New Project Will Recover the Names of Up to 10 Million People Enslaved in America Before Emancipation and Locate their Living Descendants
10th Anniversary Edition
August/September 2023
Dr. April Carter of TLC’s 90 Days: Love in Paradise Sets the Record Straight No end in sight to Hollywood Actors and Writer’s Strike
Editor-In-Chief: Amani Sams
Graphics Department: Holden Sutton Molly Desmond
Writer: Skye Miller
Photographer: Shaunelle Murphy
Makeup Artist: Shaunya Lynae
Wardrobe: The Sams Boutique, LLC
Contents Letter from the Editor ...5
No end in sight to Hollywood Actors and Writer’s Strike ...7
How to fight climate change with small life hacks ...9
Dr. April Carter of TLC’s 90 Days: Love in Paradise sets the Record Straight ..10
What is AI and the possible dangers of it? ..15
New Project Will Recover the Names of Up to 10 Million People Enslaved in America Before Emancipation and Locate their Living Descendants ..16
Skye Says: Dating apps and are they working? ..19
Y o ur B e a u t y , Y o ur R u l e s .
PossibleCosmetics
Possible Cosmetics
Letter from the Editor And just like that, it’s been 10 years of entertainment news, magazine issues, and interviews. This month is our 10th Anniversary! I Thank you for continuing to support the magazine. Because of you and your continued support we are able to continue interviewing some of the most influential voices of Atlanta and beyond. .While you’re reading about Dr. April Carter and others, be sure to message us on social media to tell us which article was your favorite.
XOXO, Amani Sams
@Amani_Sams
5
@Amani_Sams @Aman_Mag
No end in sight to Hollywood Actors and Writer’s Strike Skye Miller
Since May there has been an ongoing battle with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and studio chiefs represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) against profit sharing, and how writers should be paid for their time, not just their end product. It is looking like the end is nowhere in sight as the industry has gone into complete shutdown with no hopes that this will be over by the end of summer. Due to the long withheld of those in the industry, there is now a huge backlog of already produced material, as well as the productions that were well underway before the strike commenced. Union Sag-Aftra has around 160,000 members made up of actors in film and TV, which all make up those un the strike as well as those who work within the industry that have also stood with their colleagues, friends etc.
7
There are big names involved in the list of those who have shown a willingness to strike, for example the likes of Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Ewan McGregor and Jamie Lee Curtis are just a few to name. The aim of the strike is the aim of most strikes in a career setting, to get paid more and with that, comes appreciation for one’s role. Although more highly credited actors do get paid a delicious sum, there are disputes surrounding payments actors receive for repeats for a show, as well as AI generated clips that will show a likeness to actors and actresses. The way in which they are paid will hopefully be displayed by the type of viewing platform, for example whether it is Netflix, Disney or Amazon, however there has been no information on where that currently stands since the strike took place.
A key point to remember is this strike isn’t just for those that are extremely rich and famous, there are plenty of actors and actresses, writers and other talent that are part of the outcome of this, and those that will be directly effected will struggle to put food on the table if the right outcome isn’t supported.
Beetlejuice
For those of you who aren’t actors / writers and aren’t directly involved or affected, here are a list below to show you what you may be missing out on! At least for a while anyway…
Daredevil: Born again Season 1
Big Mouth Season final Blade Runner 2099 Cobra Kai Season final
Deadpool 3 A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1
Movies and TV that are delayed Spider-Man sequel: No Way Home
The Handmaid’s Tale Final Season The Mandalorian Season 4
Blade It Ends With Us Community: The Movie Captain America: Brave New World Stranger Things Season 5 Andor Season 2 The Last of Us Season 2 Euphoria Season 3 Emily in Paris Season 4 The White Lotus Season 3 1923 Season 2 The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 House of the Dragon Season 2 American Horror Story Season 20 Andor Season 2
8
How to fight Climate Change with Small Life Hacks Skye Miller The world as we know it can be a scary place but can also be a beautiful one too! Here are a few things that you can do to help fight climate change in small yet helpful ways!
Reduce your energy use You can do this easily at home regarding the heating or air conditioning! Ask yourself – do I really need this? Put on an extra hoodie and some comfy socks to stay warm! You can also reduce your use of electricity by switching lights off when leaving a room, and turning off the plug when not using a device!
Recycle Correctly throw away your rubbish! Look on the outside of packaging to see where you are meant to get rid of the rubbish. Does it need to be recycled at home? You can also reuse some of your items, for example takeaway coffee cups and reusable shopping bags!
Stop using fuel Now I don’t mean stop driving altogether (that may be impossible), but start to cut down on how much you use your vehicles. Do you really need to drive to a shop that is only a 5 minute walk? Other things you can do to help the environment can include everyday things such as shopping organically, picking up litter and cutting back on taxis and flying.
9
Dr. April Carter of TLC’s 90 Days: Love in Paradise Sets the Record Straight Interviewed by: Amani Sams
10
Dr. April Carter has brains and beauty! You may have seen her on TLC’s 90 Day Fiancé franchise but she is setting the record straight and opening a new chapter since she appeared on the hit show. We recently sat down with the starlet and discussed her upcoming new business ventures
We know that the Black community traditionally doesn’t have a good repour with health professionals. However, You are well versed in the medical field.. You’re a doctor, you studied health law, and health care administration.
and her love life since the show aired. So actually that was an idea born from my parents, primarily
How do you balance it all being a doctor, lawyer, and entrepreneur?
my father, who implanted the idea of medicine in my head very young. He nurtured that idea through high school. I started medicine in high school and I always wanted to
So I do work a lot, I travel full time. What tips do I have? I
represent us in the medical community because I feel that
try to stay grounded and close to family and every moment
we’re more comfortable talking to us than we are to
I have I spend time at home with my mother, my father, my
someone outside the African American community. I find
sisters,[and] my brothers. Just my whole family in general.
that my patients, particularly that are minorities, open up and
That helps me kind of keep that balance, especially since I’m
they feel more comfortable. I sit in the chair next to them and
not dating. Also time with girlfriends, [is important] right? I
we just talk. It’s really important. We you talk about all the
really make it a point, when I’m not working to also make
things that people suffer from [such as] high blood pressure,
time for people that are close to me.
diabetes, and all those things its just easier for them to seek medical attention when they’re seeking it from someone in their community.
11
What does a day in the life look like for you?
you’re a professional, even when you’re with your girlfriends not everyone wants to get in a hoopte with no AC. My friend
It depends, so let’s take today. I’m up early [like] 7/8 am. I
who lives in DR relocated there recommended [it] and that’s
was supposed to have a meeting this morning with a
kind of where the idea came from.
business partner and then I had to deal with things from my own business. I own multiple businesses and then I’m here for the shoot. Then I have a meeting here in Atlanta at 1pm and then I hop on a flight to go to Louisiana. I’m on call
Speaking of the Dominican Republic, you received some backlash from the show, what misconceptions would you like to clear up?
tonight from 7pm to 7am. I probably won’t make it to service tomorrow and I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon. I’m on
I’ve had talks with them and I said, ‘You Know you guys
call tomorrow night. On Monday, I’m either going to fly to
invested so much and you did this to me. We’re not friends’.
Houston or visit one of my businesses in Louisiana while I’m
I really thought about it from a marketing and business
there. That’s sort of how it goes. Each day if I’m not on a flight
standpoint, ‘ like how did we get there?’ Because that wasn’t
it’s either working with the business. I fly a lot.
the original story line. He quit the show and he disappeared for several days and I’m sitting and talking with the producers
What sparked your decision to open up your own HotWorx? Do you plan to expand the franchise?
and they were like we have to figure out how to close this gap; because [they’re] not going to understand why we were so happy at his family’s home and so goo goo eyes and then
I’ve had issues with my back because I’m always on my feet
he disappears. So whenever fights happen off camera, you
from working. In residency we’re trained to work for 28 hour
have to figure out how to bridge it on camera. At the time of
shifts. So you’re on your feet for 28 hours. So I was having
filming, I didn’t know how to bridge. I don’t know how to
back pain and I would get weekly massages. My massage
do this. I clearly saw [now] how they chose to bridge it once
therapist recommended that I go to Hotworx for my back
it aired. Making me look like this entitled bitch wasn’t what
pain. I was like ‘whatever, that sounds crazy’. I was like
I thought we were going to go with. I feel like I could have
‘if you’re trying to say I need to lose weight just say that’. I
come up with something better. I think that’s what happened.
eventually went after he convinced me for two months and then I get into the sauna, and I was like ‘wow, something is happening here’. I [felt] a difference and after doing it a few
What’s next for you?
times, my back pain was completely resolved and so I immediately knew that I wanted to take this technology to
For sure I have to focus on my bread and butter. I’m
my home town. Nobody ever brings anything to my
going to continue to practice medicine and open up my two
hometown. We’re always last to get stuff. So I bought four
[Hotworx] locations. I think I want to just travel more [and]
licenses. I’m due to open up four locations; two opened
maybe date. I’m looking for a partner. I think those are the
already. It was just a matter of me finding a service that
big things that are happening in my life right now. Anything
helped me personally that I felt could help other people; and
else that comes will be a surprise, a blessing that I didn’t
then wanted to take that to my hometown so that we would
know that I needed.
be the first to get something for a change.
Tell us more about your luxury car business in the Dominican Republic? When I first went to the DR in the pick [line] for transportation, I was like ‘wow this is not what I would like to ride in’. So if you are bougee , if you like to ride in class, if
12
13
What is AI and the Possible Dangers of It? Skye Miller Artificial Intelligence (AI) has sparked worries amongst those
Some of the risks and effects are something we may deal
who use social media, electronic devices and other
with in current time however, such as problems surrounding
technology as it seems to be more advanced than other.
data protection and privacy.
Artificial Intelligence is an electronic system that can do
The biggest concern surrounding AI which is relevant today is
things that would normally a require a human intelligence. More recently social media and other apps have started advancing their use of AI, such as Snapchat who has a ‘MY AI’ option where you are ‘friends’ with the system, asking questions as well as changing AI’s name and customise its picture.So where are concerns for AI coming from?
the consumer data privacy and the way it is used throughout a wide range of companies and websites to get information from their customers/ users. There are also theories speculating around AI bias which indicates that the system is unbiased, however, the bias will
Research into the dangers of AI is mostly explored for the future of the technology and the impacts it will have on life as we know it, the research that has been explored mostly goes into the impact of hypothetical situations.
15
New Project Will Recover the Names of Up to 10 Million People Enslaved in America Before Emancipation and Locate their Living Descendants American Ancestors, a national center for family history, is partnering with family historians, leading African American scholars, and cultural institutions to recover the names of the 10 million people of African descent who were enslaved between the 1500s and 1865 in the territory that is now the United States of America. The project—10 Million Names—will centralize genealogical and historical information about enslaved people of African descent and their families on a free website.
Dr. Gates and others associated with the project have described it as having the potential to connect millions of people with American history through genealogy in ways never possible before. “For the first time ever, we have the means to accomplish a project of this importance and magnitude,” said Cellini, the founding director of the 10 Million Names project. “The institutional will and the technology exist. We have a collective obligation as a nation to tell African American family stories.”
ABC News will serve as the exclusive media partner of 10 Million Names. The year-long, network-wide initiative will feature the findings, research, and work of a collaborative network of genealogists, cultural organizations, and community-based family historians through impactful and informative storytelling and reporting across ABC News programs and platforms.
Beginning in 2018, American Ancestors worked with Cellini to create a free, searchable public portal at GU272.AmericanAncestors.org that presented the family histories of more than 300 men, women, and children sold by the Jesuit priests of Georgetown University (then known as Georgetown College) in 1838 to Louisiana sugar plantations. When he first discovered the sale, Cellini, a Georgetown alumnus, created an independent non-profit dedicated to finding the people who were sold, and worked with American Ancestors to publish the results.
The project advisory board includes Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard scholar and host of the popular PBS Series Finding Your Roots, which often reveals surprising information to celebrity guests about their ancestors. Other members of the 10 Million Names Advisory Board are Richard Cellini, founder of the Georgetown Memory Project and a Research Fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Gwill York, Advisory Board chair, entrepreneur, prominent business leader, and civic volunteer for more than thirty years, and Paula Williams Madison, author of Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem, and Chairman and CEO of Madison Media Management LLC and 88 Madison Media Works Inc.
16
“Our collaboration with Richard Cellini on the Georgetown Memory Project served as a model and launch pad for 10 Million Names,” said Ryan Woods, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for American Ancestors. “The work done on the Georgetown project demonstrated we could apply a different methodology to help more Americans of African descent recover their family history before 1870—which is often difficult.
Community-based family historians will play a vital role in the success of this project. 10 Million Names will work alongside families, individuals, and organizations to amplify the voices of people who have been telling their stories for hundreds of years.” To accomplish its goal, the 10 Million Names research team will reverse the typical approach used by genealogists, and borrow from the historian’s toolkit by starting with original source material, stretching from the 1500s to 1865. Genealogical researchers, historians, and data specialists will source data about enslaved people of African descent from archives, libraries, genealogical and historical societies, and organizations around the world. The team will also seek input from communities of family historians around the country and encourage the public to submit material that contains names of people and locations. “ABC News is proud to be the exclusive media partner on this historic project to tell the untold stories of familial histories that have been a mystery until now, and we are looking forward to serving our audiences with straightforward reporting that shines a light on this chapter in American history,” said ABC News President Kim Godwin.
genealogical data. This divergence is a stark reminder of our unequal and uneven access to our familial past,” Field concluded. 10 Million Names is uniting its efforts with a number of collaborating institutions, such as the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, and non-profit genealogical organizations, such as FamilySearch International, and the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. In addition to Dr. Field, 10 Million Names is guided by a council of prominent scholars of African American history and studies that includes: Dr. Vincent Brown, Charles Warren Professor of History and Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University; Dr. Brandon M. Terry, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University; Dr. Kerri Greenidge, Mellon Associate Professor in the Department of Studies of Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts University; and Dr. Thavolia Glymph, Peabody Family Distinguished Professor of History and Professor of Law at Duke University.
“Slavery separated families and obscured family history. Before the 20th century, genealogical data about enslaved Africans and their descendants was often deliberately obscured, altered, or simply unrecorded in the first place. This lasting legacy of slavery—the erasure of family history—remains with us today,” said 10 Million Names’ Chief Historian Dr. Kendra Taira Field, Associate Professor of History, Co-founder of the Du Bois Forum, and Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at Tufts University. “So while those Americans attempting to claim Mayflower ancestry have had ample records to prove it, African Americans who have been collecting their family histories and stories privately for centuries have not generally had easy access to collective repositories of
17
Skye Says… Issue 10: Dating Apps and Are they Working? Happy 10th issue of Skye Says!
Since it’s the 10th issue of Skye Says, I thought it would be interesting to hear even more of your stories and getting to know the good, the bad and the ugly of your dating app stories! A lot of my readers of SS spoke about how the pros of dating apps means you get to meet people you never normally would and seek out new places that you wouldn’t normally visit, however the overall reaction was that a lot of people don’t use these apps because you never know who you are actually meeting and it can be quite scary. One reader said that she turned up to a [cinema] date and didn’t speak a word to the other person all night! My initial thought when I saw this was I never suggest the movies as a first date idea purely for this reason! First dates can be awkward anyway but its good to get to know the other person you are meeting up with and see if it is worth meeting up for a second date. If you are someone that is into a movie first date, then I would suggest watching a comedy so you can see if you have the same humour and then get dinner or drinks afterwards so you can get to the chatting bit then! Also if you are stuck for what to speak about.. you can talk about what you just watched! As this weeks stories is all anonymous I won’t mention any names but this next one tickled me!
19
‘’My date booked a hotel room in my name, and then asked me for the money even though I said no!’’ After I got done laughing at this one, I was left speechless for once. All I will say is I hope you didn’t pay them! And my advice to others is never do what you don’t want to do, especially pay for a hotel room for a date you’re not interested in! Despite a lot of my readers saying they haven’t found love online, there were plenty of real life love stories! People have found love on Bumble, Badoo and even Hinge! (None said yes to Tinder though) One reader said he found love on Badoo, and is now engaged with a dog! Another reader said how he met his partner on Bumble over 7 years ago! This story was one of my favourites… He said how ‘’her friends had swiped on him originally (not her), and after 2 attempts of asking her out and getting rejected, he took a break of dating online. Third time lucky, after 3 weeks off, she finally said yes! They went to see a band (her friend was also working bar so they got free tickets), and the rest is history!’’ How amazing is that! Real love can happen on this app, and goes to show it really does happen at the right time but when you least expect it. If you are in a relationship and met your SO on app please let us know! And if you’re still single, remember you are just one swipe away from finding the love of your life! Trust the process.
20