Introduction - page 22

As a professional Personal Fitness Trainer, Health/Wellness coach, stretch/yoga instructor, lifestyle+Mommy blogger; I understand that a big part of wellness can be attributed to physical fitness, however, it takes having balance in your Physical, Mental, Spiritual, and Emotional health to gain overall complete wellness and self-care.

A large part of self-care commitment is not only doing something “nice” for yourself but making sure we are replenishing all of the care and love we give so freely and effortlessly to our community, children, partners, family, staff, jobs, career, daily.

I have a combined 17 years of experience in health, wellness, and fitness. From following my first love as a professional dancer in world-renowned dance ensembles to training under master yoga instructors, to gaining fitness certifications, to spending years learning massage therapy, crystal healing, and much more. I take pride in knowing multiple angles of how to help incorporate wellness and healing practices for my fellow healers and community. I am passionate about helping people transform the lives of others by showing them how to gain the tools to practice wellness daily, live a happy/healthy, and fulfilled life. I offer custom workout regimes, tailored meal plans, and individualized coaching to help build healthy habits. Best of all, all these healing techniques and practices can be learned and absorbed virtually as well. This means you can fit in your workouts, meditation, and healing sessions with confidence in the comfort of your own home all while achieving the fitness/wellness goals you deserve.

What began as a movement of heightened love of self for many Black Americans in the 1930s re-emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. My name ‘Khary,’ is an African name found in a book of names from West Africa. Breaking the lineage and ties to American enslavement was an intentional action that many parents instilled into their children’s lives.

Detroit had an anchor of Pan African thought, organizing, and leadership in Kwame Kenyatta. Before his passing in the physical realm of March 15, 2018, he joined me for one of my best interviews to date on Detroit is Different on February 18, 2018. Less than a month before his passing, he opened up about his life story and love of Detroit, Black people, and life’s work.

Today I present his interview in full in honor of his legacy, his family, and as a fundraising effort for an organization he loved, the Malcolm X Grassroots Organization. Please support the organization by sending a CashApp donation to $MXGMATL.

This interview was a key stepping stone for me to understand how Detroit was a beacon and gateway for African Centered Education in the 1990s and 2000s. As a member of the Detroit School Board, Kwame Kenyatta ushered in a collection of child psychologists, theorists, educational developers, and thought leaders that eventually shifted the winds of change. Kenyatta and his community support made an impact on all of Detroit Public Schools to empower Black students to learn from Black scholars, writers, and theory. Nikki Giovanni, Amiri Baraka, and Maya Angelou became literary giants instead of Mark Twain.

Kwame Kenyatta shares his journey of protest in high school for Cooley HS to get an African History course (which was and is a historical precedent at what was once Eastern HS, Mumford HS, and Wayne State University). How in locking the school down, he was expelled from all DPS schools to later become a Detroit School Board member instrumental in guiding African Centered Education to be taught throughout Detroit Public Schools.

Learn and listen to hear more of his relationship with giants like Imari Obadele, Imani Humphrey, Chokwe Lumumba, and more. How his life’s work led him back in the Republic of New Afrika path, where he eventually settled in Jackson, MS, after the Mayoral post of Chokwe Lumumba.

Remember, give to Malcolm X Grassroots Organization in honor of Kwame Kenyatta and his work. Also, a special thanks to Kwame’s son Kofi Kenyatta and all his effort and love for our people.

The National Business League Detroit Chapter (NBL), the Detroit Black Chamber of Commerce (DBCC), and the Booker T. Washington Trade Association (BTWTA) will announced new leadership and their coming together as the Detroit United Front at the 12th annual State of Black Business Summit on March 7.

These three top Black business organizations have joined forces to speak out against the ongoing benign neglect of Black businesses by the philanthropic, public, and private sectors. The Detroit United Front will provide real and independent representation to serve as a true economic advocate for Black businesses in the city for those who may not have a voice while simultaneously holding the systems, institutions and structures perpetuating lack of equity and exclusion, accountable.

Committed to breaking “the chains of financial bondage” in the pan-African community, CRYSTAL L. GUNN is a fiscal strategist whose female-focused economic organization has transformed lives throughout the Midwest. She is founder and CEO of the Amazing Woman Network, a nonprofit with a stated goal of “reclaiming personal power through mind, body and spirit.” In her leadership role, Gunn advises clients on how to forge advantageous social relationships and amass wealth over a broad spectrum of investments and strategies, including home ownership, estates/inheritances, entrepreneurship and more. Her people-first business approach is summated in a quote by Black baseball legend, Jackie Robinson: “A life is not important except on the impact it has on other lives.”

Gunn holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Michigan State University. A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sortie, Inc., she launched her career over 20 years ago, beginning with a stint in mortgage banking and management, later branching out into speaking, authoring, coaching and activism. She is the creator of the online financial planning courses Becoming Financially FLAWLESS and Amazing Woman Entrepreneur. She hosts the financial talk show, Crystal-Clear Conversations. Now, as Chairman of the Booker T. Washington Trade Association, Ms. Gunn relishes the opportunity to further empower Black businesses through impassioned advocacy.

The National Business League Detroit Chapter (NBL), the Detroit Black Chamber of Commerce (DBCC), and the Booker T. Washington Trade Association (BTWTA) will announced new leadership and their coming together as the Detroit United Front at the 12th annual State of Black Business Summit on March 7.

These three top Black business organizations have joined forces to speak out against the ongoing benign neglect of Black businesses by the philanthropic, public, and private sectors. The Detroit United Front will provide real and independent representation to serve as a true economic advocate for Black businesses in the city for those who may not have a voice while simultaneously holding the systems, institutions and structures perpetuating lack of equity and exclusion, accountable.

With over 20 years of experience serving satisfied clients in America’s Heartland, ORENA PERRY is a unique and dynamic figure in the hospitality and youth empowerment fields. In 2017, she is the owner of JEADL Enterprises, LLC, an events management firm that raised the bar for excellence in coordinating weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, and other occasions. As founder/executive director of The Acquisitionist, Inc., she helps women and youth identify who they are through spiritual study, education, arts, mental and physical health, and a host of resources.

A proud Motor City native, Perry graduated from Redford High School’s  Class of 1988. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Davenport University with a concentration in General Marketing while earning her MBA from the University of Phoenix. Parlaying her degrees into a successful and wide-ranging business career, Perry consults and fundraises for various nonprofits in the Midwest. She works with the Certification Review Committee of the Great Lakes Women’s Business Council and serves on the board of the youth enrichment program, Love That Works, Inc. She is an associate member of the National Association of Black Journalists. The exuberant mother of five—and grandmother of two—embraces a spirit-centered personal credo: “My greatest title is a Child of God.”

The National Business League Detroit Chapter (NBL), the Detroit Black Chamber of Commerce (DBCC), and the Booker T. Washington Trade Association (BTWTA) will announced new leadership and their coming together as the Detroit United Front at the 12th annual State of Black Business Summit on March 7.

These three top Black business organizations have joined forces to speak out against the ongoing benign neglect of Black businesses by the philanthropic, public, and private sectors. The Detroit United Front will provide real and independent representation to serve as a true economic advocate for Black businesses in the city for those who may not have a voice while simultaneously holding the systems, institutions and structures perpetuating lack of equity and exclusion, accountable.

By a delectable twist of happenstance, the steadfast backbone of NBL’s Detroit chapter is a nationally renowned chiropractor who treats back disorders. Beloved and trusted by a burgeoning throng of patients, Dr. Cecil I. Forbes, JR is founder, owner and operator of iCare Spine and Rehabilitation Centers PLLC, the Motor City’s premier facilities for the natural treatment of back pain, headaches, nerve impingements, whiplash, sciatica, and other chronic pain issues. With its longstanding 5-star Yelp© rating, iCare Spine and Rehabilitation Centers loom as the top-ranked chiropractic clinics in Detroit. In 2021, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer appointed Dr. Forbes to the state’s Board of Chiropractors, making him the second-only African American doctor appointed to the agency, and its first in over 30 years.

A graduate of Detroit’s Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, Dr. Forbes earned his B.S. in Biology and Physical Therapy from Jackson State University, while earning his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic. He is a 2014 recipient of the Michigan Chronicle’s prestigious “40 under 40” award, and recipient of the Chronicle’s Men of Excellence Award (2018). He was named Top Chiropractor by the Hour Magazine. Dr. Forbes served as the augural Chapter Director of New Leaders Council Detroit, and Medical Director of the Sound Mind Sound Body Football Academy, as well as a member the Michigan Association of Chiropractors. An alumni of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Dr. Forbes is a participant in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses initiative, and an alum of Dartmouth University’s Tuck Executive Training Program.

Brittany March has always found Detroit fascinating. Her story of basketball, Allen Iverson, and being the daughter of a Mumford HS teacher is classic. Brittany tells how Allen Iverson, hip-hop, fashion, and Hartford Memorial Baptist impacted her life. Learn how attending ‘Walled Lake Central HS’ and ‘Southfield High HS’ made an impression on her life, how her parent’s desire to have her in a ‘good school’ was not the right fit for her. Discover how her time after school with her mother playing basketball at Mumford HS was a needed signature on her attitude, style, and love of Detroit. After pouring over, Brittany’s passion for Detroit city to create a documentary as a tapestry of stories of all types of Detroiters featuring Shushana Shakur led to her introduction to Khary Frazier (Detroit is Different). Hear Brittany’s impression of Detroit is Different in 2017. Learn how March’s passion for pizza is a grand vision for the community. Her lifestyle and understanding of Dr. Sebi’s work connect Brittany to want to make a pizza for children in the community to grow up loving. Find out how to make vegan pizza a pizza that tastes good and how Brittany’s research and work are paying off. Every Sunday and first Saturday, you can visit Alkebu-lan Village (7701 Harper Detroit MI) and try the fantastic menu of vegan pizza, snacks, and food. This was an almost tearful interview for me (Khary Frazier) as Brittany shares how Detroit is Different inspired her.

Every Sunday and first Saturday, you can visit Alkebu-lan Village (7701 Harper Detroit MI) and try the fantastic menu of vegan pizza, snacks, and food. This was an almost tearful interview for me (Khary Frazier) as Brittany shares how Detroit is Different inspired her.