Pictured above: Elaine Riddick and her son, Tony
From 1929 until 1974, the state of North Carolina sterilized 7,600 individuals whom it deemed unfit to have children. While some suffered from mental disease, many were poor and black and were often selected by the Eugenics Board of North Carolina, which consisted of five individuals, to not have children after engaging in premarital sex.
Such was not always the case, as detailed in the story of Elaine Riddick, who was raped and became pregnant in 1967 at the age of 13. After she gave birth to her son, the state ordered that she be sterilized, labeling her “feebleminded” and “promiscuous”.
In an interview with NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams, which premiered Monday, Elaine explained:
“I was raped by a perpetrator [who was never charged] and then I was raped by the state of North Carolina. They took something from me both times. The state of North Carolina, they took something so dearly from me, something that was God given.” Continue
Grammy Award winning artist, Alicia Keys kicked off the launch of the Western Union World of Betters Global Campaign on Tuesday November 1st with a visit to her high school alma mater, the Professional Performing Arts School in NYC. She surprised the students with the gift of new instruments!
“As a proud graduate of the Professional Performing Arts School, I thought about the students 
there who are in desperate need of new musical equipment to help them learn their craft,” said Alicia Keys. “Because right now, my alma mater is underfunded and oversubscribed—and I hope to make this better for them, so they can follow their dreams. As the Co-founder of Keep a Child Alive, I constantly see that there are so many ways the world can be made a better place. That’s why I’m so excited to work on the ‘World of Betters’ initiative and I know for a fact, that there are so many people out there with amazing ideas that can show how even a small change, can make a big impact.”
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The Simmons sisters, Vanessa and Angela took part in the 2011 Dodge Rock ‘n Roll 1/2 Marathon in Los Angeles, California on Sunday morning (October 30). The Pastry co-founders ran on behalf of ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).
Over 10,000 runners participated in the annual event. Angela even did a little running too. Go girl! Lol In related news, the girls unveiled their very own signature milkshake at the good ol’ Millions Of Milkshakes in West Hollywood over the weekend.
( Photos: PCN )
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has released a new recommendation that boys as young as 11 be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, also known as HPV, which is the most common sexually transmitted infection.
In 2006, the CDC recommended that 11-year-old girls and above be vaccinated, which caused controversy as many family advocacy and religious groups felt the vaccine would cause promiscuity and unprotected sex in young girls. Undoubtedly, the recommendation that boys should now receive the vaccine will create similar opinions, but health experts say the vaccine could protect boys from genital warts and certain cancers as well as prevent them from spreading HPV to girls.
Although the recommendation was given in 2006, only 49 percent of girls have received at least the first of three shots while only 1 percent of boys have received it since it was made available to them over two years ago. According to a study late last month, “Human Papillomavirus Type Distribution Among Heterosexual Couples”, 75.9 percent of men and 86.2 percent of women tested positive for HPV in the recent Arizona Cancer Center study. The CDC estimates between 50 and 80 percent of Americans are infected with HPV at some point in their life. Most people with the virus have no symptoms and no lasting health issues with 90 percent of HPV cases clearing up on their own.
There are many low-cost HPV testing options, which the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends be performed once every three years after your first Pap test. For more information, visit thehpvtest.com.
