ERACISM MINUTE 4/26/2020 Claire Lending

Eracism Minute of April 26, 2020

I am Claire Lending. I participated in Beloved Conversations last year and I am here to present the Eracism minute.

As bad as the medical situation currently is for African Americans in this age of Covid-19, it is vastly better than it would have been if not for a heroic doctor, Dr. Montague Cobb. I first heard of Dr. Cobb when listening to the 1619 project podcast “Bad Blood”.

Hospitals were all segregated in 1947 when Truman gave his “State of the Union” address saying health care was the most pressing problem in America and proposed National Health Insurance-- the first proposal for universal healthcare.  At first it was widely supported. However, the all-white American Medical Association lobbied against the act as they were afraid it would hurt their profits. AMA’s ad campaigns said “Keep Politics out of Medicine” and called Truman a communist. Truman’s initiative failed. 

In the early 1960’s Kennedy and then Johnson tried to pass Medicare. This is where Dr. Cobb used his influence.

Dr. Cobb earned his medical degree at Howard University then earned a Phd in Physical Anthropology at Case Western Reserve University in 1932. He taught approximately 6000 medical and dental students over his 37-year career at Howard University. Dr. Cobb’s research showed the
impact of racism on the health of African Americans.  He believed in applying his research findings to social activism. 

Dr. Cobb became the president of the National Medical Association; this organization was formed as the American Medical Association would not admit black doctors. In 1963, the National Medical Association under the leadership of Dr. Cobb testified in Congress and lobbied for Medicare (while the AMA opposed it). Dr. Cobb viewed Medicare as a way to fund healthcare and desegregate hospitals. The segregation of hospitals had caused vastly inferior health care for African Americans. 

In July 1964, the Civil Rights Act passed making “separate but equal” hospitals illegal. Many white hospitals ignored the law. However, once Medicare passed a year later, only desegregated hospitals could reap the Medicare money so within three months all hospitals were desegregated. 

Dr. Cobb’s vision and efforts to establish a more equitable healthcare system have helped not only African Americans but those of all races to access healthcare.  Medicare might not have become law without the strong support of a group of physicians led by Dr. Cobb.

ERACISM MINUTE 4/19/2020 David Curley

I am David Curley, from the BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team.

Today I want to use the wisdom of Chicago’s new black, feminist Mayor, Lori Lightfoot.

And I want to say why the Beloved Community is not Color Blind.

With Mayor Lightfoot’s leadership Chicago has begun to report Covid-19 deaths by race and ethnicity.

She said, “The results are “a call to action for all of us.”

With a third of Chicago’s population, black Americans have suffered 72% of the city’s Covid-19 fatalities. Latinex populations show similar disparites.

So far, color blind responses to Covid-19 have made existing health inequities fatal for minority communities in Chicago.

Mayor Lightfoot now is organizing the city to provide more resources to minority communities—better information about the disease, more testing, and earlier diagnosis and treatment.

We can take home a lesson for us in Washington State. As yet no government agency in our state is even reporting Covid-19 fatalities by race or ethnicity.

Minutes: April 6, 2020

Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team

Minutes of Meeting - April 6, 2020

 The meeting convened at 6 pm on Zoom. Present: Amoret Heise, Henry Ohana, Lauralee Carbone, David Curley, Mary Alden and Cat McIntyre

Agenda:

1.    Eracism minutes

2.    April 13 and May 11 programs

3.    8th Principle and SEJC

4.    Beloved Conversations

 1.  Eracism minutes. 

·     April 12          Easter - Paul requested no Eracism minute

·     April 19          David Curley

·     April 26          Claire Lending (Henry will request)

·     May 3             Mary Alden

 The services are now broadcast via Zoom. If you will be giving the Eracism minute, be sure to contact Rev. Paul by Wednesday, because there will likely be a rehearsal that you will have to attend. Last Saturday, I was at the rehearsal for about an hour.

2. April 13 and May 11 programs.These meetings will be on Zoom. David will host the 4/13 meeting on Part 2 of Episode 5 of 1619 project. Cat will get the meeting into MWU. Cat asked Mary to give the 5/11 meeting recounting her recent experience in South Africa. Some suggestions for her presentation included: how the white church she attended handled integration of black South Africans; music; how South African black persons differ from U.S. black persons.

3.  Eighth Principle & SEJC.  Cat and Deb Cruz presented the current draft of the 8th Principal resolution to the April 5 meeting of SEJC. Lauralee praised the committee who wrote the final draft (Deb Cruz, David Curley and Michael Betz). Everyone wanted a copy; Cat sent the latest draft out to the SEJC mailing list and asked for their comments.

Mary Alden reported that Karen Nuckles-Flinn shared the draft 8th Principle draft with the Healthy Relationships Team. Mary has previous experience and materials that she used  with Deb Cruz on resolutions for the congregation; she will work with Karen on future congregational meetings Cat will send Mary the current draft. She also asked to participate in the next 8th principle meeting on April 16 at 1 pm via Zoom.

Deb Cruz wrote a letter/script to accompany requests to the community groups for review and comments on the 8th principle draft. Henry has already contacted Whatcom Peace and Justice representative.  Cat notified the congregation about the 8th principle effort during the Eracism minute at the April 5 BUF Sunday service; and Lauralee posted a link to the BLUU 8th principle resolved on Zoom during the service.

Beloved Conversations. We now have a summary of the costs of the first Beloved Conversations program.  Cat did not ask SEJC for money.

Expenses of Beloved Conversations I:  

Contract with FAHS collaborative	$2,200.00
Retreat supplies	108.50
Retreat dinner	131.00
Retreat, food and kitchen help	193.53
Easels, markers, etc.	109.64
Retreat facilitator hotel/mileage	331.29
Total	$3,073.96

Next meeting: May 4, 2020, via Zoom.

Respectfully submitted

Cat McIntyre, co-facilitator

BUF Black Lives Matter Ministry Action Team