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Reflection #4 - Safe Injection Sites in Philadelphia by Joe Galarraga

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Reflection #4 - Safe Injection Sites in Philadelphia by Joe Galarraga

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I feel that there are certain inescapable topics in public health in our current milieu, and one of those subjects is the opioid epidemic. The opioid crisis is on every news channel and on the lips of every politician in America. But what has really been done to solve this problem in the USA? In Philadelphia, the urban center with the largest amount of opioid-related deaths in the country, Mayor Jim Kenney hopes to open safe injection sites. Safe injection sites act as sanctuaries where opioid users can inject drugs under medical supervision, be revived if they overdose, and hopefully access resources to beat opioid addiction. Yet these sorts of facilities are not exactly legal. Additionally, they are so controversial and stigmatized that trying to establish one makes national news. Why are people so against the concept of safe injection sites?

I believe that a lot of the backlash to safe injection sites is due to race and class issues. The most likely safe injection site in Philadelphia, Safehouse, is to be located in the Kensington neighborhood. Kensington, like many neighborhoods in cities across the United States, is gentrifying at a rapid rate. Whether or not it is the explicit will of the people, Kensington legislators have been rezoning areas in the neighborhood to block the opening of Safehouse. To me, this says that the new Kensington does not want to make space for addicts in their neighborhood, despite the prevalence of drug use in that area. Additionally, most urban opioid users are Black. As Kensington gentrifies, I see the unwillingness to test the effectiveness of safe injection sites in this area as a rejection of the neighborhood’s former majority: those who are Black and of low socioeconomic status.

I believe it is the duty of politicians not to rezone areas so life-saving businesses cannot open, but rather to advocate for the well-being of their constituents. Philly owes it to its citizens to take the public health approach regarding the opioid problems within its city limits. Philly should do what it can to reduce preventable mortality from opioid overdoses and open safe injection sites. Not only would this move set a precedent across the country and allow for more safe injection sites to open, but it would send a message that poor communities of color are valued and protected in the city of Philadelphia.

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Reflection 4: Disparities in Adverse Childhood Experiences Lead to Poorer Health Outcomes - Maya Deane-Polyak

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Reflection 4: Disparities in Adverse Childhood Experiences Lead to Poorer Health Outcomes - Maya Deane-Polyak

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Within the last year, National Public Radio published an article that discusses findings from a recent study examining the distribution of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) across the U.S. population by sociodemographic characteristics. Examples of ACEs include parental divorce, physical or emotional abuse, incarceration of a family member, etc. Findings from the study revealed that while ACEs are universal across sociodemographic groups, some are at a disproportionate risk compared to others. In fact, the study found that those who are Latino, Black, multiracial, LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual), and have an income less than $15,000 are more likely to have more ACEs (Merrick et al., 2018; Haelle, 2018).

This study is particularly interesting because it is the first major study in 30 years that examines ACEs on a national scale. The NPR article specifically focuses on disparities among bisexual and multiracial individuals as they are most disproportionately affected in terms of ACEs. The NPR article offers potential explanations as to why these groups bear greater burdens. One of the most interesting suggestions is that individuals in these groups may experience greater social isolation because they may be less inclined to feel a sense of belonging. As discussed in the article, experts know that social isolation can lead to poorer health outcomes. Additionally, ACEs are traumatic and cause high levels of stress. When considering ACEs in the context of a society that has historically, and continues to prioritize certain groups over others, it becomes clear that those in minority groups face extra layers of stress due to marginalization, which can also lead to poorer health outcomes.

The NPR article briefly mentions opportunities for intervention to reduce disparities in ACEs. While targeting prevention efforts is the main focus, what got me thinking were the strategies mentioned to help children build resilience in the face of adversity. The article acknowledges that there is no way to truly prevent ACEs from happening but that strengthening a child’s coping mechanisms can help them find healthier ways to deal with adverse experiences when they do arise. This made me think back to a paper I wrote last semester about community resilience building as a solution to disparities in emergency preparedness. I believe many of those resilience building techniques could apply here to support and empower children who experience adverse events. What I believe sets resilience building apart from other strategies is that it requires tailoring strategies to meet a certain community’s needs. Thus, it could be particularly useful in addressing ACEs disparities among minority groups. This article helped me understand how resilience building can be applied to other public health problems outside of emergency preparedness.

References:

Haelle, Tara. (2018). New Data Confirm Adverse Childhood Experiences Are Widespread. Retrieved from National Public Radio website: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/09/17/648710859/childhood-trauma-and-its-lifelong-health-effects-more-prevalent-among-minorities

Merrick, M. T., Ford, D. C., Ports, K. A., & Guinn, A. S. (2018). Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences From the 2011-2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in 23 States. JAMA Pediatrics, 172(11), 1038–1044. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.2537

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Activity Reflection: CEEJH Symposium -- Cydney Hamilton

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Activity Reflection: CEEJH Symposium -- Cydney Hamilton

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This past Saturday, I attended the 5th UMD Symposium on Environmental Justice & Health Disparities.  This all day event included panelists that ranged from legislators and community organizers to researchers and advocates for an in-depth look at the environmental justice and health issues that affect the communities that surround us.

The symposium was hosted by the Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH) Lab here on University of Maryland’s campus.  The event started with a kick off speech from the lab’s director, Dr. Sacoby Wilson.  He spoke about environmental racism and how it is becoming more and more rampant in the country.  He remarked on how communities of color are frequently plagued by pollutants and environmental hazards that lead to worse health outcomes in comparison to well-off White citizens in the same areas.

As the day progressed, there were multiple breakout sessions that included panelists and information led by professors and researchers on topics like climate justice, community engagement, and pollutant effects on health.   Ultimately, I really enjoyed this symposium and although it was a long day, it was very informative and I feel that I learned a lot about policies and issues on environmental justice and health that I was previously unaware of. Additionally, hearing the passion of the different panelists and speakers made me want to go home and do my own research so that I may be able to advocate in the future not only for my own community, but for other communities of color that may not be able to exercise their own voice and rights to the people in power.

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Reflection 4: UNCC School Shooting - Cydney Hamilton

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Reflection 4: UNCC School Shooting - Cydney Hamilton

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UNCC Shooting

A couple weeks ago on April 30, 2019, I opened my Instagram feed to see a ShadeRoom post that a shooting had occurred at University of North Carolina Charlotte.  The event had just happened a half hour prior, but I was scared.  My undergrad institution was in North Carolina and I have many friends that live in Charlotte and even some that still go to UNCC.  Even though I was states away in Maryland, I felt a sense of fear that comes over me every time I turn on my news to hear that there has been yet another attempt at a mass shooting.  While my friends that go to UNCC were safe and in shelter, it was terrifying to think that they could have been out of my life at the drop of a hat just because someone thought it was okay to go and shoot up a school.

Once I got home and saw a short video clip of the gunman being walked away with a police escort, I immediately found myself in a place of anger.  Not because of the events that had just happened, but more so because I knew that if he wasn’t a White male, the situation might have ended quite a bit differently (and I’m sure it wouldn’t have included a police escort or him alive).

This situation made me think about a lot.  It made me wonder what kind of world we are living in with the copious amount of school shootings going on across the country. When I was growing up, I thought school was one of the safest places you could go, but obviously that has changed so much in recent years.  I thought about the fact that the demographic profile of who can remain living after opening fire on innocent people has not changed one bit.  Lastly and most importantly, I thought about the fact that with the political climate we are in, we need stricter gun control and fast because there is no reason that innocent bystanders should have to die as a result of one person’s senseless need to enact violence.

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uncc shooter identified himself as the gunman when police arrived

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UNCC shooter identified himself as the gunman when police arrived, court documents show

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The suspect in the shooting at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte identified himself as the gunman when officers stormed a classroom after he opened fire, court documents show.

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Reflection 3: Uniontown Documentary - Cydney Hamilton

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Reflection 3: Uniontown Documentary - Cydney Hamilton

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Uniontown, AL

Last Friday, I attended a Uniontown documentary screening that was put on by 17 for Peace and Justice, a student-run environmental justice organization on UMD’s campus.  The two short documentaries we watch were centered around the environmental hazards that plague the people in Uniontown, AL.  This town in Perry County, Alabama is a majority Black and mostly low-income, which makes them susceptible to environmental injustices that are put into place by legislators and people with more political power and money than them.

Currently, they are facing many environmental hazards, including soil contamination from two pollution sources—Arrowhead Landfill and the Southeastern Cheese Corporation cheese plant.  The exposures that come from these two sites include particulate matter, black carbon, and coal ash that contains several toxic heavy metals.  These injustices are targeted at this poor Black community for the simple fact that they don’t have the money or resources to fight these hazardous wastes from being dumped into their community.  To put it in perspective, Arrowhead Landfill dumps the waste of 33 states into this one small town with a population of 1,740 that is 85% African American.  To add onto this problem, they also have an antiquated waste system in which their human waste, flows into a lagoon, broken down into solid vs. liquid waste, and then sprinkled through a spicket back onto their soil.  This liquid waste has gotten so out of hand that it now just forms a layer on top of the soil of sitting liquid.

These environmental hazards have caused many health problems in the community, with many people having kidney problems and dying from pollution related health outcomes.  It even has affected animals, in which many cows have died from eating grass from the polluted soil.

Ultimately, this problem is a huge issue that needs more attention.  These large corporations will continue to prey on poor communities of color unless someone with equal privilege challenges them and makes them answer for their wrongdoings.  Although there are advocacy groups like Black Belt Citizens Fighting for Health and Justice, there needs to be more large scale attention put into this, to help the people of Uniontown get a chance for their voice to be heard.

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How Uniontown, Alabama, Became Victim of Environmental Injustice | NowThis

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Activity Reflection: Amgen 2019 Health Equity Summit- Mikayla Walker

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Activity Reflection: Amgen 2019 Health Equity Summit- Mikayla Walker

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For my activity, I went to the Amgen 2019 Annual Health Equity Summit which took place at the Knight Conference Center located on the top floor of the Newseum. It was on Wednesday, April 24th. Overall it was a truly wonderful experience. I got to meet a wide variety of people from different organizations and companies that are all striving towards achieving health equity. I went with Dr. Thomas who spoke about his initiative HAIR: Health Advocates In-Reach and Research. I even had the opportunity to meet 2 of the barbers that Dr. Thomas has worked with, as shown in the photo below. Overall it was a very enriching experience and I hope to be able to attend next year!

One of the really interesting themes of the conference was talking about invisible illnesses, such as chronic migraines. As someone who suffers from chronic migraines, this peaked my interest and I was very intrigued to hear the discussions revolving around this issue. Jan Lewis Brandes, MD, MS talked about how her research on chronic migraines was skewed because her participants in her study were only middle-aged white women. She talked about how difficult it was to get minorities to participate. I tried to discuss with her later about ways she might be able to connect with minority populations, however I hope she had an opportunity to speak to the Lunch Keynote Speaker, Ms. Jaime Sanders. Jaime Sanders is someone who suffers from chronic migraines and other mental illnesses. Her speech focused on the push back she’s felt on sharing her illnesses publicly being from a black family. We all have heard how in minority culture, talking about mental illness is something that isn’t done. Invisible illnesses are often ignored. These are troubling issues within the black community that Jaime Sanders is trying to tear down. She talked about her podcast, the Migraine Diva, and how she through her story and advocacy, has touched the lives of so many people and have made people freely discuss their mental health. It is something she is extremely proud of and she is truly an inspiration.

During the second panel discussion, it was focused on patient-provider relationships. Everyone on the panel was either a patient or someone who works directly with patients in a non-medical setting. They talked about the efforts they have made to improve the patient-provider relationship by educating the patient and giving them the confidence to stand up for themselves and have autonomy with a physician. I decided to ask a question and I asked the panel if any of them had thought about working with the physician. Possibly partnering with a hospital or a medical school to teach future physicians about cultural competency and understanding how different cultures affect their medical experiences. I felt like there needs to be more emphasis on the doctors rather than the patients. Yes, it is important to know your symptoms, voice your opinion, and stand up for yourself in a medical setting but remember, the patient is usually sick. The patient is already in a different state of mind lesser than their usual selves. Doctors should take that extra step in assuring the patient has their undivided attention, and that they are being cared for by the patient’s standards. I feel like medical schools need to implement more programs into their curriculum so they can gain the skills they need to foster a better and more respected and productive patient-provider relationship.

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Reflection 4: Gun Violence Prevention Summit- Mikayla Walker

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Reflection 4: Gun Violence Prevention Summit- Mikayla Walker

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On April 25-26th, I attended the Gun Violence Prevention Summit. Earlier that month, Erin McClure came to our class and told us about the summit and that they were looking for volunteer scribes to record the conversations being held at the summit and possibly be part of their future publication. I thought it would be a great opportunity because gun violence is a topic I am extremely interested in and I thought it would be great to get some experience in scribing and a possible publication is a plus. I emailed her and volunteered for the second half of the first day and the whole second day. Our class decided to attend the second half of the first day, so most of us were in attendance of the summit on the first day.

After the presentation from one of the guest speakers, there was a very heated discussion about the importance of data. The presenter talked about how data for gun violence is extremely unreliable and not consistent or accurate from state to state. During the questions section however, another guest spoke about the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) which is a relatively new database that has been implemented in some states to record all violent deaths. It has now been funded to be in all 50 states, however some states are just starting out so they haven’t developed a strong dataset. Her argument was that the NVDRS is actually very reliable for the states that it has been implemented in for the past few years and people should use the data and respect it when thinking of how to best understand gun violence in a specific area. The argument lasted about 30 minutes with people speaking up about both sides and arguing over how best to understand and read the data.

Earlier in the day, someone stated that every day, 100 people become victims of gun violence. 100 people. That means we can approximately say that each hour about 4 people die from gun violence. While we were arguing over the importance of data, at least 2 people were shot and killed. I found the whole argument to be a waste of time. Our goal for the summit was to gather people to start talking about ways to end gun violence. Yes, data is important, but I was there to hear about possible initiatives that have been placed in certain areas or collaborate with others to hear about ways we can all make a difference. To make matters worse, the next day half the people who came to the summit on the first day weren’t here, so they weren’t able to hear the other presentations focused on changes being made in policy about gun violence and other gun violence databases. It was just more of an overview of where we think we are rather than where we are going to be. Sitting behind a desk looking at the trends in datasets are important when documenting your findings but it’s not what actually impacts people. I think the guests and speakers at this summit forgot that.

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Reflection 3: Why Do We Care?- Mikayla Walker

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Reflection 3: Why Do We Care?- Mikayla Walker

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During class while we were sharing our “Why Should We Care” slides, Maya gave a great speech about what the typical reasons to care are and why we should care about HIV/AIDS. Her remarks got me thinking- there is always a caveat when deciding whether or not to care. It always has to be something that affects you personally. Most people care about illnesses that directly have affected them. You look at Breast Cancer Walks and you see mostly survivors, friends and families of survivors, and friends and families of those who lost their lives to the disease. Everyone there has been personally affected by breast cancer, and that is why they walk or raise money for a cure. Very rarely do you see people supporting, donating, or “caring” about something that has not affected them personally. I know this is an extreme generalization because we definitely can find people, especially in our field, that will give time out of their lives to support something that hasn’t personally touched it. However generally speaking, that is the case.

Your taught when advertising to people, for truly anything, that you must make a connection to your target population. You have to grab their interest and you have make a personal connection with them to gain their support. You have to sell it. And that’s where some discrepancies lie. Are people actually really caring about something? Or do they see a financial benefit by supporting this cause or effort, and in doing so they are benefitting themselves. You look at politicians who are paid or sponsored by outside organizations to support something, and that person just follows the money whether or not the organization matches their personal belief. We see politicians that tell their constituents that smoking and tobacco is bad for your health, yet their campaigns are being directly funded by Big Tobacco. People’s reasons for why they care don’t seem to line up with what is actually happening.

I just wish that there wouldn’t be an ulterior motive to caring for a cause. We shouldn’t have to worry about paying large sums of money for stakeholders to be interested in our case, nor should we be concerned that an opposite company could buy out or stakeholders. It would be great if people actually cared about things just for the sake of caring.

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The recent abortion laws hurt people- Exhibit A: Ohio Ectopic Pregnancy Bill (Reflection 4 Meg Jordan)

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The recent abortion laws hurt people- Exhibit A: Ohio Ectopic Pregnancy Bill (Reflection 4 Meg Jordan)

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There are many abortion bills that are coming out right now in Alabama (full ban) Georgia, Mississippi, and (to my great irritation) my own home state of Missouri (bans after doctors can detect a heartbeat). (Cydney did a great job on this below)

The particular abortion bill that really is making me angry at the moment is the Ohio bill, which is advocating for a potentially dangerous and deadly, and most importantly- non-existent procedure: the reimplementation of an ectopic pregnancy.

For those who might not be familiar: an ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus onto another organ, like the fallopian tube (95% of ectopic pregnancies) or ovary (<1%). It can also implant in the abdomen (<1%). (Read more). Ectopic pregnancies are fairly common (2% of pregnancies) and must be treated. Ectopic pregnancies can be a medical emergency, and are incredibly dangerous if not treated. 2.7% of all pregnancy related deaths are due to an ectopic pregnancy.

Here is my issue: Ectopic pregnancies are not viable at this time. The fertilized egg was cut off from all nutrients from fertilization, and will not properly grow into a fetus. The Ohio bill proposes that ectopic pregnancies should be reimplanted into the uterus, as if the egg will naturally develop the umbilical cord and progress as a typical pregnancy. That is not medically possible right now, and policy cannot will that procedure into existence.

This law really symbolizes the ludicracy that is going on around reproductive health legislation. This bill reveals that these are not based on science, medicine, or the health of people, but are instead ideological manifestos. These bills right now, I would argue, are not for health but are for social control. It is policy wide hatred towards women, and barriers are put in place to allow access only for those who can afford to travel and pay out of pocket for procedures.

I have been in reproductive health and justice in some way or another since high school, and growing up in Pro-Life Bible Belt central - these laws in no way surprise me, but they continue to frustrate me. Reproductive health has such heavy stigma and deep political polarization that I am unsure of how to bridge the gap and have honest conversations with those who don't agree. I know that science isn't the key, or else the debate would have been over one Mayo Clinic article ago. The heart of this debate really lies in Christian-centered theological arguments which are used under the guise of religious freedom. Christian morality is given political weight that other religions are not afforded and that practice is unjust. Jewish people as a whole do not condemn abortion, but people are not arguing that Jewish people have the right to legal access to abortion in accordance with their religion. (I have a whole reproductive rights through a Jewish framework if you're interested.) It is a double standard, and I am tired of the one sided religious moralizing that comes with this particular issue.

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Sarah Hurlbert Activity Reflection: NIMHD Seminar Series(VideoCast)

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Sarah Hurlbert Activity Reflection: NIMHD Seminar Series(VideoCast)

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Dr. Peek’s lecture summed up and brought together my first year as a MPH Health Equity Student. She talked about some of the basis for Health Equity such as the John Rawls, The Declaration of Independence, and the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She spent a bit of time looking at the history of why we have code switching and survival mechanism that have been passed from generation to generation in the black community. She also presented on the intersection of our social identities and the lens used by society to see us and how when we look at the mirror of society and if they see our identities in a poor way we internalize those feelings. Dr. Peek spent a bit of time talking about the clinical encounter since that is where she does most of her research. As a future public health practitioner I won’t be in the clinical setting all that often, but Dr. Peek tied the clinical setting to the social and built environment in a way that made sense to me. There was even a book mentioned in the presentation that I am adding to my reading list “The Warmth of Other Suns.” Even though I will be doing most of may work further back upstream of the clinical setting I will have an impact. Her seminar was a great way to end my semester, at a time when I can’t think about just next semester, but need to think more about my future and the place I want to work in Public Health. I highly recommend that others should watch the seminar. Even though it is topics that we have seen in different places and in more depth it is brought together in a way that helps make more digestible. Link to the videocast: https://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?bhcp=1&live=31520&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

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The Impending Senior Housing Epidemic-Activity Reflection - Shay Hall

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The Impending Senior Housing Epidemic-Activity Reflection - Shay Hall

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For my activity reflection I had the opportunity to attend the Health Affairs, Health and Housing Needs for U.S. Seniors in the “Middle Market” webinar. To give an overview of the event, a selected group of researchers presented their findings on the future housing epidemic middle income seniors will face. One article spoke on the need for policymakers to support home modifications and aging within the community due to the lack of financial resources and caregivers seniors in this population have.

Another researcher during the event spoke on how to address middle income seniors housing. They called on making sure ideal characteristics such as autonomy, socialization and engagement with the community are big factors in making people want to live in a setting. Yet, in addition to senior housing, those who care for seniors are facing an epidemic as well. Caregiver shortage was a top issue facing this population because of the work is physically and emotionally draining and does not pay well. In order to find solutions to the middle senior housing shortage, I feel we should address the caregiver shortage first.

The topic of senior health especially middle income senior health is significant to minority health because of the huge impact it will have on our economic and healthcare system. This population of seniors is projected to double within the next twenty years. The medicare system will not be able to meet this demand without raising taxes on working individuals and increasing patient wait times, leading to the probability of lower quality of care.

As a Black young adult woman, I can only imagine the amount of stress helping to take care of this system will have on individuals my age and younger. Most of our parents will be entering this population and the amount of pressure it will put on us as a generation will be very influential.

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Reflection 2: Alabama Abortion Ban – Cydney Hamilton

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Reflection 2: Alabama Abortion Ban – Cydney Hamilton

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Throughout the history of Western culture, the female body has been viewed as an item of property to be controlled and had.  Laws and cultural norms have restricted and dominated women’s rights, especially when it comes to their own sexual and reproductive health, thus making the female body a political playground to further oppress women and exert the patriarchal power that has propelled American culture for so long.  By restricting access to basic rights such as resources for sexual and reproductive health, American policymakers and government contribute to a system that causes greater public health issues for half of the population.

In recent years with the current governmental administration, there has been an influx of attempted body politics employed by right-wing conservative politicians that have proposed state bills to ban legal abortion under certain circumstances.  For example, the state of Alabama just passed an abortion ban with nearly any exceptions.  On May 14, 2019, literally JUST yesterday, this bill was passed with a 25-6 vote.  This legislation outlaws all abortions, even for cases of rape and incest, thus making an abortion a felony in the state.  That makes this bill not only the most restrictive anti-abortion measure passed since Roe v. Wade, but also the 16th state to pass anti-abortion legislation in 2019 alone.

Previous bills that have been singed are Tennesee’s HB77 Fetal Heartbeat Abortion Ban and Georgia’s similar bill, which states that abortions are banned once a fetal heartbeat can be detected around six weeks gestational age, before many women even know they are pregnant.  Additionally, once this heartbeat is detected, physicians would be prohibited from providing abortions or making referrals to abortion clinics except in the event of a medical emergency.  As an attempt to oppose and challenge Roe v. Wade, these new legislative efforts potentiate a direct threat to women not only in the state where it is being proposed but nationwide, with the possibility to set a precedent for even more abortion bans across the country and an ultimate overturn of Roe v. Wade.  The policing of women’s reproductive rights also has the potential for fatal consequences, in which a higher prevalence of women resort to unsafe procedures that can result in an array of short and long-term health complications from severe bleeding and uterine perforation to miscarriage in subsequent pregnancies or infertility altogether.

I think that this bill and all others like it are despicable.  These majority white, majority male legislative bodies should NOT get to control what women do with their bodies.  To pass a ban that does not make an exception for rape and incest is disgusting and goes to show just how little America cares about women.  Additionally, I think this indirectly targets low-income and unemployed women of color who don’t have access to contraception, money to abort, or the means to take care of a child.  However, I do think these politicians should keep that SAME ENERGY that they have talking about abortions when they speak on the kids right in our country that need adopting, are on welfare, and end up being the butt of jokes and political jeers having to do with women who “can’t take care of their kids” and “use the system to usurp American tax dollars.” Period.

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Alabama passes near-total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest: 25 to 6 vote becomes most restrictive anti-abortion measure passed since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973

Alabama passes bill outlawing nearly all abortions - including those in rape cases

Under the bill, the only exceptions are to safeguard the health of the mother

The 25 to 6 vote makes it the most restrictive anti-abortion measure passed since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973

The landmark 1973 case ruled that a Texas law banning women from the right to an abortion except to save the life of the mother was unconstitutional

Today, the Republican-controlled senate defeated a Democratic amendment that would have allowed abortions even for those impregnated by rape or incest

Its passage comes amid a wave of anti-abortion measures in Republican-controlled state capitols around the U.S., emboldened by Trump's administration

Legislation to restrict abortion rights has been introduced in 16 states this year

Georgia signed into law Tuesday a so-called heartbeat bill to outlaw abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detectable - typically around the six week mark

The Alabama bill goes even further, banning abortions at any stage of pregnancy

Alabama lawmakers passed a bill on Tuesday banning nearly all abortions, including those in rape and incest cases.

The 25 to six vote makes it the most restrictive anti-abortion measure passed since the landmark Roe v. Wade case in 1973, which ruled that depriving women of the right to an abortion except to save the mother's life was unconstitutional.

Under the Alabama bill, the only exceptions are to safeguard the health of the mother, while doctors could face 10 years in prison for attempting an abortion and 99 years for actually carrying out the procedure.

The bill will now go before Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, who despite not having publicly committed to signing the legislation, is seen as strongly opposed to abortion and is expected to sign the bill into law.

The law would take effect six months after being signed but is certain to face a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups who have vowed to sue.

The bill comes as part of a multi-state effort to have the U.S. Supreme Court reconsider a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

Legislation to restrict abortion rights has been introduced in 16 states this year, four of whose governors have signed bills banning abortion if an embryonic heartbeat can be detected.

Georgia recently signed into law the so-called heartbeat bill to outlaw abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detectable - typically around the six week mark.

The Alabama bill goes further, banning abortions at any time. People who perform abortions would be subject to a felony, although a woman who receives an abortion would not be held criminally liable.

THE 'HEARTBEAT BILL' MOVEMENT: WHICH STATES ARE BRINGING THE MEASURES

STATES THAT NOW HAVE 'FETAL HEARTBEAT' LAWS

Georgia (signed into law May 7, 2019)

Ohio (signed into law April 11, 2019)

Mississippi (signed into law March 21, 2019) - though it is being challenged

STATES THAT PASSED THE BILL - THEN COURTS BLOCKED IT

Arkansas (passed March 2014, blocked March 2015)

North Dakota (passed July 2015, blocked January 2016)

Iowa (passed May 2018, blocked January 2019)

Kentucky (passed March 2019, blocked April 2019)

STATES THAT ARE CONSIDERING IT

1. Louisiana has a bill in the senate with strong bipartisan support

2. Tennessee has a bill but the Republican AG warned it will be hard to pass, driving many to vote against

3. South Carolina gave near-final approval to the bill last month

4. Missouri's bill also advanced last month

5. Texas wanted to bring the death penalty for women who undergo abortions

6. West Virginia introduced a bill in February 2019

7. Florida's bill failed yesterday, but anti-abortion lawmakers are expected to try again

8. Minnesota proposed the bill in January 2019

9. Maryland's failed to pass in April

10. Alabama's bill approved in senate vote

11. Kansas Republican lawmakers are trying and failing to override a veto that blocks a fetal heartbeat bill

12. Illinois's bill was proposed in February

13. New York's bill was proposed in February

The Republican-controlled Alabama Senate also defeated a Democratic amendment that would have allowed legal abortions for women and girls impregnated by rape and incest.

Anti-abortion advocates know any laws they pass are certain to be challenged, and courts this year have blocked a restrictive Kentucky law and another in Iowa law that was passed last year.

But supporters of the Alabama ban said the right to life for the unborn child transcends other rights, an idea they would like tested.

Republican Senator Clyde Chambliss, arguing in favor of the Alabama bill, said the whole point was 'so that we can go directly to the Supreme Court to challenge Roe versus Wade.'

The high court, now with a majority of conservative justices after Republican President Donald Trump appointed two, could possibly overturn Roe v. Wade - something that would prove seismic in the fight between pro-life and pro-abortion campaigners.

Republican lawmaker Terri Collins, sponsor of the legislation, said: 'Our bill says that baby in the womb is a person.'

Just this year, Mississippi, Kentucky and Ohio have also outlawed abortion under the heartbeat law.

Democratic state Senator Linda Coleman-Madison called the Republicans hypocritical for advocating small government that ought to stay out of private matters but 'now you want in my womb; I want you out.'

All 27 Republican senators are men.

Actress and activist Alyssa Milano has called for a sex strike under the social media hashtag #SexStrike.

It comes in response to the campaigns against abortion rights, urging women to refuse sex with men 'until we get bodily autonomy back.'

The anti-abortion measures taking effect around the nation have prompted support and disgust in equally fervid measure.

The heartbill bill was thrown into stark focus again when it emerged an 11-year-old in Ohio who allegedly became pregnant after being raped by a 26-year-old would have no right to an abortion under the new state legislation signed into law last month.

Ohio passed the bill banning abortion in April. As the bill will not come into effect until July, the victim, who cannot be named, will be allowed to have abortion if she chooses, but thousands of other victims will soon be denied the same right.

Pregnant 11-year-old rape victim in Ohio would have no right to an abortion under new state law - as politicians in Alabama prepare to vote on measure to ban most terminations

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Alabama Senate bans nearly all abortions, including rape cases

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Alabama passes bill outlawing nearly all abortions - including those in rape cases Under the bill, the only exceptions are to safeguard the health of the mother The 25 to 6 vote makes it the most restrictive anti-abortion measure passed since Roe v.

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Reflection 1: Moechella – Cydney Hamilton

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Reflection 1: Moechella – Cydney Hamilton

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Recently, #Don’tMuteDC has been a trending topic in the DC area in response to a complaint from a White tenant at an apartment complex on 14th & U St. who made a complaint for GoGo music to stop being played outside of the Metro PCS in Shaw.  This sparked a larger conversation about all of the gentrification that has been going on in and around Washington, D.C. and other urban cities like it around the country.  However, when looking at DC specifically, there has been an aggressive trend of gentrification where white individuals, usually between the ages of 25 and 35, move into urban neighborhoods and change things about the surrounding area, from housing prices to the culture itself.

In the Shaw area, there is a Metro PCS store that has played GoGo loudly with their doors open for years.  In undergrad, I volunteered at Howard Hospital that is a couple streets down from that store and the music would always put people in a good mood, serving as a simple relief to get people’s minds off of their busy commutes in and around the District.  Additionally, GoGo is central to the culture in DC.  Back when DC was still Chocolate City prior to gentrification, GoGo music was accepted by everyone and you heard it everywhere – on the radio, in the streets, even as the intro song for the Washington Wizards.  However, as more gentrifiers move into DC and expect it to conform to their wants and needs (rather than respecting the culture DC had before they showed up), that same music and culture is slowly but surely being erased.

Hence, when this woman made the complaint about the GoGo music coming from the Metro PCS, native DC residents were fed up.  This led to an entire movement, #Don’tMuteDC, that resulted in multiple gatherings of African Americans in DC at that corner of 14th&U blasting the same type of music the White woman wanted silenced.  On May 7, organizers drew thousands of people to 14th&U for an event they coined as “Moechella.”  As a play on words similar to Coachella in California (a combination of “moe”, which is like a friend and Coachella), Moechella was a pop-up show that had multiple GoGo bands playing street performances loud enough for the whole city to hear.  Even dirt bike and ATV riders rode through the streets, another popular trend for African American males in the DMV.  Although this was a fun event for everyone there, it stood for so much more.  This was a rally or protest of sorts to symbolize that DC residents and more importantly, DC’s Chocolate City culture, won’t be going away as easily as some of these new residents may hope.

Events like Moechella make me proud to be from the DMV.  We cannot and will not be silenced. #Don’tMuteDC

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For one night, Washington, D.C., took off its hard bottoms, dress pants, work suits, office dresses and let its pinned-up braids down, to collectively sing "Pretty Girls" all over 14th and U streets in a symbolic go-go gathering that stomped on the colonizers' graves.

It was brilliantly dubbed #MoeChella, a mashup of Coachella (an uber-white gathering of skinny people in weird clothes that ended in a herpes outbreak, no, seriously) and "Moe" (D.C. slang), where several thousand D.C. residents and D.C. transplants pushed back against the growing, unyielding tidal wave that is gentrification, which brings with it calls to police about noise from the natives who were here long before their asses were. Literally, thousands mobbed the iconic corner of 14th and U Streets N.W., the same corner that was flooded in 2008 when Obama took office.

Like most beautiful things, #MoeChella was birthed out of a grassroots effort to fight against inhabiters of spaces they don't own to silence the music of the people. For years, at least for as long as I can remember, back when the corner of Florida Avenue and 7th Street had a Popeye's, there was a Metro PCS storefront that played go-go music.

And it was good.

Back in 1498, a few years after Christopher Columbus pillaged the Caribbean and before he set sail...
Read more Read

Then, as with most things intrinsically native, along came white folks who pillaged the community looking for cheap rents and flutes (fine, they weren't looking for flutes but white people do love a good woodwind instrument), and what they found was a heavy percussive beat that sounded way too much like Africa. And while they want our food and our hips and our dances and our language, they don't want the gristle, just the meat.

The colonizers began complaining, as they've been known to do, and the music was shut down; word spread that the Metro PCS had been told to "kill, Moe," so what happened next was just old-school D.C. at its finest.

The hashtag #MuteDC grew on social media and several impromptu go-gos began popping up in and around the Metro PCS store after the music was first shut down. The music eventually came back to the storefront, but the colonizers needed to be reminded that you can't silence the sound of a city.

So on Tuesday evening, a little after work, the masses who made this city what it was converged to celebrate the music they helped create.

I mean seriously, look and listen to all this black gloriousness:

Lead by D.C. shadow senator Big G, aka Slim Charles from The Wire, the city had a moment to remember who and what it used to be. Here's Big G wrapped in a D.C. flag leading the rest of Wakanda in prayer.

Backyard Band was joined by ABM, the legendary DJ Kool, DJ Domo and Hav Mercy and was hosted by Yaddiya. This was the third peaceful protest in which several black folks converged on a once all-black space to remind us what happens when we all come together in the name of pushing back against gentrification. Sure, it won't stop the massive building of overpriced apartments in formerly black spaces, but it feels good to disturb some avocado toast eaters while we beat our feet all over this city we helped build.

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#MoeChella Is What Happens When Natives Push Back Against Colonizers; Thousands Converge on City for Go-Go

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For one night, Washington, D.C., took off its hard bottoms, dress pants, work suits, office dresses and let its pinned-up braids down, to collectively sing "Pretty Girls" all over 14th and U streets in a symbolic go-go gathering that stomped on the colonizers' graves.

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Reflection 3: Poor Health Outcomes and Disparities in Health Care among Women - Maya Deane-Polyak

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Reflection 3: Poor Health Outcomes and Disparities in Health Care among Women - Maya Deane-Polyak

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As I was procrastinating on one of my final assignments, I stumbled across a recent article published in U.S. News and World Report that discusses findings from the American Heart Association (AHA). According to AHA, women who have diabetes are at risk for poorer health outcomes than their male counterparts. In fact, these women are at twice the risk of heart disease, and are more likely to have more severe heart attacks at earlier ages than men who have diabetes.

Biologic factors reveal some potential explanations for this disparity. For instance, women are already at higher risk for heart disease than men as they age due to decreases in estrogen levels. Additionally, women are also at higher risk than men for high cholesterol, which is a risk factor on its own for heart disease. While the article focuses mainly on biologic factors, it also briefly touches on differences in care and treatment among men and women, which falls under social factors particularly at the interpersonal level. More specifically, the article suggests that poor health outcomes among women with diabetes could be explained by the fact that women do not to tend to get treated as acutely as men do and they are not referred for the same amount of cardiac treatment as their male counterparts.

The mention of differences in care for those with diabetes got me thinking about how women’s health concerns in general are not taken as seriously or treated as adequately as men’s concerns. This pattern has been documented in other articles like one in the New York Times that tells the story of a woman who visits her doctor with complaints of not being able to enjoy her life and struggling to focus on daily activities. The doctor looks at this woman and exclaims that she “looks like [she’s] doing great”. This is just one of many stories where health care providers fail to provide optimal care to women in the same ways they do for men. In thinking about this disparity, women are not the only ones affected. In fact, those who are marginalized based on their race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation or gender identity are also more likely to receive suboptimal care than those in traditional majority groups according to the New York Times article. For women who identify in other minority groups, provider biases compound and lead to experiences of intersectional discrimination in care.

The solution to addressing this disparity is not an easy fix because differential treatment is rooted in provider biases, which are reinforced by oppressive systems that have operated at the macro level for far too long. I believe a good place to start would be in routine provider training where health professionals are made aware of their implicit and explicit biases and are provided with strategies to reduce and ideally, eliminate biases to ensure they are committed to offering equitable, high quality care to all of their patients.

References:

Pagán, C. N. (2018). When Doctors Downplay Women’s Health Concerns. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/well/live/when-doctors-downplay-womens-health-concerns.html

U.S. News and World Report. (2019). AHA News: Why Are Women With Diabetes at Greater Risk for Poor Heart Health? Retrieved May 15, 2019, from US News & World Report website: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2019-05-14/aha-news-why-are-women-with-diabetes-at-greater-risk-for-poor-heart-health

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Loneliness is a big business - Reflection 4 - Shay Hall

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Loneliness is a big business - Reflection 4 - Shay Hall

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Mental health is a hot topic in the public health world especially when it comes to young adults. Media outlets constantly suggest that millennials are killing “xyz” and that they lack social skills. A recent Vox article further suggests this, titled “The big business of loneliness”, goes into how there is a current epidemic of loneliness plaguing a substantial portion of the millennial population. The article dives into how co-living spaces have become a thriving business market amongst the millennial crowd seeking friendships.

Individuals who are looking to live in co-living spaces are usually transplants to a new city, looking for a premade social network. Companies such as Tribe are serving members of this crowd by offering co-living spaces in fully furnished apartments with community events promoting interaction among residents. Later in the article, it is mentioned that researchers have found that when loneliness is prolonged, it puts the brain into self-preservation modem furthering isolation even more. Co-living spaces seek to help those who are suffering from loneliness and are having trouble making friends, to live in what some call “adult dorms”.  Yet, for some populations, I feel the adult dorm experience that is currently a booming industry, still isolates individuals instead of fully incorporating them into the community.

The article briefly mentions the isolation some individuals might face particularly with the company Tribe’s co-living experience. Just the statement from Tribe’s director of business management, Kenneth Sterling, makes the entire company come off as rather pretentious. Sterling states that Tribe is meant for those who just don't want to join a community but are socially equipped to do so. This statement rubbed me the wrong way. In a sense Tribe seems to be no more than an adult post-grad version of a sorority/fraternity house, cliquish to those who don’t fit into the “mold”.

But the most interesting part of the process for being approved for Tribe is that the application process includes both a credit check and video interview, designed to test for “financial and cultural fit”. As a black woman, it makes me question if I would be approved to live in a Tribe apartment. A quick look at their website shows that they have multiple locations in both New York and San Francisco, cities where transplants usually flock to for jobs.

But, I wonder if Tribe will branch off and try to fill the gap in communities where people need the same co-living space, but with members of similar social communities, they belong to (Jewish, Muslim, Black, LGBT+, etc). I feel that if Tribe could fill this gap for people whose identities intersect multiple social groups like myself, it would further diminish the impact loneliness has on millenials who are looking to expand their social network, outside of the White millenial norm.

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Reflection- Anti-fat Stigma Article- Cassie Hendrie

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Reflection- Anti-fat Stigma Article- Cassie Hendrie

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This article opens with a story of a woman who died of cancer because her doctors diagnosed it far too late. She sought after care for years only to be told that her health issues were a result of her weight exclusively. This woman was a sufferer of anti-fat stigma.

We have discussed stigma and its impact on individual’s overall health in class before, but anti-fat stigma was a new concept for me. Individuals receive poorer quality of care and poorer health outcomes as a result of providers stigmatizing their weight.

Another article even stated that weight stigma is more pervasive than discrimination based on race or ethnicity which was really shocking to me (Tomiyama, 2018).

With the increase in weight we are seeing in the US we need to address this weight stigma to ensure that individuals are receiving the best quality of care.

I currently work for a research grant with a focus on pediatric obesity so this article made me stop and think about the way we word questions and if they may be influenced by this stigma at all.

Tomiyama AJ, Carr D, Granberg EM, et al. How and why weight stigma drives the obesity 'epidemic' and harms health. BMC Med. 2018;16(1):123. Published 2018 Aug 15. doi:10.1186/s12916-018-1116-5

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When Ellen Maud Bennett died a year ago, her obituary published in the local newspaper gained national media attention in Canada, though she wasn't a celebrity.

Bennett's obituary revealed she died from cancer days after finally being diagnosed - after years of seeking help.

Her diagnosis came so late, beyond the point where treatments were possible, because the 64-year-old woman was repeatedly told her health problems were caused by her weight - or more specifically, by the amount of fat on her body.

She died because of bad assumptions that caused poor quality care. And she used her own obituary to share her dying wish:

"Ellen's dying wish was that women of size make her death matter by advocating strongly for their health and not accepting that fat is the only relevant health issue."

How to know if this might be happening to you? When do you need to advocate for yourself? I studied the phenomenon of anti-fat stigma in Canadian primary care clinics for my PhD. Knowing how it happens might help.

Fatness as a sign of inferiority

Bodily fatness is a stigmatized body characteristic in Canada and other wealthy countries.

(Rudd Center)

Within any given culture, some characteristics or histories are assumed to reflect a character flaw. The characteristic is treated as a sign of inferiority. The result is loss of social status and widespread societal discrimination.

With bodily fatness, the assumed character flaws are laziness, ignorance or weak willpower.

In a comprehensive review published 10 years ago, there was strong evidence of fatness-related discrimination in employment, while other sectors were less researched. Studies carried out since that time confirm the pattern - including within health care.

'Just eat more salads'

Poor quality clinical care due to anti-fat stigma occurs when doctors or nurses assume the stereotype holds true.

One common way this happens: a clinician simply tells you to "lose weight," as Bennett heard many times when seeking help. That's like telling patients to "lose blood sugar." Telling people to produce an outcome is not good quality clinical care.

This is especially awful when weight is not related to the topic at hand - an ear infection, for example. Sometimes, clinicians do this as "opportunistic counselling." It's done assuming the benefits outweigh harms - except we know that doing this for weight reduces trust in health-care providers. And reduced trust can lead to avoidance, for obvious reasons - needs aren't met.

Unfortunately, some clinicians give very simplistic weight loss advice, such as "eat more salads," without any assessment of what the patient already knows, does, has tried or can afford and fit into their lives.

Simplistic advice is patronizing at best; it assumes patients are ignorant, as per the stereotype. This approach vastly underestimates the knowledge of a patient, gained in part through repeated past attempts to change body composition. One Canadian study found that half of those classified as overweight, and 71 per cent of those categorized as obese, had attempted to reduce their body weight in the last year.

Simplistic messages - "lose weight" or "exercise more" - assume thinness is easy and simply involves some lifestyle tweaks.

When such advice is given without assessment of health concerns - for instance, headaches - anti-fat biases can endanger lives.

Bias trumps science, sometimes

Clinicians should, at minimum, recommend actions that have a chance at producing an outcome. Lifestyle changes only produce modest effects for most, yet many clinicians assume much bigger impacts.

(Obesity Canada)

Obesity Canada, an organization that uses evidence-based action to better prevent and manage obesity, reminds health-care providers that the typical body weight reduction from sustained lifestyle changes is five per cent of body weight. Dramatic life changes, such as those of participants on the TV show The Biggest Loser, can slow the body's resting metabolic rate, triggering weight regain.

Science also tells us that factors beyond lifestyle are influencing population shifts around body weight and fatness.

But these scientific findings are still not routinely integrated into health-care professionals' understandings of weight. As a result, many still emphasize poor willpower as the core problem.

You shouldn't have to advocate for yourself to get adequate health care. You should be able to trust your health-care professionals.

How to advocate for yourself

There are many people working to ensure access to good quality health care. But tackling discrimination is complex.

You can help. When clinicians make one of these common mistakes or in some other way block you being diagnosed or treated, you are on good grounds to challenge them. Say something like: "What would you do if someone with a thin body had this problem?" Then encourage them to treat you in the same way.

Send them this or other articles. Write your story and give it to them. Find a Health-At-Every-Size® practitioner, and check for local resources (such as the Good Fat Care website in Winnipeg).

After receiving poor quality care, register a complaint with the provider's professional licensing body. They may not investigate your individual complaint but do track trends. Patient advocates are also available in some hospitals to help you get the care you need.

News stories come and go. But the issues Ellen Maud Bennett raised in her obituary should not disappear from our consciousness so quickly. You deserve good care, just as she did.
This article is written in memory of Ellen Maud Bennett, with the permission of her sister.

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How anti-fat bias in health care endangers lives

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When Ellen Maud Bennett died a year ago, her obituary published in the local newspaper gained national media attention in Canada, though she wasn't a celebrity. Bennett's obituary revealed she died from cancer days after finally being diagnosed - after years of seeking help.

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Presidential Campaign 2020 - Reflection 3 - Shay Hall 

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Presidential Campaign 2020 - Reflection 3 - Shay Hall 

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Earlier last week I decided to do a presidential nominee quiz for all the Democratic candidates running in the 2020 election. I had participated in this test previously for the 2016 campaign and felt it was very insightful narrowing down candidates who issues best aligned with mine. The reason I decided it was important to do it for this election cycle is because of the sheer amount of Democrats running for office. Twenty-two (22) Democrats are running for office, with some big names mixed in with lesser known ones, all running for one seat.

This in return, made it so that I had to do the quiz to see which candidate was right for me. In a field of over twenty different personalities, ideologies, and issues, someone had to align with my beliefs. After taking the quiz which has over forty questions ranging from issues on LGBT+ rights and gun rights, national security, government mandates, and Muslim surveillance, the site gives you all the candidates faces and names along with percentages ranking who you side with the most. Interestingly enough one of the candidates that popped up for me was Andrew Yang, a Democrat I had heard about, but never researched. Upon receiving Yang as one of my top choices, I did decide to research into issues he supports and found a few interesting ones.

One of Yang’s topic policies he wants to implement is a universal basic income fittingly named, “The Freedom Dividend”. The policy will would give $1,000/month, $12,000 year to every American adult over the age of 18, regardless of their income or employment status. The policy is very ambitious and to see Yang work out all of the expected problems that would come with this such as inflation and people working less, is moving,

Overall, doing the quiz opened me up to researching what new faces to the world of politics are emerging. People in America are tired of the current administration and seeing new, fresh faces with new ideas to help the country is a wonderful thing to see. I hope that within the next few months I will be able to narrow down the candidates, even more, to see who would be best to possibly lead the nation in the right direction.

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Gun Violence Summit - Reflection 2 - Shay Hall 

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Gun Violence Summit - Reflection 2 - Shay Hall 

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Attending the Gun Violence Prevention Summit I felt was an important event to observe. Gun violence prevention in the U.S. has been centered mostly on the prevention of mass shootings. Yet, before attending the conference I had not thought of what kinds of gun violence research are being done currently.

Ultimately the summit was important to attend because most of those who attended were researchers. Observing talks on gun violence prevention through the eyes of researchers was interesting in seeing what type of research on the topic is currently being published and how the academic world views gun violence. One of the more interesting topics of gun violence research being on the different gun policies in America.

One researcher went into the difference between permissive and restrictive gun policies, which I found very insightful. Permissive gun policies are policies such as the elimination of gun-free zones, permitless carry and “stand your ground” laws falling under this term. Restrictive gun policies are policies such as longer waiting periods after purchasing a gun to obtain it, bans on assault weapons and universal background checks. What was even more insightful after hearing of these terms was to learn that the National Rifle Association (NRA), is one of the main reasons for the limited amount of research on the firearm injuries.

In 1993 an article was published showing the strong association between having a gun at home and the increased risk of homicide. The study was funded by the CDC’s Center for Injury Prevention, which the NRA tried to close because of the study’s findings. The NRA in response decided to lobby Republican members of Congress to pass, what would later be known as the Dickey Amendment, which mandated no funds from the CDC would be used to advocate or promote gun control. The passing of this amendment would then reduce the funding of gun research by 90 percent, ultimately freezing gun research for over 20 years.

Overall, this event opened me up to a world of research I would have not thought of previously. Mass shootings today are unfortunately common occurrences, so thinking of research on the topic had not crossed my mind. After attending the event I wish I did ask my question of “Are there any strategies to help prevent gun violence among younger generations?”. It would have been interesting to see researchers respond to a question, that links younger people to the issue.

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Personal Reflection 4: Implications of New Abortion Bills - Brianna Aldridge

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Personal Reflection 4: Implications of New Abortion Bills - Brianna Aldridge

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A few days ago, news spread across the nation (and perhaps the world) that Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed a bill making abortion in the state illegal once a fetus’s heartbeat is detected. That typically takes place 6 weeks after conception, well before most women even know they are pregnant. Naturally, response from the internet was highlighted by fear and anger. The debate on the sanctity of life versus a woman’s right to choose rolled on. I saw a tweet (posted below) that placed emphasis on the absurd nature of the bill by reversing the object of law enforcement from women to men.

While I tend to lean on the liberal side of social issues and have a special disdain for Georgia’s new governor (Stacey Abrams should have won the election but voter suppression is REAL), I do my best not to get wrapped up in the sensationalism that many in my age group project with the help of internet anonymity. Some fear that we are living in a day where society is slowly but surely turning into Gilead, a fictional nation that is the setting for the book and Hulu TV show The Handmaid’s Tale. With this in mind, I could not help but wonder just how alarmed women in Georgia should truly be. So, I went to a reputable source.

Early this very morning, an article was published in the Washington Post that cleared up the speculation around this highly controversial bill as well as one in Alabama. I am so grateful for quality journalism that helps shine a proper light on all issues, but especially those that impact marginalized populations like women.

With family in Georgia and Alabama, I will be paying close attention to what happens next with this bill, and I will hope against hope that women will always have the final say in what happens to their bodies.

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Representation and Resistance to power change (Meg Jordan Reflection 3) 

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Representation and Resistance to power change (Meg Jordan Reflection 3) 

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Yesterday on NPR I learned about a recent publication in the field of Animal Behavior that has interesting parallels to health disparities research. This researcher was interested in studying invertebrates (spiders particularly) but was having difficulty getting published. He mentioned this to a mentor who responded 'oh of course, invertebrate researchers have a much harder time getting published' which another student (who studies vertebrates- birds specifically) took issue with. The argument irritated the spider researcher (I can't find his name online) so much that he and a colleague (Jackie) went through every article published by the journal Animal Behavior and figured out which animals are being studied most often.  He found that there were about 10 species which made up about 90% of the research on animal behavior, with a huge amount of vertebrate research.

He brought these findings to the largest Animal Behavior research conference and was incredibly nervous, as he knew his voice was very much in the minority. He feared a negative, angry response. Instead he got a huge response, with people cheering and clapping, which he described as a 'rock concert' atmosphere. But as the conference wore on, the only people congratulating him or thanking him were invertebrate researchers. None of the vertebrate researchers came. He said he had though of this talk as 'speaking truth to power, but power decided not to show up'.

He submitted the article for publication and got very polarized mixed results. One reviewer responded that they were proposing quotas for type of animal artificially and likened it to affirmative action. As the co-author (Jackie, herself a Chinese-Filipino woman) responded, the reviewer both missed the point and also had the underlying assumption that affirmative action is bad. The paper had no proposals about why it is true or what should be done, it simply sounded like 1st generation descriptive research.

It was very interesting to me how quickly this disparity paper took on a racial disparity context. A representative of the journal said that papers were not chosen based on species, but instead on quality of science. All of the articles with the best science happened to be about birds, monkeys, and bottlenose dolphins.

This issue reveals a lot about the reactions that people in power have when they are faced with someone trying to challenge an accepted norm. It is very interesting how personally people took the issue. While a lot of identity politics is about traits that are inherent to the person or are not directly chosen, research topic is not genetic but determined by the researcher. There is no historic oppression or widespread societal structure, but this issue is getting a reaction similar to an identity related disparity issue.

It makes me wonder what it is about being in a position of power that can make a person entirely reject a reality they see in front of them. I understand on a wider scale that any admission of injustice can result in a loss of power, but is that something that individuals know consciously? How does this play out in the interpersonal level? What does it cost me(or any person) to admit that there is a power inequity? It has also connected to a realization that I have had about whiteness. I recently have had a few white people talk to me about power issues and they were incredibly hesitant to bring up white privilege. They hedge around the issue to see how I respond, and I think it's to see if I (as a white person) uphold white power structures and reprimand them for even bringing it up. Challenging power structures has such a strong taboo that even fields like animal behavior have issues addressing inequity in publishing. It really showcases how hard disparities are to address and how resistant people are to listening openly about issues.

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Reflection #3 - Mary Bubala by Joe Galarraga

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Reflection #3 - Mary Bubala by Joe Galarraga

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The scandal involving former Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh’s “Healthy Holly” books and the University of Maryland Medical System has rightfully raised many questions about money and politics in the city. But this fiasco raised one question that was wholly unnecessary: “We’ve had three female, African-American mayors in a row. They were all passionate public servants. Two resigned, though. Is this a signal that a different kind of leadership is needed to move Baltimore City forward?” This question was asked by anchorwoman Mary Bubala of WJZ on-air and was immediately met with outrage. Shortly after this incident, WJZ fired Bubala, and she issued a public apology for “a mistake in the language… used on-air.” I do not doubt that Bubala had no malicious intentions when asking her question, but do believe that it was emblematic of the deeply-rooted racism and internalized sexism that is ever-present in our society.

While Bubala’s inquiry can be read as a questioning of black women’s political leadership abilities, it is also displays the double standards that exist in modern day America. Despite a growing concern for inclusion and diversity in different realms of society, I cannot imagine a local news anchor questioning the authority of white male politicians on-air based on their whiteness or maleness. And ultimately, this is the profile for a lot of politicians in the United States - even in 2019. Calling into question the blackness and femininity of political leaders does nothing to advance progress in America, and instead should be seen as a huge step backwards.

I also am aware of how both former mayors Sheila Dixon and Catherine Pugh have been treated by the media. The fact that Bubala’s question focused on both Dixon and Pugh, and not the slew of other corrupt history and institutions in Baltimore, demonstrates unnecessary scapegoating. While I do not defend the decisions they made in office, Bubala’s line of questioning places the blame for Baltimore’s problems squarely on the shoulders of Dixon and Pugh, and states that it may be due to their identities. To ignore the history and context that has shaped Baltimore’s political system in favor of an identity-politic criticism of recent leaders is short-sighted and rash.

I do believe Bubala when she says that her comments were a mistake. I think she is a product of her environment, and her questions of the former mayors are emblematic of that. Unfortunately, Baltimore- and more generally the United States- is rooted in a racist history, and as I mentioned before, it’s unwise to ignore context. The past informs the present, and despite the progress that has been made towards equity in our society, this situation demonstrates that we still have a long way to go. Do I think that Bubala thinks that women are unfit to be leaders? No; she herself was a leader at WJZ for a long time! Sexism can be internalized to a point where beliefs do not align with actions. Ultimately, Bubala’s comments were a sobering reminder to me that racism and sexism are deep-seated problems, and it is necessary to be aware of how these institutions inform the ways I view the world. These problems can’t be ignored because they are woven into the fabric of everyday life. Awareness is important to call into question my own thoughts and beliefs.

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What's irrefutable is that Catherine Pugh, the embattled former Baltimore mayor who recently resigned after a children's book scandal destroyed her political career, fucked up.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has written herself out of her role as the city's chief executive,...
Read more Read

But are her failures as an elected official in any way, shape or form related to, or reflective of, her standing as a black woman? Of course not.

Unfortunately, the Baltimore Sun reports that longstanding WJZ anchorwoman Mary Bubala was unable to differentiate between the two and recently came out her neck spewing some racist nonsense that belongs as DVD bonus footage in 2017's Get Out.

On Thursday, while discussing Pugh's resignation on air, Bubala offered the type of pointed critique reserved for plantation owners and White House potlucks.

"We've had three female, African-American mayors in a row. They were all passionate public servants. Two resigned, though," Bubala said. "Is this a signal that a different kind of leadership is needed to move Baltimore City forward?"

As social media became inundated with outrage and calls for her job, Bubala took to Twitter to offer a "sincere apology" that was too little, too damn late.

Soon after, the Baltimore Association of Black Journalists issued a statement expressing concern for the "well-being of the Baltimore black community" and condemning her behavior as "racist and sexist." From there, it was only a matter of time until the inevitable firing happened.

Cue WJZ general manager Audra Swain:

"Mary Bubala is no longer a WJZ-TV employee. The station apologizes to its viewers for her remarks."

In an email to the Baltimore Sun on Tuesday, Bubala confirmed that she had, in fact, been voted off the island.

"In my 22 years of working in TV news in Baltimore-15 of those years with WJZ-I have always treated people with the utmost respect and dignity. I loved my job because I love the people of Baltimore. Last week I realized I made a mistake in the language I used on air. I immediately apologized for any hurt I unintentionally caused," she wrote. "Unfortunately, I now stand in the path of the tornado. WJZ was forced to let me go. I am saddened and shocked by this decision [...] I fully intend to fight to restore my reputation because I've invested my heart and soul in my work and my city."

Pugh's predecessor, former Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, took to Twitter to applaud the station for its decision.

"Didn't think WJZ was gong to do the right thing," she tweeted on Tuesday. "Her statement was problematic on many levels and revealed a profound ignorance."

Meanwhile, former BABJ president Nicki Mayo offered her own opinion on the matter.

"This was another ceremonial falling on the sword that continues to cut a serious hole in efforts for newsroom inclusion and diversity," she told the Sun. "She messed up. I get it. But you know that line, 'The mouth speaks the truth of the heart?' She told you how she feels."

Bubala joined WJZ in 2003. During her 22 years of working in TV news in Baltimore, she was nominated twice for regional Emmy awards in 2016 and won once for Outstanding Anchor.

In preparation for her forthcoming job hunt, reportedly she's updated her resume with technical skills like "ignorant."

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Baltimore Anchorwoman Gets The Boot After Questioning Black Women's Ability to Lead

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What's irrefutable is that Catherine Pugh, the embattled former Baltimore mayor who recently resigned after a children's book scandal destroyed her political career, fucked up. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh has written herself out of her role as the city's chief executive,...

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Immunization and Public Health (Meg Jordan Reflection 2)

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Immunization and Public Health (Meg Jordan Reflection 2)

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(My original post deleted itself so this one might be slightly shorter)

Over the course of the semester there has been a lot of talk about immunization and what that means to public health. I would like to share a couple of things about this topic that have been going on in classrooms.

One comment I have heard multiple times is that immunization was one of the great achievements of public health, and that public health officials need to do more to 'defend' this achievement. The underlying assumptions here are really interesting to me that
1. Public health officials are the reason that people got immunized in the first place and
2. That people stopped getting immunized because public health officials didn't communicate properly.
I understand that the educational materials and public requirements (for public school) are public health initiatives that encouraged a culture of immunization, but the officials themselves are not really the driving force. There is part of this lamenting that I feel is partly ego, that 'we already had this fixed' and the high rates of vaccine refusal is a direct insult of public health. Nothing like this ever really 'stays fixed', and there needs to be multiple sources of support for normalizing and encouraging vaccine use. There also needs to be some recognition that there is a strong governmental component to this, and that more information from government officials will not work on those who are anti-government. Community partners should be on the front line of that, not health departments.
There is also an interesting lack of nuance when talking about the groups that have high vaccine refusal rates. There is a stereotype out that people who do not vaccinate are rich white affluent moms who are reading naturalist blogs or that debunked autism study and then refuse vaccines for their kids. This definitely is a group that exists that fits this, but that is not the case for all of the communities. I had a student tell me that she was surprised about the Orthodox Jewish community in New York was one of the lower rates. She described them as "affluent Jews" and that "a lot of them are doctors" with a 'shouldn't they know better' type attitude. This shows the intersection of the "wealthy anti-vaxxer" and the "affluent Jew" stereotypes, as this Jewish community is not wealthy. It is more comparable to the Amish community in some ways (not using internet, radios, or televisions as information sources). The Orthodox community seemed to genuinely not know, and did comply with the health department (quarantine procedure and also getting their children vaccinated). I know there are many groups, but the broad brushing hides the actual mechanisms to addressing these communities or understanding their decisions. I also notice there was some demonetization of the Orthodox community that I did not hear about the Amish community, likely just due to lack of exposure. I hope that people continue to delve deeper into these different groups, and engage in honest and open dialog on these topics.

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Sarah Hurlbert Class Reflection #4 - Guns

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Sarah Hurlbert Class Reflection #4 - Guns

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Our class spent three different lectures on guns. First we had a discussion between those of us with differing opinions in a very civil manner. The next lecture we had a guest who spoke more on the statistics of guns and what he saw as the solution. The final activity was to attend the last lecture on Day 1 of the Gun violence prevention Summit. I think I was most enlightened at the summit, even though much of the conversation revolved around data sources. The representative from RAND had a few interesting thing, but I thought his main point was that the two opposing sides have common goals but they want to go about reaching those goals differently. There also seems to be not much data on which policies are effective. Pre and post policy analysis is difficult. Being able to determine definitively that the policy was the catalyst for the behavior change is hard over a long period of time. I also agree with Emily’s point that our society has decided that it is a privilege to be a survivor of gun violence. I think there were many in the room that have forgotten about the violence in inner cities because we don't televise every shooting in the country only the ones with a good story. I see no harm in allowing responsible gun owners to have guns, but the question is how do we determine who will be and is a responsible gun owner. I grew up with guns in my home, and the artillery fire from the Army base in the background, and only a few miles from a gun manufacturing facility. They have been a part of my life for sport, I don’t own any fire-able guns now and I don’t plan on it in the future since I don’t find the activity as relaxing as archery. There are many viewpoints on the issue and there are many different solutions, but finding one that works for our diverse nation is critical.

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Sarah Hurlbert Class Reflection #3 -  Dr. Harvey Rural Health

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Sarah Hurlbert Class Reflection #3 -  Dr. Harvey Rural Health

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I enjoyed Dr. Harvey’s lecture, her story of how where she was influenced her research was interesting. The pictures she showed and stories she told i think helped people see and understand that there are people who live in those conditions in the United States. I have been to places far off the beaten trail and far from grocery stores and medical services. Visiting family that lives in the middle of TN in a small town. Going out into rural and sometimes semi urban places to do service with Home Works of America fixing up houses for those in need. Many of the people Dr. Harvey talked about had health conditions that were aggravated by their low income and their mental health status. It makes sense that the research done here at UMD focuses on urban areas since that is where we are located. I always get a feeling that people look down on those who live in rural areas. For a time I was someone who wanted to live out in the open country where it is quite and peaceful. People don’t always see the good of living out in the country, the way of life is different and the pockets of people clustered together have a strong communal bond. Looking at health issues in rural, suburban, and urban areas is important, but all have their pluses and minuses. There are pockets of poverty everywhere. I would be interested in comparing urban, rural, and suburban low income health, i have feeling that the results may be surprising.

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Sarah Hurlbert Class Reflection #2 - Dr. Wilson EJ

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Sarah Hurlbert Class Reflection #2 - Dr. Wilson EJ

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Dr. Wilson gave a lecture on environmental justice and showed videos on Uniontown Alabama and Richmond CA. Dr. Wilson introduced me to the idea of Brown sites. I had never heard the term before but once he explained it I knew what he meant. Growing up in South Carolina I lived and vacationed on brown sites that had to be cleaned before new construction could be done. The neighborhood I grew up in used to be part of the Ft. Jackson bombing range, unexploded ordnance has been found in nearby neighborhoods and the soccer fields I used to play at over the years. The open air shopping mall within walking distance of my home used to be owned by a university that ran pesticide experiments on the land. The condo my family rented for Christmas and new years in myrtle beach was built on the land that used to house a military airfield. There are more sites like that all over the country and many are worse than those I experienced. There are also places in the US that are active dumping ground or have health/environmental hazards on them today. Trash being brought in from other states and dumped in communities that have no say or were lied to by those wanting to bring those hazards into the community. The video on Uniontown showed the Archaic way that human waste was discarded and the landfill that had started to take over a local cemetery. Dr. Wilson brought up the term “Impowerment” he defined it as empowering the community members to be able to have a voice in discussion that impact their health and environment. Community cohesion is very important in allowing a community to have the community that they want not the one that corporations see as a place to throw the discard.

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Sarah Hurlbert Class Reflection #1 -Cafe Sarvis

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Sarah Hurlbert Class Reflection #1 -Cafe Sarvis

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Ms. Parker came to class to talk about her organization CKAR and one of their upcoming project Cafe Sarvis. During the class groups talked about different things the cafe could implement to better serve the community and improve health in greater Riverdale. Some of the ideas brought up where to provide a cookbook, partner with local schools, having a community garden, and suggestions for the menu itself. Many of the teams came up with ideas that were similar to each other or along the same lines. There is a lot of potential for the cafe Sarvis project. It can be an easily accessible gathering place for community members to discuss issues and future projects. The cafe also provides a place for people in the corporation park to eat without having to drive and provides a place for the physicians to send their patients for a healthy meal. I think involving the community members more on what activities they want to see in the cafe will be helpful. Professors who work with communities always point out that giving the communities what they want is a good way to also give them something that else that they need. Working in communities is a difficult balance of catering to the wants of the community and providing services that improve their lives.

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Health Paradox and US-born  - Reflection 1 - Shay Hall  

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Health Paradox and US-born  - Reflection 1 - Shay Hall  

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The week of class, when we discussed immigrant health and the Latino health paradox, made me question if this occurrence is also documented in other immigrant populations. So naturally, I researched if this is true for other racial and ethnic groups. What I found in a 2004 article by Singh and Miller, is that Hispanic and Black immigrants had longer life expectancies than their US-born counterparts. Many articles attribute these occurrences to those who immigrate being healthier than those who remain in their countries of origin and immigrants having higher levels of social and family support. Yet, few articles speak on the societal factors that their US-born counterparts experience. One of the root causes of this disparity I would suggest is due to societal factors such as social inequality and racial discrimination.

Racial discrimination has played an influential role in African American health disparities. This is apparent today just by analyzing the number of unhealthy eating places and the lack of grocery stores within areas where a majority of the population is African American. Research by the Mari Gallagher consulting group even states this saying that African Americans have the lowest access to grocery stores, highest access to fast-food outlets, and the greatest distance to any type of grocery store. All of these factors would, of course, would lead to poorer health outcomes in these communities over time compared to their foreign-born counterparts.

To improve the health of US-born populations to their foreign-born counterparts, I think policies should be put in place to increase access to healthier food. This includes the incorporation of more transportation options to reach establishments that sell healthy food and creating more healthy options within the communities themselves. Doing so will possibly reflect a positive change in the US-born population's health outcomes.

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My Views on Politics - Reflection 4 - Jianna Howard

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My Views on Politics - Reflection 4 - Jianna Howard

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I recently found out that Joe Biden was running for president in 2020. I immediately texted my friends in excitement as I knew him to be the fun-loving guy that was VP when Barack Obama was in office; if Barack liked him enough to have him be his running mate, he must be great, right? My friends kind of wrote me off, but we all agreed that anyone would be better in office than the current administration.

After hearing their feedback and lack of excitement, I decided to do some research and educated myself on Joe Biden's political views. While a lot of his views on social issues are similar to mine, and he became even more humanized to me when I read about his first wife and baby girl dying in a car accident, I was saddened to read about his proposal and backing of a bill in the early 2000s that wanted to increase prison sentences and enforce mandatory minimums. As a lot of us know, these laws disproportionately effect people of color in this country.

This revelation made me realize that I am not educated about the vast majority of American politicians and governmental roles. I was quick to jump on the Biden train for a very trivial reason. This is exactly why I don't vote.

We are saturated with media telling us we need to vote to make change, but to me, we keep switching people in government but nothing is drastically changing. As someone who does like to educate herself on news, facts, stories, etc before I develop an opinion, I can confidently say that I believe a lot of people are just like me and vote for people for the wrong reasons.

Clearly something within our government and law structure needs to be changed to see positive change within our country, I wish I knew what it was.

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Activity Reflection- Poverty Amidst Plenty VI- Cassie Hendrie

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Activity Reflection- Poverty Amidst Plenty VI- Cassie Hendrie

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I attended a Community Needs Assessment, Poverty Amidst Plenty, in Anne Arundel County. I attended this event in order to gain perspective on the needs of the community as my capstone is being completed at an organization within Anne Arundel County. This report was a collaboration of many organizations throughout the county and includes local, state and national data sources as well.

The key findings of the report were presented by Dr. Pamela Brown, the author and Executive Director of the Anne Arundel County Partnership for Children, Youth and Families, to organizations and members of the county. As the report is quite detailed, we were given a copy upon leaving so I have also been able to explore any other topics that may not have been covered during the presentation.

It was interesting to look at the population demographics for the county now compared to 2010. The Hispanic or Latino population has grown by 1.2% and the non-Hispanic white population has decreased by 10.2%. When looking at Annapolis in particular, which is where I live within Anne Arundel County, the Hispanic population is as high as 20.3%. This data is interesting because while the minority populations are growing, the ability of the counties systems to serve them is not keeping up. The packet I was given states that only seven Annapolis city and nine county police officers speak Spanish, the school system has a shortage of teachers for students who are English Language Learners and there is only one Spanish speaking psychiatrist in the county. I believe that we do not want language or culture to act as barriers in our county to serve our minority populations, so we need to be proactive knowing that our Hispanic and Latino population is growing.

One of the guest speakers at the event was Steuart Pittman, County Executive. In his talk he mentioned that in order to make a change we needed to shift the way in which we govern. I think having this mindset in our leaders is important in order to work towards equity in health. He had a very realistic and proactive mindset about the needs of Anne Arundel County overall and I did not feel as though he was giving us lofty promises as it can feel like politicians tend to give. For many of the needs he mentioned among the county residents he either had some ideas of how we could work to lessen the disparities people were facing or he was already working on a measure to do so. For example, he mentioned the lack of affordable housing in AACo and his current work to create a new package of housing bills. He also mentions something that I think is very important when we’re focusing our disparities research, which is the way we interpret the data. He mentioned that if we look at the unemployment rate, which our current government loves to look at as a measure of success, it looks as if our county is very successful with a 2.8% unemployment rate. However, when looking at the poverty rate you will see that rate has not dropped. This shows that while residents may have jobs, those jobs do not pay a livable wage, which is an issue. Anne Arundel County has a high cost of living. If a resident is not making a livable wage then how are they affording housing, insurance, food or transportation?

The last point that the presentation ended with was mentioning the top pressing community needs. Based on what I had heard and what I am aware of in the county, I was not surprised by what they were. I was surprised to hear that they had not changed from the last two years of reports completed. These needs are affordable housing and childcare, quality healthcare, jobs that pay a living wage, and the availability of transportation. I know that the cost of living is extremely high in AACo, I currently still live with my parents because I would not be able to afford rent on my own with my part time job income. However, not everyone has an option of living with someone and they end up rent overburdened, paying more than the ideal 30% of their income on rent. On top of that, the living wage for AACo ($13.28) and minimum wage ($10.10) do not match making it very hard for those making minimum wage to make ends meet. Transportation is a barrier we recently discussed at my capstone, The Light House. Many residents of The Light House do not have transportation and rely on public transportation or a service provided through AAA transport. The Light House provides bus tokens when they can, but they can only afford so many of those. The AAA transport service is free, but unreliable. I saw someone miss a AAA transport pick up because he had to use the bathroom before leaving, which left him unable to make his appointment that day. These transportation barriers are keeping county residents from getting to work, getting to appointments, getting to school, etc.

Overall, I have always loved being a resident of Anne Arundel County (AACo). I feel that every county has its strengths and weaknesses. How AACo is approaching its weakness still makes me a proud resident of AACo. By convening together and looking at the 1stgeneration research that has been sourced together into this report in order to take it to the 2ndgeneration level where we are aiming to understand why these disparities in all different areas of our community exist is a step in the right direction. What I thought was even better was after the presentation they had breakout sessions to take it to the 3rdgeneration of disparities research where they were aiming to provide solutions. They had different rooms for each of the communities most pressing needs and everyone was able to brainstorm ways to tackle these issues to make sustainable positive change for them. By doing this level of work year after year I think that we, as a county and as community organizations, will work together to change those top pressing needs and public health issues that are being faced by AACo’s diverse and continuingly changing population.

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Greetings from the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County! I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the many donors, nonprofit professional colleagues, and nonprofit board members and volunteers for the warm welcome that you have extended to me as the new President and CEO.

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Reflection- It 'makes you feel invisible' article- Cassie Hendrie

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Reflection- It 'makes you feel invisible' article- Cassie Hendrie

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I encountered an article from the Washington Post on Facebook today. The article was titled “It ‘makes you feel invisible’ When people can’t tell their coworkers of color apart, it’s a constant reminder that you’re an outsider.”

The article begins by discussing two males that were constantly mistaken for one another at work, one who is Filipino and one who is Vietnamese, Chinese and German. When they kept track, their coworkers confused them for each other 50 times. They would even receive emails meant for the each other. This article discusses this issue as a result of the cross-race effect.

Before reading this article, I had not heard the term ‘cross-race effect’. This term is when you believe that individuals of races other than your own “all look the same”. This made me stop and think. If we are treating individuals of races other than our own as though they all look the same, are we also treating them as though they all need the same care? We should be treating each person as an individual when it comes to their health.

This article also speaks to microaggressions received by individuals which leads to stress over time. These are instances such as asking where someone is from or telling someone they speak good English. This reminded me of what we were discussing in class yesterday about the negative cumulative effect that stress can have on an individual.

It is also mentioned that the cross-race effect can occur to any race that is in the minority of the population which I think is an important thought to keep in mind as well.

Overall, we should be aware and careful of the cross-race effect and microaggressions as we can all be a culprit or a victim of it.

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It happened again. Nicholas Pilapil got an email clearly meant for his co-worker, Jonathan Castanien. Previously, Pilapil had missed a meeting invitation because their white co-workers couldn't tell them apart.

So they came up with a cheeky way to address the problem. Between their desks, Pilapil and Castanien hung a sign that read, "This company has worked __ days without an incident. Incorrect names are avoidable."

Whenever a co-worker called one by the other's name, they would reset the count to zero. During the six months or so that the sign was up, the count never exceeded 14 days, Pilapil said. In total, they were misidentified about 50 times.

"It kind of makes you feel invisible, because they don't know who you are even though you are putting in this hard work," Pilapil said. "It was very shocking."

Pilapil called Castanien his "work twin" - sarcastically, because they bear only a passing resemblance to each other. Aside from being in their 20s, they don't share many characteristics: Pilapil is Filipino, has fuller lips, a squarer jaw and a darker complexion than Castanien, who is Vietnamese, Chinese and German.

While their cubicles were next to each other, Pilapil worked in communications and Castanien worked in public relations. The only thing that could have prompted their colleagues' confusion, Pilapil says, was that they both had Asian heritage.

Pilapil and Castanien's experience is common. When About Us asked people of color on Twitter for stories about being misidentified in predominantly white places, more than 400 people replied, including a digital marketing consultant whose client kept calling him by his gardener's name and a professor whose student turned in a paper with the wrong professor's name.

The implication is that, while white people are seen as individuals, other groups are often viewed as a monolith, with their race or ethnicity becoming the defining characteristic of who they are.

"If we just identify someone as a 'black person,' then that is how we are going to see them," said Kareem Johnson, an associate professor of psychology at Temple University.

While many on the receiving end of this phenomenon say it's another example of every day racism, it does not necessarily indicate negative racial attitudes, Johnson said. Rather, it's part of a larger cognitive problem called the cross-race effect - essentially, the impression that people of a race other than your own "all look the same."

"We have much more difficulty recognizing people of a different racial group than we do our own," he said.
[She's Asian and female. But she's not me.]
The problem can also occur when a person's name reflects their heritage. Johnson, who is one of a handful of African American professors in his department, says he is mistakenly called Hakeem or other names of similar ethnic origin.

White people also can be subjected to the cross-race effect in workplaces where they are in the minority.

That happened to Bill Watkins, a white man who taught English at a medical school in China in the early 1980s. When he returned to visit the school years later, a man he didn't know approached him like a close friend.

"Bill, why didn't you tell me you would be back?" Watkins recalled the man asking. "I would have come to meet you at the train station!"

After pretending to recognize him for a moment, Watkins realized he was being mistaken for another white teacher who also happened to be named Bill.

"I was amused that this would-be best friend would be confused for so long," Watkins said.

But the racial demographics of the United States make that far less likely, given 65 percent of U.S. workers are white. And white people are far more visible in U.S. media, making all Americans more attuned to their physical differences.

While #RepresentationMatters has become a cultural force in demanding visibility for people of color in film and television in recent years, generations of Americans have grown up watching mostly white faces on screen and in speaking roles where they are given more depth and humanity.

"As a minority in America, you're much more likely to get practice differentiating between white faces due to more exposure," Johnson said.

While there are cognitive explanations for the "work twin" problem, these kinds of common, subtle slights, known as microaggressions, cause undue stress over time. Microaggressions - such as asking Asian Americans where they're from or repeatedly mispronouncing a person's name - make people of color permanent outsiders and create constant discomfort in offices, schools and other places where they have to be.

"Study after study shows that there are negative compromises to well-being when people experience microaggressions," said David Rivera, an associate professor at Queens College, City University of New York, who has studied microaggressions for more than a decade. "It's the accumulation of microaggressions over the months and days and years that creates these compromises."

This can lead to mental health issues such as depression, traumatic stress symptoms and suicidal ideation. It's a particular problem in workplace hierarchies, which make it difficult to raise grievances over these slights, Rivera said.

"If you receive a microaggression from someone who is higher status, you likely have more to risk," he said. "People tend to keep those microaggressions to themselves because they don't want to be labeled as the troublemaker."

Workplace microaggressions can have a ripple effect, too, endangering people beyond the direct target.

An Indian American doctor working at a Minneapolis hospital described a situation when a nurse mistook her identity while asking about a patient's status. The nurse wanted to know whether it was okay for the patient who had liver disease to eat that day. Since the patient had no medical procedures scheduled, the doctor replied, "Yes, of course it is."

But the nurse was asking about a different patient.

"Another woman who had liver disease was being taken care of by one of my colleagues, who I think looks nothing like me, but she's Indian," said the doctor, who requested anonymity to avoid violating patient privacy laws. "And she came in the workroom and said, 'My patient couldn't go down to biopsy because someone let her eat.'"

The doctors realized that the nurse had mistaken their identities.

"The patient who needed an urgent diagnostic test got bumped off the schedule because she had eaten," the doctor said. "That woman continued to get sick, and she was too unstable to get the procedure done the following day."

The doctors wondered if there was anything they could do to prevent such mistakes. For those who experience cross-race effect frequently, psychological explanations can feel like a cold comfort.

Mandeep Singh, a 25-year-old Sikh man, is frequently confused for colleagues at the San Francisco tech company where he works, and he has made a point to call out anyone who confuses him for another brown-skinned co-worker, even when the vice president of his company made the error.

Singh said that he would like to see the company have a more open conversation with white co-workers about such microaggressions and the harm they cause to employees of color and the general office culture.

"I don't think it needs to be a dramatic and controversial conversation, but I think that individuals need to understand why this happens and where it is coming from," Singh said. "If an organization wants to be respectful, this is part of the conversation that people need to have."

Rivera, the microaggressions expert, said there is some benefit to calling out microaggressions in the moment. He suggests saying something like, "That interaction made me feel [fill in the blank]. Can we have a conversation about that?"

Don't be surprised if the action results in some pushback, he said.

"I do think that people should expect defensiveness, but we shouldn't let that defensiveness stop us from pursuing the conversation further," Rivera said.

But, he added, he'd avoid saying one triggering word: racism. It tends to shut down the conversation before it can start.

"I would never tell someone that 'what you said was racist,'" he said. "I would never start out with that. It may lead there."

Pilapil took another tactic when he put up the sign in his workplace marking the number of days since he was called by the wrong name. It both provided a way to quantify his experience with this particular microaggression and to shame co-workers at the theater company in Orange County, Calif.

But instead of starting a conversation or prompting his co-workers to be more sensitive, Pilapil ultimately was ordered to remove the sign.

"We were asked to take it down because they said it makes people uncomfortable. But we were uncomfortable," Pilapil said. "We said, 'We're sorry that your racism makes you uncomfortable.'"
Do your co-workers regularly confuse you for another person in your office? Share your story using the #WorkTwins hashtag or tell us about it through this submission form. We will publish more reader stories in an upcoming edition of About US.

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Co-workers keep mixing up people of color in the office. It's more than a mistake.

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It happened again. Nicholas Pilapil got an email clearly meant for his co-worker, Jonathan Castanien. Previously, Pilapil had missed a meeting invitation because their white co-workers couldn't tell them apart. So they came up with a cheeky way to address the problem.

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https://community-wealth.org/content/dealing-neighborhood-changes-primer-gentrification-and-policy-choices

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Ihunanya Onyejiuwa - Don't Mute DC - Reflection 4

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Ihunanya Onyejiuwa - Don't Mute DC - Reflection 4

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A few weeks ago, I read an article about a Metro PCS store in Washington D.C. that was being forced to stop playing go-go music due to excessive noise complaints. As I was reading the article, I knew exactly where this Metro PCS was located, as I’ve passed it numerous times throughout my life; most recently a few months ago when I attended a brunch at Half Smoke which is located across the street from the establishment. Every time I’m around that area, I enjoy hearing the nostalgic sounds of the percussion instruments and reminisce on past times in my life.

Go-go is a style of funk music that originated in Washington D.C., popularized by the ‘Godfather of Go-Go’, Chuck Brown, and many other influential artists from the area. In fact, the Metro PCS store is located on a block called Chuck Brown Way, emphasizing the strong ties that the city has with go-go music. Maybe I’m biased because I was born in Washington D.C. and raised in P.G. County Maryland, but go-go has had a large influence on my life, especially when I was younger. Go-go had its resurgence during the mid 2000s which created a connection between the music and the younger generation.

T-Mobile, which acquired Metro PCS a number of years back, reached out to the owner of the Metro PCS store and told him that he needed to turn off the music. Apparently, a nearby resident complained and was threatening a law suit. Firstly, the go-go music is only played during business hours. Secondly, the Metro PCS store is located in the Shaw District, an area with booming night-life, which is noisy during the evenings and weekends. Why is the store owner playing go-go any different or worse than a club blaring music into the early morning? My only explanation to this issue would be gentrification.

For many years, the phenomena of gentrification has begun to rear its head into Washington D.C. Originally known as the Chocolate City, the D.C. of then looks nothing like the D.C. of now. I would’ve never imagined seeing White people walking their dogs in NE and SE D.C.; this is now the new reality. There is absolutely nothing wrong with moving to be closer to an area for work opportunities, but I have a problem when people come into an area and disregard the culture that already existed before they arrived. I also have a problem when innocent people are displaced and treated as objects rather than human beings. It’s disrespectful, dismissive, and shows the disregard that people have for the culture. The Metro PCS store has been in existence for 24 years, but why are the complaints starting now?

After the news of the issue spread, many people including neighborhood residents, community activists, councilmembers, and even Mayor Muriel Bowser rallied to support the Metro PCS store owner. The “Don’t Mute DC” campaign was created along with an online petition that gained over 50,000 signatures. Shortly after, the CEO of T-Mobile put out a tweet that allowed the Metro PCS store owner to continue playing his go-go music. This situation shows the impact that a community’s resilience can have on changing an issue. It shows the strength that exists in numbers, and it also restores my faith in humanity.

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'Where's my go-go music?' Residents say turn up the funk after a complaint silenced a D.C. intersection.

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April 9 On the corner of a District street named after " the Godfather of Go-Go," passersby craned their heads Tuesday toward an electronics store known for pumping go-go's distinct percussive funk into the open air. "So, it's true then," shouted a man, running to catch a bus on Chuck Brown Way.

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Gun Violence Prevention Summit Reflection 4-Sofi Martinez

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Gun Violence Prevention Summit Reflection 4-Sofi Martinez

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During today’s conversation on gun violence the name John Lott was raised quite a bit as a person who has produced “evidence” for pro-gun groups and testified in front of Congress stating information in favor of guns. It also came out that John Lott was known for falsifying information and at one point was actually employed at the University of Maryland. Before this I had never heard of John Lott, but this discussion made me interested in finding out more about how he was able to get caught falsifying information, but still be called on to testify before Congress as an expert.
When looking further into John Lott’s work I found that gun violence is not the only area where he has released questionable work. He has also written papers on undocumented immigrants claiming that they are more likely to commit violent crimes than the general population. After this report was released, the Cato Institute debunked the methodology stating that with the data Lott used there was actually no way of determining if an immigrant was documented or not. Despite this fatal flaw, plenty of sources such as Fox News and then Attorney General Jeff Sessions had already cited the findings of the report as fact. False information like this is very dangerous for vulnerable populations such as undocumented immigrants that already live in precarious situations and for whom this type of sentiment can only increase prejudices and motivations for policies against them.

In addition to this report, there is plenty of other work done by Lott, that has been found to be false. For example, back in 1998 he published a book titled More Guns, Less Crime, which argued in favor of right-to-carry laws to decrease crime. This information was highly criticized and Lott never released the data that he said proved his statements, saying that it was lost in a computer crash. Despite the controversies, Lott was still able to testify before Congress in support of right-to-carry laws and was even cited in congressional bills. Another controversial paper released by Lott in 2001 stated that legalizing abortions results in increased murders because it leads to more babies being born out of wedlock who are not as cared for and therefore are more likely to grow up to commit violent crimes. This paper was of course also criticized and stated by others to have many unfounded claims.

What surprises me the most about John Lott is not that he releases false reports, but that many individuals listen to him despite all of the controversies. When it was brought up at today’s event that he had been employed at the University of Maryland, I thought this happened prior to any of his controversial research being released. However, when I looked into it I found that he worked at the University of Maryland from 2007 to 2010 and during this time lectured for classes. This therefore happened after many of his controversial works, such as the book More Guns, Less Crime, were published. It is  very troubling that individuals who are known for producing work that can have such a negative impact, especially for minority communities, can still receive so much positive attention and be employed in academic settings. This example is a good reminder though of the need to investigate research findings regardless of what accolades and affiliations a person might have, rather than just believing that they are true. Unfortunately, many people do not have the time to do this and may end up believing false information or distrusting all research.

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Reflection 2- Dr. Kessler's Gun Violence Presentation- Portia Buchongo

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Reflection 2- Dr. Kessler's Gun Violence Presentation- Portia Buchongo

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It was clear from Dr. Kessler’s experience, that he is very passionate about gun violence prevention, which is to be expected given that he has been personally impacted by in in his work as a physician and personally with the loss of his friend. Though I agree that this is a relevant public health issue in terms of suicide and homicide rates. I would argue that any gains in reducing gun violence will likely pubic policies and the way in which these policies are implementation to address purchasing and access to guns via trade shows and in underground markets. However, it is also critical to address the inequities in law enforcement and sentencing as it relates to current laws in place intended to protect those that wish to protect themselves in circumstances that may warrant the use of firearms as protection. For example, the controversial “Stand your Ground” law which protects those using a firearm to defend against an intruder on their property is not equally enforced across racial and gender lines.  For example, Marissa Alexander, a black woman in Florida who was charged with aggravated assault and sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot in fear of her life to protect herself from domestic abuser. I also think the law itself perpetuates fear and provides a safe harbor for citizens to act as vigilantes in matters that warrant local law enforcement involvement.

Though I agree with Dr. Kessler's position on the urgency of addressing gun violence. His comparison with the UK is ran example often used when discussing the prevalence of gun violence in the U.S., while neglecting other forms of violence that are prevalent in the UK. Violent crimes such as stabbings are on the rise in the UK, particularly in London, that had 168 knife offences per 100,000 in 2017-18. I recognize that through the American lens, this may seem minuscule, and that the use of a firearm is incomparable to knife. However, it is misleading to present a picture that paints countries like the UK as the ideal, when there are societal issues around class, racism, safety and violence that are prevalent within their country. In terms of violent crimes, there will always be issues that are unique to the UK and America, which is why it is always important to provide context when discussing gun violence and violent crimes.

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There is nothing new about knife crime: sharp objects, blades and knives have been used as weapons for thousands of years.

But after falling for several years, knife crime in England and Wales is rising again. So what is happening?

There were 40,147 offences in the 12 months ending in March 2018, a 16% increase on the previous year and the highest number since 2011, the earliest point for which comparable data is available.

Out of the 44 police forces, 38 recorded a rise in knife crime since 2011.

Police figures are prone to changes in counting rules and methods, but data for NHS hospitals in England over a similar period showed a 7% increase in admissions for assault by a sharp object, leading the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to conclude there had been a "real change" to the downward trend in knife crime.

All of the statistics here relate to England and Wales. Policing, criminal justice and sentencing are devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which also collect crime data in slightly different ways.

In the latest figures, which include only selected knife offences, about half, 18,787, were assaults that caused an injury or where there was an intent to cause serious harm; a further 17,207 involved robberies.

These figures focus on homicides, or killings, a category comprising cases of murder, manslaughter and infanticide. In about two out of every five killings, the victim is fatally assaulted with a sharp object or stabbed to death.

The proportion of homicides that are knife-related has remained broadly the same over the past decade, though the overall number is lower. Most of the victims are men. The "Other" category includes poisoning, burning, shaking, being struck by a vehicle, negligence, neglect, explosions and cases where the cause isn't known.

Although knife crime is on the increase, it should be seen in context. It's relatively unusual for a violent incident to involve a knife, and rarer still for someone to need hospital treatment.

Most violence is caused by people hitting, kicking, shoving or slapping someone, sometimes during a fight and often when they're drunk; the police figures on violence also include crimes of harassment and stalking.

The Crime Survey for England and Wales, which includes offences that aren't reported to police, indicates that overall levels of violence have fallen by 25% since 2013.

Reality Check: Are England and Wales experiencing a crime wave?

However, the police-recorded statistics - which tend to pick up more "high harm" crimes- have indicated that the most serious violent crime is increasing.

In the year to June this year, 20,113 people were cautioned, reprimanded or convicted for carrying a knife in England and Wales, most of whom were adults. But one in five, 4,291, was under the age of 18, the highest number for eight years.

Knife crime tends to be more prevalent in large cities, particularly in London.

For every 100,000 people in the capital, there were 137 knife offences in 2017-18, with separate figures, from the mayor's office, showing that young black and minority ethnic teenage boys and men were disproportionately affected, as both victims and perpetrators.

Next highest was the West Midlands, with 65 knife offences per 100,000 population, and Yorkshire and the Humber, 54.

The explanations for rising knife crime have ranged from police budget cuts, to gang violence and disputes between drug dealers.

Some have also cited the steep decline in the use by police of stop and search.

The powers enable officers to search people on the street if they have reasonable grounds to suspect they may be carrying weapons, illegal drugs, stolen property or items to be used to commit a crime. People can also be searched without reasonable grounds if a senior officer believes there's a risk of serious violence in a particular area.

From 2009, the number of stops has been falling across England and Wales, especially in London, primarily because of concerns that the measures unfairly targeted young black men, wasted police resources and were ineffective at catching criminals.

Theresa May, as home secretary, led efforts to drive down the number of stops, but there's anecdotal evidence from police that young people are now more inclined to carry knives because of growing confidence they won't be stopped.

The statistical basis for that is far from clear - but Scotland Yard and the mayor of London are now preparing to increase the use of stop and search again.

The average prison term for those jailed for carrying a knife has gone up from almost five months to well over seven months, with 81% serving at least three months, compared with 57% only 10 years ago.

Sentences for all kinds of violent crime have been getting tougher, particularly for knife crime. The Ministry of Justice tracks the penalties imposed for those caught carrying knives and other offensive weapons in England and Wales.

In the year ending June 2018, 33% were jailed and a further 16% were given a suspended prison sentence. The figures for 2008, when the data was first compiled, were 18% and 8% respectively. Over the same period, there's been a steady decline in the use of community sentences, and a sharp drop in cautions, from 34% to 15%.

Public anxiety about knife crime, legislative changes and firmer guidance for judges and magistrates have led to the stiffer sentences, although offenders under 18 are still more likely to be cautioned than locked up.

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There is nothing new about knife crime: sharp objects, blades and knives have been used as weapons for thousands of years. But after falling for several years, knife crime in England and Wales is rising again. So what is happening?

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Gun Violence Teach-In -- Activity Reflection -- Ivy Benjenk

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Gun Violence Teach-In -- Activity Reflection -- Ivy Benjenk

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I went to the gun violence teach-in tonight, which was a really great session. US Congressman Jamie Raskin was there, which I thought was really impressive. He made a great point that 97% of Americans support universal background checks and that the law has passed through the House, but it will not pass the Senate and the President will not get on board. It is amazing how far the populace and the politicians have become. He also spoke about how there are high rates of theft from gun stores (which I had never heard about) and how we need to get stricter requirements for storage of guns in stores. He made a lot of great points and I am happy that he is working on practical policies.
There was also a wonderful panel:
Chief Mitchell of the UMD police department- He talked about his experience with gun violence after more than 40 years of law enforcement. He made a lot of great points, but I loved this one quote: "how many lives do we need to lose because of short tempers and big guns?"
Ericka Bridgeford- Baltimore Ceasefire 365 (an anti-gun violence advocacy group)- She emphasized that gun violence is still a huge issue, because it disproportionately affects minorities. If it equally affected white people than we would have declared it an epidemic years ago and taken the appropriate action against it. She also talked about the impact of adverse childhood experiences (like having a parent in the criminal justice system due to mandatory minimums) and how it can increase one's susceptibility to violence.
Chee Bullock- Capital Region violence interruption program- Chee discussed how he was someone who was on both sides of a gun at one point in his life. At age 25, he was stabbed 13 times, because of beef with a rival group and wound up in the PG ER. He was contacted by Dr. Richardson to enroll in a study of male victims of violence and this lead to a new life as a credible messenger, helping victims of violence enroll in services in the hospital. Chee has enrolled 116 people in the program and only one patient has had a subsequent violent injury. Due to his success, the Maryland legislature has funded similar programs throughout the state.
Dr. Richardson - UMD- Dr. Richardson is a resource right here at UMD. He is a Professor in the African American studies program. He is really doing 4th generation health disparities research. He uses mixed methods research to design culturally competent programs for vulnerable populations. He would be a great resource to come to our class.
Andrea Chamblee- Wife of Capital Gazette reporter- She was the most powerful speaker of the group. I cried through most of her talk. She mentioned how her life has been turned upside down in the last year and she has been working hard to figure out what her role is in all of this. She recognized that mass shooting victims get all the attention, when it is really young African American men that are being affected by gun violence. She said multiple times that this is the civil rights issue of our time. But she figures that she can use the attention that she has received and continues to receive to make white people question their confidence that gun violence will not happen to them and rally them around gun control laws.
Jen Pauliukonis- Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence- Jen spoke about being really affected by Sandy Hook (she was raising two small children at the time) and want to do something about gun violence. She then realized that she was living close to Baltimore and never even thought about the gun violence in her backyard. She described herself as a white person that made rationalizations about why black people get shot, which I think is a very common attitude, and thus she decided to create her organization. She talked about the importance of taking action at the state level and talked about some great legislation recently passed in Maryland, including funding the violence interruption program for hospitals throughout the state as well as funding to conduct a trace study for illegal guns to find out where they are coming from.
Lastly, there was a fairly large group from Riderwood, a seniors community here in Maryland. They have have 2500 members in the gun control group and have decided that they want to take action on this issue. Earlier this year, they planned a march for the residents of the community to march along their grandchildren. The CEO said that he would not let them march, but them did so anyway. They came to the teach-in to learn about what they could do next. It was really inspiring to see a group of seniors want to get involved in this issue and looking to researchers for the answers on what to advocate for.

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Nurses Play Cards on Break: Reflection Number Four (Brittney Smith)

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Nurses Play Cards on Break: Reflection Number Four (Brittney Smith)

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As a working nurse I feel a sense of prestige, pride and respect when I tell people what I do; however, to be a nurse is to understand that many people will never know the lengths you go to care for them or their family. Nurses work 8 to 12-hour shifts: Days, nights, evenings, weekends and holidays. There are no snow days and hardly enough paid leave hours to take a sick day. It is undoubtedly a rewarding job, but also a thankless job. My fellow classmates Ivy and Portia can attest to the stress the job creates, but the more time you spend in the nursing profession the tougher skin you build and the easier it is to start to build strategy on how to obtain a work life balance. So, with all of that said it feels like a kick in the face to hear someone trash talking what I do. This time the criticism is not coming from a disgruntle patient at times that is to be expected – people do not come to care at their best, but it is the blatant misinformed condemnation from a political fixture, Republican Senator Maureen Walsh of Washington state. During a senate floor meeting Senator Walsh was debating on removing uninterrupted breaks and requiring mandatory overtime for nurses.

Her claims stem from recognizing that in her state has several rural hospitals that operate in the red and therefore mandating uninterrupted breaks and implementing mandatory overtime would assist in the revenue. Her position alone if it were backed solely behind financial concern would be at least palatable, but it was her comment of, “By putting these types of mandates on a critical access hospitals that literally serve a handful of individuals, I would submit to you those nurses probably do get breaks. They probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day.” Okay, so that sounded beyond disrespectful to me. None of my patients care if I’m having a bad day, if I haven’t used the restroom all 12 hours of my shift, how much effort I place into making sure their medical orders are safe and correct. Nope, its not even a thought in their minds of their family members because nurses are looked at as the concierge service to the hospital or a waitress. The amount of schooling it takes to prepare to become a nurse on top of the very challenging licensing exam there is be able to practice nursing is beyond difficult. I’ve never played cards on a shift and have never seen any of my colleagues do so.

Nurses are a major part of the healthcare team. They work in conjunction with many disciplines in order to achieve the best outcome for patient, hospitals and organization. To be frank your nurse may have less medical training than your physician, but definitely can go toe to toe with a physician when it comes to recommendations and knowing the patient better. Nurses are the eyes and ears to all situations regarding health. Overall, the passive aggressive comment was a breech in respect people should have for nurses. It was unwarranted and in unnecessary. The Washington State Nurses Association banned to request that the Senator resign or that she shadows a nurse for the day. The senator received so much backlash after the video clip went viral that she apologized and agreed to see what nurses really go through.

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A Washington state lawmaker has apologized after saying that nurses in small, rural hospitals "probably play cards" for much of their day, and she agreed to shadow an RN.

Republican state Sen. Maureen Walsh made the comments last week during a debate on a bill proposing uninterrupted meal and rest breaks for nurses, as well as further protections against mandatory overtime.

"I want to offer my heartfelt apologies to those I offended with my comments on the Senate floor last Tuesday. I was tired, and in the heat of argument on the Senate floor, I said some things about nurses that were taken out of context - but still they crossed the line," Walsh said in a statement on Monday.

Walsh said she was trying to make the point that many small hospitals already face financial hardship and that the bill would further these strains.

Walsh wanted an amendment to exclude hospitals with fewer than 25 beds from the meal and rest break requirements.
'Probably play cards': Washington state lawmaker angers nurses
"By putting these types of mandates on a critical access hospital that literally serves a handful of individuals, I would submit to you those nurses probably do get breaks," Walsh said on the Senate floor last week. "They probably play cards for a considerable amount of the day."

Her comments drew the ire of many nurses and others. Online petitions circulated, one calling for her to shadow a nurse and another calling for her to resign.

The Washington State Nurses Association website crashed on Friday after too many people viewed a blog post describing Walsh's comments as disrespectful and patronizing.

The state nursing association said recruiting nurses to rural hospitals is already challenging. Denying them uninterrupted breaks and imposing mandatory overtime would further complicate the hiring process, the association said.

The state Senate and House passed different versions of the bill, and lawmakers will have to reconcile the different versions before it can become law.

Walsh had also introduced an amendment that limited the length of a nurse's shift to eight hours. After her comments, Walsh said she heard from thousands of nurses who say they prefer having 12 hour shifts, and the lawmaker now supports removing that amendment from the bill.

However, Walsh doubled down in her support of excluding small hospitals from the meal and rest break requirements.

"I am worried that 61 of our critical access hospitals, those small-town hospitals with 25 beds or fewer, are already operating in the red. This will make them redder, and I am worried this added cost will force some of them to close," she said.

In her apology, Walsh said her mother was a nurse and that she has great respect for the work they do. She also agreed to follow a nurse on a 12-hour shift "and walk a mile in her shoes."
Contributing: Kristin Lam; The Associated Press Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter @RyanW_Miller This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A lawmaker said some nurses 'play cards' at work. After backlash, she agrees to shadow a nurse for 12 hours
"I really don't believe nurses at our critical access hospitals spend their days playing cards, but I did say it, and I wish I could reel it back," Walsh said.

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A lawmaker said some nurses 'play cards' at work. After backlash, she agrees to shadow a nurse for 12 hours

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A Washington state lawmaker has apologized after saying that nurses in small, rural hospitals "probably play cards" for much of their day, and she agreed to shadow an RN. Republican state Sen. Maureen Walsh made the comments last week during a debate on a bill proposing uninterrupted meal and rest breaks for nurses, as well as further protections against mandatory overtime.

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Personal Reflection 3: The U.S. Government Perpetuates Disparities - Brianna Aldridge

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Personal Reflection 3: The U.S. Government Perpetuates Disparities - Brianna Aldridge

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Last week, the historic Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France caught fire. News of the fire broke across the nation and Instagram feeds began to fill with people reminiscing on their trip to see the famed building. Not long after the coverage of the fire became the focus of most news stations, the White House pledged to help rebuild Notre Dame, using U.S. funds to support a foreign ally. I find this problematic for a number of reasons, two of which I will highlight here.

Reason 1. The Catholic Church has enough financial stability to fund not only the already established construction of Notre Dame but also the additional work that will now need to be done due to the fire. If the United States government wants to provide financial aid to a disastrous situation, they should look domestically. Examples of sites and places in the U.S. that need financial assistance to recover include Flint, Michigan and three historically Black churches in Southwest Louisiana. As most in the realm of public health know, Flint has been dealing with dangerously high levels of lead in their water since about 2015. This economically disadvantaged community waited years to receive any form of governmental aid. As a result, lead levels are just now beginning to drop. In Louisiana, race-based hate motivated a young white man to commit arson on three historically Black churches in the 7th District Baptist Association. Funding to rebuild these places of worship came only through donations from everyday people via GoFundMe.

Reason 2. The quick action of the U.S. government (led by the Trump administration) to provide aid to Paris and Notre Dame is indicative of a larger issue: a lack of care, compassion and dedication to Black people and poor people - people who have been historically disenfranchised in this country. We can even go beyond Flint and Louisiana and examine Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory that never received the aid it needed after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island. The Trump administration says that the country has a history of financial woes. Is that enough to make the decision not to help a sister country, still reeling from a natural disaster?

Time and again, we see who really has the power in this country. We see who really matters and who wins at the end of the day. Notre Dame will be fine. I hope that someday I can say the same for Flint, those who belong to the 7th District Baptist Association, and the residents of Puerto Rico.

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On Monday, April 15, Paris residents watched as the historic Notre Dame Cathedral erupted in flames, leading to the building's iconic spire to collapse. Since the tragedy, people from all over the world have come together and pledged that they will help rebuild the Notre Dame in any way they can. However, the White House response to the Notre Dame fire is leading people to compare this tragedy to other, ongoing disasters, and questions about who gets help in a time of need.

Following the Notre Dame fire, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement on Tuesday, April 16 that the White House would assist in Notre Dame's rehabilitation. It's still unknown how much aid the Trump administration will send to Paris, but science journalist Erin Biba pointed out through a tweet that Notre Dame has already received an estimated $675 million in donations since April 15. A part of Sanders' statement read,

France is the oldest ally of the United States, and we remember with grateful hearts the tolling of Notre Dame's bells on September 12, 2001, in solemn recognition of the tragic September 11th attacks on American soil. Those bells will sound again. We stand with France today and offer our assistance in the rehabilitation of this irreplaceable symbol of Western civilization.

Elite Daily reached out to the White House for any details regarding the aid given to repair Notre Dame, but did not immediately hear back.

Following Sanders' statement, Twitter started comparing the White House's response to the Notre Dame fire to ongoing tragedies which resulted in illness or even death to Americans, such as the Flint water crisis and the aftereffects ofPuerto Rico's Hurricane Maria. In a number of tweets, people pointed out the lack of assistance that was sent to Flint, Michigan, which has been struggling with lead-contaminated water for years. M Live reported on April 16 that the town had only just received the last $77.7 million in federal funding to improve their water infrastructure as a part of a $120 million grant from March 2017. In addition, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz stated on March 26 that Puerto Rico still needs $600 million to feed island residents following the 2017 hurricane which devastated the island. Elite Daily reached out to the White House for comment on criticisms that aid could be used elsewhere, but did not immediately hear back.

In December 2015, Flint, Michigan declared a state of emergency over the high traces of lead and other toxins in their water supplydue to a new pipeline being installed between Lake Huron to Flint. A research team from Hurley Medical Center found that following the switch, the number of children with lead poisoning doubled.On Jan. 16, 2016 the Obama administration authorized $5 million in aid be sent to the city, however, in April 2018, former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder ended a program that provided free water bottles to Flint residents. In March 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave Flint a $100 million grant Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to fund an upgrade to their drinking water supply. According to a Jan. 16 report from M Live, testing showed that lead levels in Flint's water supply is the lowest it's been in years, but there's still work that needs to be done.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News/Getty Images

That's not the only crisis Americans are still dealing with.In September 2017, U.S. territory Puerto Rico was hit with Category 4 storm Hurricane Maria, which displaced thousands of residents and left many without access to food, water, and electricity. Even though President Donald Trump has claimed that Puerto Rico has received $91 billion for the hurricane, a White House official told NBC News on April 2 that the federal government has allocated only $40 billion for disaster relief in the U.S. territory. However, a March 25 report from The Washington Post claimed that the Trump administration is looking to limit federal funding to Puerto Rico and will reportedly not approve any money be sent to the region aside from food stamps. In a statement emailed to Elite Daily on March 27, White House spokesperson Judd Deere said,

The Trump Administration is committed to the complete recovery of Puerto Rico. The island has received unprecedented support and is on pace to receive tens of billions of dollars from taxpayers. However, the Trump Administration will not put taxpayers on the hook to correct a decades old spending crisis that has left the island with deep-rooted economic problems.

Mario Tama/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church organization isn't low on funds with which to restore Notre Dame. According to CNN, the Vatican Bank reportedly owns nearly $8 billion in assets, and within a day of the fire, companies and wealthy donors had promised some €700 million to help fund reconstruction. So, the White House's assistance to rehabilitate the structure might not be as pressing as other matters.

Notre Dame's devastating fire was absolutely a hit to the entire world, but judging by the huge amount of donations already, it looks like it's in good hands.

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The White House Response To The Notre Dame Fire Is Raising Questions About Who Gets Help

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On Monday, April 15, Paris residents watched as the historic Notre Dame Cathedral erupted in flames, leading to the building's iconic spire to collapse. Since the tragedy, people from all over the world have come together and pledged that they will...

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Reflection- Transgender Military Policy- Cassie Hendrie

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Reflection- Transgender Military Policy- Cassie Hendrie

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When I opened The Capital newspaper the other day, I saw a headline that stated the ‘Naval Academy will enforce Pentagon’s transgender ban’. Prior to reading this headline I had not heard anything about the new military transgender policy, so I began to do some more reading on it. I found that, as of April 12, President Trump brought restrictions on how transgender individuals may serve.

While I am not an expert on this topic, I know that factors such as ignorance, stigma and discrimination of transgender individuals may lead to them receiving a lower quality of health care. I also found that these factors can result in a two to three-fold increase in negative mental health outcomes (Shumer, 2018).

After conducting further reading I found a study done in the Netherlands where transgender youth who were raised with ‘gender affirming treatment’ grew up to be adults with mental health status similar to that of the general adult population (Shumer, 2018). This really drove home the point for me that we need to rethink this transgender military policy. I believe if we tell people they cannot be openly transgender in the military there will be individuals serving who may feel that they are not happy with their gender identity which is not good for their health. This policy is treating transgender individuals very unequally.

As the headline I read stated, military colleges admissions policies are being altered by this policy as well. As I was looking up information on this topic, I also came across articles on transgender students losing scholarships to military colleges as a result. Educational opportunities are being impacted by this policy as well.

This ruling coming from our military is a definite step backwards. We have made small steps forward on more individualized levels such as gender inclusive bathrooms and using gender inclusive language to be welcoming to everyone which is a step in the right direction. I believe that we need to expand these efforts to a more societal effort in order to make a real impact.

Reference:

Shumer, D. (2018). Health Disparities Facing Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Youth Are Not Inevitable. Pediatrics,141(3). doi:10.1542/peds.2017-4079

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Transgender people will be effectively banned from attending the Naval Academy beginning in the 2020 school year, the Defense Department confirmed Monday.

Policy barring transgender people from serving in the United States military will also affect the Naval Academy, which has under previous policy accepted transgender students and retained midshipmen who want to transition during the course of their education.

Naval Academy alumna Alex Marberry became one of the first sailors to transition after former Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter under the Obama administration lifted restrictions on service in 2016. A midshipman, Regan Kibby, is one of six service members suing the Trump administration for the ban.

Those enrolled in the service academies for fall 2019 will fall under the previous military policy, said spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell. The Carter policy allowed transgender people to serve openly and covered medical expenses for gender affirmation surgery.

But those applying to the Naval Academy for the 2020-2021 school year and beyond will be enrolled under former Defense Secretary James Mattis' 2018 policy, which brings back restrictions on how transgender people can serve.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Capital today. "
President Donald Trump rolled back Obama-era protections, first outright banning transgender people from serving in the military via Twitter. The Defense Department later refined the ban to place significant restrictions on transgender people who might want to serve.

The Mattis policy, which bans people who have undergone or will undergo gender affirmation surgery, went into affect April 12 after the Supreme Court allowed the ban to proceed and remaining court injunctions dissolved.

The policy implemented Friday bars transitioning, requires service members to serve in the gender assigned at birth and disqualifies those who have been diagnosed with "gender dysphoria," a condition the American Psychiatric Association defines as a conflict between a person's physical or assigned gender and the gender with which that person identifies.

The policy allows for the dismissal of people who do not comply with the new standards.
twitter.com/DTOhl

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Naval Academy will enforce Pentagon's transgender ban

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Transgender people will be effectively banned from attending the Naval Academy beginning in the 2020 school year, the Defense Department confirmed Monday. Policy barring transgender people from serving in the United States military will also affect the Naval Academy, which has under previous policy accepted transgender students and retained midshipmen who want to transition during the course of their education.

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National Children of Incarcerated Parents Conference - Activity Reflection - Sofi Martinez

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National Children of Incarcerated Parents Conference - Activity Reflection - Sofi Martinez

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From April 14thto the 17thI attended the Second National Conference on Children of Incarcerated Parents. This conference focused on children whose lives often do not get considered when their parents are being sentenced, even though incarceration has a large effect on a child’s life. Recognition of the impact of parental incarceration on a child has grown though, and it is even recognized as an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ACEs have been shown to be associated with many negative health outcomes including adoption of health risk behaviors, development of diseases and disabilities, and ultimately early death.

Throughout the conference there was a tension in describing the many negative outcomes that children with incarcerated parents may experience and balancing this with not making these children sound like they are doomed for failure. This was intensified because of false statistics that have been spread around children of incarcerated parents with faulty studies claiming statistics such as seven out of ten children with incarcerated parents grow up to become involved with the criminal justice system. The conference showed how difficult it can be to get false statistics out of the discourse as even though many presenters spoke about this statistic being false, there were still times when participants would bring it up as a fact. The issue with this statistic is not only that it is false, but also that it portrays a picture of this population as potential future criminals rather than children struggling with having their parent incarcerated.

Still, while this large statistic is false, there is evidence that under certain conditions children of incarcerated parents have higher levels of criminal justice involvement than the general population. I have struggled with how to use this information in a positive way that does not stigmatize the population. One of the speakers at the conference, Ann Adalist-Estrin, described the issue with using this information very well. She said that there are three major factors that feed into these higher levels of criminal justice involvement. The three factors are trauma, marginalization, and racism. We often discuss the trauma aspect of having an incarcerated parent, but fail to discuss the marginalization and racism components that feed into criminal justice system involvement. Without incorporating racism and marginalization into the conversation we leave out how the criminal justice system disproportionately affects communities of color. This omission makes it seem like communities of color are disproportionately more involved in the criminal justice system only because of increased trauma, and neglects to discuss the systematic racism that has been embedded into the system.

As described in the article by Stephen Thomas, “The Color Line: Race Matters in the Elimination of Health Disparities,” race, not just ethnicity, is important to measure. In this article one of the examples given for the importance of capturing race is how pregnant Black women were disproportionately criminalized for testing positive for drug use during pregnancy. Across the criminal justice system there are countless examples of how Black populations are discriminated against to make them more likely to become involved with the system, showing how it is not only important to capture data on race in this space, but also that it is important to discuss race as a major factor in criminal justice involvement.

Another theme that was emphasized during the conference was the importance of involving the children and parents that have been directly affected by the criminal justice system in any work about them. The conference took this practice into action by having many children of incarcerated parents and parents who had been incarcerated speak throughout the four days of the conference. One of the stories that stood out to me as particularly impactful and illustrative of how the criminal justice system fails families whose loved ones are incarcerated, was when a woman described a phone call she had received from her incarcerated father. During the call her father asked her if she could contact the daughter of one of the men he was incarcerated with and let her know that her father had been ill for a while and had recently passed away. The woman described her disappointment and anger with the prison for not contacting the man’s daughter to inform her not only that her father had passed away, but also for not contacting her ahead of time during the long duration of his illness to let her know that her father was not doing well and would likely pass away soon. Instead the prison did not notify the man’s daughter, leaving it to her to relay such a difficult message to a woman she barely knew. This story emphasized to me the many very simple things that still need to be changed to improve the criminal justice system.
There were also many presenters that emphasized the importance of Community Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR), where affected community members are the main drivers and participants in the research being done on children of incarcerated parents. For example, in the panel titled “Nothing About Us Without Us: Families Informing Policy and Moving Hearts and Minds,” Dr. Whitney Hollins, who experienced the incarceration of her father as a child, described how she used this experience to drive and direct her research working with children experiencing parental incarceration. For her research, she interviewed children with incarcerated parents to identify their feelings and major stressors around visiting their parents in prison and what could be done to improve family visiting conditions. The Osborn Association, a community based organization in New York City, then described how they have moved this and other second-generation research of understanding the problems into fourth-generation research where they have assisted with implementing family friendly visiting spaces and practices in correctional facilities, and in working to get policies passed to improve visits for children. One policy they were able to pass after CBPAR revealed that children are often turned away from visits because of not following the prison dress code, was to require that all New York correctional facilities post online their visiting rules. This has made it much easier for families to ensure they adhere to the dress code and avoid driving many hours to visit a loved one only to be turned away. Overall, I found the conference very useful in not only learning about the issues affecting children of incarcerated parents and how race plays a role in this, but also seeing how community based organizations have taken this research into action.

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Reflection #2 - Segregation by Design by Joe Galarraga

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Reflection #2 - Segregation by Design by Joe Galarraga

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I was initially drawn to the field of public health due to an interest in city dynamics. More specifically, I became curious about how factors such as segregation, racism, and policy have influenced cities overtime to produce the landscapes we see today. When Dr. Natalie Slopen of the epidemiology department recommended a video called "Segregation by Design", I figured it would be informative and relevant to my interests. The video is seventeen minutes long and was written by Richard Rothstein (the author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America) and animated/directed by Mark Lopez. The film focuses on distinguishing the difference between de facto segregation and de jure segregation: segregation by happenstance or by law. It also explains how practices like redlining and blockbusting had effects on segregation that are still seen today. While these concepts were not entirely new to me, watching the film made me reflect on two things: the hypocrisy of our political system and the neighborhood where I currently live.

The film makes it clear from the beginning that racialized segregation is the result of policies at all levels of government: federal, state, and local. It then goes on to explain how these policies are in conflict with the Constitution of the United States, specifically the 5th, 13th, and 14th Amendments. In the film, Rothstein says, "...racially explicit policy on the part of federal, state, and local governments designed to segregate metropolitan areas, then we can understand that we have an Unconstitutional residential landscape, and if it's Unconstitutional, we have a duty to remedy it." I viewed this statement in stark contrast to the conversations that we have had in our class regarding gun ownership and the 2nd Amendment. Where is our country's outrage over violations of the 5th, 13th, and 14th Amendments? So often the argument for protecting gun rights stems from some rhetoric concerning the sanctity of our Constitution. I do believe the Constitution is a powerful document, but it is hypocritical to pick-and-choose what Amendments are worth defending. In visiting almost every city in the United States, it's clear that the 2nd Amendment is not the only part of the Constitution under attack. I would hope to see those literally up-in-arms about the 2nd Amendment to be allies to those advocating for more affordable housing, resources for public schools in deprived areas, and reparations. Because ultimately, these policies are paramount in upholding the Constitution of the United States as well.

This video also led me to reflect on the segregation in Baltimore. The book I suggested for our class's book club, Not In My Neighborhood, delves further into the history of segregation in Baltimore, but I read it years before I moved back to the city. I was recently introduced to The White L and the Black Butterfly as a way to understand racial patterning and segregation in the city. As the linked article shows, the white area of the city has most of the amenities and services that the city offers. I live in the "white L", and I take for granted that I can take a free bus to the train station within a moment's notice. I take for granted that there are several world-class hospitals within a few mile radius of my house. I take for granted that there is a weekly farmer's market 5 blocks from my doorstep. I benefit from the long-running history of segregation in Baltimore, and while it doesn't feel good to admit that, it's easy to see. The defeat of the Red Line project, a proposed mass transit line that would run east-to-west across the "black butterfly", has major implications regarding who can access services in Baltimore. I thought the project had major implications towards equity in the city, but it appears that Baltimore is not ready to shed it's history of racialized discrimination and segregation. I hope one day that the benefits in Baltimore I know will be accessible to all people.

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Mark lopez

director, designer & animator

Mark Lopez is an award-winning director of motion design who has refined his craft at world-class motion studios on both coasts of the U.S. alongside some of the most creative minds in the country. Mark specializes in illustrated 2D mixed media storytelling with an eye for composition. Silkworm is Mark's studio practice, based in Austin, Texas, and collaborating all over the world.

RICHARD ROTHSTEIN

WRITER & NARRATOR

Richard Rothstein is a distinguished fellow of the Economic Policy Institute, a senior fellow, emeritus, at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and a senior fellow of the Haas Institute at the University of California (Berkeley). Richard's book, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America , was designated one of ten finalists on the National Book Awards' long list for the best nonfiction book of 2017.

YOUTOOCANWOO

MUSIC, SOUND DESIGN & MIX

YouTooCanWoo is a an artist-owned music and audio production company based in Brooklyn, New York. YouTooCanWoo's holistic approach to audio blurs the lines between the conventional roles of music and sound design, blending genres, influences, and historical context to create truly immersive experiences. They have been responsible for the production and mixing of MGMT's debut EP Time to Pretend, creating the sound identity of Spotify, MTV, and NBCUniversal; the sound design for official SXSW Film Festival selection Mateo. as well as the original music, sound design and mix in ads for major brands like Apple, Google, Hershey's, and Pepsi.

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Short Film based on the book, The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein. The forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy.

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Reflection 2: A Mysterious Infection, Spanning the Globe in a Climate of Secrecy - Maya Deane-Polyak

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Reflection 2: A Mysterious Infection, Spanning the Globe in a Climate of Secrecy - Maya Deane-Polyak

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Article Summary:

A recent article published in the New York Times discussed the emergence of what some experts call a “superbug” in hospitals across the world. Candida auris is a type of drug-resistant fungus that preys on patients with weakened immune systems. As stated in the article, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately half of the patients who are infected with C. auris will die within three months. This could have serious implications for the world’s population. In fact, it has been projected that by 2050, more people will die of drug-resistant infections than of cancer. What makes this particular germ so problematic is that it does not respond to any antifungal medications and hospitals have had to shut down and renovate intensive care units to get rid of it.

Public health experts attribute the rise of C. auris to the overuse of antibiotics in the medical establishment and in agricultural practices. However, scientists are less concerned with the origin of the germ and more focused on devising a solution to treat and prevent its transmission. In the midst of C. auris infections, health establishments and the US government have been reluctant to disclose information to the public about these outbreaks, arguing that it will evoke unnecessary fear and keep people away from hospitals due to an issue that they cannot do anything to avoid. This lack of information and transparency has sparked outrage particularly among patient advocates. If the secrecy continues, leaders may fail to direct necessary attention and resources towards a drug-resistant germ that is shaping up to be a serious threat to the public’s health.

Implications for Health Equity:

Since hospitals and the government have kept publicity about these outbreaks to a minimum, such secrecy has the potential to impact health equity efforts. For instance, lack of transparency and information fuels distrust, which is already amplified in marginalized communities due to historic events that exploited these groups.

While the article did not specify demographic characteristics of infected persons, it did provide estimates for geographic locations across the globe. C. auris is present on every continent, with most cases concentrated in India, Pakistan, South Africa, and the United States. Within the US, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois have seen the most cases of C. auris. In thinking about this information, I wonder if C. auris will disproportionately affect marginalized communities? I believe this may be possible due to the fact that C. auris targets individuals with weakened immune systems. While certain medications can weaken one’s immune system, conditions such as diabetes, HIV, and malnutrition can compromise a person’s immune system as well. All of these health issues disproportionately affect marginalized groups. Thus, C. auris could pose a greater threat to those that are susceptible to other health issues that may stem from social and environmental injustices. When compounded by distrust that is already present among these groups, the potential for C. auris health disparities increases.

Opportunities for Public Health:

As a hopeful future public health professional, this article got me thinking about the effects on public health research and what public health approaches can be taken to effectively intervene. Existing surveillance systems may be able to capture and represent the burden of C. auris infection more readily than other health issues due to the fact that C. auris has presented mainly in health care facilities. Thus, using data from medical records may be an efficient and inexpensive way to capture data on infected individuals. As for public health interventions, this health issue provides an opportunity to strengthen risk communication efforts. Public health professionals could play an instrumental role in disseminating outbreak information from hospitals to the public in a way that divulges honest and necessary information so individuals can understand and act without inciting tremendous fear. I think this article was particularly interesting to me because it is a health issue that has stumped scientists and medical professionals and it is the resulting consequence of human activity. In order to address C. auris effectively, it seems like an interdisciplinary team of health professionals, scientists, and communicators will have to come up with an innovative solution if this superbug is to be stopped before it does more damage.

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The rise of Candida auris embodies a serious and growing public health threat: drug-resistant germs.

Video

Back

transcript

Revenge of the Bacteria: Why We're Losing the War

Bacteria are rebelling. They're turning the tide against antibiotics by outsmarting our wonder drugs. This video explores the surprising reasons.

There once was a man named Albert Alexander. He was a policeman - "[American accent] Hey." - in England. "[British accent] Hello." One day on patrol, he cut his cheek - "Ouch!" - which led to a terrible infection. See, this was back in 1941, before patients had antibiotics. These were the days when a little scratch could kill you. "Or you got an ear infection and you died. A cat bite and you died. Or you stepped on a stick and you died. All of a sudden, antibiotics come along and bang." The antibiotic era had begun. Soon a slow and painful death became a seven-day course of antibiotics and a $10 copay. And Albert? Albert was the first patient in the world to receive the antibiotic - penicillin. And it worked. "We just came up with a lifesaving, life-extending drug, one of the greatest developments in human history. Except not." That's Matt Richtel, a science reporter for The New York Times. For the past year, Matt's been talking to health experts to find out if we are reaching the end of the antibiotic era. Modern medicine depends on the antibiotic. "And having used it so much, we're now putting it at risk. Is our fate sealed?" "First off, I don't think people respect bacteria enough." This is Ellen Silbergeld, one of the leading scientists studying antibiotic resistance. "Bacteria rule the world. We are just a platform for bacteria. Within the human body, there are more bacterial cells than there are human cells. So we are, in fact, mostly bacteria." "Alexander Fleming -" the man who discovered penicillin "- in his Nobel speech said, hang on, be aware. When you start killing this stuff off, it's going to fight back." "Did we pay any attention to that? No." "The C.D.C. got our attention today with a warning about what it calls 'nightmare bacteria.'" "These are bacteria that are resistant to most, if not all, antibiotics." When we take antibiotics to kill infections, some bacteria survive. It used to be they'd replicate, and eventually resistance would grow. But now, they're way more efficient and share drug-resistant genes among themselves. So every time we take an antibiotic, we risk creating stronger, more resistant bacteria. And stronger, more resistant bacteria means less and less effective antibiotics. And this is a problem because we take lots of antibiotics. "Money gets made over the sale of antibiotics." Big money. Globally, the antibiotics market is valued at $40 billion. And in the U.S., the C.D.C. estimates that about 30 percent of all prescribed antibiotics are not needed at all. That's 47 million excess prescriptions. And in many places outside of the U.S., you don't even need a prescription. "You can walk into a pharmacy. A pharmacist will diagnose you and give you antibiotics. I tend to think of it as a story of Darwinian forces multiplied by the pace and scale of global capitalism. In an interconnected world - travel, import, export - we're moving the bugs with us." "I can go to a meeting in China or Vietnam or some place -" This is Lance Price, the director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center. "I can become colonized by untreatable E. coli. And I might not have any symptoms. But you can get colonized. And you can become this sort of long-term host." So you could be healthy and still spreading bad bacteria without even knowing it. "Drug-resistant bacteria have never been able to travel the world as fast as they do today." And that's just part of the problem. "You should know that about 80 percent of antibiotic production in this country goes into agriculture." "Why on earth did somebody think putting antibiotics in agriculture was a great idea?" "We've said, hey, look, cram these animals together. Don't worry too much about hygiene or trying to keep them healthy. Just give them antibiotics. And then in a couple weeks, you're going to have full-grown animals that you can chop up and eat. Right? And you can make money off of that." "Nobody was making the connection between feeding animals antibiotics and the fact that the food would be carrying drug-resistant bacteria." So Ellen did a study. She compared different kinds of store-bought chicken. And she found that poultry raised with antibiotics had nine times as much drug-resistant bacteria on it. "Now, let's talk about the vegetarians. I just want you to understand, you're not safe. You know all these outbreaks that take place among the lettuce and the things like that. Have you ever wondered how that happened? It's because animal manure is used in raising crops. Organic agriculture lauds the use of animal manure." "Unless you're just a complete, 'I'm a vegan, and I only hang out with vegans, and I eat sterilized vegetables,' you know, it's very likely that you're picking up the same bacteria." Resistant bacteria seep into the groundwater, fly off the back of livestock trucks and hitch a ride home on the hands of farm workers, all of which makes trying to pinpoint exactly where resistant bacteria is originating extremely difficult. And even when it seems like there is a clear source, things still aren't so simple. "No one wants to be seen as a hub of an epidemic." Say your grandmother makes you a rump roast. And then that rump roast makes you sick. Well, if you live in France, or Ireland, or pretty much anywhere in the E.U., packaged meat has a tracking label. You can figure out exactly what farm that meat came from. But in the U.S., not even the top public health officials can do that. "Most countries have animal ID laws. We don't." Pat Basu, former chief veterinarian for the U.S.D.A.'s Food Safety and Inspection Service, basically one of the top veterinarians in the country. "Let me start at the beginning. We got a case where we had resistant bacteria causing illness in people. There were sick people that C.D.C. identified." "More than 50 people in eight counties have gotten an unusual strain of salmonella linked to pork." "This is not your grandmother's pathogen anymore. This is a new bug." Health officials traced the outbreak back to the slaughterhouse and identified six potential farms where the outbreak could have come from. But then the investigation shut down. "The individual farmers have to agree voluntarily to share the data with these investigators who go out. We couldn't go any further back. It was a dead end." 192 people sick, 30 hospitalizations and zero access for health officials to investigate the farms. "The secrecy is maintained because there are big economic forces behind it. Farms are scared of losing their ability to get antibiotics. Hospitals are scared of driving away patients." "Well, as a physician, I do get very upset. I get very upset, as a patient, that information is being withheld." This is Kevin Kavanagh, a doctor and a consumer advocate for patients. "Drug-resistant bacteria is a huge problem. If it occurs at a restaurant, if it occurs in a cruise ship, you know about this immediately -" "A salmonella outbreak -" "within days or hours of an outbreak occurring." "This morning, Chipotle is keeping dozens of its restaurants in the Pacific Northwest closed -" "But yet, in a hospital, it can take you months or even over a year until this data appears on a governmental website or reported by the C.D.C." In the U.S., hospitals are under no obligation to inform the public when a bacterial outbreak occurs. "Defend and deny. They are very concerned about the short-term economic benefits, rather than looking at long-term problems." "There's always this response like, well, but there's still a drug, right? Like, this isn't the end." Remember Albert Alexander? - "Hello. Ouch!" - the first patient to be given penicillin? Well, his story didn't end there. Five days after he started recovering, the hospital ran out of the new drug, and Mr. Alexander died. Today, we don't have to worry about antibiotics running out. We have to worry about using them so much that they stop working altogether. "- want to know why a metro health department didn't shut down a restaurant -" "It's a very resistant bacteria -" "We really need to change the way we use antibiotics. Because the way we use antibiotics is destroying them." "It's putting at risk the entire system of care that we depend on for lengthening our lives and improving the quality of our lives." The British government commissioned a study which predicted a worst case scenario where more people will die by 2050 of these infections than will die of cancer. "That's a generation from now." "It takes 10 years to identify, develop, test and bring to market a new antibiotic. And it takes a billion dollars." "This is a common issue for humanity." "Very similar to global warming." "You can't control it as a single company. You can't control this as a single government." And because the bacteria are now working together so efficiently - "Unless the world acts consistently together, it doesn't make a difference."

Bacteria are rebelling. They're turning the tide against antibiotics by outsmarting our wonder drugs. This video explores the surprising reasons.

Image

Dr. Shawn Lockhart, a fungal disease expert at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, holding a microscope slide with inactive Candida auris collected from an American patient. Credit... Melissa Golden for The New York Times

EUROPE

The first large outbreak in Europe involved 72 cases in a London hospital in 2015-16.

Multiple cases of

Candida auris infection

UNITED STATES

The country has had at least 587 Candida auris infections since 2013.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN

The two countries have some of the highest case counts in the world. A distinct strain appeared in Pakistan as early as 2008 and in Delhi by 2009.

SOUTH AFRICA

A genetically distinct strain of Candida auris in South Africa infected at least 451 patients from 2012-16.

JAPAN

Candida auris (left) was discovered in 2009 in the infected ear of a 70-year-old Japanese woman.

EUROPE

The first large outbreak in Europe involved 72 cases in a London hospital in 2015-16.

Multiple cases of

Candida auris infection

UNITED STATES

The country has had at least 587 Candida auris infections since 2013.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN

The two countries have some of the highest case counts in the world. A distinct strain appeared in Pakistan as early as 2008 and in Delhi by 2009.

SOUTH AFRICA

A genetically distinct strain of Candida auris in South Africa infected at least 451 patients from 2012-16.

JAPAN

Candida auris (left) was discovered in 2009 in the infected ear of a 70-year-old Japanese woman.

Multiple cases of

Candida auris infection

EUROPE

The first large outbreak in Europe involved 72 cases in a London hospital in 2015-16.

UNITED STATES

The country has had at least 587 Candida auris infections since 2013.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN

The two countries have some of the highest case counts in the world. A distinct strain appeared in Pakistan as early as 2008 and in Delhi by 2009.

SOUTH AFRICA

A genetically distinct strain of Candida auris in South Africa infected at least 451 patients from 2012-16.

JAPAN

Candida auris (left) was discovered in 2009 in the infected ear of a 70-year-old Japanese woman.

Multiple cases of

Candida auris infection

UNITED STATES

The country has had at least 587 Candida auris infections since 2013.

EUROPE

The first large outbreak in Europe involved 72 cases in a London hospital in 2015-16.

SOUTH AFRICA

A genetically distinct strain of Candida auris in South Africa infected at least 451 patients from 2012-16.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN

The two countries have some of the highest case counts in the world. A distinct strain appeared in Pakistan as early as 2008 and in Delhi by 2009.

CHINA

A study of a Shenyang hospital found 15 samples from 2011-17 that were misidentified as a different strain of fungus. Candida auris is hard to identify and may unreported in other hospitals around the world.

JAPAN

Candida auris was discovered in 2009 in the infected ear of a 70-year-old Japanese woman.

Multiple cases of

Candida auris infection

UNITED STATES

The country has had at least 587 Candida auris infections since 2013.

EUROPE

The first large outbreak in Europe involved 72 cases in a London hospital in 2015-16.

SOUTH AFRICA

A genetically distinct strain of Candida auris in South Africa infected at least 451 patients from 2012-16.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN

The two countries have some of the highest case counts in the world. A distinct strain appeared in Pakistan as early as 2008 and in Delhi by 2009.

JAPAN

Candida auris was discovered in 2009 in the infected ear of a 70-year-old Japanese woman.

UNITED STATES

The country has had at least 587 Candida auris infections since 2013.

EUROPE

The first large outbreak in Europe involved 72 cases in a London hospital in 2015-16.

SOUTH AFRICA

A genetically distinct strain of Candida auris in South Africa infected at least 451 patients from 2012-16.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN

The two countries have some of the highest case counts in the world.

JAPAN

Candida auris was discovered in 2009 in the infected ear of a 70-year-old Japanese woman.

Mass.

Conn.

Ill.

Ind.

Md.

Calif.

Va.

Okla.

Tex.

Fla.

Mass.

Conn.

Ill.

Ind.

Md.

Calif.

Va.

Okla.

Tex.

Fla.

Ill.

Md.

Ind.

Calif.

Va.

Okla.

Tex.

Fla.

Confirmed and probable cases, 2013-19

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A Mysterious Infection, Spanning the Globe in a Climate of Secrecy

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The rise of Candida auris embodies a serious and growing public health threat: drug-resistant germs. EUROPE The first large outbreak in Europe involved 72 cases in a London hospital in 2015-16. Multiple cases of Candida auris infection UNITED STATES The country has had at least 587 Candida auris infections since 2013.

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I really enjoyed Dr. Kessel's talk about gun violence. It is a public health issue and I think it is important to frame it this way. It too often becomes an issue of rights and the polarization of America, but hopefully by framing it as a public health issue, we can get more consensus on the issue. Personally, I grew up in Brooklyn. I had no idea that people owned guns for non-violent purposes until I was in college. It was not part of the way that I was socialized. I had never heard of families going shooting. Everyone once in a while, I may have heard about someone's dad who worked in the diamond district or some other industry where they had a lot of cash around that would keep a gun at work or would carry it around if they were transporting large quantities of cash. I had always thought that these guns were there more as a scare tactic. New York was a markedly less safe place when I was a kid than it is today.
So, that is a long way as to say, I do not understand our fascination with guns. I do not understand why we are so tied to them. Obviously, there is a big urban/rural divide in this country that makes it difficult for us to understand the perspective of the other. I think the same thing goes for abortion, stem cells, gay marriage, and other social issues. Because of this, both sides of the debate just talk past each other, because they cannot even understand where the other side is coming from. This makes it impossible to create any sort of sensible policy.
As guns play such a different role in urban vs. rural societies, the gun reform policies in these two areas might need to be completely different. When I asked Dr. Kessel what I could ask the DC Council for, I was very surprised that he suggested gun locks, so that children can't accidentally use their parents weapons. As far as I am aware, this is not a problem in the city. The problem in the city is more closely tied to residential segregation, concentrated poverty, poorer quality education, poor access to high quality jobs, male joblessness, incarceration, lack of good male role models, adverse childhood experiences, and more. As much as I think that it is possible to get legislation passed in DC, this is a "wicked" problem that needs monumental reform. Of course, we need to take action to change this. I was hoping the Dr. Kessel could give me something small to advocate for that makes sense in the context of urban gun violence. Unfortunately, I think that incremental reform would be more likely to pass and I would like to advocate for something. I hope that at the gun violence research day, Dr. Kessel and fellow scholars will work on concrete and quickly implemented and effective policies that can be effective. I look forward to more research going into this area.

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Reflection- Dr. Peek Structural Inequities and Health Disparities: Lessons for Medical Decision Making by Cassie Hendrie

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Reflection- Dr. Peek Structural Inequities and Health Disparities: Lessons for Medical Decision Making by Cassie Hendrie

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I listened to Dr. Monica Peek’s NIMHD Director’s Seminar Series speaker talk on “Structural Inequities and Health Disparities: Lessons for Medical Decision Making.” I thought her talk was informative and covered an aspect of disparities research I do not focus on as often which allowed me to reflect on new connections to my life. If you have an hour, I would recommend listening to this talk as it is available for on demand listening.

She began her talk by explaining the concept of Shared Decision Making (SDM) and how it can be impacted by contextual factors such as treatment options, patient contexts, social identities and social power. Dr. Peek mentions that there is little attention given to how these contextual factors can impact the patient’s abilities to engage in SDM and navigating the health care system. This is a root cause of structural inequities and can ultimately lead to health disparities.

She also utilized one of her favorite books to deliver her message. The book she references is ‘The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.’ She first mentions that this book has had a large impact on her in general which I liked as we just finished connecting books that impacted our lives to minority health and health disparities. I even added this book to the list of books I want to read. She connects this book to the oppression she sees manifesting itself in many ways in the health care setting and states that the oppression is very similar no matter what the marginalized group is.

While listening to her talk, what stuck out to me was when she said, ‘everyone at some point, has been part of a marginalized group’. Being a white, straight, educated individual from a middle-class family I don’t consider myself to come from a marginalized group, and after reflecting on it, I still would not consider myself to have been part of a marginalized group at any point in my life. While I may not completely agree with her statement, I do agree that we should be aware and empathetic with all marginalized groups, even though not everyone may have been a part of one. Structural inequities are a large contributor to health disparities and social power is a contributing factor, as mentioned earlier. Those in groups with marginalized social identities have limited social power and also tend to experience a patient provider power imbalance. Providers showing that they are trying to build a relationship with their patient in some way is a good place to start to aid in patients feeling more comfortable. Dr. Peek gives an anecdote of a patient she had who spoke only Mandarin. They were unable to communicate in full sentences, but she learned how to say basic words to him, and that effort made him more comfortable and decreased the power imbalance between patient and provider. I feel that providers are very aware of implicit bias in their work now which is wonderful, but we need to add in this awareness of a power dynamic as well.

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Reflection #1 - Dr. Woodie Kessel on Gun Violence by Joe Galarraga

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Reflection #1 - Dr. Woodie Kessel on Gun Violence by Joe Galarraga

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I found Dr. Kessel's perspective on firearms to be a very useful way of mobilizing around violence prevention. Firstly, Dr. Kessel noted the burden of firearm violence; according to the CDC, there are around 39,000 gun-related deaths in the United States per year. Secondly, he discussed how a public health approach to the issue could provide relief. He noted the importance of providing a scientific basis of the problem along with the social strategy and political will to address it. Finally– and perhaps most importantly– Dr. Kessel grounded his facts and strategies in a historical context by showing how issues surrounding car safety and cigarette smoking were managed via public health practice. I thought that juxtaposing gun violence alongside other public health issues and the methods used to curb these issues helped to demonstrate that violence is not a hopeless fact-of-life for Americans, and there is precedent for solving big manmade public health problems.

The major facet of Dr. Kessel's presentation that stuck out to me regarding the issue of firearm violence in the United States was the role of political will in this conversation. Politics shape the world around us, influencing cultural norms and informing the context in which any and every event takes place. This most evident to me with regards to how our country views guns. It is my belief that because of the 2nd Amendment, guns have been codified into the culture of the United States. Guns have been focal throughout U.S. history. They have been brandished by militias fighting off British redcoats, cowboys on the range, members of organized crime organizations: outlaws. And what's more American than an outlaw? Essentially, the gun has been adopted as the accessory of choice for the "true American" since the founding of this country, and because of this, I don't believe there is enough political will or social strategy to deal with the issue of gun violence today. Is America really ready to redefine its relationship with the gun? In our class discussion following Dr. Kessel's presentation, the idea of "fear" was a recurring topic. Fear was discussed in a few different contexts. The class mentioned that people own guns for their protection because they fear their neighbors or the unknown. We also talked about how often the police as an institution fears blackness, and this fear results in the deaths of black people by firearm. But one type of fear that I think is essential to the conversation of gun ownership in America is the fear of losing identity. As previously mentioned, I believe that gun ownership is deeply engrained in American culture. If as a country we had the political and social will to legislate stricter gun controls, our country could no longer be defined by that rebellious, gun-toting spirit. I believe there is fear that "American-ness" is on trial, and this is why there is so much resistance to smart gun legislation. I don't think this is entirely about the guns themselves, but rather that people are scared to lose a way to define themselves and their country.

While still contemplating the role of political will in public health issues, I wished that Dr. Kessel had spent more time discussing how economic considerations influence politics. With the 2020 Presidential election quickly approaching, I'm sure that candidates will spend a significant amount of time discussing tax returns, super PACS, and Citizens United and how these factors play into the power of political campaigns. Money works its way into policy in a similar way. According to the BBC, the NRA spends $250 million annually - more than all other gun advocacy groups put together. They spend $3 million annually on directly influencing gun policy, but this number does not reflect the money invested in PACs or via independent expenditures. In reality, the amount of money that influences policy is probably much higher. The issue I see with this type of financial lobbying is that it artificially inflates the political will against gun control. It is hard to consider the voices of gun control advocates when pro-gun interests line your pockets. This to me seems like a big conflict of interest; politicians should be more accountable to their constituents and not businesses. Ultimately, I believe that political reforms will be necessary if our country ever wants to see movement towards smart gun control legislation.

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Georgetown rabbi takes a stand against measles outbreak

WASHINGTON — Kesher Israel, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Georgetown, is saying it will not allow any child or adult who has not had their measles vaccine to join any services at Kesher.

"Getting vaccinated according to recommended guidelines is not only vital for the health of both our community and the public-at-large, but it is also our halachic obligation," wrote Rabbi Hyim Shafner.

The synagogue's move comes as New York City's Orthodox community grapples with close to 300 cases of measles.  At least two religious leaders in Brooklyn have cautioned their congregants against getting the vaccine, leading Mayor Bill de Blasio to declare a public health emergency requiring everyone in Williamsburg to get the vaccine within 48 hours.

"It's so against what we believe as Jews, it's just -- it's a little heartbreaking," said Shafner, adding the Torah dictates, "you're not allowed to endanger yourself. You're not allowed to endanger others."

The first confirmed case of measles in Maryland was reported last Tuesday in Pikesville, a popular Orthodox Jewish area.

Shafner told WUSA9 he and his congregants are worried unvaccinated people traveling to D.C. over the upcoming Passover holiday could be bringing measles with them.

"It really began because somebody in the congregation came to us and said 'Hey, this is happening in other places, I have a little kid, I'm worried about my own children," said Shafner.

The synagogue will not be able to check who has gotten their vaccines, but the rabbi trusts congregants will respect his wishes.

"We can't really check, so what we can do is put up signs," he said, adding he felt an obligation to get involved.

"As a rabbi, I want to make a statement, because I feel something is being done against Judaism, telling people not to vaccinate is against Jewish law," he said.

WUSA

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Nipsey Hussle's Death Should Not Be in Vain - Jianna Howard - Reflection 3

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Nipsey Hussle's Death Should Not Be in Vain - Jianna Howard - Reflection 3

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As most of you probably know, rapper Nipsey Hussle was murdered in Los Angeles on March 31, 2019. I’ve never been a huge fan of his music, but I’ve always appreciated the way he conducted himself in interviews. Since his passing, the media has released a myriad of stories surrounding his life, and I’m happy to say, the vast majority portray him as an amazing man. Nipsey Hussle was affiliated with the Crips gang in L.A., but as Kendrick Lamar said in a 2018 song with Nipsey Hussle, “He[‘s] a better Crip … He[‘s] a man first, you hear the words out [of] his lips.”

Nipsey Hussle’s success was 100% self-made. He worked on his music and made genuine relationships with people in the industry to get where he was. In addition to making music, he owned a plaza, sadly the one he was murdered in, that consisted of a clothing store he owned, a restaurant that served healthy meals for local L.A. residents, frequently talked to children, spoke highly of women including his wife and his first daughter’s mother, and frequently stated that he had “love for everyone.” I’m more and more impressed by him the more that I learn about his character.

He had scheduled a meeting with LAPD that was supposed to take place on April 1, 2019 (the day after he was killed) to work with law enforcement in addressing gang violence in L.A. He believed in unity and that the plight of the black man, specifically in Los Angeles, contributed to gang involvement and violence.

I'm a very empathetic person, and since the news broke, I've continuously thought about Nipsey Hussle's wife, children, and family and friends as a whole and how they must be feeling right now. I’ve also done some thinking about the man who shot Nipsey Hussle multiple times and then literally kicked him while he was down. While I don’t condone his actions at all, I wonder what has gone on in his life that led him down the path to becoming a murderer; what opportunities did he not have, what was his family like, did he ever have a chance?

The song I’ve attached by J. Cole is about a man who reluctantly lived a life full of crime despite knowing better. While rapping from the perspective of his friend, J. Cole thoroughly discussed the “crooked-ass system” and how it was a “trap” set for him that he had no way to avoid. The song is almost 9 minutes long, and even if you aren’t a rap fan, I think everyone should give it a listen (I put Dr. Butler on earlier this semester).

I also highly recommend the Netflix series titled “On My Block.” The show centers around a group of friends and their daily lives in neighborhood with lots of gang activity in L.A. One of the series’ main characters, Caesar, comes from a family of gang members and his older brother who is also his guardian, is a gang leader in his neighborhood. As seen in the show, it’s seemingly impossible for Caesar to avoid joining the gang. Both this and J. Cole’s song have made me think about young people in real life who have similar stories. We are all so quick to judge. The media labels people killers and criminals and although we know that systemic racism impacts things like this, we seldom here about the perpetrators childhoods and circumstances when the person is black or brown.

It’s ironic to me that Nipsey Hussle was killed in a way that went against what he stood for. I don’t believe his death will be in vain however. As new information and more stories come to light, more people are unpacking Nipsey Hussle’s messages and his exact words. People are thinking and I think that’s important. Nipsey Hussle did a lot of good work while he was here, and it’s up to us to continue it to stop the very thing that killed him from continuing.

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Personal Reflection 2: Health Equity and Career Options - Brianna Aldridge

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Personal Reflection 2: Health Equity and Career Options - Brianna Aldridge

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On Friday, April 5th, I attended an event in the Stamp student union hosted by Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy (MICA). The event was titled "Health Equity and Career Options" and was part of MICA's month-long list of programming to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In line with the theme of shining light on accomplishments within the AAPI community, the event featured Elizabeth Chung, Executive Director of the Asian American Center of Frederick, as the guest speaker.

Currently, I am unsure of where I want this Master's degree to take me. My hope in attending this event was that Ms. Chung would share insight into the variety of career options that exist within health equity. Unfortunately, this was only slightly the case. While Ms. Chung did share valuable information that defined health equity and spoke to what her program is doing to help achieve it, her content was not as specific or in-depth as I would have liked.

While I continue to work towards obtaining my MPH, I am looking for any opportunity to be exposed to areas of work that I can envision being a part of for the foreseeable future. I expected Friday night to be one of those opportunities. Instead, I heard more about the social determinants of health, the ethnic demographic of counties and states across the U.S., and the need for collaboration across disciplines to exist in order for health equity to be achievable. I took notes in the hopes that something novel would be expressed, but I was let down. In a setting where only about eight people were present, I wanted more poignant and helpful information. Quite frankly, I deserve more poignant and helpful information. On top of paying for this degree, I am going out of my way to find events that I believe will benefit me in the long run. While I tend to see life through an optimistic lens, I would be remiss if I did not express my disappoint with an event that had no significant takeaways and whose title alone made me give of my time and energy.

The Asian American Center of Frederick is open to everyone and offers a myriad of services. It is a beacon in the community and succeeds at promoting good health for all. Without question, centers like these need to exist. As the executive director of the center, it makes sense that Ms. Chung would brag on her product. I was just hoping that, with such a successful claim to her name, she would have wisdom to share that I could take and run with. Maybe the next career options event will prove to be worth something.

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Population Health Exchange Webinar: Mental Health Stigma: Addressing Student Needs on Campus (Activity) - Maya Deane-Polyak

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Population Health Exchange Webinar: Mental Health Stigma: Addressing Student Needs on Campus (Activity) - Maya Deane-Polyak

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On March 27, I attended a webinar that discussed the prevalence of mental health stigma among college students. During the webinar, Assistant Professor at Boston University, Dr. Sarah Lipson, discussed findings from her Healthy Minds Study, which is a national cross-sectional study of mental health service utilization and related issues among college students. Dr. Lipson began her presentation by emphasizing that mental health stigma is a health disparity that affects vulnerable populations and that it exists at different levels of the Social Ecological Model ranging from the individual to the societal levels.

Dr. Lipson also defined different types of stigma she studies in the context of mental health. These included personal stigma, perceived stigma, self-stigma, and structural stigma. Personal stigma consists of negative attitudes and beliefs a person holds towards people with mental illnesses. Perceived stigma is a person’s perception of others’ attitudes towards people with mental illnesses. Self-stigma is comprised of internalized beliefs that individuals with mental illnesses hold about themselves. Structural stigma exists through societal norms and policy. Specifically, it is operationalized in the literature as (1) stigmatizing beliefs held by large portions of society, (2) unequal access to mental health services, and (3) policies that disproportionately affect individuals with mental illnesses.

Findings from Dr. Lipson’s research revealed disparities in perceived and personal stigma among college students by several demographic characteristics. For example, by citizenship, HMS found that international college students have personal stigma and perceive higher stigma than U.S. college students. By gender identity, gender minority students reported higher perceived stigma than their counterparts in gender majorities. By financial background, students from the lower financial backgrounds perceived higher stigma than those who were from higher financial backgrounds.

While Dr. Lipson presented these findings, she did not provide explanations or interpretations of the results. In thinking about what may cause these stigma disparities in demographic trends, I thought about the role of structural stigma and how that influences the ways people understand and approach the topic of mental health. As Dr. Lipson mentioned, structural stigma can influence a person’s access to mental health services, especially if they do not live in geographic proximity to mental health providers. Thinking about the disparities from the perspective of environmental barriers, I understood how this may influence how much stigma a person internalizes or perceives about mental health. For example, students from lower financial backgrounds may have grown up in neighborhoods that did not provide accessible mental health services. Therefore, these students may internalize or perceive greater stigma regarding mental health than their counterparts from higher financial backgrounds.

Although structural stigma definitely has a role to play in affecting personal and perceived stigma, I also think that the extent to which a person is marginalized or experiences discrimination can affect how that person views mental health and whether they seek help from service providers. For instance, gender minority individuals may perceive higher stigma towards mental health than their counterparts in gender majorities due to the fact that they have been marginalized in society and are less likely to receive high quality, supportive care that effectively addresses their needs.

There are many factors to consider when designing interventions or programs to reduce disparities and address mental health. This webinar helped me to consider the contributing role that stigma plays in mental health disparities. In order to effectively address mental health, it is necessary to account for the different types of stigma Dr. Lipson mentioned during the webinar and tailor interventions to reduce stigma and related barriers to accessing high quality mental health care.

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Johns Hopkins Unethical Research Reflection 3-Sofi Martinez

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Johns Hopkins Unethical Research Reflection 3-Sofi Martinez

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I found reading about the Guatemala STD study difficult, as it was hard for me to comprehend how medical professionals could knowingly infect vulnerable populations with diseases without even asking them if they would like to be in the experiment and providing compensation. I was also surprised to read in the article that Johns Hopkins University was part of the subsequent lawsuit that happened once the study was revealed because there were multiple faculty members from the university who had reviewed the study and recommended it for funding. I looked on the Johns Hopkins website and saw that they have a webpage on the Guatemala study, where they state how horrible the Guatemala study was and then quickly state that Johns Hopkins had no involvement in the study. They state that if any Johns Hopkins faculty was involved in reviewing the study this would have been separate from their employment at Johns Hopkins and leave it at that, without any further discussion of what they should have or could do to prevent faculty from being involved with this kind of unethical work in the future.

This made me think about the other unethical studies on communities of color Johns Hopkins has been involved with. As we have discussed in class, Johns Hopkins was where Henrietta Lacks’ cells were taken without her consent and used for the development of the polio vaccine and many other medical advancements and studies without her or her family’s permission and without compensation. Today Johns Hopkins has a section on their website dedicated to Henrietta Lacks. The page is portrayed as honoring Henrietta Lacks, and thanking her family for her contributions, but nowhere on the front overview page does it mention the ethical issues that were involved with Henrietta Lacks’ cells. Instead a video shows researchers discussing how much they work with people from the community to advance their work, features a student from a Baltimore City high school who received a scholarship from Johns Hopkins in honor of Henrietta Lacks, and even has clips of members from Lacks’ family talking about the great contributions of the HeLa cells. It is not until someone gets to the fourth page down on the website titled “Upholding the Highest Bioethical Standards” that the issues around taking Henrietta Lacks’ cells without her consent or knowledge are discussed.

More recently in the mid-90s, Johns Hopkins was again involved in an unethical experiment where they conducted studies on children living in public housing with varying levels of lead paint. This study was conducted in Baltimore City, where researchers compared children’s lead blood levels over a 2 year period to see what levels of lead abatement were effective. The goal of this was to see if less expensive abatement procudures were still effective, as full lead abatement cost around $20,000 per house, preventing many houses with lead paint to be fixed. The researchers argued that the intentions of the study were for the ultimate benefit of the community, to be able to find cheaper methods of lead pain abatement that landlords would be more likely to use. However, they did this at the risk of low-income black children’s health. When I looked on the Johns Hopkins and Kennedy Krieger (a partner of Johns Hopkins conducting the study) websites I could not find anything on this experiment.

The way Johns Hopkins handled these three incidents is disturbing, as rather than owning up to their errors, apologizing and promoting a community dialogue, they try to hide or deny involvement. Additionally, they push what feels like an inauthentic message of how much they care about and work with the community to get people on their side. As we have discussed in class, this is the type of messaging that can be very harmful for communities of color and can create a deep distrust between researchers and minorities. I’ve heard about issues of distrust between Baltimore City and Johns Hopkins before, but had not taken the time to investigate some of reasonings behind this distrust. From just these three examples of unethical work and a failure to take steps to properly address and correct the issue, it is clear to me now why this distrust exists and why it likely will continue if Johns Hopkins does not do something to change their methods for community outreach.

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Reflection 2: Judicial Hearing- Mikayla Walker

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Reflection 2: Judicial Hearing- Mikayla Walker

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Last Wednesday, Meg Jordan and I went to the Maryland State House to listen in on a judicial hearing where they would discuss Senate Bill 689. Senate Bill 689 is the crossover bill for House Bill 734, “The Anti-Exploitation Act of 2019”. The bill is a law to officially make labor trafficking a criminal act because Maryland is one of the few states that does not have a law at the state level that criminalizes labor trafficking. We were unable to make the House hearing, so we decided to attend the Senate hearing, so we can see firsthand the thoughts and discussions happening around this bill. Our experience there was very different than what we had planned.

My grandmother works for the Speaker of the House, and she had told us to arrive around 12:30pm because the hearing is scheduled to start at 1pm. We arrived on time and was then notified by my grandmother that all of the delegates, at least the representatives, were in session and had not broken out for the day. That means, they were still in the main chamber voting and debating about specific bills. We assumed that they may be a little bit late to the hearing, however upon leaving the room to make a phone call, I learned that the judicial hearing was moved until 2:30pm. A whole hour and a half past when it was originally supposed to start. This made me start to think about how the legal system is not always tailored for the people. To be more specific, hearings are open to the public and many allow public testimony when speaking on each bill. Hearings are scheduled in the middle of the day, when most people are working. Many testifiers for the bills plan their days based on the time the hearings are scheduled. When they reschedule so drastically and so last minute, it makes it difficult for testifiers to adjust. This is something that regularly occurs. When the delegates are in session, there is an expected end time, however they will go until they are able to complete everything on the docket. Therefore, running late is a common practice. It just shows how difficult things can be for survivors. Not only is there the stress and PTSD of telling and reliving your story, but when the legal system makes it difficult just to be in the room, it keeps them quiet.

One other aspect of the experience I noticed was the candor the delegates had when discussing the bills prior to the hearing. Some of the committee chairs came in earlier than the rescheduled time to eat lunch. While they were eating lunch, they were candidly talking about some of the bills that were on the docket for the hearing. It was extremely interesting to watch them discuss the bills. It was like being a fly on the wall listening to the gossip in a cafeteria. I thought, however, how some of the public who feel strongly about either side of a bill might not enjoy listening to delegates joke about the bills or disregard some of them in a casual manner. Though the hearing had not officially started, people like us were allowed to sit in the room. So though it was extremely interesting to watch, I felt it was problematic since some members of the public were there as well.

Unfortunately, because of how late the hearing started, and the amount of bills on the docket that needed to be discussed, we were unable to here SB 689. We plan to listen to the recording or read the transcript, so we can learn what was discussed. I definitely recommending attending a hearing at the Maryland State House or even in national Congress. It is a great overall experience, just understand that it could take all day!

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Exposure to Air Pollutants Reflection 2 Sofi Martinez

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Exposure to Air Pollutants Reflection 2 Sofi Martinez

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In the video that we watched in class called “How Class Works” we again saw the topic of individuals from lower socioeconomic classes being subjected to high levels of pollution, so that other individuals could benefit from the profits of these polluting corporations. This video did not address the issue of race, but we know from other discussions in class that race plays a major role in the levels of pollution one is exposed to. I recently came across a new study (https://www.pnas.org/content/116/13/6001) that quantified this health disparity by looking at how much pollution individuals of different racial and ethnic categories create compared to how much exposure they have to pollution.

Specifically the study looked at fine particulate matter air pollution, which they state is the United States’ biggest health-related environmental risk factor, causing 63 percent of environmental-related deaths. They calculated how much pollution whites, blacks, and Hispanics created based on how much they consumed in each of the following categories: electricity, food, goods, information and entertainment, services, shelter, and transportation. Through comparing the amount of pollution generated by a group to the amount the group is exposed to the researchers found that whites are exposed to 17 percent less pollution than they create, while blacks are exposed to 56 percent more pollution than they create and Hispanics are exposed to 63 percent more pollution than they create. I thought this quantifying of the problem was very valuable as while it is useful to learn about individual examples of minorities being exposed to high levels of pollution, this study helps to show just how widespread and large the health disparities are around exposure to pollutants.

The researchers also identified some important additional questions for future work, one of which I had not considered. In this research question they noted how we still do not know how far the groups that are the main contributors of the pollution live from those who are overwhelmingly exposed to the pollution. This is important because if these individuals reside in the same county or city, then it is conceivable that some solutions could be implemented at the local level. However, if these two groups live in different regions of the country, it is not likely to be solved at the local level and thus needs national policy solutions.

This study also made me reflect on my own position and to what extent I am exposed to more or less pollution than I produce. While, I am Hispanic, I doubt I am exposed to more pollution than I produce due to the fact that I live in a more suburban neighborhood that at least appears to me to be relatively far away from major air pollution sources. Additionally, this study made me think about the possible policy solutions that could address this health disparity. While the study examined individual levels of pollution production as a result of consumption, it recognized that it is not individuals who are actually creating the pollution, it is the organizations that are producing the goods that consumers purchase who are creating the pollution. Therefore, I feel like any policy solution would likely have to be targeted at these organizations, by forcing them to engage in more environmentally-friendly practices. The effects of this though would probably be felt at the individual level through higher prices.

On a brighter note, while large disparities in exposure to pollutants still exist, the study did note that exposure to particulate matter air pollution has declined by about 50 percent from 2002 to 2015 for whites, blacks, and Hispanics, showing that there are some positive advancements in this space.

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This week I've been reading about the reparations topic that has recently resurfaced among 2020 Presidential hopefuls. This topic is something that has been discussed for decades, however, it seems renewed this time through political discourse which is different than prior discussions which largely started in academic circles.

Something that is new in this iteration of the discussion is talking about reparations from a wealth perspective. Black Americans have less wealth than White Americans. Some of this is due to slavery, some due to redlining, and some due to the systematic racism that exists in our society today. While it may not be possible to measure what percent of forgone wealth was the result of slavery the general principal of reparations would be to give Black Americans a sum of money to make up for the wealth gap.

On its surface, this idea seems straightforward. Repay this group of people for the harm our society has imposed on them which has followed them through generations and has contributed to the wealth gap that we see in America today. However, any economist knows that a lump sum payment will not change the wealth gap nor solve the issues of inequity that still exist in our society. We could use the lottery as an example of just how ineffective these cash transfers can be: https://www-mitpressjournals-org.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/doi/abs/10.1162/REST_a_00114#authorsTabList. A simple cash transfer would be a really expensive, really ineffective policy option.

What then, would be an effective form of reparations? How would reparations of any form stitch together this wound and create building blocks towards a more equal, undivided America?

In the coming months I think some of these questions will be addressed if the discussion is to move forward. I would be interested to see if any candidates bring forth policy options that would use reparations dollars to address social determinants. For example, free college education, free down payments for property, or creating new funding opportunities in other sectors such as business.

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U.S. PHS' STD experiment in Guatemala - Reflection 3 - Ihunanya Onyejiuwa

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U.S. PHS' STD experiment in Guatemala - Reflection 3 - Ihunanya Onyejiuwa

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Dr. Thomas recently posted an article that discusses the aftermath caused by the U.S. Public Health Service’s STD experiment in Guatemala. Before reading the article, I heard the study being referenced, but never took the time to educate myself on the details of the experiment. The goal of the experiment was to improve STD prevention among U.S. military personnel during World War II. During this time, hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers were diagnosed with various sexually transmitted diseases, impacting the military’s performance. It was discovered that penicillin could be used to cure various STD’s, but it was expensive and required soliders to be removed from the battlefield. As a result, PHS researchers explored a post exposure preventative wash that could be applied after sexual contact to prevent the transmission of disease. John C. Cutler, the senior investigator of the study, believed that before the wash would be ready for use in the military, it should be tested on subjects at high risk for infection; thus, the STD experiments in Guatemala began.

Many ethical concerns arise from this experiment. For one, these experiments were conducted on Guatemalan prisoners, children, psychiatric patients, and leprosy patients; all of which are vulnerable populations that are unable to truly provide consent for themselves. I found it interesting that a physician from the Guatemalan Ministry of Public Health was the one to suggest that such research be conducted on his own people. Maybe it was ignorance, or the quest of garnering a name for himself. Knowing that people will be purposely injected with an STD and creating a pathway to utilize human beings, especially those from my country does not sit well with me. The results from the study were sealed and never published, eluding that the researches knew that what they were doing was wrong. In research, it is imperative that study results be published, regardless of whether the results were favorable or not. Not publishing the results of the experiment ignores all that the study participants endured, almost as if the deplorable experiment never happened.

This experiment is the perfect example of the savior complex used by those in higher positions to manipulate the less fortunate. Those in higher positions (in this case American researchers) go into foreign countries under the premise of doing “good” when in reality, their actions are negatively impacting those that live there. This can be seen especially in developing countries with high levels of poverty, low levels of education, and low social capital. American researchers purposely targeted a minority group to conduct these unethical experiments. This practice has been going on for years (e.g. sterilization, Tuskegee Syphilis study, etc.) and still continues to happen today. It’s disheartening, especially when I try to imagine living in an earlier time where just because I’m a minority, I’d be a prime target for unethical research studies and the worst part is, my voice would be silenced.

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Table for 10 Dinner - Activity Reflection - Ihunanya Onyejiuwa

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Table for 10 Dinner - Activity Reflection - Ihunanya Onyejiuwa

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On March 13, I attended the first Table for 10 Dinner of the semester, where faculty members in the HLSA department host professionals from the fields of health policy, health equity, and health administration. This Table for 10 Dinner was hosted at the home of Dr. Kellee White, an associate professor in the HLSA department. The special guest was Dr. Marilyn Lynk, the interim executive director of the Adventist HealthCare Center for Health Equity and Wellness, who is also an adjunct faculty member within UMD’s School of Public Health.I was excited to attend this Table for 10 dinner because Dr. Lynk previously spoke in one of my classes last semester. I enjoyed her guest lecture on cultural competency and the importance of understanding the culture and traditions of populations that we serve. Dr. White taught the Intro to Health Equity course that I took last semester, and over time she has become a mentor to me. I was interested in learning more from both women who consistently demonstrate the impact that Black women have within public health. The dinner started off with everyone introducing and mentioning a fun fact about themselves. I enjoyed learning everyone’s names and program affiliations, as well as the fun fact portion of the introductions. The introduction portion of the dinner created a relaxed atmosphere within the small group and ultimately set the tone for the rest of the conversation that evening.

During the next portion of the dinner, we learned more about Dr. Lynk’s professional background. Dr. Lynk earned her PhD in social psychology from Yale University. As one of the few African-American students in her cohort and school, Dr. Lynk often felt discouraged and out of place. I could definitely relate to Dr. Lynk, being that I grew up in an area with a significant Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino population. Once I began my undergraduate career, I was shocked because for the first time in my life, I felt like a minority. I often say that I’m spoiled by living in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The diversity is like no-other, and I am happy that I’ve been exposed to the various cultures that the area has to offer. While in undergrad, I made sure to immerse myself within the various organizations at the school; I was a Body Image Peer Educator at the Counseling Center, a Community Center Assistant in my dorm, and an active member of the Black Student Union and African Diaspora Club. These organizations played a role in my comfortability at my university and helped me push forward to this very day. Her experience emphasizes the importance of creating relationships professionally and personally.

The Adventist HealthCare Center for Health Equity and Wellness is the only known center that is part of a hospital system that aims to increase cultural and linguistic competence among healthcare professionals, reduce health disparities, and promote health equity in the local community. The center operates out of Washington Adventist Hospital, located in Takoma Park, Maryland. The City of Takoma is classified as a medically underserved area, with a high population of foreign-born residents. The Adventist HealthCare Center for Health Equity and Wellness makes an effort to cater to the variety of community members to utilize their services. For example, the center offers translation services to patients as well written material translated into various languages. A great example of their dedication to providing culturally competent care can be seen within their diabetes prevention program. I remember Dr. Lynk stating that a specific cohort had a high Ethiopian population. Instead of imposing unfamiliar foods on the class, students were taught how to prepare their traditional foods with modifications.

A critical question that arose during the dinner was whether health equity is truly achievable. Honestly, there are times where I sit back and look at what’s going on in the world and feel discouraged. Dr. White made a great point about achieving health equity; our contributions today will positively impact the generations of people who come after us. Homer Plessy had no idea of the impact of his decision to sit in the “Whites Only” section of the train and its catalyst effect for the civil rights movement. I do not believe that we can theoretically eliminate all health disparities, but I do believe that our collective efforts cumulate to create a greater impact on the communities we serve. Instead of using the terms “eradicating” or “eliminating” health disparities, “reducing” would be a more representative term to use.

Overall, the dinner helped to restore my passion for addressing health disparities within disadvantaged populations. Speaking with Dr. Lynk and the students who attended the Table for 10 Dinner was refreshing. It is always great to discuss health equity with people who are just as passionate about the topic area as you are. It reiterated the importance of group relations and partnerships and their positive impact in the delivery of health care services. Most importantly, I am more cognizant of cultural competency and the importance of applying it when serving multi-cultural populations.

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Center for Health Equity & Wellness | Adventist HealthCare | Maryland - Adventist HealthCare

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The Adventist HealthCare Center for Health Equity and Wellness ensures that the communities we serve thrive in a culture of wellness and benefit from patient-centered, equitable care.

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Mona Center Visit - Jianna Howard (Activity Reflection)

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Mona Center Visit - Jianna Howard (Activity Reflection)

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On March 1, 2019, I joined Dr. Thomas’s Fearless Ideas course on their trip to The Mona Center in Temple Hills, MD. In the few hours I spent with the class, I observed a lot and learned a multitude of new information.

The day started with a brief history and overview of the center from a Catholic Charities representative. He talked about the host of services The Mona Center provides including medical services provided by full-time physicians, nurse practitioners, plus a small administrative staff with an emphasis on primary care and endocrinology services, a dental clinic providing routine dental care including check-ups, cleanings, fillings and extractions, and the Maria’s Meals Dinner Program; every Tuesday evening, the Catholic Charities Maria’s Meals Van provides free healthy dinners to individuals and families in the community. The Mona Center was once a full-service restaurant and staff members are currently working out plans to develop a teaching kitchen to host a range of experts to teach new skills in healthy meal preparation and nutritional literacy. Additionally, plans to have students in UMD’s Center for Healthy Families operate a satellite of their non-profit clinic and provide counseling services to individuals, couples (married or unmarried), and families are in the works.

While describing the current and future services, it was noted that all care provided by The Mona Center is delivered while maintaining Catholic values; this means no birth control of any form is provided by the center. While I respect all faiths, and feel that if faith brings joy to one’s life they should be able to practice it, I don’t think religious tenets should be reflected in the health world. Humans all have medical and health related needs and while culture unquestionably influences these specific needs, in regards to sexual and reproductive health in this day and age, the majority of people have sex irrespective of their religious beliefs and should receive adequate care, contraception, and education.

Overall, I think the work The Mona Center does is great! It reminds me of a center back home in Rochester, NY called St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Center. They also provide medical, dental, and mental health services to local people without insurance for little to no fees. These kinds of organizations are important for the promotion of public health, but it is my hope that one day we will not even need centers like these because or healthcare system will be greatly improved.

Bri and I followed some of the undergraduate students as they walked around the area in search of community members to engage. One of the highlights of the trip for me was talking to the owners of a medical marijuana dispensary right across the street from The Mona Center. First, I was impressed to see 2 young black men owning a business. Second, they provided a lot of information I did not know about. They explained how the process works to receive a medical marijuana certification and how customers must be approved by a physician and receive a card that they must later present to purchase any cannabis products from a dispensary. They said that the majority of their clientele was middle-aged adults. They also informed us that in the state of Maryland, medical dispensaries need to be in close proximity to a physician’s office or health center, hence why they are right across the street from the center. I think the legalization of marijuana would undoubtedly be valuable to American society for many reasons. For one it would benefit the economy, but from a public health standpoint, prescription of opioids for pain management could decrease as marijuana takes its place.

After separating from the undergrads, Bri and I went into a local barbershop. Barbershops and beauty salons can be culturally relevant portals for health education and delivery of public health and medical services in the community. According to The Center for Health Equity’s site “Barbershops and beauty salons also represent private sector business partners dedicated to improving the quality of life in the neighborhoods they serve.  Medical and public health research has proven that barbershops and beauty salons can be mobilized as venues for delivery of health promotion and disease prevention services designed to eliminate health disparities and advance health equity.” While in the barbershop, Bri and I had a conversation with one of the barbers and his client. We talked about what we were studying and why, how healthcare in America is not equitable and how we wanted to do work and research to improve it. This brief introduction led to a conversation on peoples’ willingness to help each other and we all agreed that peoples’ attitudes need to change overall for specific changes to happen in the world, one of those being improvements in healthcare.

My experience a couple weeks ago was very insightful in different ways. It got me thinking a lot about what programs currently exist to help individuals to improve the public’s overall wellbeing as well as what kind of programs may be needed in the future to completely eliminate health disparities.

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Activity: SURJ Baltimore Legislative Day & Follow-Up in Annapolis by Joe Galarraga

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Activity: SURJ Baltimore Legislative Day & Follow-Up in Annapolis by Joe Galarraga

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On February 9, 2019, I attended the Baltimore chapter of SURJ's legislative priority session at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Baltimore, MD. I found out about SURJ because I live a block away from the 29th Street Community Center in Baltimore and saw they were hosting an event about gun violence last fall while walking past one day. SURJ is a national network of people that aims to "stand up for racial justice." Specifically, SURJ mobilizes white people to act alongside minority groups in the name of justice and accountability. The goal of the event was for several local minority-led organizations to share what bills were important to support or oppose based on the goals of that particular organization. On this day, there were representatives from the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition; CASA de Maryland; Campaign for Justice, Safety, & Jobs; Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle; and Out for Justice.

The event started with Samuel Jordan from the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition explaining how public transit has the ability to support economic development in underserved, predominantly black areas of Baltimore City. Governor Larry Hogan cancelled the Red Line project, a mass transit plan that would have connected the east and west sides of the city. This railway would have allowed for people residing in these areas to access jobs in the center of the city without the need for a car or a ride. Mr. Jordan explained the racist implications of cancelling the project, and why transit equity is an important issue in achieving racial justice. Mr. Jordan encouraged support of SB0630 & HB771, which would establish a regional transit authority study. These bills could potentially establish a regional transit authority that could raise funds to build transit in the future. Next, Lydia Walther-Rodriguez and Abraham Téma spoke on behalf of CASA de Maryland. CASA de Maryland emphasizes "leadership from the back" and supports immigrant populations in Maryland with their priorities. Mr. Téma is an immigrant from Guatemala who spoke about how his experiences with immigration inspired him to become an activist. CASA's legislative priorities included reforming the MD Dream Act to cover all immigrant children so they can continue studies, establishing the MD Trust act to make Maryland a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants, and supporting a $15 minimum wage. Donna Brown from the Campaign for Justice, Safety, & Jobs addressed the crowd regarding the organization's priorities. CJSJ is a conglomerate of grassroots organizations that rally for justice in the city. Namely, CJSJ has been focused on issues of over-policing in the city. Ms. Brown advocated for returning police control of the Baltimore Police Department to the city itself vs. the state government in order to provide more accountability. She also supported modifying the Public Information Act (HB0413) to include police personnel records to increase transparency. CJSJ opposed mandatory minimums for firearms-related offenses, suggesting that children who grow up with incarcerated parents are likely to perpetuate crime, and there are ways to address gun offenses without jailing. Also, CJSJ opposed the establishment of a new private police force by Johns Hopkins in the city. Lawrence Grandpre spoke on behalf of LBS Baltimore to discuss the growing marijuana business in the state of Maryland, and how the state ought to prioritize equity within the industry. Mr. Grandpre spoke about how the war on drugs disproportionately affected black communities, and how $3 million dollars to open a dispensary is not accessible to minority populations who have been thrown in jail for drug-related offenses. Finally, Nicole Hanson from Out for Justice spoke about the proposed legislation that could affect incarcerated individuals. Out for Justice is an organization that is led by the formerly incarcerated to advocate for that population. Ms. Hanson supported HB0252, which would establish a program between the State Board of Elections and correctional facilities to inform eligible detainees about how they can exercise their right to vote. Ms. Hanson also explained how the criminal justice system often neglects women, and supported SB0419, which would reopen the women's pre-release unit. This program allows for better re-entry options for incarcerated women.

The presentation by the partner organizations was followed by a group break-out by district. I along with other members of district 43 collaborated on how we could support these organizations with their legislative priorities. I volunteered to go to Annapolis during the legislative session to share these priorities with Del. Maggie McIntosh as a resident of district 43. A few weeks later, I traveled to Annapolis with a few other district 43 residents and SURJ members to talk to Maggie McIntosh's aide about a number of issues, including modifying the PIA, opposing at Hopkins police force, reopening the women's prerelease unit, and more. The goal was to show Del. McIntosh that there are people in district 43 who are working with local racial justice organizations, and that she should vote in the interest of her constituents. Her chief of staff, Matthew Stegman, was receptive to our meeting and also forthcoming about Del. McIntosh's voting priorities, demonstrating encouraging transparency.

This experience was powerful to me for a few reasons. Firstly, it gave me some insight into the state legislative process. Along these lines, I found it empowering to see how easy it was to set up a meeting with a legislator and speak to them about voting. I think some parts of government are purposefully opaque (getting information about when votes on bills were happening was harder to uncover), but it was refreshing to see that legislators are actually concerned about meeting with their voters. Secondly, I was happy to participate with a group like SURJ, as I find it a good model for allyship. As a white person living in a majority-black city, I often do not know the best ways to advocate for minority populations in Baltimore. I even feel that sometimes I am not the person who should be advocating in this way; who am I to speak for somebody else? I like that SURJ actually prioritizes the voices of organizations that are led by minorities. The purpose of SURJ is to organize white people around amplifying these voices in spaces where they are not heard and spreading their messages throughout the entire city. During one of our first HLSA787 classes we discussed where white people fit in within the Black Lives Matter movement. I'd suggest that SURJ is a model organization in this regard because of its dedication to the work of minority-led community partners. I am happy that I stumbled into this organization, and hope to continue my involvement in the future.

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SURJ Baltimore, Baltimore, MD. 3.5K likes. SURJ is a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice.

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Failed Creative Interpretation of Assignment: Reflection Number Three

Brittney Smith

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Failed Creative Interpretation of Assignment: Reflection Number Three

Brittney Smith

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The Lorax

By: Dr. Seuss

Lorax is a children’s book that tells the tale of the Lorax and the Onceler. The Onceler was a traveler making its way through the forest and fancied the trees. His obsession with the texture and the versality of the trees inspired him to capitalize off of the ecosystem. The Onceler invited his family and established factories to produce clothing that he felt everyone needs. The Lorax, a member of the community pleaded with the Onceler and stated she spoke for the trees to stop cutting down the trees because the animals were suffering and the sky was becoming polluted. The Oncler disregarded the Lorax’s pleas and enhanced his business to further line his pockets. Once the last tree was cut down all of the Onceler’s family moved away and there was nothing left. There were no more animals, no more trees and no more Lorax The only thing that remained was the Onceler to tell the story of how the land that is now present has changed due to his greed.

As a child I read this book and never truly understood its deeper meaning until I began higher level studies. The inequities that the Onceler capitalized on whether it was resources, man power or physical strength lead to his overt opposition for empathy and beneficence for the community he was affecting. The Lorax to me represents a community leader, a leader who advocates and speak-up and speak-out about the injustices plaguing their community. However, as this book has shown even within a fictional context empirical evidence of the harm being committed to a community can be undoubtably written off as insignificant and unimportant if it does not fit the majorities agenda. This message resonates in current and historical context. The health of the minority population is often denigrated and dismissed.

Literature has suggested that individuals in under protected groups have had legislation dictate the quality of their life, the way they can prosper and have been capped in the limit of success they may have. The Onceler is just a personified version of the “good ol’ boys” (i.e. Christopher Columbus) and how they can take what doesn’t belong to them and have little to no remorse to the repercussion of destroying an individual’s land, spirit and family.  The Lorax was my first introduction to injustice, but it was written in youthful manner which disguised the similarities in how our world can be cruel to those who do not have the resources to fend for themselves.

So this was going to be my assignment, but it did not qualify for submission, however I think my interpretation of the assignment displayed the very first time I read and or understood what inequality was. I learned this from a children's book.

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Reflection1_Racial Disparities in Government Relief_Dan  Marthey

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Reflection1_Racial Disparities in Government Relief_Dan  Marthey

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Earlier this week I was driving to school and overheard a discussion about the recent tornado that struck Alabama. One of the topics that came up was the racial divide in who receives federal aid after natural disasters (link provided). This made me reflect on the historical racist behavior of our early lending practices and how that behavior is still effecting US citizens today.

There is a long history in racial discrimination and mortgage lending practices in the US, something referred to as redlining. These practices have been a strong driver in racial segregation of US cities today. As a result of this practice, people of color have not had the same opportunities to purchase homes or build wealth in the same way that White families have. A very near and clear example is how the city of Baltimore has developed along racial lines. Today, it is clear that due to racial discrimination in bank lending practices, fewer families of color were able to purchase homes in certain neighborhoods and therefore were pushed away from areas where White people were purchasing homes. That is why we have adjacent zip codes in Baltimore with incredible disparities in health outcomes and socio-economic characteristics. In monetary terms, that means homes in predominantly White neighborhoods are of greater value.

Another negative outcome of institutionalized racism: the federal government is more likely to give aid to White families. While the algorithms that determine who receives aid are not biased they do not account for the fact that families of color live in places where homes are either of less value or these families do not have enough equity to qualify for reduced interest loans to get back on their feet (result of redlining and racial discrimination). This practice leaves communities of color to fend for themselves after natural disasters and reinforces the institutional racism that we like to say is behind us.

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For many families, the nightmare of a catastrophic flood is only just getting started when the waters recede. But that nightmare - one that has become increasingly common across the United States - may be worse depending on who you are.

An NPR investigation found that white communities nationwide have disproportionately received more federal buyouts after a disaster than communities of color. Federal disaster aid is allocated based on a cost-benefit calculation meant to minimize taxpayer risk. That means money is not necessarily doled out to those who need it most but rather to those whose property is worth more - and to those who own property in the first place. That mirrors the existing racial wealth gap in the United States.

NPR analyzed records from a Federal Emergency Management Agency database of more than 40,000 property acquisitions, or "buyouts," funded by the agency from 1989 through 2017. The program buys homes from eligible homeowners who opt in. It then turns those lots into open space.

Our analysis shows that most of the buyouts in the FEMA database happened in neighborhoods that were more than 85 percent white and non-Hispanic, even though disasters affect all kinds of communities. For context, the U.S. is 62 percent white and non-Hispanic.
Search the data for yourself below.
NPR obtained the records after suing FEMA under the Freedom of Information Act. We then used the five-digit ZIP codes associated with the property addresses to compare the buyout data with U.S. Census Bureau data on demographics. We chose Census Bureau data sets that best corresponded with the time frame of each buyout record.

Some ZIP codes won't come up with many - or any - records, which could mean that FEMA buyouts didn't happen there during the time period for which we received records or that those records don't appear in the database.

But other ZIP codes have hundreds of records. After Hurricane Floyd in 1999, the database shows, hundreds of households took buyouts along the East Coast in cities like Manville, N.J. (08835), where part of our investigation focused. The records indicate hundreds of buyouts after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in places like Pearlington, M.S. (39572), which is close to where that catastrophic storm made landfall. Even without including 2017's Hurricane Harvey, records for ZIP codes in flood-prone Houston (like 77040) show more than 1,600 buyouts dating back to 1995.

The database also includes more than just severe flooding: A 1998 landslide resulted in dozens of buyouts in Kelso, Wash. (98626), and in 1991, an ice storm wreaked havoc across parts of Indiana (46060 and 46952, among others), according to the database.

Below, you can search for FEMA buyouts in your ZIP code or any other part of the country. Any records found will be returned with the most recent ones first. The federal "Fiscal Year" shown can refer to when the disaster occurred or when federal funds were allocated. You can also download the entire database.

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Search The Thousands of Disaster Buyouts FEMA Didn't Want You To See

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For many families, the nightmare of a catastrophic flood is only just getting started when the waters recede. But that nightmare - one that has become increasingly common across the United States - may be worse depending on who you are.

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Reflection Two -#FitDC 5K Run - Ihunanya Onyejiuwa

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Reflection Two -#FitDC 5K Run - Ihunanya Onyejiuwa

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This past Saturday, I kicked off Women’s History Month by participating in my very first 5K run hosted by #FITDC! #FITDC is a comprehensive health and wellness initiative launched in Spring of 2015 by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Department of Parks and Recreation. The program encourages Metropolitan residents to live healthier lifestyles and links them to nutrition/physical activity events in their communities. This particular 5K was hosted by

Mayor Bowser’s Administration, the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Policy and Initiatives, the National Women’s History Museum and the DC Department of Parks and Recreation and paid homage to Women’s History Month.

One of my classmates sent the information about the 5K run to our group chat and initially I was intimidated. I thought, “Me? Run in a 5K? Yeah, right.” After some time, I agreed to attend the 5K and I am so happy that I decided to go. As I inched closer to the 5K grounds, I saw the multitude of women who were awaiting the start of the race. I witnessed women of all racial/ethnic backgrounds, socio-economic statuses, and ages come together for the sole purpose of running. Everyone ran for their own personal reasons; some for influential women in their lives, and some for themselves. I wasn’t sure why I was running, but I would soon find out.

During the 5K, I was able to reflect on Women’s History Month and what it meant for me to be a Black woman here in America. I reflected on stories of my mother and other strong women in my family who persevered against all odds and continue to be the pillars of my family. I thought of the millions of girls worldwide who uncontrollable factors affect every day. The run reminded me of why I’m in the MPH: Health Equity program and my commitment to empowering communities with silenced voices. Most importantly, I realized that strength was in numbers and the fight for health equity cannot be achieved by one soul.

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Abigail Adams In 1789; Harriet Tubman In 1850; Babe Didrikson In 1934 & 1950; Shirley Chisholm In 1968; Billie Jean King In 1973; Janet Guthrie In 1977; Sandra Day O'Connor In 1981; Sally Ride In 1983; Joan Benoit In 1984; Madeleine Albright In 1997; Ellen DeGeneres in 1997; Oprah Winfrey In 2003; Condoleezza Rice In 2005; Hillary Clinton In 2016; Yani Tsend In 2011; Misty Copeland In 2015; Serena Williams In 2016; Beth Ford In 2018; And Stacey Cunningham In 2018.

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Dr. Idethia Shevon Harvey, UMD’s Health Equity Leadership Program (HELP) fellow, touched upon a number of health disparities during her guest lecture. As a gerontologist myself, it was refreshing to hear about my overlapping interests with Dr. Harvey. Her research focus on older adults, specifically those individuals located in rural communities, was very telling of the challenges urban vs rural older adults face. For example, while transportation to and from medical appointments for older adults may be challenging no matter the location, those in rural communities have less access to reliable transportation which may lead to decreased access to health services. In her lecture, she noted that bus schedules are inconsistent in rural areas in Texas—sometimes even requiring an individual to call and notify the bus service they are waiting at a bus stop. Further, she discussed that the older adults she had the opportunity to visit did not have access to healthy food options. The individuals mostly visited their local family dollar (or some equivalent) to obtain food to sustain them through the week. Dr. Harvey noted that one participant she interviewed made a weekly trip to Walmart—while this is a much better option than food located at a family dollar store, individuals should be offered alternatives to Walmart to purchase healthy foods (e.g., Giant, or even Trader Joe’s which is healthy and more affordable as compared with Whole Foods). While the population she studied is faced with a number of challenges, further exasperated by their location in a rural community, she did share a positive aspect to residing in rural areas. Specifically, given that one of the key characteristics of a rural area is a small population, this often means that individuals are acquainted with one another and community ties are strong. For older adults, this likely translates to increased support from their community.

At the onset of Dr. Harvey’s lecture, she noted that it took her roughly a year or so to build relationships with key stakeholders in the community to be able to identify individuals willing to be interviewed. Building trust is vital in successful participant-based research, as Dr. Harvey conveyed. Dr. Thomas in class has also mentioned the importance of connecting with persons in a community of interest whom individuals trust to deliver a message (e.g., increasing participation of minority populations in longitudinal studies), for example. Our reading from last week discussed the community-owned and managed research (COMR) model as a mechanism to empower communities to conduct their own research to address challenges and identify solutions. Having worked with a number of organizations focused on individuals with disabilities, I’ve heard the expression “Nothing About Us Without Us” on numerous occasions. I think this saying rings true in work focused on minority populations. Implementing interventions without input from the population its intended to impact may not be conducive.

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Personal Reflection 1: #FITDC HerStory 5K - Brianna Aldridge

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Personal Reflection 1: #FITDC HerStory 5K - Brianna Aldridge

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I never heralded March the way I do February.

February is Black History Month. It is my history and my people's history. In recent years, I have used the month of February to learn more about my people and our heritage. I have also used it to more intentionally support Black-owned businesses and highlight figures in Black culture who usually do not even get a paragraph in grade school textbooks.

March, though. March never meant much to me other than loads of televised college basketball games. Somehow, just this year, I learned that March is Women's History Month. Maybe I knew that before, but the fact never resonated with me.

As a graduate student in a new state that was foreign to me just eight months ago, I believe I am growing and changing more than I ever have before. With that development has come a reimagining of the importance of my identities. Who I am matters in a context deeper than I think I can explain. Despite the mystery that comes with discovering myself, what I know for certain is that my experiences as much as my heritage make me who I am. For that reason, I have resolved to try to pay attention to the month of March as much as I do the month of February, for as Sojourner Truth said, "Ain't I a woman?"

In celebration of the identity I hold as a woman, I signed up to run in the #FITDC HerStory 5K. This 5K was the first of its kind, crafted specifically to recognize women and girls across the country and to honor the accomplishments of so many. As I ran and walked along the path of the 5K, I came to a bridge erected next to a row of light poles. Each of these light poles were decorated with signs that told me facts about women in history (or should I say herstory). Marie Curie and Shirley Chisholm were just some of the many names mentioned. These small signs were motivation for me to push on not just in the 5K but in life.

Minority health matters because health matters. As important as it is for Black people to achieve health equity, it is just as important for women. I am grateful and honored to claim these identities as they force me to explore my world in the hopes of making it better for myself and those who will come after me. I find it comforting that this 5K - something meant for the betterment of my health - can also encourage me and even revolutionize the way I view myself and my surroundings.

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While I had seen it before, I recently watched the Netflix documentary, 13th, for a second time. I absorbed more information this time and there are a few different topics discussed that I’d like to reflect on.

It was heartbreaking for me to see pictures of young black boys turned into prisoners in the late 1800s and early 1900s. For those who haven’t seen the documentary, it centers on the fact that when the 13th amendment ended slavery, a clause within the amendment essentially stated that criminals were still slaves and as a result, the mass incarceration of black people began. Black men and boys were thrown into prison for small crimes such as loitering to increase the prison population with the idea that they would perform free labor in the southern U.S. As the black prison population started to increase, so did the rhetoric that black men were criminals, a stereotype still engrained in society today & while the narrative has changed, the results are the same for people of color in this country. It went from a war on black people to the popular “War on Drugs” to the war on crime.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to question the political agendas of those in power, but learning about Richard Nixon’s war on crime and Ronald Reagan’s “War on Drugs” astonished me and confirmed my beliefs that politicians are master of manipulation. Many of the things these two promised and the rhetoric used was for their own political gain but undoubtedly influenced the minds of masses. Black people were subliminal associated with drugs and crime and that ideology is so embedded into society that black people themselves believe that their lives should be subpar. The morning after watching “13th,” I also watched a documentary called “Feel Rich,” in which rappers discuss hip hop culture’s influence on health. One rapper described how he knew black people that felt they were supposed to eat bad because it was just “part of the culture.”

Thinking about the history of mass incarceration and the criminalization of black people sparked a connection to internalized racism in my mind. There is a slowly albeit dying ideology among the black community that in order to be successful, a black man must be exceling in athletics, music, or partaking in an illegal business venture. I wholeheartedly believe that many black people, especially black men, have internalized this belief.

When I was younger, my older brother spent 5 years in prison for dumb things he did as a teenager. I hate when I hear about old classmates from high school or college, or even old friends and family members that have been arrested and/or are facing jail or prison time for a crime that seemingly makes no sense. Our criminal justice system has been set up to fail black people from the beginning and it bothers me when I feel like a person of color handed themselves over on a silver platter.

Our whole criminal justice system needs revamping; we all know it, but what are we doing about it?

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I really enjoyed Dr. Harvey's presentation. As a fellow Brooklyn girl, I could not imagine going into a rural community and having people will open up to me. I am impressed that Dr. Harvey was able to get 34 interviews and that people would allow her to take pictures of their home. I think that "shame" is a big barrier to doing important research like the work that Dr. Harvey is doing. Good thing people like Dr. Harvey are committed to doing such difficult work and are not deterred when it takes over a year to find someone to interview. In the "publish or perish" world of academia, I am happy to hear that someone would be so committed to a research topic and would not move on in order to get another paper out there.
I think that Dr. Harvey's research is a very good example of 2nd generation disparities research. She used qualitative methods to explore how stress, poverty, built environment, lack of health care services, poor education, and social isolation all contribute to diabetes in African American communities in rural America. I found what she said about poor diet as a mal-adaptive coping skill to be quite powerful. When you need to spend your whole life dealing with the stress of poverty and racism, you turn to the things that give you a little bit of happiness. For some people, that could be drugs or alcohol or cigarettes. For others, it is sugar. There family members may know that it is not good to give their relatives with diabetes sugary foods, but they want to make them happy. When you have so little in life (surviving on $10,000), sugar may be one of things that you can afford that will make you feel good.
I was also very interested in the impact of amputation in rural communities. It is hard enough to be an amputee in Washington DC where there are public buses and ADA compliant streets. I could not imagine being an amputee in an already socially isolating place. How would one get around? Does being an amputee in a rural setting make you home-bound? I cannot even imagine what the lived experience of a rural diabetic amputee is. I am happy the Dr. Harvey is using ethnography to allow to world to see the lived experience of this population.
Now, how do we allow Dr. Harvey's work to inform 3rd and 4th phase disparity research? Well, we probably should not do an intervention at a senior center (as Dr. Harvey found that rural seniors do not feel that they belong at senior centers). Maybe free foot checks at the Family Dollar or the Walmart? We know that members of the community will be going to these places as those are the only places to by groceries. We can take public health out of the traditional medical settings (which we know that they have poor access too anyway) and do preventative care in the community. Or, better yet, ask the community where they would like to receive free foot exams? Amputation is highly preventable and has a huge impact on quality of life. I know that it is good to start further upstream and prevent diabetes, but I feel that this is a "Wicked Problem." Once we have one success with the community (reduction in amputations), we will be more prepared to move upstream.
I am sharing a link to an journal article that found that of diabetics presenting to the ED for a foot complication, the odds of having an amputation was 51% higher in rural communities. THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE. Talk about geographical disparities.

A Diabetic Emergency One Million Feet Long: Disparities and Burdens of Illness among Diabetic Foot Ulcer Cases within Emergency Departments in the United States, 2006–2010

Also another article featuring our own Dr. Jie Chen showing that African Americans are two times more likely to have an amputation that Whites.

Explaining Racial Disparities in Amputation Rates for the Treatment of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) Using Decomposition Methods

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From Brianna Aldridge

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said that algorithms can perpetuate racial inequities.

Last week, newly elected U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made headlines when she said, as part of the fourth annual MLK Now event, that facial-recognition technologies and algorithms "always have these racial inequities that get translated, because algorithms are still made by human beings, and those algorithms are still pegged to basic human assumptions. They're just automated. And automated assumptions — if you don't fix the bias, then you're just automating the bias."

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said that algorithms can perpetuate racial inequities.

Credit: Shutterstock

Last week, newly elected U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made headlines when she said, as part of the fourth annual MLK Now event, that facial-recognition technologies and algorithms "always have these racial inequities that get translated, because algorithms are still made by human beings, and those algorithms are still pegged to basic human assumptions. They're just automated. And automated assumptions - if you don't fix the bias, then you're just automating the bias."

Does that mean that algorithms, which are theoretically based on the objective truths of math, can be " racist?" And if so, what can be done to remove that bias? [ The 11 Most Beautiful Mathematical Equations]

It turns out that the output from algorithms can indeed produce biased results. Data scientists say that computer programs, neural networks, machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) work because they learn how to behave from data they are given. Software is written by humans, who have bias, and training data is also generated by humans who have bias.

The two stages of machine learning show how this bias can creep into a seemingly automated process. In the first stage, the training stage, an algorithm learns based on a set of data or on certain rules or restrictions. The second stage is the inference stage, in which an algorithm applies what it has learned in practice. This second stage reveals an algorithm's biases. For example, if an algorithm is trained with pictures of only women who have long hair, then it will think anyone with short hair is a man.

Google infamously came under fire in 2015 when Google Photos labeled black people as gorillas, likely because those were the only dark-skinned beings in the training set.

And bias can creep in through many avenues. "A common mistake is training an algorithm to make predictions based on past decisions from biased humans," Sophie Searcy, a senior data scientist at the data-science-training bootcamp Metis, told Live Science. "If I make an algorithm to automate decisions previously made by a group of loan officers, I might take the easy road and train the algorithm on past decisions from those loan officers. But then, of course, if those loan officers were biased, then the algorithm I build will continue those biases."

Searcy cited the example of COMPAS, a predictive tool used across the U.S. criminal justice system for sentencing, which tries to predict where crime will occur. ProPublica performed an analysis on COMPAS and found that, after controlling for other statistical explanations, the tool overestimated the risk of recidivism for black defendants and consistently underestimated the risk for white defendants.

To help combat algorithmic biases, Searcy told Live Science, engineers and data scientists should be building more-diverse data sets for new problems, as well as trying to understand and mitigate the bias built in to existing data sets.

First and foremost, said Ira Cohen, a data scientist at predictive analytics company Anodot, engineers should have a training set with relatively uniform representation of all population types if they're training an algorithm to identify ethnic or gender attributes. "It is important to represent enough examples from each population group, even if they are a minority in the overall population being examined," Cohen told Live Science. Finally, Cohen recommends checking for biases on a test set that includes people from all these groups. "If, for a certain race, the accuracy is statistically significantly lower than the other categories, the algorithm may have a bias, and I would evaluate the training data that was used for it," Cohen told LiveScience. For example, if the algorithm can correctly identify 900 out of 1,000 white faces, but correctly detects only 600 out of 1,000 asian faces, then the algorithm may have a bias "against" Asians, Cohen added.

Removing bias can be incredibly challenging for AI.

Even Google, considered a forerunner in commercial AI, apparently couldn't come up with a comprehensive solution to its gorilla problem from 2015. Wired found that instead of finding a way for its algorithms to distinguish between people of color and gorillas, Google simply blocked its image-recognition algorithms from identifying gorillas at all.

Google's example is a good reminder that training AI software can be a difficult exercise, particularly when software isn't being tested or trained by a representative and diverse group of people.

Originally published on Live Science.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says Algorithms Can Be Racist. Here's Why She's Right.

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Last week, newly elected U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made headlines when she said, as part of the fourth annual MLK Now event, that facial-recognition technologies and algorithms "always have these racial inequities that get translated, because algorithms are still made by human beings, and those algorithms are still pegged to basic human assumptions.

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Introduction. Although community-clinical linkages can improve chronic disease management, little is known regarding strategies for program implementation. We describe implementation of a unique produce prescription program for patients with hypertension (PRxHTN) involving 3 safety net clinics and 20 farmers' markets (FMs). Strategy. Safety net clinics were invited to participate, and provider-leads received assistance in (1) developing a process flow to screen for food insecurity among hypertensive adults for program referral, (2) integrating the program into their electronic health record for scheduling, and (3) counseling patients on PRxHTN/FM use. Research staff met with clinics twice monthly. FM managers were trained on maintaining PRxHTN voucher redemption logs. Discussion. A total of 7 diverse providers screened 266 patients over 3 months; 224 were enrolled. Twelve FM, including one newly established at a clinic through provider-FM manager collaboration, redeemed over $14,500 of the $10 PRxHTN vouchers. We describe several strategies that can be used to prepare for and overcome implementation challenges including organizational and staff selection, facilitative administration, and clinical training and consultation. Conclusion. The PRxHTN program offers a flexible implementation process allowing clinics to successfully adapt their workflow to suit their staffing and resources.

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Implementing a Produce Prescription Program for Hypertensive Patients in Safety Net Clinics

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Introduction. Although community-clinical linkages can improve chronic disease management, little is known regarding strategies for program implementation. We describe implementation of a unique produce prescription program for patients with hypertension (PRxHTN) involving 3 safety net clinics and 20 farmers' markets (FMs). Strategy.

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Trump's wall ignites tensions in Arizona: 'This country has been violated' | Anywhere but Washington (Reflection Two)

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Trump's wall ignites tensions in Arizona: 'This country has been violated' | Anywhere but Washington (Reflection Two)

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Brittney Smith

The other day I was browsing around YouTube, and usually my interest draws me to fun light- hearted videos that remove the need to indulge in critical thinking and serious attention. However, what I, like many others fell down a stream of recommended videos and happened to be watching a video about southern boarder patrol. The piece was presented by The Guardian and in the video the news reporter, Paul Lewis interviewed a leader in the Tohono O'odham Nation, a Native American tribe that has members on both sides of the boarder. Lewis also spoke to Joe Arpaio, a former controversial sheriff that was recently pardoned by President Trump for being convicted of intentionally profiling individuals of color and encouraged his deputies to do so which prosecutors believed were fueled by racism. The piece began by the reporter looking at the boarder that separated Arizona and Mexico and the tribe leader explaining that creating a physical boarder would separate his tribe – which inevitably would separate families and intrude on their land. For the people of the Tohono O’odham Nation this boarder is not just political, but it is personal. The history of the United States was brought up during the interview with both parties noting that the same land that the United States is trying to protect used to belong to Mexico.

There was a focus group held in Arizona that was filled with conservative Republicans who agreed with the president’s methods and plan of action regarding boarder security. Many ideals were vocalized by the constituents many of which were very disturbing. The look of the room was majority Caucasian men and women with few minority men that made statements like, “If you don’t know English we don’t want you here.” “Mexican were bread and born selfish” “They want to just take from our country and not contribute anything” “Don’t come here and try to make our country a Muslim country” “I’m tired of being called a racist because I don’t want these people coming here illegally.” I for one was astonished, not just by the unconscious hateful venom, but from the hypocrisy and uninformed opinion by many of the members. Once again, most of the crimes committed in the United States are done by citizens and not illegal immigrants, however news stations will capitalize on stories where illegal immigrants have committed crimes and use that to sensationalize the reason to be tougher when it comes to our boarders.

Personally, I am for boarder safety. To me that means making the path to arrive to this country reasonable, accessible and efficient. Do I believe everyone should be given to opportunity to immigrate to the United States?  No. There should be a vetting process. Individuals who have committed heinous crimes and who conspire to harm American’s should not be allowed. People that are fleeing for better lives for their children and for themselves should be given a shot. Just like the people who came here to Elis island were. I am first generation American. Both my mother and father were born in Jamaica. My mother did not become a citizen until the late 90’s and she has been in the country since the 80’s. My mother and father’s path to citizenship was taken the legal way, but that was a privilege. They had the resources and scraped up the financial means to afford it. I implore these individuals in the video to spend a day with an immigrant. Hear their stories. Understand that the country they are leaving is a country they once loved and are proud of, but the safety and health of their family is more important than suffering in a war torn, poverty-stricken environment. There can be a solution, but violating a humans rights to make a point about boarders will never be the answer.

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Trump's wall ignites tensions in Arizona: 'This country has been violated' | Anywhere but Washington

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Environmental Justice Lecture (Reflection One)

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Environmental Justice Lecture (Reflection One)

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Brittney Smith

Last week Friday Dr. Sacoby Wilson was our class’ guest lecturer whose expertise lies on environmental justice. Dr. Wilson engaged the class in conversation that included various public health and environmental issues that affect marginalized and impoverished groups. Personally, I never found myself to be a true advocate for environmental health because my knowledge of the specifics is very limited. I never felt comfortable enough to speak up on the issues however, what Dr. Wilson exposed us to in the forms of videos, verbal lecture and PowerPoint presentations I now realize that regulations and policies implemented are extremely hazardous to me and I need to be more involved. The possibility of being taken advantage of is extremely high because in regards to environmental protection a person’s health is seen as a privilege and not a right.

Specifically, there was a video that intrigued me very much and the video was about Uniontown, Alabama. Uniontown is a predominantly black neighborhood where they annual salary is around $10,000 a year. The city has poor infrastructure and over the past couple of decades it has become a dumping ground for hazardous factories that have contributed to the decline of health to the people. A community member, Portia noted that her uncle passed away from kidney disease and her uncle reported that he didn’t become ill until the landfill turned up. Throughout the video you can visibly see the degradation of the land and the high number of abandoned houses. The focus was mainly on a landfill that was created after a toxic land spill occurred in Tennessee. The toxins from the spill were brought down to Uniontown and dumped into a landfill. The EPA said that the contents of the spill were not toxic, but the town in Tennessee – which was 90% Caucasian did not want the waste, so it was transferred to Alabama.

The waste from the landfill permeates the air and the owners of the landfill have interrupted the grave sites of former slaves. The constituents feel taken advantage of and disrespected because simply people in higher positions feel like they can. It easy to disrupt the culture and land of a population that has few resources and not the political power to fight back. The transfer of the waste from an predominant white town to a predominant black town is no coincidence. African American’s have historically in this country been looked down upon and taken for granted. Often our health as a community is an after thought because of stigma that we can take pain, we are somehow genetically created to withstand harsh circumstances without consequence. The subtle and obvious racial inequities is what kills African American’s earlier than their Caucasian counterparts. Uniontown is just one example of how policies do not have to look that of the ones in the fifties and sixties, but they come in the form of conspicuous maleficence behaviors that embedded in subconscious biases by law makers and big corporations.

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How Uniontown, Alabama, Became Victim of Environmental Injustice | NowThis

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The Spread of Hate and Racism: Confronting a Growing Public Crisis (Activity)

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The Spread of Hate and Racism: Confronting a Growing Public Crisis (Activity)

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Brittney Smith

In the seminar entitled The Spread of Hate and Racism: Confronting a Growing Public Crisis hosted by Harvard T.H. Chan school of public health there was an interesting conversation regarding race relations and the current climate of the country. The panel had various professionals associated with organizations like the Anti-Defamation League and Teaching Tolerance and the Harvard University. While listening to the seminar what I noted to be refreshing about the phenotypic make-up of the panel is that there was a diverse group of professionals expressing their professional and opinion on the state of the union. The moderator, Mr. Phillip Martin, started the discussion reiterating a statistic observed by the FBI that in 2017 reports cited that hate crimes have been on the rise for the third year in a row. The crimes committed did not exclude physical intimidation, verbal criticism and abuse and extremist group formations.

The narrative that is often portrayed on certain media outlets is that hate crimes are committed mostly by the others – the immigrants, brown and black people and or Muslims; however, statistics show that 73% of hate crimes are committed by white supremacist, anti-government and home grown. The energy of these hate crimes is noticeably heightened due to the rhetoric from our president. The thought that the president’s “base” appreciates his cut throat, anti-political correctness, no nonsense, drain the swamp attitude leads to the question as to what is your agenda when it comes to unifying or dividing the country. The divisive rhetoric has bled into the schools and teachers have reported to a study conducted by UCLA that marginalized students are feeling self-reported high levels of anxiety and depression. Teachers feel uneasy teaching about history without sounding partisan and causing more emotional distress for students in vulnerable populations.

Another form of how hate and racism is spreading is social media. Many people who were alive during the civil rights movement had a unique fight of their own when it came to combatting racism. Many uninformed and privilege unaware individuals believe that we are in a post racial society and see that if people are not segregated by law and races are integrated then we have come so far. Nowadays, as public health practitioners we need to convince people that the lasting mental and emotional affects of systemic and institutional racism is still alive and that the way people speak of the past is as almost if it does not relate to how our present is. As a double minority, a black woman, I feel very fearful of how students are being educated and how people are treating each other. Just because there is no formal segregation that does not mean we as a country do not have work to do.

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The Forum at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health

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Summary

The Spread of Hate and Racism: Confronting a Growing Public Crisis
Presented jointly with PRI's The World & WGBH
February 13, 2019

In 2017, reports of hate crimes in the United States increased for the third consecutive year, according to the FBI. In addition to physical acts, such actions and other messages of racism, intolerance and extremism potentially impact large numbers of people online. In this Forum, experts tackled the painful and distressing spread of hate and racism. What social, political and psychological forces drive prejudice? How do modern media and the Internet enable and amplify hateful and racist messages? What are the impacts on the health and cohesion of society - and what can be done?

Part of: Policy Controversies.

Presented jointly with PRI's The World & WGBH
Image Credit: iStockphoto.com/PeopleImages

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The Spread of Hate and Racism: Confronting a Growing Public Crisis Presented jointly with PRI's The World & WGBH February 13, 2019 In 2017, reports of hate crimes in the United States increased for the third consecutive year, according to the FBI.

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Reflection 1: Environmental Justice Lecture- Mikayla Walker

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Reflection 1: Environmental Justice Lecture- Mikayla Walker

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Yesterday, we had a guest lecture from Dr. Sacoby Wilson who mainly discussed environmental justice, or injustice, that is happening throughout our country. As someone who has already invested in global public health, it's important to know that people in our own country are suffering just as much. We talked about how racism is the dominate factor in environmental injustice. In another class, we had highlighted the 3 types of racism: peer-mediated, interpersonal, and institutional. Dr. Wilson talked about how he believes peer-mediated and institutional, or structural, racism are the main driving forces between the differences and disparities we see in the environment. Neighborhoods that are predominantly black, or people of color, are forced into unhealthy and hazardous living arrangements. That is clearly seen when discussing Uniontown, Alabama. This town is 90% black and without their consideration, a landfill was placed right in  their neighborhood, harboring trash from 33 other states. The land disrupts the slave cemetery where their ancestors were laid to rest, and it shows the disrespect they have for the town's history and people.

One of the most surprising and disturbing parts of injustice in Uniontown is the sewage. Unlike a normal, 21st century sewage system, the one in Uniontown, Alabama, is through a spray field irrigation system, similar to the system of hog waste. Sewer waste water is sprayed over a field and it is supposed to seep through the ground which will break down the waste water and the rest will evaporate. However that is not the case. The ground is too thick, like clay, and the waste water just sits on top of it, allowing the the waste and toxins to overflow into nearby bodies of water to contaminate their water supply. It is quite astonishing to me that this is happening in our country. Bill Gates funded research to develop a way to turn our waste into drinkable water (I'll post a link below). He did this because he knew how some developing countries do not have proper sewage systems. To think that places in our first-world country would benefit from this because their system is worse, is truly sad and unacceptable.

One last topic of environmental justice I would like to discuss is food deserts. Dr. Wilson briefly mentioned them during his lecture and it reminded me of something I had discussed earlier at my internship. My colleagues and I had gone out to lunch and the subject of conversation turned to grocery stores. One of them announced that a Wegman's was going to be built on Riva Road. That's when it hit us: there will be a total of 5 grocery stores within a 1 mile radius of each other (Fresh Market, Whole Foods, Shoppers, Target, and now Wegmans). You could walk to every single one of them. Just a slightly further drive on each side of the main shopping center there were 2 other grocery stores (Grauls and Giant). In such a small part of Annapolis, there was access to so many grocery stores, giving inhabitants the opportunity to pick and choose which ones they'd like to go to for different items. It's sad to know that in the same distance/square mile in Southeast DC, there might not have even been 1 grocery store for people to use. Since Annapolis has a large wealthy Caucasian population, it's clear to see how race and racism plays a role in where food deserts are and are not located. There is so much that needs to be done to improve environmental equity, and until that happens health equity cannot be achieved.

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This Ingenious Machine Turns Feces Into Drinking Water

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Bill Gates recently got to check out the Omniprocessor, an ingenious machine designed and built by Janicki Bioenergy, which turns human waste into water and electricity.

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“We don’t want to find out 10 years from now,” Osterholm told Vox, “that we should have been doing something in 2019 but didn’t.”

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A mad cow-like infectious disease that can turn the brains of deer, elk, and moose into "Swiss cheese" is spreading in at least 24 states - and some experts are warning that it could eventually make its way into humans.

Known as chronic wasting disease, the fatal progressive neurodegenerative illness was first identified in the 1960s. Like mad cow, the disease is spread by prions, the zombie-like pathogenic proteins that aren't alive and can't be killed. When they infect an animal, they eat away at its brain, causing a cascade of symptoms that resemble dementia and eventually lead to death. While the disease is still rare, researchers believe it's more widespread than ever due, in part, to how humans trade deer and other hoofed mammals.

"What we've seen over the last few decades is that it's slowly spreading in wild deer populations," said Peter Larsen, an assistant professor in veterinary sciences at the University of Minnesota who has been studying the pathogen. It's also spreading among captive deer, elk, and reindeer, which are transported around the country and overseas to hunting ranches, petting zoos, and Christmas-themed farms. That's how the disease ended up in South Korea, Larsen said. (It's been identified in Canada and Norway, too.)

When new outbreaks start, they are virtually impossible to contain because, unlike viruses and bacteria, prions can't be killed. There's also no good way to find them. So we're talking about an indestructible, killer pathogen that could be lurking anywhere.

Researchers have long wondered whether the disease, like mad cow, can make the leap into humans. (Mad cow in people is known as Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.) Late last summer, we got a preliminary and frightening answer. In a paper published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers from Scotland and Canada showed via an experiment in a petri dish that prions from sick animals can indeed infect human cells.

Since then, there's been no direct evidence of human disease, even in people who ate meat that later tested positive for the pathogenic prions. Still, the experimental research spurred Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, to compare chronic wasting disease to mad cow recently.

Osterholm, it turns out, also warned the British government of the risks of mad cow before hundreds of people were infected in the UK and around the world in the late 1990s. Sitting before a state committee in Minnesota on February 7, he called the chances of humans becoming infected with chronic wasting disease "probable" and "possible," adding: "The number of human cases will be substantial and not isolated events."

"We don't want to find out 10 years from now," Osterholm told Vox, "that we should have been doing something in 2019 but didn't."

According to Larsen, it's not time to freak out, but he warned that this is a growing public health threat. People should not consume infected meat, he said, while also noting there's actually no good way to know if meat is infected. "There is currently no way for people to rapidly test for prions in meat, on meat processing surfaces, or in live deer," he said.

Let's walk through what we know about this emerging infectious disease.

1) What is "zombie deer disease"?

Scientists don't know where the name "zombie deer disease" emerged. Instead, they refer to chronic wasting disease, a fatal progressive neurodegenerative illness believed to affect deer, elk, reindeer, and moose. It was discovered in farmed deer in Colorado in the 1960s, and it's been intriguing scientists ever since.

The disease is caused by prions, which are not viruses or bacteria. Prions are almost indestructible pathogenic proteins that trigger cells, particularly in the brain and spinal cord, to fold abnormally and start clumping. When that happens, the infected animals begin to develop an array of awful symptoms - dementia, hallucinations, and difficulty walking and eating. The animals eventually become wobbly and disoriented. Those symptoms worsen over time, and since there's no cure, they always lead to death.

"[This] is a neurodegenerative disease - not a Hollywood zombie disease"

The disease got its name because when prions overtake an animal, it begins losing weight and wasting away. The prions "turn the brain into Swiss cheese," Larsen said.

But Larsen called "zombie deer disease" an unfortunate and potentially misleading moniker. "I have only seen one deer that has died of [chronic wasting disease] and it was emaciated," he said. "There are no zombie-like symptoms. Instead, the symptoms are what you would expect to see of a very sick animal: thin, weak, and unable to function normally.

"It is important to remember that [this] is a neurodegenerative disease - not a Hollywood zombie disease."

2) How does it spread in animals?

An animal with chronic wasting disease can spread prions to other animals through direct or indirect contact with bodily fluids such as feces, saliva, blood, or urine. That means that the disease can spread if an infected deer is wounded, for example, and its blood touches an uninfected animal; or if a healthy animal comes into contact with soil, food, or water that's been contaminated by a sick deer.

That's not all, Larsen said. Because prions are so robust, they can survive in environments - farms, forests - for years, decades even. "So let's say you have a deer with chronic wasting disease, and it started shedding [prions] in its urine, feces, saliva." If that deer dies on the forest floor, the prions can survive and bind to soil, where plants soak them up. Those plants can then spread prions through their leaves, Larsen said.

"So it's spreading in the wild, slowly. And every year, we see more and more cases of chronic wasting disease."

3) How would it spread to people?

There have been no documented cases of chronic wasting disease in people, but researchers think it's possible and becoming more likely, as infections become more prevalent in animals.

So far, the only evidence scientists have of spread beyond hoofed mammals, like deer, is indirect. In lab experiments, scientists have shown that the disease can spread in squirrel monkeys and mice that carry human genes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. In a yet-to-be-published study, macaques - a primate species that's genetically similar to humans - that were fed infected meat contracted the disease.

" Experiments are [also] being performed where researchers take environmental samples, like rocks or pieces of wood, that have [pathogenic] prions on them," said Larsen. "They then place these contaminated objects in cages with transgenic hamsters and the hamsters develop the disease."

In a recently published study, researchers found that chronic wasting disease prions infected human cells in a petri dish. But there's another study tracking people who ate venison that had been exposed to chronic wasting disease in 2005, and so far, they've shown no symptoms. It's possible they were exposed to a less virulent strain of the disease, or that the prions didn't manage to infect human cells, or that the disease is still incubating in them, Larsen said. "The jury is still out on the dangers of human consumption."

Even so, the CDC says the experimental studies "raise the concern that [chronic wasting disease] may pose a risk to people and suggest that it is important to prevent human exposures to [the disease]." The most likely way this could happen is if a person, such as a hunter, eats contaminated meat.

That brings us to another troubling fact about chronic wasting disease: "With a prion, you can't [cook it off]. The temperatures needed to destroy it are far beyond what you can cook with," Larsen said.

The only way to make prions noninfectious is by using lye, a strong alkaline solution that drastically changes the pH balance, and autoclaving - or pressure-treating them - at 270 degrees Fahrenheit. "Most people don't have access to this approach," Larsen said, and "the point is that it's difficult to manage [infectious] prions in the environment because we don't know exactly where they lurk." That brings us to the next problem with this disease.

4) Where is zombie deer disease in the US?

Well, we only know where chronic wasting disease was. Deer can only be diagnosed after they've died (researchers need to access tissues that are deep in the animal's brain, and to test those). But animals can carry the pathogens for years and not show any signs or symptoms. "That deer could go on a 40-mile trip, sprinkling [infected] prions in its feces or urine," said Larsen. "If we go and say this is a [chronic wasting] deer on this point on the map, what you don't see on that map is everywhere that deer has been in the last two years."

As of January 2019, 251 counties in 24 states had reported chronic wasting disease in free-ranging deer, the CDC reported. You can see them here:

Again, though, researchers think the range of spread is much broader. The CDC has also noted that some states have better animal disease surveillance systems than others, so the current map may be more a reflection of where detection is strongest (and of past disease) than where the deadly prions are currently spreading in the US.

5) Can we stop the disease from spreading?

Since there's no way to eradicate and cure the disease right now, researchers are recommending that states where it's known to be spreading try to contain it by identifying sick animals.

Now, here's another problem: The tools available to do that right now are very limited. The diagnostics for detecting the disease in animals are not always accurate, not all states have access to them, and, again, they can only confirm the presence of the infection in an animal after it's already dead. It can also take days or weeks to get results. That means the disease may be on the move - or in meat people are eating - for a while before anyone knows it's there.

"The real test we need is for deer that's killed, so people know whether the meat you're eating is infected," Osterholm said.

Along with Osterholm, Jeremy Schefers, a veterinary diagnostician at the University of Minnesota, was recently entreating lawmakers in his state for research funding to develop better diagnostic tools and help scientists answer basic questions about chronic wasting disease. Here's Schefers speaking to the Minnesota Post:

We need to find infected animals before their death, but we don't have a test. ... We need to know how other animals move CWD prion around the environment, but we don't have a test for that.

We need to know if the local butcher shop is contaminated and if it can be effectively cleaned, but we don't have a test for that. We need to know if prions move from the soil into plants and potentially are infective, but we don't have a test for that. ... I want to know how much is in the soil and I want to know how much of it takes to infect something, but we don't have a test for that.

All hunters need access to a test that can be easily purchased and quickly detect CWD in their deer before it's cut up into 100 pieces and fed to their family. Those hunters don't have access to a test.

6) How can people protect animals and themselves?

Health officials are most concerned about the potential for hunters to be to exposed to the disease through animals carrying prions. So anyone who finds themselves hunting in areas where chronic wasting disease is known to spread should take the following precautions, according to the CDC:

No shooting, handling, or eating elk or deer that look unhealthy or "are acting strangely."

When field-dressing (or removing the organs of) a hunted animal, wear latex or rubber gloves, avoid touching the animal's organs - especially the brain and spinal cord tissues - and avoid using utensils that are also used at home.

Get deer or elk meat tested for prion disease before eating the meat. Yet the CDC also warns that since the diagnostic tools for the disease are still limited, "A negative test result does not guarantee that an individual animal is not infected" with chronic wasting disease, though it "may reduce your risk of exposure."

When getting the meat commercially processed, ask the butcher if they handle and process multiple animals at one time (to avoid cross-contamination).

So what about consumers of game meat, like venison, and the restaurants that serve it? On that, Larsen didn't have a comforting answer.

He advised that anyone who eats game meat, or a restaurant that serves game, ask about where the meat came from. And restaurants should be making sure their meat is free of the disease. Again, in practice, that's not easy because of how long it takes to get results from diagnostic tests.

"If you're a hunter, and shoot a deer to feed your family or sell, are you going to wait two weeks [for a test result]?" Larsen asked. "How do you keep the meat fresh?"

But while consumers might have the right to know whether their meat has been infected with the pathogenic prions, there's currently no efficient way to get an answer.

"Humans have interacted with deer for centuries," Larsen said, "for food, sport, or simply watching them in the wild." Now, that tradition is "under attack now because of this pathogen."

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"Zombie deer disease," a mad cow-like infection spreading in the US, explained

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A mad cow-like infectious disease that can turn the brains of deer, elk, and moose into "Swiss cheese" is spreading in at least 24 states - and some experts are warning that it could eventually make its way into humans. Known as chronic wasting disease, the fatal progressive neurodegenerative illness was first identified in the 1960s.

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Environmental Justice Reflection - Ivy Benjenk

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Environmental Justice Reflection - Ivy Benjenk

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I really enjoyed Dr. Wilson's talk on environmental justice last night. I graduated from my MPH about 10 years ago and I seems that environmental health has advanced so much since I took my last course in the field (or maybe Dr. Wilson just brings a great perspective to the material). I think that it is really important to think about the structural racism that is embedded into our built environment and the effects that it can have on communities for generations. The comment the struck home with me the most was how in our quest for urban renewal, we built highways through thriving black communities thus creating fragmentation and progressive decay.
I sit on the DC Pedestrian Advisory Council. It is an appointed position by the DC City Council. I represent an at-large member and thus should represent the interests of the entire city (not just a specific ward). I live in Ward 1, which has the highest walk-ability score in the city. My sidewalks are well paved. I have access to safe cross walks. The streets are fairly narrow to dissuade drivers from speeding. I have parks, stores, and other places to walk to.
On the other side of the river, in Ward 7 and 8, the built environment does not allow for walking. Sidewalks are limited and poorly lit. The roads are large and you feel like you are walking next to a highway. There are long distances between crosswalks. Last year, a 6 year old boy was hit and killed by a driver on his birthday when crossing the street to go to the park (this home was looked out onto the park). There was a lot of victim shaming going on. Why didn't he use a crosswalk? Why weren't his parents watching him? It is a nice neighborhood. He literally lives on the park. His siblings were already across the street watching him. I blame the city. Where are the cross walks? Below is a picture of Livingston Rd (it looks the same in the other direction- Padlet would only let me upload one photo). Where would you cross? Even though this is a picturesque environment, there is still structural racism. There would never be parks in other parts of the city that don't have crosswalks and "slow down for children playing" signs.
As a PAC member, I struggle to balance the requests of constituents with what the real needs of the community are. We have lots of upper middle class white people come to meetings to complain about scooters and taking up all of our time when we have years of structures that have been created as the result of racism that we need to undue. We need to IMPOWER (with an I) residents of communities with unacceptable built environments to come to meetings, use their own voices, and work with us to develop solutions.

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Environmental Justice Reflection 1 - Sofi Martinez

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Environmental Justice Reflection 1 - Sofi Martinez

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Dr. Wilson’s lecture was very informative in bringing to light both the many different areas that are affected by issues of environmental injustice and strategies for how individuals in academic settings can work with people in communities who are affected by these injustices. As we have discussed in class, one of the key components of being able to do useful research is making sure that you are informed about the different issues affecting communities you are working with and that have previously affected those communities. While I was aware of some issues around environmental justice such as brown fields and air pollutants disproportionally affecting low-income communities of color, I did not fully understand how devastating environmental issues can be for a community and how widespread they are. For example, I did not realize how prevalent it is for communities to engage in business around holding waste from other states, as we saw in Uniontown, Alabama where they had one landfill that held waste from 13 different states. I was also really surprised about the poor methods for sewage management present in Uniontown and how it was allowed for sewage containing human waste to just be spewed all over the ground.

This lecture made me reflect on the different negative environmental practices I’ve seen in my life, but have never really thought too much about how this affects the surrounding area. I can remember passing many landfills along the highways in Florida, which are easy to spot since they are the only hills in the area, but had never thought about the potential impacts those landfills might have on the environment or the health of surrounding communities. I had also always assumed these landfills contained waste generated from the surrounding area or the state of Florida, I was not aware that it was common practice for southern states to house waste from northern states.

I also remember driving through Curtis Bay in Baltimore and thinking how odd it felt to have so many industrial plants right next to residential areas. However, I had not considered the potential health impacts of having these two areas so close together. When looking online though, I found that just in 2017 there was an acid spill in Curtis Bay (video below). I thought it was inspiring to hear how Destiny Watford was able to mobilize her neighbors in Curtis Bay to successfully oppose a new incinerator plant being planned for the area. This provided some hope to the what can seem impossible challenge of having the health of minority communities listened to over business interests.

The discussion we had at the end of class around how to effectively conduct research for communities experiencing environmental injustice was also very helpful. Dr. Wilson, stressed the importance of community outreach and the difficulty in this. Community outreach is important because you need to have people affected by the issue leading the work and providing the voice on the issue. Our role as the researcher is to provide information and support to assist the work, but not to lead it.  Getting the community engaged though can be difficult, especially if the community has a history of being ignored when they voice their opinions. Thus, community engagement involves more than just passing out flyers and advertising the issue in the newspaper, it involves long-term relationship building.

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All Clear Given After Acid Spill Near Curtis Bay

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Reflection 1: CKAR and Cafe Sarvis        2.14.19     Emily O.

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Reflection 1: CKAR and Cafe Sarvis        2.14.19     Emily O.

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Prior to this week’s class, I had only ever heard of one other Community Development Corporation called the Druid Heights CDC, located in the West side of Baltimore City. As an employee of the Baltimore City Health Department at the time, I had attended a meeting there with a group of people that were responsible for determining how money from a recently secured grant would be spent to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood. Around that table there were members of the Druid Heights CDC, members of the Promise Heights program through the University of Maryland School of Social Work, other Baltimore City government employees, staff from local community schools, and community members from faith-based and non-religion related organizations. Having completed my B.S. in Community Health at UMD and now working on my MPH, I know that there are many structural, community, and health issues that disproportionately affect Black communities, especially lower-income black communities. Yet in my experience, I had not fully considered how people from these affected communities actually came together on their own to solve some of these issues. I understood the concepts of community organizing and community-based participatory research, but in these instances, an individual, or groups of people, from outside the community were always entering a community with the hope of creating change. I had not yet had an experience in which I heavily discussed or witnessed a community creating an organization, educating themselves, and empowering themselves to create change from within. For me, this experience reinforced the fact that for hundreds of years, since the time of slavery, Black people in the U.S. have encountered problems, and those same Black people have come up with solutions. I do not say this to diminish the efforts of those with good intentions that have helped communities in need, I mean that when people rally together around a cause, they have the power to create change.

Suffice to say, I was eager to listen to Ms. Parker’s presentation about the Central Kenilworth Community Development Corporation (CKAR). Though I myself have not spent much time in Riverdale, I do know that UMD exists within a bubble, and right outside of the bubble are very diverse populations experiencing various types of issues. I really enjoyed hearing about the work of CKAR, particularly the new restaurant, Cafe Sarvis. Creating Cafe Sarvis, training students in culinary arts, and creating opportunities to strengthen the sense of community and improve health among Riverdale residents are each wonderful ideas. There is room for a lot of growth, as far as program reach by programs that may be held or facilitated at Cafe Sarvis, and the possibilities are endless. I also found the business aspect of CKAR to be quite interesting. From the presentation, I can tell that Ms. Parker is very knowledgeable about fundraising, developing strategic partnerships, and leveraging partnerships. Ms. Parker and the rest of the CKAR staff are doing the necessary work to sustain CKAR and Cafe Sarvis for future generations.

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Reflection: CKAR Presentation  Asmaa Albaroudi

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Reflection: CKAR Presentation  Asmaa Albaroudi

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During our last class we had the pleasure of hearing from the Central Kenilworth Avenue Revitalization Community, or CKAR, regarding their Sarvis Café endeavor. Our reading for class that day delved into the four “generations” of research—through our guest speakers we had the opportunity to see components of first-generation and second-generation research through their work launching the Sarvis Café. Specifically, the presenters provided data on the demographics of the area they serve, which clearly highlighted to me that disparities are present between the CKAR service area and surrounding DMV communities. As a group we discussed the lack of access to a conveniently located grocery store—one of the guest speakers noted that a Safeway had recently opened its doors nearby. However, I believe that individuals in that community have the right to greater access to healthy options (and not merely one grocery store).

I think the CKAR staff is doing an excellent job of fundraising and using local resources—such as their collaboration with the UMD Business school—as they work to establish the Sarvis Café. As a class, we had the opportunity to generate additional ideas for their consideration. My group found that capitalizing on the Sarvis Café as a means to create a community for all ages would be valuable. For example, some of our ideas included a “Bingo & Dinner” for older adults, a “Sunshine Club” which would include yoga and breakfast for all ages in the Sarvis Café patio,  a mentorship program, etc. If the CKAR staff have not already, I would highly encourage them to reach out to individuals who would be living around the Sarvis Café to identify their needs, and what they hope to see (e.g., health fairs, nutrition classes, etc.) as part of the café. These individuals understand their community best. There was a discussion during last class to include chefs from eateries in the community as part of the Sarvis Café- I find that to be a great way to build trust with individuals in the community, and to demonstrate that this café is run by and made for the community (while welcoming other individuals as well). I believe that the CKAR staff has already been in talks with the local restaurants!

The CKAR staff was forward-thinking in co-locating the Sarvis Café in a building that also hosts medical offices. This provides a dual benefit to individuals—the convenience of a healthy food option after a medical visit. This co-location may lead to some promising results in improving the health of the population overall, so long as individuals have the tools and structure to support their healthy habits outside of that space.

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Café Sarvis (Reflection One) - Ihunanya Onyejiuwa

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Café Sarvis (Reflection One) - Ihunanya Onyejiuwa

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Last week, we learned about Central Kenilworth Avenue Revitalization Community Development Corporation (CKAR CDC), a non-profit organization that implements various community development projects in Riverdale, Maryland; these projects include workforce training, environmental sustainability and business support. The focus of our meeting was on Café Sarvis, a culinary training café with an expected opening date of June 2019.

As a resident of Prince Georges County, Maryland, I was excited to hear about the work that CKAR does in the community. My high school (Parkdale) is located in Riverdale, Maryland and I am very familiar with the area. Café Sarvis will be located in an office park that houses various business and medical offices. One of the first things that came to my mind was “Which population group will benefit from Cafe Sarvis?” Initially, I thought that Café Sarvis would be mainly used by the building occupants. After learning more about the project, I learned that it would be used by the various offices as well as community members in the area. It later dawned on me that there was a neighborhood directly behind the office park, as well as a large population in Riverdale, Maryland who could benefit from Café Sarvis.

In class we broke into groups and brainstormed health/nutrition-related ideas that CKAR could utilize in further developing Café Sarvis and ultimately promoting health equity. The first thing that I noted was that Riverdale had a high Hispanic and Latino population, therefore we recommended culturally relevant foods that resonated with the community. Another idea that my group came up with was substituting staple foods for healthier alternatives. For example, cauliflower rice could be used as opposed to par-boiled rice. Another group suggested an idea that I liked which was asking the community exactly what they would like to see being served at Café Sarvis through a survey or focus group. When planning a program, often times the community that the program is geared towards can be overlooked. Involving the community and utilizing their input can yield beneficial information that can positively impact the implementation of the program. Overall, I enjoyed hearing about CKAR and Café Sarvis, and I am interested in contributing more to the project as time goes on.

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Activity Reflection: Pursuing Racial Equity in Prince George’s County - Brianna Aldridge

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Activity Reflection: Pursuing Racial Equity in Prince George’s County - Brianna Aldridge

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Last Tuesday, the University of Maryland Baha’i Chair for World Peace hosted a presentation and forum on pursuing racial equity in Prince George’s County.

The presentation (given by Steve Brigham, board member of Prince George’s County Social Innovation Fund) focused on a paper titled Prince George’s RISING, where disparities in transportation and housing were noted as some of the biggest equity issues in the county. Those disparities disproportionately affect communities of color, people 25 and older without a bachelor’s degree, renters, people making at or below 80% Median Family Income, and households with children with poverty. According to Steve, county-wide economic growth is key to creating opportunity for these populations, thereby influencing a reduction in inequitable situations.

During the forum, Dr. Sacoby Wilson made clear that the source of economic disparities in Prince George’s County is systematic, institutionalized racism. He referenced Flint’s water crisis and the dangerous levels of lead that children were exposed to. Dr. Wilson said the ball was dropped in regard to responding to that crisis, which I have heard him say before. Dr. Wilson reminded me of how crucial it is for public health officials to lead the charge on efforts that will make communities not only healthier but better overall.

Something else that stood out to me was panelist Amy Kincaid‘s recognition of her privilege as a white woman. Rather than speak up at every opportunity, she challenged herself (and her white counterparts) to listen and learn how to leverage privilege through allyship. I believe it is imperative for white people to take this stance in order for racial equity, educational equity and of course health equity to be achieved without pushback.

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Steve Brigham, Principal, Public Engagement Associates and Board Member, Prince George's County Social Innovation Fund

Steve Brigham has been a leader in the public engagement field over the past two decades, first in his role as COO and then President of AmericaSpeaks, and now as one of three principals in Public Engagement Associates. In that time, he has led or managed more than 200 public and stakeholder engagement projects in project design, public meeting design, and large and small group facilitation on a wide range of public policy and planning issues, including land use planning, transportation, youth development, mental health policy, disaster recovery and rebuilding, preserving democratic health, transit planning, statewide health policy, and social entrepreneurship.

In the Washington, DC area, he has led citizen and stakeholder engagement projects with the Washington D.C. Mayor's Office, WMATA, NoMa Parks Foundation, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG), Prince George's Planning Division, Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Enterprise Community Partners, Purple Line Corridor Coalition, the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health and the Bainum Family Foundation.

Steve and his family have lived in Prince George's County for the past twenty years and he remains committed to helping to build a county that is more prosperous and far more equitable for all of the residents who live here.

Marcus Bullock, CEO, Flikshop

Marcus Bullock is an entrepreneur, justice reform advocate, and public speaker. Following his 2004 release from prison, he launched a construction business that grew to employ over 18 employees. Bullock is also founder and CEO of Flikshop, a free app that enables incarcerated people to receive personalized postcards from their families; building community and decreasing recidivism. He also founded the Flikshop School of Business, a program that teaches returning citizens life skills and entrepreneurship via computer coding and software development. He is a inaugural cohort member of Techstars Anywhere 2018 and John Legend's Unlocked Futures business accelerators. He is also a member of the Justice Policy Institute's board of directors and serves as an advisor to the Aspen Institute's Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund. Married with two children, Bullock's story has received coverage from Forbes, CNN, Washington Post, and NPR

Brittney Drakeford, Member, Gethsemane United Methodist Church, Cottage City, Maryland

Brittney Drakeford is a believer in FATE - the practice of combining faith, arts, and technology to energize communities to create equitable places for generations today and tomorrow. A sixth-generation native of Prince George's County, Drakeford is interested in the legacies of African American communities in the County and the ways in which the built environment holds the memories of discrimination and segregation. Drakeford has worked as a Historian for Prince George's County's Black History Program and currently works for the County's Planning Department as a Senior Planner. She is a 2017 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader; a member of the 2015 cohort of Prince George's County's FortyUnder40; and a PhD student in the Urban and Regional Planning and Design program at the University of Maryland College Park. Her personal philosophy is that relationships among social networks have value (social capital), and when leveraged they can be used to inspire individuals and rejuvenate communities. You can often find Brittney biking along the Anacostia River or working in her local community garden with her dog Pig.

Amy Kincaid, Chief Program Officer, BALLE

As Chief Program Officer at BALLE, Amy Kincaid supports and guides activity designed to shift capital, scale sustainable enterprise, and change economic systems toward equity and justice.

Previously, she taught social entrepreneurship at University of Maryland and practiced consulting in the business she founded in 1998, ChangeMatters. The business, which specialized in organizational transition, turnaround, and renewal, was designated the country's first Benefit LLC. Over the course of her career, she has secured over $72 million for rural agricultural enterprise, community-based arts, civil society, and international development, and has served as chief grantwriter, development director, executive director, publisher, program officer, and on multiple boards.

Colleagues describe her as wildly creative, insightful, and connected; a valued thinking partner, an empowerment freak, favorite professor, gifted executive coach, and someone who has a knack for entering a charged situation and reestablishing trust. She balances creativity with strategy, business sense with meaning, and intention with execution. Her focus on meaning, alignment, insight helps leaders and teams to challenge assumptions, make connections, and cook up exceptional solutions that work.

Hoda Mahmoudi, Research Professor and Chair, Baha'i Chair for World Peace, University of Maryland

Since July 2012, Professor Hoda Mahmoudi has held The Bahá'í Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland, College Park. As director of this endowed academic program, Professor Mahmoudi collaborates with a wide range of scholars, researchers, and practitioners to advance interdisciplinary analysis and open discourse on global peace. She contributes to and promotes sound scientific research on peace that expands knowledge and strategies, and explores the role of individuals and institutions in removing obstacles to peace.

In 2017, Professor Mahmoudi and the Bahá'í Chair for World Peace program received the University of Maryland President's Commission on Ethnic Minority Issues Annual Award for outstanding work on structural racism. In 2016, Professor Mahmoudi accepted the Outstanding Honors Faculty Award in appreciation for her popular Honors Seminar on "The Problem of Prejudice: Overcoming Impediments to Peace and Justice," as well as for her symposia on timely topics of interest to the international community, featuring highly renowned guest speakers.

In 2013, Professor Mahmoudi began exploring the research theme, "Structural Racism and the Roots of Prejudice," by inviting leading race scholars to the University of Maryland to present their work and explore solutions to racism and prejudice. An upcoming edited volume of the related research findings will be published by the University of California Press under the title Structural Racism and the Roots of Prejudice, coauthored by Rashawn Ray and Hoda Mahmoudi (2019).

Rashawn Ray, Associate Professor of Sociology and Executive Director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research (LASSR)

Dr. Rashawn Ray is Associate Professor of Sociology and Executive Director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research (LASSR) at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is also one of the co-editors of Contexts Magazine: Sociology for the Public. Formerly, Ray was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.

Ray's research addresses the mechanisms that manufacture and maintain racial and social inequality with a particular focus on police-civilian relations and men's treatment of women. His work also speaks to ways that inequality may be attenuated through racial uplift activism and social policy. Ray has published over 40 books, articles, book chapters, and op-eds. Recently, Ray published the book How Families Matter: Simply Complicated Intersections of Race, Gender, and Work (with Pamela Braboy Jackson) and another edition of Race and Ethnic Relations in the 21st Century: History, Theory, Institutions, and Policy, which has been adopted nearly 40 times in college courses.

Ray has written for New York Times, Huffington Post, NBC News, The Conversation, and Public Radio International. Selected as 40 Under 40 Prince George's County and awarded the 2016 UMD Research Communicator Award, Ray has appeared on HLN, Al Jazeera, NPR, Fox, and MSNBC. His research is cited in CNN, Washington Post, Associated Press, MSN, The Root, and The Chronicle. Previously, Ray served on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington Planning Committee and the Commission on Racial Justice with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Tonia Wellons, Founder - Prince George's County Social Innovation Fund and Vice President, The Greater Washington Community Foundation

Tonia Wellons is a Vice President at the Greater Washington Community Foundation and leads strategy, grant-making, community engagement, and partnerships.

Prior to joining the Foundation in July 2016, she served as a political appointee for the Obama Administration as head of global partnerships at the Peace Corps. Most notably, Tonia led bold cause-marketing partnerships at the Peace Corps for Let Girls Learn (an initiative of First Lady Michelle Obama) with corporate partners including Land's End, Alex and Ani, and IBM, all linked to expanding access to education for girls globally. Tonia previously served as fund manager a multi-donor initiative focused on financial access and inclusion at the World Bank Group and spent a significant part of her career working on USAID-funded capacity development initiatives during the immediate post-apartheid era in South Africa and the broader sub-Sahara region.

In 2010, Tonia founded The Prince George's County Social Innovation Fund (PGCSIF) in an effort to 'shift the narrative' and build social capital in the County. The Innovation Fund's flagship initiative, Forty Under 40 Prince George's, recognizes top talent in the County, and connects them to political, social, and economic opportunity.

Tonia has a master's degree in Public Administration and International Development Policy from the University of Delaware, and a BA in Political Science from North Carolina A&T State University.

Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Associate Professor, Applied Environmental Health (MIAEH)

Dr. Wilson is an associate professor with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health (MIAEH) and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Maryland-College Park. Dr. Wilson is an environmental health scientist with over ten years of experience working in community-university partnerships on environmental health and justice issues. He has expertise in exposure science and applied environmental health including community-based exposure assessment, environmental justice science, social epidemiology, environmental health disparities, built environment, air pollution monitoring, and community-based participatory research (CBPR). For the past two years, he has been building a program on community engagement, environmental justice, and health (CEEJH) to engage impacted communities, advocacy groups, and policymakers in Maryland and the Washington, DC region on environmental justice issues and environmental health disparities. As part of his CEEJH efforts, he is leading projects to assess exposure and health risks for residential populations, urban fisherfolk, and recreational users of the Anacostia Watershed (Project CAESARR and Project RECREATE). He is also a Co-Investigator on project that uses community engagement approaches and Geographic Information Systems to assess different sustainable practices that can be used to reduce stormwater inputs into the Chesapeake Bay. In addition, he is working with a research team in Baltimore to understand the role that the built environment plays in producing conditions conducive to for pests particularly mosquitoes and how impacted residents can engage in citizen science to improve environmental conditions, reduce pests, and enhance quality of life.

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Pursuing Racial Equity in Prince George's County, MD

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Steve Brigham, Principal, Public Engagement Associates and Board Member, Prince George's County Social Innovation Fund Steve Brigham has been a leader in the public engagement field over the past two decades, first in his role as COO and then President of AmericaSpeaks, and now as one of three principals in Public Engagement Associates.

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Danice A

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hept27 | iStock | Getty Images

Student loan borrowers would have their monthly bills automatically deducted from their paychecks if a Republican-backed proposal becomes law.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, laid out the details of the massive overhaul to the student loan system in a speech earlier this month. The changes could affect some 40 million people.

Average debt at graduation is currently around $30,000, up from $10,000 in the early 1990s. The country's outstanding student loan balance is projected to swell to $2 trillion by 2022.

Currently, borrowers are matched with companies that administer the federal student loan programs, and they have some 14 different ways to repay their education debt.

Under Alexander's proposal, there would be just two repayment routes: one in which borrowers' monthly bills are capped at 10 percent of their discretionary income and another that spreads their payments out over a decade. Employers would be responsible for taking the funds from their employees' paychecks and sending them to the government. (Of course, student loan borrowers currently can set up automatic payments with their lender. They also typically get a discount on their interest rate for doing so.)

"I think this proposal is likely to become law, after some tweaks," said Mark Kantrowitz, a student loan expert.

Bill Clark | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images

Lamar said his proposal would streamline the student loan system and protect borrowers. "It makes sure if there were no money earned, there would be no money owed and that would not reflect negatively on a borrower's credit," he said.

The plan quickly drew criticism from consumer advocates, who called it " mandatory wage garnishment."

"For borrowers with tight budgets that need to be navigated on a monthly basis, forced automatic payroll withholding may mean diverting money away from rent, heat or food in order to pay their student loans," reads a report by the National Consumer Law Center.

Critics of the proposal say that payments should always be voluntary, and that people need the flexibility to default on their student loans. One in 5 borrowers are in default or delinquency on their student debt.

When a borrower defaults on their federal student loans, Kantrowitz said, the government currently can garnish up to 15 percent of their wages anyway, which is more than the 10 percent that would be taken out under Alexander's proposal.

"Many borrowers who default have sufficient income to repay their debts, but just have difficulty managing their money," Kantrowitz said. "There's the potential for a lot of elegance in the design of student loan repayment via payroll withholding."

However, Barmak Nassirian, director of federal relations at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, called the proposal a "detour from real reform."

"This is a system rife with fraud and predatory lending," he said. Some borrowers might also have an issue, he added, with their employer knowing the details of their debt.
WATCH: Finding ways to ease the student loan debt crisis

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The government could soon grab your student loan payments right out of your paycheck

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hept27 | iStock | Getty Images Student loan borrowers would have their monthly bills automatically deducted from their paychecks if a Republican-backed proposal becomes law. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, laid out the details of the massive overhaul to the student loan system in a speech earlier this month.

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Black History Month Tour - Jianna Howard (Reflection 1)

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Black History Month Tour - Jianna Howard (Reflection 1)

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Last week, I went on a black history month tour of the campus led by Dr. Kim Nickerson who serves as the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences’ Assistant Dean for Diversity, Diversity Officer and Equity Administrator. Dr. Nickerson established the tour because he wanted to make UMD’s black history more widely known.

The tour started at the Rossborough Inn; Dr. Nickerson taught me that the inn was labored by slaves in the late 1700s throughout the 1800s and it was used a rest stop for people traveling through Maryland. At this time, the land that is now the university was a plantation. One highlight of the tour for me was discover a bench right outside of the Rossborough Inn that is dedicated to “our African American ancestors who have constructed, educated, served and contributed to the University of Maryland. African Americans – both enslaved and free – were a critical building block in the birth and success of the university.” Since the tour, I’ve been reflecting on how my very own ancestors could have been the ones who worked on the land this campus was built on; it’s bittersweet. It’s sad for me to think that at one point in American history, African Americans were viewed as property and not able to enjoy the fruits of their labor. On the other hand, it inspires me to do great while I’m on this campus and work to make health and life in general more equitable for people of color.

Another highlight of the tour for me was viewing Frederick Douglas square. I first viewed the Frederick Douglas statue in October 2017 when I came to tour the campus, but Dr. Nickerson provided many details on the statue’s creation and Frederick Douglas’ prominence in the state of Maryland. The statue of a young Douglas we have on campus was made in Europe with influences from Barack Obama and other influential leaders and purchased by UMD to commemorate the work he completed throughout his life time. Frederick Douglas is also a very prominent figure in my hometown, Rochester, NY. A lot of his abolitionist work was completed there and he’s currently buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery where my paternal grandmother is also buried. When I was home for winter break, a controversial story broke that 2 college students vandalized a Frederick Douglas statue on campus at St. John Fisher College in Rochester. With all of the problematic race relations on college campuses nationwide, I’ve started to wonder if anything like this would ever happen to the statue here, and unfortunately, I would not be too surprised if something like this were to occur. UMD is very diverse compared to my undergrad institution, but I'm aware that it has also had it's own host of hate crimes and racial tensions. Universities are places for growth, understanding, and networking with new people; I wonder what needs to be done to end instances like this.

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Café Sarvis Reflection - Maya Deane-Polyak

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Café Sarvis Reflection - Maya Deane-Polyak

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After listening to the presentation on Thursday, Café Sarvis seems like a program that has great potential to promote better health and quality of life within the community. However, when considering the implications of this program, my first thought was how it would be received by community members. Since we have been discussing the benefits of community-based initiatives in class, it made me wonder how this program could cater specifically to the community so as to avoid being community-placed. Or in other words: how can this program continually provide and meet the needs of the community effectively, while not only supporting, but also empowering them to lead healthy lifestyles?

For me, I think this line of thinking comes from previous experiences I have had volunteering at food pantry programs in Baltimore. Each week, I would help clients select food and toiletry items they needed for their families. While there, one of the things that became immediately clear to me is that this model, while helpful, is not sustainable and does not do much to empower community members. With the food pantry, it may have been more effective and helpful to involve community members. For example, perhaps they could have offered sessions that would teach clients how to make several quick, easy, and healthy dishes using items that were available at the pantry.

Similarly, Café Sarvis could benefit from involving community members in its programming. Instead of considering them as the audience for the café, community members could also be invited to participate as leaders. For example, the Café could have a contest where community members would be encouraged to submit their own creative, healthy recipes. Each month, a few recipe submissions could be chosen and those who submitted them would have a chance to teach others in the community how to prepare their recipe via a cooking class night at the café. This way, the café leverages existing skills and healthy lifestyles that are already present within the community. Additionally, health promotion in these cooking classes would be driven exclusively by community members who are empowering other community members to prepare and eat healthy options by sharing some of their own techniques.

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I really appreciated learning more about C-CAR. This organizations really exemplifies the community based effort that comes from a neighborhood organizing and being motivated to improve the area. I would be interested in learning more about how they got started, and how they identified people in the community to help run the organization. I also would have like learning more in depth what the other parts of C-CAR do and how they interact with one another and with the community. Maybe there are parts of C-CAR that could assist or integrate with the Café.

Many of the ideas I contributed came from my reading of the book The Food Fighters. This book is about a DC organization that trains people to do food service work as well and has a very person centered approach. I think that the cafe organizers could benefit from reading some of the materials about the kitchen that are available, or meeting with someone on the DC Central Kitchens team to talk about strategies for training or recruitment that work for them (The Director of Culinary Job Training is named Liz Reinert). They have a similarly sized training program and have been training people from the DC area for many years.

I think one of the issues that came up for me was when I was wondering if I wanted to get involved with the organization. In ethics class last week, my group presented on the ethical implications of the white savior complex, and the advantages that allow inexperienced white people to gain access to positions that they are not qualified for and the damage that can occur. This is also echoed in my training as an interpreter for American Sign Language and working with Deaf/Hard of Hearing people. In my training, it was highly emphasized that hearing people have done a lot of damage to Deaf culture, and that our role was to prevent this as much as possible through our actions. These experiences have lead me to be very cautious about working in communities that I am not a part of, as it is easy to believe you know more than you do.  Having a community mentor I believe is essential to that process, but it also can be very difficult to locate one that is a good fit.

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The goal of DC Central Kitchen's Culinary Job Training program is to prepare adults facing high barriers to employment for careers in the food service industry. We care about our students' potential much more than their pasts and specialize in equipping adults with histories of incarceration, addiction, homelessness, and trauma with the hands-on training and support they need to begin a culinary career.

Our 14-week, intensive training program provides culinary arts education, career readiness training, and real-world internships - a recipe that helps 90% of our graduates find jobs after graduation. Our Culinary Job Training program is certified by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and recognized by the American Culinary Federation Education Foundation as a Quality Program. Thanks to our generous donors, all admitted students receive full scholarships to attend our program, so there is no cost to our students at any point in their training or in the two years of post-graduation support we provide.

Our graduates work across Washington, DC's thriving culinary industry, including top restaurants, large hotels, corporate cafeterias, local artisans, hospitals, schools, and universities.

Employers interested in hiring DC Central Kitchen graduates can contact our Director of Culinary Job Training, Liz Reinert, at lreinert@dccentralkitchen.org.

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The goal of DC Central Kitchen's Culinary Job Training program is to prepare adults facing high barriers to employment for careers in the food service industry. We care about our students' potential much more than their pasts and specialize in equipping adults with histories of incarceration, addiction, homelessness, and trauma with the hands-on training and support they need to begin a culinary career.

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I really enjoyed the presentation about Café Sarvis this evening. I do think that that cafes and restaurants can have a huge impact on public health. In my neighborhood, our YMCA is connected to a Sweetgreen. These two institutions are really working together (exercise, family togetherness, health programing at the Y and healthy food at Sweetgreen) to promote the health of the community. I love seeing families spend all of Saturday at the complex; between swim lessons, birthday parties, arts and crafts classes, and Sweetgreen salads.

How do we bring this Y/Sweetgreen model into Café Sarvis? My thought is to start with families. Maybe even to go slightly upstream and start with pregnant women. In the evenings, Café Sarvis can host Lamaze classes and baby safety classes (and of course serve healthy light dinners or pre-dinners to pregnant women and their partners). There can also be events to meet potential doulas and buy hand-me-downs from mothers with older children (like a community yard sale). They can also have UMD professors come from the family science department to talk about healthy parenting and professors from food and nutrition to discuss healthy weight gain and combating gestational diabetes. It is a good opportunity for women from different walks of life to connect and support each other during this exciting, but uncertain time.

After the baby is born, the Café can host breast feeding support groups during lunch time. They can sell lactation cookies and oat milk and other foods meant to encourage milk supply. Moms should be encouraged to feel comfortable to breast feed in the restaurant and it should be a place where new moms can connect, socialize, and combat postpartum depression. They could also have UMD professors come to give talks during lunch (on subjects ranging from criminology to entomology), so that new moms can use their brains and not feel judged for having a child crying or screaming. There are movie theaters in DC where new moms can bring their babies to a matinee showing on weekdays (they are extremely popular--> link below). You can also conduct events to make sure that car seats are correctly installed in the car.

This will hopefully establish Café Sarvis as a fixture of the community and place that supports families. I think that it would be a great place for after-school programs (e.g., cooking and yoga classes) and healthy birthday parties.

Another idea I had was to get a bike share station and bike racks installed outside of the restaurant. I am not sure how great the biking infrastructure is at the location but starting with a bike share station may be a good place to start (then you can work with local DDOT to improve infrastructure). You can also collaborate with the Washington Area Bicycle Association (WABA) and UMD students to conduct child and adult bike classes.

I will keep thinking of other ideas and I am excited to see how Café Sarvis evolves.

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Weekday movie matinees in the D.C. area are all about the babies! (Well, really about their moms, dads and caregivers.) All of these showings feature dimly lit theaters, lower than usual volume and absolutely no side-eye when your baby coos or cries. Babies also get free admission, and hard-working caretakers can see a current movie. Whether you actually stay awake until the end is up to you!
Cry Baby Cinema
The newest baby-friendly screening series is happening at the Angelika Film Institute Pop Up at Union Market. Movie choices range from indie releases to anime to classics. Whatever you watch, this place promises a stress-free viewing.
Showtimes: Wednesdays at noon Cry Baby Matinee
The Mosaic District location of the Angelika Film Center is also pro-baby, especially at their Monday morning matinees. Afterwards, grab a great lunch in the Café or at one of the restaurants in this beautiful shopping district.
Showtimes: Mondays at 11am Mommy & Me
Mom-insiders know that the Tuesday matinee is the designated Mommy & Me screening at Regal Cinemas Potomac Yard Stadium 16. Email theatre1757@regalcinemas.com to receive regular updates about dates and movie selections.
Showtimes: Every other Tuesday-first matinee of the day RELATED: 5 Best Music Spots for Families in D.C. Silver Babies
The American Film Institute Theatre in Silver Spring isn't too fancy for a few baby slings and prams. Plenty of parking can be found and the Silver lobby even has free stroller parking. To add your name to the e-mail list about weekly Silver Babies shows email mdalto@afi.com or check Fridays on the calendar.
Showtimes: Friday mornings Mommy Movie Mondays
Daddies, caregivers and non-members of the JCC of Greater Washington are all welcome at the weekly movie series in the Kreeger auditorium. Popcorn, water and even babysitting for children older than 12 months is provided. Movie tickets are just $5 and babysitting is only $3 per child. Online registration required!
Showtimes: Mondays at 10am More From Washington, D.C.: Yoga for Kids: 5 Great Family Studios in D.C. 5 Free Nature Centers For Washington, D.C. Kids 5 Great Toy Stores in Washington, D.C.
Photo credit: iStock/ snvv

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Weekday movie matinees in the D.C. area are all about the babies! (Well, really about their moms, dads and caregivers.) All of these showings feature dimly lit theaters, lower than usual volume and absolutely no side-eye when your baby coos or cries. Babies also get free admission, and hard-working caretakers can see a current movie.

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From Brianna Aldridge

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Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick got booted from a resolution honoring Black History Month in his home state of Wisconsin after white Republican lawmakers refused to pass a version that included his name.

The Wisconsin Legislature's Black Caucus, which is composed entirely of Democrats, drafted the annual resolution to honor dozens of prominent African-Americans from Wisconsin. An early draft included Kaepernick, the one-time San Francisco 49ers quarterback who started the movement of kneeling in protest during the national anthem at games.

The resolution draft credited Kaepernick, a Milwaukee native, as an athlete and political activist who "has sought to raise attention to racial injustice and systemic oppression."

But Republicans blocked the resolution until Democrats agreed to leave Kaepernick out. He does not appear in the updated text. A final version has not been approved.

State Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, a Republican, said GOP lawmakers would not endorse Kaepernick's inclusion "for obvious reasons" and to avoid including controversial figures. The resolution's author, Democratic Rep. David Crowley, called the move a "slap in the face" and a "textbook example of white privilege," noting that he he had to "get the blessing of all of my white counterparts" to get the resolution passed.

Kaepernick started his protests in 2016 to call attention to the problem of racial injustice in America. He has been a free agent since 2017, but his protests are still setting off political and cultural battles. Several black music stars, including Cardi B and Rihanna, turned down offers to perform at this year's Super Bowl as a sign of solidarity with Kaepernick.

This is the second year in a row that some of Wisconsin's white lawmakers challenged names in the Black History Month resolution, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Republicans last year opposed the resolution because it did not name certain black Wisconsin natives, including former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, a vocal critic of the Black Lives Matter movement who gained notoriety amid allegations of his jail employees abusing inmates.

First published on February 13, 2019

© 2019 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Colin Kaepernick removed from Black History Month resolution in his home state

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Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick got booted from a resolution honoring Black History Month in his home state of Wisconsin after white Republican lawmakers refused to pass a version that included his name. The Wisconsin Legislature's Black Caucus, which is composed entirely of Democrats, drafted the annual resolution to honor dozens of prominent African-Americans from Wisconsin.

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Dean Thornton-Dill said the article below is one of the best on history of Blackface in USA:

Outlook Perspective
Yes, politicians wore blackface. It used to be all-American ‘fun.’

Minstrel shows were once so mainstream that even presidents watched them.

Then-New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (left), a Republican, and then-New York Gov. Al Smith (right), a Democrat, with three state judges dressed in blackface at an Elks Charity Fund minstrel show in New York in 1935. (New York Daily News Archive/NY Daily News via Getty Images)
By Rhae Lynn BarnesRhae Lynn Barnes is an assistant professor of American cultural history at Princeton University and author of the forthcoming book "Darkology: When the American Dream Wore Blackface."

February 8

Both Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) of Virginia have admitted that they wore blackface as students in the 1980s in imitations of famous African Americans. News broke Thursday that the Virginia Senate majority leader, Tommy Norment (R), was an editor of a 1968 college yearbook filled with blackface photos.

Will yet more photos emerge of rowdy blackface frat parties and politicians’ youthful participation in amateur minstrel shows? The answer is almost certainly yes. More politicians probably took part than we will ever know.

Blackface is as American as the ruling class. Throughout the 20th century, all-male fraternal orders, schools, federal agencies and the U.S. military collectively institutionalized the practice. Watching blackface performances was a common pastime for U.S. presidents from both parties. “Blacking up” was seen as an expression of cultural heritage and patriotism throughout Jim Crow America — an era named after a famous blackface stock character — and up until the civil rights movement. Even now, one recent poll by YouGov found, only 58 percent of Americans oppose the practice.

As an expert in the history of amateur blackface minstrelsy, I was not surprised to see that a young Northam had a photo showing a man in blackface and someone dressed as a Klansmanon his page in the 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook. I spent a decade poring over blackface composites from yearbooks and fraternal orders, watching cracked film footage, and cataloguing more than 10,000 blackface plays — collecting and preserving discarded programs, scrapbooks, photographs and blackface how-to guides from library sales, antique auctions and abandoned boxes outside foreclosed homes.

The reaction to the news out of Virginia shows how deeply the history of blackface has been buried, along with the practice. Once central to American popular culture, minstrelsy became taboo after African American activists fought against it in the 1960s and 1970s. But the truth is that it’s hard to look anywhere without seeing its vestiges.

Blackface originated in Northern cities in the 1830s, but it quickly became popular in Virginia. Dan Emmett, the founder of the first globally famous minstrel troupe hailing from New York City, rebranded it as the Virginia Minstrels in 1843 in an attempt to claim a plantation pedigree for blackface music and dance. Virginia, which had imported enslaved Africans as early as 1619, embodied the complex relationship between blackface entertainment, slavery and American culture. The troupe did not just borrow Virginia’s brand but actively shaped it — its song “Dixie” became the unofficial Confederate anthem.

[Black history is U.S. history — but some of my students don’t want to hear it]

The state’s flagship university, the University of Virginia (where Herring’s performance took place), embraced blackface enthusiastically, especially once the Civil War meant that the school could no longer rely on income from hiring out enslaved people it owned to work on nearby plantations. Starting during Reconstruction, U-Va. made blackface a part of its fundraising strategy. In 1886 or 1887, the official University Minstrel Troupe donated the proceeds of its show to the construction of the university chapel, where couples continue to marry each year. The show, which included a “stump speech” — a stand-up comedy routine lampooning black politicians — also featured a “Berlesque of Mikado,” probably in yellowface.

For decades, the U-Va. minstrel troupe “sweetly” sang in “darky dialect,” as their programs put it, to raise funds. During World War I, a university-sponsored minstrel show took place on the steps of the Rotunda. The school’s yearbook is named “Corks and Curls,” minstrel slang for the burned cork used to blacken faces and the curly Afro wigs that were signature costume pieces (though the yearbook officially denies that’s where the name came from), and scores of old copies highlight the prominence of blackface on campus.

The practice was popular beyond the university, too. The Ku Klux Klan in Virginia used blackface in raids to confuse victims, and the Klan and the United Daughters of the Confederacy deployed it in comedy shows to recruit members. In 1924, as Charlottesville erected its infamous Robert E. Lee statue, the Charlottesville Elks ran ads promoting their minstrel show and ridiculing black American soldiers. The group’s shows featured fictionalized blackface slaves and their Klansman counterparts — a pairing on display in the Northam photo.

[Why do people believe myths about the Confederacy? Because our textbooks and monuments are wrong.]

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) spoke about blackface and the scandals in Virginia's democratic leadership on Feb. 7. (Joyce Koh/The Washington Post)
As late as 1974, the annual Charlottesville Lions Club minstrel show was still so popular, it was recommended in travel guidebooks. In November 2002, U-Va. made national headlines when three students arrived at a Halloween fraternity party in blackface.

Virginia’s enthusiastic embrace of minstrelsy is not unique. After the Civil War, amateur blackface spread quickly in the North and West. Everyday Americans bought commercially packaged “how-to” plays to perform racial stereotypes at home. By the turn of the 20th century, pro-Klan movies with blackface scenes such as “The Birth of a Nation” were standard consumer fare.

Perhaps the biggest single organization behind the spread of blackface was founded in 1868 in New York City: the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (the BPOE or the Elks Club), originally called the Jolly Corks and commonly referred to as “the burnt cork brotherhood” in homage to its minstrel founders. (These days, the Elks, like the U-Va. yearbook, say the namehas nothing to do with blackface — though many of the men involved in the name’s ostensible origin story were famous blackface performers.) By the mid-20th century, the Elks Club was the largest fraternal group in the nation. It eventually became a segregated, all-male, anti-communist business and political network reliant on blackface fundraising to finance thousands of lodges that served as hubs for political organizing, patriotic social events and civic education.

By the 1960s, the Elks could count Presidents Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy among their brotherhood, not to mention numerous generals and senators. Other Elks included presidential candidate Barry Goldwater; House speakers Tip O’Neill, Carl Albert, John McCormack, Sam Rayburn and Tom Foley; Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren; and more than 60 state governors.

No politician who was a member could feign ignorance of the Elks’ strong connections to white supremacy, reinforced by their vote in 1970 to maintain their order as racially exclusive. Nor could they be unaware of the Elks’ use of blackface minstrelsy, since learning that history was part of the organization’s initiation process. And there is no evidence that any of these politicians spoke out against amateur blackface minstrel shows within their organizations.

President Woodrow Wilson celebrated his success at the Paris Peace Conference ending World War I by enjoying an amateur minstrel show aboard the USS George Washington, where a white crew member made up in blackface and drag as “Mammy” sat in Wilson’s lap and threw “her” arms around him while caressing his chin. When amateur minstrel George H. O’Connor died in 1946, his obituary in the New York Times called him the “Minstrel to Presidents.” O’Connor cherished a card slipped to him by a waiter after one of these events; Roosevelt had written, “Dear George, like old wine, you get better as the years roll on.” News footage from 1928 shows President-elect Herbert Hoover and his wife laughing, clapping and shaking the hands of U.S. Navy sailors dressed in blackface onboard the USS Maryland. And in the 1943 musical “This Is the Army,” a fresh-faced Ronald Reagan helps direct an all-Army minstrel number called “Mandy” while in his uniform, for a fictional Roosevelt seated in the audience.

[100 times a white actor played someone who wasn’t white]

One of clearest examples of the relationship between American politicians and amateur blackface is the annual Gridiron Dinner in Washington, which a century ago might as well have been called the annual White House minstrel show. At the Gridiron Club, Theodore Roosevelt beamed when Lew Dockstader, an Elks minstrel celebrity, shuffled onstage in blackface impersonating an African American from Tuskegee University. Newly inaugurated President William Howard Taft took his front-row seat in 1909 at what one newspaper hailed as America’s “national minstrel show” and an “all-star burnt-cork aggregation.” Perhaps the most disturbing show was in 1921, when President Warren G. Harding and the Cabinet got an “unexpected thrill when a Ku Klux Klan demonstration took place” during the dinner, as the Baltimore Sun reported it. A “group of clansmen in hooded garb, riding hobby horses, rushed upon the scene. Out went the lights, leaving only a spotlight to illuminate the ghostly visitation.” They impersonated a raid. They “seized and dragged the two shivering victims to the front” to mock interrogate them onstage.

During Jim Crow’s century-long reign, this strange, visible and highly pervasive world of blackface minstrelsy took hold in nearly every city and town in the United States. California hosted more amateur blackface shows per capita than any other state in the post-Civil War period. The shows and parades were so central to civic and campus life that it is difficult to find a university yearbook from the first half of the 20th century without a blackface image.

[It’s time to stop talking about racism with white people]

Amateur blackface minstrelsy served the U.S. government as something akin to an official culture. A child might be required to play a minstrel in school, where curriculums derived from state guides featured plays and music selected by the Works Progress Administration. As a young man, he might perform in and watch blackface while serving in the armed forces. The military was led by prominent Elks members, and it taught Americans to embody stereotypical blackness and transmitted racist proslavery antebellum culture in the form of Stephen Foster songs such as “Oh! Susanna,” “Camptown Races” and “Old Folks at Home.” Such government-sponsored racism persisted in some forms through the Nixon administration. When he returned home, he would enter a university — on the G.I. Bill — where blackface was again a ritualized cultural expectation of white manhood. Finally, as a businessman, he would join fraternal orders that perpetuated the cycle.

How did this monstrous, mass-commercialized empire of amateur blackface minstrelsy end? And why have you never heard about any of this before?

The answer has to do with a largely forgotten civil rights victory spearheaded by black mothers in the 1950s and 1960s. These women, typically black Rosie the Riveters married to veterans who believed in the “Double Victory” campaign — freedom at home and abroad — stood on the front lines of school desegregation. Once those walls had been breached, they were horrified to discover that the music, poems, literature and plays to which their children were exposed were forms of amateur blackface minstrelsy. They ran a national media campaign and filed legal cases to ban blackface performance, dress-up, and texts from schools and government institutions.

Ironically, these courageous and determined mothers who envisioned a better world for their children were so successful at driving blackface out of the mainstream that schools now rarely (if ever) teach its history — which is why so many Americans are uninformed about how the practice persisted and why it is so offensive and hurtful to African Americans. It also might suggest why we now see blackface hip-hop parties on college campuses; younger generations do not understand the lineage they resurrect when donning blackface, because it is never discussed in their history classes.

The defiant return of repressed racism in Northam’s yearbook spread represents only a small shard of a dark, expansive and ever-present national story, one that shows how deeply intertwined the history of our country and our political leadership has been with amateur blackface minstrelsy. Long before the recent scandals, “blacking up” helped define for many leading Americans what it meant to be a man.