Life After News for Philly Anchor
Renee Chenault-Fattah was the Anchor on Philly NBC O&O WCAU. But she was forced off the sir when her Congressman husband Chaka Fattah was indicted and later convicted of racketeering, bribery, money laundering, and fraud. He’s currently serving a 10-year prison sentence.
Chenault-Fattah, who used to anchor her station’s 4 and 6 p.m. newscasts, went on a six-month leave that eventually became permanent. Suddenly, the popular broadcaster was a stay-at-home mom with a whole lot of time on her hands and a non-compete clause that sidelined her for a least a year.
But now she is trying to raise money for a documentary. She wants to tell viewers about Alzheimer’s disease and the disproportionate way it affects people of color.
“If you’re black or Hispanic, you’re twice as likely to be impacted by this disease,” Chenault-Fattah said. “And that’s something that a large segment of the population is not aware of.”
“Almost every chronic illness hits us harder,” she said, referring to African Americans. “Whether it’s diabetes, whether it’s heart disease, strokes — across the board.”
Chenault-Fattah is raising money on the Indiegogo crowd-funding website for a new documentary called In Search of Lost Time: Alzheimer’s and Dementia’s Impact on People of Color, that she’s producing along with veteran filmmaker Bob Lott of Teamwork Productions. At press time, she’d raised about $10,000 of the $40,000 she needs.
As for her marriage? Chenault-Fattah says that it remains intact.
H/T Philly.com