Authors
Melba Newsome, pictured above left, is an award-winning health, science and environmental reporter. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Shanae Patterson Rivers is a dialysis nurse. She lives in Monroe, North Carolina with her husband.
Janina Edwards is a certified yoga teacher (E-RYT-200 Classical Yoga, RYT-300 Kali Natha Yoga). She received a Level II certification in Restorative Yoga from Judith Lasater in 2018. Additionally, she has studied Restorative deeply with Octavia Raheem, and had interactions with Dr. Gail Parker and Ms. Tracee Stanley. Janina’s writing appears regularly in The Ethel. Her work has also been seen on the National Parks website, and NRS’ Duct Tape Diaries. Finally, Janina is a professional audiobook narrator with more than 500 projects to her credit.
Halona Black is a freelance writer, meditative writing teacher, and author coach who travels the world. She writes about food, wellness, and technology for online publications and corporations. Halona has lived in 10 countries since 2018 in South East Asia, East Africa, Europe, and Latin America. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or Facebook.
Ashunta Sheriff-Kendricks is an Emmy-nominated celebrity makeup artist with over 20 years in the beauty industry. Through her work on major Academy Award-winning motion pictures and through her work on the iconic character “Cookie” from the Fox hit TV show Empire, Ashunta has become the red carpet go-to artist for many of today’s A-listers in Hollywood. Ashunta created Ashunta Sheriff Beauty to bring easy-to-use, quality products to create flawless, stunning and radiant makeup looks for all skin tones.
Karen Chambers is Senior Editor of Sisters From AARP and a multicultural beauty, lifestyle and branding strategist. She is a former executive with IMAN and Dark & Lovely Cosmetics, contributing writer for Black Enterprise and editor of Black Elegance magazine. The coauthor of Beauty Stories from Around the World has guest lectured on cultural diversity and inclusion at FIT and the UN and serves as chair of the DEIB Taskforce of Cosmetics Executive Women.
