0 Black People: Please Call 911!

Imagine a 55-year old Black man begins to experience symptoms of a stroke. Who do you think he is likely to call for help in this serious emergency?

According to newly published research*, this gentleman is NOT likely to call 911 first. He is much more likely to call a friend or family member instead. A Black woman is also more likely to call a friend or family member.

In this startling study, a shocking 75% of African Americans hospitalized for a stroke had called a friend or a family member first. Most of those thought their symptoms were not serious or would resolve on their own.

For many years, researchers wondered why African Americans had much worse outcomes in a stroke than White Americans. This study may offer some answers. Time is crucial in the treatment of a stroke. Doctors will often have to give a clot-busting drug within the first few hours. This helps to minimize the long-term damage of the stroke on the brain.

What is a stroke?

A stroke happens when a blood clot blocks the blood supply to a part of the brain. It can also happen if a blood vessel in or around the brain bursts leading to bleeding. Both of these causes can lead to damage, and even death, to parts of the brain. If a person survives the initial stroke, he or she may face many months or years to recover. Many will not recover fully.

Strokes in the African American community

Strokes hit the African American community pretty hard. Blacks are TWICE as likely as whites to suffer a stroke. They are also more likely to die of the stroke. Do you know what the common symptoms of a stroke are? About 1 in 2 people couldn't identify a single symptom of stroke. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the following are common symptoms of a stroke:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg—especially on one side of the body.
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
• Sudden severe headache with no known cause.

In general, the risk of a stroke increases as we get older. However, African Americans are more likely to suffer a stroke at a younger age due to the presence of multiple risk factors. The CDC lists a number of risk factors for suffering a first stroke (2005/2006 Figures):

What can we all do?

Spread the word!

Please tell your family and friends to call 911 if they experience one or more of these symptoms. Quick access to medical care is very important in stroke treatment.

Heavens forbid there is a stroke but we can call family and friends later if it happens.

Please, CALL 911 first!

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Reference article
* Amie W. Hsia, Amanda Castle, Jeffrey J. Wing, Dorothy F. Edwards, Nina C. Brown, Tara M. Higgins, Jasmine L. Wallace, Sara S. Koslosky, M. Chris Gibbons, Brisa N. Sánchez, Ali Fokar, Nawar Shara, Lewis B. Morgenstern, and Chelsea S. Kidwell. Understanding Reasons for Delay in Seeking Acute Stroke Care in an Underserved Urban Population. Stroke, 2011;
DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.604736

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0 Have you met Phaedra yet?

You may not have heard about her yet but Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Green For All. This is a non-profit organization that promotes a clean energy economy.

Phaedra represents a new generation of African American youth activists who are looking out for the environment. As a visionary and sustainability advocate, she leads this national organization with a clear mandate of promoting the well-being of people and communities in a green economy.

The US is behind in green economy. In some parts of the country, you won't even find recycling boxes in schools and offices. Many Americans are just not thinking about what it means to recycle, reuse, and reduce. In these times of job losses, bankruptcy, or repossessions, it seems like a luxury to worry about the environment, doesn't it?

Well, it isn't.

An economy based on oil is one of the reasons that this country is falling apart. It is simply unsustainable. Coal and gas (with its fracking horrors) are no better. Short-term economic gains while poisoning water wells, fishing shores, and the air we breathe lead to long-term losses. What is the solution, then?

It may very well lie with Phaedra and other youth activists who are interested in a clean energy economy that puts people back to work and saves the environment from costly degradation. The future is bright, folks! You just gotta believe.

Check out Phaedra and others at Power Shift 2011, a youth-led conference to take on the fossil fuel industry. 10,000 young people showed up and got fired up.

Images courtesy of Blackenterprise.com The Huffington Post

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0 Black History Month

Black History Month is a wonderful time in our household. It is a celebration and we do everything we can to process our history as people of African Descent, delving into the suggested history of our ancestors from even before slavery.

It is not only during February that we choose to focus on our history, we study it all year, including recent history. One of the subjects we found most difficult was slavery itself. While it is easy to focus on the achievements of black people since the Civil Rights movement, the period before that all the way to 1833 when slavery was abolished, is very complicated.

In our research we found a website that contains the stories of some people who were slaves at the turn of the 20th Century. The language is difficult, but the stories are inspiring. Below is an excerpt from one of the stories.

Interview of Mrs. Fannie Berry, Ex-slave 861 E. Bank Street.
Feb 26 1937


Nat Turner
Back 'fore the sixties, I can 'member my mistress, Miss Sara Ann, comin' to de window an' hollerin', "De niggers is arisin'! De niggers is arisin'! De niggers is killin' all de white folks, killin' all de babies in de cradle!" It must have been Nat Turners Insurrection; which wus sometime 'fo de breakin' of de Civil War.
I wus waitin' on table in dinin' room an' dis day dey had finished eatin' early an' I wuz cleanin' off table. Don't you know I must have been a good size gal.


John Brown
Yes I 'member somethin' 'bout him too. I know my master came home an' said, dat on his way to de gallows ole John stopped an' kissed a little nigger child. "How com' I don't 'member? Don't tell me I don't cause I do. I don't care if its done bin a thousand years." I know what master said an' it is as fresh in my mind as it wuz dat day. Dis is de song I herd my master sing:

Old John Brown came to Harpers Ferry Town,

Purpose to raise an insurrection,

Old Governor Wise put the specks upon his eyes

An' showed him the happy land of Canan

Invention
My master tole us dat de niggers started the railroad, an' dat a nigger lookin' at a boilin' coffee pot on a stove one day got the idea dat he could cause it to run by putting wheels on it. Dis nigger being a blacksmith put his thoughts into action by makin' wheels an' put coffee on it, an' by some kinder means he made it run an' the idea wuz stole from him an' dey built de steamengine.


Relationship
I wuz one slave dat de poor white man had his match. See Miss Sue? Dese here ol' white men said, "what I can't do by fair means I'll do by foul." One tried to throw me, but he couldn't. We tusseled an' knocked over chairs an' when I got a grip I scratched his face all to piecesl an dar wuz no more bothering Fannie from him; but oh, honey, some slave would be beat up so, when dey resisted, an' sometimes if you'll 'belled de overseer would kill you. Us colored women had to go through a plenty, I tell you.

Click Here for more stories.

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