Mental Health
Commentary by Chitown Kev
FLOTUS Michelle Obama gave an absolutely amazing speech last night at the Democratic National Convention in support of the Biden-Harris ticket as well as giving The Damn Fool a well-deserved torching.
And The Damn Fool didn’t appreciate it, if his Twitter feed and his public comments today are any indication.
I also feel that one other message of FLOTUS needs to be increasingly amplified as we get closer and closer to Election Day (the day when all of out energies need to be focused on making sure that The Damn Fool loses his job).
In the second episode of her new podcast, The Michelle Obama Podcast, Mrs. Obama acknowledged, in a conversation with Dr. Michelle Norris, that she has been some form of “low-grade depression.”
“There have been periods throughout this quarantine where I just have felt too low,” Mrs. Obama said, adding that her sleep was off. “You know, I’ve gone through those emotional highs and lows that I think everybody feels, where you just don’t feel yourself.”
“I know that I am dealing with some form of low-grade depression,” she added. “Not just because of the quarantine, but because of the racial strife, and just seeing this administration, watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting.”
I think that the big and bold national headlines about Mrs. Obama’s admission are yet another indication of how stigmatized even the discussion of mental illness and health remain in this country.
More importantly, I’ve long held the view that some depression and anxiety is actually a natural reaction for most of us to the goings-on in this country the past four years; a view that Mrs. Obama later confirmed in an Instagram post.
"The idea that what this country is going through shouldn’t have any effect on us—that we all should just feel OK all the time — that just doesn’t feel real to me," she continued. "So I hope you all are allowing yourselves to feel whatever it is you’re feeling. I hope you’re listening to yourselves and taking a moment to reflect on everything that’s coming at us, and what you might be able to do about it."
I distinctly remember that it was about two months after Trump’s inauguration that I began to see PSAs posted in Chicago el stations and on platforms asking for people to get help if they felt suicidal along with a number to a suicidal hotline; PSAs that quickly seemed to multiply.
A few months later, I myself went on a search to get into some therapy for that and other issues and had to be put on a waiting list; I was explicitly told that the reasons for the waiting list was related to The Occupant.
In addition to that: I would think that The Damn Fool’s supporters would be happier simply because he is The Occupier; their public dramas in a host of activities frequently indicate otherwise.
And now, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, America’s mental health continues to deteriorate, it seems.
“And when America catches a cold”...you know the rest.
Joseph P. Williams/U.S. News and World Report
In Cook County, Illinois, home to Chicago, officials say suicides in the Black community this year have been happening at an extreme pace, with men accounting for nearly 80% of victims. Meanwhile, snapshot government data collected last month indicates 4 in 10 Black Americans were struggling with anxiety or depression, while a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday showed that 15% of Black survey respondents in late June had seriously considered suicide in the past 30 days, compared with about 8% of whites.
A Congressional Black Caucus report released late last year also notes the suicide rate among Black youths nearly doubled from 2007 to 2017, and that Black children under 13 are twice as likely to die by suicide than their white peers.
Age-old disparities in mental health treatment, coupled with implicit bias among providers and die-hard myths among African Americans, had experts worried long before the shockwaves sent by the pandemic, job loss and images of Floyd begging for his life on a Minneapolis street. But the ongoing need for social distancing to prevent spreading the coronavirus – along with restrictions on important community spaces like barber shops, beauty parlors and churches – are making the crisis even worse.
"There's a public health term, 'syndemic,' that means the convergence of, essentially, multiple big-time stressors," says Nadine Kaslow, a professor of psychiatry in the Emory University School of Medicine. The term, she says, describes what the Black community is undergoing: a triple-whammy of disproportionate deaths from COVID-19, a Black unemployment rate of 14.6% in July and renewed but long-simmering anger and anxiety over police brutality after Floyd's death.
Yes, everything that’s going on is a lot to deal with.
And with the unavailability of important community-based outlets like barber shops and beauty salons and churches and with the (sometimes willful) inability of the mental health profession to understand and factor racism into mental health practice and treatment, effective mental health treatment for Blacks can be elusive; an elusiveness that can often be compounded by the particular ways in which mental health treatment is stigmatized in our communities.
Dr. Patrice Harris, a former president of the American Medical Association, recently participated in a forum with Dr. Althea Maybank and Professor Luz Garcia on the mental health issues facing communities of color in this era of COVID-19.
Transcript: Prioritizing Equity video series: Mental Health & COVID-19
Yes...voting that Damn Fool out of office on November 3 will ease some of the stressors on all of us, particularly those in Black and Brown communities.
But COVID-19 will still be here.
And the mental health issues that have plagued communities of color will still be here. In fact, those issues were here before The Occupier started occupying and before COVID-19 started spreading.
Black communities and other marginalized communities have already come through so much in this country. It will take a lot of hard work and it will take being there to support one another, but we can get through these times, as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEWS ROUND UP BY DOPPER0189, BLACK KOS MANAGING EDITOR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A federal review found that a public housing authority in Alabama let white people live in riverfront towers with scenic views and other amenities while segregating Black people in another apartment development without the frills, a newspaper reported.
A Housing and Urban Development study determined that 94% of the Decatur Housing Authority’s units in two towers with views of the Tennessee River are occupied by white people, while all the units in a housing project farther from the river are occupied by Black people, The Decatur Daily reported.
The developments provide subsidized homes for low-income elderly people. Minorities on the waiting list to get into the towers were passed over as units there were filled with white people, the report said.
Authority workers repeatedly explained the lack of Black residents in the waterfront buildings by saying elderly Black tenants don’t like high-rise buildings and prefer living in “garden-style units so they can sit on their porch and come and go as they please,‘” according to a letter from HUD.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Participants in the studies, carried out by researchers from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, perceived natural Black hairstyles as less professional, and the effect was particularly pronounced in industries where a more conservative appearance is common.
The research, which will be published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science next week, shows how societal biases perpetuate racial discrimination in the workplace, according to a press release.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Candice Matthews and Brian Brackeen ran into each other at the 2018 Black Tech Week in Miami, they were both at a pivotal moment in their lives. Two weeks earlier, Candice had finalized her divorce and was a year into her work as CEO of Cincinnati-based Hillman Accelerator. Brian was in the middle of exiting his $120-million-valuation artificial intelligence startup Kairos over disagreements about whether or not its technology should be provided to law enforcement.
The two had met before, but this time was different — they struck up an extended conversation and went out for dinner. Six weeks later, in January 2019, they were engaged. “We’re good at picking talent,” Brian says, laughing, about their whirlwind romance that led to his leaving Miami and moving to Ohio.
Their story is partly about two Black entrepreneurs who found love, but it’s also about the powerful effect of having spaces that cater to communities of color. In July, Candice and Brian, both 42, announced that their venture capital firm Lightship Capital was partnering with SecondMuse to create a $50 million fund to invest in underrepresented founders in the Midwest, from racial minorities to the LGBTQ and disabled communities. It instantly became the only fund dedicated to backing minorities in the Midwest, as well as the largest fund launch by a Black woman to date.
Brian Brackeen and Candice Matthews
SOURCE AARON M. CONWAY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Judge] Tranquilli has been on administrative leave since February, not long after he allegedly dubbed a Black juror who wore her hair in a wrap "Aunt Jemima." The judge is said to have used the racist moniker during a discussion on jury selection he initiated with lawyers after becoming "visibly affected" when the jury returned a "not guilty" verdict
He is also said to have remarked that he believed the juror had a "baby daddy" at home who he speculated was "probably slinging heroin," while he called a different juror a "knucklehead."
In another case :
At one point during the hearing, the judge allegedly "affected an accent and dialect described as 'Ebonics'" while speaking to the parents about communication.
"When I say communication, I don't mean 'and den da bitch done dis, and den da bitch done dat," Tranquilli said, according to the complaint.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In New York City, a man was charged after allegedly shouting through a loudspeaker in a police officer’s ear. In Miami, an activist was hit with a strong-arm robbery charge after being accused of stealing pro-Donald Trump flags. Perhaps the most egregious case is in Utah, where a group faces up to life in prison after allegedly throwing paint on a building.
“The only thing that’s in your mind is fear,” Alfaro said. “I saw I was facing up to 18 months in jail, thousands of dollars in fines. You don’t know what’s gonna happen. It’s a lot of confusion and a lot of fear.”
Four people who retweeted Alfaro were also charged. The Essex county prosecutor’s office dismissed the charges at the beginning of August – Alfaro only found out he was in the clear when a friend sent him a news article – but others have not been as lucky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The email from the Federal Protective Service commander in Philadelphia was stark and alarming: “Apparent anarchists are numerous and are attacking banks, public structure, and statues,” he wrote on May 30, under the subject line “Ongoing Violence toward Law Enforcement.” “They are discussing burning down the Federal Reserve.”
As the country erupted in protest after a Minneapolis police officer killed Geroge Floyd on May 25, the federal government scrambled to respond, dispatching a range of federal law enforcement agencies in a sweeping effort to police the demonstrations from coast to coast. In Portland, Oregon, and Washington, DC, those efforts drew widespread condemnation after videos showed authorities using tear gas against protesters and, in Portland, detaining them inside unmarked vans. Records obtained by BuzzFeed News through the Freedom of Information Act reveal that officers from at least one federal agency, the Federal Protective Service, a division within the Department of Homeland Security, arrived at protest scenes braced for combat.
The mission of the FPS is to “prevent, protect, respond to, and recover from terrorism, criminal acts and other hazards threatening” the US government and its infrastructure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Black August was started by incarcerated people in the 1970s after the death of George Jackson and August was chosen for its significance in many important dates in Black struggle. Color Lines: Black August: Marin County Courthouse Rebellion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seventeen-year-old Johnathan Jackson busted into the Marin County Courthouse with a gun on August 7, 1970, during his brother’s murder trial and held the presiding judge, Harold Haley, hostage. The desperate move was an attempt to force the release of George Jackson, a Black Panther Party activist and Johnathan’s older brother, from Soledad Prison.
On that day, Johnathan also freed three imprisoned people (William Christmas, James McClain, and Ruchell Magee) who helped Johnathan bring the judge, assistant district attorney, and three jurors to an awaiting van. As the van attempted to exit the lot, courthouse security shot up the moving vehicle, killing Johnathan Jackson, Christmas, and McClain as well as Judge Haley.
Activist Angela Davis was also charged and later acquitted of kidnapping and murder, accused of assisting in the rebellion at the courthouse, by the purchase of a gun from a pawn shop and her close affiliation with Johnathan and George Jackson.
The rebellion came months after increased racial violence on Black imprisoned folks within Soledad from both prison guards to white supremacist prison gangs.
Arms raised in the black power salute, Black Panthers bid farewell as the casket containing the body of Jonathan P. Jackson, 17, killed in a shoot-out outside Marin County Civic Center on August 7, 1970, is brought into St. Augustine's Episcopal Church for funeral services.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since 1990, the year Idriss Déby seized power, ousting his mentor Hissène Habré in a bloody war, Chad – a landlocked former French colony that separates the Sahara in the north from the savannah in the south – has consistently ranked at the bottom of the index, fluctuating between 160 and 187 (out of 189).
Yet Chad should be a stable and rich country. It sits atop reserves of some of the world’s most precious natural resources, including uranium and gold, and pumps about 130,000 barrels of crude oil a day, generating billions of dollars in annual revenues. But, not surprisingly, very little has trickled down to the population, who remain desperately poor.
In October, the Global Hunger Index listed Chad as experiencing “alarming” levels of hunger. This heartbreaking level of poverty and 68-year-old Déby’s misrule are not coincidental. It’s part of a pattern causing devastation across the continent.
True, the autocrat organises regular multi-party elections, but no election has ever produced reform or a change in power. Déby rules, and controls access to – and revenues from – oil, with absolute power. He is in effect “president for life” and does not tolerate any challenge from the public, opposition parties or civil society groups. In fact, during his 30-year reign every state institution – the courts, the media, the opposition, civil society – has been destroyed; an old-style way to keep himself in power.
The country’s oil money – 80% of which was earmarked for agriculture, health, education and infrastructure – seems to have been diverted to almost anything but to lift Chadian people out of poverty. Déby’s government has not only squandered hundreds of millions of petrodollars, leaving Chadians with only debts and broken institutions, but also indulged in vast spending – and even borrowing – to equip his security forces with the latest weapons to repress citizens, opponents and campaigners demanding food and reforms.
Google Maps
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Voices and Soul
“… My father’s eyes are
bolls of cotton.
He sits upon the landlord’s
operating table,
the needle of the nation
sucking his soul… “
-- Henry Dumas
“The Zebra Goes Wild Where the Sidewalk Ends”
by Justice Putnam, Black Kos Poetry Editor
Race in America can sometimes be explained by the illusion of negative and positive space in art, where figure-ground reversal will show a vase in the positive space and the silhouetted profile of two faces in the negative. The Danish psychologist, Edgar Rubin, used this and many other examples to...
... state as a fundamental principle: When two fields have a common border, and one is seen as figure and the other as ground, the immediate perceptual experience is characterized by a shaping effect which emerges from the common border of the fields and which operates only on one field or operates more strongly on one than on the other.
Arguments abound in the QAnon fever swamps whether Race is an issue when it is really just a class struggle, sort of like seeing only the figure, or only the ground. A countervailing argument is that the sheer numbers of incarcerated people of color as opposed to population averages as example that Race is and will continue to be an issue, that would be perceiving the ground and the figure shifting back and forth.
In 1968, the short-fiction writer and poet, Henry Dumas, was shot and killed at the age of thirty-three by a white New York transit officer, in what was explained as a case of mistaken identity. Maybe not so mistaken, though, when the face in the negative space is black.
The Zebra Goes Wild Where the Sidewalk Ends
I
Neon stripes tighten my wall
where my crayon landlord hangs
from a bent nail.
My black father sits crooked
in the kitchen
drunk on Jesus’ blood turned
to cheap wine.
In his tremor he curses
the landlord who grins
from inside the rent book.
My father’s eyes are
bolls of cotton.
He sits upon the landlord’s
operating table,
the needle of the nation
sucking his soul.
II
Chains of light race over
my stricken city.
Glittering web spun by
the white widow spider.
I see this wild arena
where we are harnessed
by alien electric shadows.
Even when the sun washes
the debris
I will recall my landlord
hanging in my room
and my father moaning in
Jesus’ tomb.
In America all zebras
are in the zoo.
I hear the piston bark
and ibm spark:
let us program rabies.
the madness is foaming now.
No wild zebras roam the American plain.
The mad dogs are running.
The African zebra is gone into the dust.
I see the shadow thieves coming
and my father on the specimen table.
-- Henry Dumas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE TUESDAY’S PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
