Making It Plain with Dr. Key

We are back with historian, Dr. Marvin Chiles, Assistant Professor of History at Old Dominion University to discuss the recent race based admissions decision, affirmative action, history and next steps in advocating for a more inclusive United States.

This episode discuss the impact of the attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion on minorities individuals and the workplace. Our guest is Dr. Brent Lewis former Associate Vice President of DEI at James Madison University. Dr. Lewis has extensive experience in DEIB and is currently serving the Durham County.

In this episode Dr. Key interviews Dr. Edirmanasinghe about her recent journey investing in NFTs.

Dr. Natalie Edirmanasinghe is a counselor educator and has an NFT side hustle. She previously was a school counselor for seven years, working mostly outside of Atlanta, GA. She has been passionate about elevating youth voice in educational spaces, spending most of her time training school counselors to utilize youth voice in their schools and researching ways youth can engage in advocacy in schools. However, she and her husband recently started investing and researching cryptocurrency and NFTs (non-fungible tokens). She is hoping her interests collide, where she can partner with those working in Web3 to mentor youth and learn from their voices how to make the Web3 space more accessible to youth. She is also hoping to accumulate investments that she can pass down to her 20 month old son, Victor.

In this episode our guest Kawana Baldwin “Eyelash Kween” shared her perspectives on generational wealth and her journey.

In 2005, Kawana began her career with the Michigan Department of Corrections as a Parole Agent, then promoted to a Lead Agent, and later advanced to a Workforce Development Specialist. Kawana developed job opportunities and programming for an underserved and disadvantaged population. She bridged the gap in communication between MDOC, the business community, community organizations, and other local and state government agencies in the Metro Detroit Area and other regions of the state. In 2015, she encountered an opportunity to earn residual income by becoming a makeup consultant. Two years into selling makeup and growing her makeup business exponentially it reignited an interest she had in the beauty industry since the age of 12 years old. She grew her make-up business with 30+ women trailing her. It was at this moment she realized her natural gift and talent in the world of beauty was truly a spiritual journey of self-discovery, passion and purpose. In 2017, she enrolled in beauty school to study skincare with a focus on mastering the art of extending the natural hairs of women’s eyelashes, shaping and sculpting eyebrows, and removing unwanted body hairs. Since then, Kawana has fast-tracked her career in the beauty industry and today is professionally known as “The Eyelash Kween”. She is the Owner and Manager of “The Eyelash Kween, Skin, Brow, and Lash Studio” in Dearborn Heights, MI. She’s a Licensed Esthetician, a Master Lash & Brow Artist, a Professional & Permanent Makeup Artist, and a Licensed Instructor. She is also the owner of Eyelash Kween Supplies, an online retail business where she provides eyelash extension tools and supplies for other Lash Artists and provide 3-D Lash Strips and Magnetic Eyelashes for women whose natural eyelashes are not suitable for eyelash extensions. She started this business to help meet the needs of artists locally and globally with a focus on empowering both men and women to discover their true purpose in life and starting their own business. On July 9, 2021, with the support of her husband and daughter, Kawana stepped out on faith and resigned from her 16-and-a-half-year career with the State of Michigan to continue her spiritual journey walking in true passion and purpose.

Dr. Omotayo Banjo joins Dr. Key to discuss black immigrant experiences in the United States. 

A child of Nigerian immigrants, Dr. Banjo is uniquely positioned to write, speak, and educate on topics related to social identity, and social perception, and cultural difference, from an empathic viewpoint.

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Dr.  Banjo obtained her B.A in Social Psychology and earned her Ph.D. in Mass Communication from Penn State University. Her research focuses on representation and audience responses to racial and cultural media. Her work has been published in several peer reviewed journals and op-eds, and she is the curator of four edited volumes.

Currently she is an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati.

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Dr. Lynnette Moore joined Making It Plain to discuss black health challenges in the light of a pandemic and racism.

Dr. Lynnette Moore, M.D.,  a physician and wholistic health coach, is board certified in family, internal and obesity medicine.  She is passionate about empowering women to achieve optimal health and glow from the inside out, often sharing pearls of knowledge learned from her own personal health journey.

She received her Doctor of Medicine from Morehouse School of Medicine and Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Howard University, both with Magna Cum Laude Honors.  She completed her Combined Family and Internal Medicine residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

Over the past 2 decades, she has helped to empower persons to take charge of their health not only as a physician,  but also as a community servant with various local nonprofit organizations. 

More recently, she has expanded her plant based nutrition and lifestyle coaching services to Instagram social media, where she is affectionately known as Dr. Lynnette,MD (@dr.lynnettemd).In addition to virtual plant-based cooking classes, she offers lifestyle and kitchen makeovers, where she enjoys teaching others about the healing power of foods and healthy lifestyles to transform illness into wellness.

Dr. Lynnette is married with a daughter, who is currently a first year law student. 

Instagram: @dr.lynnettemd

Website: https://drlynnettemd.com/

Dr. Lorie Johnson discusses black women maternal health and addresses issues of the increased rates in which women die during childbirth and fibroids.

Dr Lorie Johnson is a Board Certified Ob/Gyn with more than 20 years of experience in her field. She is the owner of Just For You Women’’s Healthcare in Locust Grove, Georgia.  

Dr Johnson was born and raised in New Jersey. She completed her residency training in Allentown, Pennsylvania at the Lehigh Valley Hospital. Prior to that she received her medical degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia, and her bachelor’s degree was obtained at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dr Johnson practiced in Pennsylvania for a few years until 2009, when she and her family relocated to Georgia to start her own practice.  

Dr Lorie, as she is called by most of her patients, has a passion for educating women about their bodies and helping to bridge the gap between women and the medical establishment. She frequently appears on various programs speaking on a variety of women’s health topics. Her expertise has also been featured in several magazines including Cosmopolitan and Madame Noire.

Dr Lorie has traveled to Africa on several occasions to serve in medical missions and also participates with local organizations to serve the less fortunate. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

In her spare time, she loves to write, travel, attend concerts and spend time with her family and friends.

Denitra Townsend Gregory joins us from Detroit to discuss the art and style of black fashion. We journey through time to discuss trends created by black people. We explore current trends and how the pandemic has influenced fashion. Image consultant, Denitra, shares her role and why individuals should consider a consultant.

In this episode, Sherron Washington, marketing expert discusses branding for professionals and entrepreneurs. She shares secrets to how black people have sustained and increased revenues through branding in the pandemic.

Dr. Key interview's Tarra Jackson AKA Madam Money. She is a personal financial expert, author and creator of Dualpreneur. In this episode she lends her financial expertise to tell the audience how to finance their dream. This episode is focused on entrepreneurship and how anyone can add entrepreneurial endeavors to their brand.