Credit: Roger Fountain
Meet the Black women who say survivalism is a necessity, not a trend
The big idea: We and our partners have been saying for months how important it is to protect your peace when you feel under siege from work responsibilities, life responsibilities and even your government. We’ve learned that one of the best ways to calm your nervous system when it’s going haywire is to anticipate the worst possible outcome and then make a plan for that scenario. Capital B spoke with some Black women who did just that and decided the best way for them to take care of themselves and their families involves homesteading.Meeting the moment: These women think the country is heading into uncertain times. They’re stacking food and water at home, growing food and installing surveillance and solar energy cells.The stakes: The tight-knit, but fast-growing community of Black women preppers, or survivalists, across the nation, intend to grow, forage or hunt what their families need, Rebekah Sager writes for Capital B. They also want to protect themselves.
In Trump’s first term, there was a 17% increase in hate crimes from 2018 to 2019. Experts say it could get worse in this second term. The women don’t like those odds, and are arming themselves to stay safe.
There was a long, rich history of us using guns to truly defend ourselves against racist violence,” said Larry Brown, chapter president of the Bass Reeves Gun Club, the founding chapter of the National African American Gun Association (NAAGA).
From the source: “I think this is a great time, unfortunately, for Black folks — Black women, in particular — to look at these institutions that have decided that they don’t have our backs and go, ‘What do we need?’ And how can we pool with the folks who are in our corner to get that? And, yeah, I think on some level, that does look like survivalism,” Kashana Cauley, author of the novel “The Survivalists,” told Capital B.
Credit: Documented/Lam Thuy Vo
This medical misinformation is thriving on YouTube
The big idea: Several Vietnamese people tell Documented that they were scammed to the tune of hundreds or, in some cases, thousands of dollars by ads for the supplements Joint Bonus and Sugar Care, which feature Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Duyên, well-known in the Vietnamese-American community as host of “Paris By Night,” a variety show known as the “bedrock of global Vietnamese culture.” The stakes: Immigrant communities often have limited access to health care due to lack of insurance or funds, Lam Thuy Vo writes for Documented. Some also say their race and accents affect how health care providers treat them or that language barriers make it difficult for them to understand the care they do receive. The fine print: It’s true that not all supplements targeting Vietnamese immigrants are scams — but it’s also true that a lot of scams are targeting immigrants and elders.What to do: Make sure your loved ones, especially elders, aren’t falling victim to this kind of misinformation. Provide them with safe, vetted resources for health knowledge. If you think they’re not able to distinguish between scams and real content, and you have access to their YouTube account, block offending content as much as you can.From the source: There are just a lot of scams out there and it’s hard to know what’s real,” Johnny Dang, 70, of Carlsbad, Calif., told Documented. “I no longer buy things online.” He said he’ll buy supplements from brick-and-mortar stores from now on.
Credit: Trenton Journal
N.J. governor seeks to boost women’s health care in his $58.1B budget
The big idea: N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy wants his state to be known for a commitment to protecting women’s reproductive rights, according to a piece in the Trenton Journal. Women’s reproductive issues would receive a significant allocation as part of his $58.1 billion spending plan. The fine print: Murphy’s plan includes a program to attract obstetrician-gynecologists and other health workers to the state, especially those where abortion was banned after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Meeting the moment: Murphy put forward a plan to reserve mifepristone, which can be used to end a pregnancy in combination with misoprostol. In the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion services have declined nationwide.From the source: The proposal won’t receive universal approval. Assemblywoman Nancy Muñoz, a Republican, questions whether all the parts of the plan can actually happen.“I commend them for attempting it, but I like to see how they make it happen based on two things: the salaries and also the medical malpractice,” she said.New Jersey OB-GYNs pay insurance premiums averaging $90,749, according to the American Medical Association.
Meet the Game Changers
Highlighting the innovators transforminghealth outcomes in our communities
The story: Epicenter NYC turns to seniors in Queens, N.Y., to share not only their memories of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also what they learned about the health, creativity, faith and dreams of themselves and others.At the center: Be impressed and inspired by the ways these seniors kept themselves whole and vibrant, whether it involved writing poetry, doing crafts with friends via Zoom, growing out their gray hair, pushing themselves to launch or grow businesses and more.Read more at Epicenter NYC.
Credit:
Epicenter NYC
/Ambar Castillo
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