As Black women and youth account for almost half of the 20 million newly reported STI cases annually, Nomsa Khalfani, Ph.D., and Janette Robinson-Flint argue that conversations about STIs must include the voices and experiences of Black women, mothers and health advocates. They state that in 2021 alone, there were 2.5 million reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis in the United States. Many of these cases affected Black women and youth aged 15-24. "For our communities to thrive, we must dismantle the systemic inequities that allow these health disparities to persist," they write. "This includes changes in our education, communication, health systems, and policies."

Read their recommendations in this op-ed from Black Voice News

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In the suburbs of St. Paul, Minnesota, patients meet Layla Asamarai, a culturally-aware psychologist who owns The Luminous Mind, a mental health clinic where practitioners from various faiths and cultures practice. Asamarai designed the clinic knowing that to decolonize psychotherapy, we must understand that psychotherapy is a colonized practice. “The ways in which people are expected to show up, what they’re expected to talk about, concepts of boundaries, concepts of relational attachment, what’s normal, what’s not, these are not test tube values, these are western values,” Asamarai told

Sahan Journal

and MPR News.

Read to learn how this clinic is decolonizing mental health services for Minnesota's increasingly diverse population

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In a moving essay, Haitian Times publisher Garry Pierre-Pierre writes about the raw emotions and harsh reality of caring for his mother, Yvette, who lived life to the fullest. Years ago, while authorizing his mother's care and treatment plan as she resided in a nursing home in Riverdale, a neighborhood far north in the Bronx, he also says that witnessing her "rapid mental [health] decline" wounded his own spirits. Also, he speaks fondly about her final years living in her native Haiti, surrounded by loved ones and friends. "She loved people and didn’t care about their class, race or ethnicity. My mother, in Haitian parlance, was a democrat, not an aristocrat."Read more of Pierre-Pierre's experience in the Haitian Times →

Highlighting the innovators transforming health outcomes in our communities

Skye Women Beauty is the first beauty line to keep you safe. The brand was created by Alecia Onzahwah (Shawnee Tribe), who lost her daughter late in 2021. It's intended to help other Indigenous families navigate life after a loved one has gone missing or been murdered 

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