March 24, 2021
Page 9
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O PINION
photo by M ark W ashington /p ortland o bserver
Jamie Turner works the kitchen as the owner and operator
of Ja’Das Soulful Eatz, expanding her catering and food cart
business into a new family soul food restaurant next door to the
Miracles Cub at 4200 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
c ontinued froM p age 7
Strong Majority Want a COVID Vaccine
Challenge is
misinformation
and lack of trust
M arc h. M orial
A strong majority of Black and
Americans are confident in the
safety of the COVID-19 vaccine
and are ready to take it, according
to a new poll commissioned by the
National Urban League and The
Alliance of National Psycholog-
ical Associations for Racial and
Ethnic Equity.
These findings run counter to a
“blame-the-victim” media narra-
tive that pins the appalling racial
disparity in vaccination rates on
Black hesitancy to take the vac-
cine.
Only 14 percent of Black Amer-
icans polled said they “definitely”
would not get the vaccine, and
15 percent said they “probably”
would not. Yet the Black share of
the vaccinated population is lower
than the Black general population
in every state that has reported de-
mographic data. According to an
analysis by The New York Times,
the Black vaccination rate is half
the white rate.
Access, not hesitancy, is the
reason for this disparity, as U.S.
Rep. Karen Bass, psychologist
and professor Cheryl Grills and I
discussed in an op-ed published
by
this month in
the Washington
Post.
Among those
who are hesitant,
however, infor-
mation is key:
Overall,
more
than a fifth of
Black Americans said they have
heard, seen or read something that
made them less likely to take the
vaccine. Among those who said
they definitely or probably would
not take the vaccine, 55 percent
had consumed negative informa-
tion about it.
Negative information about the
vaccine mostly centered on safety
concerns, side effects, and skepti-
cism about how quickly the vac-
cine was developed and approved.
This corresponds with recent
reporting that Black and Hispanic
communities are confronting vac-
cine conspiracy theories, rumors
and misleading news reports on
social media. YouTube revealed
this month that it has taken down
more than 30,000 videos that
made misleading or false claims
about COVID-19 vaccines over
the last six months.
Our poll found that concerns
about the safety of the vaccine, are
the primary barrier among Blacks
who don’t intend to vaccinate.
Of that group, nearly 60 percent
agreed that “the vaccine is too
new, I want to wait and see how
it works for others.” More than
a third agreed that “I am worried
that people of color are being used
as test subjects.”
Our challenge, then, is to em-
ploy trusted messengers such
as public health professionals,
community leaders and friends
and neighbors to address those
concerns attesting to the vac-
cine’s safety. I was proud to join
a group of trusted clergy in my
own community who received
the vaccine publicly in an effort
to build trust.
These efforts are working. Hair-
stylist Katrina Randolph is part of
the Health In-Reach and Research
Initiative – or HAIR – a network
of barbershops and beauty salons
working with the Maryland Cen-
ter for Health Equity at the Uni-
versity of Maryland School of
Public Health.
“At first, 75% of my clients
were saying, ‘I’m not going to
get the vaccination.’ But as we
had these conversations and I
told them things that I was being
educated about, they began to do
research and then they felt more
comfortable with the vaccina-
tion,” Randolph said. “Now I hear
from 90% of my clients, ‘I can’t
wait to get vaccinated.’”
Marc H. Morial is president
and chief executive officer of the
National Urban League.
program for youth who are
interested in learning the food
service industry in’s and out’s,
in addition to be a second
chance employer.
Her menu and catering
services include such delica-
cies as cornmeal fried Basa,
cornmeal fried catfish, fried
shrimp, shrimp & grits, but-
termilk chicken strips, fried
wings (buffalo, BBQ, lemon
pepper & original), Henny
Wingz (Hennessey wings),
soulful burgers, Po Boy sand-
wiches, fries, yams, mac n
cheese, and collard greens.
Specials include deep fried ribs,
oxtails, gumbo, peach cobbler
and pound cakes. Other desserts
include sweet potato pie, banana
pudding, and gourmet cupcakes.
The drinks offered are sweet tea,
kool aid and soda.
The Ja’Das Soulful Eatz
Restaurant at the Miracles Club
is open Thursdays through Sun-
days from noon to 7 p.m. Call
971-325-7396 or email jadasoul-
fuleatz@gmail.com.The restau-
rant also accept online orders.
The Ja’Das Soulful Food
Cart at 7330 N.E. Martin Luther
King Jr. Blvd. operates Tuesdays
through Sunday, also from 12
p.m. to 7 p.m.
Protecting Community Health
c ontinued froM p age 5
green street planter, the street,
or storm drain that can lead to a
city waterway.
“Pollution prevention is al-
ways preferable to clean up.
I am proud of Environmental
Services for stepping up to a
growing need and providing
services in a respectful, digni-
fied way for our houseless com-
munity as well as protecting our
rivers and waterways from hu-
man waste,” said Commissioner
Mingus Mapps.
Environmental
Services
started the pilot after noting an
uptick in reports of illegal dis-
posal and in an effort to address
the source instead of cleaning
up after discharges.
The program’s first day was
Friday. Crews served nine vehi-
cles in an area in north and north-
east Portland, and one in southeast.
Crews expect to be able to collect
about 7,500 gallons of wastewater
from sinks and toilets per day and
service up to 20 vehicles.
Crews will establish regular
routes on Fridays based on field
reports from city staff and be
available as needed during other
days of the week. Crews plan to
alter routes each week and seek
to determine the demand for this
service as well as how often fol-
low-up servicing is needed. They
can also make minor repairs to
the RVs to ensure safe and reli-
able sanitary pumping.
Environmental Services will
continue the pilot through June
under a limited budget of $10,000
and evaluate next steps. The pro-
gram is patterned after a similar
pilot in Seattle.