June 11, 2017

Some Say Russia 'Collusion' Investigation Distracting from Black Issues
By Barrington M. Salmon

Former FBI Director Jim Comey testifying before Congress. PHOTO: Paulette Singleton/Trice Edney News Wire

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - During former FBI Director Jim Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week, the irony of Black people cheering for Comey didn’t escape African-Americans who watched the on-going saga unfold in public view last week.

In more than three hours of testimony, Comey said under oath that the president repeatedly pressed him for a pledge of loyalty and asked him to drop the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. And after Comey failed to fulfill the president's wishes, Trump fired him.

In casual conversations, political discussions and debates in Black communities across the country, the question has centered on how invested African-Americans should be in the hearings and their outcome given the FBI's history of unfairness to Black leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Moreover, with Black progress at stake,some wonder whether the focus on the Trump-Comey controversy is too much of a destraction. 

Mimi Machado-Luces, a documentary filmmaker, photographer and mother of two, said she watched the hearing and believes Trump is a liar who lacks the skills or temperament to be president. This is all the more reason that Black people must escalate thier attention to Black progress.

People of African descent in America, she said, were lulled to sleep by eight years of a Barack Obama presidency and now most still can’t rouse themselves to fully confront the dangers that the Trump administration has spawned.

“I think that we’ve fallen back onto this lull of ‘Oh…good times are over.’ We’ve fallen back into this reactionary mode,” she said. “Black Lives Matter and other groups like that are grand but I don’t see anyone coming out aggressively about things we need to be pursuing in our agenda, talking about the effects of things Trump is coming in to dismantle.”

Machado-Luces, an artist-in-residence teaching Digital Media at several DC and Maryland schools, said she wonders if and when Black people will come together and coalesce around a meaningful, substantive agenda.

“I don’t know if that will happen, probably not in my lifetime,” she said. “All I know is that there’s so much work to do. I don’t want to say we as a people lack vision. We’re psychologically lulled into accepting the oppression. I see some people trying to change things but part of the oppression is written into law. People get off when they shouldn’t.”

The intrigue and importance of the topic of possible collusion with a foreign country by a U. S presidential administration has not escaped coverage by the Black press, which has historically covered the antagonist relationship between the Black community and the FBI as well as other law enforcement agencies. DC-based independent journalist and political analyst Lauren Victoria Burke said she was among those glued to coverage, mainly because of the gravity of the events.

Burke said unlike the Iran-Contra scandal, for example, the ethical lapses and conflicts of interests swirling around this White House is a “much more serious matter because of the possibility of the president or his people being involved in treasonous activity.”

She said, “It’s a spy-level novel situation…No. I’ve never seen anything like this. The idea that somehow this is normal - none of this is normal.”

Burke, who covers Capital Hill daily, says Black Democratic lawmakers like Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Al Green (D-Texas) have been leading the charge in criticizing Trump, calling for a special prosecutor and seeking impeachment.

“They’ve been a little bit more out in front than most people. Green and Waters have called for impeachment. They’re the only members to call for impeachment,” said Burke. “Waters came out in front very early. She talked in a way that people were saying to take it back. But it’s almost mainstream now.”

Sam Collins, a millennial grassroots journalist and activist, said he watched sections of the Comey hearing with a jaundiced eye. He’s tired, he said, of the mainstream treating critical, potentially life-and-death issues and the dysfunction and chaos emanating from the White House as a pay-per-view event. Even though he has a good handle on the inner-workings of government and its relationship with the people it purports to serve, Collins said he’s still not sure whether the entire Russia debacle is just a diversionary tactic.

“Our leaders are following Russia while districts are going through issues, such as access to quality healthcare, unemployment and other problems that were here long before Russia or Trump,” said Collins, who is a teacher with District of Columbia Public Schools. “It’s proxy war. They’re putting up this proxy war to distract us.”

As he’s watched the Trump White House try unsuccessfully to fend off a rising chorus of accusations of collusion with Russia and a variety of other potential misdeeds, Collins believes Black leaders have become distracted as African-Americans and people of color face more overt racism, unprovoked attacks, hostility from the Trump administration, and the reversal of hard-earned gains by regressive forces.

“We need to organize among ourselves,” he concluded. “The NAACP is going through an identity crisis and may be about to fall under. I wouldn’t be mad,” Collins said with a chuckle. “There are no radical voices...All this political stardom and we have no juice to move anything.”

June 11, 2017

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Healthcare is a huge issue for people in jail and prison. There are currently 2.4 million people in American prisons. This number has grown by 500 percent in the past 30 years. While the United States has only 5 percent of the world's population, it holds 25 percent of the world's total prisoners. In 2012, one in every 108 adults was in prison or in jail, and one in 28 children in the U.S. had a parent behind bars.     

Researchers estimate that 70 percent to 90 percent of the approximately 10 million individuals released from U.S. prisons and jails each year are uninsured, and about 40 percent of incarcerated people have at least one chronic health condition, such as diabetes or hypertension.     

Inmates have high rates of chronic medical conditions, especially viral infections. In addition, substance abuse and mental illness are common among inmates. Prisoners with existing healthcare conditions may have their health needs ignored or neglected, and others may develop health problems whilst in prison thanks to unhealthy and unhygienic prison conditions and poor control of infectious diseases. Prisons can be a breeding ground for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and other infectious diseases.      

Women prisoners have particular health needs, which go far beyond their need for reproductive healthcare and pre- and post-natal healthcare. Women in prison are disproportionately likely to be victims of domestic or sexual abuse, to experience poor mental health, and to have alcohol and drug dependency problems. Women are also more likely to develop mental health problems while in prison and are more likely to self-harm or attempt suicide than male prisoners.

Surprisingly to many, HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are more prevalent among incarcerated women than incarcerated men. With increasing numbers of women entering and exiting the prison system, there is a compelling need to ensure that provisions are in place that can adequately address these health issues.       Providing inmates with health care is politically unpopular. Indeed, during the Bush administration, former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona stated that the administration had blocked the release of the Surgeon General's Report, Call to Action on Corrections in Community Health, for fear that the report would increase government spending on inmates.     

So what's health care like in prison, anyway? It depends on the state.       At best, it's about as good as a low-income health plan. At worst, it's almost nonexistent. In general, when a prisoner gets sick, he tells the on-duty guard. Inmates who become ill typically submit “sick call” slips that are collected at an appointed time each day. If it's not urgent—a sore throat, say, or an ear infection—the guard will put his name on a list, and an appointment with the prison's in-house doctor may be set up for as soon as the next day. To handle emergencies, most prisons have a nurse on duty 24 hours a day. Most ailments are treated on-site, but inmates who are gravely ill can be taken to the nearest hospital.      

Correctional facilities must provide health services to people who are incarcerated, but that doesn't mean the care is free of charge. In most states, inmates may be on the hook for copayments ranging from a few dollars to as much as $100 for medical care, a recent study finds. At least 35 states authorize copayments and other fees for medical services at state prisons or county jails. Sick prisoners must make a nominal co-payment for each visit to the jailhouse doctor - taken from an hourly wage that typically runs between 19 cents and 40 cents an hour. Costs above that are covered by the state.     

Prisoners do checkups, but probably not as often as most people. Incoming inmates always get a physical, blood test and all, to check for diseases or drugs. After that, the period between checkups varies.  At least that's the theory. In practice, many prison systems are so overcrowded that prisoners must wait days to see a doctor, even in emergency situations.     

If you have a medical question about either yourself or a family member who is in prison, The Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights suggest the following steps: 1. If you or your loved one has a doctor on the outside, ask if they can communicate directly to his correctional health care providers. In some cases, correctional facilities allow doctors to visit their patients when they need medical attention; 2. You should try contacting the healthcare providers at your/your family member’s prison directly to bring a medical problem to their attention; 3. If you cannot reach the healthcare providers, the medical director’s office will be able to provide the most specific assistance to your health concern; 4. The Department of Corrections website for your state should have appropriate contact information for the medical director’s office; and 5. Several states have legal services organizations that represent or otherwise help prisoners. These organizations will sometimes advocate for individual prisoners who are not receiving proper medical and mental health care and treatment.      

Each day, men, women, and children behind bars suffer needlessly from lack of access to adequate medical and mental health care. Chronic illnesses go untreated, emergencies are ignored, and patients with serious mental illness fail to receive necessary care. For some patients, poor medical care turns a minor sentence into a death sentence.  Regardless of their offences, prisoners are human beings and must be treated as such.

Remember, I’m not a doctor. I just sound like one.Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult his or her healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan. Glenn Ellis, is a Health Advocacy Communications Specialist. He is the author of Which Doctor?, and Information is the Best Medicine. A health columnist and radio commentator who lectures, nationally and internationally on health related topics, Ellis is an active media contributor on Health Equity and Medical Ethics. Glenn can be heard Saturdays at 9:00am (EST) on www.900amwurd.com, and Sundays at 8:30am (EST) on www.wdasfm.com. For more good health information, visit: www.glennellis.com

June 11, 2017

Young African Entrepreneurs Star in Latest Forbes Africa

(TriceEdneyWire.com/GIN) - The much anticipated “30 Under 30” African edition of Forbes Magazine featuring the latest cohort of young African entrepreneurs building an African business is slated to hit the stands this month in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

Ancillar Mangena, the Forbes Africa journalist who leads the “30 Under 30” project discussed the issue with Antoinette Isama of OkayAfrica.com who asked her why it’s important to celebrate young ambitious Africans.

“June is South Africa’s Youth Month when we remember the youth of 1976 and their role in democracy,” she began. “One could argue that while the youth of ’76 fought for political freedom, these under 30s are fighting for financial freedom. As we like to call them, they are the billionaires of tomorrow.”

To the question: “Why do you think this list is important to the continent and the diaspora?” Ms. Mangena replied: “Many a time we hear of Africa’s struggle, poverty, unemployment, crime and disease, but this list shows how much Africa continues to evolve.”

“They are not waiting or asking for handouts. These 30 superstars are not waiting for anyone to offer them a job, they are creating the jobs and building global brands. The people featured are in diverse industries from manufacturing, import and export, fashion, beauty, agriculture, tech and many more.”

Unlike last year’s list, she observed, “this year we have more women breaking barriers.”

“I call the under 30s my babies,” Ms. Mangena confessed. “That’s how personal the process is. I have spent months studying them, looking into their lives and business. We have been communicating back and forth and I have a lot of faith in their potential.

“Like a mother, I will always offer support where I can so that they can one day be on the cover of Forbes Africa magazine—meaning they will be worth more than $200 million. These are the bright shining stars in Africa. You may not know their names now but you will be forced to in a few years.

In the new class of Forbes Africa’s 30 Under 30, 10 are from South Africa, 4 are from Nigeria, and two are from Kenya, with a single representative from Tanzania, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, to name a few.  

GLOBAL INFORMATION NETWORK creates and distributes news and feature articles on current affairs in Africa to media outlets, scholars, students and activists in the U.S. and Canada. Our goal is to introduce important new voices on topics relevant to Americans, to increase the perspectives available to readers in North America and to bring into their view information about global issues that are overlooked or under-reported by mainstream media.