- Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
- Richmond Chamber of Commerce
- Point Richmond Business Association
- National Association of Professional Women (NAPW)
- Independent Book Publishers Association (IPBA)
- California Writers Club-Berkeley & Marin
- Richmond CA Kiwanis
- Richmond CA Rotary
- Bay Area Girls Club
Black History
Patricia S. Cowings, Biofeedback Specialist at NASA Helps Astronauts Beat ‘Space Sickness’
Space sickness, this is called, is a serious problem for many astronauts, one that aerospace psychophysiologist Patricia S. Cowings (1948 –) studies extensively and is helping to find cures. She designed a program, using biofeedback, that would take astronauts less than six hours to complete and learn to control the sickness.

By Tamara Shiloh, Post News Group
An astronaut barfing during space travel might not sound serious, but this normal human function can be fatal when spacewalking. One can become blind from the acidic contents, and because the space gear cannot be removed, the contents could be inhaled or clog the oxygen circulation system.
Space sickness, this is called, is a serious problem for many astronauts, one that aerospace psychophysiologist Patricia S. Cowings (1948 –) studies extensively and is helping to find cures. She designed a program, using biofeedback, that would take astronauts less than six hours to complete and learn to control the sickness.
Biofeedback is a technique used to learn to control some of the body’s functions, such as heart rate.
During this training, Cowings teaches astronauts to mentally evoke a sensation to bring about desired physiological changes such as increased skin temperature or relaxed muscles, according to NASA’s website.
The results of Cowings’ research were “first tested in space and found successful during the 1992 Spacelab-J mission,” according to science writer Tiffany Wayne. Cowings replicated the conditions causing motion sickness, recording the physiological and psychological changes that occurred.
The astronauts affectionately called her “the Baroness of Barf.”
Cowings grew up in the Bronx, N.Y. Her mother was an assistant preschool teacher and her father, a grocery store owner. Both parents impressed upon their children that “education is a way of getting out of the Bronx.”
Her three brothers pursued careers as a two-star army general, a jazz musician, and a freelance journalist. Cowings would eventually become the first woman to be trained as a scientist astronaut by NASA and is the principal investigator for NASA’s Human Information Processing Branch.
Cowings graduated from State University of New York at Stony Brook and later earned her PhD from the University of California at Davis. Taking an engineering class while there opened the door for her to participate in designing a space shuttle. This created her desire to work in the field of space technology. But the path to greater success was not without roadblocks.
As a Black woman in a white male–dominated field at NASA, Cowings has had to demand respect. During a meeting she was told by an official that she “just wasn’t the right type for interacting with the astronauts.” Clearly understanding the innuendo, Cowings responded, “I’m type O-positive. What type are you?”
The official, she said, “thought that it had to be a tall, pink man that interacted with the astronauts, and that nobody was going to listen to a little brown woman.” She described this interaction as “kind of devastating.”
But Cowings’ “stubborn streak” and mentor helped her overcome these types of obstacles. “But still, I have to defend my research.”
The faces of NASA have evolved from Cowings’ early years. Today she works with female astronauts from all cultural groups.
To learn more about Cowlings and other Black women — from judges to rocket scientists to corporate executives — read “No Mountain High Enough: Secrets of Successful African American Women,” by Dorothy Ehrhart-Morrison.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of May 24 – 30, 2023
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 24 – 30, 2023

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Activism
The Case Against SB357: Black, Vulnerable and Trafficked
on April 25, the committee approved Senate Bill 14 which would make human trafficking of minors a felony and strikable offense forcing exploiters to serve 80% of their sentence.

PART 8 – Come Back to Humanity
Although California Senate Bill 357 was intended to alleviate arrests of willing sex workers under anti-loitering laws, The Black, Vulnerable and Exploited series has established that passing SB 357 and other similar legislation harms Black communities, one of the most vulnerable and traumatized groups in America.
Over the past several weeks, overwhelming evidence against SB 357 has been presented showing why sex trafficking disproportionately impacts the Black community and how decriminalizing sex buying and exploitation will further harm vulnerable Black communities.
By Tanya Dennis and Vanessa Russell
One year and one day after Blair Williams had killed herself by walking into traffic on a busy freeway, her sister, Brianna Williams, testified before the California Senate Public Safety Committee on the horrors of sex-trafficking.
Soon after, on April 25, the committee approved Senate Bill 14 which would make human trafficking of minors a felony and strikable offense forcing exploiters to serve 80% of their sentence.
Passed with bi-partisan support in the committee, the bill means a lot to people who have been trafficked as it shows that the punishment for trafficking will be equal to the crime.
Currently, exploiters who receive 10 years for trafficking a minor may be able to get out in as little as two years. This practice of letting someone out after selling a child has created apathy among survivors who wonder if anyone understands the pain and torture they endure. The unanimous acceptance of this bill in committee is helping survivors to feel protected and valuable.
Led by Senator Aisha Wahab, the committee, which included senators Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, Steven Bradford, Senator Scott D. Wiener and Oakland’s Nancy Skinner, unanimously passed the bill written by Senator Shannon Grove.
At the hearing, Brianna Williams, a Black 28-year-old woman who was sex-trafficked in Oakland at the age of 13, shared the story of her sister Blair, who was terrorized, raped, and tortured by her exploiter.
Suffering a mental break, Blair walked onto a freeway where she was instantly killed on April 24, 2022.
Williams described Blair as a beautiful young lady, who was an avid reader and creative who loved to play with her niece and nephews and aspired to be an attorney. Blair died at the age of 23. Many senators teared up as they contemplated the torture Blair endured.
At the age of 17, Williams was able to exit with the help of nonprofits and churches who invested in her life, providing workforce development, education, mentoring, and legal help.
To address the harm that is being done to vulnerable people such as Black girls, anti-trafficking organizations are asking leaders and legislators and even proponents of full decriminalization for sex work to ‘come back to humanity’ and reconsider an ‘equity model’ that decriminalizes the exploited but maintains accountability for the buyers and exploiters.
The equity model would also provide funded exit services including mental health, housing, workforce development, and legal services for the exploited. These services would provide an opportunity for the trafficked to start again, an opportunity that 76% of women, men and transgendered people are asking for.
However, making buyers and exploiters accountable does not mean applying blanket life sentences.
Human trafficking cannot be ‘criminalized’ away, supporters of the new bill say, and instead they call for thoughtfulness and empathy regarding the intentions of those involved and ask tough questions.
Many exploiters have been abused and groomed into becoming exploiters in the same way the exploited are.
There are early intervention diversion programs that can help first-time sex buyers and exploiters take ownership for the harm they have caused, process the root of their behavior, and begin to heal and change.
Giving buyers and exploiters a platform to be accountable and make amends improves their lives, the lives of the families they are also harming, and hopefully bring some healing to the harmed.
Nola Brantley, a survivor, co-founder of Motivating, Inspiring Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth (MISSSEY), and CEO of Nola Brantley Speaks says, “As service providers, we must unite and support one another because this is very important and hard. We can’t do it alone. We need each other and the community needs us to be in solidarity!”
For more information, go to ResearchGate and Layout 1 (depaul.edu)
To get involved, join Violence Prevention Coalition for a City Wide Peace Summit on June 24th from 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. at Laney College in Oakland. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/city-wide-peace-summit-tickets-622795647547
Tanya Dennis serves on the Board of Oakland Frontline Healers (OFH) and series co-author Vanessa Russell of “Love Never Fails Us” and member of OFH.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of May 17 – 23, 2023
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 17 – 23 2023

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