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Taneka Gillard’s Advocacy for Her Daughter and Children with Special Needs

By Je’Don Holloway-Talley The Birmingham Times It all started with a bow, said Taneka Gillard, founder of the iReign Special Needs Support Group Alabama. Her daughter, Reign, was born two months premature and spent months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in 2009 at St. Vincent’s Ascension Hospital in downtown Birmingham. To pass the […]
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2 years ago

December 5, 2023

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Taneka Gillard, founder, iReign Special Needs Support Group Alabama, with daughter, Reign. (Amarr Croskey, For The Birmingham Times)

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By Je’Don Holloway-Talley

The Birmingham Times

It all started with a bow, said Taneka Gillard, founder of the iReign Special Needs Support Group Alabama. Her daughter, Reign, was born two months premature and spent months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in 2009 at St. Vincent’s Ascension Hospital in downtown Birmingham. To pass the time while her daughter was in the NICU, Gillard began to knit.

“I wanted to make her something special that she could wear while she was in the incubator, so I made her a bow,” Gillard said.

Reign was diagnosed with several conditions, and “she will never walk, or talk, or make any of the milestones that [typical children] do within the first days and years of their lives,” said Gillard. “As a parent, all the dreams you had for [your child change].”

While sitting with her daughter, Gillard said, “One bow turned into two”—and soon she’d created a variety of bows and knitted accessories in different colors to represent various conditions and disabilities in advocacy of special needs babies and children.

“Nurses and other mothers in the NICU would notice the bows in Reign’s hair and would ask me to make one for them or make them some booties,” Gillard said. “When Reign was about 3 years old, [in 2012], I started Reignbows, [an online accessory boutique].”

Starting the brand was not easy for Gillard, 50, a Long Island, New York, native, who said she often felt alone, under-resourced, ill-informed, and overlooked throughout the journey she and Reign, now 14, shared.

Click to view slideshow.

Becoming a Resource

Gillard not only created the bows but also established the iReign Special Needs Support Group Alabama, a Facebook-based advocacy and support group designed to be an interactive community for parents and caretakers of children with special needs.

“I’m trying to grow the group,” Gillard said of the online community that was founded this past spring. “I’m trying to spread the word to other parents because this group is for them. It was created by a parent for parents, and our motto is ‘We get you because we are you.’”

She added that iReign is a private Facebook group. “It’s not an open group because I’m trying to build an online community that is a safe space where caretakers can feel comfortable sharing their struggles, engaging, and being honest about their journeys. It’s a lifelong journey because many of our children’s diagnoses are chronic and will [span their lifetimes].”

Gillard created the group because she realized that it was difficult to find information pertaining to services for children with special needs.

“iReign is the group that gets information to the people,” she said. “We [provide] education on different disabilities from week to week. We look at and discuss different topics, different wins, and different struggles that parents and caretakers go through. The group is supporting families, giving them education, and, of course, advocating and teaching them how to advocate for themselves and their child’s needs.”

The group also gives parents and caretakers the opportunity to learn from one another.

“I learned early that I had to find resources for myself. I had to make the calls and do the research myself over the years, and it was overwhelming,” Gillard said. “[iReign allows] parents to learn from each other. One parent told me I could get doctors’ orders, [a sort of prescription], for diapers after Reign reached a certain age. Another neighbor told me about the Embrace Watch, [a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared smartwatch that can be worn as a seizure alert system to detect some types of seizure and send an alert signal to caregivers]. … That’s why I started the iReign Special Needs Support Group Alabama—we need each other’s support.”

Being an Alabama-focused support group is intentional, the founder said: “When you talk about resources, you have to be specific to your state. When a group is generalized [in regard to location or demographics] you can’t just throw in a question because everybody lives in different states, so everybody’s going to have a different answer.”

Family Struggles

The name and phrase “iReign” represent strength and triumph, said Gillard, who also has two adult sons, ages 18 and 28. “Special needs children have a lot of struggles, but families as a whole struggle,” she said. “There are hurdles you have to jump over, and you have to reign over those obstacles by any means necessary.”

“[Reign] has a lot of disabilities and conditions,” Gillard said of her daughter, who has “quadriplegia, a form of paralysis that affects all four limbs, plus the torso. Her conditions also have included Dandy-Walker syndrome, (more here Dandy-Walker Alliance); hydrocephalus, (more here Hydrocephalus Association); cerebral palsy, (more here Cerebral Palsy Foundation); and epilepsy (more here Epilepsy Foundation).

“We have multiple diagnoses, and we can’t focus on one, and that’s part of what iReign is for,” said Gillard. “We’re telling parents, ‘Hey, we get it. We know [you can’t put a] basic blanket over all the conditions.’ There are more conditions and disabilities than cerebral palsy, epilepsy, Down syndrome, and autism. There are so many other conditions that are overlooked, and we don’t want to overlook any condition because they’re all important. That’s why we look at both the intellectual disability and the physical disability when we talk about children with disabilities or special needs.”

Gillard, a Pinson, Alabama, resident, who is also a twin, decided she would name her daughter Reign while she was pregnant.

“She was my first girl, and I already had two boys. I would say, ‘Reign and I are going to reign all over this house,’” Gillard said with a laugh. “I had all the dreams a mother has for herself and her baby girl. I knew she would be strong, and I knew she would take life by the horns, so I decided on Reign for her name.”

Despite the challenges, Gillard said Reign’s strength is exemplary, and she has triumphed over every surgery and obstacle they’ve faced. Still, those initial diagnoses, surgeries, and long hospital stays can be daunting.

“You go from living your everyday life to having to make sacrifice after sacrifice to take care of your child,” the mom said. “I had to sacrifice my job [as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) working as a school nurse], and I had to sacrifice school when I was going for my registered nurse degree. … I think that’s what pushed me to go back to school [in 2017] and major in psychology. … All of the stress takes a toll on you mentally, and I wanted to learn how to cope with it and help others.”

Becoming a Specialist

Gillard earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology in 2018 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She also attended American Public University online, where she obtained a child life specialist certification in 2020 in which she is clinically trained in the developmental impact of illness and injury.

“I went back to school to get my psychology degree and child life specialist certification because I want to help families and give them resources,” said Gillard, adding that spending time in hospitals helped her understand the importance of child life specialists.

“It’s the psychology of dealing with the family dynamics of special needs children or special treatments, children with cancer, or any health issue that going to have them in a hospital long term … to try to make their life in the hospital as close to at home or normal as possible,” she said.

Having been a rehabilitation nurse (a professional who assists individuals with a disability and/or chronic illness to help them attain and maintain maximum function prior to her daughter’s birth gave Gillard the skills she would need to administer home care to Reign.

“When I go to see the doctors and all the specialists, I like for them to give it to me straight, don’t sugarcoat anything, give it to me raw, and let me take it in and process it the way it needs to be processed,” she said. “I always tell people that God prepared me for my daughter and prepared me in my career, as well.”

Gillard wrote a book titled “iReign” just after her daughter was born: “[It is] about my struggles, what I’ve seen in other families, how I’ve seen it affect the family dynamic if you don’t have a support system, how it affects you [as an individual], and how it just changes your whole life.”

Gillard is also a licensed cosmetologist. “Doing hair really got me through a lot because I’m creative, and it gives me an outlet. When I had to give up my job and quit school, my hair career is what took me through, and it still gets me through a lot,” she said, adding that doing hair remains her side hustle.

“During the summer and breaks from school, I’m not able to work full-time because I don’t have in-home nurses and [Reign] is not in school, but I can always take her to the shop with me,” she added.

In addition, Gillard still runs the Reignbows online accessories boutique, which has been in existence for more than a decade. Through her brand, she advocates for and gives back to the special needs community, both of which are among her priorities.

“On the Reignbows side, it’s the same thing [we do through the iReign Special Needs Support Group Alabama Facebook community]—we’re educating and advocating—but it’s more of a sales platform,” Gillard said. “We always donate back to the community from the sales we make from Reignbows, whether it’s to a school, hospital, or any type of organization that’s local within Birmingham. … We’ve also donated to other states in the past, it’s just wherever the need is.”

To join the iReign Special Needs Support Group Alabama Facebook community, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/specialneedssupportgroupalabama. To shop at the Reignbows online boutique, visit http://www.shopreignbowsonline.com, and follow Reignbows on Facebook and Instagram @reignbows. To get more information about both iReign and Reignbows, join the mailing list at http://www.shopreignbowsonline.com.

This article originally appeared in The Birmingham Times.

The post Taneka Gillard’s Advocacy for Her Daughter and Children with Special Needs first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

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May 3, 2026

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The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.

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Snoop Dogg Celebrates 10 Til’ Midnight at the Compound

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles.

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May 3, 2026

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Snoop Dogg celebrated the premiere of 10 Til’ Midnight at his Inglewood recording studio & multipurpose facility, The Compound, but the night felt like much more than an album release. It felt like Los Angeles. It felt like legacy. And it felt like another major move from one of the city’s greatest cultural architects as he continues to prove that he is not just dropping music — he is building moments, shaping narratives, and pushing the culture forward in real time.

What made the event so powerful was the clarity behind the vision. During a panel conversation with DJ Hed, Snoop opened up about the heart behind 10 Til’ Midnight, explaining that the project was created to help bridge older and younger generations while also speaking to the long-standing divisions between Bloods and Crips in a unique way through film. That alone gave the project a different kind of weight. This was not just about songs. This was about using creativity as a tool for connection. This was about taking a story rooted in Los Angeles and telling it in a way that could bring people together.

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles. The film was shot in the city, including at WePlay Studios in Inglewood, which gave the entire project an even deeper hometown feel. It was not just a West Coast story in content — it was a Los Angeles-made production from the ground up.

That matters because, in a city like this, authenticity still carries weight. Snoop understands how to make sure that what he creates does not just represent Los Angeles on the surface, but actually comes from it.

What also makes 10 Til’ Midnight significant is that it represents another major step in Snoop’s evolution as both an artist and executive. Public reporting around the project identifies it as his 22nd studio album, but the bigger story is what it represents in this season of his life. This is one of several consecutive moves he has made in his 50s that show he is still building, still expanding, and still finding new ways to reinvent what the next chapter looks like.

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Now, as the head of Death Row Records and the newly aligned leader of Death Row Pictures, he is taking the brand into a new dimension. That is what made this moment feel bigger than music. Snoop is not just protecting the legacy of Death Row — he is stretching it. He is expanding it beyond records and into film, visual storytelling, and larger creative worlds that can continue carrying the label’s impact forward. Public reporting has noted that this project arrives as part of that broader cinematic push.

That is a major Los Angeles move because the city has always been built on the intersection of music, film, neighborhood identity, and cultural storytelling. With 10 Til’ Midnight, Snoop is leaning all the way into that intersection.

The room at The Compound reflected that. It felt like a private premiere, but it also felt like a statement — a reminder that Snoop Dogg’s staying power has never been based only on nostalgia. It comes from his ability to remain connected, remain visionary, and remain in tune with how to move the culture without losing the essence of who he is.

That is why this premiere mattered. It was not just about celebrating another album. It was about witnessing a Los Angeles legend continue to evolve, continue to unify, and continue to use art to tell stories that hit deeper than entertainment alone.

In that sense, 10 Til’ Midnight became more than a project launch. It became another example of how Snoop Dogg is still taking Los Angeles to the next level — using music, film, and legacy together to build something bigger than a moment.

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OP-ED: Small Businesses Need Minnesota to Act on Pass-Through Tax Policy

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — A Twin Cities immigrant entrepreneur who built several businesses including grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods is calling on Minnesota lawmakers to extend the Pass-Through Entity tax option before it expires, warning that its loss would hit small businesses already recovering from Operation Metro Surge with higher federal tax bills.

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May 3, 2026

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A Twin Cities Small Business Owner Is Urging Minnesota to Extend a Tax Policy That Could Save Thousands of Businesses

By Daniel Hernandez | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

I came to the United States as a teenager with a clear goal: to build something meaningful through hard work. I put in long days in construction, restaurants, and landscaping; doing whatever it took to learn, save, and eventually start my own business.

Over time, I built and ran several successful ventures, including an event photography company, a magazine, a tax and accounting firm, and now grocery stores serving neighborhoods across the Twin Cities where other retailers chose not to invest. I’ve created jobs, supported families, and committed to communities that deserve stability and opportunity.

That’s why I’m speaking out now.

Small business owners in Minneapolis and the communities we serve are recovering from serious disruptions, including the impacts of Operation Metro Surge. That event hit immigrant communities especially hard. In my own case, I lost nearly half of my 60 employees and saw revenue drop by about 85%. While I worked to provide competitive wages, health benefits, and paid time off, the real hardship fell on the people who lost their jobs and income.

Even as we rebuild, small businesses are facing another challenge. The Minnesota Legislature is considering letting an important tax policy expire: the Pass-Through Entity tax option.

Here’s what that means in plain terms.

Many small businesses, including mine, are pass-through businesses. That means the business itself doesn’t pay income tax. Instead, the owners report the income on their personal tax returns. But under current federal rules, there’s a limit on how much state tax we can deduct. That often leads to higher federal tax bills.

The Pass-Through Entity option fixes that. It allows the business to pay the state tax directly, which means the business can fully deduct those taxes on its federal return and lower the total amount of income taxed federally. The result is straightforward: small business owners pay less in federal taxes, without reducing what the state collects.

This policy is not new or controversial. Thirty-six states already offer it. It doesn’t cost Minnesota anything, it’s revenue neutral. And it benefits more than 66,000 businesses across the state.

In a state where the cost of doing business is already high, it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t offer the same basic tax treatment as states like California and Illinois.

Small businesses have carried a heavy load in recent years, through a pandemic, rising costs and public safety disruptions. We’ve adapted, reinvested and stayed committed to our communities. What we need now are practical policies that support that work, not make it harder.

If the Minnesota House does not act soon, many businesses will face significantly higher federal tax bills. That’s money that could otherwise be used to hire workers, raise wages or reinvest in local neighborhoods.

I urge Gov. Tim Walz and members of the House Tax Committee to pass House File 3127 and extend the Pass-Through Entity election.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’ve proven our resilience. Now we need our state leaders to show the same commitment to us.

Daniel Hernandez is the owner of Colonial Market located at 2100 E. Lake St.

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