angie beatty and shawn mckie

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2009

angie beatty and shawn mckie

The J.U.I.C.E. Project

Saint Louis, Missouri, United States

Health

The Bold Idea:

The Bold Idea: Combat disease mortality in inner cities by reimagining the corner store as a one-stop shop for nutritious yet affordable food, free exercise training/activities, media/health literacy education, and art programs.

Low-income and Black Saint Louisans die from preventable illnesses such as diabetes, stroke, and heart disease at greater rates than their higher-income and white counterparts. Furthermore, Black Saint Louisans die from cancer at higher rates than both whites and other Blacks nationwide. These underserved groups consume more television, and have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables and organic and unprocessed foods.

Situated in a predominantly Black and low-income neighborhood, The J.U.I.C.E. Project provides free and on-site programming that blends media/health literacy education with physical exercise and art for social change. They empower youth to make healthy lifestyle choices by helping them understand how food, physical activity, and behaviors (e.g. heavy television, alcohol, and tobacco consumption) impact their physical and mental health.

Biography:

angie colette beatty, a vegan/feminist/scholar/activist/poet, has facilitated media literacy and writing workshops at schools, community centers, a correctional facility, and national conferences. She earned her PhD in Communication from the University of Michigan in 2005. shawn christopher mckie, a nineteen year vegan, managed a General Nutrition Center in Atlanta from 1997-2003. When his mother suffered a massive stroke in 2003, he moved to South Carolina to be her caregiver. After she regained her independence, he opened a health food store called The Juice Box in Augusta, Georgia, which he closed and then reopened in Saint Louis.

Moment of Obligation: What experiences led to the desire to start your own organization?
angie: Several close relatives—including my estranged father who died of a massive stroke in 2007 (after surviving a major heart attack five years earlier), and mother who survived a heart attack in 1996—have suffered from illnesses related to stress, poor diet, and sedentary lifestyles. Regarding my own health, migraines and chronic insomnia, which began almost immediately after joining the Air Force to fund my education and achieve economic stability, forced me to take medical leave from work in December 2007. According to various tests, I was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe vitamin D deficiency, mild iron-deficient anemia, and for the first time in my life, also uncontrollable high blood pressure. Not the sunniest of pictures, I know, but finally, I had answers! Thus, as a then health literate eleven-year vegan who was slowly including more raw/whole foods into her diet, I excitedly chose a blend of holistic medicine and counseling as my primary course of treatment, but encountered extreme resistance from several doctors who nearly exclusively advocated for prescription drugs. Also clear to me at that time was that, similar to my stint in the military, my new job in academia was ill-fitting and literally crippling me. So, I decided to follow my passions along a path of health and wellness, while using my education, training, and experiences to empower poor people, particularly, to do the same.

shawn: While managing both corporate and franchise General Nutrition Centers in Atlanta from 1997-2003, I helped many customers improve their health by taking a holistic approach to wellness. Thus, when my mother suffered a massive stroke in 2003 that left her partially paralyzed and unable to walk, I immediately moved to South Carolina and employed the same basic holistic principles while acting as her caregiver. After a year, doctors dramatically reduced her medication and she was able to live independently again. I knew then I wanted to help others improve their health and the health of their families and loved ones.

Gall to Think Big: What has given you the ability to dream big and take on deeply entrenched social and difficult problems? (Such as experiences, skills, events, etc.)
angie: Born in Newark, New Jersey to working class parents who struggled to attain their GED’s, and later, reared by a single mother in Durham, North Carolina, statistically, I am an unlikely candidate for a PhD, let alone any other degree beyond high school. As a child, my sister and I did without many things often, and we moved around a lot. Consequently and unsurprisingly, I have often found much disparity between my own background and that of others in professional spaces, regardless of race or ethnicity, which has sometimes left me feeling more than a little uncomfortable. Nonetheless, rarely have I doubted myself and I have never given up on anything.

My mother lacked support from her parents to nurture her own dreams. However, rather than perpetuate that cycle, she has always been my biggest cheerleader. She never missed a dance recital, talent show, or graduation. And when we could not afford to buy a gown for my sixth grade graduation or the trendy baggy jeans that my sister and wanted when I was in the seventh grade, she made them all from scratch—the latter of which she monogrammed and resultantly, all of our classmates wanted a pair!

As I child, I was painfully shy. However, believing in myself and understanding that the greater tragedy is not in failure itself, but rather in failing to try is what catapulted me from that shell to new heights at each juncture of my life. So, whether challenged with Easter egg and Halloween contests in the fourth grade—both of which I won for personifying an egg and building a life-sized scare crow from scraps of wood and fabric, oratorical contests in high school that resulted in a standing ovation for my speech on Martin Luther King Day at North Carolina Central University, or the challenges of higher education, career, and my own health, I have graciously accepted those challenges and emerged a stronger and wiser woman. I understand that had a single detail in my life been altered, such as my mother becoming ill or succumbing to huge stressors via various addictions, its course could have been dramatically altered, and I could easily be/have been one of a million statistics that describe too many poor Black women and girls today. I am also acutely aware that I stand upon on the shoulders of many others who have come before me, and that am also guided by a higher power. Thus, I take nothing for granted and honor them all by affirming and nurturing myself, and by using all that I have been privileged to attain in life in the service of others who are less fortunate than I am.

shawn: In 1991, I was an electronics manager at Service Merchandise when an executive came in to purchase a clock radio for his office. After buying the radio, he said, he was “impressed with my approach to sales,” and offered me a job in a regional distribution center in Atlanta that sold lodging and hospitality supplies. This was my introduction to distribution, which is defined as an organization or set of organizations (go-betweens) involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user. For the next four years, I worked directly with my new boss Mr. Messiter and quickly became proficient in many key operational strategies which helped our branch exceed numerous sales and developmental goals. He saw potential in me which gave me the push I needed to emerge as a leader. So, much more confident and driven, I applied for my first business license in 1993 and began offering vegan and vegetarian snack foods for concession and vending sales in Marietta, Georgia, and lobbied to get healthy snacks into Cobb County Schools. As self starters, we must recognize windows of opportunity, and more importantly, understand that they can close as quickly as they appear. So, as I grow my business, I always move swiftly but deftly into position.

New and Untested: What's innovative about your new idea for social change?
angie: We recognize that we are not the first “convenience” store to offer some variety of healthy foodstuffs. However, we are the first corner store to not only market vegan/vegetarian and organic groceries in a low-income neighborhood, but also offer culturally sensitive services (i.e. educational or athletic) within that space to empower residents to make and maintain healthy lifestyle choices. Our approach of creating a hybrid for profit/nonprofit social enterprise to reach this goal simultaneously provides each of our customers with both emotional and instrumental support to achieve/maintain healthy weight, better manage or ameliorate illness(es), and lead an overall higher quality of life.

shawn: What makes The J.U.I.C.E. Project innovative is that our hybrid business model offers a full circle of support. The non-profit arm provides outreach to urban underserved youth through media/health literacy workshops and art for social change programs (emotional support), whereas the for-profit arm offers instrumental support by making fresh fruits and natural snacks items more accessible to this population in terms of cost and location.

Seeing Possibilities: What are the most important qualities to be a successful social entrepreneur?

angie:

• Be resourceful and think outside the box. In other words, as my mother often says, one must be able to use her skills, wit, and/or education to “make a way out of no way.”
• Be multilingual—not necessarily literally. However, one should be proficient at translating one’s work/skills so that it is accessible and attractive to people in other markets or disciplines.
• Be audience/customer-centered. Always be sensitive to their needs and be able to adjust your program/services according to feedback.
• Learn to accept constructive criticism and be introspective.
• Build and maintain strong social support networks. No one is an island. Learn to both ask for and accept help, and learn to delegate. Although rewarding, this work can be grueling. Thus, you cannot do it unless you nurture and affirm yourself throughout each stage of the process.

shawn:

• leadership
• self confidence
• being organized
• good listener
• critically optimistic

Which musical artists/albums get you going and keep you inspired?

angie:

R&B/Soul/Reggae (Old School):

• Earth, Wind, & Fire: The Eternal Dance (1992)
• Jimi Hendrix: Electric Ladyland (1968) and Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix (1998)
• Legend—The Best of Bob Marley and The Wailers (1984)
• Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions: The Anthology—1961-1977 (1992)
• The Very Best of Rufus featuring Chaka Khan (1996)
• Gil Scott-Heron: Small Talk at 125th and Lenox (1970)
• The Best of Nina Simone (1964)
• War: All Day Music (1971) and The World Is a Ghetto (1972)
• Stevie Wonder: Innervisions (1973)

• Ornette Coleman: Beauty Is a Rare Thing: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1959)
• Alice Coltrane: Ptah the El Daoud (1970)
• Fela Kuti: The Best Best of Fela Kuti (1999) and Expensive Shit/He Miss Road (2000)
• Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963) and Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus (1963)
• Pharoah Sanders: Karma (1969)
• Various Artists: Red Hot on Impulse (1995)

• Erykah Badu: New Amerykah—Part 1 (4th World War) [2008]
• Anthony Hamilton: Comin' From Where I'm From (2003)
• Me'Shell Ndegéocello: Peace Beyond Passion (1996) and Comfort Woman (2003)
• Jill Scott: Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds, Vol. 1 (2000) and Beautifully Human (2004)

• Boogie Down Productions: By All Means Necessary (1988)
• De La Soul: Three Feet High and Rising (1989)
• Missy Elliott: Supa Dupa Fly (1997)
• Eric B. & Rakim: Paid in Full (1987)
• MC Lyte: Eyes on This (1989)
• Mos Def & Talib Kweli: Black Star (1998)
• Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
• Stetsasonic: In Full Gear (1988)
• A Tribe Called Quest: The Low End Theory (1991) and Midnight Marauders (1993)
• Various Artists: Breakdance! Return of the B-Boy (1999), Hip Hop Classic: “World Premiere,” Vol. 1 (1995), Street Jams: Electric Funk, Vol. one (1992), and Street Jams: Electric Funk, Vol. two (1992)

shawn:

Bobby McFerrin: Medicine Music (1990)
No instruments used, sounds provided by Voicestra, Mr. McFerrin’s child, born out of his love for all things musical. Using 12 performers along with himself, he proves that the power of the human voice transcends what can be done with instruments and creates a sound like no other.

Israel Vibration: The Same Song (1978)
Reggae harmony trio, all overcame childhood polio and went on to be one of the most successful groups to form in Jamaica in the late 1970s. The trio initially met as children at a rehabilitation center.

Robert Nesta Marley: Uprising (1979)
In December 1976, two days before a free concert organized by the Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley in an attempt to ease tension between two warring political groups, Marley, his wife, and manager Don Taylor were wounded in an assault by unknown gunmen inside Marley's home. Taylor and Marley's wife sustained serious injuries, but later made full recoveries. Bob Marley received minor wounds in the chest and arm. The shooting was thought to have been politically motivated, as many felt the concert was really a support rally for Manley. Nonetheless, the concert proceeded, and an injured Marley performed as scheduled, two days after the attempt. When asked why, Marley responded, "the people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking a day off. How can I?".

What books do you recommend (pleasure, work and anything in between)?

angie:

• Be Bold: Create a Career with Impact--Cheryl L. Dorsey and Lara Galinsky
• "So What Are You Going to Do with That?": Finding Careers Outside Academia--Susan Basalla and Maggie Debelius
• IRS Form 1023 Tax Preparation Guide--Jody Blazek
• Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine--Bryant Terry
• The Power of Ancient Foods--Gene A. Spiller and Rowena Hubbard
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley--Malcolm X, Alex Haley, and Attallah Shabazz
  
• Assata: An Autobiography--Assata Shakur
  
• A Taste of Power: A Black Woman's Story--Elaine Brown
• Invisible Man--Ralph Ellison
• Death of a Salesman--Arthur Miller
• Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television--Jerry Mander
• Teahouse of the Almighty--Patricia Smith
• Bathwater Wine--Wanda Coleman.

shawn:

• The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success--Deepak Chopra
• Be Bold--Cheryl L. Dorsey and Lara Galinsky
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People--Stephen R. Covey

Which websites do you visit often (work and/or personal)?

angie:

• incite-national.org
• namle.net
• snpo.org

shawn:

• wellnessjunction.com
• drbenkim.com
• inc.com
• se-alliance.org

What advice or quote do you keep close to your heart as a social change leader?
angie: "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never allow us to bring about genuine change." - Audre Lorde. “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” - Robert F. Kennedy. "Show, don't tell." - Unknown Author. Lastly, "if you see with your ears, hear with your eyes, think with your heart, and always feel, you will never be lost." - angie colette beatty.

shawn: “Even the biggest man ever in history was once just a baby” - Bob Marley.