Month: April 2022

I’m about to board yet another flight to Philadelphia to take care of my grandson while the au pair is back in Columbia for a two-week vacation. This time there may not be a mask mandate in place to protect passengers like me who need to be extra careful. Because of the rising numbers of Covid cases, both Los Angeles and Philadelphia have reinstated indoor masking. So, the airports will require masks, but not the airplane if the “Trump-appointed and unqualified” federal judge’s ruling against CDC mandates isn’t overturned.

Like others, I was quick to write to President Biden when the ridiculous ruling came out, urging him to appeal such an irresponsible decision that completely ignores science and public health. How is it that nearly a million U.S. deaths from a surprise virus apparently isn’t enough to support future government disease control mandates in the interest of saving lives? I’m glad the DOJ is appealing the ruling. It sad to admit, but Americans have shown that they can’t be trusted to protect themselves nor others without mandates. The notion of “freedom” has become distorted in the minds of too many.

We’ve seen firsthand that too many Americans are either too selfish or too ignorant to follow the science and adjust their behaviors in the interest of brotherly love and care. Allow me to restate most of what I wrote in a previous post:

Perhaps we need to return to kindergarten where we had our first introduction to society. Kindergarten is where we learned to share and to take turns. We learned that we were not an island unto ourselves and that the needs of the group have to be considered. We learned to wait for our turn. Kindergarten gave us our first taste of the concept of fairness and orderliness. Of course, the way we learned the consequences of inappropriate social behaviors in kindergarten depends on the reader’s age. Anti-social behavior was met by either a slap on the hand or a time out. Sometimes parents were informed. The point is that the disruptive class clown and the bully were not rewarded for their antics. However, social media has upset these necessary social lessons.

Today, our society gives free reign to clowns and bullies who are hellbent on acting on their character deficits to our collective detriment. The insecure, the selfish, the inconsiderate, the ignorant, the power hungry, the greedy, and the hateful people have always been among us. It’s just that we have allowed their voices to be amplified through social media and then their outrageous antics attract news media coverage. I recall how Donald Trump’s ridiculous lies, racist and sexist comments and insults hurled at his political opponents became big news. Then candidate Trump was calling into the Today Show almost daily and they took his calls on air. The bully was no longer given a time out nor a slap on the risk, but a multifaceted platform on television, Facebook, and especially Twitter. All manner of lies, misinformation, and nastiness were elevated.

We collectively failed to secure the guard rails around our social contract with one another and now the anti-social among us are running rampant, clothing themselves in a false narrative of personal “freedom”. Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Rand Paul, Congresswoman Margorie Taylor Greene, and Governor Greg Abbott all fit that bill and are causing great harm to social and public health efforts. The Republican Party itself has been co-opted by this minority of anti-social/anti-democratic people who are loud, belligerent, violent, and largely uneducated. The My Pillow Guy, Mike Lindell, is a perfect example of how an individual can spread lies that threaten to co-opt our democracy. However, the most ridiculous example I’ve seen to date are the parents fighting and threatening school board members over school masking requirements. I’m hopeful that these parents against masking in schools during a pandemic are simply ignorant and not homicidal. Whichever it is, no parent has the right to endanger the lives of others under the guise of their parental rights. Apparently, this commonsense notion that brought us laws against drinking and driving and smoking in public places is lost on these short-sighted individualists.

Bible readers know that when Cain killed his brother Abel, God asked him where his brother was. Cain cynically replied, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We know from God’s response to Cain and from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that the clear and unequivocal answer is, “YES!” The answer is yes because we must live in community together and we affect each other. We share the earth, the air, the water, and every other resource necessary to live.

So, it is time for those of us who recall our lessons from kindergarten to restore the guard rails to curtail the behavior of the ignorant, the selfish, the power hungry, the greedy, the inconsiderate, the bullies, and especially the homicidal by A) refusing to vote for them B) calling them out publicly on social media C) refusing to support media platforms that amplify their voices and D) boycotting their products.

Am I endorsing what some have coined a “cancel culture”. I guess I am. And honestly, I’m inclined to believe that the trend toward labeling demands for reasonable social guard rails as “cancel culture” is a ploy by the clowns and bullies to silence their detractors so they can run rampant. Those who are actively banning books and silencing teachers with regard to sexuality and history are engaging in their own form of “cancel culture”.

It’s time to reclaim a civil and social society where we recognize that to some extent, we are in very practical terms, our brother’s keeper. I just hope that happens before I board my plane next week.

We are living in a moment in time when knowing whom to believe and what to believe is challenging. The following example may sound trivial, but someone posted a picture on Facebook of a shirtless (and ripped) BTS member, Jungkook. There were hundreds of comments and even more likes praising his sexy good looks. However, I immediately became suspicious of the validity of the picture. First, because it seemed out of character for this rather shy member to take such a picture and second because the prominent tattoos on his hand and arm were missing. As I continued to read the comments, others joined me in questioning the validity of the photo. This is the world we now live in.

There have always been liars, cheaters, swindlers and used-car salesmen among us. They are typically motivated by the prospect of money, power, or fame. For some, it’s the simple thrill of fooling people. Magicians are good for that kind of innocent entertainment. And perhaps the person who posted the photoshopped picture of a shirtless Jungkook on Facebook was a digital magician. However, I wouldn’t want to be the subject of their magic.

The problem is that we depend on information to make rational decisions about our health, our livelihoods, our planet, and our political leaders. Our well-being depends on access to accurate information. And these days, dependable information is becoming increasingly difficult to come by. There are too many people willing to muddy the information pool with falsehoods, speculation, half-truths, omissions, and fantasy. Some are doing it for attention, some to sell products, some for political power, and others truly want to destroy or control society as we know it. Like Putin in Russia, Xi in China, and Kim in North Korea, these dangerous actors fully understand that control over information leads to psychological control of the people and ultimately keeps them in power. Those who question the information or present opposing information are quickly removed.

When it comes to our health, I learned that our healthcare industry depends heavily on the support of food industry giants. This is why slogans like, “Milk, it does a body good” go unchecked and uninterrogated. More people are lactose intolerant than not in the world, and so I wonder why we are determined to drink another mammal’s milk when we have our own? We can get calcium from green leafy vegetables. At the same time, Doctors and hospitals receive too much support from the pharmaceutical industry. When I spoke to my doctor about my plant-based diet to lose weight and lower my blood pressure, he immediately tried to prescribe me yet another medication, this one to help me lose the weight. I rejected it. There are good documentaries on the subject of healthcare, and that information helped me switch to a plant-based diet. I started with a pretty convincing one on Netflix called, “What the Health”.

I also watched a documentary on Netflix called, “The Great Hack”. It was about how Cambridge Analytica used our personal data from Facebook to feed users emotionally charged information designed to push them to vote a certain way or to not vote at all. In particular, they were involved in the Trump 2016 election, the Brexit vote, political movement events, and numerous election campaigns in support of tyrants across the world. To my utter surprise, at the center of Cambridge Analytica was Steve Bannon. The documentary revealed that his underlying motive is to destroy the current social order so that he can remake it according to his vision for society. Talk about an evil mastermind! He sounded like a villain straight out of a Bond or Batman movie. But this is real life stuff.

The point is that information is the greatest tool we use to make life decisions. And that tool is being corrupted by dangerous actors who seek power, fame, and money at our expense. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find truthful and reliable sources of information. I switched to publicly funded PBS for news. There are plenty of good characters out there trying their best to provide fact-based information, but they are often villainized or drowned out by the loud voices of the greedy and powerful.

The answer is that academics, journalist, and activists really need to step up their media game to break through the haze of misinformation with the valid and reliable information we need. I see opportunities for new industries to emerge in fact-checking and authentication services. It’s time for academics, journalists, and activists to engage with publicists and social media experts to effectively disseminate truthful information. Gone are the days when an academic journal or conference will suffice. Those with real information need to find the platforms that will break through. Until then, perhaps the answer for the rest of us is to seek out the quiet, less funded but well-documented information. It may be a bit more difficult to find, but good decision making depends on it.

Healthy eating has become both a journey and a challenge for us since scientists became aware of the actual connection between food and health. I was privileged to spend my childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood with access to a variety of food in abundance. Some of it was healthy because I happened to love vegetables, but most of it wasn’t.

I never considered my health when as a seventeen-year-old, I rolled into Jack in the Box and routinely ordered French fries and a milkshake for lunch on my way to tutoring elementary school children. Since childhood, my favorite food was fried chicken. In fact, I convinced my grandmother to make it for me every day for a week that summer I spent absent my parents and siblings in Detroit as a homesick seven-year-old. For me, trips to the corner store for chips, candy, and soda pop was a daily occurrence. And I absolutely loved visiting my Aunt Ethel who could be counted on to serve us double sweet Kool Aide and Cokes on top of coffee loaded with several teaspoons of sugar and enough cream to change the color to a really light brown.

Eating was a pleasure. And enjoying skillfully made meals that included large doses of love, sugar, animal protein, animal fats, and animal products like cheese put a smile on my face. I grew up loving chitlins, pig’s feet, ox tails, fried chicken, steak, fried fish, bacon, sausage and vegetables cooked in animal fats. I loved macaroni and cheese and fried potatoes. When McDonald’s opened, I became a fan of hamburgers, especially the Big Mac and their French fries. Add cheese to just about anything and I was a happy camper. College introduced me to deep crust pizza, and it was then that I first encountered casseroles in the cafeteria. Desserts have always taken second place to potato chips for me. However, I was especially fond of cobblers, cakes, puddings, and pies. Although not my favorites, I didn’t say no to ice cream and cookies. On the flip side, I never cared much for eggs, pancakes, nor oatmeal. And I was allergic to coconut and boysenberries. This was how I grew up eating.

It should come as no surprise that all this bad eating eventually caught up to me in my thirties when I started to put on weight. I cut back on eating and exercised more and lost the weight. But then education and career changes required a lot more sitting, and the pounds gradually piled on, especially because I hadn’t changed my eating habits. By my mid-fifties I had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease and was pre-diabetic. My husband had his first bout of cancer in his colon. And that’s when we embarked our journey towards a sustainable healthy diet.

Doctors aren’t dieticians and finding a personal dietician isn’t easy. So, I started trying new things. There was Nutrisystem. Then there was eat less of everything, especially red meat. Then there was eliminating sugar and potato chips. Then there was eliminating everything white. Then there was the switch to low fats. Then there was the switch to low carbs. Then there was organic and moderation. Then there was Paleo that eliminated beans and night-shade vegetables. Then there was the cancer diet for my husband when he got lung cancer. Then there was intermittent fasting. And now we find ourselves on a plant-based diet. Some call it a vegan diet, but it’s doubtful that we will be fully vegan. I have nothing against honey and I’m finding that the inflexibility of veganism isn’t socially friendly.

Through it all, I’ve realized the very real connection between eating and good health. The majority of experts agree that vegetables, fruits, whole grains, seeds and nuts and beans are important for a healthy body. They all agree that our bodies need protein and calcium and other nutrients to function well. They simply disagree on the best sources. A month ago, after watching several nutritionists, doctors, and environmentalists, I decided a few things about how we were going to eat moving forward.

First, we realized that changing our diet once again won’t be too drastic as we have already made several changes over the past few years. We had already switched to almond milk and maple syrup. We already incorporated large quantities of organic fruits (especially berries) and green leafy vegetables (including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussel sprouts) into our diet, eliminated processed foods, switched to whole grains, switched to avocado and olive oils, and we consume a wide variety of beans and raw nuts daily. Second, a plant-based diet is good for the body and the planet. Third, I made an investment of time, mental effort, and money to try out transitional vegan foods such as plant-based meats, cheeses, and eggs. I stocked up on the vegan essentials like a variety of seeds, quinoa, nutritional yeast, Kombucha (for probiotics), and Tufo. And finally, I watched a lot of YouTube vegan cooking shows, and this week purchased my first vegan cookbook.

In the month since we switched to the plant-based diet, I have lost six pounds and I feel really good. I’ve eaten animal protein three times in small quantities, not because I craved it, but once because I wanted to experience the “best” Philly cheese steak while in Philadelphia and the other two times were to appease my husband who is determined not to dispose of the animal protein we currently have in our freezer. So, during the last two weeks, I consumed a small piece of fish and one chicken thigh. We’ve agreed to eat an animal protein from our freezer once a week until everything is gone and I’m okay with that.

I’ve made an appointment to see my doctor this coming week where I will discuss my new plant-based diet that accompanies the intermittent fasting he suggested. I’ll ask about getting new labs done, too, so we can monitor my progress and ensure I am getting all the nutrients my body requires, especially vitamin B-12.

Many people with health issues similar to mine have attested to the health benefits associated with a plant-based diet. They testify to reducing their cholesterol levels, lowering their blood pressure, and reversing type II diabetes. All I know is that what we were doing wasn’t working and so our journey towards healthy eating continues and I have high hopes that a plant-based diet is the solution.

While science has finally concluded that from a biological standpoint, black skin means nothing with regards to full membership in the human race, the social value attached to black skin remains problematic for black people. While we may finally understand intellectually that blackness does not determine inherent intelligence, creativity, talent, nor morality, the world continues to behave as though skin color is attached to all these things. As a result, black people like me, experience a confusing mixture of esteem for our contributions and disrespect for our person on a daily basis from a society that is itself confused, guilt-ridden, stubborn, and afraid of us. The same people who eagerly enjoy, consume and imitate our rhythms, artistry, and creativity ignore, debase, and ridicule us as inferior beings. We are a traumatized people. I am traumatized. We suffer from PTSD. I suffer from PTSD. And we die younger. The highly prevalent health issues like high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and cancer are connected to our trauma.

To survive in black skin continues to mean that daily stress levels will be higher, resilience must be higher, creativity to overcome hurdles must be higher, and a combination of street smarts and book smarts must be higher. The confirmation hearing of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson showed how we have to do more, take more, and be more to be allowed to occupy the same space as our white counterparts. And once we arrive, people continuously question our presence. Her story is the story of many black people (including me) since Affirmative Action opened doors that were previously closed to us despite our qualifications. White conservatives refuse to acknowledge that for most of U.S. history they closed the doors of opportunity to us. And now they choose to ignore how we had to struggle against all odds to gain the required qualifications to apply for college admission or a job position that was once closed to us. Affirmative Action wasn’t some “give-away” program for inferior black folks, but that’s what the conservatives want people to believe. They want to hide the historical legacy of black discrimination and claim a level playing field that never existed. The denial of past in present discrimination is an attitude that just further traumatizes black people.

What we saw in the horrifying Will Smith incident was the result of generational trauma. I believe that Chris Rock’s response was also born from that same place of trauma. Generations of black women have lived their lives undefended, disrespected, abused, and invisible. We go missing, die in childbirth, watch our sons murdered by police, and suffer abuse and no one comes to our rescue. At the same time, generations of black men have born the frustration of being unable to defend their black wives, mothers, and sisters against a society that denies both their worth and vulnerability as females. When Chris Rock made his insensitive joke, I think we witnessed the explosion of a black man finally feeling empowered enough to defend his wife. And I think Chris Rock knew it, too, and refused to allow the Los Angeles Police Department to arrest Will Smith. Although we understand and think that finally a black man is defending a black woman, nothing about that incident was acceptable except that Chris Rock didn’t escalate the incident by fighting back. I must admit that I wonder whether Will Smith would have had the same confidence to slap a white comedian.

And finally, the world got to witness first-hand how caring the powerful are when white hardship from war is on display. In this world, white people’s tears are more highly valued and deserving of media attention and actual care than the hardships of people of color in similarly dire situations. The coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is on CNN all day and night with every aspect of the Ukrainian sufferings being broadcasted as though no others in the world are also suffering the atrocities of war at this very moment. The opening of borders and homes, the outpouring of humanitarian aid, the financial donations, and even the willingness of people to travel there to help Ukraine fight is like nothing we have seen in the many other countries laid bare by war. War correspondents have said as much without realizing it that these are “Europeans” and that makes the suffering untenable.

As a country and as a world, we know in our heads that humans are the same whatever their skin color. The problem is that our hearts have yet to get the message and until we do, black skin will continue to be a problem for black people.