Family and friends celebrate Renee Covin’s Day & raise awareness on Lupus

Neptune, N.J. – On August 18th, family and friends celebrated the life and legacy of Renee Covin, an accountant, entrepreneur, and community activist.

About Renee Covin’s Day

Renee Covin’s Day was proclaimed on August 18, 2000, in the township of Neptune, N.J., by then mayor Kevin B. McMillian, after Renee passed away from complications of Lupus on August 14, 2000.

After years of acknowledging this day, Renee’s husband, daughter, and son thought it would be special to donate the proclamation, a picture, and story on who Renee’ Covin was, to the township’s public library.

The ceremony began with prayer led by Renee’s cousin, Kat Stokes, followed by a spiritual song by family friend, Kevin Cheatham. Renee’s daughter, Chenelle Covin, spoke about who her mother was and the long lasting legacy she left.

Reading from a framed paper, that will later be hanged at the library, Chenelle described her mother as a being an accountant, business woman, and community leader who also excelled academically. But a turn of events while in college would dramatically change Renee’s life – she found out she had Lupus.

Her story on lupus

Renee danced all the time especially doing the hustle. But she would eventually complain about her finger tips being sore and joints hurting so much every time she would dance. The music of the 70’s and 80’s were great and it seemed like everyone had dance fever. But for Renee, it was becoming more and more painful for her to dance. Renee never associated the pain that she was having with Lupus.

Learning about the disease

Renee first learned that she had Lupus the summer going into her junior year at Howard University. She was excited to be going back to the school of her dreams. Although the painful wart-like spots on her hands and the beginning of hair foliage did strike her funny, Renee never contributed these ailments to a devastating disease that almost took her life at the tender age of twenty.

The pain in her joints began to worsen and the small bald patches became big bald spots. She decided to take advantage of the free medical services offered by Howard University and spoke with a dermatologist. Her main concern was to learn the medical terminology for the dark patches that were present on her face and how they could be removed.

She explained to a Dr. Alexander, that since age 10, she had been seeing a dermatologist for her skin problem and have been going through a series of treatments to alleviate the problem. After listening to her story and examining Renee’s face, the doctor decided to take a “diagnostic guess” on her problem. He said “Ms. Logan, I think what you may have is called Lupus, but let me check.” He searched through a book. “Yes, I was right, you have Lupus.”

The impression that Renee got from his tone of voice and attitude was that she was supposed to give him a ‘star for the day for guessing one right’. But he never explained to her what Lupus was, and she was still under the impression that it was a skin disorder. She asked him about the possibility of derm abrasion, a process that removes the top layers of skin, but he advised her against it, due to the uniqueness and delicacy of Black skin, and the possible development of keloids.

Although he did advise her to use sample medicated ointments for her scalp and any upcoming rashes that may appear on her face, and to return in two weeks, he should have advised her on the severity of Lupus and exactly what it was.

Then after, Renee would have a courageous battle against Lupus.

Renee Covin’s Day celebrated

Renee passed away on August 14, 2000, at the tender age of 41 from complications of Lupus. Even on her last days, Renee had a great spirit for life and will to fight this disease. Renee became more involved in Lupus and even wanted to eventually go to medical school to do research on the disease.

“But one thing about my mother, she never let the grass grow underneath her feet and was a person that had many talents.” said Chenelle.

After her daughter graciously read about whom her mother was, Renee’s son Jamaal, revealed a portrait painted by Renee’s childhood friend Alcadio Laguer. The life-like painting made it feel like Renee was in the room.

Renee’s husband thanked the Director of the Neptune Township Public Library and the McMillian family for making this day a reality.

Lupus is an autoimmune disease, which means that the body’s natural defense system (immune system) attacks its own tissues instead of attacking foreign substance like bacteria and viruses. This causes inflammation. Inflammation causes swelling, pain, and tissue damage throughout the body. If you develop severe lupus, you may have problems with your kidneys, heart, lungs, nervous system, or blood cells. Lupus is the common name for systemic lupus erythematosus, also called SLE.

The portrait and reading on lupus and Renee Covin will hang in the library for the duration of several years in Renee’s honor. People can enter the library to learn more about lupus and the life and legacy Renee left behind.

For those interested in donating to the Lupus Foundation, you can visit Lupus Organization.