Justice and Healing

Which images will history capture? Top and bottom left:  August 2014 in Ferguson, MO a peaceful, interracial and interracial candlelight vigil.  Photo by Stephanie Troutman; hashtag #HealSTL. Top and bottom right:  Members of the 1961 Washington Freedom Riders Committee en route from New York City; 1960 Greensboro Lunch Sit-in at the F.W. Woolworth luncheon counter.  source:  Library of Congress

This was the culture

from which I sprang

This was the terror

from which I fled.

—Richard Wright, Black Boy

On the eve of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, scholar, poet and NAACP co-founder W.E.B. DuBois died while he was living in Accra, Ghana.  DuBois had a remarkably long auspicious life.  His seminal work The Souls of Black Folks lives on to inform diaspora mindsets. We live in a time where questions of double-consciousness and the veil continue to be as relevant as the problem of the color line.

New crossroads have emerged where a growing diversity meets increasing inequality over a deeply rooted historical landscape of injustice.   In bearing witness to an unfolding stream of injustice across America this is an undeniable time in our nation.  We are reminded that while much has been accomplished through the Civil Rights era there remains more work ahead for justice and healing in America.

In Ferguson, Michael Brown was laid earlier this week leaving his family, community and a nation to mourn with unanswered questions about our live. A work for justice continues with physical and emotional costs that require a new sustainable, collective strength and resilience enabling forces that can shed light in the darkest of places of our hearts and minds.  

Here are a few suggestions to remain healthier and strong for the days ahead: 

•  Schedule personal time for physical, meditation and/or faith practices.  Healthier nutritional practices can make difference.  Drink water throughout the day.  Get enough sleep.

I have always believed that exercise is the key not only to physical health, but to peace of mind.

                                                       —Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

• Reflect. Take a look in your mirror. Reflection is an informative process that helps establish authenticity.

• Read beyond the pages of social media. Use poetry, essays, stories and books to open your consciousness, critical thought are necessary for growth and development. 

•  Take on creative experiences with art, music, dance and other forms work for good on the heart and mind.  

•  Talk with family and friends about your views with respect, but let your voice be heard. Informed differences in opinions and ideas can improve understanding if we are open.  Ask questions. 

Whatever you do let light and truth be your guide for justice.   Share your insight.

Occupy Health

The occupy movement has reached more than 1,000 cities in the U.S and around the world. In her provocative blog post “What Think Tanks Owe the People in the Park,” Janice Nittoli asserts:

“It's never been the task of the people in the park to come up with the ideas.  It's their job to call attention to injustice, to demand that the powerful be held accountable, to just plain get angry at massive inequity.  It's the job of others to articulate an action plan for thinking progressives - and not just by repeating the same ideas that we had five, ten or even 15 years ago.”  

High rates of unemployment, foreclosure crises, homelessness, looming national concern about the economy, children living in poverty, educational gaps leaving too many left behind is moving young people to the street, too. The sick and the aging are living longer lives with fears and realities of financial ruin more grim than the end of life. While health professionals and institutions are facing burnout and closing doors. 

"Foreclosure is not just a metaphorical epidemic, but a bona fide public health crisis. When breadwinners become ill, they miss work, lose their jobs, face daunting medical bills — and have trouble making mortgage payments as a result." 
                                                                            —Pollack and Lynch, New York Times op-ed

Health is more than the absence of disease or cure. Health is about well-being and the quality of our lives. “Doctors for the 99% has become the name for an informal group of health activists who have set out to support the occupation.” A recent post by Dr. Matt Anderson offers a moving multimedia story about #occupy health professionals and organizations.

Last Saturday night, my commute was interrupted. The subway system rerouted trains, I had to get off and leave the station at Occupy Times Square (aka 42nd Street) to reconnect at another station located a few blocks away to reach my final destination. My short walk in the dazzle of Broadway’s flickering lights and bustling crowds included a brief occupy encounter, an experience that stirs my hope.

The twitter hashtag #OccupyHealth offers context to consider medicine, health, and health care. We should be inspired to imagine new possibilities for such a time as this. Huge drifts in differences have not always been offered with civility. Rising injustices leading a spirit of inequity should push us to listen, think, engage and act accordingly. 

In Memoria: Do Justice

Last month, my beloved great Aunt passed away after battling illness with the same kind of  spirit she took on to address the challenges in her life applying tenacity, courage and a good sense of humor.  I had the honor and privilege of writing her obituary. It was a time of healing, reflection and contemplation. Memories, pictures and inquiries with family and friends helped me move through a century of American history to offer a vibrant narrative on her struggle and strength in living out a meaningful life.   

Remarkably, my Aunt was a leader in our family and community.  She was a critical thinker, agitator, strategist and organizer who kept a close view of the world and hand in our lives encouraging resiliency, progress and love.  

As a young woman, she and my maternal family escaped the threat of harm by moving from a small South Carolina town on the boarder of Georgia to New York City.  During the 1940s many black families were making the same travel plans because Jim Crow left many realizing that flight was a better response to their fears than a fight because so much blood had already been spilled. I believe as her eulogist suggested that untold horrific stories of her encounters with discrimination and racism moved my Aunt to work after work and family responsibilities in the civil rights movement. She taught me lessons about what it means “walk humbly, love mercy and do justice” in a world that doesn’t seem to favor the empowerment of people of color. In her eyes doing justice involved working actively in the community and beyond for the sake of humanity.

While the legislation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination against blacks and women, including racial segregation there was still work to be done for progress.  For example, prior to 1964 it was illegal for people of color to go to a hospital to receive medical care anywhere in the United States, very few places had colored hospitals. Many organizations continue the push for justice in education, employment, housing, health care as well take on the criminal justice system for the well-being of our society.  Since 1909, the National Association of Colored People (NAACP) has been pivotal in leading the way by addressing injustice. Today, the aim is to bring an end to the death penalty in the United States, you can join this cause at http://action.naacp.org/EndTheDP

“When in Gregg v. Georgia the Supreme Court gave its seal of approval to capital punishment, this endorsement was premised on the promise that capital punishment would be administered with fairness and justice. Instead, the promise has become a cruel and empty mockery. If not remedied, the scandalous state of our present system of capital punishment will cast a pall of shame over our society for years to come. We cannot let it continue.”

           
          —United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, 1990

I’ve come to understand professionally that lethal injections are not good medicine.  According to the Innocence Project, “seventeen people have been proven innocent and exonerated by DNA testing in the United States after serving time on death row.” I agree with the National Urban League statement “disparities and problems cast a long shadow of doubt over our criminal justice system.”

The state of Georgia shamefully executed Troy Davis on September 21, 2011 despite serious doubts about his guilt. But our fight to abolish the death penalty lives on.”

                                                               —Amnesty International

In fifteen minutes, execution by lethal injection ended the life of Troy Davis with too much doubt.