< PreviousBUSINESS NEWS ALLENTOWN, Pa. —Russell Fletcher has always loved making spirits. "I was always fond of wine making and that's where I started at," Russell said. After stints working with Def Jam and Loud Records and touring with the WuTang Clan he finally wanted to work on his true passion. Which brought him from New York to Allentown. He launched Mishka Vodka about 10 years ago. "Then you have brands like Tito's who came on the scene from an American distilling standpoint. That was extreme inspiration," Russell said. Like Tito's, Mishka is corn-based, made and bottled right off Union Blvd. in Allen- town. There are three flavors: regular, honey, and cranberry. "We won gold and also silver in the San Francisco spirits award," Russell said. It's the first and only Black-owned distillery in the state. There aren't that many nationwide either. "People are a little scared to get out there and expose themselves because the industry predominantly - I mean it's not diverse," Russell said. The pandemic actually helped business. The company pivoted to producing hand sanitizer, and turned a large profit for the first time. "It opened up a huge lane," Russell said. "Which allowed us to be able to get our own seed capital." And that new capital allowed them to expand, securing a new contract with Target - and others - to carry Mishka. "We've got eight stores that we're gonna go into in the Chicago market and then we also have things going on with Kroger and Walmart," Russell said. The only issue? They're running out of room. "The goal for us is stay right here in Allentown, in the Lehigh Valley, and hire," Russell said. This paper is based on the research done by professors and researchers from universities across the United States. The researchers also found that the U.S., as a whole, puts an emphasis on white skin, blue eyes, blonde hair and "considers these features the epitome of beauty." Seeing only white skin and white features pushed as beauty ideals can have negative effects. According to "Beauty and Body Image Concerns Among African-Amer- ican Women," a paper published in the Journal of Black Psychology, "Black women’s bodies and beauty have largely been devalued and rejected by mainstream culture, which overvalues the European aesthetic." According to "Minority Women, Media, and Body Image," a paper based on research done at the University of Florida, consuming all this media affects everyone's perceptions of themselves, but specifically for Black women, because they don't fall in line with what society deems as "beautiful." As a result, Black women often get trapped in a cycle of trying to attain "acceptable" beauty. The researchers found that "Afri- can-American women, in an attempt to alter their appearance to reach a goal they cannot attain, become dissatisfied with their physical appearance." In an attempt to gain a better understanding of the relationship be- tween Black women, the media, and representation, FOX43 spoke with four Black women who own businesses in Central Pennsylvania about what can be done to improve representation in the beauty industry, specifically. Victoria Kageni-Woodard, is the owner of Gusa by Victoria, a fashion boutique in York. She started her business about three and a half years ago in West Philadelphia. She's from Kenya, which is where her business gets its name. "Gusa" means "touch" in Swahili, which Ka- geni-Woodard says is the goal of her business - to touch people through fashion. She makes clothes with the goals of "lifting people's spirits" and help- ing them "understand we really are all one." We all wear clothing, she pointed out. She's found that when people come into her shop, they start asking her questions that go beyond fashion - they ask her about her culture and the food she ate and music she listened to back at home in Kenya. These conversations, she says, are how we get to the heart of racial issues. Kageni-Woodard says that beyond just having conversations about how we are all more similar than we are different, big companies need to start trying to be more inclusive. "Now that we're going through this racial reckoning globally, there is really a need from big fashion houses to feature more people that look like me," she said. She thinks things have improved representation-wise in the beauty industry since she first started in the fashion world, but there is still much work to be done. She says that small businesses have an import- Black-owned Distillery in Allentown is Growing by Justin Backover After Years of Hard Work by Isabel Soisson (FOX43) 8 | TALK MAGAZINE • FALL 2021 Black, Female Business Owners Have to Say About Representation in the Beauty Industry 4 What Representation in the beauty industry has certainly improved in recent years, but there is still much work to be done, according to the these local experts. Mishka Premium Vodka owned and founded by Russell Fletcher, photo by Monica Cabrera / The Morning CallBUSINESS NEWS ant role in advocating for this inclusion. Just seeing more Black people featured on social media and succeeding in the fashion world is vital. She says that it is important to show Black women succeeding and that it is possible. Michelle Wright is the owner of Luxe and Mane Salon in York. She started her business in 2015, after she spent her whole life watching her family members work in the beauty industry - her uncle owns a barber- shop and her aunt owns a salon in Atlanta. "When I was younger, I would see women's self esteem lift as soon as they got their hair done," she said. "I realized that I wanted to make people feel that way too." Wright says that she wants her salon to be a place where women can unwind and "just be themselves." She says that at times she feels like a therapist, because when she's doing people's hair, they tend to open up. Wright says that she and her employees are "pillars of the communi- ty," meaning that her salon is representing something bigger than just a place people go to get their hair done. Like Kageni-Woodard, Wright finds that speaking to people is the first step in improving the beauty industry. She says that just having these people in her salon chair, speaking to them, shows the community that Black women can be successful, well-rounded busi- ness owners. Showing people the beauty of Black hair, also plays a big role, according to Wright. "Our hair is a form of art," she said. Wright says it's a visual repre- sentation of Black people's heritage. Additionally, Wright believes that representation in smaller com- munities helps improve representation everywhere, so her salon just existing, being run by a Black woman, shows citizens of York and Central Pennsylvania that Black people are succeeding every day. Regilynn Haywood thinks that representation on the local level is vital as well. She's the owner and CEO of There She Glows, a spa in Harrisburg that specializes in facials, skincare, and waxing. Haywood considers herself a "metaphysical skin healer" and is a li- censed esthetician. She believes that "you can't do skin, without doing self and soul." Beauty starts from working on oneself from within, in other words, embracing one's inner beauty before even beginning to work on the outside. She says that the concept for her business was always in her. Her parents both work in the beauty industry as well. Before owning her own shop, she sold her products and ran her business out of her parent's business. Like both of the business women above, Haywood believes that representation in the beauty industry still has a long way to go. She believes that real, concrete action even just on the local level is what really takes strides forward. She notes that all the products she sells at her spa are made by her, a Black woman, or by local vendors. She also says that the world needs more Black estheticians; if people see that Black people can succeed in skincare, then they'll be more driven to make their way into the business as well. Haywood thinks that just being a Black woman, living in Central Pennsylvania specifically, makes a huge difference in changing the conversation around representation. One thing people can do on a more national level, she says, is start to call out larger brands when they don't use Black people in their market- ing. She says that the "beauty industry takes advantage of people's biases" and shows lighter-skinned Black people more often than those of a darker complexion. Haywood says that it's time to start calling these brands out, point out to the company if its Instagram hasn't featured a Black person in weeks, and start holding them accountable. This way, more diversity and representation will become the norm. Victoria Kageni-Woodard modeling a face mask she mad, photo credit: Victoria Kageni-Woodard Michelle Wright, photo credit: Michelle Wright Regilynn Haywood, photo credit: Regilynn Haywood Dr. Gina Charles, photo credit: Dr. Gina Charles WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 9 continued on page 28LATINO NEWS 10 | TALK MAGAZINE • FALL 2021 Reading Mayor on City's Future by Tom Rader Reading Mayor Eddie Moran laid out his plans for the future of the city during an online summit.Wednesday night. "I would start off by acknowledging that I have tasked community develop- ment within the zoning to find a consul- tant to catch up on the permits that we are somewhat behind on," Moran said. Members of the city council respond- ed. "But mayor, you really need to say it can't be part of a plan," said Coun- cilwoman Marsha Goodman-Hinnershitz. "It has to be, if you don't fix roofs, that's when buildings start falling down." One of the more heated back-and-forth exchanges in the nearly two-hour long Zoom call involved blighted properties in the city and neighbors expressing concerns which they said are falling on deaf ears. "Complaints had been issued about it," said Councilwoman Donna Reed. "No one ever gets back to them." "You can't expect people to be happy and, personally, those quality-of-life breakdowns that we used to get, I thought, were very helpful," she said about reports that informed the council of problems in the city. The mayor responded, saying he plans to start sending to the council reports of quality-of life problems across the city going forward. "If I may, if you have brought it to my administration and no results have been given," Moran said, "give me a call directly." Also, with the return of in-person concerts and events at the Santand- er Arena, city leaders are discussing how to improve commerce and traffic on Penn Street. "That's what all the downtown business owners really care about more than anything else, is are they able to have their storefronts in a safe environ- ment?" said Managing Director Abe Amoros. "Is it a clean environment?" The administration said it plans to use matching federal and state dollars to help the ongoing improvement of downtown Reading. When it comes to ongoing violence, the mayor is proposing a community liaison position between police and city neighborhoods. He also said he wants to meet one-on-one with councilmembers in the days ahead. "We all want the same ending results," Moran said, "to see a better Reading." Reading Mayor Eddie Moran Charles Roca 1st Latino to Lead Allentown Police By Andrew Scott and Peter Hall With his unanimous con- firmation by Allentown City Council on Wednesday, Charles Roca became the first Latino permanent police chief in a city with a rapidly growing Hispanic population. Hailed by one mayoral candidate as the face of modern Allentown and lauded by council members for his deep roots and commitment to the city and police department, Roca was approved in a 7-0 vote less than three weeks after being nominated by Mayor Ray O’Connell. Community leaders said they’re optimistic that the two-decade veteran and Allentown native will bring stability to a police force that has seen six chiefs in six years. But police reform advocates said they’re wary of his plan to expand the police department and believe the solutions to the city’s epidemic of violence are beyond the realm of law enforcement. Roca said he is “both honored and humbled at receiving the confir- mation,” and said he plans to continue encouraging cooperation in the community by strengthening relationships between police and faith and community leaders. Roca also plans to leverage the police department’s partnerships with nonprofit and county agencies to address the root causes of crime such as substance abuse and mental illness. Roca said he plans to explore technology such as acoustic gunshot detection and expand the city’s network of surveillance cameras. He also hopes to achieve accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, a national set of standards met by just 19 Pennsylvania police departments including Bethlehem. “This is not just about me, this is about moving Allentown forward,” Roca said. Roca, 45, is the sixth leader of the police force in six years, and O’Con- nell’s third police chief appointee since April 2018. He succeeds Glenn E. Granitz Jr., who took a job with the tiny West Reading Borough Po- lice Department after a nearly 20-year career with the Allentown Police Department and 21 months as its top cop. Roca graduated from Dieruff High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre. He is a February 2020 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command. He joined the police force in 2002, earning pro- motions to sergeant in 2012, lieutenant in 2016 and captain in 2018, along with four commendations for merit. by Anthony Orozco Black and Latino Unity After On-air Racism Row A popular Spanish radio host in Allentown spurred a rift between the Latino and Black communities after he condemned Black tourists in Puerto Rico. Black leaders in the Lehigh Valley said they hoped to come to an un- derstanding with the radio personality. But after a private meeting with Martinez and two public apologies from him, Black leaders said they are uncertain if they were truly heard. And as a community works to move forward, the incident is an example of how political, racial and ethnic tribalism can drive wedges between communities. LATINO NEWS WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 11 Victor Martinez is CEO and president of La Mega Allentown 101.7 FM, 92.9 FM in Reading, and hosts the Relajo De La Mañana morning show, which airs live and video streams over Facebook Live to thousands of view- ers and listeners in and around the 222 Corridor. Victor Martinez is CEO and president of La Mega Allentown 101.7 FM, 92.9 FM in Reading, and hosts the Relajo De La Mañana morning show, which airs live and video streams over Facebook Live to thousands of viewers and listeners in and around the 222 Corridor. After a trip to Puerto Rico, Martinez returned to his morning show on May 24 to air grievances with how he saw tourists behaving on the island — particularly Black tourists. ‘DISRESPECTED’ “Listen, I know I’m going to sound super racist with what I’m going to say, but I’m going to say it anyway,” Martinez said before sharing. Martinez detailed how he saw Black tourists openly smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol in the streets and generally “disrespecting [his] island.” He disparaged the appearances of the Black women and said his experience had confirmed news reports and social media posts about unruly tourists on the island. Co-hosts “Diamond Boy” Luis Torres and Alfa Lopez added commentary, some of which was based on stories in Puerto Rico about tourists destroying the rooms they stay in. When talking about the women dancing lewdly in the street, Torres joked that there will be a new protest called “Black Ass Matters.” Within hours, the show received blowback online, most notably from the Black Lives Matter Lehigh Valley. One commenter wrote: “Disgusting. As a Latina I’m ashamed especially because we are black! So to say that about our own people is horrific.” The next day, Martinez dedicated nearly three hours of his show defending his comments. He showed videos of what he said were Black tourists — many of them women — dancing in the street, fighting and disrobing in public. Martinez said he would hold a “Puerto Rican Lives Matter” march, that Puerto Rican listeners would call any sponsors that are urged to stop working with La Mega, and that he was not scared of Black Lives Matter like other people are. One sponsor, Phillipsburg-Easton Honda in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, confirmed it pulled sponsorship due to Marti- nez’s comments. Martinez stated that he and his co-host are Afro-Latino. He asserted he was not racist for condemning the tourists’ behavior. “At no point did I say all Blacks, all African Americans, I didn’t generalize,” Martinez said on air. “Did we say they were acting like animals, absolutely. Because they are behaving like animals. … When our people do it, we call them out too.” POLITICAL RESENTMENTS LAID BARE His comments underscored scars from a tough-fought campaign season in which group identities were front and center. During the program the day after he first made comments about Black tourists, Martinez went after Latinos who were critical, calling them “wanna be” Latinos. He also said his Latino critics were just supporters of the mayoral primary campaign of Allentown City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Ger- lach, a Black woman. Martinez had loudly supported City Council President Julio Guridy, in hopes to help him become the city’s first Latino mayor. He had also railed against Gerlach before the election, airing out accusations that she endangered and failed to report abuse of a minor. The Lehigh County District Attorney recently filed mis- demeanor charges against Gerlach, which Gerlach’s lawyer has characterized as a “political hit-job.” Both Guridy and Gerlach lost the primary. Victor Martinez Owner of La Mega Allentown12 | TALK MAGAZINE • FALL 2021 Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew Senior Vice President and the Chief Clinical Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion OfficerAllegheny Health Network (AHN) “When you’re in a group of people, most of the time when you talk about diversity, people want to talk about diversity of thoughts. But I think that when we even start with diversity, most people wonder in the back of their minds, oh, they’re talking about Black people. We want more Black people. I absolutely agree we want more people of color to have opportuni- ties to be their best in spaces that they have never had the opportunity to be their best in before,” Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew told Talk Magazine. Although Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew cares for women in her general OB/GYN practice, she also focuses on treating women living in low-to middle-resource communities. “I take care of high-risk patients, patients living with HIV, as well as general patients. I am really in the space of taking care of women who have major challenges around just being women in this country but also the many political and social determinants of health that can really derail their health care as well as their entire lives based on decisions that are made by our politicians as well as our health care providers,” Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew said. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native’s life is literally an open book. She’s published a book about her life, “The Colors of My Heart: Em- bracing My Blackness Through History, Family, Fear, and Faith.” “I published that (book) really to give folks inspiration who are Black, who are women who can rise above and embrace their families and face the fear of raising Black children in this country. So, what I found is many people are using the book to kind of understand some of the experiences that have happened over the years of my life, which is early ‘50’s to now,” AHN’s first diversity and inclusion officer explained. “From her early days working at refugee camps in Ghana and Swazi- land, to her experiences as a critical care nurse and her ongoing advocacy for marginalized groups of women, Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew has been on the front lines, witnessing and treating immense health disparities,” an AHN press release stated. “When we talk about poverty, we’re talking about everybody. We’re talking about White folks who are in many of the same conditions as Black folks are. People who are poor are treated just as bad as people who are Black in many situations. They don’t have access to care like everybody else,” the former Chair & Director of the Center for Clinical Excellence and Diversity at University Hospitals, as well as Dean of Students for Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, maintained. Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew is the founder and current CEO and President of JUSTWONDOOR (Women and Newborns, Diversity, Outreach, Opportunity, and Research), a program that aims to educate global medical providers through local and international health care collaborations. Prior to receiving her medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh, she practiced as a critical care nurse, receiving her baccalaureate degree in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s degree in ed- ucation from California State University Los Angeles, an Adult Nurse Practitioner certification from California State University, Long Beach, and a master’s degree in public policy and management (International Affairs) from the University of Pittsburgh. She is also a veteran of the United States Navy, where she cared for active-duty members, veterans, and their families. WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 13 Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew is a Senior Vice President and the Chief Clinical Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for Allegheny Health Network (AHN). As Chief Clinical DEI Officer, Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew’s role is to advance diversity and inclusion among the clinical and caregiving staff at AHN and to advocate for equitable health outcomes among all patient populations by developing programs that target disparities in medical care, according to a bio from AHN. Dr. Larkins-Petigrew is determined to assist everyone, including poverty- stricken people regardless of their race. “When we talk about poverty, we’re talking about everybody. We’re talking about White folks who are in many of the same conditions as Black folks are..."CLIFTON “CLIFF” PITTS TMAG MEMORIAL FORTalk Magazine GOTV Rally in PittsburghHEALTH NEWS The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two v accines to protect against COVID-19, and vaccinations of the public have begun. People of color might have particular concerns about the vaccines’ safety and effectiveness. Although Black, Hispanic, Native American and other people of color are overrepresented in severe coronavirus disease, vaccine hesitancy among these groups and others can complicate the decision about whether to be vaccinated. Sherita Golden, M.D., M.H.S., vice president and chief diversity officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine, offers insights on the coronavirus vaccines and what people of color should know about the COVID-19 vaccines. CAN WE TRUST INFORMATION ABOUT THE COVID-19 VACCINE? “People of color, along with immigrants and differently-abled men and women have endured centuries of having their trust violated. We need to give people the facts about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, and renew their trust toward health care in general,” Golden says. “It’s incumbent on health care organizations and leaders to help repair and restore that relationship.” Golden says one way health care organizations can rebuild confidence is by working strategically with local elected officials, community leaders and religious leaders to convey accurate and essential health messages, including information about the COVID-19 vaccine. Here are her answers to some of the questions she is hearing from those considering COVID-19 vaccination. WERE THE COVID-19 VACCINES DEVELOPED TOO FAST TO BE SAFE? “No,” Golden says. “Although people are understandably concerned about how quickly these vaccines were brought to market, and despite the name ‘Warp Speed,’ we know that there were large trials that were conducted correctly. They did not cut corners." “The Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines have been tested and have shown their efficacy in preventing severe COVID-19 cases in particular,” Golden says. On Apr. 13, the CDC and FDA recom- mended a pause in using the J&J vaccine. Johns Hopkins Medicine will temporarily stop using the vaccine pending CDC and FDA reviews. DOES THE COVID-19 VACCINE CHANGE MY DNA? “No,” Golden says. “The vaccines do not affect the nucleus of the cells, where the DNA resides. The technologies are not new." “Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett helped developed the vaccines,” Golden adds, referring to the African American viral immunologist at the National In- stitutes of Health. She adds that other leaders from communities of color volunteered to take part in the tests, noting, “Dr. Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, was a clinical trial participant.” WAS THERE ENOUGH PARTICIPANT DIVERSITY IN TEST- ING THE COVID-19 VACCINE? “People of color were represented,” Golden says. “COVID-19 is affecting everyone, so clinical trials sought to ensure their participants reflected that." “When Pfizer tested their COVID-19 vaccine, 10% of their study par- ticipants were Black or African American people recruited from the United States — about 4,000,” she says. “Hispanic or Latinx people accounted for 26% of the study’s participants (about 11,000). Five percent of the partic- ipants were Asian. People age 56 and older made up 46% of the volunteers." “In the Moderna group of over 30,000 participants, we know that 10% of them were African Americans, 20% were Hispanic or Latinx, and 5% were Asian.” Moderna’s volunteers also comprised older adults, with one-quarter of the participants age 65 or older. Participants’ underlying health and profession were also tracked: 35% of Moderna’s study subjects were living with chronic health problems, including heart, lung or liver disease. About 22% were health care work- ers, and another 7% — about 2,000 women and men — were retail, restaurant or hospitality workers. The U.S. test participants for Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot COVID-19 vaccine were 15% Hispanic/Latinx; 13% Black/African American; 6% Asian and 1% Native American. WHAT IS VACCINE HESITANCY? Although vaccines save lives, vaccine hesitancy — a tendency to avoid or put off getting a vaccine — affects all demographics, especially when a new vaccine enters the market. Institutional racism and historical inequities in health care may also play a role in vaccine hesitancy among African Americans and other people of color. Incidents of the medical establishment endangering the health or betraying the trust of Black patients and research participants have complicated the relationship between the medical establishment and these communities. A historic lack of diversity among health care practitioners and substandard services and care afforded to patients living with poverty can create enduring negative experiences with medical care. Vaccine hesitancy among some groups can result from fears that a family member’s immigration status will be under scrutiny, or that the costs of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine will be too expensive. (There is no charge for receiving the COVID-19 vaccines at this time.) ARE THERE SPECIAL REASONS FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR TO GET VACCINATED TO PREVENT COVID-19? Yes. The coronavirus pandemic has decimated communities of color, which are overrepresented in front-line, essential jobs, and vulnerable to risk factors that can make COVID-19 worse. Together with mask-wear- ing, physical distancing, hand hygiene and other coronavirus precautions, getting vaccinated can help keep you safe until the COVID-19 pandemic begins to ease. Golden is optimistic. “Communities will come around, but it will take patience as people deal with their reality and begin to see others taking part in COVID-19 vaccinations,” she says. But, at the same time, waiting is risky as COVID-19 and new coro- navirus variants continue to spread. “I’m more concerned about long-term effects from COVID-19, which can be severe. Even though we don’t know everything about these new vaccines yet, I’d rather risk the unknown of the vaccines than what we know can happen with COVID-19." “Don’t delay,” she advises those considering COVID-19 vaccination. “We need herd immunity, and your protection cannot wait.” 16 | TALK MAGAZINE • FALL 2021 COVID-19 Vaccines and People of Color Featured Expert Sherita Hill Golden, M.D., M.H.S.HEALTH NEWS Dr. Sherita Golden receiving her COVID-19 vaccination at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.Next >