Halima Sahar Muhammad is an avid reader who has been a Texas State Finalist in the Letters About Literature writing contest in 2010, 2011, and 2012. After successfully completing National Novel Writers Month challenges in 2010 and 2011, Halima decided to edit and publish her first middle-grade novel, Riley and the Kitchen Katastrophe.

Her novel will be self-published on CreateSpace.com and will also be available on Amazon.com, Amazon Kindle, and Barnes and Noble NOOK starting June 7, 2012.

Riley and the Kitchen Katastrophe is a middle-grade novel about an 11 year-old girl and her ongoing feud with her pesky big brother, Atticus. When her parents are called out of town for business, Riley and her brother find out that they will be spending six long days in the country visiting family.

During their stay, Riley volunteers her brother to help throw a dinner party for their aunt's new neighbors. When the kitchen goes up in smoke, will Riley and Atticus stop fighting long enough to salvage a potential disaster?

Halima's mother, Raychelle Muhammad, assisted her with the editing, formatting, and cover design. She insists, however, that the hardest work was done by Halima herself: "Halima created the Riley character during NaNoWriMo 2010. When the 2011 challenge began, she was determined to write the next title in the Riley series and publish it. Halima finished her first draft, took a month-long break, and resumed edits and rewrites in January.

On the day before her self-imposed deadline, May 14, 2012, the manuscript was done. I am incredibly proud of Halima and I am grateful for the outpouring of support and well-wishes she is receiving from friends, family, and the literary community."

Halima is 12-years old, homeschooled, and will be entering the 9th grade in the fall. She is an excellent student. One of her favorite mantras is, "Nothing can quench the thirst for knowledge." In her spare time, Halima enjoys reading, fashion, swimming, painting, and hanging out with family and friends.

For updates about her launch, visit her Facebook fan page at https://www.facebook.com/RileyAndTheKitchenKatastrophe.

Greater Auburn-Gresham Community Development Corp., Cutler Foundation and CVS Caremark sponsor screening at Perspectives

 
CHICAGO—Organizing and revitalizing this vibrant community since 2001, the Greater Auburn-Gresham Community Development Corporation (GADC) is now teaming up with the Jay Cutler Foundation; MinuteClinic, a division of CVS Caremark; and University of Illinois Chicago Medical Center to improve the health of the neighborhood’s young people.

This week, scores of students at Perspectives Charter Schools’ Calumet Campus received free diabetes screening in the school auditorium—as well as a personal visit from the Chicago Bears quarterback from 3:00-3:45 at Perspectives, 8131 South May Street.

Cutler, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after his second season in the NFL, established his foundation to inspire and treat underprivileged children and those with diabetes.  Through free screenings, public awareness events and support of local charities, Cutler hopes to raise the profile of the disease and help those affected by it.

“I want youth in Chicago to be inspired and know they can achieve their goals and dreams,” said Cutler.  “Kids and parents should know that having diabetes is nothing to be embarrassed about. With early detection and treatment, kids don’t have to let diabetes slow them down.”

Affecting 17 percent of all children nationwide and its prevalence rapidly increasing in Chicago, diabetes presents a looming health threat to neighborhoods like Auburn Gresham.

“More than 215,000 youth [nationally] have already been diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes,” said Tobias Barker, vice president of medical operations, MinuteClinic. “Though this program, MinuteClinic and other coalition members can help a group of children on Chicago’s South Side whose diabetes might otherwise go undiagnosed or untreated until serious health complications result.”

More than 100 Perspectives students, ages 12-18, will be screened during the in-school testing week, May 14-18, by volunteers from the University of Illinois Hospital. Students identified as “at-risk” for diabetes will undergo a screening that includes measuring height, weight, body mass index and blood glucose levels. If diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes, students will be referred to the University of Illinois Hospital or Access Community Health Network for follow-up care at no charge.

Approached earlier this year by the Cutler Foundation and long-time partner CVS about a childhood diabetes awareness campaign, GADC sees the diabetes awareness week as a natural extension of its ongoing series of community health fairs, also sponsored by CVS. This pilot program, facilitated by GADC, will serve as a model for the Cutler Foundation’s expansion of diabetes testing to other Chicago neighborhoods.
 
“GADC recognizes that the health and the education of Auburn Gresham children are fundamentally linked,” said Carlos Nelson, GADC executive director. “Partners like the Cutler Foundation and CVS Caremark allow us to help influence the lives of young people in positive, healthy ways.”
 
Through its holistic slate of community activities in Auburn Gresham, GADC has built deep relationships with both public and charter schools in the community, including Westcott Elementary, Oglesby Elementary, Simeon Career Academy and Perspectives Middle Academy. Organizers deemed the school-based diabetes screening model a particularly good fit for Perspectives, one of Chicago’s five Elev8 schools.

Functioning on the national Elev8 model, Perspectives emphasizes the connection between health and education. Elev8 schools are supported nationally by Atlantic Philanthropies and locally by Local Initiatives Support Corporation Chicago (LISC Chicago). GADC facilitates the Elev8 program at Perspectives as part of its comprehensive support of the neighborhood.

An innovative school based health center, run by Access Community Health Network, provides students with quality health services, free of charge.  Educational programs and on-site services at Perspectives, managed by GADC, span all aspects of physical and mental health, from nutrition and exercise to hygiene and dental care to mental health and psycho-social development.

Such efforts by Elev8 and GADC have seen wide success, including raising the rate of compliance with physicals and immunization requirements among Perspectives students to 100 percent. School-based health programs and extended day programming have been so successful, in fact, that large parts of the Elev8 model are being replicated in CPS elementary and middle schools. GADC hopes that the diabetes awareness week will have similar success on the health and education of young people—with benefits beyond the schoolyard in Auburn Gresham.

This is what we need. I love the spirit and purpose of this awards program. I see my brother Jesse Muhammad in the flyer too! That's what's up!

Often negative portrayals of black males make indelible impacts on how the people of the world view black men and boys. Media sources are saturated with such negative images, creating false perceptions in the minds of many. Minds from all races have absorbed many of these stereotypical images of our black men and boys; it is time for change.

These misconceptions still persist, thus great efforts to challenge the misperception of black men and boys are needed; the BlackManCan Awards will help aid in this effort. Born from the idea that positivity yields positivity, TheBlackManCan.org (BMC) and BlackCelebrityGiving.com (BCG) are excited to announce the Inaugural Black Man Can Awards! Recognizing accomplishments within the community and professional arenas, the awards will honor black men and boys in more than 10 categories who embody the definition of a positive black male!

The Inaugural BMC Awards will honor and celebrate the positive black male in the following categories: Campus King (College Male Student), Boys II Men (Young Males) under the age of 18, Higher Education, Media (Journalism), K-12 Education, Business, Technology, Non-Profits, Law, Politics, Celebrity and Medicine. Nominations are now being accepted and will remain open until midnight on May 15th, 2012.

"Even as a black women, I recognize the negative preconceived notions our black men will undoubtedly face. I see the Black Man Can Awards as an amazing opportunity to honor those everyday men who are positively shaping our world and the image of the black man and boy," says Jasmine Crowe, Founder of BlackCelebrityGiving.com.

The BlackManCan Awards is slated to generate hundreds of thousands of impressions across the web as readers will nominate and vote online through a custom social media platform, developed by ContestIs. The community is encouraged to nominate individuals worthy of one or more of the distinguished BlackManCan Awards via www.TheBlackManCan.org.

Finalists will be announced May 28th, 2012 via a live Twitter Chat, with voting to take place June 1st - June 15th, 2012. Winners of the 2012 BlackManCan (BMC) Awards will receive an official crystal award trophy, website badge, bragging rights for one year and other sponsored products. Winners will be announced, Sunday June 17th, 2012, Father’s Day. For more information on the BlackManCan Awards and detailed category descriptions, visit www.BlackCelebrityGiving.com and www.TheBlackManCan.org.

"The only way to provide the positive contradiction to the prevailing Black Male image of today is to counteract negative images with positives ones," says Brandon Frame Chief Visionary Officer of theblackmancan.org.

Media and Bloggers worldwide can support the BlackManCan Awards by grabbing the office banner ad for the Inaugural BlackManCan Awards. To grab a banner email: bmca@blackcelebritygiving.com.

Join in on the conversation: Follow Black Celebrity Giving @BlkCelebGiving and the Black Man Can @TheBlackManCan on Twitter. The Official Awards Hash-Tag: #BMCAwards