Business

Men’s Self-Care in Baltimore

THE AFRO — Randy Lewis can’t say for certain when the new trend of men’s self-care took off, but he’s loving being in front of it.

Published

6 years ago

February 10, 2019

Oakland Post

By J. K. Schmid

Randy Lewis can’t say for certain when the new trend of men’s self-care took off, but he’s loving being in front of it.

“I always took care of myself, always groomed myself,” Lewis told the AFRO. “I saw that a lot of men weren’t. Did they think that men just don’t take of themselves, they just throw shirts on and go out the door?”

A part of Lewis’s self-care is his thick full beard. It stands out and it seems completely free of strays, patches and split ends. He’s been growing it for 12 years.

Lewis attributes the uptick in the rise in the prominence of beards as fashionable to the Facebook page Beard Game Matters.

“It started to spread when they got like millions of followers,” Lewis said. “And I think that’s how beards became really popular in the last couple of years.”

All the while, in pursuit of perfection, Lewis tried any number of off-the-shelf consumer beard care products.

“My beard was still sketchy,” Lewis said. “ It was still growing in, but it wasn’t healthy: A lot of breakage, I had a patch here and there; so I started researching.”

A week on Google, looking for natural and quality solutions led Lewis-literally-to right in his backyard.

“I was like, ‘wow,’ so I’m growing stuff right in my garden that I can use and basically infuse it with the natural oils to create beard products. That’s what I did. I did it for like four months, where I test different recipes that I came up with.”

One successful test saved Lewis’s family a lot of pain and cash.

“My nephew suffers from extreme eczema, and the doctors wanted to put him on steroids and it was costing my sister a lot of money. And then I went back to computer: researched what herbs, what natural oils works for eczema. I created this butter just for him, and then I added it to the company. He’s been using it for two years.”

“My sister made me cry,” Lewis said. “She made a post on Facebook and she was saying how I created this for [Lewis’s nephew] and his skin went from that to this and that’s thanks to his uncle and not the doctor’s who were trying to stick him.”

Lewis works out of his home in Edison, where he provides on-site care: steam baths, brush ups and sales, he also says he has a strong mail-order demand as well, shipping as far away as California.

The space is cozy, and Lewis’s care for plants dominates the environment. The next week’s harvest of basil, mint and rosemary are right up front for customers to inspect alongside bottles of oil infusing for Lewis next creations.

There’s a boutique aspect in that old recipes are only available upon request. During the AFRO’s visit, Lewis was working on a new coconut lime butter.

As the business expands, Lewis is catering to more and more women. He’s developed a new hair oil with eucalyptus and rosemary, and as Valentine’s Day approaches, he selling not only to men shopping for themselves, but women shopping for the men in their life.

Before Father’s Day, in April and May, Lewis will be relocating downtown, near Lombard and MLK and he hopes to wind up with a one-stop-shop for every kind of men’s self care.

“I basically want to turn it into like a GQ/men’s spa type of thing,” Lewis said. “Have my steamer going where you can get your beard treated right on the spot. I want a barber in there, maybe two, where you can physically get hair cuts.The whole nine yards, maybe get an outdoor space where you can sit back and have a cigar. There’s a lot of women’s spots out here. We don’t have a lot of things for men. I’m trying to build something for us.”

Appointments can be made at FIVEOCLOCKCO on Facebook and Instagram.

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

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Black History

Alice Parker: The Innovator Behind the Modern Gas Furnace

Born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1895, Alice Parker lived during a time when women, especially African American women, faced significant social and systemic barriers. Despite these challenges, her contributions to home heating technology have had a lasting impact.

Published

25 minutes ago

December 22, 2024

Oakland Post

In 1919, Alice Parker patented the design for a gas-powered central heating system, a groundbreaking invention. Image courtesy of U.S. Patent Office.

By Tamara Shiloh

Alice Parker was a trailblazing African American inventor whose innovative ideas forever changed how we heat our homes.

Born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1895, Parker lived during a time when women, especially African American women, faced significant social and systemic barriers. Despite these challenges, her contributions to home heating technology have had a lasting impact.

Parker grew up in New Jersey, where winters could be brutally cold. Although little is documented about her personal life, her education played a crucial role in shaping her inventive spirit. She attended Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C., where she may have developed her interest in practical solutions to everyday challenges.

Before Parker’s invention, most homes were heated using wood or coal-burning stoves. These methods were labor-intensive, inefficient, and posed fire hazards. Furthermore, they failed to provide even heating throughout a home, leaving many rooms cold while others were uncomfortably warm.

Parker recognized the inefficiency of these heating methods and imagined a solution that would make homes more comfortable and energy-efficient during winter.

In 1919, she patented her design for a gas-powered central heating system, a groundbreaking invention. Her design used natural gas as a fuel source to distribute heat throughout a building, replacing the need for wood or coal. The system allowed for thermostatic control, enabling homeowners to regulate the temperature in their homes efficiently.

What made her invention particularly innovative was its use of ductwork, which channeled warm air to different parts of the house. This concept is a precursor to the modern central heating systems we use today.

While Parker’s design was never fully developed or mass-produced during her lifetime, her idea laid the groundwork for modern central heating systems. Her invention was ahead of its time and highlighted the potential of natural gas as a cleaner, more efficient alternative to traditional heating methods.

Parker’s patent is remarkable not only for its technical innovation but also because it was granted at a time when African Americans and women faced severe limitations in accessing patent protections and recognition for their work. Her success as an inventor during this period is a testament to her ingenuity and determination.

Parker’s legacy lives on in numerous awards and grants – most noticeably in the annual Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation Award. That distinction is given out by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce to celebrate outstanding women innovators in Parker’s home state.

The details of Parker’s later years are as sketchy as the ones about her early life. The specific date of her death, along with the cause, are also largely unknown.

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Activism

2024 in Review: Seven Questions for Frontline Doulas

California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Frontline Doulas’ co-founder Khefri Riley. She reflected on Frontline’s accomplishments this year and the organization’s goals moving forward.

Published

34 minutes ago

December 22, 2024

Oakland Post

Khefri Riley, co-founder of Frontline Doulas. Facebook photo.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Frontline Doulas provides African American families non-medical professional perinatal services at no cost.

This includes physical, emotional, informational, psychosocial and advocacy support during the pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum period. Women of all ages — with all forms of insurance — are accepted and encouraged to apply for services.

California Black Media (CBM) spoke with co-founder Khefri Riley. She reflected on Frontline’s accomplishments this year and the organization’s goals moving forward.

Responses have been edited for clarity and length.

Looking back at 2024, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why? 

In 2024, we are humbled to have been awarded the contract for the Los Angeles County Medical Doula Hub, which means that we are charged with creating a hub of connectivity and support for generating training and helping to create the new doula workforce for the medical doula benefit that went live in California on Jan. 1, 2023.

How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians? 

We believe that the revolution begins in the womb. What we mean by that is we have the potential and the ability to create intentional generational healing from the moment before a child was conceived, when a child was conceived, during this gestational time, and when a child is born.

And there’s a traditional saying in Indigenous communities that what we do now affects future generations going forward. So, the work that we do with birthing families, in particular Black birthing families, is to create powerful and healthy outcomes for the new generation so that we don’t have to replicate pain, fear, discrimination, or racism.

What frustrated you the most over the last year?

Working in reproductive justice often creates a heavy burden on the organization and the caregivers who deliver the services most needed to the communities. So, oftentimes, we’re advocating for those whose voices are silenced and erased, and you really have to be a warrior to stand strong and firm.

What inspired you the most over the last year?

My great-grandmother. My father was his grandmother’s midwife assistant when he was a young boy. I grew up with their medicine stories — the ways that they healed the community and were present to the community, even amidst Jim Crow.

What is one lesson you learned in 2024 that will inform your decision-making next year?

I find that you have to reach for your highest vision, and you have to stand firm in your value. You have to raise your voice, speak up and demand, and know your intrinsic value.

In a word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians face?

Amplification. We cannot allow our voices to be silent.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2025?

I really would like to see a reduction in infant mortality and maternal mortality within our communities and witness this new birth worker force be supported and integrated into systems. So, that way, we fulfill our goal of healthy, unlimited birth in the Black community and indeed in all birthing communities in Los Angeles and California.