Page 2 The Skanner June 20, 2018
®
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Black Voters Must Hold All Politicians Accountable
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
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Executive Editor
I
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
Christen McCurdy
News Editor
Patricia Irvin
Graphic Designer
Monica J. Foster
Seattle Office Coordinator
Susan Fried
Photographer
2017
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t’s that time again. It occurs
every year around the same
time like clockwork. It’s
election season.
Political signs infiltrate
Black neighborhoods, placed
by campaign operatives hop-
ing you remember their re-
spective political candidate
come election time. More
importantly, these political
operatives are hoping your
familiarity with their respec-
tive candidate will drive you
to the polls with the belief that
their efforts will translate
into a vote for them at the bal-
lot box.
Establishing familiarity is
quite an effective tool, espe-
cially when it comes to cre-
ating a sense of connection
with people. Now be honest.
If connecting with people
through establishing a sense
of familiarity weren’t so ef-
fective, why would radio sta-
tions play the same song over
and over again, or why would
major companies spend an
inordinate amount of money
to consistently and strategi-
cally advertise their product
or service to consumers on a
regular basis?
Seeking to connect with peo-
ple by establishing a sense of
familiarity is one of the first
things any campaign team
tries to do to help get their re-
spective candidate elected.
Have you ever noticed that
Jeffrey L.
Boney
NNPA
Columnist
during every election sea-
son, radio ads become more
frequent, print mailers get
sent out in bulk quantities
and television ads get placed
on any given network during
key television shows in an
effort to try and reach regis-
tered voters?
Politicians have long been
staples in our community.
Many of them visit a church
here, walk the block and
knock on doors over there;
kiss babies, shake hands and
even give the Black communi-
ty ‘stuff ’ to get them to come
out to the polls and vote. It
is fascinating the way some
political candidates scurry
around during election sea-
son trying to solicit the Black
vote so that they can get elect-
ed to a certain office or retain
their current seat. It’s an art.
Many of these campaign op-
eratives and elected officials
have it down to a science.
However, when it comes to
developing key, solid policies
that will help the Black com-
munity, many of these same
candidates disappear—never
to be heard from again—until
the next election cycle rolls
around. Interestingly, many
of these elected officials get a
pass for doing nothing.
Now, if members of the Black
community would be com-
pletely honest, they would ad-
mit that a lot of these elected
officials are often treated like
high-profile celebrities, rath-
er than public servants who
“
You know
what I’m
talking about;
offering the
Black commu-
nity chicken
dinners, BBQ
cookouts, fish
plates...
have the power to advocate
for substantive policies that
can literally change the eco-
nomic landscape and quality
of life of their communities.
One act of familiarity that
has been a go-to-approach to
reach the Black community
has been the tactic of political
candidates using certain gim-
micks to solicit votes.
You know what I’m talking
about; offering the Black com-
munity chicken dinners, BBQ
cookouts, fish plates, steak
days, gift cards, air condi-
tioners for senior citizens,
etc. Many of these political-
ly-motivated gimmicks have
and continue to be used to get
Black people to vote for a par-
ticular candidate.
You know the routine. Black
voters get out to vote, then
there is very little reciprocity
from many of the candidates
towards the Black communi-
ty, if they are elected.
Think about it for a moment
and ask yourself some ques-
tions.
What evidence do you have
to prove that any of your
elected officials have actually
advocated for you? Ask your-
self, when it comes to develop-
ing sound policies and legisla-
tion for the Black community,
when was the last time your
elected officials drafted any
policy or advocated for any
legislation at the local, state
and/or federal level that has
positively impact you?
Now, you may have been
invited to a fish fry, steak
dinner or community social
event, but ask yourself when
was the first or last time any
of your elected officials edu-
cated, equipped and informed
your community about any
key issues that is impacting
them or will affect them?
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
Black Mamas Are Dying. We Can Stop It.
B
lack mothers are dying
and it’s time to do some-
thing about it.
Every year, more than
700 American mothers lose
their lives to pregnancy or
birth-related complications.
Some medical professionals
estimate that at least half, if
not more, of these deaths are
entirely preventable.
While the deaths of 700-
plus
American
mothers
should shock us all, the sta-
tistics are much worse for
African American mothers.
We are three-to-four times
more likely to die during
pregnancy or childbirth than
our White counterparts. A
2010-2011 survey of maternal
deaths in Philadelphia found
that three-quarters of those
deaths were Black mothers.
These shocking statistics
cut across class, education
level, and socio-economic sta-
tus. Earlier this year, Serena
Williams shared her own sto-
ry of nearly losing her life.
She, like too many other
women, was ignored when
she raised concerns about her
own health and body. If this
tragedy can befall a wealthy,
world-class athlete who’s
deeply in tuned with her own
body, it could, and does, hap-
pen to anyone.
Sadly, the situation is get-
ting worse, not better. Amer-
Robin
Kelly
U.S. Rep.
(D-11)
ican mothers are dying at
higher rates every year.
Globally, we’ve had real
success in pushing down the
rates of mothers needlessly
dying, especially in Africa
and the Caribbean. Yet at the
same time, the U.S. is one of a
handful of nations where the
number of mothers dying is
increasing.
We can and must do better.
All mamas deserve the chance
to be mamas.
That’s why I’ve introduced
the “Mothers and Offspring
Mortality and Morbidity
Awareness Act” or the MOM-
MA Act, for short. This com-
prehensive legislation takes
a multi-pronged approach
to ending maternal mortali-
ty through increased access
to care, expanded cultural-
ly-competent training and
standardized data collection.
Currently, one of our great-
est challenges in addressing
the rising rate of maternal
mortality is a lack of good
data. We need to standardize
data to find trends and proto-
cols that work to save lives.
The MOMMA Act also es-
tablishes and enforces nation-
al emergency obstetric proto-
cols and ensures the sharing
of best practices between
practitioners and hospital
systems because, if it’s work-
ing, we want every doctor to
know about it.
“
The MOMMA
Act would im-
prove access
to cultural-
ly-competent
care
Additionally, the MOMMA
Act would expand access to
care by ensuring that mothers
retain their Medicaid cover-
age for one year after giving
birth, the entire postpartum
period. Right now, mothers
lose their coverage just two
months after giving birth.
However, many women face
significant health challenges,
often weeks and months, after
giving birth. One mom who
spoke at my press conference
unveiling the bill suffered a
childbirth-related stroke 20
days after giving birth. Fur-
thermore, we know that post-
partum depression and other
health challenges face new
mothers; expanding access to
care will ensure that moms
remain healthy as they raise
their families.
Finally, the MOMMA Act
would improve access to
culturally-competent
care
throughout the care con-
tinuum. For decades, we’ve
known that culturally-incom-
petent care has had massive
and negative impacts on our
community and our health. In
2018, it’s time to train health
professionals to give appro-
priate care to all patients, re-
gardless of their race.
I could not be prouder to
have introduced the MOM-
MA Act or to have worked
with the amazing women and
men who helped us craft this
important legislation to save
mothers’ lives.
It’s the product of months of
work with families, mothers,
doctors, nurses, midwives,
doulas and policy advocates.
I’m deeply humbled to have
the support of Black Women’s
Health Imperative, the Black
Mamas Matter Alliance,
the National Urban League,
American College of Obstetri-
cians and Gynecologists and
many others.
As a mother, I was lucky
enough to experience two
happy, healthy pregnancies. I
want the same thing for every
mother and family: a healthy,
happy pregnancy and child.