black…MYstory

I’m about to make a terrible stereotype about some of my younger brothers and sisters. I see too many as totally disinterested in seeing themselves as part of a greater black family and instead choose to see themselves as individuals who just happen to be black. Many also take on a mentality of “as long as I’m okay, everything’s okay”. In other words, if things are good for me then, if they’re bad for someone else, it’s purely a shortcoming on their part.

Of course, as individuals, it is their prerogative. However,
at what cost does this come to black people as a whole?

At a recent Martin Luther King Day observance in Roxboro, NC, such questions were asked.

One comment really stuck out that indicates, to me, how artificial these distinctions that some folks draw really are. It was offered by Dr. Kenneth R. Hammond:

“The world tries to make us believe that our dreams are unworthy and the sneaky weapon that can do that is prosperity, which can make you forget your God, forsake your father’s house… make us cruel to each other … and make us forget the bridge that brought us over.

…

Don’t get hung up on this prosperity thing for if the truth be known, most of us are one check away from welfare”

Well put, indeed.

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All right, let’s get back to the real issues. As you might now, there continues to be a big fight in New Orleans as residents.

Last month, activists from the Coalition to Protect Public Housing clashed with police to fight for the rights of public housing residents who have continued to be displaced by plans of the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to tear down three housing projects. So, what we continue to see is a big land-grab, causing the ranks of the homeless to swell.

For example:

Since Katrina, the homeless population of New Orleans has doubled to more than 12,000 people. Despite what the New York Times on Dec. 2 called an “acute rental shortage,” HUD plans to spend $762 million to demolish public housing and replace it with only 744 new units of affordable housing. HUD will spend an average of $400,000 for each new mixed-income unit, while statements by HANO’S own insurance company have shown that many of the multiple-unit buildings to be demolished could be repaired for less than $10,000 per building.

So, with all the talk about “change” and “hope” going on right now, I “hope” that one of these candidates can tell me how they are going to “change” things for the better for the people of New Orleans.

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This is something that should cause us, as black people, to seriously consider issues of health.

A mutation BCRA1 gene is known to increase the likelihood of breast cancer in women. A study was recently done that look at the prevalence of this mutation and the results were enough to raise some eyebrows. The study looked at women of different ethnicities with breast cancer. What it was looking for was the percentage of women with breast cancer who also had this mutation. In Hispanic women, 3.5 percent of patients had this mutation. 8.3 percent of Ashkenazi Jewish women had this mutation. 2.2 percent of non-Hispanic white women and 0.5 percent of Asian-American women also had this mutation.

Overall, black women, right now, only comprise 1.3 percent of cancer patients with this mutation. However, among those diagnosed before age 35, 16.7 percent of those studied had the mutation. This clearly shows that there is real risk, of which black folks should be concerned.

This study also highlights the reality of medical racism. Consider the words of the following two researchers:

“Traditionally, studies have focused on white women,” said Esther John, a research scientist at the cancer center and lead author of the study. “There is a great need to study racial minorities in the United States.”

Although testing for the BRCA1 mutation has been available for a decade, it has not been applied much to minority populations, said Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade, professor of medicine and human genetics at the University of Chicago.

“A lot of young women die of breast cancer because they’re not even aware that lump in their breast could be cancer,” said Olopade, who wrote an editorial accompanying the paper in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association. “If you know you’re at high risk, you’ll get that evaluated.”

Honestly, the first woman I ever knew with breast cancer was a white woman who I considered the salt of the earth. So, at least viscerally, I know the toll this disease can take on women and their families (Note: men can develop breast cancer, too, and we need to be diligent, as well). However, it is clear that the research of this disease needs to be better funded and more comprehensive to be more inclusive of patients of all colors.

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I’ve been meaning to speak on this for a little while now but, I am just now getting around to it.

You might remember me posting about ColorOfChange.org. Color of Change is a group that brings black activism to the web. One of its campaigns has been to raise money for the legal defense of the Jena 6.

However, despite their best efforts, this did not stop them from being the subject of attack by radio talk-show host Michael Baisden. Baisden had Marcus Jones on his show. Jones is the father of one of the Jena 6, Mychal Bell. On this show, Jones claimed that ColorOfChange.org was collecting money against the wishes of the Jena 6 families. Bell and Baisden went on to claim that Color Of Change had been pocketing the money for themselves, even saying that a $10,000 donation made by David Bowie was kept by Color Of Change.

Unfortunately, this was untrue and this dishonesty was spread across the airwaves.

Where do I begin? First, Bowie never made a $10,000 donation for the Jena 6 defense to Color of Change. That donation was made to the NAACP (see the press release from the NAACP).

To date, Color of Change has raised over $230,000 for the legal fees of the the Jena 6 and their attorneys have acknowledged receipt of the funds.

Now, honestly, I would have cut Baisden some slack, had I not been informed of the background. You see, Baisden’s interview with Jones was on November 5th. But, Baisden’s staffers had contacted Color Of Change in October for information regarding these allegations and Color Of Change provided them with information supporting the fact that they were operating above-board:

James Rucker (Director for Color Of Change) has talked with Baisden directly, and at his direction, with Pamela Exum, his business manager, and Yvonne Gilliam, his publicist. From the start, we have explained our procedures to Baisden and his staff; we had them verify payments were received by lawyers; we had them verify our process with the lawyers and families–it was in response to an inquiry they started, driven by Marcus Jones’ accusations almost two months ago.

In fact, Yvonne Gilliam faxed us Marcus’ Jones authorization to release funds. It makes it clear that Baisden’s staff knew that Marcus knew ColorOfChange.org and that he had asked us to direct funds to his attorney.

In mid-October, Yvonne Gilliam, who works for Baisden indicated by phone that every lawyer she’d contacted had received their checks.

But, despite knowing the truth, they went on ahead with the show.

However, it gets even better.
Read the rest of this entry →

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Okay, I’m about a day late getting this to you but, last night, NBC Nightly News began a week-long series on African-American women. In it, they are examining the progress of black women in terms of education and careers, familial relationships, politics and health.

This sounds like it could actually be a pleasant alternative to the media images of black people that are normally splashed across television screens. Therefore, I encourage you to check it out and give NBC your feedback on this coverage. Perhaps they can be inspired to be more inclusive in their coverage in the future.

At any rate, I think I’ll be checking it out.

Popularity: 36% [?]

This is far from scientific but, it is a disturbing sign of the times.

Recently, at the Steelyard Commons shopping center in Cleveland, Ohio, some 6,000 people applied for 300 positions at a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Now, we are not talking executive position or highly-skilled roles. We are talking about low-paying retail jobs.

This pales in comparison two what happened at two Illinois Wal-Mart stores even smaller than the one in Cleveland. There, they had 25,000 and 15,000 applicants, respectively.

Experts say that this is “an indication not only of a less-than-stellar economy but also of a workforce short on marketable skills.”

So, what we may be seeing is an indication of what happens as the gap between rich and poor increases. Sadly, this is not the stuff of political stump speeches so, we’d better not wait for a candidate to address these concerns. For our families’ sakes, we need to speak on it, now.

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Currently, my wife and I are looking into adopting. Most likely, the child she and I would adopt would come from a foster situation. Going into it, I know that children in these situations are supposedly there because of abuse or neglect.

I also know that there are a lot of black kids in foster care. In my area of Ohio, Hamilton and Butler counties black adoption rates are so low that black kids are categorized as “special needs”.

I am, by no means, dismissive of the seriousness of the abuse and/or neglect of children. I believe that people that do this to a child should be punished and the child should be removed from the home. However, on the flip side, if you are going to remove the child from the home, you’d better be very sure of your rationale for doing so. More importantly, you’d better have an understanding of the people from whose homes you are removing a child because bad assumptions can have disastrous results.

Some foster agencies in the New England area are finding out just that.

Imagine that a social worker nearly removes your black child from your home because they mistake harmless “Mongolian spots” for bruises. This is just one example of how, because of assumptions made about poor minorities, children from such families disproprotionately end up in foster care.

Again, this is not to say that there aren’t clear cases of abuse or neglect but, a quote in this article clearly illustrates the point I am trying to convey:

“Once we are reported, we are more likely to be investigated. Once we are investigated, we are more likely to be placed in foster care. Once we are placed in foster care, we are less likely to be returned to our families,” said Sondra Jackson, executive director of Black Administrators in Child Welfare.

I am not trying to be too dramatic but, some of these examples remind me of what I read about regarding American slavery where a family can be taken apart at the discretion of the white person(s) in power.

Again, I repeat, if a child is being abused or neglected, that child needs to be in a safe, loving environment. But, it leaves one to wonder if the ignorance and prejudices of some in the field of social services is tearing poor families apart.

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“Kiladelphia”…no doubt, some ignorant person(s) will take a strange pride in such a name. To some, being associated with such a name denotes a toughness on their part. But, when your city starts getting such a name, something is really wrong.

This is the name that, in some circles, is being given to Philadelphia, PA after the murder rate jumped to 406 killings last year. 85% of those killed were black men.

However, just as you have some folks who embrace such a moniker, there are others who so wholeheartedly reject it that they are moved to action.

Thus, this is why some 10,000 Philadelphia residents are answering a call to help lower crime in that city. While these people will have no police powers, they will help through conflict resolution and mentoring.

More importantly, it is not headed up by law enforcement or the city government — this is actually being spearheaded by citizens.

So, much respect to those who stepped up. I hope your enthusiasm infects us all.

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Mos Def, Bun B (of UGK), David Banner, Common, Talib Kweli and M1 (of dead prez) are all highly-regarded rappers but, they are now also being recognized for their stepping up on behalf of the Jena 6.

As posted here previously, Mos Def (as well as Bun B) were actually down in Jena as part of the protests. David Banner, while not being able to be in Jena, used his tour as a platform to discuss the plight of the Jena 6. Most recently, Mos Def, Common, Talib Kweli and M-1 organized a school walkout in protest of the Jena 6’s prosecution.

However, Mos Def did have some pointed words for other rappers who haven’t lent the time or voices to this issue. He calls them out in the following clip:

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UPDATE: Authorities are now saying that the reports of Nailah’s body being found are premature. According to police, the body found is so badly decomposed that the identification of race is not possible. Also, according to police, no family members have seen the body. I will follow up with more details as they emerge.

Original Post (originally titled “Sad developments in Nailah Franklin saga”): Though authorities have not confirmed this, a family member of Nailah Franklin, a 28-year-old pharmaceutical sale rep missing for a week, is saying that a body found near a nature preserve is indeed hers.

The body was found this morning not far from where her abandoned car was found a few days ago. Her uncle, Jon Merrill, is saying that the body found is Nailah’s.

As stated previously, no suspects have been named but, police are looking at a man she dated briefly. Nailah had filed a complaint against him for threatening phone calls he made to her.

My prayers go out to the family of Nailah Franklin. May they find peace and justice.

Popularity: 32% [?]