African American Women and HIV/AIDS

It's hard to believe that African American women make up 60% of all women living with AIDS. How is that possible? Is it because, as many think, some African American males are living on the 'down-low' as bi-sexual, infecting their wives and girl friends as a result? Is it promiscuity among African American women who have sex with multiple partners and 'feel they don't have a choice' to practice safe sex and don't? Is it injecting heroin and drug abuse? Some would argue the large number of African American men incarcerated in our prisons and the homosexuality practiced within contribute as well when they are paroled. Still other site the continued disparity in health care for people of color. Then there's the black church whose leaders fail to have an open, honest dialogue with their parishioners about HIV/AIDS.We need to inform and educate, to fight for state and federal funds to set up counseling programs in schools and community centers. Left alone AIDS/HIV will continue to run rampant in our community.

"Good Hair"

In his film, "Good Hair," Chris Rock points out that African American women spend over $9 billion annually on their hair. That's a lot of money. How much do they spend on their health care issues by comparison? Experts agree that over 50% of all African American women can be considered obese, that's up considerably since 2001. African American women are more likely to die from heart disease, twice as likely to have diabetes and are more likely to die from breast cancer. "With any luck, "Good Hair" will no only keep the dialogue going but also cause a cultural paradigm shift to healthy hair, healthy hearts, healthy attitudes and a healthy life."

An All too Familiar Story

Sarah Kruzan grew up in Riverside, California. She was often abused by her drug-addicted mother with whom she lived. In spite of that Sarah was determined to excel and did so. She consistently made the honor roll, ran track and even won a Young Author's Award for writing a book on the effects of drugs. But her mother's addiction continued and the abuse she handed out as a result became too much for Sarah to bear. So she ran away from home one day. As is so often the case with young women who find themselves on the streets, and homeless, it wasn't long before she met a 31-year-old man, G.G., who 'befriended' her and became the father figure Sarah and many of her young friends never knew.

G.G. was skillful. He took Sarah and her friends to the movies, bought them clothes on shopping sprees, went skating with them and basically endeared himself to Sarah and her friends. Naturally Sarah became dependent upon him and soon there wasn't anything she wouldn't do for him. Sarah, like so many young ladies in comparable situations, didn't have a 'father' figure around to help them, someone to help nurture their dreams and provide shelter and comfort and advice. So G.G. filled that void nicely, just as the best of pimps do so well. It wasn't long before he raped her, and convinced her to sell herself to men on his behalf. It was his just reward for taking her in and providing for her and Sarah 'agreed.' She began a life of prostitution and 'fell in love' with G.G. Sarah didn't even have a chance.

Today, Sarah Kruzan is 29 years-old and serving a life sentence for having murdered the man who 'turned her out' at the tender age of 13. I'm not sure of the events that most immediately caused her to kill G.G., but certainly after long and continued physical and mental abuse by him, she felt she had no other way out. And while premeditated murder is never right we must learn to understand the root causes that lead to such tragic situations. Sara is smart, articulate and remorseful for having taken a life. Listen to her talk in the video that accompanies the story. The judge could have sentenced her as a juvenile but he didn't. I would argue that at some point Sarah should be released so she can live a productive life and help other young women avoid making the same mistakes that she made. And there are many, many young women like Sarah who are victimized by an older, savvy, manipulative pimps who have no other recourse. In many ways, society is the real culprit.

Unemployment

It's hard to believe that more than 15 million people are unemployed in the U.S. That number doesn't even begin to take into consideration those who long-ago stopped looking for work or those who are the unemployable. The number would be significantly higher otherwise and indeed frightening by comparison. High-school dropouts have very little hope of finding work. Recent college graduates are hard pressed to find employment even when they have graduated from some of the best Universities in the country. While the economy slowly recovers the less educated, the most recent college graduates and the middle class are suffering most. There are those who would argue that 'creative capitalism' is what's needed most to help stimulate the economy. They argue that the government should employ many more people as an alternative to simply providing handouts in the form of unemployment benefits and food stamps. Being able to work again for those presently unable to find a job would help bring a 'renewed self-worth' to them. That would be critically important at a time when many people see only despair and not hope. Something must be done and quickly so.

The Buffalo Soldiers

Several of my deceased uncles fought with the Buffalo soldiers during World War II. At a recent annual reunion of the black soldiers who comprised that 92d Infantry Division, they reminisced about those times long-ago when they fought side by side against the enemy. Of course there are fewer living buffalo soldiers these days. They fought with pride, dignity and excellence in segregated units to maintain freedom for all Americans even though they didn't have freedom themselves. My Uncle, Eugene Gailliard, lost an eye during the war. Uncle Ted and Uncle Alvin fought bravely as well. These were men who fought hard and greatly distinguished themselves during the war. Many of them died. 'A soldier was a soldier,' they would tell me long ago when I was a child. 'We fought the enemy just like everyone else.' When white troops wouldn't let blacks play bridge with them, the black soldiers created a game they called bid whist instead. One of the former soldiers at the reunion became a bit emotional, wondering if anyone will remember them and their sacrifices when they are all dead. Their contributions are too important for the world to forget them. No, I believe they will live one forever as their stories are passed down through generations to come. We should dedicate ourselves to that memory and make sure that is the case.

Education Results in Michigan

In a recently released study statistics sadly show that students in Michigan of all races are falling farther and farther behind their peers in other states. In fact the math achievement scores of Michigan's African American students are now the worst in the country, trailing even Alabama and the District of Columbia. That's a sad commentary on a state that long prided itself in providing excellent education for students of all races, from grammar school through college. What happened? And why is that Alabama and the District of Columbia, two other 'state's with large African American populations are also doing poorly. Where are the teachers and what are they doing? Where are the administrators? The government officials? Don't they care? How can we not at least adequately prepare a whole generation of students to be competitive in this new, global world of ours? The sad truth is that they won't be able to do so. How can parents fail to hold the schools and their administrators accountable? Because of the demise of the automobile industry Michigan currently leads the nation in unemployment. Unless significant changes are demanded and immediately so, it is likely that this story will only become worse over the coming years. Shame on all of us if we allow that to happen.

To Pat Buchanan

Pat Buchanan needs a primer on racism and colonialism. He needs to understand the impact those policies had and continue to have on the lives of people who were excluded from full participation in this country through the Jim Crow laws of segregation. And let us not forget that much of the world was oppressed by colonialism and then neo-colonialism. "Was white racism really responsible for those black men looting auto dealerships and liquor stores, and burning down their own communities, as Otto Kerner said -- that liberal icon until the feds put him away for bribery?" Of course racism was at the heart of most of that, Pat. Read Franz Fanon's "Wretched of the Earth" and then tell me who is to blame for many of the inequities in our country and indeed the world. Fanon, a noted Dr. of Psychiatry, is still considered to be the Father of the Algerian revolution against France. His book will help you understand why there is so much black on black crime as well. It is important to know your history. Not to dwell on it, but rather to learn from it and understand how it impacts our lives today. But I agree that people of color can't stand idly by expecting someone to do our work for us. No. We can't continue to make excuses. Instead, we must inspire,help educate, be entrepreneurs and become more responsible and demanding parents. And we must reach across and bridge the racial and economic divide and encourage others of all persuasions to do the same. We must take our own destiny into our own hands and continue to be agents of change. Someone once said during the Civil Rights struggles of the 50's and 60's, "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." Out of those demands came the freedom we have today, but also the continued struggles.

Immigration Changing the African American Landscape

Are you African American? Afro Latina? A true African American, Caribbean American, Haitian American? The immigration story is changing the African American landscape.
A good, short trailer. Creating businesses to service this diversity of ours represents an excellent business opportunity as well.

Health Care Debate

At a time when Congress continues to debate universal Healthcare coverage it's important to remember that there are well over 46 million Americans with no health insurance. That's a frightening number of people whose lack of access to health care makes it impossible for them to maintain a healthy, basic quality of life. Ultimately that lack of preventive medicine places an undue and costly burden on taxpayers. And of course Hispanic and African Americans comprise a disproportionate share of those uninsured. There has to be a better way. Congress must find a way to have health care in America that provides coverage of everyone.

"Can You Dig It? Black in vogue"

African American films of the late 60's and early 70's are often called 'Blaxploitation' films. That's because many people feel the films exploited black people by perpetuating the stereotypes depicted through male characters like John Shaft, Black Caesar and Nigger Charley; and women with names like Cleopatra or Coffy or Foxy Brown. People felt the movies glorified the role of pimps and prostitutes and gangsters. But there are those who would disagree. Stuart Baker's 'Can You Dig It?' argues that the term "blaxploitation is unfair. "Roundtree's John Shaft was groundbreaking," Baker said. "He was a James Bond strong man but this was a new representation of a black man in American cinema; he was single-minded and sexually uninhibited and could speak to both black and white people without feeling he had to doff his cap." Baker goes on to say that "the role of Nigger Charley, a character based in the Deep South of the 1850's manages to bring to the big screen all the bigotry and inhumanity of slavery in Americas history in a hip, knowing, entertain and funny manner." Undoubtedly this debate will continue forever.