Shana L. Dukes
Broadmoor Poet/Writer
These days, I get a cold and I panic. I worry about where I will go to the doctor. I worry about how I will be treated. I wonder how long I will have to wait in an overcrowded room for my name to be called. I wonder if I called my doctor’s office today for an appointment, when would I actually be scheduled to see a medical professional? What’s the backlog? Three weeks? Two months? Should I try the emergency room in the meantime or ignore the extra cost of treating my cold there? When will we, as a city and as a country, make a decision to address our healthcare crisis?It is no secret that New Orleans is still losing doctors and nurses at an alarming rate. We hear about the problem over and over again, but what is the solution? At this rate, it looks as if our medical insurances are failing us. We pay into programs that do not pay back when it comes to collective health. Time and time again, patients are stunned to find that healthcare packages do not cover the most basic doctor’s visits or hospital procedures. Nevertheless, many continue to dole out hard earned dollars on a monthly basis for the illusion of protection through insurance. What are we doing with our money? With our health?The healthcare crisis in our community does not hurt only the uninsured. How many times have I heard complaints from the insured, from doctors, or least valid of all, from the insurance company reps themselves who argue that uninsured patients drive up the cost of healthcare for everyone? We have come to a crisis point and blaming the indigent or the uninsured of our city and country does not get us anywhere but further behind. As we continue to do so, our system will remain an unaccountable failing one, with more sick people on the streets trying in vain to revive a once healthy community. We talk about crime in New Orleans. For weeks our city has held special sessions to discuss solutions to the crime problem. Legislators and public officials must ask, “Where is our system failing us?” Isn’t it time we do the same with our healthcare? Does access to affordable and thorough healthcare help to alleviate the crime problem? One could undoubtedly argue that it does. So as we continue to help our city become a newer version of its pre-K self, I move to make healthcare for everyone a top priority. We know the problems. It is time to discuss realistic and workable solutions for all of us - healthcare professionals, the insured, and the uninsured alike.
Health, Trumpet Issue #8 Sept. 2007
From Poverty to Prosperity
A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half
From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half
She is a lead researcher-
Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, founded PolicyLink in 1999. A renowned community building activist and advocate, Blackwell served as senior vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation where she oversaw the Foundation’s Domestic and Cultural divisions. Blackwell also developed Rockefeller’s Building Democracy division, which focused on race and policy, and created the Next Generation Leadership program. A lawyer by training, she gained national recognition as founder of the Oakland (CA) Urban Strategies Council, where she pioneered new approaches to neighborhood revitalization. From 1977 to 1987, Blackwell was a partner at Public Advocates, a nationally known public interest law firm. She is the co-author of Searching for the Uncommon Common Ground: New Dimensions on Race in America published in 2002 by W.W. Norton & Co.
Economic Development, Health
Helping Children and Youth Cope with the
Effects of Traumatic Experiences in School and at Home
Free workshop for school administrators, teachers, family members and others
who work with youth
Save the Date - Saturday, August 4th!
Children’s reactions to experiencing a traumatic event such as a disaster may
vary widely. Some children exhibit traumatic reactions that can have
tremendous and detrimental effects on classroom learning and social relationships
within the school and home environment. (more…)
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How to Destroy an African-American City in Thirty Three Steps - Lessons from Katrina
By Bill Quigley. Bill Quigley is a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans. You can reach Bill at Quigley@loyno.edu
Step One. Delay. If there is one word that sums up the way to destroy an African-American city after a disaster, that word is DELAY. If you are in doubt about any of the following steps - just remember to delay and you will probably be doing the right thing.
Step Two. When a disaster is coming, do not arrange a public evacuation. Rely only on individual resources. People with cars and money for hotels will leave. The elderly, the disabled and the poor will not be able to leave. Most of those without cars - 25% of households of New Orleans, overwhelmingly African-Americans - will not be able to leave. Most of the working poor, overwhelmingly African-American, will not be able to leave. Many will then permanently accuse the victims who were left behind of creating their own human disaster because of their own poor planning. It is critical to start by having people blame the victims for their own problems. (more…)
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Louisiana State Legislature Commits Funding for LSU Teaching Hospital in Downtown New Orleans
LSU OFFICIALS THANK GOVERNOR, LEGISLATURE FOR HOSPITAL PLAN VOTE
BATON ROUGE—LSU President Dr. William L. Jenkins and LSU health care officials today applauded final legislative passage of a resolution, approving the business plan for construction of the new LSU academic teaching hospital in New Orleans.
“The vote by the Legislature, endorsing the business plan, is an overwhelming expression of confidence that LSU deeply appreciates,” Jenkins said. (more…)
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Facing South is your source for in-depth coverage and fresh perspectives on the South, published by the Institute for Southern Studies . Visit here to join or donate; please go here if you’d like to unsubscribe.
: Coverage of the Justice Department’s attorney scandal this week missed the big story: how now-U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin of Arkansas aimed to “cage” and disenfranchise thousands of mostly African-American veterans in the 2004 elections. (Brad Blog, 5/24/07)
FLORIDA SHAKES UP 2008 ELECTIONS: The diverse swing state moves up its presidential primary to January 29 — how will it change 2008? (Facing South, 5/21/07) (more…)
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State Health Insurance Programs Get Higher Income Limits Thousands
previously denied LaCHIP coverage could now be eligible
Baton Rouge - More Louisiana children will be eligible for the Louisiana
Children*s Health Insurance Program (LaCHIP) because of the annual
increase in the Federal Poverty Level effective this month. This
increase allows working families to earn more income and still qualify
for LaCHIP, which provides no-cost health coverage for uninsured
children younger than age 19. (more…)
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May 19th meeting at City Council Chambers to focus on hurricane preparedness.
Neighborhood Groups plan for hurricane season
NEW ORLEANS (The New Orleans Agenda) — The hurricane season is almost here and it is clear that our neighborhoods still don’t have well developed plans for how to respond to a disaster. Nor is it clear how the neighborhoods and neighbors collaborate with the City’s emergency hurricane evacuation plans. Katrina has taught us that we the citizens must also have neighborhood based approaches to survival that augment and complement the plans of public agencies. We are the first responders before anyone else arrives. However, we have not developed well designed plans on how to work with public agencies to secure the most vulnerable populations, and we appear to be as unprepared today as we were in 2005. Some of us were working on neighborhood disaster preparation, but did not complete our planning and preparation before the storm. It is time to resume these efforts. (more…)
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