(Akiit.com) HARTFORD, Conn. — The idea of strolling the beach in a bikini isn’t what motivates Sandra Mosby to bake her chicken rather than frying it, or to lightly season her collard greens rather than dropping in a fatty ham hock.

For Mosby and a growing number of black women, developing healthy habits and losing weight is less about satisfying her vanity and more about strengthening her Christianity.

Several recent studies throughout the U.S. have concluded that the all-about-you mentality of many mainstream diet programs doesn’t resonate with black women whose focus lies in strengthening their families, communities and churches.

Now, there’s a new approach: Rather than pushing black women to adapt to those programs, researchers are developing new programs that emphasize improving health as a pathway to better serving God.

“A lot of the existing weight-loss programs are designed and developed for typical middle-class white women,” said Judith Fifield, a professor in the University of Connecticut’s medical school at the UConn Health Center.

“A lot of the traditional weight-loss messages are, ‘It’s all about you,’ whereas a lot of African-American women are so committed to caring for their families and serving the church that they aren’t used to putting themselves first,” she said.

Mosby is a prime example. Juggling her college classes, close-knit family and involvement at Bethel A.M.E. Church made it easy for the Hartford resident to fall into unhealthy eating habits.

Mosby and her mother, Frances Mosby, have changed their approach to food and health as participants in SisterTalk Hartford. That program’s sessions are modeled on research by Brown University in Providence, which tested the concept a few years ago with SisterTalk programs on cable television in Greater Boston.

Now, Mosby and her mother scrutinize food labels, take brisk walks with friends and cook with seasonings and spices in place of fatty flavorings.

Religious themes underpin all of the SisterTalk lessons, using the experiences and teachings of Jesus Christ and other Bible figures to provide support. And rather than focusing on specific numbers on the scale or dress sizes, it emphasizes healthy habits for women of all sizes and body types.

“We know that we all fall down, but we’re motivated by the lessons and by each other to get up and go on,” said Sandra Mosby, whose church was one of 12 in greater Hartford who participated in a recent study of the program’s effectiveness.
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(Akiit.com) Following the death of Bishop G.E. Patterson, the Church of God in Christ (COGIC, Inc.) has transitioned its leadership.

Bishop Charles E. Blake is now the official presiding prelate of the world’s largest African-American denomination.

The COGIC General Assembly appointed Bishop Blake as the seventh Presiding Bishop of at the Annual Call Meeting of the Church of God In Christ in Memphis, Tennessee.

“. . . with this appointment the denomination will continue to have strong leadership,” said Chairman of the General Assembly Bishop J.O. Patterson.

As the senior pastor of one of the largest churches in the nation, West Angeles COGIC in Los Angeles (with 24,000 members) Blake has been groomed for the mammoth role. Also, he most recently served as the First Assistant Presiding Bishop under the leadership of Presiding Bishop G. E. Patterson until his passing in March. A third generation member of the Church Of God In Christ, Blake is honored to assume the post.
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(Akiit.com) The Reverend Dennis Meredith’s mouth had to drop when his head deacon brusquely accused him of turning the church into a “sissy church” and left in a huff. Reverend Meredith had committed the unpardonable sin to the deacon and as it turned out hundreds of other black members at the predominantly black Tabernacle Baptist Church in Atlanta of embracing and welcoming gay members. The deacon and the other members that fled the church in protest over gays are not a hateful, intolerant aberration. There are reports from other black churches of members marching out in indignation when their minister preaches a message of tolerance toward gays.

The first big warning sign that the issue would inflame, polarize, and even energize blacks within and without the black pulpit came in 1997 when the Green Bay Packers perennial all-pro defensive end Reggie White, an ordained minister, touched off a firestorm of protest from gay groups with a rambling, hour- long talk to the Wisconsin legislature in which he took a huge swipe at gay rights and gay marriage. He later barnstormed through several Mid-Western cities pushing the anti-gay gospel at pro-family rallies.

Before his untimely death in 2005, White apologized for his anti-gay remarks, but he was unrepentant in his view about homosexuality. He was a conservative black minister and homosexuality still violated his biblical conception of the proper roles for men and women. In defying the canons of political correctness, White became the first celebrity black evangelical to say publicly what many black religious leaders said and believed privately. Few blacks joined in the loud chorus that condemned his remarks.

A year before White’s outburst, a Pew Poll measured black attitudes toward gay marriage and found that blacks by an overwhelming margin opposed it. A CNN poll eight years later showed that anti-gay attitudes among blacks had not changed much since then. At a tightly packed press conference in October 2003, five of Michigan’s top black prelates publicly called on the state legislature to amend the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. The ballot measure passed in November, and more than fifty percent of blacks backed it.

The same year the conservative Virginia based Alliance for Marriage corralled a handful of top black preachers to plop their name on the Alliance’s letterhead and tout the Alliance’s anti-gay rights agenda. The Alliance’s biggest catch has been Walter Fauntroy. His civil rights and Democratic Party credentials were impeccable. He had marched and gone to jail with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was a founder of the Congressional Black Caucus. He not only endorsed the group’s drive for a constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage, he was a leading Alliance board member, Fauntroy fumed at any talk that he was a stooge of the Republicans, that he was a turncoat Democrat, and a Bible spouting homophobe, or that he had shamefully betrayed the egalitarian message of Dr. King. “Only fools are going to be diverted to voting for a Republican on the question of gay marriage, and we’re not fools.”
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Atlanta, GA (Akiit.com) - Black grand mothers have stayed on their knees praying and many parents died early worrying about their children. Black fathers faced violence, just trying to protect their daughters from thugs and a Black on Black hateful lifestyle. Where is respect for what Jesus died for in all of this? But then, if you have no respect for our ancestors, who suffered through slavery and segregation over the last 540 years, how could you be expected to have respect for what happened 2007 years ago on Calvary. How can being obscene and disrespectful to little children, sitting in front of televisions and listening to radios, be considered Jesus like. Not only are you worshiping Satan, You’re slaving.

Rappers, why have you declared war against the poor, the foolish and the young? Why have you declared war against Black America and the respect that our ancestors died for? We feed each other drugs and disrespect and then ask God to bless us. You cannot make all your deposits into the Bank of Satan and come to the Bank of God for withdrawals. You belong to whom you serve. Money and power does not make Godly success. Example: There was a very intelligent grammar school kid that was rotten, evil and a liar. He went through High School, made all A(s) and acquired much knowledge; but still, he was rotten, evil and a liar. He was considered a genius in college and eventually acquired great wealth; but still, he was rotten, evil and a liar. He is like the plant that never grew, despite the blessings that God gave. Righteousness, he had none. I feel that God waits for such plants to grow in righteousness, but at some point the wicked little plants run out of time. We as a race have got to show God that we are not the plant that would not grow. Without God, we cannot succeed beyond that which Satan has to offer. And it is true that we will reap what we sow. We will harvest what we plant. The real message and intent of many rap producers are to convince Black youth that “You don’t need God to make it.”

The United States of America also needs to call off its 540-year war against African Americans. 400 years of Slavery, 100 years of segregation and 40 years of less than equal treatment, that’s our history in America. How could any righteous person look at this picture and claim that there has ever been equality for all. I feel that God will one day Judge the plant called America and determine whether it grew at all. In the Bible, God makes it clear that oppression is wrong and not Godly. To practice oppression is to worship Satan. I feel that repenting and forgiveness are always possible; however, I strongly feel that God knows the lips of a liar.
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(Akitt.com) In Hollywood, faith is becoming more than something you discuss with your family and friends, it’s becoming an acceptable part of the entertainment environment. From celebrities talking about their beliefs to the release of blockbuster Christian films, faith is making an impact - a big impact.

Until recently, to hear God mentioned in a celebrity’s award acceptance speech was rare. Now, thanking God has become quite common, especially for black celebrities. Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson both thanked God when they won Oscars earlier this year.

In 2004, when Mel Gibson released “The Passion of the Christ,” Hollywood hadn’t completely accepted that a religious movie could draw audiences to the theatre. However, with the success of Gibson’s film and others following it, including T.D. Jakes’ “Woman Thou Art Loosed,” Hollywood has realized that Christians will spend on faith-centered entertainment.
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