The Elixir Live: Eileen Z. Fuentes Will Be A Presenter At TEDMED On April 20
Brooklyn Free Clinic Presents TEDMED Live 2013 The Brooklyn Free Clinic Saturday, April 20, 2013 from 10:00 AM to 6:30 PM (EDT) That’s right folks, our very own Eileen Z. Fuentes will be a presenter at the TEDMED Conference on April 20, 2013, sponsored by the Brooklyn Free Clinic. This is a big deal! Her [...]
Latino Neighborhoods: Improving Health Through Ethnic Pride? | PRI The World
By Audrey Quinn If you take the subway to the northern tip of Manhattan, you’ll find yourself in Washington Heights, a largely Dominican neighborhood. Poverty is worse here than in most areas of New York, but “there are certain health indicators here that suggest that Washington Heights is doing better than other neighborhoods,” says Columbia [...]
I Remember Will TeeZ | Manhattan Times
Written by Sherry Mazzocchi William Alicea—better known to most of Upper Manhattan as Will TeeZ died this past Wed., Jan. 16th. Alicea was widely known and loved. Still, despite his being a long-time Washington Heights resident, I’d never met him. I only became aware of him after seeing Facebook posts about his illness. I watched [...]
The Elixir: Must-See – Soul Food Junkies on PBS Tonight
Tonight at 10 pm, Independent Lens on PBS will premiere the documentary titled: Soul Food Junkies. Bryon Hurt, award-winning documentary filmmaker, published writer, anti-sexism activist and lecturer, sets out on a historical and culinary journey to learn more about the soul food tradition and its relevance to black cultural identity. Through candid interviews with soul [...]
“A blessing and a responsibility” Will Teez fights on | Manhattan Times
Story, photos and video by Sherry Mazzocchi At a recent dinner party, William Alicea told his guests that doctors said he had cancer again. Now, he’s undergoing outpatient chemotherapy treatments. This summer, Alicea was treated for leukemia at Mount Sinai Hospital. Hundreds of northern Manhattan residents—and even strangers from farther away—contributed to his Indiegogo campaign [...]
Will Teez Speaks: An Open Letter to My People
First off, hello and happy Tuesday!! I wanted to write this letter to all my people because I honestly feel that without y’all, I wouldn’t be here. The love and support you have shared with me saved my life. So now I share my life with you. I love all of you and like a [...]
The Elixir: For Those of Us With Pre-Existing Conditions…
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) For some of us, having medical insurance means survival. People, particularly the young and healthy, never really think about health insurance until they need it. I implore you to look and listen to these stories and then to take it one step further and vote on November 6th and allow [...]
Survivor Stories: Eileen Z. Fuentes | Good Enough Mother
How did you first find out you had cancer? I was sleeping and had an itch on my breast and when I went to scratch, felt a lump. Even though I had stopped nursing just a couple of months prior, intuitively I felt that something was terribly wrong. Since I work in a hospital, I [...]
Elixir Profiles: Carolina “Miss Rizos” Contreras
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) Over a decade ago, when I first decided to leave my hair in it’s natural kinky state and free of chemical relaxers, the response from many in my mostly-Dominican community was outright negative. If you didn’t notice, hair and beauty are a big deal in Washington Heights and the fact [...]
The Elixir: Age Is Nuthin’ But A Number – Ernestine Shepherd
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) Recently, I started to notice that my body was craving exercise. Sitting in an office for extended hours a day and being stuck in traffic definitely were taking it’s toll. I consistently eat healthy but have not been exercising like I know I should and it has started to show (both [...]
The Elixir: The Business of Breast Cancer Awareness and Pink Ribbons
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) Since my breast cancer diagnosis in 2008, I have intuitively felt uncomfortable with the use of pink ribbons. Well-intentioned friends and family flooded me with gifts displaying them and while I was grateful for their sincere efforts to support me, I never used those products. As time went on, I began [...]
The Elixir Profiles: Gabby Douglas – When You’re Down To Nothing God’s Up To Something
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) So for the last couple of weeks, I have slept all of 2 minutes! Why? Because of the Olympics. I have a short attention span and events like swimming, track and gymnastics are just enough time to get me completely focused and later jumping around my living room like a dork. [...]
The Elixir Recipes: Popsicles, Promises and Plan B’s!
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) Recently, the temperatures rose to 100 degrees and so my aim was to post a refreshing summer recipe. In my mind, I wanted to share how to put together a quick Latin-inspired quinoa salad but my kids had a different idea. They wanted popsicles. So as a way to try and [...]
The Elixir Recipes: Mangu 2.0
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) If you’re Dominican, you definitely know what mangu is. For those who are not, it can be compared to it’s American counterpart, mashed potatoes. Just like mashed potatoes are very common in American homes, mangu is our signature breakfast dish. Most of my Dominican friends associate this dish as unhealthy since [...]
The Elixir: Secrets of a Long Life – Arthur Gewirtz
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) Photography by Briana E. Heard (@beheardphoto) Laura, who is a volunteer at DOROT, an organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of the elderly and bringing generations together, greeted us and introduced Briana and I to Arthur. He immediately lit up and asked for a kiss on the cheek. What a charming [...]
Uptown Health: Free Breast Cancer Screening
On Saturday April 6th and Wednesday April 10th Councilmember Jackson and the American-Italian Cancer Foundation are joining various community groups to bring free mammography screenings to the residents of West Harlem and Washington Heights/Inwood (see attached flyers). The service is limited to women 40 years and older who are residents of New York City and [...]
The Elixir: Letting Go of F.E.A.R.
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real I had a conversation with a friend who is overworked, exhausted and losing herself in her dedication to the cancer patients she serves, an honorable justification for sure. She admitted to me that she no longer lives in her home as she only “visits” on [...]
The 2012 Harlem Celebration of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day Goes Down on Saturday April 28th
St. Nicholas Park Plaza (135th Street & St. Nicholas Avenue) April 28th 10AM until 2PM Join millions around the world in their individual time zones beginning at 10AM to celebrate world peace, optimum health and well-being! This is a FREE event for all ages. Bring the family! Register: www.strategiesforoptimumwellness.com For more information: (866) 327-2254
Man vs. Juice Cleanse
BY Led Black (@Led_Black) Ok, before I even retell my tale of how I survived my first ever juice cleanse for 3-very-LONG-grueling-days. Understand this, I am the mirror opposite of my wife, Eileen Z. Fuentes aka “The SPEACH gal”. In fact, in my humble estimation, my wife is what I lovingly like to call a [...]
The Elixir: Secrets of a Long Life – Don José
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) Photography by Briana E. Heard (@beheardphoto) The other day as I was sitting at work, I received a call from one of the members of my wellness group. She was in the emergency room and wanted me to stop by and see her. As I was trying to convince the security [...]
The Elixir: How I Knew I’d Meet Oprah!
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) If you would’ve asked me if I thought I’d ever meet Oprah, surprisingly I would have responded with a confident “YES!” Since my diagnosis, I’ve never allowed many things to stand in the way of my dreams. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I had been talking about it [...]
The Elixir: Secrets of a Long Life – Hilda Garcia
BY Eileen Z. Fuentes (@theSPEACHgal) Photography by Briana E. Heard (@beheardphoto) Doña Hilda Garcia was born on August 16, 1927 in the Santa Clara province in Havana, Cuba. She is the fifth of 15 siblings. She has vivid memories of growing up with a strict disciplinarian mother who was raising 9 girls and 6 boys. Her [...]
The Harlem Book Fair Kicks Off With New Thought Leader Michael Bernard Beckwith on March 30th
BY Led Black (@Led_Black) The first time I came across Michael Bernard Beckwith and his teachings was the night before my wife’s first surgery after a devastating triple negative breast cancer diagnosis. Earlier that day my wife read an article that painfully detailed the aggressive nature of the specific type of breast cancer she had [...]
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