Lessons for Independence

Professor Melissa Harris Perry teaches political science, I have never pursued such coursework. I heard her give a high-spirited and compelling plenary presentation at a conference, "Assuring Equity through Health and Health Reform" and have since followed her tweets, read her book and listened to some of her other talks. I was intrigued by her proclamation that the Declaration of Independence was her very favorite lesson in the curriculum to offer students.  As a document of liberation bound with theological context and political agendas it stands against time with a historical significance worth studying beyond it’s most famous statement:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

I’m moved by the passionate debate that produced the Declaration as well as the fortitude it gave the abolitionist movement to fight against slavery.   The 4th of July offers a history lesson for America that should take place with celebration. The reading enables lessons for freedom and independence.  It's a teachable moment.

"The Declaration of Independence: A History". Charters of Freedom. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 3, 2011

Saturday Palpitations

Heart impulses represented in the cardiac cycle.

It was early Saturday morning, I was making my plans for the day, crossing-off a few items that seemed unreasonable with others that had been accomplished. As I moved toward the kitchen, a voice from the living room bellowed “the coffee is ready”  turning my head I could see bright rays of sunshine making a visible path through the open front door.  My morning greeting followed with “did you have breakfast?” she answered, “yes” so I grabbed a cup of yogurt, found a banana in the fruit basket and sat down with cinnamon coffee in my favorite cup. 

She came to the table, pulled up a chair up close and said with half-hearted laughter, “I keep having these fluttering feelings” and I asked,  “what have you been up to this morning?” She said, “well, I ate cereal for breakfast, took my medication then I rode my bike to the bank.  Now I’m getting ready to go grocery shopping, choir rehearsal and then to get my hair done, but I keep feeling these flutters.”  Her schedule made me uncomfortable, she had other unmentioned responsibilities like caring for my grandmother and cooking dinner but I wasn’t ready to stir up an argument. My response, “well, it’s been a busy morning so why don’t you go back to the sofa and rest for awhile”  from the other room we talked about a co-worker who’d died suddenly a few days ago. She took pause to admit her feelings of anguish.

My summertime stay made for an opportunity to talk about anxiety, stress and triggers. Learning to listen attentively and offering the power of presence to her narrative, I began to see her rage with the world of injustice, her strength to overcome, but more clearly, a shield entrapping her emotions as described in Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s poem “We Wear The Mask.”

“What Shapes Health?” a series of webinars held by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with leading national experts presenting their research on the relationship between stress and health.  My talks with mom don’t afford the opportunity for statistics and analysis, but the current evidence does compel my passion to carry on with our dialogue.  She’s interested the simple facts. In response to the New York City Health Department’s no trans-fat public awareness campaign, her question “What’s the big deal?”  As I grinned through a a medical student biochemistry lesson on lipid metabolism she became irritated and puzzled. I made more progress when I went told story about french fries and  the hidden calories in partially-hydrogenated oils leading to weight gain, rising cholesterol levels, which may increase the risk of heart disease.  She got it, began reading food labels more carefully and switched out the oils in the pantry with healthier choices. Yet, our conversation about the relationship between stress and health continues to be challenging as her perceptions are not mine. I'm asking the upstream policy questions about the conditions in our lives that can help alleviate stress and make for healthier living. Mom's web of healthy choices are obvious from the breakfast table to the bike path, but there's also chronic stress embedded in tough daily decisions and the quest for life balance.

By late Saturday evening, I was sitting in front of the computer with the banter of young people outside my front bedroom window and a hint of barbeque in the air keeping me alert enough to move through the night’s reading.  I heard rushing foots steps coming down the stairs, she knocked on my door.  In a shaky voice she said “What did you tell me to do about these palpitations?”  My alarm-filled response, “have these continued from early this morning?” She nodded, exclaiming “I’m too uncomfortable to lie down or sleep like this.”  My response, “you have to go the hospital” reaching for the phone I dialed 911. She lamented that she didn’t think her situation was that serious. I did. She urged me to take her blood pressure.  I did not.

The prevalence of heart disease among black women is twice as high as for others.

The ambulance came in less than ten minutes. Her pulse was rapid, blood pressure was abnormally high and the portable heart monitor gave a picture of irregularities. She was rushed to the hospital while I stayed behind with my grandmother who was now awake, upset by the ordeal and demanding answers by asking the same few questions repeatedly. “Why did they have to take your mother to the hospital?  What’s wrong with her heart? How did that happen? She’s too young to have heart trouble? They took your mother to the hospital? For what?”  It was a long night. 

After an hour in the emergency room, mom was admitted to the hospital.  Her pulse, blood pressure and rhythms returned to normal with medication.  Further test results, proved puzzling to the doctors, but she was released from the hospital after a few days with instructions to follow up with her primary care physician and with a referral to see a cardiologist.

That summer, I also finished my first reading of our cardiovascular physiology packet with a more profound interest in the advances of science and medicine as well as the research related to health disparities.

Cross-posted at www.KevinMD.com

A beautiful story for all of us

I could not believe my eyes when a recent online Psychology Today blog post made claims about beauty and Black women.  As I moved through the article, the charts and read on, skewed “data” to malign in the name of science and research was clear.  I could not bear the sight of this without reaching out to a few friends and colleagues.  We agreed that this was egregious and something had to me done.  A few hours after the actual blog post there was so much internet traffic the article web page was shut down due to technical difficulties, then it was removed completely. Outrage and responses continued on other blogs, FB and Twitter. 

The story grew beyond the article into a pursuit of justice as young black women scholars organized with thecolorofchange.org petition to challenge the racist and sexist assertions regarding Black women. Over 100,000 people responded from across around the globe. The result: Professor Satoshi Kanazawa of The London School of Economics is no longer a contributing blogger for Psychology Today! Furthermore, the publication is revising their editorial process for reviewing blog posts.  The Color of Change group also urges editors "to take more proactive and transparent steps in exploring the role of racism and sexism in scientific research and analysis."  

Dr. Thema Bryant, psychologist, professor and President of the Society for the Psychology of Women states, “the media and television in particular has the ability to promote stereotypes or shatter them.  Negative stereotypes are often used to justify discrimination.  Stereotypes of African American women are rooted in the intersection of racial and gender oppression." 

Notes to consider

• The leadership of a few can galvanize the support of many others who see injustice
• Web 2.0 and social media empower “the people formerly known as the audience” to read and respond 
• Moves against wrong can be swift because of the work already done and the progress made, this effort has been just a few weeks in the making
• Research and data offer powerful tools for storytelling

Together, we can make a difference.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."   Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our world and families in the days ahead

Today in America you have a 50% chance of living beyond 100 years. Those who are aging and living well make this mark with survival stories of resiliency by allowing the power of hopefulness to help them with setbacks in life, they overcome stress with success.  Another  key is having a network of care and love from families, friends and supportive communities. We need our families and beloved communities for long and healthy lives.

The United Nations set May 15, 2011 for the observance of the International Day of Families with a theme of "Confronting Family Poverty and Social Exclusion." It’s a call to recognize that families around the world are vulnerable especially given the persistence of violence, poverty and the uprising of natural disasters in an already unstable and unbalanced climate.  From my view convening a global or national dialogue on family requires a look beyond strategies of war, approaches to economic market stability or business as usual in search of policies and practices that mobilize resources to value, connect, unify and empower communities and families who are interconnected by blood lines across generations and living together, in close proximity through relationships and/or sharing physical location.  What’s the challenge?

“Social exclusion is often at the root of the problem. Discrimination and unequal access to social services deprive families of the opportunity to plan a better future for their children. Certain types of families are at particular risk, including large families, single-parent families, families where the main breadwinners are unemployed or suffer from illness or disability, families with members who suffer discrimination based on sexual orientation, and families living in urban slums or rural areas. Indigenous and migrant families, as well as those living through conflict or unrest, are also on the front lines of marginalization and deprivation.”  

Secretary-General's Message for 2011

The aftermath of earthquakes in Haiti and Japan show people struggling to find their children and other family members.  In Haiti the rising levels of cholera puts families and communities at risk for illness that without access to clean drinking water, nutrition and health care increases preventable deaths. In a technology meets volunteerism equals innovation, crisis mapping has helped bring response teams with resources to critical areas of the world.  A website and portal www.Ushahidi.com helps users “call for help” using mobile devices via email, sms and tweets to map locations of distress based.  Many countries like Hait don't have a 911 response system. Volunteers around the world have helped to develop the sophisticated system using Facebook, Twitter and Google maps with people on the ground to reconnect some children and families when geography seemed to be an impossible barrier. A vivid example showing the power and possibility of connection, for families around the world.

The recent devastation of tornadoes and floods in southern and mid-western parts of the United States have left many families homeless, disconnected and grieving the loss of loved ones.  Who will help them heal?  In her book, The Warmth of Other Suns” author Isabell Wilkerson tells the migration stories and now more so the return of African American families to their southern roots, which perhaps still remains tied to the search for relief from discrimination and racism. Yet, remarkable and significant progress has led to stunning diversity in America visible in neighborhoods, schools and the workplace, but also shows clear evidence of inequity at the cost of lives, comprising health and society. Here we have to continue the dialogue to realize for better outcomes for the future.

What can we do to strengthen our families?  We can take on acts of empathy, compassion and love without delay.

Real Stories: Black Women Live On

Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has a new memoir Extraordinary Ordinary about the segregated South and the force of family love on her life. Her memories are America's too as she grew up in Birmingham, Alabama when bombing bloodshed propelled the civil rights movement when survival demanded perseverance, resistance and equanimiity. Condi notes that while there has been remakable progress since those days, challenges do persist as many are trapped in zip codes by poverty and race hindering their educational opportunity, employment possibilities as well as living standards.

Professor Rice notes that she prefers the term 'black American' because "African-American mocks the immigrant narrative" saying that her ancestors were enslaved to come to this country and are a significant part of America's beginning and founding population. Condi's story is American history with lessons about race, gender and the generational legacy of being extraordinary.