February 04, 2021

By Julianne Malveaux

NNPA Newswire Contributor

I got my first COVID vaccination last week. No big deal, an achy arm, but otherwise, just like a flu shot. The young lady who administered the shot smiled and said, “after you get your second shot, you can get back to normal." I wanted to ask her what was normal, but the man in line behind me seemed impatient, so I smiled and made my way out of the store.

I thought about it all the way home, though. What’s normal? I don’t think crowding thirty or forty young people into a classroom is normal. I don’t believe that food lines snaking for blocks is normal. I don't think that high Black unemployment rates are normal. I don't think the wealth gap is normal.

I don’t think that more than 400,000 people dead is normal. The inability to formally mourn our departed loved ones isn’t normal. Crazy white people storming the Capitol surely isn’t normal. And conspiracy theorist, Marjorie Taylor Green, is so far away from normal that she is on the insanity spectrum.

In the ten months since the pandemic hit, we have seen changes in our communications, our employment, our economy, and more. Many of us, reasonably, yearn for the "normal" days when we could sit at a restaurant and have a meal, go to a play or a concert, invite a bunch of folks over to gather. But we should ask ourselves what was normal about our normal. In other words, were we so comfortable in our world that we didn't look outside our world? We can't miss the food lines now, but there were food lines, too, a year ago. We are focused on disparities now, but those disparities aren't new. Does back to normal mean accepting the inequities and absurdities of life as it was?

Somebody tweeted that "Rona was a disruption, and she is an opportunity." I embrace that sentiment (though I had to do a double-take at "Rona" and pray that nobody chooses to name their child after this virus). This virus is an opportunity for us to scrutinize what we consider normal and how we need to change it.

Let’s start with education and the achievement gap. Students who come from low-income families don’t have the same academic support that others do. They often don't have the technology to do virtual learning or the support to work through their assignments. Too often, their parents are essential workers—nurses, bus drivers, grocery store workers. Do we ever take a look at the people who serve us and notice that they are disproportionately Black and Brown? When we see them do we wonder about their facts of life, about their challenges, or do we know the status quo as "normal"?

Is it normal for teachers’ unions and mayors to be so far apart? If we want students back in their classrooms, why can't we vaccinate every teacher and school worker? But the conflict between teachers and elected officials, especially in Chicago, calls for a national conversation with educators, students, and parents. We've heard from everyone but students in this conversation. What are they thinking and feeling? Is any of this normal?

We never saw mask-wearing as standard, and even now, with more than 400,000 dead, some fools refuse to wear them. But here's the real deal –vaccine or not, I’ll likely be wearing double masks until the end of the year, and so should you. People who have had the vaccine have still tested positive. They still need to wear masks and wash their hands frequently. But too many have made mask wearing a political statement. Our non-mask-wearing former president contracted COVID and got priority treatment and had access to the drug Regeneron, which is not available to the general public. And he still won’t wear a mask, emboldening his sycophants.

I really don't know what is normal anymore, but I am sure that if 2019 was normal, we must embrace the abnormal. Or we need to define the new normal as safe, fair, and equitable. As my anonymous tweeter said, "Rona" is an opportunity for us to check ourselves and maybe get it right.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist and author. She can be reached at juliannemalveaux.com.

February 04, 2021

By Jasmyne A. Cannick

Contributing Writer

The point at which California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic Party should really be worried about the recall is if Black women decide to send a reminder to them both that they still need us.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is no great friend to Black people in his state. He made it clear how he felt about us when he ignored the calls for him to keep a Black woman in the U.S. Senate by replacing outgoing Senator Kamala Harris with another Black woman. So the point at which Newsom and the Democratic Party establishment should really be worried about the efforts to recall him is if Black women decide to send a reminder to them both that they still need us.

The Democratic Party establishment continues to have a fair-weather relationship with Black Democrats--a relationship where they support Black-led issues like criminal justice reform only when it's easy and convenient to do so. Many Democrats are publicly sympathetic and supportive of issues like Black Lives Matter and have no problem using the cause to look good on social media. Still, when it's all said and done--when it really matters--they do not come through with the support or the votes to make institutional changes. We saw that with the last legislative session when the Democratically led Legislature couldn't muster up enough votes to pass one top policing reform bills, and we saw it recently when Newsom ignored the pleas of Black women in his state to make sure they were represented in one of the highest bodies of government in the country.

I don't care how much "steam" the recall campaign gains or what polls say--at the end of the day--Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by almost a 2-1 margin in California, so it's going to take more than the votes of Republicans to get the recall over the finish line. And while many of the Party's go-along-to-get-along Democrats won't budge on their support for Newsom, I know some Democrats who could take him or leave him.

I've been watching the Republican-led recall campaign to recall Newsom with great interest. As both a Black woman who is a Democrat and a political strategist, I couldn't help but notice that during their campaign's signature-gathering phase--they haven't been talking to Black voters--and no--Black Republican Joe Collins doesn't count.

Now to be fair, the Republican Party not talking to Black voters is nothing new. But still, it's something they may want to change if they want a real chance at the recall succeeding.

Franky, as a Black Democrat, I could care less about Newsom being caught at a maskless dinner party at a pricey restaurant. He wasn't the only do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do politician caught breaking their own rules.

As Black Democrats go, we may disagree with Republicans on who should replace Newsom, but we can do without Newsom for our own reasons. 

Long before the coronavirus pandemic, Black unemployment was high in California. The Democrat's support for labor policies that undermine and hurt Black workers was championed by Newsom's administration. From month to month, Blacks in California live in a state of perpetual panic because California officials at every level are seemingly conspiring to do everything they can to price us out of our neighborhoods and homes and force us out of the state altogether. Then there's the fact that Newsom and the Democratically led Legislature talk a good game on criminal justice reform but won't actually vote for it as we saw last year. And yes--Black people are still disproportionately represented in California's prison system. Add to all that, the Democratic Party establishment and Gavin Newsom did not support Black Democrat's push for a Black woman to replace now Vice-President Kamala Harris in the U.S. Senate.

And while I know most Republicans in California could care less about the plight and issues of Black Democrats, there's an argument to be made as to why they might want to start caring.

It might be worth the Republican Party's time to sit down with Black Democrats to see if there's any middle ground to be met.

But let's be clear. We've all heard that politics make strange bedfellows, but no matter how much we dislike Governor Newsom, Black Democrats won't get into bed with supporters of racist far-right movements like the Proud Boys and QAnon. Before that happens, we're more likely to collectively sit it out (with popcorn in hand) and let both the Democratic Party establishment and the recall campaign duke it out on their own.

Fact. Black women tend to vote at higher rates than other groups. Fact. 91% of Black women voted for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden according to NBC News exit poll results. Fact. We are the Democratic Party's most loyal voting group--but don't piss us off.

We don't have much in California, but Black voters still have the power to sway elections, particularly on a statewide campaign to recall a governor.

The last thing Governor Newsom and the Democratic Party establishment want is for Black women calling for Newsom to be recalled. Why? Because Black women vote, but we also know how to get out the vote.

Strategically speaking, Black Democrats have nothing to lose and everything gain. We already belong to a political party that takes our vote and issues for granted. It might be time for us to flex our power and remind the Democratic Party that we're still here and they still need us.

The campaign to recall Governor Newsom would do well to consider that and act accordingly. 

Jasmyne Cannick is an elected member of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party representing the 53rd Assembly District which includes the communities of Adams-Normandie, Koreatown, Boyle Heights, Huntington Park, and Downtown Los Angeles.

December 10, 2020

By Manny Otiko

California Black Media

As someone who has been self-employed as a rideshare driver and a freelance writer, I’ve received a crash course in making sense of the quirks and complications of the American healthcare system.  

You learn very quickly when you’re self-employed that you have to do everything yourself – and, in the process, you have to understand all of it, too. You have to be your own HR department and accounts payable staff. That’s when you realize the value of employer-paid health insurance.

With fulltime employment, in some cases, employers pay all the health care insurance costs. In other cases, they pay half. When your monthly premium is $400, that $200 subsidy could go a long way.

I’m single, but it’s even worse for families. My brother, who has a wife and two children, pays more than $1,000 for his monthly premium.

Fortunately, he makes a good living and can afford it. But many families can’t.  

“The total costs for a typical family of four insured by the most common health plan offered by employers will average $28,166 this year,” according to the annual Milliman Medical Index, an independent assessment of health costs provided by a private risk management firm.

USA Today reports that healthcare costs have jumped $5,000 in two years and, already unaffordable, the prices keep rising. 

I tried to do the responsible thing and buy health insurance, but it becomes prohibitive when you have to foot the bill yourself. Companies were quoting me premiums averaging about $400 per month – even with Obamacare. And with all the other essential bills, such as food, gasoline, rent, adding up, it comes down to a choice of what you can eliminate. 

Like many Americans, you ask yourself what you can do without? I can do without health insurance, but I can’t do without transportation, food and shelter. That’s the central problem with Obamacare. It’s still too expensive and forces you to buy into the complicated healthcare system.  Even with additional Covered California subsidies the costs are still high for freelance workers. 

But after I fell ill during the COVID-19 pandemic, I learned the high cost of not having health insurance, too.

I woke up in the middle of the night, experiencing the worst pain I’ve ever had in my life. I finally called an ambulance and was transported to the hospital. I stayed in the hospital for about six hours. They never performed any surgery on me, or gave me any medication. (I had a kidney stone) But when I got the bill, it was about $15,000. Now, I’m buried in paperwork as I try to get rid of this debt. It’s no wonder that healthcare costs are the no. 1 source of bankruptcy.  

But people have to ask themselves, can you afford not to have health insurance? I chose to risk not having it and now I have close to $15,000 in medical debt. The worse thing is this: even if I had medical insurance, I still would have had a large bill. However, I realize that owing $7,000 in medical bills is not worse than close to $15,000.  

I finally bit the bullet and decided to buy an HMO program that cost me close to $350 per month. That’s not an easy bill to pay. It’s like a car payment. (Fortunately, my car is paid for) When I complained about the cost to a friend, she told me I’d be better off saving the money. But I’ve already been down that road.

Therefore, I urge everyone in situations similar to mine to sign up for insurance through Covered California. It’s necessary. Open enrollment began Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 31, 2021.

This raises an issue Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) talked about during her presidential campaign. Medical insurance is supposed to protect against medical debt. But even if you have it, you still get hit with a pile of bills. As Warren said, medical insurance doesn’t work. It’s false advertising. 

“In 2005, she, along with David Himmelstein, Deborah Thorne and Steffie Woolhandler, Warren published a paper in the journal Health Affairs documenting a memorable statistic: More than 40 % of all bankruptcies in America were a result of medical problems, they wrote. In 2009, they updated that research with an even more startling number: Medical bills were responsible for more than 62 % of all American bankruptcies.”

I favor a single-payer system where everyone gets covered. It also lowers health insurance costs because it reduces the administrative and advertising costs for companies. And no matter what the for-profit healthcare talking points tell us, single-payer systems are more efficient. The United Nations rated the French healthcare system the most efficient, and that’s a single-payer program. And you don’t see large numbers of Canadians crossing the border to go to American for-profit hospitals. 

According to retired healthcare executive Randall Potter, the health insurance industry poured millions into a stealth propaganda campaign when director Michael Moore came out with his movie ‘Sicko.” The 2007 movie pointed out the flaws of the American for-profit system and showed how other countries had much more efficient health systems.  

“The industry knows from years of focus group message testing that terms like ‘socialized medicine’ and ‘government-run health care’ scare many Americans and that many of us respond favorably to terms like ‘choice’ and ‘competition.’ Based on this knowledge, there were several big lies I helped craft — and that are still in circulation today,” said Potter in an NBC News article.  

Whatever the answer is, we need to try something different, because this current system isn’t working. Just look at my story, and there are millions of people like me.