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San Francisco to Provide $1,000 Per Month to Expecting Black and Pacific Islander Moms to Combat Infant Mortality

San Francisco to Provide $1,000 Per Month to Expecting Black and Pacific Islander Moms to Combat Infant Mortality

By goodblacknews on September 16, 2020

San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed, in partnership with Expecting Justice, announced this week the  launch of the Abundant Birth Project, a pilot program that provides targeted basic income to women during pregnancy and after giving birth.

The pilot will provide an unconditional monthly income supplement of $1,000 to approximately 150 Black and Pacific Islander women in San Francisco for the duration of their pregnancy and for the first six months of their baby’s life, with a goal of eventually providing a supplement for up to two years post-pregnancy.

Expecting Justice, a collective impact initiative led by Dr. Zea Malawa at the San Francisco Department of Public Health and supported by the Hellman Foundation and the UCSF California Preterm Birth Initiative, will study the resulting health impacts of the pilot program, which is the first of its kind in the United States.

The Abundant Birth Project is a simple, yet novel, approach to achieving better maternal health and birthing outcomes: provide pregnant Black and Pacific Islander women a monthly income supplement for the duration of their pregnancy and during the postpartum period as an economic and reproductive health intervention.

Prematurity is a leading cause of infant mortality and has been linked to lifelong conditions, such as behavioral development issues, learning difficulties, and chronic disease. In San Francisco, Black infants are almost twice as likely to be born prematurely compared with White infants (13.8% versus 7.3%, from 2012-2016) and Pacific Islander infants have the second-highest preterm birth rate (10.4%).

Furthermore, Black families account for half of the maternal deaths and over 15% of infant deaths, despite representing only 4% of all births. Pacific Islander families face similar disparities.

Dr. Namandjé Bumpus Becomes 1st Black Woman Department Chair at Johns Hopkins Medical School

Dr. Namandjé Bumpus Becomes 1st Black Woman Department Chair at Johns Hopkins Medical School

By goodblacknews on September 3, 2020

[Dr. Namandjé Bumpus (photo via Johns Hopkins University)]

According to jbhe.com, Dr. Namandjé Bumpus was appointed chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD.

Dr. Bumpus is the first African-American woman to chair an academic department at the highly-rated medical school and the only Black woman currently chairing a pharmacology department at any medical school in the nation, according to Johns Hopkins.

Africa Eradicates the Wild Polio Virus From its Continent, After Decades of Work

Africa Eradicates the Wild Polio Virus From its Continent, After Decades of Work

By goodblacknews on August 26, 2020

According to the goodnewsnetwork.com, The World Health Organization (WHO) is happily sharing the news that the African continent is finally free of the wild poliovirus, 24 years after former South Africa President Nelson Mandela helped Rotary International launch its Kick Polio Out of Africa campaign.

To quote the article:

“Today is a historic day for Africa, which has successfully met the certification criteria for wild polio eradication, with no cases reported in the region for four years,” said Professor Rose Gana Fomban Leke, who heads The African Regional Certification Commission for Polio eradication (ARCC).

The success comes after an exhaustive, decades-long process of documentation and analysis of polio surveillance and immunization of the region’s 47 member states, which included conducting field verification visits to each country.

n 1996, African leaders of every country committed to eradicate polio, at a time when the virus was paralyzing an estimated 75,000 children annually. While there is no cure for polio, the disease can be prevented through the administration of a simple and effective vaccine.

Mandela’s call that year mobilized African nations across the continent to step up their efforts to reach every child with the polio vaccine—and the last case of wild poliovirus was detected and defeated in 2016 in Nigeria.

Officials at WHO say the polio eradication efforts have prevented up to 1.8 million children from crippling life-long paralysis and saved approximately 180,000 lives.

“This is a momentous milestone for Africa. Now future generations of African children can live free of wild polio,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “This historic achievement was only possible thanks to the leadership and commitment of governments, communities, global polio eradication partners and philanthropists. I pay special tribute to the frontline health workers and vaccinators, some of whom lost their lives, for this noble cause.”

“Africa has demonstrated that despite weak health systems, significant logistical and operational challenges across the continent, African countries have collaborated very effectively in eradicating wild poliovirus,” said Dr Pascal Mkanda, Coordinator of WHO Polio Eradication in the African Region.

Tuesday’s announcement marks only the second eradication of a virus from Africa since smallpox was eliminated 40 years ago.

To read more: https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/africa-finally-eradicates-wild-poliovirus/

Black People Let’s Stop Just Surviving – It’s Time To Thrive! 8-Minute Power Shot with Dena (WATCH)

Black People Let’s Stop Just Surviving – It’s Time To Thrive! 8-Minute Power Shot with Dena (WATCH)

By goodblacknews on August 6, 2020

Over the past few months, TEDx speaker, performance coach and GBN’s “This Way Forward” contributor Dena Crowder has offered “Power Shot” guides on Mental Health and Well-Being, Transforming Trauma, Tapping into our Own Power to Affect Meaningful Change, Divining our Worth and Transforming the Internalized Face of Power.

This week, Dena offers an eight-minute Power Shot to help Black people move beyond the survival skills we’ve necessarily developed and employed to stay alive over the centuries into ones that allow us to live fully and thrive — on our own terms. Watch:

Billionaire Robert F. Smith Partners with Prostate Cancer Foundation to Address Racial Disparities and Reduce Deaths from Disease

Billionaire Robert F. Smith Partners with Prostate Cancer Foundation to Address Racial Disparities and Reduce Deaths from Disease

By goodblacknews on July 27, 2020

Robert F. Smith, founder, chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners and The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) have announced a new effort to reduce deaths from prostate cancer, one of the largest health disparities facing African-American men today.

Prostate cancer affects more than three million men in the U.S., with one in nine men diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. African-American men are disproportionately impacted, 76 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer than Caucasian men.

African-American men additionally are more than twice as likely to die from the disease compared to men of other ethnicities. Earlier, strategic detection is a key step in finding a cure and ending the health disparity faced by men of African descent.

The research Smith is supporting is intended for development of the Smith Polygenic Risk Test for Prostate Cancer, a non-invasive, early detection test that will identify a man’s lifetime prostate cancer risk using a combination of more than 250 genetic variants obtained from a single sample of saliva or blood.

The Smith Test is expected to cost less than $90 USD and will be made available in PCF’s dedicated Veterans Affairs (VA) network of Centers of Excellence, including the Robert Frederick Smith Center of Precision Oncology Excellence at the VA Chicago.

The test is part of a larger PCF research initiative to improve the understanding of genetic risk in African-American men and transform early detection and imaging strategies, risk management, and clinical-decision making by men at highest lifetime risk of prostate cancer.

RELATED: Billionaire Robert F. Smith Launches Student Freedom Initiative to Ease Student Debt at Historically Black Colleges

The research, led by Dr. Chris Haiman, ScD, a genetic epidemiologist at the University of Southern California, and international colleagues is aimed at accelerating the reduction of prostate cancer disparities for African American men by 2030.

“As African-American men are at an increased risk for being diagnosed or dying from prostate cancer, understanding their risk profile and applying this knowledge earlier with strategic detection, care, and decisions about cancer risk management is of utmost importance to address health inequity in the U.S.,” said Smith.

“This is why I made a personal commitment to help accelerate research, encourage African American men to participate in the study and subsequent testing, and develop new detection strategies that have the power to transform how we diagnose and treat this disease and help save lives.”

Most genomic studies of prostate cancer have focused on men of European ancestry, and there is a vital need for additional resources to develop and optimize a polygenic risk score in those disproportionately affected.

This new Smith-PCF initiative will increase the representation of African American men in the study and vastly expand the research to allow Dr. Haiman to quadruple the size of his study cohort, a key step to providing worldwide access to the Smith Polygenic Risk Test as soon as possible.

About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has raised more than $830 million in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 220 leading cancer centers in 22 countries around the world. Thanks in part to PCF’s commitment to ending death and suffering from prostate cancer, the death rate is down by 52% and countless more men are alive today as a result. The Prostate Cancer Foundation research now impacts more than 70 forms of human cancer by focusing on immunotherapy, the microbiome, and food as medicine. Learn more at www.pcf.org.

Teens in Chicago Work to Turn Liquor Store Into a Pop-Up Fresh Food Market

Teens in Chicago Work to Turn Liquor Store Into a Pop-Up Fresh Food Market

By goodblacknews on July 15, 2020

A liquor store in Austin on the West Side of Chicago is being transformed into a pop-up food market after local teens were given the chance to come up with solutions to their neighborhood’s challenges.

According to Block Club Chicago, much of Austin is considered to be a food desert. The pop-up market will be opened on a street where there are 12 liquor stores nearby but only two markets where people can buy fresh food.

To quote blockclubchicago.org:

The youth-led project got its start when By the Hand Club for Kids held listening circles after the George Floyd protests against police violence. Young people got to voice their feelings around the inequity that led to the lack of resources in their neighborhoods. They said they were frustrated the few grocery stores in the area had to shut their doors temporarily after being looted.

“What I heard coming out of that was that students wanted to take all those raw and powerful emotions and turn them into something good and do something from a social justice standpoint,” said Donnita Travis, executive director of the group.

When presented with the chance to transform one of the looted stores into a resource for the community, “the kids took the idea and ran with it,” Travis said.

The project was also joined by local athletes, including the NFL’s Sam Acho, who wanted to help realize the young people’s vision for their neighborhood.

“People care. It’s a time for people to show up. I think our world has changed,” Acho said. “So for us to be able to come together and say we’re going to lead that change, it means something.”

Acho and the other athletes raised $500,000 to tear down the liquor store at 423 N. Laramie Ave. and turn the spot into a neighborhood food resource.

Some of the pro athletes contributing to the cause included Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky, White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito, Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward and St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.

The partners on the project held a pilot pop-up market at the liquor store to give the kids a chance to show the community what their vision is.

The young people were joined by Chicago athletes, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) and Mayor Lori Lightfoot, all of them armed with sledgehammers as they kicked off the process of tearing down the building.

The new fresh food market will begin running full-time in August.

Read more: blockclubchicago.org

Subscribe to Block Club Chicago. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods.

TEDx Speaker Dena Crowder Offers 5-Minute Guide on Transforming the Internalized Face of Power (WATCH)

TEDx Speaker Dena Crowder Offers 5-Minute Guide on Transforming the Internalized Face of Power (WATCH)

By goodblacknews on July 14, 2020

When you envision a “boss,” who does that boss look like to you? Yourself? Your actual boss? Beyoncé? Deep down, who do you consider to be a successful “authority figure,” and why?

Is it possible who you say that figure is may not jibe with who you subconsciously have been conditioned to see in that role? If so, how does that effect how you navigate your life?

TEDx speaker, performance coach and GBN’s “This Way Forward” contributor Dena Crowder offers a five-minute “Power Shot” to aid and guide us on discovering the hidden views we may hold regardless of age, race or gender about who a “successful authority” looks like, and how to transform those views into ones that feed, not fetter, our inner power. Watch:

Medical Student Malone Mukwende Creates Booklet to Teach Doctors How to Spot Symptoms of Illness on Dark Skin

Medical Student Malone Mukwende Creates Booklet to Teach Doctors How to Spot Symptoms of Illness on Dark Skin

By goodblacknews on July 12, 2020

Malone Mukwende, a second-year medical student at St. George’s, University of London, was motivated to create “Mind the Gap” after he noticed a lack of diversity in his learning materials.

So Mukwende created a handbook to teach physicians how physical symptoms appear on differing skin tones.

To quote from Atlanta Black Star:

“On arrival at medical school I noticed the lack of teaching in darker skin. We were often being taught to look for symptoms such as red rashes which I was aware would not appear as described in my own skin,” he told BME Medics. “When flagging this to tutors it was clear that they didn’t know of any other way to describe these conditions on patients of darker skin tones and I knew that I had to make a change to that.”

Mukwende’s school backed the project and he joined forces with Margot Turner, a lecturer in diversity and medical education and Peter Tamony, clinical lecturer in clinical skills to complete it. The team will use the booklet to host trainings for medical tutors this month.

“The booklet addresses many issues that have been further exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic, such as families being asked if potential Covid patients are ‘pale’ or if their lips ‘turned blue,’” he said in a statement.

“These are not useful descriptors for a Black patient and, as a result, their care is compromised from the first point of contact,” Mukwende added. “It is essential we begin to educate others so they are aware of such differences and the power of the clinical language we currently use.”

Read more: https://atlantablackstar.com/2020/07/09/medical-student-creates-booklet-to-teach-doctors-how-to-catch-symptoms-of-illness-on-dark-skin-i-noticed-the-lack-of-teaching-in-darker-skin/

TEDx Speaker Dena Crowder Offers 5-Minute Guide on Divining Your Own Worth (WATCH)

TEDx Speaker Dena Crowder Offers 5-Minute Guide on Divining Your Own Worth (WATCH)

By goodblacknews on June 28, 2020

For centuries, enslaved Africans were brought to America and had their worth literally determined in dollars and cents on an auction block.

This legacy of being bartered, traded, valued and devalued systemically and arbitrarily has been intrinsic to the African-American experience – a legacy that persists in many ways and is in serious need of transformation.

TEDx speaker, performance coach and GBN’s “This Way Forward” contributor Dena Crowder  today offers a five-minute“Power Shot” to aid and guide us on divining and defining our own worth. Watch:

Tedx Speaker Dena Crowder Offers 5-Minute Guide on Tapping into Your Own Power to Affect Meaningful Change (WATCH)

Tedx Speaker Dena Crowder Offers 5-Minute Guide on Tapping into Your Own Power to Affect Meaningful Change (WATCH)

By goodblacknews on June 6, 2020

In 1971, Wadsworth A. Jarrell painted “Revolutionary (Angela Davis),” tapping into his own power and skills as an artist to amplify the message and mission of the Black Power and Civil Rights movements by dynamically depicting political activist and leader Angela Davis.

Also in 1971, Gil Scott-Heron famously recorded “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” using his power and skills as a musician to passionately address, fortify and amplify the very same movements.

The last line in the song presciently lays out a deeper truth – “The Revolution Will Be Live” – because for any moment to turn into a lasting movement that culminates in systemic change, we all have to “be live.” To harness, hone and offer on our own unique power and skills to the greater mission.

Last week Tedx speaker, performance coach and GBN’s “This Way Forward”contributor Dena Crowder offered a six-minute “Power Shot” with guiding words and an exercise to help release and transform trauma into energy to fuel us forward.

Today, Dena (pictured above with Jarell’s painting) offers a five-minute “Power Shot” to help focus on tapping into and staying connected to our own inner power and skills and using them to guide our actions as we navigate the political and societal sea change ahead of us. Watch:

Like that? You can also check out Dena’s three-minute video designed to help maintain our mental health and wellness.