Soul Vegetarian Chicago cooks at local health fair

West Side Health and Wellness Fair
ABC7 News Chicago

June 15, 2007 - The Kedvale New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church is hosting The West Side Health and Wellness Fair, Saturday, June 16 from 10am-3pm.

The entire 1300 block of South Kedvale Avenue will be closed to traffic and open for the public to receive health screenings, dental exams and immunizations.

The goal of the fair is to help close the gap between African-American health outcomes and those of the general population.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African-Americans are more likely to die from cancer, stroke and diabetes- related illnesses than any other group. Further, average life expectancy for blacks is roughly five years less than it is for whites. Factors contributing to these disparities include discrimination, cultural barriers, and lack of access to health care.

In addition to on-site medical care, participants in The West Side Health and Wellness Fair will get hands-on lessons in nutrition and healthy eating through a live cooking demonstration presented by Soul Vegetarian Restaurant www.soulvegetarian.com, 205 E. 75th St Chicago, IL 60619; (773) 224-0104.

They can also pick up fitness tips through personal training from the Lawndale Christian Fitness Center. The fair will also offer access to information on jobs, housing, educational resources and programs for seniors and ex-offenders. Local singers, dancers and rappers are scheduled to perform on the main stage. Corporate sponsors include Walgreens Co., the Steans Family Foundation and the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Dad's absence ‘decimates’ black community

56 percent of black children live in single-parent families, statistics show
Reuters News Service

More than 19 million children — about one in four — were living in households where no father, biological or other, was present, according to a Census Bureau report in 2005.

The statistics also show that this burden falls more heavily on black children. Some 56 percent of black children lived in single-parent families in 2004, with most of those families headed by mothers. That figure compared with 22 percent of white children and 31 percent of Hispanic children.

“Father absence in the African American communities, across America, has hit those communities with the force of 100 hurricane Katrinas,” said Phillip Jackson, executive director of the Chicago-based Black Star Project, which helps children in mainly minority schools.

“It is literally decimating our communities and we have no adequate response to it.” See: Dad's absence ‘decimates’ black community

The African Hebrew Israelites

Our Historical Connection To The Holy Land - Migration of The African Hebrew Israelites Throughout Africa

See:http://www.kingdomofyah.com/

Prior to the excavation of the Suez Canal (1859-69) the entire Arabian Peninsula and what has become known today as the ”Middle East” were physically connected with the African continent. African people lived and moved freely throughout this region of the world.

After the invasion of the Romans in 70 C.E., remnants of the Hebrew Israelites were driven from Jerusalem. For more than 1,000 years many of them migrated across the continent, eventually reaching West Africa.

From there, they were carried to the Americas where they were to become victims of the most cruel and inhumane slavery in recorded history. However, according to the word of God, this devastating path would eventually lead them back to their homeland (Israel) to fulfill their prophetic destiny.

"The number of slaves taken by the companies and private traders during the whole period of the slave trade is difficult to estimate. One French historian says that it is no exaggeration to say that 100,000,000 people were lost...”

The Story of Sierra Leone, Frances A. J. Utting

There are many biblical references to various locations in Africa and interaction between the ancient Israelites and African peoples and places: King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba; migration into Egypt and subsequent enslavement, etc. Considering that such interaction and migration took place it is not hard to perceive that Hebrew Israelites were among the one hundred million who were taken from Africa during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. There is no way they could have escaped.

This fact is supported by the numerous accounts of Hebrew Israelite culture and religious tradition throughout Africa. In the introduction to his book God the Black Man and Truth, Ben Ammi points out that “We know that many West Africans, especially the Ashantis, are direct descendants of the ancient Hebrews because of the strong Hebrewisms that have been identified in Ashanti tribal customs, observance of the Sabbath (Saturday) as well as the name Ashanti from the words ‘ti,’ which in the west African tongue means ‘race of’ and Ashan, a town in the domain of Judah (see Joshua 15:42).”

An article published in one of Israel’s daily Hebrew newspapers, Ma’ariv (16 Sept. 1991) states, “No other Zimbabweans blow the Shofar except Zacharia who is of the lost tribe of Israel. Tens of thousands of “Black Jews” were discovered there recently... They are called “Lemba” and according to their tradition they are the descendants of Abraham, Moses and Solomon.” Mary Benson documented in her work Nelson Mandela The Man and the Movement, his reference to Israelites in South Africa, “...in 1921 General Smuts, the Prime Minister, had sent an army which massacred 163 men, women and children at nearby Bulhoek in the Eastern Cape; members of an Israelite sect...”

Acknowledging that a mass migration of Israelites did take place throughout Africa forces us to follow their footsteps across the landscape of time and to recall that during the centuries of enslavement in America the captives rebelled against the slave masters who stripped them of their names, their language, culture and religion. In his writing, Before the Mayflower, Lerone Bennett, Jr. points out that “Few slaves accepted this version of Christianity. Their God was the God who delivered the Israelites.”

Additionally, the Israelites who were taken into America maintained remnants of their heritage through the lyrics of what became known as slave songs or spirituals, “Canaan’s Land where my possessions lie...” They never stopped praising the God of Israel and never turned their eyes from Zion. Even in terms of language they continued to use certain words which were definitely rooted in their original language (Hebrew). Words such as “ain’t,” which is derived from The African Hebrew word “ayne” which also means no, not, nothing, there is not, etc.

Throughout the prophetic exile, migration, enslavement and later “assimilation” into the American way of life, many African Americans still know that their heritage is rooted in the Holy Land - Israel. On the eve of his assassination in 1968, the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was inspired to prophesy, “I just want to do God’s will... He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain... I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know... that we as a people will get to the Promised Land.” His words underscore an undeniable spiritual re-awakening.

Our presence in the Holy Land is fulfillment of Dr. King’s vision, the words of the prophets - “And I shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:14) - as well as the spiritual yearning of all those children of Israel who had been cast out and have pleaded with God for almost two thousand years to be restored.

An unbiased investigation of the information presented in this writing will bring us to the conclusion that people of African origin have a definite connection with the Holy Land and a role to play in the prophetic spiritual re-awakening that is in progress. While we are acutely aware of the challenge presented, we are prepared (for the sake of the creation and all humanity) to live out our responsibility and invoke the presence of God in the affairs of man. Our purpose in pursuing our heritage, against all odds, is to establish the prophetic “Kingdom of God” in the Holy Land - to be that inspiration and guiding light which is destined to shine forth from Jerusalem.

“I just want to do God’s will... He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain... I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know... that we as a people will get to the Promised Land.”

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1968

“The truth is, blessings or curses are each the fruit (results) of the works of those upon whom they fall. Thereby, in the final analysis, man either blesses or curses himself.”

God and the Law of Relativity - Ben Ammi

World's Alzheimer's cases to quadruple by 2050

1 in 85 people expected to have disease in 40 years, researchers predict
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - More than 26 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s disease, and a new forecast says the number will quadruple by 2050.

At that rate, one in 85 people will have the brain-destroying disease in 40 years, researchers from Johns Hopkins University conclude. The new estimates, being presented Sunday at an Alzheimer’s Association conference in Washington, are not very different from previous projections of the looming global dementia epidemic with the graying of the world’s population.

But they serve as a sobering reminder of the toll to come if scientists cannot find better ways to battle Alzheimer’s and protect aging brains. “If we can make even modest advances in preventing Alzheimer’s disease, or delay its progression, we could have a huge global public health impact,” said Johns Hopkins public health specialist Ron Brookmeyer, who led the new study.

The biggest jump is projected for densely populated Asia, home of almost half of today’s Alzheimer’s cases, 12.6 million. By 2050, Asia will have 62.8 million of the world’s 106 million Alzheimer’s patients, the study projects.

Click for related content:
New test may predict Alzheimer's
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A recent U.S. study estimated that this nation’s Alzheimer’s toll will reach 16 million by 2050, compared with more than 5 million today. The new estimate is significantly lower, suggesting only 3.1 million North American cases today and 8.8 million by 2050.

Among the estimates for other regions are:

Africa, 1.3 million today and 6.3 million in 2050.
Europe, 7.2 million and 16.5 million.
Latin America and the Caribbean, 2 million and 10.8 million.
Oceania, 200,00 and 800,000.

The project was funded by Elan Pharmaceuticals and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

KNN - Note that US and Europe has the higest rates of Alzheimer's in the World -lifestyle & diet is a major factor!!

Walking Is Powerful Medicine

Maybe you want to lose a few pounds or protect your heart from disease or keep your bones strong and your joints limber. Walking can do all this and more.
By Maggie Spilner, Runner's World

Whether you're just starting a walking program or you're already a regular walker, your health likely played a role in your decision to get fit. Maybe you want to lose a few pounds or protect your heart from disease or keep your bones strong and your joints limber. Walking can do all this and more.

But when we talk about walking for health, we must look beyond the physical benefits. After all, health is a rich fabric spun from physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual threads. If one of these threads becomes frayed for any reason, it can weaken the entire fabric. What you eat, how much you sleep, how you handle your personal and professional relationships, how you view the world and your place in it all of these things influence whether or not you feel vital and strong. They also have a real impact on your body.

The same can be said of walking. It supports health in every sense physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It enriches and balances your life. And it just plain makes you feel good. No wonder the Greek physician Hippocrates deemed walking to be "man's best medicine."

See: Walking Is Powerful Medicine

A Drought for the Ages Spreads Across U.S.

By Patrick O'Driscoll
USA Today

DENVER (June 8) - Drought, a fixture in much of the West for nearly a decade, now covers more than one-third of the continental USA. And it's spreading.

As summer starts, half the nation is either abnormally dry or in outright drought from prolonged lack of rain that could lead to water shortages, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly index of conditions. Welcome rainfall last weekend from Tropical Storm Barry brought short-term relief to parts of the fire-scorched Southeast. But up to 50 inches of rain is needed to end the drought there, and this is the driest spring in the Southeast since record-keeping began in 1895, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

This drought has been particularly harsh in three regions: the Southwest, the Southeast and northern Minnesota.

Severe dryness across California and Arizona has spread into 11 other Western states. On the Colorado River, the water supply for 30 million people in seven states and Mexico, the Lake Powell and Lake Mead reservoirs are only half full and unlikely to recover for years. In Los Angeles County, on track for a record dry year with 21% of normal rain downtown since last summer, fire officials are threatening to cancel Fourth of July fireworks if conditions worsen. On Wednesday, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urged residents to voluntarily cut water use 10%, the city's first such call since the 1990s.

Donald Wilhite of the National Drought Mitigation Center says the Southwest and Southeast are "becoming gradually more vulnerable to drought" because the rising population will need more water. "We think of water as an unlimited resource," he says. "But what happens when you turn on the tap and it's not there?" See: And It's Only Getting Worse