This Saturday, December 3, on Cleveland's East side, what's promised to be a fun and holistic community event for the holiday season takes place. “Living My Best Life” is an offshoot of Ideastream Public Media's investigation into how racism contributes to poor health outcomes in the Cleveland area. The event aims to renew the mind, body and spirit and will focus on what local institutions are doing to tear down structural barriers to good health.
The community wellness event is open to everyone and is as a part of Ideastream Public Media’s Connecting the Dots project, funded by The Dr. Donald J. Goodman and Ruth Weber Goodman Philanthropic Fund of The Cleveland Foundation.
“Living My Best Life” will feature four different stations, each dedicated to helping people shake off the extra layers of stress and anxiety caused by factors including the pandemic, societal strife, economic uncertainty, and the added tension felt during the holidays.
Over the past three years, long-simmering tensions over racial injustice have erupted in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and other incidents of police treatment of Black citizens, according a study from the University of Alabama. These incidents have created political division and new anxieties and mental health challenges for people of color,” according to the study. Ideastream Public Media also heard from our community partners that addressing mental health issues in Cleveland’s communities of color could potentially make a difference in people’s lives,” said Marlene Harris-Taylor, director of Engaged Journalism.
For more information on the Connecting the Dots between Race and Health project visit https://www.wksu.org/connecting-the-dots.
Marlene Harris-Taylor, Director, Engaged Journalism, Ideastream Public Media
Maurice Newman, President, NorthCoast Media and Film
Angela Neal-Barnett, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Kent State University