meltdown of 2008, a devastating recession, an epidemic of housing insecurity, rising tuition at our public universities, diminishing opportunities, and eroding economic security for millions of Americans, and a planet in peril. And yet—like a zombie that will not die—trickle-down economics is alive and well in the U.S., despite its long record of failure. Ask a Republican about the economy, and they are likely to tell you that we need more of this toxic concoction.

But it is wrong to conclude that trickle-down economics has “failed.” The U.S. economy doesn’t serve most of us because it is not designed to. It’s designed to generate profits – which it does extraordinarily well. University of Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang hits this nail on the head: “Once you realize that trickle-down economics does not work, you will see the excessive tax cuts for the rich as what they are—a simple upward redistribution of income, rather than a way to make all of us richer, as we were told.”

The U.S. economy doesn’t serve most of us because it is not designed to.

The lost income of workers of all sorts—union and non-union, black, brown and white, public sector and private sector, etc.—can be found in the pockets of the 1 percent.

The U.S. remains a very rich country. We have the capacity to do much better. We have the capacity to deliver equitable, sustainable prosperity—and we know how to do it. A detailed plan is beyond the scope of this short essay, but here’s a start: a tax on wealth; tax increases on corporations and the super-rich; a higher minimum wage; deliberate, active efforts to improve worker bargaining power; affordable health care for all; a well-funded effort to provide affordable housing for all; the promotion of renewable energy and sustainable production technologies, and affordable higher education—including the elimination of student debt. More generally, we need to reject the presumptions that (a) our well-being depends on growth and (b) prosperity requires that we pander to corporations.

Inequality is, to a considerable degree, a political choice. And there are powerful forces out there fighting with all of their might and all of their abundant resources to preserve the status quo.

Soaring inequality is not inevitable. It’s not about the “inexorable” forces of globalization or technological change. Inequality is, to a considerable degree, a political choice. And there are powerful forces out there fighting with all of their might and all of their abundant resources to preserve the status quo. The US economy is working for them.

The construction of an economy that meets the needs of the 99% will require a determined, united, inspired political movement—a movement that presents an alternative vision for our economy, and recognizes that we have a monumental struggle on our hands, a struggle to dis-empower the entrenched, self-serving corporate elite that has had its way for too long.

 The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) announces 2023 Kwanzaa Festival lineup

PHILADELPHIA – The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) has announced a series of special programs and events to celebrate Kwanzaa, a Pan-African and African American holiday, which is rooted in cultural traditions and practices that uplift principles of family and community.

During the week-long celebration, December 26 – January 1, AAMP will offer in-person and virtual, family-friendly activities that recognize and honor the seven principles of Kwanzaa, also known as “Nguzo Saba” in Swahili: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith).

Throughout the week, guests will be welcomed to participate in storytelling, arts and crafts, music and dancing, and interactive workshops, and more that celebrate these principles. This year, AAMP will also partner with Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market for a Soul Food cooking demonstration and the historic Franklin Square for an evening bazaar featuring Black-owned and a special Kwanzaa edition of the popular regional trivia game, Quizzo.  AAMP’s Gift Shop will also feature Kwanzaa-related clothing, goods, and items for guests to purchase and wear throughout the season.

AAMP’s 2023 Kwanzaa lineup of activities is as follows:

Tuesday, December 26, 5:00 – 8:00 pm: Opening Unity Celebration at AAMP

On the first day of Kwanzaa, AAMP will celebrate the principle of Umoja (Unity), which means “to strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race,” with the Opening Unity Ceremony. The family-friendly event will include the lighting of the Kinara to usher in this year’s Kwanzaa season, learning the Nguzo Saba, music, education, and storytelling. Preregistration for the event is highly encouraged.

Wednesday, December 27, 2:00 – 4:00 pm: Skillets and Skill Sets: A Soul Food Journey at Reading Terminal Market

On the second day of Kwanzaa, AAMP will celebrate the principle of Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), which means “to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves,” with a Kwanzaa inspired cooking demonstration at Reading Terminal Market and featuring chef Careda Matthews of Careda’s Caribbean Cuisine. Preregistration for the event is highly encouraged.

Thursday, December 28, 5:00 – 8:00 pm: Music & Movements

On the third day of Kwanzaa, AAMP will celebrate the principle of Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), which means “to build and maintain our community together and make our community’s problems our problems and to solve them together, with a night of music and dance in celebration of Black women.

Friday, December 29, 5:00 – 8:00 pm: Kwanzaa Quizzo and Evening Bazaar and at Franklin Square

On the fourth day of Kwanzaa, AAMP will celebrate the principle of Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), which means “to build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together,” with a curated family-friendly market experience featuring Black-owned vendors from across the region with gifts (or Zawadi in Swahili) just in time for the holiday season, a Kwanzaa-themed quizzo, food trucks, music, and more. 

Vendors applications to participate in the Evening Bazaar will be accepted until December 10. Final selections are subject to availability and are made at the discretion of the Museum.

Saturday, December 30, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm: What I Was Made For: Reflecting Our Best Selves

On the fifth day of Kwanzaa, AAMP will celebrate the principle of Nia (Purpose), which means “to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness,” with a doll-making exercise where guests will create dolls in their own image while writing and speaking intentions for the new year.

Sunday, December 31,1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Invincible Identities: Crafting Your Alter Ego (virtual)

On the sixth day of Kwanzaa, AAMP will celebrate the principle of Kuumba (Creativity), which means “always do as much as we can to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it,” with an alter-ego and superhero character workshop, inspired by art in AAMP’s current exhibition, Rising Sun: Artist’s in an Uncertain America.

Monday, January 1, 2024 1:00 – 2:00 pm: Setting Your Intentions for a Sacred Year (virtual)

On this seventh and final day of Kwanzaa, AAMP will celebrate not only the New Year, but the principle of Imani (Faith), which means “to believe with all our hearts in our people and the righteousness and victory of our struggle,” with a yoga and meditative breathing session to reset and reflect on the New Year.

Registration for each of AAMP’s Kwanzaa events will open on December 1, 2023. Ticket pricing for each event varies, with discounted prices and admission for AAMP members.

Admission to programming at AAMP also includes access to the current exhibition, “Rising Sun: Artists in an Uncertain America,” which is curated in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and features mixed-media art from 20 artists in response to the question “Is the sun rising or setting on the experiment of American democracy?”

For more information on AAMP’s Kwanzaa programming, visit aampmuseum.org/kwanzaa-2023.

Migrations From Left to Right During Dark Times

… faculty or students accused of racism or sexism for saying mild … troubles such men feel. Some African-American men also increasingly seem to … the grievous harms of poverty, racism, sexism, and economic insecurity, a … RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News

A Lost Art

Although Harvard’s community is forever in flux, she herself endures. Like the centuries of those who came before us and have passed on, soon we will not be here. Only she will be. Yet, despite our transience, it is we who now must define her to the watching world.

There was a burden the media pointed to us to carry these past months: We were asked to hold ourselves to a higher standard and make sense of the chaos of our time. But how can we meet this demand if we cannot first make sense of each other? How might we do so now, weary with the weight of the fall almost passed? 

After spending years working in the world of fashion and aesthetics, I’m convinced a possible way to do this lies in rousing the visual arts from its fitful sleep at Harvard. This is a call for affiliates to cultivate community by paying attention to our student artists and investing time and resources into our lost student visual art movements. 

Art creates the conditions for community. It creates connection and crafts a coherent, shared narrative that transcends differences. Through art, we can experience new ways of seeing each other; we can exchange ideas and express our sense of shared humanity to combat prejudice and divisiveness. An article in The Crimson from 1947 chronicled a Harvard student art show following World War II. Juxtaposed with student works depicting the violence of war scenes were paintings showcasing the healing hills of their homes. In shared stories of suffering and salvation, the students of the forties strengthened their bonds through the human penchant for creation. It seems then that the connective power of art has been known for generations on this campus, long before research in 2022 from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health showed scientifically the benefits of art on our well-being.

Unfortunately, we are at a moment where participation in student visual art has waned, particularly at large events with the potential for broad appeal across the University. We’re therefore missing out on a vital mechanism to create community. Uncommon on Harvard’s campus are discussions about visual art, and even more uncommon is the sharing of it. 

This lull is not the first of its kind: Our collective attention to student visual art has ebbed and flowed. In the winter of 1974, The Crimson ran a piece called “A Visual Motley,” in which it was written that, “interaction with an audience is just as important to the visual artist as it is to a performer. Unfortunately, many of Harvard’s student artists don’t experience that kind of interaction.” 

A revitalization of the arts at Harvard was spearheaded in 2008 by President Drew G. Faust. She led the Task Force on the Arts, arguing that arts remained peripheral on campus. In its report that year, the Task Force stated art’s importance in helping construct new forms of social practice. The report noted that “the culture of modernity depends upon the collaboration of the art of ‘making’ and the art of ‘thinking.’”

In response to the Task Force, the second annual Harvard Students Arts Show was held in 2010, covered enthusiastically by The Crimson. 2018 was the last year that the show was covered by The Crimson, now run under the name of Harvard Student Art Collective, and as a part of Harvard’s “ARTS FIRST Festival.” There was a turnout of over 700 people. In 2022, there was no coverage at all, and a desolate-looking Facebook page cites an attendance of 51. This past spring, there was no Facebook post, but an Instagram post advertising the show garnered just 14 likes. It was no longer a part of the ARTS FIRST Festival, which was dominated by the performing arts instead. Because of the current lack of enthusiasm for this collective project on campus, I fear that this coming year’s school-wide show will fare no better. I also fear that we will continue to fail to reap the community-enriching benefits that the visual arts has to offer us if we don’t make a change. 

I am hopeful that with the requisite awareness, a collective shift is possible: There is still a pulse to the Harvard student visual art movements across campus, if only we can shock the slow-beating heart. Although most notably lacking is the strength of a collective movement, not to mention a dearth of work reflecting queer and trans experiences, there is a trend of disparate student art movements popping up. In 2022, The Harvard Psychedelics Club Fall hosted a successful show in collaboration with the Signet Society, featuring art from Harvard community members. The Harvard University Black Arts Collective seems to be thriving in its own right, holding events this year for student artists to celebrate community through shared creation. The proliferation of several of these smaller movements leads me to believe that it is possible to garner broader communal participation in the visual arts. 

By paying attention to our artists across Harvard’s schools, by strengthening student art movements that currently exist as well as building new ones as a collective, we might craft a closer community. This is nowhere near a totalizing solution in the quest for cohesion. Yet, art still has some role to play. It is a brave thing to submit ourselves in this act of faith, to seek the sublime together: It’s been said that we cannot discover new oceans without first losing sight of the shore. 

This is not art for its own sake: In the art, there lies a strategy for forging forward. We can come together in a gallery space and allow ourselves to make sense of each other and the world, to create a shared narrative through art. 

Now, walking through campus on the verge of winter’s birth, seldom do friendly glances meet. Breath hangs bone-white in the air. The cold moon speaks in a tone more cynical than ever. This mood might be par for the course during finals season. But I still allow myself to be bewitched by the beauty of where I am, awash in the realization that I love the people who pass me. We are a community. We must now do the work of defining ourselves as such, perhaps in the way our forebears did nearly a century ago following the Second World War: through the creative act.

Savannah Huitema, J.D. ’25 (shuitema@jd25.law.harvard.edu) is a second-year Harvard Law School student and model.

RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

Pittsburgh Foundation awards $1.6 million dollars in grants to further Black artists in Pittsburgh

<!– –> MENU

  • Facebook Messenger Icon
  • <!– <a href="javascript: void(0)" onclick="window.open('https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=<<>>&text=’+encodeURIComponent("<<>>")+’&via=PittsburghPG’,”,’width=500,height=500′) “> –>

ACCOUNT

SECTIONS

OTHER

CLASSIFIEDS

CONTACT US / FAQ


<!– –>


<!– –> <!–

Removing 11/19/2018
–>
<!– QUERYLY UPDATE
–>


<!– Removed 10.11.17 NM
<script src='https://cdns.gigya.com/js/gigya.js?apiKey=’ type=’text/javascript’>
{ siteName: ‘post-gazette.com’ ,enabledProviders: ‘facebook’
}

–> <!–
IF{@RequestType="SECTION"&@SectionId="events"} Fix for events page Spingo bug History.init = function(){}; ELSE Not IN EVENTS ENDIF
–> <!– –> <!– Removed (again) per Nate, 7/18/18 –>

#pgevoke-tipform { margin: auto; max-width: 300px; background-color: white; border: 5px solid #ccc; border-radius: 5px; color: #222; padding: 45px 15px 15px; position: relative; font-size: 14px; font-family: proxima-nova, Arial, sans-serif;
}
.pgevoke-tipform-header { background-color: #eee; color: #222; font-weight: bold; font-size: 14px; text-transform: uppercase; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; padding: 10px 5px; margin: 0 auto 10px;
}
.pgevoke-tipform-field { width: 100%; margin-bottom:10px;
}
.pgevoke-tipform-field input { width: 100%;
}
<!–

–>

pg.analytics.aam
– analytics.pg -> pg.analytics.civicscience
– pg.analytics.aam-certifier (live only)
– pg.analytics.google-analytics
–>
<!– Removing 6/1/2020 per Nate
_PG.utils.drawAdmiralEngage = function(){ (function(a,b,c,d,e){e=a.createElement(b);a=a.getElementsByTagName(b)[0];e.async=1;e.src=c;a.parentNode.insertBefore(e,a)})(document,’script’,’//perceivequarter.com/ea2cbac3d088ef04fe6e25fbcaa1f6a0e27179dacdc2310e55b1462bf9a3f75ec46ca0ee2e1cfd2a1e34ecfe615496630cd770e87bef211e848ae2f0bb2cd92a461f3e429401465647′); } _PG.utils.drawAdmiralMeasure = function(){ (function(a,b,c,d,e){e=a.createElement(b);a=a.getElementsByTagName(b)[0];e.async=1;e.src=c;a.parentNode.insertBefore(e,a)})(document,’script’,’//perceivequarter.com/f8673bad15d32659979cbc3ed959e3a05d680776de5a94a96507b76a14f38616fccc4ee99363932a6b16ab765db77360c367589f2105bec63076bba6c7387a3101f805a8′); } _PG._listen(“accountStatus”,function(e,a){ _PG.utils.log(a); _PG.utils.log(a.data); if(a.data && a.data.activePaidUser === “true”){ _PG.utils.log(“MEASURE”) _PG.utils.drawAdmiralMeasure(); }else{ _PG.utils.log(“ENGAGE”); _PG.utils.drawAdmiralMeasure(); _PG.utils.drawAdmiralEngage(); } })

–> <!– –>
<!–
var _comscore = _comscore || []; _comscore.push({ c1: “2”, c2: “13557270” }); (function() { var s = document.createElement(“script”), el = document.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0]; s.async = true; s.src = (document.location.protocol == “https:” ? “https://sb” : “http://b”) + “.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js”; el.parentNode.insertBefore(s, el); })();

–> RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment

Being ‘my own role model’: Normalizing mental health care in the AANHPI community

Shela Yu, a Phoenix-based artist, in her studio space on Nov. 30. Yu was raised in Mesa. (Photo by John Leos/Cronkite News)

PHOENIX – For Jessika Malic, communications director of Asian Pacific Community for Action, a Phoenix-based nonprofit focused on providing access to health care, her search for the right mental health provider for herself involved some added effort.

“I thought it would be great to see a woman of color, not even Asian,” Malic said.

“My last two therapists were white women, which is not a problem, but also some of the things that I’m dealing with I think might be more relatable to someone of color.”

Shela Yu, a Phoenix-based visual artist, has been seeking out mental health care since her teenage years.

Jessika Malic, communications director at Asian Pacific Community in Action in Phoenix, encourages “therapy in any form, as long as it’s not being used as an excuse to be bad or do bad things.” (Photo courtesy of Jessika Malic)

Jessika Malic, communications director at Asian Pacific Community in Action in Phoenix, encourages “therapy in any form, as long as it’s not being used as an excuse to be bad or do bad things.” (Photo courtesy of Jessika Malic)

“My mom came into my room one day. I might have been like, 13, or something like that, (I was) just sobbing for no reason.”

Though Yu’s mother suggested that her daughter see a therapist, Yu notes that when she was an adult, one of her younger family members reached out to her with a very different experience.

“Her parents are very anti-therapy.”

According to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration’s 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a quarter of Asian American adults with mental illness had received mental health treatment in the past year. In that same timeframe, more than half of white Americans with mental illness received treatment.

For people seeking mental health care, reaching out and finding a provider can be a deeply personal experience. But for members of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, like Malic and Yu, broadly referred to as the AANHPI community, seeking mental health care can involve not just disclosing personal information, but also negotiating language barriers and cultural stigma from within their own personal histories.

Community stigma

One barrier that can prevent AANHPI individuals from seeking mental health care is the stigma associated with mental illness and mental health challenges in various AANHPI cultures.

Max Lim, the on-site counselor for the University of Arizona’s Asian Pacific American Student Affairs Center, or APASA, said tenets of Confucianism, a philosophical tradition known for its veneration of family ties, can prevent some AANHPI college students of East or Southeast Asian descent from discussing mental health care.

“What Confucianism taught us is to keep things within the family, because the family is the most important factor in this world,” Lim said.

“And so sometimes when people do experience problems, they don’t feel comfortable reaching out for help because it feels like you’re going against the family … sharing your problems with an outsider.”

Jyothsna Bhat, a clinical psychologist based in New Jersey, says that engaging with South Asian community members and talking about how “mental health is not just a Western construct” normalizes conversations about mental health. (Photo courtesy of Jyothsna Bhat)

Jyothsna Bhat, a clinical psychologist based in New Jersey, says that engaging with South Asian community members and talking about how “mental health is not just a Western construct” normalizes conversations about mental health. (Photo courtesy of Jyothsna Bhat)

Other people within the wider AANHPI community face stigma rooted in community perception. Jyothsna Bhat, a clinical psychologist in New Jersey, said that South Asians may avoid mental health care due to the fear of how they will be judged by their community.

“It’s called ‘log kya kahenge,’ which means, ‘What will others think?’” Bhat said. ”It’s this idea of ‘We don’t want anyone to know, because if they hear, there’s going to be this feeling of judgment.’”

For immigrants, Bhat said, this fear of judgment creates stress, as immigrants facing mental health issues can think that they were “supposed to come here and create the perfect world,” but have fallen short because of their mental health.

Bhat also discussed the wider issue of the model minority myth, which affects several communities within the AANHPI umbrella. According to a document from the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, this myth paints Asian immigrants as a “uniformly successful and highly educated but docile” minority, “…whose hard work and good attitude brings them economic success.” The document states that the myth was generated in the 1960s “by White Americans looking to discredit the demands of Black Americans by pointing to a ‘good’ minority group.”

The National Coalition document According to Bhat, feeling the pressure to fit into the model minority myth can stop AANHPI people from viewing mental health care as a viable option.

“We have to come here and be a certain way. We have to be successful. That’s what’s expected of us,” Bhat said.
“We can’t rock boats and we can’t stir pots and we can’t complain. … So then when it comes to something like mental health, it becomes problematic because that doesn’t necessarily fit that mold.”

Language barriers

Beyond stigma, an additional barrier to mental health care for AANHPI people can be whether or not the provider is able to speak the client’s language.

In 2022, according to Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote, a nonprofit organization promoting civic engagement, 74% of Arizona’s Asian American population spoke a non-English language at home, and nearly a third identified themselves as having limited English proficiency. APIA Vote also noted that a variety of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander languages were also spoken in Arizona in 2022, including Chamorro, Marshallese and Samoan.

Nationally, 89% of psychologists surveyed by the American Psychological Association in 2021 could only provide services in English, while only 1% could provide services in Chinese, the only Asian language considered in the survey beyond “other languages not listed.”

“Certain words, certain modes of expression are not necessarily easily translated in English,” Bhat said.

Speaking a familiar, non-English language, or being able to switch from English to a more familiar language within the course of treatment, allows immigrants to be comfortable, Bhat said. Having to speak only English puts up a wall. “You’re not able to really make your needs known in a way that’s sort of fully authentic.”

Lan Hoang, finance and operations director for Arizona Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander for Equity Coalition, previously worked as a medical interpreter for the Vietnamese community in Irvine, California. Hoang’s start assisting her community with medical translations began with taking her grandmother to the doctor’s office.

“She felt more comfortable with me taking her, versus my dad taking her,” Hoang said, noting that the Vietnamese people she translated for in Irvine became comfortable with her in a similar way.

“They felt like I was their grandkid … When the doctors asked them questions, they felt comfortable enough to share their personal information with me and it made a big difference.”

Some AANHPI people are skeptical, however, of the efficacy of medical interpreters in a mental health care setting. Dr. Chung Trinh, the CEO of Lighthouse Psychiatry Brain Health Center in Gilbert, said that stigma prevents fully honest disclosures in mental health care sessions even when an interpreter is present.

“I’ve seen a couple times where there’s an unwillingness to share more than they really need to share or want to share,” said Trinh, who notes that while he works with mental health clinicians, his role at Lighthouse Psychiatry Brain Health Center is administrative.

“‘I have pneumonia’, that’s pretty easy. But when you think about mental health … it’s too intimate to really share with a stranger. And sometimes it’s too scary to hear out loud, somebody explaining it to somebody else and you have no control over how that information is disseminated to a professional.”

Chung Trinh, CEO of Lighthouse Psychiatry Brain Health Center, speaks in his office on Nov. 29. His business focuses on improving the mental health of patients through various forms of care. (Photo by Kevinjonah Paguio/Cronkite News)

Chung Trinh, CEO of Lighthouse Psychiatry Brain Health Center, speaks in his office on Nov. 29. His business focuses on improving the mental health of patients through various forms of care. (Photo by Kevinjonah Paguio/Cronkite News)

Cultural competency

For members of the AANHPI community who, like Jessika Malic, communicate in English as their first language, providers don’t need to speak another language or have an interpreter on hand. Even if provider and client do share a language, however, a lack of cultural competency or understanding of the client’s cultural history can alienate the client from the provider, creating another barrier to care.

When Mesa school counselor Makana Clarke searched for her own therapist, she said the hard part was “having to explain” things that would have made sense to a therapist who was born or lived in Hawaii.

“It’s hard to describe a culture in a 30-minute session or an hour at the most, I cannot explain certain things, because it’s just innate. And so having to explain something as simple as ‘Oh, yeah, I missed my Auntie’s funeral, and, you know, so and so is mad at me.’ You think lightly of that conversation,” Clarke said.

“But somebody who was born and raised in Hawaii and understood the connection, the family ties, and all of those things, they would be like, ‘Well, yeah, this is jacked up – you didn’t show any respect to Auntie So-and-so and their family is going to get mad because there’s so much reciprocation, in our culture.’”

For Max Lim, delivering culturally competent care to people in the AANHPI community, itself a large umbrella community made up of smaller ethnic groups, is a matter of remaining humble as well as informed.

“It’s just asking the client what they’re most comfortable with (and) getting to know that person as an individual,” Lim said.

“Yes, you do your homework on the culture in general, but also know that there are a lot of nuances. For me, it’s always checking in with the client, ‘OK, what’s most comfortable for you?’ and also practicing humility. Like, if you do something wrong or that rubs the client the wrong way, having that courage to talk about it, to apologize for it, own it.”

Generational identity and mental health

Even while negotiating barriers to care, AANHPI people in Arizona, and the wider United States, contend with their own familial or personal histories of immigration.

”First-generation immigrants might be trying to navigate, say, visa issues or green card issues …,” said Euodia Moffitt-Chua, a psychologist and mental health advocate at UArizona’s APASA.

“Often they don’t have a lot of people to reference for that. So there’s isolation both on a societal level, but also on an individual psychological level.”

The multicultural upbringing of second- or third-generation immigrants in the United States can, Moffitt-Chua said, contribute to a different kind of psychological isolation.

“There’s … family history that they’re trying to navigate. So for example, maybe parents who speak a different first language,” she said.

“Because, maybe historically, they (second- and third-generation immigrants) have been the person translating for their parents, helping their parents navigate certain systems in the United States. So they do a lot of code switching, like, ‘When I’m at home, I present this way, when I’m in school, I present this way with my peers.’ What does that mean in terms of having an integrated sense of the self?”

Shela Yu, whose parents immigrated from Taiwan, experienced this kind of dual identity in her own life, having grown up Chinese American in Mesa.

“Being a child of immigrants, you live these double lives,” Yu said.

“You live this dual life of the culture from your parents at home … I was also trying to fit in with American culture and ‘90s culture at the time when I was at school.”

Though generational struggles exist among Asian immigrants, the vocabulary to speak about them differs between generations. According to Lim, psychosomatic complaints of physical issues linked to mental health concerns are common in first-generation Asian immigrants.

“A lot of people feel more comfortable going to their primary care physicians and talk(ing) about, you know, ‘I have a headache, I have a migraine or I’m not sleeping right or I have digestion issues.’ … For some of them, that is indicative of a mental health issue, but they just don’t have the vocabulary to express themselves.”

Knowing this, Lim counsels Asian-American students at APASA to understand their parents and grandparents’ perspectives, reminding them that their older relatives may not be able to speak about mental health with a certain “understanding or awareness” or even see those needs as important when compared to others, like food and safety.

Moffitt-Chua is optimistic that stigma has less of an effect on younger generations of AANHPI people.

“In more senior generations, we do see stigma as a huge barrier to entry of care. A lot of people (feel) like if I go to a therapist, to a psychologist, it represents some weakness on my part. Like I can’t figure things out on my own or I can’t get my stuff together,” she said.

In younger generations of AANHPI people, Moffitt-Chua said, “we’re seeing a lot more accessing of care.” The 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that 16.4% of Asian Americans and 18.1% of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders over 18 had experienced mental illness. For AANHPI individuals aged 15 – 24, suicide was the leading cause of death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trinh has also noticed more young AANHPI people seeking mental health care, but cautioned that this does not mean every young AANHPI person is unaffected by cultural stigmas passed down by family members.

“We’ve had young people come in and say, ‘Well, I’m very old school.’ They’re 25 and they’re saying that they’re old school, because they’ve adopted their generational experience coming down,” Trinh said.

“Loosely speaking, yes, I think there is some difference that we’re starting to see … in terms of adoption for mental health care for the younger ones, but it also really depends on their home structure.”

Improving mental health access through normalization

To combat the barrier of stigma, Malic and others believe talking about mental health has to become normalized within AANHPI communities.

“We need to see more people like us engaging in therapy, encouraging others, talking about their therapy experiences and mental health experiences,” Malic said.

“It’s out there, it’s just not nearly as much as it could be.”

For Trinh, normalizing mental health conversations starts at the dinner table, where he jokes that you can talk about “how bad the Cardinals are and how important mental health is within the same conversation.” Trinh’s openness about mental health with his family members – at and away from the dinner table – has helped them assist other members of the AANHPI community.

“Recently, my mother called me,” Trinh said. “She brought up that one of her friends asked her about mental health challenges. Her friend’s child actually suffers from … psychosis, and it’s really challenging for that particular family because they just recently immigrated from their home country looking for a better life… And they had nowhere to go, they didn’t know who to talk to.

“Luckily, the parents were friends with my mother. And, you know, my mom, because I talk to my mom about mental health on a regular basis, she was able to kind of help them walk through some of the potential resources that they can get,” he said.

Yu benefited from her mother’s openness and normalization of mental health care in a similar way.

“My mom’s a singer and a pianist. So my mom was very open to things, even though she still had this traditional mindset about some aspects,” Yu said.

“One of her best friends was getting her Ph.D. in psychology while I was in high school. So she was familiar with some aspects of what it means to seek out therapy and wasn’t against it.”

For some, the next step to normalize conversations about mental health will involve engaging with community members and leaders directly. Trinh, for example, was a speaker at a 2023 mental health symposium with the city of Chandler. Having a presence and being able to work with community leaders in AANHPI communities, Trinh says, is especially important.

“I think it really takes the leaders amongst the Asian community, to really step up and embrace the willingness for meaningful change. If they don’t do it – I can make as much noise as I can, but I’m a nobody, and I really can’t do very much. But I think I challenge the leaders of our Asian community to make a meaningful difference.”

“You got to meet the people where they’re at,” said Lim, who noted that his position as the site-based counselor for UArizona’s APASA Center means AANHPI students get to know him “outside of the therapy room.” Because of this, Lim said, they feel more comfortable seeking care from him later, should they need it.

“Go into the communities, go into the community centers. And when you do offer … general health care checks and stuff like that for the community, maybe pairing it with a mental health clinician, they can help maybe address some of those issues as well.”

Individually, AANHPI people are doing their part to continue talking about mental health with those willing to listen.

“I need to be my own role model,” said Yu, who mentioned that she sometimes considers studying to become a counselor herself, having noted “a very limited pool of” qualified Asian American therapists.

“Hopefully, that can be some guiding force for younger generations.”

“Anytime anyone wants to talk about mental health, I’m there. I’m happy to talk about my own experience,” Malic said.

“I can’t advocate for everybody, but I hope that whatever I have to share might encourage someone else to go and seek help.”

– Cronkite News is part of the Mental Health Parity Collaborative, a group of newsrooms that are covering stories on mental health care access and inequities in the U.S. The partners on this project include The Carter Center, The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) and newsrooms in select states across the country.