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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: black women

black women stories: 14 news summaries
MOVIE REVIEW

 Good Hair Has a Few Knots 

Chris Rock shines as interviewer, but social issues get lost in the weave

Oct 9, 09 10:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - Chris Rock is a natural and hilarious interviewer, critics agree. But watchers are split on whether the substance of a rather complicated debate shines through in Big Hair, his documentary on black women and their coifs. A sampling:
  • Rock has helped craft a film with "much good feeling
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • film • African Americans • movie review • Chris Rock • black women • documentary film • hair care • perm • straightening • Good Hair

 To Straighten 
 or Not: Hair 
 Politics Snags 
 Black Women 

Many feel pressure to go straight

Aug 27, 09 9:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - For black women, it's near impossible to choose a hairstyle without society weighing in. Chemical relaxers help straighten hair, but "you’re pegged as selling out," a black studies professor tells the New York Times. But go natural and "you’re seen as not practicing appropriate grooming... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Michelle Obama • hair • black women • Malia Obama • Sasha Obama • President Obama • hairstyle • women's issues

OBITUARY

Breakthrough Black Model Naomi Sims Dead at 61


Aug 3, 09 4:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Naomi Sims, the first black model to grace the cover of Ladies Home Journal—and arguably the first black supermodel—has died at 61, the New York Times reports. Her family says the cause was cancer. Sims burst onto the scene in the late 1960s, but chose in the ‘... More »

MORE ABOUT:
African Americans • Andy Warhol • obituary • black women • supermodel • magazine cover • Jay-ZTV • designer fashion • Salvador Dali • Naomi Sims • cover girl

Breast Cancer Death in Blacks Linked to Genes

Advocates now worry environmental, social factors will be ignored

Jul 27, 09 2:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - The higher risk of death from breast cancer for black women may depend more on differences of biology than environmental factors, the Baltimore Sun reports. Research shows that black women are up to 49% more likely to die from the disease than white women, even when patients receive the same... More »

MORE ABOUT:
breast cancer • doctor • mammogram • black women • white women • scientific research • medical study • preventative care

analysis

 Few Blacks Followed 
 Anderson's Lead 


Apr 6, 09 5:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Marian Anderson shattered a racial barrier when she sang at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, 1939—70 years ago this week—yet despite planned tributes, the power of the moment has faded, Alex Ross writes in the New Yorker. Most young people know nothing of Anderson, and "black... More »

MORE ABOUT:
African Americans • classical music • opera • jazz • black women

Obama White House Brings Black Women to Power

White House advisers and staff form strong support network

Mar 18, 09 9:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama’s administration has brought a cohort of black women to power in Washington, in numbers and at levels never seen before, the Washington Post reports. While in the past, the appointment of a black woman to a senior White House position was met with fanfare, the seven on... More »

MORE ABOUT:
black women • Valerie Jarrett • Susan Rice • Obama administration • Cassandra Butts • Lisa Jackson

 Black Women 
 Getting Shorter: Study 

They're the only group to lose height over recent generations

Dec 26, 08 1:17 PM CST
(Newser) - While most of the American population is slowly gaining in height after a recent plateau, one group actually seems to be shrinking over the decades. Black women have lost about a half-inch on average compared to the previous generation, the exact opposite of the national trend, the Chicago Tribune reports,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • health • height • black women • high calorie diet

OPINION

 Can Michelle Defy Stereotypes? 

Why hasn't the 'Claire Huxtable' generation been accepted into the mainstream?

Jul 20, 08 10:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - It's no wonder Michelle Obama is being criticized from all sides: She's an outspoken, successful black woman, writes Sophia A. Nelson in the Washington Post. "This society can't even see a woman like Michelle Obama. All it sees is a black woman and attaches stereotypes," a prominent female... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Michelle Obama • stereotypes • racial inequality • black women • glass ceiling • African-Americans

OPINION

Where Are the Feminists for Michelle?

Their sense of outrage doesn't seem to apply to black women

Jun 21, 08 1:12 PM CDT
(Newser) - Like strong women before her, Michelle Obama has been “demonized” in the press—so why aren’t feminists coming to her aid? asks Mary C. Curtis in the Washington Post. Feminists spoke out when Hillary Clinton faced sexism in her campaign—but the cause hasn’t embraced women of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • feminism • Michelle Obama • black women

Only Black Is Beautiful in Italian Vogue

Thumbing nose at prejudice, mag uses only models of color

Jun 19, 08 9:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - Black women spend $20 billion a year on clothes, but the fashion world still harbors a racial prejudice that keeps women of color out of the big glossies. Now noted photographer Steven Meisel has teamed with Italian Vogue to produce a special issue, in which all the models are black... More »

MORE ABOUT:
fashion • Vogue • black women • Naomi Campbell • fashion industry • Steven Meisel • Iman

Breast Cancer Risk Seen for Latinos, Blacks

Scientists find higher prevalance of mutated gene in new study

Dec 26, 07 6:40 PM CST
(Newser) - A genetic mutation that increases the risk of breast cancer has been linked to Hispanic and young black women, according to a new study. The findings could lead to changes in screening, the San Jose Mercury News reports. In the survey of 3,181 women with breast cancer, 16.7%... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cancer • health • breast cancer • genetics • disease • women • ovarian cancer • genetic mutation • BRCA1 • American Medical Association • black women • Hispanic

Breast Cancer Deadlier for Black Women

Doctors' formula has underestimated
risk, study finds

Nov 28, 07 2:48 PM CST
(Newser) - In calculating a woman's risk of breast cancer, doctors have been using a formula that underestimates the risk the disease poses to black women, reports the Washington Post. A growing body of evidence shows that while black women are less likely to get breast cancer than their white counterparts, when... More »

MORE ABOUT:
breast cancer • women's health • cancer research • black women

Starchy Foods Increase
Diabetes Risk

But adding whole grains to the diet improves the odds

Nov 27, 07 3:05 AM CST
(Newser) - African-American and Chinese women whose diets are high in starchy foods like white rice are at bigger risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, researchers have discovered. The good news is that eating whole-grain foods can help reduce the risk, according to two studies in the Archives of Internal Medicine. As... More »

MORE ABOUT:
bread • diabetes • public health • blood pressure • wheat • rice • black women • grains • carbs • Chinese women

Tumors More Resistant to Drugs in Black Women

Study explains why breast cancer is
more fatal in black women

Sep 6, 07 10:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - Doctors have long known that breast cancer is more deadly in black women; new research suggests why: They are more likely to suffer from treatment-resistant tumors, a major study at the University of Michigan concludes. Analysis of data from nearly 100,000 women with later-stage breast cancer shows that black... More »

MORE ABOUT:
breast cancer • women's health • women • treatment • tumor • black women • drug resistant • health study

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