White House issues a Proclamation on Black Maternal Health Week, 2021

President Joe Biden released the following proclimation acknowledging Black Maternal Health Week, 2021:

In the United States of America, a person’s race should never determine their health outcomes, and pregnancy and childbirth should be safe for all.  However, for far too many Black women, safety and equity have been tragically denied.  America’s maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the developed world, and they are especially high among Black mothers, who die from complications related to pregnancy at roughly two to three times the rate of white, Hispanic, Asian American, and Pacific Islander women — regardless of their income or education levels.  This week, I call on all Americans to recognize the importance of addressing the crisis of Black maternal mortality and morbidity in this country. 

Ensuring that all women have equitable access to health care before, during, and after pregnancy is essential.  The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to addressing these unacceptable disparities, and to building a health care system that delivers equity and dignity to Black, Indigenous, and other women and girls of color.

Health care is a right, not a privilege, and our country needs a health care system that works for all of us.  That is something both Vice President Harris and I have fought for throughout our careers.  As a Senator, Vice President Harris was a champion of Black maternal health, introducing legislation to close gaps in access to quality maternal care and educate providers about implicit bias.  And during my time as Vice President, I fought for the Affordable Care Act and to strengthen Medicaid, both of which ensure access to critical services to support maternal health.  Within just a few years of the Affordable Care Act’s passage, Black uninsured rates dramatically declined — a key factor in ensuring better maternal health outcomes — as did the persistent health insurance coverage gap between Black and white Americans, which fell by more than 40 percent in the wake of the law’s implementation.

As we fight to bring an end to the COVID-19 crisis, we will continue to make quality health care more accessible and affordable for all Americans, as we did through the passage of the landmark American Rescue Plan.  We will also work to ensure that everyone — including hospitals, insurance plans, and health care providers — do their part to provide every American with quality, affordable, and equitable care.

Vice President Harris and I are committed to pursuing systemic policies that provide comprehensive, holistic maternal health care that is free from bias and discrimination.  The morbidity and mortality disparities that Black mothers face are not the results of isolated incidents.  Our Nation must root out systemic racism everywhere it exists, including by addressing unequal social determinants of health that often contribute to racial disparities such as adequate nutrition and housing, toxin-free environments, high-paying job sectors that provide paid leave, and workplaces free of harassment and discrimination.

Addressing systemic barriers across the board will improve outcomes for Black mothers and their families, and make our entire country stronger, healthier, and more prosperous.  At the same time, the United States must also grow and diversify the perinatal workforce, improve how we collect data to better understand the causes of maternal death and complications from birth, and invest in community-based organizations to help reduce the glaring racial and ethnic disparities that persist in our health care system. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 11 through April 17, 2021, as Black Maternal Health Week.  I call upon all Americans to raise awareness of the state of Black maternal health in the United States by understanding the consequences of systemic discrimination, recognizing the scope of this problem and the need for urgent solutions, amplifying the voices and experiences of Black women, families, and communities, and committing to building a world in which Black women do not have to fear for their safety, their wellbeing, their dignity, and their lives before, during, and after pregnancy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

Kaniya Weddle is Missing!

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Authorities are asking for the public’s assistance in locating a woman who has been missing since Wednesday.

30-year-old Kaniya Weddle may be traveling in a 2019 Black Jeep Cherokee, license plate: 550 -YVI.

She was last seen around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

If you have any information regarding where Kaniya Weddle may be, call investigators at 501-371-4829.

Patricia Ramsey Appointed President of Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York

The board of trustees of the City University of New York appointed Patricia Ramsey as the sixth president of Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn. The CUNY senior college, a predominantly Black institution that was established in response to community advocacy in 1970 and named for the iconic civil rights leader who was slain seven years earlier in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi. His murderer was not convicted for more than three decades.

Medgar Evers College enrolls nearly 5,800 students, according to the most recent data supplied to the U.S. Department of Education. African Americans make up 76 percent of the student body.

Dr. Ramsey, whose appointment is effective May 1, will be the first woman to serve as the president of Medgar Evers College. A biologist by training, she comes to CUNY from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund in Washington, D.C., where she spent the past year as a senior executive fellow. She previously served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.

Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of the slain civil rights leader and noted social activist, said that “Dr. Ramsey is a passionate, courageous, and innovative educator with a well-established track record of inspiring students, faculty, and administration at historically Black colleges and universities. Dr. Ramsey is committed to creating an environment in which students know they are valued for their pursuit of excellence in their educational endeavors, and where their success is understood to be inextricably linked to that of the community. Our family is very grateful to the MEC family, community, and CUNY for their dedication to this new beginning, which will truly honor the life and legacy of Medgar Wiley Evers and brings a promising new future to the college that was named for him.”

In accepting the appointment, Dr. Ramsey stated that “during these times of heightened awareness of social justice issues, I have the unique opportunity to lead Medgar Evers College, an institution with social justice in its DNA. It is my firm belief that if we work together, we can move Medgar Evers College to a new level of excellence.”

Dr. Ramsey earned a bachelor’s degree in biology education from Norfolk State University in Virginia. She holds a master’s degree in botany from Howard University, a master’s degree in biology from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in biology from Georgetown University.

NAACP PRESIDENT’S STATEMENT ON RECKLESS KILLING OF DAUNTE WRIGHT

NAACP President and CEO, Derrick Johnson, released the following statement in response to the reckless killing of Daunte Wright:

“Daunte Wright was shot and killed yesterday, just north of where George Floyd was suffocated less than a year ago. Both were fathers, both were Black men, both died at the hands of police. Whether it be carelessness and negligence, or a blatant modern-day lynching, the result is the same. Another Black man has died at the hands of police.”

Hank Aaron’s name will replace a Confederate general’s on an Atlanta school

An Atlanta high school that bears the name of a Confederate Army general who was a leader of the Ku Klux Klan will be renamed for Hank Aaron, the Hall of Famer who broke baseball’s career home record and challenged racial barriers.

The Atlanta Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to change the name of Forrest Hill Academy, named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, to Hank Aaron New Beginnings Academy. School district policy requires a five-year waiting period after the death of a notable person unless the vote to change the name of a school building is unanimous. Aaron died in January at age 86, and the name of the public alternative school for middle and high school students will occur sometime this year.

“It is very important that we understand our history,” board member Michelle Olympiadis said during the Monday meeting. “It’s very important that we understand where we are coming from.”

[SOURCE: WASHINGTON POST]