March 2012 Newsletter - The Black Women`s Agenda, Inc.

B l a c k Wo m e n ’s A g e n d a
w w w.bwa- i n c.o rg
B.W.A. Report
Our
Promise to
Black Women
by Eleanor Hinton Hoytt
In this
Issue:
page 4
Black Women Making
News...
page 6
BWA/GE Partnership
page 13
New Landmark:
Health Care Legislation
More...
When 27-year-old Shaneera made the decision
to breastfeed her newly born daughter in August
2007, little did she know that decision would
change her life. Wanting to give her daughter
the gift of a good life start, Shaneera was anxious
when she felt a lump while nursing. After months
of being brushed off by her primary health care
provider, multiple referrals to breast surgeons
and misdiagnosis, she was finally diagnosed with
stage three breast cancer.
In less than three years, on June 23, 2010,
Shaneera died of breast cancer. Her husband
and now 3-year-old daughter cannot understand
what happened.
And neither can we at the Black Women’s Health
Imperative (Imperative) understand why Black
women have not benefited from the progress
being made in research and new technologies.
The Imperative’s mission is to raise questions,
seek understanding, and call attention to what is
happening to young Black women.
This is what we know.
We know that although Black women have a
lower breast cancer incidence rate than other
women, Black women are dying at a significantly
higher rate than any other group of women.
This fact is more complex than many may think.
And most alarmingly, we don’t know why.
Consider these little known facts:
• Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed
cancer among Black women and the second leading
cause of cancer death. In 2009, it was estimated that
nearly 20,000 new cases of breast cancer occurred
among Black women and of those new cases, more
than 6,000 would not have a 5-year survival rate.
• Among young Black women, under age 40, the breast
cancer incidence and mortality rates are higher than
in white women. Yet not until 2008 did researchers
reveal that the Gail Assessment Model being used to
estimate breast cancer risk and to select women for
clinical trials was an inappropriate tool to determine
Black women’s risk.
• Black women are two times more likely to develop
triple negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of
cancer for which there are few effective treatment
options. This particular form of cancer limits
treatment options and certain therapies have been
ineffective in treating triple-negative breast cancer.
continued on page 2
1 B.W.A. Repor t
We strongly recommend that Black women continue to
perform monthly breast self exams, request an annual
clinical breast exam performed by a health care provider, and
advocate for a mammogram starting as early as possible and
no later than age 40.
• Black women have a lower 5-year survival rate compared
to white women: 77 percent vs. 90 percent, respectively.
Yet it is not clear how reduction in mortality for white
women can translate to better outcomes for Black
women.
We ask ourselves—what difference does our advocacy make?
We are not sure about the long-term impact. But we, at the
Imperative, have established breast cancer as a priority issue
and ask that you join us in a national movement to advocate
for a breast cancer cure for Black women, too.
• Although many attribute poor outcomes for Black
women to a lack of insurance, chronic stress, and
inadequate access, researchers and clinicians are just
beginning to explore “unequal treatment” as a major
factor in racial differences in breast cancer mortality. The
“unequal treatment”
research documents
that quality of care
differences indeed
contribute
to
mortality disparities.
With many preventive health services that begin
September 23, 2010 as part of health care reform, we are
also tremendously concerned about how health insurance
companies will interpret the USPSTF recommendations.
Will they use these recommendations to deny coverage of
mammograms before age 50, and then only every other
year? Will younger Black
women be denied the
breast cancer screening
and the appropriate
treatment they need in a
timely manner, therefore
jeopardizing
their
chances for overcoming
the 5-year survival rate?
Among these care and
treatment differences
are inadequate access to
quality and appropriate
As the president and
screening mammography
CEO of the Imperative, a
and clinical breast exams,
27-year-old organization
delay in testing following
dedicated to promoting
abnormal
screening
optimum health for
results,
inadequate
*Mortality rates among Black and White females under age 50
Black women across the
communication
life span - physically, mentally and spiritually, I serve as
regarding treatment options and side effects, lower rates of
the chief advocate for improving the health status of Black
referrals for definitive therapy, reduced monitoring following
women. We are working tirelessly to ring the alarm on
treatment, and inadequate survivorship care.
medical and social injustices that result in persistent health
disparities and unnecessary lives lost.
And that is why we opposed the 2009 U.S. Preventive
Services Task Force (USPSTF) updates to its 2002 breast
In seeking a focus on young Black women, we are calling
cancer screening recommendations. The Imperative believes
national attention to these three facts: Black women: 1) tend
that two of the USPSTF recommendations do a serious
to be diagnosed with breast cancer at a younger age; 2) are
disservice to Black women and could prove deadly: 1) that
more likely to be diagnosed with a more virulent form of the
mammograms should be delayed until age 50 and, even
disease, triple negative breast cancer; and 3) are more likely
then, performed only every other year and 2) that breast selfto die of breast cancer than other women.
exams and clinical exams are unnecessary.
2 B.W.A. R e p o r t
Early Detection, Early Diagnosis, the Key to Making
Progress.
Breast cancer inequalities are seemingly too insurmountable;
the reasons for them are complex and the solution still
without evidence. Yes, progress has been made, but not
This year, the Imperative
enough for Black women.
will launch an educational
And that is why the
campaign to get the
Imperative has establish
message
out—early
a National Breast Cancer
detection and diagnosis
Leadership Initiative aimed
make a difference. For
at galvanizing all Black
Black women who are at
women’s organizations,
highest risk, early detection
public officials, funders
is critically important.
and survivors in support
For Black women who
of early detection and
have been diagnosed at
diagnosis—and providing
the earliest stage of breast
the leadership needed to
cancer when the tumor is
call for more research and
small and localized, early
funding to address these
diagnosis will make a
aggressive forms of breast
difference.
cancer among younger
*Incidence rates among Black and White females under age 50
black women.
For most of us, early detection and diagnosis is attainable
with a few easy steps:
To do this, breast cancer and young Black women must be a
public health priority—right alongside improving treatment
1. Have your provider show you how to perform monthly
and finding a cure. This is a tall order, I know. But the
breast self-examination (BSE) and perform it faithfully
Imperative will not stop advocating until we can reverse this
at the same time each month. Many experts recommend
downward spiral.
that you examine your breasts in the shower because the
soapy water makes it easier to detect lumps. Although
That’s our promise to Black women.
there have been questions raised about the usefulness
of such breast self-examinations, most breast lumps are
To join Black Women’s Health Imperative in launching
found by women themselves, not their physicians, and
a National Breast Cancer Leadership Initiative calling
Black women simply cannot afford to forego them.
for eliminating breast cancer disparities, visit www.
BlackWomensHealth.ORG or call 202-548-4000. B
2. See your doctor for a regular clinical breast examination
(CBE) at least once a year. If he or she will not perform
the CBE, because of your age or lack of known risk
Eleanor Hinton Hoytt is the president and CEO of the Black
Women’s Health Imperative (formerly the National Black Women’s
factors, find another provider who will. Insist on being
Health Project). She is known as a passionate leader in the women’s
examined.
3. Have regular screening mammograms. Since breast
density is one of the strongest risk factors for Black
women developing breast cancer, insist on digital
mammography or some of the newer more advanced
technologies that will detect tumors and help predict
breast cancer risks in Black women.
health movement who brings the voices and needs of Black women
to the decision-making table. As president of the Imperative, since
2007, Hinton Hoytt has been committed to advancing the core
values of social justice in reducing health inequities, engaging Black
women to become advocates and leaders in the fight against HIV/
AIDS and breast cancer and advancing Black women’s well-being by
promoting maternal health and reproductive rights.
*BWHI Charts Source — U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 1999–2006 Incidence and Mortality
Web-based Report. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National
Cancer Institute; 2010. Available at: www.cdc.gov/uscs.
3 B.W.A. Repor t
-Rosalind Brewer
Black Women
Making News,
Making History
Rosalind Brewer, has been named CEO and President of
Sam’s Club, a subsidiary of Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s
biggest retailer. Brewer is the first woman and the first
African-American to hold a CEO position at one of the
company’s business units.
State Hillary Rodham Clinton at a ceremony in the Benjamin
Franklin Room at the State Department in Washington, D.C,
Dr. Cook was acknowledged as a leader bridging faith and
public service. In her new role, she is a principal adviser on
religious freedom to President Barack Obama and Clinton,
and as well, heads the Office of International Religious
Freedom in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor at the State Department. The office seeks to shine
a light on an array of activities, from authoritarian regimes
that impede freedom of worship to violent extremists who
attempt to exploit sectarian tensions. Founder and president
of the Wisdom Women Worldwide Center, Dr. Cook is also
author of several popular self-help books, among them Live
Like You’re Blessed: Simple Steps for Making Balance, Love,
Energy, Spirit, Success, Encouragement and Devotion Part of
Your Life and Moving Up: Ten Steps to Turning Your Life
Around and Getting to the Top!
Lt. J.G. Lashanda Holmes made news and history when she
became the first female African-American helicopter pilot in
the United States Coast Guard. She is serving at Coast Guard
Air Station Los Angeles. A success story for the foster care
system, she graduated magna cum laude from her high school
and earned a partial community service scholarship from
the Bonner Scholar Program to attend Spelman College,
the historically Black college for women located in Atlanta,
Georgia.
A’Lelia Bundles, great-great-granddaughter of Madame C.
J. Walker, and great-granddaughter of A’Leila Walker, has
been elected Chair and President of the Board of Directors
of the Foundation for the National Archives. And author
and journalist, she will serve a three-year term, which began
January 1, 2012. Bundles is also President of the Madam
Walker/A’Leila Walker Family Archives, and the author
of the signal best-selling biography, On Her Own Ground:
The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker. Bundles had a
distinguished 30-year career as a network television news
producer, and was an executive at ABC News and NBC
News. She lives in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook, a Baptist minister in New York
City, has been named the United States Ambassador at-large
for International Religious Freedom. Sworn in by Secretary of
4 B.W.A. R e p o r t
-Lt. J.G. Lashanda Holmes
Marie Collins Johns is Deputy Administrator of the U.S.
Small Business Administration (SBA). She was nominated by
President Barack Obama to the Senate-confirmed position,
as since June 2010 has been the second-ranking official at
SBA. In this position, she is responsible for management,
policy development, and program supervision. Johns has
served as President of Verizon Washington, and as Chair of
the District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce. She is a
member of the Board of Directors of Girls Scouts USA and
the Board of Trustees of Howard University.
Elaine R. Jones, President and Director-Counsel Emeritus of
the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. (LDF)
has been named recipient of the 2011 Thurgood Marshall
Award from the individual Rights and Responsibilities
Section of the American Bar Association. She was presented
the award at the ABA’s Thurgood Marshall Award Dinner
in August 2011 in Toronto, Canada. The award recognizes
the accomplishments of members of the legal profession
who have exemplified Justice Marshall’s commitment to
the causes of civil and human rights. Attorney Jones, who
assumed the LDF leadership in 1993, was the first female
and fourth person the head the organization. Among her
many accomplishments, she led the nationwide fight to
free Kemba Smith, the young college student convicted of
charged with trafficking (255 kilograms of crack cocaine)
and sentenced to 24.5 years, and to change discrimanatory
sentencing laws that discriminated against blacks.
Johns has served as
President of Verizon
Washington, and as Chair
of the District of Columbia
Chamber of Commerce.
Leagues Baseball Museum, she also organized the ceremony
for Barbara Jordan commemorative held September 2011
in Houston, Texas. Ms. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science
degree from the University of Louisiana in Monroe and the
Masters of Public Administration from American University.
She resides in Southwest Washington, D.C.
Cheryl Wills, award winning anchor and reporter for New
York 1 News, based in New York City, is the author of the
critically acclaimed book, Die Free, A Heroic Family Tale,
the story of her great-great-great grandfather, Sandy Wills,
his quest for freedom, and his courageous service in the
U.S. Colored Troops. In March 2011, she became the first
journalist invited to speak in the United Nations General
Assembly Hall for the International Remembrance of the
Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. B
Sonia Sanchez, poet, teacher, mentor, and activist, was
named Philadelphia’s first poet laureate in December 2011.
Sanchez is the author of 18 books of poetry, as well as plays
and children’s books.
Who knew? Etta Smith, Special Events Coordinator for
the U.S. Postal Service Commemorative Stamp Program
is the individual who plans, coordinates and oversees “first
day issue” ceremonies for those special stamps that honor
special people, places and events that have shaped our
country’s history. Ms. Smith has been supervising these
celebrations for over 15 years. Among the recent ceremonies
she organized is Negro Leagues Baseball, the long awaited
tribute to the all-black professional baseball leagues, which
operated from 1920 to about 1960. That ceremony was
held July 15, 2010, in Kansas City, Missouri at the Negro
-Cheryl Wills
5 B.W.A. Repor t
BWA, it’s 16 Collaborating Organizations, and GE will work
collectively to meet the following goals of this partnership:
To heighten awareness of the disparity in breast cancer
among African American women through education,
engagement and empowerment at a grass roots level.
BWA Announces
Partnership with GE
Healthymagination
by Kimberly Jeffries Leonard, Ph.D.
The Black Women’s Agenda is pleased to announce its
partnership with GE healtymagination to increase breast
cancer screening in the African American Community.
By building a grassroots movement in underserved
communities, BWA and its 16 Collaborating Member
Organizations will utilize customized materials and resources
to conduct community outreach activities to reduce breast
cancer disparities. GE has developed an “All Faces” website
to house these materials.
Research shows that while overall white women are slightly
more likely to develop breast cancer than are AfricanAmerican women, African American women are more likely
to die of this form of cancer. In women under 45 years of
age, breast cancer is more common in African- American
women (American Cancer Society). More prevalent among
younger African-American women and harder to treat is
“triple-negative breast cancer,” an aggressive cancer with a
poorer prognosis. Triple negative breast cancers are estrogen
receptor-negative (ER-), progesterone receptor-negative
(PR-) and HER2/neu-negative (HER2-) and about 15 to
20 percent of breast cancers are categorized in this manner.
This means that this type of breast cancer’s growth is not
supported by the hormones estrogen and progesterone,
nor by the presence of too many HER2 receptors, which
means that the cancer does not respond to hormonal therapy
(such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors) or therapies
that target HER2 receptors, such as Herceptin. Although the
reasons younger African American women get triple negative
breast cancer are not clear, one study suggests lifestyle factors
might play a role. And higher rates of triple negative tumors
may explain, to some degree, the poor prognosis of breast
cancers diagnosed in younger African American women
(Susan G. Komen for the Cure).
6 B.W.A. R e p o r t
To encourage the collaborating organizations to make breast
cancer a priority within their national and local agendas,
and to engage their members by integrating breast cancer
prevention into their existing programs.
To educate young African American women about breast
cancer disparities and inspire them to become scientists who
can address the problem.
By engaging in targeted community based activities,
participants will leave:
• Understanding that while there is a disparity, there are
many ways to systemically attack breast cancer in the
African American community.
• With a toolkit of tangible, implementable ideas to engage
their membership in this national priority in their local
communities.
• With examples of on-going support BWA can provide to
help their organization drive this initiative, and maintain
momentum throughout the year.
• With a renewed understanding and passion around this
critical issue. BWA and GE launched Healthymagination on
March 3, 2012.
Collaborating Organizations:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority, Inc.
National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc.
The Girl Friends, Incorporated
The Links, Incorporated
Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc.
Jack and Jill of America, Inc.
Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc.
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
Auxiliary to the National Medical Association
National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs
Women’s Missionary Council – CME Church
National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc.
Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist
Episcopal Church
• National Association of Negro Business & Professional
Women’s Clubs, Inc. B
President’s
Message
triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any
certainty what might have stopped those shots from being
fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a
violent man’s mind.” Regardless of motives we will no doubt
reexamine modern day mental health care policies and the
stigmas attached to the disease.
Approximately twenty years ago,
at 3:00am one morning, I was
awakened by a phone call from a
neighbor’s daughter hysterically
claiming that someone was trying
to break into our house. Of course
the call was disturbing because
of safety fears, however, in the
ensuing hours we later learned
there was no intruder – the
incident was in the mind of the
neighbor’s daughter. The brilliant
young mind of a Yale University graduate had become
delusional. The very proud Sri Lankan parents of this young
woman were embarrassed and apologetic for their daughter’s
behavior.
Worrisome however, is the constant conversation to
repeal rather than improve the current health care laws.
The Affordable Care Act represents a major overhaul of our
Nation’s health care system and will provide more than 32
million Americans, who had previously been uninsured,
with basic health care coverage. Without the health care
law, we would return to the days when insurance companies
could deny, limit or cap health care. Insurance companies
could and would continue to place lifetime limits on
coverage, increase premiums without accountability with no
recourse for consumers, and deny children health care due to
pre-existing conditions.
by Gwainevere Hess
Within days, the young woman was temporarily
institutionalized under the care of a psychiatrist and
diagnosed with schizophrenia. After twenty years of
extraordinarily expensive treatments for a daughter who
was no longer eligible for insurance on her parents’ plan
and unable to work, the parents put their home of 30+
years on the market to move to Sri Lanka for affordable
care. Yes, these Sri Lankan-Americans left a home located
approximately seven miles from the U.S. Capital and seven
blocks from the campus of the National Institute of Mental
Health (NIMH) to return to a country stricken with more
than three decades of civil conflict, tsunami and poverty to
attain affordable mental health care. This move to Sri Lanka
is back-dropped with the statistics reported by NIMH that
one in four adults - approximately 57.7 million Americans experience a mental health disorder in a given year.
Sri Lanka made a conscience decision to provide some of the
best primary care services in the world and their government
is committed to achieving equally high standards in mental
health care services. In 2005, the government made a
commitment to ensure clarity of vision and purpose in the
improvement of the mental health and psychological well
being of the citizens of Sri Lanka. This country with poor
socio-economic conditions and poor nutrition recognized
that mental health is important for the dignity and rights
of all citizens especially those in vulnerable or disadvantage
circumstances.
While reflecting on the tragic shootings in Tucson, Arizona
2011 we are reminded of the words of our President
“For the truth is that none of us can know exactly what
The U.S. Surgeon General reports that 10 percent of children
and adolescents in the United States suffer from serious
emotional and mental disorders that cause significant
functional impairment in their day-to-day lives at home, in
school and with their peers. Less than half of those in need
receive treatment. Those who seek treatment typically do so
after a decade or more of delays, during which time they are
likely to develop additional problems. Usually, the treatment
they receive is inadequate.
According to a recent survey, adolescent sufferers are
especially overlooked, even though mental illness is vastly
a disease of youth. Half of those who will be diagnosed with
a mental disorder show signs of the disease by age 14, and
three-quarters by age 24, but only a scarce amount get help.
It was not until 1999 that Surgeon General David Satcher
had the first White House Conference on Mental Health
and the first Secretarial Initiative on Mental Health prepared
under the of the Department of Health and Human Services.
More than any other subject of health and medicine, mental
health is plagued by disparities of availability and access
to services. These disparities are transparent through the
light of racial diversity, age, and gender. Most frequently
inequality aligns with a person’s financial status. Financial
obstacles block needed mental health care treatment for too
many people regardless of whether one has health insurance
with inadequate mental health benefits, or those who lack
any insurance.
We have allowed stigma and finances to obstruct
opportunities to access and recovery from mental illness.
We must defeat the barriers that obstruct the vision for
sound mental health and promote a societal resolve that will
make the needed investment. B
7 B.W.A. Repor t
Vesta Williams
Joe Frazier
BWA’s Honor
Roll 2011-2012
The Black Women’s Agenda honors
individuals whose life and work have
changed the world forever, for better.
Nick Ashford (age 70), one-half of the legendary Motown
songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson that penned elegant,
soulful classics for the likes of Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye
and funk hits for Chaka Khan and others. Mr. Ashford died
on August 22, 2011.
Derrick A. Bell Jr. (age 80), a noted civil rights lawyer.
His provocative ideas about race and the law made him one
of the country’s most influential legal thinkers and led to his
dismissal from the faculty at Harvard Law School. Mr. Bell
died on October 5, 2011.
Don Cornelius (age 75), entrepreneur, radio news
announcer, pioneer in radio and television programming.
Creator and host of the groundbreaking, award winning,
and longest-running television show, Soul Train, his genius
helped a generation of teenagers learn to dance. The show
spread the soulful artistry of black artists across the nation
and around the world. Mr. Cornelius died on Feburary 1,
2012 in Los Angeles.
Troy Davis (age 42), convicted of a 1989 murder of police
officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, GA. Davis’s death
sentence struck a nationwide debate on the death penalty,
after facts surfaced following his conviction that put his guilt
in question. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles did
not grant Davis clemency in light of the evidence that could
have potentially exonerated him. Mr. Davis was executed on
September 21, 2011.
Martina Davis-Correia (age 42), sister of Troy Davis,
worked to bring attention to his case while battling cancer.
Ms. Davis-Corriea died on December 1, 2011.
8 B.W.A. R e p o r t
Wangari Muta Maathai
Pinetop Perkins
Ofield Dukes (age 79), a prominent Washington D.C.
public relations executive. He represented major civil rights
figures and entertainers and helped focus support for a
national holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Mr. Dukes died on December 7, 2011.
Joe Frazier (age 67), a one-time heavyweight champion.
His epic battles with Muhammad Ali in the 1970s spilled
from the boxing ring into a decades-long war of words.
Mr. Frazier died November 7, 2012.
Gil Scott Heron (age 62) poet, recording artist, social
activist. A popular spoken-word artist, he is perhaps best
known for “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” which
spoke to the frustration of African Americans during the
post-civil rights era, and “Winter in America.” The music he
sang was most often a biting commentary on society—both
the dominating and the dominated. Mr. Scott-Heron died on
May 27, 2011 in New York City.
Gladys Horton (age 66), a co-founder of the Marvelettes
who helped put fledgling Motown Records on the musical
map with its first No. 1 hit “Please Mr. Postman.” Ms. Horton
died on January 26, 2011.
Whitney Houston (age 48), recording artist, actress,
producer, and model. In 2009, the Guinness World Records
cited her as the most-awarded female act of all-time.
Ms. Houston was also one of the world’s best-selling music
artists, having sold over 170 million albums, singles and
videos. She released seven studio albums and three movie
soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multiplatinum, platinum or gold certification. Ms. Houston died
February 11, 2012 in Los Angeles.
Etta James (age 73), recording artist. A four-time Grammy
Award winner, including for life-time achievement, she was
accomplished in several music genres—jazz, gospel, rhythm
and blues, and blues. Her voice was widely viewed as one
of the greatest in American popular music. Her signature
hit record, “At Last”, is a standard at American weddings.
Ms. James died January 20, 2012 in Riverside, California.
Whitney Houston
Clara Shepard Luper
Bubba Smith
Cleo Johnson (age 88), fashion model, entrepreneur, social
activist. Johnson was among the first black models to
appear on the runway and in print ads for major magazines.
She founded the first black-owned modeling school
for African Americans. She helped found the Modeling
Association of America International, a world-wide
organization of more than 100 modeling schools, and
in 1982 was elected it first African American president.
Ms. Johnson died March 15, 2011, in Washington, D.C.
Albertina Nontsikelelo Sisulu (age 92), South African
freedom fighter. A trained nurse, mother of five children, and
wife of the late anti-apartheid leader Walter Sisulu, she was
twice the subject of South Africa’s infamous banning orders,
and was imprisoned for four years for her advocacy for the
rights of women and children and leadership in the African
National Congress. After the fall of apartheid, she became
a member of Parliament. Mrs. Sisulu died June 2, 2011 in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
Clara Shepard Luper (age 88), educator, civil rights
activist/pioneer. On August 19, 1958, Luper led members
of the Oklahoma City NAACP Youth Council, including
two of her children in a lunch-counter sit-in demonstration
at segregated Katz Drug Store in downtown Oklahoma City.
Fred Shuttlesworth (age 89), minister, civil rights activist.
A former truck driver who became a leader in the fight
for justice and racial equality in the segregated south and
survived bombings, beatings and dozens of arrests in his
efforts to end segregation. Shuttlesworth was known as a
fearless freedom fighter and one of the bravest and most
dynamic leaders of the civil rights movement. Reverend
Shuttlesworth died October 6, 2011 in Birmingham.
William Manning Marable (age 61), was a professor of
public affairs, history and African American Studies at
Columbia University. Mr. Marable founded and directed
the Institute for Research in African-American Studies,
authored several texts and was active in progressive political
causes. At the time of his death, Mr. Marable had completed
a biography of human rights activist Malcolm X, Malcolm X:
A Life of Reinvention. Mr. Marable died April 1, 2011.
Dwight “Heavy D” Myers (age 44), charismatic and rotund
rapper known as Heavy D. His chart-topping hits in the
1980s and 1990s before embarking on careers as an actor
and influential record executive Mr. Myers died November 8,
2011 in Los Angeles.
Pinetop Perkins (age 97), one of the last old-school
bluesmen. He played with Muddy Waters and became the
oldest Grammy winner in 2011. The piano man played with
an aggressive style and sang with a distinctive gravelly voice.
Mr. Perkins died on March 21, 2011 at his home of cardiac
arrest.
Elmer G. “Geronimo” Pratt (age 63), revolutionary,
freedom fighter. As a member of the Los Angeles Black
Panther Party, Pratt was convicted in 1972 of a murder
for which he served 27 years before the conviction was
overturned. Mr. Pratt died June 2, 2011 in his adopted
country, Tanzania.
Sylvia Robinson (age 75), singer, producer. She performed
rhythm-and-blues hits in the 1950s and later found
resounding success as a producer who nurtured the birth
of a new musical genre — hip-hop. Ms. Robinson died on
September 29, 2011.
Bubba Smith (age 66), a college and professional football
star, he went from feared defensive end on the field to
endearing giant in his successful second career as an actor.
Mr. Smith died on August 3, 2011.
Clarice Taylor (age 93), comedian and actress. Taylor
played two memorable characters on long-running and
popular television shows: Harriett on “Sesame Street”,
and Anna Huxtable, mother of Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable, on
“The Cosby Show”, for which she was nominated for an
Emmy Award. She won an Obie Award for her portrayal
of the iconic black comedienne Moms Mabley in the play
“Moms,” and appeared in several full-length motion pictures.
Ms. Taylor died May 30, 2011 in Englewood, New Jersey.
Vesta (Mary Vesta Williams) (age 53), recording
artist, songwriter, and actress. Her signature recording,
“Congratulations,” is a rhythm and blues classic. Ms. Williams
died September 22, 2011 in El Segundo, California.
Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai (age 71), Kenyan
environmental and political activist. In the 1970s, Maathai
founded the Gree ‘n Belt Movement, an environmental
non-governmental organization focused on the planting
of trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights.
In 1986, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, and
in 2004, she became the first African woman to receive
the Nobel Peace Prize for “her contribution to sustainable
development, democracy and peace.” Maathai was an elected
member of Parliament and served as assistant minister for
Environment and Natural Resources in the government of
President Mwai Kibaki between January 2003 and November
2005. Dr. Maathai died September 25, 2011. B
9 B.W.A. Repor t
Book Reviews
Slavery by Another
Name: The
Re-Enslavement
of Black People in
America from the
Civil War to World
War II
By Douglas A. Blackmon
Published by Doubleday,
New York, 2008.
Non-fiction.
As revealed by the author’s words, much is still untold
about the history of the African American experience in
the United States. This watershed historical book exposes
crimes against Black men and women after the Civil War and
Emancipation Proclamation until the beginning of World
War II. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book, it describes how many
forms of forced labor—sharecropping, chain gangs, convict
leasing—were used particularly to build a new post-slavery
Southern economy. Blackmon documents that these new
activities exploited legal loopholes and Federal laws and
ultimately became a keystone in establishing barriers to full
participation of Blacks in the political and socio-economic
systems of the United States, vestiges which remain today.
A Public Broadcast System documentary (PBS) by the same
name aired on PBS stations during Black History Month, and
is an official selection of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
Till You Hear
From Me
By Pearl Cleage Published
by Ballantine Books/One
World, New York, 2010.
Fiction.
A romance novel by the
acclaimed author, this story
is set in Atlanta’s West End
following the election of
the first African American
President of the United
States of America. Cleage lovers are introduced to a new
character, Ida B. Dunbar, a campaign veteran and an aspiring
appointee to the West Wing following her participation in
the election of the new President. Her hopes are almost
dashed as she continues to wait in Washington, D.C. for a call
from the White House: Instead a telephone call from a family
friend urges Ida B. to return to Atlanta. The only daughter of
the Rev. Horace A. Dunbar, a retired former pastor, freedom
fighter/foot soldier, and Atlanta civil rights legend, Ida B.
is concerned that her father, who had registered more than
100,000 new Democratic voters in Georgia, is now caught
up on the “wrong” side of Atlanta’s political scene. A political
operative, Wes Harper, the son of Rev. Dunbar’s best friend
and who grew up in the West End near Ida B., appears as
a very successful “post-racial” political operative, without
loyalty to any one or race, who has been hired to persuade
the Reverend to come to the opposite side of the political
spectrum. The story is Cleage at her best, with many twists
and turns. B
[Submitted by Connie Richardson, B.W.A. Board Member]
10 B.W.A. R e p o r t
Breaking New Ground:
The National Museum of African
American History and Culture
February 22, 2012 marks a new chapter in the history of
the United States: It was the day that the groundbreaking
ceremony for the National Museum of African American
History and Culture (NMAAHC) was held at the Museum’s
five-acre site on the National Mall.
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama
participated in the program, attended by a diverse group
eager for the “green” construction to officially begin.
NMAAHC exemplifies the power of the human spirit—the
tenacity and determination of a people who were once
denied participation in the Smithsonian’s collections. And it
is the pinnacle of a journey begun more than a century ago by
freedmen who desired recognition on the National Mall for
the contributions of people of African descent.
Established on December 16, 2003 by legislation signed by
former President George W. Bush, the mission of the Museum
“is to provide for the collection, study, and establishment of
programs and exhibitions relating to African American life,
art, history and culture,” and “represents a national initiative
of profound cultural importance, one that will impact this
nation for generations to come.” It is the 19th museum of
the Smithsonian Institution, said to be the world’s largest
museum complex and research organization.
You can become involved! For more information about the
groundbreaking ceremony and the museum, as well as how
you can make a financial contribution, visit the website at
nnmaahc.si.edu. B
The Museum is scheduled to open in 2015. According to the
Founding Director of NMAAHC, Lonnie G. Bunch, it “will
be a place of meaning, of memory, of reflection, of laughter
and hope. It will be a beacon that reminds us of what we
once were, illuminates what challenges we still face and it
will point us toward what we can become.” The advent of
NMAAHC is also expected to strengthen and support the
critical work of other local museums across the Nation that
preserve and chronicle black history.
In addition to chronicling the Nation’s African heritage, the
museum is expected to foster a dialogue about race and race
relations, injustice, bondage and deprivation—stimulated
by exhibitions of tangible objects, preserved oral histories,
and new scholarship about the extent of African American
participation in the building of the Nation.
11 B.W.A. Repor t
Of Note
The Association for the Study of African American Life and
History (ASALH) unveiled its “Living Legacy Award” at the
2012 Black History Luncheon, held in Washington, D.C.
Sponsored by ASALH partner Farmers Insurance, the award
was developed in support of the 2012 Black History theme,
“Black Women in American History and Culture.”
The Living Legacy Awards honor living African American
women who are examples of courage and accomplishment.
The awards were launched during Black History Month,
and the first were presented at celebrations held across the
nation. Among those honored during the first phase of the
award are Denise Rolark-Barnes (Publisher, Washington
Informer), Beverly Bond (DJ/Producer/Fashion Model),
Roslyn Brock (Civil Rights Activist), Peggy Cafritz
(Arts and Education Advocate), Lavern Chatman
(Community Advocate, Northern Virginia Urban League),
Marian Wright Edelman (Advocate for Disadvantaged
Americans, and Founder, Children’s Defense Fund); Donna
F. Edwards (Member of Congress, 4th District Maryland),
Evelyn Brooks Higgenbotham (Historian, Harvard
University Administrator), Lisa Leslie (Professional Athlete,
WNBA), Paula Williams Madison (Businesswoman),
Vashti M. McKenzie (Bishop, African Methodist Episcopal
12 B.W.A. R e p o r t
Church), Nancy Todd Noches (Civil Rights Advocate),
Michelle Robinson Obama (First Lady of the United States),
Jan Perry (City Councilwoman, 9th District, Los Angeles,
California), Bernice Johnson Reagon (Civil Rights and
Arts Activist), Paula Whetsel Ribeau (First Lady, Howard
University), Julianna Richardson (Public Historian and
Founder, History Makers), Beverly Robertson (President,
National Civil Rights Museum) and Lynn Whitfield
(Actress).
The second phase of the award, designed to honor the many
unsung African American women across the country engage
in extraordinary work to improve communities, institutions,
organizations and family life, has begun. You can nominate
a local unsung hero. Farmers Insurance is accepting local
nominations for the Living Legacy Award through June 1,
2012. For information about the award and to nominate
your favorite unsung hero, visit http://livethelife.farmers.
com/livinglegacy/ where the nomination form, directions
and contest rules can be found. A maximum of 20 honorees
will be selected; they will be notified no later than August
1, 2012. Each honoree will be invited to attend the 2012
ASALH Annual Meeting, to be held September 26-30, 2012
in Pittsburgh, PA. B
New Landmark: Health Care Legislation
On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed into
law The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
(HCERA). Although hotly debated by some state legislatures
and representatives of Conservative political organizations,
when fully implemented, this landmark legislation will help
the over 32 million uninsured Americans obtain access to
health care coverage. Of signal importance to BWA is the
fact that the legislation also addresses the critical need to
reduce health disparities in African American communities
by investing in health care innovations, research, increasing
diversity of health care providers, and increasing access to
primary care professionals. Consistent with our mission of educating, securing and
protecting the rights of African American women and their
families, the Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. (BWA) included
health care reform in its 2009 – 2011 Legislative Agenda,
and has monitored the movement of this legislation through
Congress, the many debates about its impact on families and
small businesses, and it’s arrival at the United States Supreme
Court. The new law provides several new benefits for all
Americans, and many of these new benefits and protections
are particularly important to African American families.
It is important to understand the provisions of the new law.
While some of the changes became effective in 2010, others
will be phased in over the next several years. Effective 2014,
the bill establishes minimum requirements for health benefit
plans which satisfy the employer and individual mandates.
Some of the provisions of the new health law will not apply
to some “grandfathered” group health plans. Generally,
the grandfather rule requires group health plans to have had
an individual enrolled in the plan on March 23, 2010. The legislation provides for the establishment of a temporary
program that began in 2010 to help uninsured individuals
with preexisting health conditions obtain coverage. By 2014,
failing challenges by state governments and a ruling by the
Supreme Court, most individuals will be required to have
coverage, and state-operated insurance exchanges will be
established offering coverage to uninsured, self-employed
or unemployed individuals. Individuals that are eligible for
coverage through an exchange, and opt not to purchase will
be subject to a penalty. The following is a summary of some
of the key provisions of the new legislation.
Insurance Companies May not Deny Coverage for
Pre-existing Conditions: Since 2010 for children, and
13 B.W.A. Repor t
adults beginning in 2014, group health care plans (including
grandfathered plans) may not deny or drop health insurance
coverage for pre-existing medical conditions. Beginning in
2014, all group health insurance plans will be required to
cover pre-existing conditions.
Bans lifetime limits on benefits and annual limits on
insurance benefits: Prohibits group health plans (including
grandfathered plans) from placing lifetime limits on
benefits, and from using arbitrary annual limits on benefits.
The ban on lifetime limits was effective in 2010, and the ban
on annual limits is effective in 2014. Guarantees free preventive care under new private health
insurance plans: For new health plans, individuals will
not have to pay any out-of- pocket costs for preventive
care, including mammograms, immunizations and other
health screenings. On July 14, 2010, the U.S. Departments
of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services jointly
issued regulations that addressed the preventive health
care requirements established by the health care reform
legislation. The regulations apply to plan years beginning on
and after September 23, 2010, and for calendar year plans;
the rules took effect January 1, 2011.
These regulations require health plans to cover specified
preventive care services without charging participants
any deductible, copayment, or other cost sharing amount.
When new services are added to the list, a plan will have a
one year grace period (and then to the start of the next plan
year) to cover those services at 100 percent. Extends coverage for young adults: Effective September
23, 2010, parents are able to keep their young adult children
covered on their health insurance policies until they reach
14 B.W.A. R e p o r t
age 26. Further, many insurance companies have voluntarily
agreed to continue to insure new college graduates and
other young adults who would lose their coverage before the
September effective date.
Medicare Recipients and Retirees: Out-of-pocket
prescription drug costs will be lowered for medicare
recipients and retirees. The legislation will gradually close
the Medicare Part D coverage gap or “doughnut hole”, and
individuals will receive a $250 rebate check to help pay for
prescription drugs.
A new government website, Healthcare.gov provides detailed
information about affordable health care plans. U.S. Surgeon
General, Regina Benjamin, and former BWA honoree
(2008) has stated: “Expanding access to preventive health
care will help reduce health disparities for 41 million African
Americans.” Focused on improving the lives of Black Women and their
families, the Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. works to eliminate
health care disparities through its own symposiums and
informational materials, and by serving as a resource on
this issue to 15 national Black women’s organizations.
In 2008, BWA hosted a health equity training seminar
for the leadership of its member organizations during the
Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference.
In 2010 and 2011, BWA’s Annual Symposium focused on
breast cancer prevention and education. Our Legislative
Committee will continue to monitor this legislation as it is
implemented, will include a regular column in upcoming
Newsletters regarding its impact on African American
women and their families, and issue News Alerts requiring
individual and collective action. B Haiti’s Women
and Families
Still Need Our
Support
Despite the outpouring of support in the days and
months following one of the world’s most devastating
earthquakes, progress in alleviating poverty and
building a democratic Haitian republic has been
painfully slow. Although long removed from the front
pages and lead stories of international media, the
basic needs for ensuring human dignity still remain.
While aid organizations continue to try to provide
services, current estimates are that as many as 1.5
million people remain displaced or homeless and live in
little more than tent shelters, families and communities
continue to struggle to provide primary and secondary
education for children, medical and health care are
sorely needed, and employment opportunities remain
marginal.
As women and children tend to bear the largest part of the burdens
of disasters (natural and manmade), we share with our readers
BWA’s resolution calling for continued support of Haitian relief
efforts, and urge support for organizations and efforts focused on
the plight of women, children and families.
Resolution Supporting Haitian Relief Efforts
WHEREAS the Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. was established in
1977 and has a mission of educating, securing and protecting the
rights of black women and their families;
WHEREAS on January 12, 2010, Haiti, the poorest country in the
western hemisphere, experienced a devastating earthquake which
registered 7.0, striking the capital city Port-au-Prince, and Leogane,
Jacmel, and Petit Goave, and surrounding areas;
WHEREAS more than 225,000 lives were lost, more than 300,000
were injured and, in all toll, over three million lives were affected by
the earthquake, including more than one million Haitians who are
homeless and displaced;
WHEREAS for the foreseeable future, the Haitian people,
including over 380,000 orphan children, continue to need medical
care and humanitarian assistance from around the world;
WHEREAS the country of Haiti needs a global effort to rebuild
housing for its people and a permanent infrastructure in the areas
hit by the catastrophe; and
WHEREAS Haiti will need trade and other economic assistance to
help establish a thriving economy;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Black
Women’s Agenda, Inc. supports international efforts to provide
assistance to the Haitian people and economy; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Black Women’s
Agenda, Inc. urges its supporters to continue to provide financial
support for the efforts of on-the-ground relief and other
organizations dedicated to rebuilding decent permanent housing,
a permanent infrastructure, and providing economic relief for the
people of Haiti. B
More than 225,000 lives
were lost, more than
300,000 were injured
WHEREAS it is estimated that more than 250,000 homes and
30,000 commercial buildings collapsed or were severely damaged;
15 B.W.A. Repor t
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Published by The Black Women’s Agenda, Inc., an organization dedicated to fostering the concerns, interests and efforts of Black
women’s organizations; working with individuals and organizations dedicated to taking action to end discrimination against women,
particularly Black women; increasing opportunities for women in all aspects of American life; developing and furthering the potential
Kimberly Jeffries Leonard, Ph.D.
Assistant Newsletter Editor
of women, cooperating with and assisting other organizations and individuals with similar concerns and purposes; building bridges
of understanding and cooperation among people of different races, creeds, colors, national origins and backgrounds.Views in the
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