NAACP Culpeper #7058

Also Serving Madison and Rappahannock Counties

Tag: COVID-19 (Page 1 of 2)

Why U.S. maternal mortality is more than ten times the estimated rates of some other high income countries

March 21, 2023 /

The U.S. rate for 2021 was 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, which is more than ten times the estimated rates of some other high-income countries, including Australia, Austria, Israel, Japan, and Spain which all hovered between 2 and 3 deaths per 100,000 in 2020. OB-GYN Dr. Linda Burke explained the health policy choices that she sees at the root of this disparity, which rose sharply in 2021, and which in all years has been especially deadly for Black women.

Maternal deaths in the U.S. spiked in 2021, CDC reports

In 2021, the U.S. had one of the worst rates of maternal mortality in the country’s history, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report found that 1,205 people died of maternal causes in the U.S. in 2021. That represents a 40% increase from the previous year.

COVID-19 Testing and Vaccine Locator

September 13, 2021 /

The CDC now recommends that people whose immune systems are compromised moderately to severely should receive an additional dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine after an initial 2-dose series. Widespread vaccination is a critical tool to help stop the pandemic. Visit CDC’s webpage at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/immuno.html to learn more about who should get a booster shot.

For more places to get vaccinated, please visit https://www.vaccines.gov/search/

If you need to get tested for COVID-19, please visit the Virginia Department of Health’s test locator at https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/covid-19-testing-sites/.

COVID-19 Variants, Vaccinations and the Black Community

August 18, 2021 /

As the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus continues to rise, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new guidance on face masks.

The CDC recommends that people, regardless of their vaccination status, wear a face mask in certain indoor situations where there is a risk of “substantial and high transmission” of COVID-19. This includes schools, retail stores, and some businesses.

This comes as California becomes the first U.S. state to mandate regular COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated teachers as their state data shows a rising 22% new cases per week.

While health disparities leave African Americans vulnerable to COVID-19 at higher rates, our research shows that 51% of African Americans say they are fully vaccinated, and 54% continue to wear masks in public and private settings.

Click to Find COVID-19 Vaccines Near You

While we continue to learn more about the coronavirus and its delta and lambda variants, the NAACP’s COVID. Know More portal has information and resources you need to protect yourself, your family, and your community. Visit the website today, and fight back with facts.

Remember, if one of us is vulnerable, all of us are vulnerable.

Read. Share. Protect. Visit the COVID Know More information hub for additional insights. We’re in this, together.

 

FIGHT WITH FACTS

Unmasked: A COVID-19 Virtual Town Hall

February 24, 2021 /

 

In the next episode of the series on Thursday, February 25 at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT, we will provide an update on the spread of COVID-19 and the latest research on vaccines, therapies, and options.

 

 

Moderated by ABC News Senior National Affairs Correspondent, Deborah Roberts, we will speak with champions at the forefront of stabilizing the crisis and ensuring a healthy recovery including:

  • Derrick Johnson, President & CEO, NAACP
  • Dr. Chris Pernell, Public Health Physician
  • Dr. Reed Tuckson, Founding Member and CEO, Black Coalition Against COVID-19
  • Dr. Cameron Webb, Senior Policy Advisor for Equity, White House COVID-19 Response Team

 

 

How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black Men

December 23, 2020 /

While COVID-19 has killed 1 out of every 800 African Americans, a toll that overwhelms the imagination, even more stunning is the deadly efficiency with which it has targeted young Black men like Bates. One study using data through July found that Black people ages 35 to 44 were dying at nine times the rate of white people the same age, though the gap slightly narrowed later in the year. And in an analysis for ProPublica this summer using the only reliable data at the time accounting for age, race and gender, from Michigan and Georgia, Harvard researcher Tamara Rushovich found that the disparity was greatest in Black men.

They were pillars of their communities and families, and they are not replaceable. To understand why COVID-19 killed so many young Black men, you need to know the legend of John Henry.

How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black Men

The Rev. Dr. Kejuane Artez Bates was a big man with big responsibilities. The arrival of the novel coronavirus in Vidalia, Louisiana, was another burden on a body already breaking under the load. Bates was in his 10th year with the Vidalia Police Department, assigned as a resource officer to the upper elementary school.

An Open Letter to the Members of the Culpeper School Board and Board of Supervisors

November 21, 2020 /

October 23, 2020

Dear County School Board and Board of Supervisors Members:

The members of the NAACP Culpeper Branch #7058 are concerned about the most recent efforts by our Board of Supervisors (BOS) and CCPS School Board to politicize the operations and funding of our public schools. Various members of the BOS seem to see the difficult decisions made by the School Board relative to the safe operation of schools during the pandemic as an opportunity to score political points by diverting county funding away from our public schools.

During the budget process last spring, the school system was asked to propose a minimal operational budget in part because the county was unsure of its ability to fund the schools and other essential services throughout the pandemic. This request was honored by the school system but the BOS shaved an additional $1.4 million from the proposal. Perhaps the motivation leading the county at the time was to consider how they would move forward if tax revenues dropped due to lower sales tax collections. However, only a few months later the county finds itself with no such sales tax deficit; in fact, revenues are ahead of last year. In spite of this, several supervisors have expressed a desire to reduce school funding not for the sake of our community, but for their own political gain.

If left unchecked, the BOS (with both the implicit and explicit consent of a majority of the CCPS School Board) would like to cripple the public school system to the point of only being able to provide the bare minimum Standards of Quality (SOQ) requirements mandated by the State. What would this type of funding and (by consequence) educational scenario mean for our children?

What is being haphazardly suggested by certain members of both the BOS and CCPS School Board flies in the face of both the professionals who have made it their life’s work to educate as well as our community members who have overwhelmingly made their choice in favor of the virtual learning model. This ill-advised course of action will cause the elimination of many popular educational programs that exceed the State’s minimum requirements. In addition, it will cause overcrowding of classes/school buildings inconsistent with CDC and VA guidelines. It may also inadvertently cause an exodus of great educators (educators who are both a part of our community and who commute to it). These valued professionals need not travel farther than a couple of counties over not only to make more money but to make that money in a safer and more supportive environment. This is not the quality of education nor the educational environment that the Culpeper NAACP wants for our students or for our community; nor is it the quality that you should afford said community and our students.
 
Nearly 60% of parents have opted to have their children attend virtual classes per the State and order of the Governor; it is also their right. It is the responsibility of the School Board to honor this request and the responsibility of the BOS to ensure the adequate funding of these initiatives. As a side note, it is also the responsibility of the School Board and BOS to follow all CDC and State Department of Health guidelines pertaining to COVID19 pandemic safety. We will not sit by passively as some School Board and BOS members push for a dangerous “herd immunity” strategy that is rooted in political doctrine more than science and data. In the words of William Hasseltine, President and Chair of ACCESS Health International, “Herd immunity is another word for mass murder.” Our community is highly susceptible to the virus and our economy, easily influenced by its effects on small businesses—we don’t have the time or resources, or people to waste.

In light of all of these concerns, we’d also wish to point out the lack of diversity on both the BOS and CCPS School Board. The abrupt and untimely resignation of Board Chair Michelle North leaves a vacuum in terms of steady leadership and we are asking that the process of filling the vacated seat include more of a concerted effort on the part of the BOS and CCPS School Board to reach out to an expanded pool of applicants. We wish for applicants who will provide more diverse and inclusive perspectives to augment the current board’s makeup. In order for the voices of the entire community to be heard, we must have a representative on the Board who understands both our background and ideals.

Sincerely,

Culpeper NAACP Branch #7058

This Election is the Most Important in a Century

October 30, 2020 /

While COVID-19 has killed 225,000 people in the U.S., from all racial and socio-economic backgrounds, it has been twice as lethal for Black Americans. The resulting economic recession cost 22 million people their jobs, but disproportionately impacted people of color. And the slow economic recovery is playing out along racial lines, too: by September, only 7% of white workers were still unemployed, compared to 12% of Black ones. Meanwhile, police violence and its aftermath has an uneven impact on communities of color

NAACP President: Will This Democracy Be Recognizable?

NAACP Derrick Johnson on the stakes of this election and what his organization is doing to turn out the vote

DeVos Sued by Public School Parents

July 26, 2020 /

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 22, 2020

Contacts:

Marc Banks / dbanks@naacpnet.org

Ashley Levett, (334) 296-0084 / ashley.levett@splcenter.org

Sharon Krengel, (973) 624-1815, x24 / skrengel@edlawcenter.org

 

NATIONAL – A rule issued by the U.S. Department of Education this month coerces school districts to use an illegal process to inflate the amount of federal COVID-19 aid they must share with private schools. The rule will drastically diminish the resources available to support public school children and historically underserved student populations during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a lawsuit filed today by public school parents, districts, and the NAACP. The lawsuit seeks to block the rule.

The lawsuit, NAACP v. DeVos, explains that the rule imposes illegal and harmful requirements on the emergency relief funds allocated to public school districts under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Under the rule, school districts must divert more funding for “equitable services” to private school students than the law requires or face onerous restrictions on the use of those funds in their public schools. Both options violate the clear language and intent of the CARES Act and will undermine district efforts to adequately serve students who desperately need services and supports due to the impacts of the pandemic.

The CARES Act directs public school districts to calculate the amount they must set aside for private schools based on the number of low-income students enrolled in private schools. However, DeVos’ rule forces school districts to comply with one of two illegal options, either: (1) allocate CARES Act funds for private schools based on all students enrolled in private school, which includes students from affluent families, or (2)  allocate these funds based on the number of low-income students at private schools, but face severe restrictions on how the rest of the district’s CARES Act funds can be used, including a prohibition on their use to serve any students who do not attend Title I schools.

The rule was first introduced in April as non-binding guidance from Secretary DeVos and received widespread criticism from education leaders and lawmakers that the guidance violated the CARES Act and would leave districts without resources essential to address the impacts of COVID-19. Several state attorneys general have also filed suit to challenge these new rules.

“Amid a national health crisis, Education Secretary Besty DeVos is robbing public school children of desperately needed relief and diverting it to private schools,” said Derrick Johnson, president, and CEO, NAACP. “This is a new low, even for an administration intent on promoting inequality in education. Children and families across the nation are facing unprecedented risks to their safety and educational opportunities. COVID-19 has magnified the hardships for children from low-income households and diminished access to quality instruction, digital technology, nutrition, social development, and other vital resources. These are consequences that will last a lifetime.”

“Forcing districts to spend even more funding on private schools exacerbates existing inequities in Arizona,” said Beth Lewis, Title I school parent and teacher in the Tempe Elementary School District and co-founder of grassroots advocacy group Save Our Schools Arizona. “Our public schools have been defunded for decades and already lose hundreds of millions of dollars to private schools via vouchers every single year. Secretary DeVos’s binding rule forces our neighborhood schools to give desperately needed federal aid to private schools that have already accepted small business bailouts. Meanwhile, Title I public schools like mine have to rely on local charities and donors to help us feed students and stock classrooms. This rule will harm the students and families who need resources the most.”

The coronavirus pandemic has focused the nation’s attention on the essential role public schools play in the lives of families and communities. Since closing buildings in March, public schools across the country have worked tirelessly to maintain instruction and provide students with meals, access to technology, health services, and social and emotional supports. Public schools now need more – not fewer – resources. Yet, Secretary DeVos continues to exploit the pandemic to promote her political agenda of funneling taxpayer dollars to private schools.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are represented pro bono by the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP, as well as Education Law Center (ELC) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The organizations collaborate on Public Funds Public Schools (PFPS), a national campaign to ensure public funds are used exclusively to maintain, support, and strengthen the nation’s public schools.

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About NAACP

Founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. We have over 2,200 units and branches across the nation, along with well over 2M activists. Our mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.

The NAACP is a c4 organization (contributions are not tax-deductible), and we have a partner c3 organization known as NAACP Empowerment Programs (contributions are fully tax-deductible as allowed by the IRS).

NOTE: The Legal Defense Fund – also referred to as the NAACP-LDF was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but separated in 1957 to become a completely separate entity. It is recognized as the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization and shares our commitment to equal rights.

 

About PFPS 

Public Funds Public Schools (PFPS) is a national campaign that works to ensure public funds for education are used exclusively to maintain, support, and strengthen our nation’s public schools.  The campaign is supported by the Southern Poverty Law Center, SPLC Action Fund, Education Law Center, and Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. For more information, visit www.pfps.org.

The post DeVos Sued by Public School Parents, NAACP, and School Districts to Block Illegal Rule That Diverts Critical COVID-19 Aid from Public Schools to Private Schools appeared first on NAACP.

George Floyd’s Autopsy and the Structural Gaslighting of America

June 8, 2020 /

The world was gaslit by misreporting about George Floyd’s initial autopsy report. As concerned physicians, we write to deconstruct the misinformation and condemn the ways this weaponization of medical language reinforced white supremacy at the torment of Black Americans.

 

George Floyd’s Autopsy and the Structural Gaslighting of America
The weaponization of medical language emboldened white supremacy with the authority of the white coat. How will we stop it from happening again?


https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/george-floyds-autopsy-and-the-structural-gaslighting-of-america/

The Black Patients’ Guide to COVID-19

May 16, 2020 /

The Black Patients’ Guide to COVID-19
By Dr. Ruth Arumala, in partnership with Color Of Change 

On constant loops on every news outlet and social media feed is the looming risk of contracting the novel “Coronavirus” and the developing life-threatening COVID-19 disease. With no available vaccination and only experimental disease-fighting drugs available, the highly contagious virus has produced an unprecedented worldwide pandemic.

Unfortunately, in the United States, there are recent reports from various metropolitan areas such as New Orleans and Chicago that the virus disproportionately results in severe disease and mortality in Black people. In order to adequately combat this disparity, Black Americans must be armed with accurate knowledge about the viral illness and ways to navigate the current healthcare environment.

MYTHS VS. FACTS

MYTH: The Coronavirus does not affect Black People.
FACT: False. The Coronavirus is impacting Black Americans at higher rates and resulting in more severe disease. In Louisiana for example, Black Americans make up 32% of the population, yet comprise 70% of Coronavirus deaths. In Chicago, Black people are dying at six times the rate that of white people. Similar disparities are occurring all over the country.1

MYTH: The Coronavirus only affects older, sick individuals.
FACT: False. There have been reports of infants as young as four months old with severe symptoms of COVID-19. And one of the most heartbreaking U.S. deaths occurred when five year old, Skylar Herbert passed away in Detroit.2

MYTH: If I wear a mask, I do not have to practice social distancing.
FACT: False. In order to adequately protect yourself and others from the Coronavirus, you should continue to practice social distancing, while also adhering to the new CDC recommendations to wear masks that cover your mouth and nose.

BEST PRACTICES WHEN YOU SUSPECT YOU OR YOUR LOVED ONE HAS COVID-19:

The known symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, chills, muscle aches, difficulty breathing, loss of taste and or smell, nausea, vomiting, and a change in bowel movements, particularly diarrhea. Although these can also be symptoms of the common cold, influenza infection or seasonal allergies, we need to proceed with caution during the peak or near the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

If you are experiencing these symptoms:

  • Call your health provider.
  • Be very specific about your symptoms.
  • If there are any known contacts that have tested positive for the Coronavirus, immediately disclose that information to your provider.
  • Include any underlying health conditions and what you do for a living–especially if you are public-facing, an essential worker, or have not been able to “shelter in place.”
  • If you are experiencing persistent fevers and sustained shortness of breath, please present to the nearest emergency department. This indicates severe disease.

If you are sent to an emergency room or urgent care, be sure to include the following inquires about your care

  • Specifically, ask to be tested for COVID-19 and indicate any underlying health conditions.
  • If you are given an alternative diagnosis, ask if you should self-quarantine, as well as the specific amount of time you should remain in self-quarantine.
  • Ask your provider if you should replace personal hygiene items like toothbrushes or pillowcases.
  • Ask your ER provider if a chest X-Ray is indicated.
  • Set a follow-up appointment with your provider with a specific date which can be done via telemedicine. As a general rule, everyone seen in the hospital should follow up with a provider in 7-14 days.
  • Do not leave the emergency room without having all of your questions answered and having a good sense of the severity of your symptoms.


If you feel that your symptoms are not being taken seriously:

  • Be persistent. Reiterate your symptoms and any underlying health conditions in a calm manner.
  • Share your fear, anxiety, and mental anguish about contracting the virus and developing the disease.
  • Ask for denial of a test to be noted in your chart.

Ask the provider if they have access to tests. If they do not, ask for the closest testing location.

Although the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic can produce significant anxiety and trepidation, there are ways to successfully prevent and navigate this disease. Please do your part to stay at home, wash your hands frequently, clean hard surfaces several times per day, wear face coverings when in public, and maintain social distancing (> 6 feet from others) when in public.

Until justice is real,

Jade, Rashad, Arisha, Brandi, Johnny, Evan, Amanda, Eesha, Samantha, Marcus, FolaSade, Jennette, Ciera and the rest of the Color Of Change team

 

References

  1.  “The coronavirus is affecting and killing black Americans at alarming rates,” Washington Post, 7 April 2020. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/246445?t=12&akid=42627%2E1298081%2EG4RwzZ
  2. “5-year-old daughter of Detroit first responders dies after being diagnosed with coronavirus,” CNN, 21 April 2020. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/246446?t=14&akid=42627%2E1298081%2EG4RwzZ

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

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