Urban News Features

If You Don't Like Disparities, Try Equality by Julianne Malveaux

June 16, 2013

If You Don't Like Disparities, Try Equality
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Last week I attended a “think tank” conversation with leaders of the Rodham Institute, a newly established center at George Washington University that is dedicated to reducing health disparities in Washington, DC. This is an important effort, because Washington, DC is such a divided city.

“East of the River”, Wards 7 and 8, are the poorest areas in the district, with some of the most challenging problems, and with an obesity rate of over 40 percent, more than the national average, and more than the extremely poor state of Mississippi. There are food deserts “east of the river” where it is easier to get potato chips than an apple or banana. While there are rudimentary hospitals and health centers, most referrals to a specialist will likely require a Ward 7 or 8 resident to take an expensive taxi ride across the river. This city is rife with health disparities.

Washington, DC isn’t the only city with these issues. Whether you are in San Francisco, Baltimore, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, or Dallas, there are areas that can be described as predominately black and predominately poor. To be sure, there are well-off people in these predominately black areas. They live there by choice, and have the resources and luxury of mobility that gives them access to some of the best hospitals in the city. But the poor don’t, and when health centers consolidate or close, they experience barriers to health care.

Health disparities are a function of assets, access and attitudes. Those with greater assets have more access to healthy food, better health care, and more information. Those without assets do not, and often make a decision to forego medical treatment in terms of something more basic – food. Some of these folks can’t or don’t know to go to cost-savings suburban stores like Costco, where bulk healthy food is readily available. Some, stuck in habit, prefer greasy food to baked options. Many do not make the connection between eating choices and heart disease. Assets and access are linked.

Then there is the issue of attitudes. Too many physicians don’t take poor (and African American) patients seriously. The Institutes of Medicine released a study in 2002 that showed that African American and Latino men were less likely than others to get painkillers for a broken bone. A subsequent study showed that African American children were likely to get differential treatment in emergency rooms. Too many poor people use emergency rooms for primary health care because they lack health insurance or access to good health care.

The attitude gap is also internal. Too many poor (and Black) people don’t take good care of themselves, which explains some health disparities. Frequent exercise and good eating habits go a long way toward healthy living, as do regular checkups. Some folks don’t know how to do the right thing. Some folks don’t have access to the right thing. And some people just won’t do the right thing.

One of the ways the attitude gap could be bridged is by admitting more African Americans to medical school. However, one of the speakers at the Rodham Institute conference indicated that not one African American man was admitted to this year’s class at Howard University’s medical school! If historically black Howard University won’t admit African American men, who will?

Former Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton closed out the conference, graciously laying out her vision for the institute and answering questions. She said that health disparities are a function of inequality, and that’s the point that sticks. Too often we look at the results of inequality without looking at the causes. Health disparities, the achievement gap, unemployment differentials are all a function of inequality. Dealing with these gaps on a piecemeal basis doesn’t get us close to the solutions.

At the same time, how do we close the income and wealth gaps that are at the root of so many other gaps? In the current conservative environment, talk of income or wealth transfers is just that. . .talk. Conversations about reparations are even more meaningless in this environment, especially when the entire Congressional Black Caucus won’t sign the Conyers bill on simply studying the impact of slavery on contemporary American life.

The Rodham Institute has laudable goals, a wonderful founding director in Dr. Jehan El-Bayoumi (full disclosure – my doctor), and a great community focus. In working to eliminate health disparities, perhaps this group will get us a bit closer to closing economic disparities as well.

Julianne Malveaux is a DC based economist and writer and President Emerita of Bennett College for Women.

A Nation Prays for 'Tata' While Another Mandela Passes

June 11, 2013

A Nation Prays for 'Tata' While Another Mandela Passes

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from GIN

mandela poster

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – News of the recurring illness of South Africa’s much loved leader, informally known as Madiba (Nelson Mandela), set off a new round of prayers for his recovery in the nation and around the world.

But in Qunu in the Eastern Cape, residents there were already grieving the passing of a Mandela – Florence Mandela - a close relative to the country’s former statesman and wife of one of the sons of Madiba’s uncle Solomon. She died last week at the age of 96.

Qunu, the home village of the former President, is now the home of the Nelson Mandela Museum and villagers there are foreseeing a heavy influx of tourists and visitors. Some residents have begun turning their homes into B&Bs, as there might not be enough place in the village should the ailing icon die, according to a report in The Sowetan newspaper.

But the talk of the town centered on the place of Mandela in their lives.

Nomishini Krexa, a villager, wondered: “Where will we be when he’s not around? What would we do here in Qunu, how would our lives be?

“Because of him we can feed our children. We have toilets, we have electricity. We would like to let him go but we’re scared. He has done so much for us.” Mandela, she said, brought her family together at a time when men lived in hostels at the mines where they worked.

The women were not allowed to live with their husbands and had to stay behind in the villages to look after the children.

An elderly woman, who asked not to be identified, echoed Krexa’s sentiments that people feared that without Mandela, their rights wouldn’t be upheld.

“If he’s not here (not alive), it won’t be good. We are pained to see him in pain. It’s not nice seeing your loved one like that, but what are we saying he must stay for?” she asked.

Noamen Qhola, from Mvezo, the village where Mr. Mandela was born, echoed her neighbor’s remarks: “…the day Tata is gone, things may change,” Qhola said.

Mandela’s grandson, who is the chief in Mvezo, said only: “I can’t comment on things related to uTat’omkhulu (grandfather)”.

Secrecy appears to be concealing a battle to save Mr. Mandela’s life. A report by CBS News, citing an unnamed source, said Mr. Mandela was in a medical “crisis” and had to be resuscitated by a medical team at his home last Friday night, shortly before he was rushed to hospital at about 1:30 a.m.

None of these details have been confirmed by the office of President Jacob Zuma, the only official channel for information on the health of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

But citizens are drawing their own conclusions from the stream of family members visiting him at the Pretoria hospital and holding vigil at his bedside. His wife, Graca Machel, cancelled a trip to London and has remained with him since Friday. His daughter Zenani, the South African ambassador to Argentina, has flown home to be with him. Other children and grandchildren have been visiting him all week, along with his ex-wife, Winnie.

President Zuma’s office has been widely criticized for releasing misleading sound bites on Mandela’s health.

Just a few weeks ago, President Zuma and other members of his ruling African National Congress visited Mr. Mandela at his home in a Johannesburg suburb, and President Zuma later claimed that the former president was “up and about” and “looking very good.” In fact, video footage from the visit showed Mr. Mandela obviously frail, frozen-faced, unable to smile, and almost unresponsive. It was the only video image of Mr. Mandela to be released in the past 10 months.

Mr. Mandela’s fragile health is not unexpected for a man of his age, especially since he suffered tuberculosis during his 27 years of imprisonment in the apartheid era. In some ways, his latest hospital admission has been a bigger story globally than it has in South Africa, where people have become accustomed to his health problems over the years. Though he is beloved by the country, many people now say they are prepared to hear the worst.

A friend of the elder leader, Andrew Mlangeni, spoke frankly of the state of the internationally-admired statesman. “The family must release him so that God may have his own way,” said Mlangeni, a former ANC activist who served years of imprisonment with Mr. Mandela on Robben Island.

“Once the family releases him, the people of South Africa will follow,” he told a South African newspaper. “We will say, ‘Thank you, God, you have given us this man, and we will release him too.’ ”

Nelson Mandela’s birthday, on July 18, was recognized by the U.N. in 2009 after his speech in Hyde Park, London, for his 90^th birthday. He said at that occasion: “It is time for new hands to lift the burdens. It is in your hands now.”

President Obama’s Insecure National Security State by Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

June 9, 2013

President Obama’s Insecure National Security State
By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III

NEWS ANALYSIS

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Last week The Guardian newspaper confirmed what many Americans have suspected for a very long time, the American government is spying on its own citizens.

The Guardian published a copy of a top secret court order requiring domestic telecom companies to provide the NSA with “…communication records of millions of US citizens…collected indiscriminately and in bulk – regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.” According to The Guardian, “The secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) granted the order to the FBI on April 25, giving the government unlimited authority to obtain the data for a specified three-month period ending on July 19.” It is also alleged that internet giants such as Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, have also provided the NSA access to confidential user data.

President Obama, who as a Senator campaigned against such practices as they were being engaged in by the Bush administration, is now defending them. When asked in 2007 if the president has Constitutional authority to conduct surveillance for national security purposes without judicial warrants, Senator Obama stated, “The Supreme Court has never held that the president has such powers.” Now, according to the President in defense of such measures, "My assessment and my team's assessment…was that they help us prevent terrorist attacks, and the modest encroachments on privacy that are involved…that on net was worth us doing." He went on to say, "When it comes to telephone calls, nobody is listening to your calls. That's not what this program is about…What the intelligence community is doing is looking at phone numbers and durations of calls -- they're not looking at people's names and they're not looking at content."

I understand that the FISA court granted the order to the FBI but the larger issue is that the NSA and FBI are engaged in the surveillance of American citizens who have not engaged in any wrongdoing. One has to question the standards that the FISA court is using to grant its orders and whether or not there is truly a check and balance as required by the constitution.

As a Constitutional scholar President Obama should know that his position on this issue fails the “laugh test” on a number of levels. He considers the NSA collecting the telephone records of millions of US telecom customers, having access to the numbers of both parties on a call, location data, call duration, unique identifiers, and the time and duration of all calls as “modest encroachments? What ever happened to the fundamental legal premise of presumption of innocence?

Has President Obama and/or any member of his “team” ever heard of the 4^th Amendment? “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Where is the basis of “probable cause” to proactively search the records of millions of Americans who have never engaged in any illegal activity let alone activity of a “terrorist” nature?

It is disingenuous for President Obama to attempt to alleviate fears and concerns of Americans about this incredible encroachment and excessive expansion of government power by saying, “nobody is listening to your calls…” That’s not the point; telephone numbers, like social security numbers are assigned to individuals. If you have the number you have the name. It’s the collection, analysis, and storage of call data of innocent citizens that matters.

I believe that more Americans would be outraged if this were a physical invasion of their privacy as opposed to a technological invasion. If the police were entering the homes of millions of Americans and taking photographs of their contents and video of their activities more people would be outraged. Remember the outrage when shortly after 9/11 then Attorney General John Ashcroft proposed using members of the US Postal Service to spy on American citizens? These actions are a clear violation of the intent of, “The right of the people to be secure… against unreasonable searches and seizures…”

This is clearly an attempt by the “liberal” Obama administration to further the development of the National Security State (NSS) all under the pretext of the Bush era marketing strategy the “War on Terror.” Some will consider my use of the term NSS as an exaggeration or over-the-top. According to the Center for Media and Democracy, elements of the NSS are that the military exerts important influence over political, economic, as well as military affairs (Eisenhower’s “military industrial complex”). National Security States often maintain an appearance of democracy. However, ultimate power rests with the military or within a broader National Security Establishment.

The military and related sectors wield substantial political and economic power. They do so in the context of an ideology which stresses that 'freedom" and "development" are possible only when capital is concentrated in the hands of elites (the rise of the One-Percent). Finally, defending against external and/or internal enemies becomes a leading preoccupation of the state, a distorting factor in the economy, and a major source of national identity and purpose.

According to the President, “But my assessment... was that they (these programs) help us prevent terrorist attacks.” Well, by my assessment the best way to prevent terrorist attacks is to stop engaging in practices that contribute to the promotion and recruitment of “terrorists” and validate the perception/reality of America as an imperialist interloper. Remember, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom-fighter.” Stop invading and/or supporting the invasion of sovereign countries. Stop killing innocent civilians “collateral damage” with drone strikes. These programs and policies destabilize regions and contribute to the influx of weapons that support this destabilization.

President Obama’s National Security State is making American’s insecure. “Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins. Republics and limited monarchies derive their strength and vigor from a popular examination into the action of the magistrates." Benjamin Franklin - 17 November 1737.

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the Sirisu/XM Satellite radio channel 110 call-in talk radio program “Inside the Issues with Leon” Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

On Father’s Day: These Super Dads Defy the Statistics by Hazel Trice Edney

June 10, 2013

On Father’s Day: These Super Dads Defy the Statistics
By Hazel Trice Edney

brooksfamily1

Marlon and Rosalind Brooks of Houston, Texas, say team work is the key to juggling their work schedules and family time.

martinandbabygirl

Martin Smith, a Bowie, Md. father of seven, says he loves road trips and Bible study with his wife, Walida, and their children.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – We hear the statistics all too often. Currently, “only 28 percent of Black youth have their fathers in the home. In 1920, it was 90 percent and in 1960 it was 80 percent.”

Those are the stats recently quoted by Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu, a foremost expert on the rearing of African-American children; especially boys. He boldly asserts: “I believe one of the greatest problems facing the Black community is fatherlessness.”

Plenty of other national experts back him up, pointing to multiple social ills as evidence of the dire need for fathers in the home. Even President Obama has focused on this issue when speaking to Black audiences. But, that’s not what this story is about.

On Father’s Day, June 16, 2013, millions of Black fathers, stepfathers, uncles, mentors, big brothers, relatives and father figures will be celebrated and appreciated because of their powerful and positive influence on their children every day. Some will even be given, well, super dad status.

Meet Martin Smith, a wealth planner and investment advisor who resides in Bowie, Md. He gives his view on the most important aspect of fatherhood:

“I think legacy and having the privilege and the honor to raise children and to have them develop into who God has called them uniquely to be,” he says. “All of them are totally different from one another. And so it really stretches you to see how you have to nurture them.”

Smith should know. He and his wife, Walida, have seven children - six girls ages 18, 16, 11, 9, 8, and 5 and one boy, 13.

“In my case – seven different personalities,” he chuckles, speaking from a cell phone as the entire family enjoys a road trip from Bowie to the San Diego, California area to visit family and tour colleges. “We’re trying to get them exposed now, start them thinking about it early.”

Along the way, they had stopped in to visit long-time friends, Marlon and Rosalind Brooks of Houston, Texas. The Brooks also have a large family – five children - including four boys ages 14, 10, 8, and 4, and one girl, 12.

Marlon Brooks tells his strategy for fatherhood:

“It’s hard to give them equal attention, but you have to give them attention as if you were wanting attention yourself,” he says. “You’ve got to manage the kids, you’ve got to manage time with your wife; you’ve got to manage taking care of the house, you’ve got to manage making sure that you’re going to provide for them and sometimes in the midst of all of that you just don’t want to be bothered,” he chuckled. “But, even then, I’ve got to make sure that I’m a good steward over the emotions of all of the kids.”

The owners of a 4-year-old food service operation, Brooks Family Barbecue, the Brooks are about to take on yet another venture in Houston. They are opening a full service restaurant in July. That’s coupled with Mrs. Brooks’ full time job as an ROTC instructor.

They say balancing their careers and caring for the children can only be done as a team.

“Even on a daily basis we pretty much divide everything up,” she said, with a special emphasis on their education. “He and I spend equal time at the school. They know him just like they know me as far as the teachers and the administrators.”

When it comes to discipline, the retired U. S. Navy Commander says she is the strict one. “I’m kind of hard-nosed when it comes to certain things.” She recalls how the children think, “'Mom says we can’t do this, but Dad might find a way for us to be able to work it out.’ I think when God called us together, he just knew these different temperaments we had. And we’re just a good balance.”

Walida Smith, a working mother of seven children, says she admires her husbands’ “commitment to their spiritual growth above anything else. That’s like the first and foremost concern,” she said.

In that regard, Martin Smith says one of his favorite family group activities is Bible Study. He has temporarily set aside his pursuit of a Master of Divinity degree while completing a Masters of Real Estate Finance at Georgetown University, which he says will enhance his services at Wealth Care Financial Group Inc. of which he is owner, president and chief executive officer.

Despite their jam-packed schedules, both couples say finding time for each other and nurturing their own relationships are keys to good parenting.

“You make time,” says Mrs. Smith, who works as director of Publications and Resources for the Skinner Leadership Institute based in Tracy’s Landing, Md. “We have teenagers. The older ones are taught how to take care of the younger ones so that [we] are able to do that. And then we live near family and have family available so that makes a difference.”

The main ingredient is sacrificing for each other even if it’s a constant struggle, says Marlon Brooks.

“We date. That’s very important. We spend time as husband and wife, but sometimes we need to spend time together as friends. And when we spend time together as friends we kind of talk about the needs of the kids and each other’s needs,” he says. “Every time we do that for each other I feel like the Lord meets our needs.”

Historic Saint Paul’s College to Close by Jeremy M. Lazarus

June 9, 2013

Historic Saint Paul’s College to Close
By Jeremy M. Lazarus

st. pauls college

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Saint Paul’s College, a historically Black college in rural Southside Virginia is closing its doors after 125 years as an educational beacon.

The closing date is Monday, June 30, Saint Paul’s has announced in a one-paragraph notice posted on its website. Dr. Oliver W. Spencer Jr., chairman of the board of trustees, last week notified the college’s accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), of the closing decision.

“Saint Paul’s is now in the process of working with other institutions to develop teach-out agreements so that currently enrolled students will be able to complete their studies at another institution,” Dr. Belle Wheelan, president of the SACS Commission on Colleges, stated in an email to the Free Press.

The closure represents a stunning end to the school that Episcopal Archdeacon James Solomon Russell founded in 1888. His goal: To train teachers and provide other academic opportunities for Black people who were being shut out of public education by the White supremacists who controlled local governments in the area.

Saint Paul’s board voted for closure last week after the collapse of its plan to turn over the campus to a sister Episcopal-affiliated school, Saint Augustine’s University of Raleigh, N.C. Saint Augustine’s spent six months studying the idea, but announced three weeks ago that it was dropping out because it could not afford the cost of Saint Paul’s, located in Lawrenceville, Va., the seat of Brunswick County, 80 miles southwest of Richmond, Va.

Remaining employees have been notified that they will be laid off at the end of June. Board officials have stated that the plan is to sell the 183-acre campus on the market with hopes of finding interest from another college or institution.

The school had seen enrollment sharply decline and reported serving only 111 students in the most recent academic year that ended in May, down from the nearly 700 students when the school was in good standing.

For a while, it appeared Saint Paul’s might survive its latest challenge — the SACS commission’s decision to strip the school of its accreditation for failure to meet standards, eliminating federal and private tuition support for students.

Saint Paul’s challenged the SACS decision in federal court and won a preliminary injunction to maintain accreditation while searching for a buyer.

“I was hopeful that the merger with Saint Augustine’s would work out, but it didn’t,” Dr. Wheelan told the Free Press. “I never like it when an institution has to close.”