Greene County Democrat

Category: Health

  • Newswire: World AIDS Day to address inequalities between global South and North

    Flyer for World AIDS Day

     

    Nov. 28, 2022 (GIN) – Every year, on the 1st of December, the world commemorates World AIDS Day. People worldwide unite to show support for those living with HIV and remember those who have passed on from AIDS-related illnesses.
     
    Ten years ago, HIV had infected at least 10 percent of the population in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Some 50,000 infections were reported in the U.S. per year over the same time period.
     
    In response, African AIDS-activists took to the streets and to the halls of the government to demand prevention programs – such as the Use a Condom campaign, free HIV testing and the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation’s outreach programs.
     
    The programs have seen a measure of success. AIDS-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2011 were 33 percent less than the number in 2005. New HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa in 2011 showed a 25 percent decrease from 2001.
     
    New HIV infections in the U.S. declined 8% between 2015 and 2019. Higher rates are found for people of color, Latinos and people of mixed ethnicities.
     
    In 1990, to address the early HIV numbers, Abdurrazack “Zackie” Achmat of South Africa stepped up to become one of the iconic AIDS crusaders and the backbone of movements advocating for the rights of gay and lesbian South Africans, as well for millions of underprivileged people living with AIDS. 
     
    His activist group – the Treatment Action Campaign – fought for crucial drugs for low-income South Africans while fighting a government which denied the existence of the AIDS epidemic and the pharmaceutical companies that profited off the lack of intervention.
     
    South Africa now runs the world’s largest HIV treatment program. Of the 5.4-million people on antiretroviral treatments as of June, roughly 60% are already on dolutegravir – a drug that is freely available, and has raised life expectance from 49 to 60 years old.
     
    Of the many AIDS activists across the continent and in the U.S., these are some of the many activists in each region:
     
    Inviolata Mbwavi: the first CEO of the National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV in Kenya. At the time of her death in 2020 she was National Coordinator of the International Community of Women Living with HIV that addressed the needs of women and girls, gay men and transgender people.
     
    Robinah Babirye: an advocate for young people of Uganda living with HIV and passionate about the issues affecting the Girl Child.
     
    Emma Touny Waundjua Tuhepha: the first Namibian woman to state publicly that she was HIV positive. Along with 130 HIV-positive activists, she declared their status in the border town of Rundu, insisting it is AIDS, not the border war with Unita rebels that was the real threat to their survival.
     
    Mizé of Lubango in southern Angola: Helping to transform the lives of women living with HIV. Diagnosed with HIV at an early age, Mizé took her status in stride, culminating in her key role in the formation of PRAZEDOR, a support group whose meetings are attended by 15 to 20 women at a time.
     
    A small selection of U.S. AIDS activists include: California Rep. Barbara Lee, Phil Wilson, Peter Staley, DeeDee Chamblee, Antwan Matthews, and Katrina Haslip.
     

  • Newswire: DOJ wants a manager to oversee the troubled water system in Jackson, Mississippi

    Community groups distribute bottled water in Jackson, MS

    By The Associated Press

    JACKSON, Miss. — The federal government filed a proposal Tuesday to appoint a manager for the troubled water system in Mississippi’s capital city, which nearly collapsed in late summer and continues to struggle.
    The Justice Department said in a news release that the proposal is meant to be an interim measure while the federal government, the city of Jackson and the Mississippi State Department of Health try to negotiate a judicially enforceable consent decree. The goal is to achieve long-term sustainability of the system and the city’s compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and other laws.
    The city and the state health department have signed the proposal, which needs approval of a federal judge.
    The Justice Department on Tuesday also filed a complaint on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency against Jackson, alleging that the city has failed to provide drinking water that is reliably compliant with the Safe Drinking Water Act. According to the agreement, that litigation will be put on hold for six months while all parties try to improve the water system.
    Edward “Ted” Henifin was appointed as interim third-party manager of the Jackson water system and Water Sewer Business Administration, the city’s water billing department. An online profile of Henifin says he is a registered professional engineer who served 15 years as general manager of the Hampton Roads Sanitation District in Virginia. Before that, he served as director of public works for the city of Hampton, Virginia.
    The proposal lists 13 projects that Henifin will be tasked with implementing. The projects are meant to improve the water system’s near-term stability, according to a news release. Among the most pressing priorities is a winterization project to make the system less vulnerable. A cold snap in 2021 left tens of thousands of people in Jackson without running water after pipes froze.
    Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in the news release that the Justice Department is “taking action in federal court to address long-standing failures in the city of Jackson’s public drinking water system.”
    “The Department of Justice takes seriously its responsibility to keep the American people safe and to protect their civil rights,” Garland said. “Together with our partners at EPA, we will continue to seek justice for the residents of Jackson, Mississippi. And we will continue to prioritize cases in the communities most burdened by environmental harm.”
    EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who has been to Jackson four times in the past year, said the Justice Department’s action “marks a critical moment on the path to securing clean, safe water for Jackson residents,″ adding that he is grateful to Garland for acting quickly on the city’s water crisis.
    “Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege to spend time with people on the ground in Jackson — many who’ve struggled with access to safe and reliable water for years,″ Regan said. “I pledged that EPA would do everything in its power to ensure the people of Jackson have clean and dependable water, now and into the future. While there is much more work ahead, the Justice Department’s action marks a critical moment on the path to securing clean, safe water for Jackson residents.″
    Jackson has had water problems for decades. Most of the city lost running water for several days after heavy rainfall exacerbated problems at the city’s main water treatment plant in late August. When that happened, Jackson had already been under a boil-water advisory for a month because health inspectors had found cloudy water that could make people ill.
    The boil-water advisory was lifted in mid-September, but many people remain skeptical about water quality.
    About 80% of Jackson’s 150,000 residents are Black, and about a quarter of the population lives in poverty.

  • Newswire : Montgomery school board votes to remove confederate names from schools

    BY: Josh Moon, ALPolitical Reporters

    Two confederate figures will be replaced by a renowned Black scientist and several Civil Rights Era figures. That, of course, is ludicrous. Lee was a slave owner who beat Black and tortured other humans for his own benefit. Davis was the leader of a traitorous revolt against this country – a revolt centered entirely on the issue of slave labor. In addition, neither man was from Montgomery, or even Alabama, and only Davis spent a miniscule amount of time in the state. 
    In the meantime, Dr. Percy Julian was born in Montgomery and became one of the first Black scientists to earn a doctorate degree. He held more than 130 chemical patents and his work – pioneering the synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants – still influences the lives of every American on a daily basis. 
    Judge Frank Johnson served as a federal judge in Montgomery and issued some of the most famous and consequential rulings of the Civil Rights Era. He is widely hailed as a champion of equality and justice, and some of his decisions still serve as precedent today. 
    The Montgomery County School Board voted Thursday to officially remove the names of confederates from two city high schools and rename the schools after civil rights leaders, a federal judge and a renowned Black chemist. 
    The school formerly known as Jefferson Davis High will be renamed Dr. Percy Julian High. Former Robert E. Lee High will now be called JAG High, an acronym combining the first initial of the last names of Judge Frank Johnson, Ralph Abernathy and Rev. Robert Graetz. 
    “I’m glad we were able to put it on the table and move it forward,” said Montgomery Superintendent Melvin Brown, who made the formal recommendation for the name changes. “We can now get this change going in a positive direction. The bottom line is we’re going to make decisions based on what our kids need and not based around whatever nostalgia might exist.”
    The renaming of the two high schools has been, unfortunately, a controversial issue, and the renaming of the schools did not receive unanimous approval from the county board. Two members voted against it, with one of those members proclaiming that choosing the civil rights leaders and a Black scientist was just as divisive as naming the schools for a confederate general and the former confederate president. 
    Ralph Abernathy, a Baptist minister, was one of the most consequential figures of the Civil Rights Movement, working hand in hand with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Abernathy helped create the Montgomery Improvement Association, which launched the 1955 Bus Boycott – the starting point to the Civil Rights Movement. He also founded the Southern Christian Leadership Council and led hundreds of protests and movements in the name of equality. 
    And Rev. Robert Graetz was one of the few white ministers to participate in the Civil Rights Movement. Graetz and his wife, Jeannie, took over a small, predominantly Black church in Montgomery just prior to the Bus Boycott and helped facilitate the transportation and other needs of the participants. Their home was bombed multiple times as a result. 
    “The community wanted the names (of the schools) to be reflective of the people who live in Montgomery now,” said board member Arica Watkins-Smith.

  • Newswire : Racist sentenced to Life in Prison for Buffalo mass killing of African Americans

    TOPS supermarket in Buffalo, NY

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent


    A white man who traveled to a Buffalo grocery store in May and killed 10 African Americans, including Black Press writer Katherine Massey, pled guilty to 25 criminal counts on Monday and will spend the rest of his life in prison.
    
A grand jury previously indicted Payton Gendron, 19, on domestic terrorism, first-degree murder, attempted murder, hate crimes, and weapons possession. A single domestic terrorism motivated by hate charge carries an automatic life sentence upon conviction.
    
Prosecutors said Gendron acknowledged that he committed the heinous crimes “for the future of the white race.”
    
A lawyer for the victims indicated relief that the state’s case didn’t go to trial.
“It avoids a lengthy trial that they believe would be very difficult for the families,” said Terrence Connors, an attorney representing the victims’ families.“I think it was pretty clear they had no real defense.”
    
The self-described white supremacist, Gendron, previously pled not guilty to federal hate crime charges. Federal law allows for the death penalty in those cases.
    
He still faces 27 federal counts, including ten counts of hate crimes resulting in deaths, three counts of hate crimes involving an attempt to kill, and 13 counts of using, carrying, or discharging a firearm related to a hate crime.
    
Prosecutors said Gendron possessed a 180-page manifesto that revealed troubling perceptions the self-avowed white supremacist had. He complained of the dwindling size of the white population and included his fears of ethnic and cultural replacement of white people.
    
Gendron described himself as a fascist, a white supremacist, and an anti-Semite.
His live-streamed shooting spree has left at least ten dead and several more wounded.
    
Unlike the many unarmed Black people killed during encounters with law enforcement, the white racist is alive to plead not guilty in court.
    
“While past violent white supremacist attacks seem to have factored into this heinous act, we must acknowledge that extremist rhetoric espoused by some media and political leaders on the right promoting theories that vilify or dehumanize segments of our society like ‘the great replacement theory’ is a factor too,” wrote U.S. House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson in an earlier statement.
    
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell added that the organization condemns the white supremacist terrorist attack targeting Black men and women in Buffalo and the racist rhetoric that has sparked such violence.
    
“The constant repetition of white supremacist conspiracy theories on social media and even mainstream media outlets has led to horrific violence in places as distant as Christchurch, El Paso, Oslo, and Charleston,” Mitchell asserted earlier.
    
“Those who promote racism, white supremacy, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of bigotry must be held accountable for the violence they inspire.”
Mitchell added that CAIR has often spoken against those who promote the “great replacement” and other racist conspiracy theories.
    
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told National Newspaper Publishers Association’s live daily morning show, Let It Be Known, that Gendron surveilled both the community and the grocery store as part of the attack’s planning.
    
Brown said the teen surveilled the area for several days and targeted a busy place in an area predominantly populated by Black people. Gendron’s manifesto noted, “Zip code 14208 in Buffalo has the highest Black percentage that is close enough to where I live.”
According to the U.S. Census, the zip code is 78 percent Black and among the top 2 percent of zip codes nationwide with the highest percentage of the Black population. In addition, it has the highest rate of the Black population of any zip code in upstate New York.
    
“Well, this manifesto tells everything to us. And that is what’s so bone-chilling about
it is that there is the ability for people to write and subscribe to such philosophies filled with hate,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said after the shootings.
    
“The white supremacist acts of terrorism that are being fermented on social media and to know that what this one individual did has been shared with the rest of the world as well as the live-streaming of this military-style execution that occurred in the streets of my hometown.”
    
Massey, one of Gendron’s victims, spent her life trying to clean up and help her community. While she retired from Blue Cross Blue Shield, Massey, 72, remained active in her community as the Cherry Street block club president and as a columnist for the Buffalo Challenger, an NNPA member newspaper.
“She was the greatest person you will ever meet in your life,” her nephew, Demetrius Massey, told reporters.

     

  • Newswire: Vernice Miller-Travis, a crusader who continues the struggle to weed out environmental racism

    Vernice Miller-Travis

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Vernice Miller-Travis has consistently recognized racism, including how race has played a significant role in environmental policy.
    She’s the vice chair of Clean Water Action’s board of directors, executive vice president for environmental and social justice at Metropolitan Group, and co-founder of We Act for Environmental Justice.
    Miller-Travis said that it’s her job to analyze data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list of national priorities.
    In that way, she’s able to keep abreast of hazardous waste sites in the United States, including the ones that pose an immediate health and environmental threat.
    “You get to see the pattern,” Miller-Travis told National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.
    “The pattern around the racial composition of who lives in a particular place in proximity to a hazardous waste site is not random,” she said during a riveting conversation inside NNPA’s state-of-the-art television studios in Washington.
    The full discussion will air on Chavis’ PBS-TV Show, The Chavis Chronicles.
    And when there’s any pushback, Miller-Travis stands at the ready.
    “When they ask whether they’re being accused of being racist, I tell them that what I’m saying is that your policies you utilize have an unequal impact that people of color are always adversely affected, not white people.”
    Born in 1959 at New York’s Harlem Hospital, where both her parents worked, Miller-Travis said she spent a lot of time at the famed health center.
    She attended Barnard College before earning a political science degree from Columbia University’s School of General Studies.
    “I started as a researcher working for the civil rights division of a small Protestant Church known as United Church of Christ – the remnants of the church established by the pilgrims,” Miller-Travis said.
    As she spoke with National Newspaper Publishers Association President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., for a segment of his PBS-TV show, The Chavis Chronicles, they shared stories about the 40th anniversary of the Warren County, North Carolina protest that officially birthed the movement.
    “One of the people leading that struggle was a minister in the United Church of Christ, and he called up to the headquarters in New York City and said, look, we need help. Nobody has talked to us, and the state has not reached out. There have been no briefings, no hearings, no nothing,” Miller-Travis recalled.
    “And so, the national church did all they could to help and bring attention to it, but they thought, this is kind of curious.”
    She continued: “We need to see if what’s happening in Warren County is endemic to what’s happening in rural North Carolina – is it the southeast? Is it bigger than that? And they hired me as a research assistant to help identify what we would then call environmental injustice and environmental racism, which Dr. Chavis coined the term.”
    “And we found that race was the most statistically significant indicator of where hazardous waste sites were located across these United States, not just North Carolina.”
    Miller-Travis said her grandmother encouraged her to use her “practical knowledge” as a scientist to understand the circumstances affecting predominately Black communities.
    “Nobody was researching the lived experience in terms of environmental impacts on communities of color, on low-income communities, on tribal communities,” Miller-Travis recalled.
    “People were focused on endangered species, endangered water bodies – that was where the environmental community’s head was. They were working on hazardous waste issues, but no one was connecting race and environmental threats’ location. So, we were the first folks to do this.”
    She continued: “We published a report in 1987 called ‘Toxic Waste and Race in the United States,’ published by the United Church of Christ’s Commission for Racial Justice, which set the whole conversation aloft in this country.
    Miller-Travis later traveled to Washington, where the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit took place.
    She said she realized then that environmental racism existed throughout the United States.
    Miller-Travis helped to adopt the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice, which remains relevant as the world wrestles with climate change, global warming, and a woeful environment.
    However, she said she’s optimistic because the Biden-Harris administration has proven aggressive in its approach to these issues.
    “This has been the most aggressive White House administration to address environmental injustice and environmental inequities in the history of the United States of America,” Miller-Travis asserted.
    “They have policies, objectives, staff, executive orders specifically about environmental injustice in the climate space, and an executive order on addressing systemic racism across the breadth of the federal government.”

  • Newswire : Young researcher from Ivory Coast tapped for women in science prize

    Adjata Kamara, scientific researcher

    Nov. 14, 2022 (GIN) – Twenty-five-year-old Adjata Kamara’s specialized research into plant-based biopesticides brought her to the attention of the L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO – two organizations which aim to give visibility to women researchers worldwide. 
     
    This week, Kamara was among 20 young women working in science to receive the UNESCO/L’Oreal prize. She had been exploring the use of plant extracts, fungi and beneficial bacteria on yams rather than chemicals which, she said, depletes the soil. Yams are a root that is highly prized in sub-Saharan Africa.
     
    “The prize allows me to show my research to other women, to other countries and it puts a little pressure on me because I tell myself that now I have to be a role model for young girls in science,” she said.
     
    Adjata explains that her goal is to develop “biopesticides based on plant extracts, fungi and beneficial bacteria,” in order to treat without chemicals this anomaly that disrupts the production of a plant that is the basis of staple food in several regions of Africa.
     
    “I work on the development of biopesticides based on plant extracts, bacteria and also fungi. These bacteria and fungi are said to be beneficial and so I’m trying to find methods to control the fungi that attack post-harvest yams,” said Adjata.
     
    Adjata is one of the twenty laureates of the “For women in science” young talent prize from sub-Saharan Africa who will receive US$10,000 to help them in their work.
     
    She explained her interest in the field: “From an early age, my father had a mango plantation. And this plantation was attacked by mushrooms, but at that time we did not know it. And as the years passed, there was a drop in production. And from then on, I wanted to know why these mangoes were being attacked (by fungi), and why production was falling. And it’s since then that I devoted myself to it and that I loved science.”
     
     

  • Newswire : Wes Moore wins Maryland, becomes third elected Black governor in American history

    Wes Moore campaigning with President Biden

    By Hamil R. Harris

    (TriceEdneyWire.com) – Wes Moore, the son of a single mother who rose to become a Rhodes Scholar, Army Captain and best selling author, was elected as the governor of Maryland on Tuesday. Moore is not only Maryland’s first African-American governor, but only the third Black person elected as governor following L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts.
    “Thank you Maryland! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you Maryland!” said Moore during an acceptance speech standing with his wife, children and mother in Baltimore. “What an amazing night and what an improbable journey.”
    During his speech, Moore thanked outgoing Republican Governor Larry Hogan who supported him over Donald Trump-backed opponent on a night when results show a politically divided country.
    But Moore looked at the racially mixed crowd and said, “You believed in this moment: our state could be bolder. You believed in this moment our state could go faster.”
    In a glorious tribute, Moore thanked his wife, children and his mother. But the Moore victory came on a tough night for both Republicans and Democrats who are still awaiting which party will control the House and the Senate.
    Among other key races:
    In Georgia, Gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams lost her rematch with Gov. Brian Kemp 53.4 percent-45.9 percent.
    Also in Georgia, Sen. Raphael Warnock appears to have narrowly defeated former NFL star Herschel Walker 49.42 percent-48.52 percent. But that race is headed to a run-off because neither candidate got 51 percent of the vote Dec. 6.
    In Pennsylvania, Democrat John Fetterman defeated Trump-backed Dr. Mehmet Oz. 
    Republican JD Vance defeated Democrat Tim Ryan in Ohio.
    In Wisconsin, Democrat Mandela Barnes is trailing Republican Ron Johnson 50.5 percent to 49.5 percent with 98 percent of the votes counted.
    Republicans appear to have won control of the U. S. House of Representatives by a slim margin because in the state of Florida the GOP gained four new seats after redistricting. Control of the Senate was still too close to call.  
    With heated races and millions of people voting, election protection was very much on the minds of civil rights activists across the US. A network of “poll chaplains” stood outside precincts across the country to pray and ensure that voters exercised their right to vote on Election Day.
    Reminiscent of the days when civil rights activists faced racism, police dogs, and poll taxes, Organizers of the “Faith United to Save Democracy Campaign recruited, trained, and mobilized faith leaders of many races to promote peace at the polls.
    “We have recruited and trained more than 700 poll chaplains in 10 states who are committed to providing a peaceful and calming presence at polling sites across America,” said Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, Co-Coordinator of FUSD. “This is the time of year when misinformation and disinformation are heightened to discourage vulnerable voters from making it to the polls.”
    Skinner said she was moved to organize such an effort after the 2020 elections when conservatives in 49 states proposed 440 anti-voting measures 19 states passed 33 laws making it harder to vote, including laws that prohibited food and water from being given to people waiting in line to vote.
    Skinner said while in previous years the focus was on turning out the “Black Vote,” the focus was expanded to include people of many races because “Jews and Muslims and Quakers were affected and in effect, these laws also would have an impact on people, “young and old, Latino, white, Native American and we could not afford to keep our focus so narrow.”
    Rev. Gerald Durley, the retired pastor of the Provident Baptist Church in Atlanta, has worked hard to get people to vote. He said he wouldn’t just take the word of his grandchildren. “I had my grandchildren send me photos showing that they voted because it is just that important,” Durley said. “We can’t afford a runoff because you just don’t know what will happen.”
    Last month pastors in Georgia announced a massive effort to ensure that over 1,000 local churches, synagogues, mosques, and other faith institutions create their own customized voter engagement campaigns to provide every person within their local congregations has the information and ability to vote this Fall.
    “In 2020, African-Americans in Georgia made voting history, and we are clearly on the verge of doing it once again,” said AME Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, the Presiding Prelate of the Sixth Episcopal District and a founding member of Faith Works. “Despite every effort by extremists to minimize Black turnout this voting cycle, our communities are responding like never before with urgency and enthusiasm. With early voting finally rolling out next week, Georgia will see that our communities are organized and determined.”
    Meanwhile, on the eve of the election, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden came to the campus of Bowie State University in Maryland to rally supporters for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore. “I am so thankful for the first family to be here,” Moore said. “If we stand divided, we can not win. If we stand together, we can not lose. Democracy is not just a day. Democracy is not just a single act; it is an honored commitment.”
    By lunchtime on Election Day, the Washington DC command center of Faith United was staffed and filled with volunteers to answer calls coming in from across the country. Rev. Jim Wallace, Chair and Director of the Faith and Justice Center at Georgetown University, was happy to report that things were quiet during the first half of Election Day. The Command Center will continue to monitor the voting situation in 10 key battleground states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.
    “Despite voter suppression laws, people have been coming to the polls,” Wallace said. “More than 2.5 million people have voted, and Democracy is on the move.”

  • COVID-19

    As of November 10, 2022, at 10:00 AM
    (According to Alabama Political Reporter)

    Alabama had 1,540,329 confirmed cases of coronavirus,
    (6,051) more than last report, with 20,608 deaths (50) more
    than last report.

    Greene County had 2,151 confirmed cases, 2 more cases than last report), with 52 deaths

    Sumter Co. had 3,002 cases with 55 deaths

    Hale Co. had 5,406 cases with 109 deaths

    Note: Greene County Physicians Clinic has testing and vaccination for COVID-19;
    Call for appointments at 205/372-3388, Ext. 142; ages 5 and up.

  • COVID-19

    As of October 27, 2022, at 10:00 AM
    (According to Alabama Political Reporter)

    Alabama had 1,534,278 confirmed cases of coronavirus,
    (2,982) more than last report, with 20,558 deaths (25) more
    than last report.

    Greene County had 2,149 confirmed cases, no more cases than last report), with 52 deaths

    Sumter Co. had 2,996 cases with 55 deaths

    Hale Co. had 5,396 cases with 109 deaths

    Note: Greene County Physicians Clinic has testing and vaccination for COVID-19;
    Call for appointments at 205/372-3388, Ext. 142; ages 5 and up.

  • Newswire:Attorney Ben Crump files lawsuit on behalf of user of chemical hair straightening products

    By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

    Back photo of flawless charming young brunette lady hands touch long straight healthy hair isolated beige background.

    Researchers have discovered that hair products used predominately by Black women are likely to contain hazardous chemicals with endocrine-disrupting and carcinogenic properties.
    
Armed with that information and research by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, civil rights attorney Ben Crump joined forces with lawyer Diandra “Fu” Debrosse Zimmermann to file a lawsuit against beauty products giant L’ Oréal USA.
Crump and Zimmermann filed the suit on behalf of Jenny Mitchell, a woman with no family history of cancer but who received a uterine cancer diagnosis after years of using L’ Oréal products.
    
The lawyers declared that the defendants also would include “entities that assisted in the development, marketing, and sale of the defective products including Motions, Dark & Lovely, Olive Oil Relaxer, and Organic Root Stimulator.”
    
“Black women have long been told they must use chemical hair straightening products to meet society’s standards,” Crump declared. “Companies took advantage of this and marketed their dangerous products to women without any regard for the serious health risks. We need justice.”
    
Crump said Mitchell started using the products around 2000 and continued until 2022. In August 2018, Mitchell – with no family history of uterine or other cancer – was diagnosed with uterine cancer and underwent a complete hysterectomy, Crump noted. Mitchell attended mandatory medical appointments every three months for two years and has appointments scheduled every six months.
    
Crump cited a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute this week.The study concluded that frequent users of chemical hair straightening products, defined in the study as more than four uses a year, were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer than those who didn’t use those products.
The National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences conducted the study.
    
Uterine cancer rates and deaths are reportedly on the rise in the U.S. Death rates are highest among non-Hispanic Black women, who are more likely than other populations to be afflicted with aggressive subtypes of uterine cancer, according to the National Institutes of Health, which tracked data from 34,000 women in the Sister Study for more than a decade.
    
“Black women have long been the victims of dangerous products specifically marketed to them,” said Crump. “Black hair has been and always will be beautiful, but Black women have been told they have to use these products to meet society’s standards. Unfortunately, we will likely discover that Ms. Mitchell’s tragic case is one of the countless cases in which companies aggressively misled black women to increase their profits.”

    Chemical hair straighteners typically contain products associated with higher cancer risk, including formaldehyde, metals, phthalates, and parabens, which may be more easily absorbed by the body through scalp burns and abrasions often caused by chemical straighteners, study authors determined.
    
Zimmermann added that companies like L’ Oréal “targeted Black and Latin women for their own profit motive and without regard to the serious health risks that these hair-straightening products cause is a serious wrong that needs to be corrected.”
“We have commenced this important litigation to seek and obtain justice for those women and their families.”