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African- Americans! Live But Don t Look Like Santa . 3JN ?' '* *' . .V * -"'"V . ' *> ' /? grv tions . . .(especially blac? ' women)/* Half of all adult black womeii are overweight, she finds, in contrast to 34 percent ? of the general population, and 24 percent of the white female adults. She discusses a number of environmental . and genetic factors that put black women at "an espe^ daily high risk of accumu- \ lating excels fat.'* The bottom line is flavored ; by dietary, lifestyle, and > metabolic influences. Shape Up America is a national call to } fight the public health threat jposed by the relation It's that lime of year again. Birth. Life's cornucopia is celebrated ? A seasonal < span when the visions of sugarplums turn up on tables in the form of large quantities of high-calorie foodstuffs: col lard greens- and string beans, soaked in fat back, fried pork chop^, pecan pies, chocolate cakes, buttered rolls, candied yams, dressings, and smothered shoulders. The next tljree week$ is high season for 'spiced country hams and pounds of pbtato salads overpowered with miracally- whipped mayonnaise. j The next two weeks will see African- Americans, from a classes and persuasions, jejined, at the hips, so to speak, push- j ing up what First Lady Clinton is calling an "alarmingly high 'incidence of obesity." African-Americans are covered by all manners of social and political forces that lie *behind premature and excess disease and death rates. We are mired in the every day alarming high rates and psychological effects poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, drug abuse, violence.. V" ' V ;'.v. ' ? ?? ' . , , 'J Then comes Christmas and Santa Claus . it is n time when African- Americans, like the majority of Americans, whatever their joys, troubles and woes, over-indulge them selves. Through the year, though, these private acts of indulgence ? historically and culturally-based acts of 'ingesting too much of the "wrong" foods ? becomes the shovel that digs the graves into which millions flat themselves. Enters the body of Santa Claus. Is thi.| another form of black-on-black crime? - / Many jokes will go around about the rotund relative who "eats more than the. law allows!" Among the blessed ones who will pre pare the rounas and mounds of scrumptious soul food for the holi <Iays, African-American women are disproportionately among those Who are at least 20 percent above the recommended weight levels. foi height and age. Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika, an African-American and professor at the John Hopkins University School of 'Hygiene and Public Health has been on the stump a long time about obesity in black .women. Her research findings are the basis of the loudest call m the report that led to Shape Up Ameriqa. "Obesity is rampant' in ethnic .popula - ? : ? i : * ship between being overweight and a number of HH?g and ufe. threatening diseases. For African-Americans, these include high blood pressure/stroke, diabetes and (some) cancers. Everybody should know that these are the leading causes of incapacity and death among blacks. Ironically, these fall within personal choice and influ ence. According to former Suxgeon General C. Everett Koop, who joined Hillary Clinton in inaugurating Shape Up America, obesity is second only to "another habit,*' that I have, which is dear to .the bean of the economy of North Carolina. In addition, there are sedentary lifestyles (mashed couch potatoes?) among a people who watch more television than the general population ? while eating. Yes, Christmastide is a time to sup together and enjoy and savor LIFT EVERY VOICE By Dr. WILLIAM H. TURNER the full flavor of life. But many who are sick in our community are that way for the manner by which they have consumed foods. Only healthy ears can stand hearing , the words of the sick and aged frail among us. We must be healthy not only to support our loved ones, but we must be fit, robust and vigorous to fight the chal lenges external to our physical person. Caesar can deny many of our rights, but not our right and responsibility to exercise and be h eatey It takes strength and stamina to bear the cross of the Christ child. Stand Up African-Americans. Let's give ourselves and our fami lies- good health for Christmas ^nd Kwanzaa gifts. Can this be the First Christmas when meals are cooked differently in African-Ameri can homes? Can this be the beginning of a life of moderation fat ing? Life is at stake, and without life there is nothing. As Brown would sing, "Merry Christmas, Baby.'* But, you got to be able to get down the chimney. Up with healthy diets and lifestyles! (Dr . WUJuun Turner is a regular freelance columnist for ike Chroni cle,) L; ' ?i 64 Can We As Human 99 "Mercy, mercy me, tilings ain't whpt they used to be,' was the U\ i line of a song by the poet and-smger Marvin Gaye. When ii com- s u/ our communities and the escalating levels of violence sun<*H+*ftnu us those words couldn't be more true .> Yet, amidst the drive-by shooting, the illegal handguns, the contm uing presence of assault weapons, and always, the killings, there is hope. There jajrc stories of people who don't get paralyzed a- crisis, they just get oiganizedL \ In earlier Civil Rights Journal, I asked you to share with me sdmp of'tHfc sigtis df H^|>e mjt are springing forth m our communities and many of you have done that: 1 have heard from prisoners, tror^ people in unexpected places, and from one coast of tlvis cpuntrv to another. The stories they shared are signs of hope tor us ail In Oakland, Ca. two of the nation's deadliest housing- projects air . now beginning to blossom. Under the auspiccs of the bits* Bay Com m unity Recovery Project, the residents of these communities are find ing once again their sense of self-esteem and pride in then communi ties. They have drastically cut the drug culture which once was responsible for drug trafficking, violence and even murders in their midst. Based on beliefs that everyone is bom with imuu i> iIumk c ;hhi a healthy inner being and that poor people tiaVQ. considerable survival skills, this. approach trains residents to heal themselves and then Ival their own communities. In addition, as more Asian Americans have moved into these communities, the project has also worked on bringing together the African-American and Asian-American residents One way these two communities? have come together is around gar 4&;uifc'. a project suited by one woman, Linda Schneider. By providing seeds, plants, ti uit trees, manure and equipment, Schneider quickly got Xomrftttnity residents involved in planted food and flowets in their own t ?''' '? ?' * ? ; : 1! ? V*v * JK* '? \ ' * I CIVIL RIGHTS JOURNAL : ? : e^BeRNICE POWEtL1 JACKSON ' - ? -r. v , . ' ' ' ' ? J? I ? . " ' ' jf i * . : .? ; O" \ aids. Without anv outside funding, that gardening project has now (ajkcn,._ovef abandoned buildings and converted them to useful purposes. And new friendships are blossoming along with the sunflowers and col I aid greens.' ? ? Sometimes-all it takes is one person to be that sign of hope. In Oak land ti w as Linda Schneider. In Boise, Idaho, it is Raheem O.E. Shah "Kr i ? i ,t 1 1 1 ?i i m > iKvs not have a large AfricanrAmerican community, u t .inobK'ins of violence exist. After several unsuccessful attempts to < >i v Mi 1 1 Ai Vic m ) \mei iean men in Boise to work together in the com munii>. Brother Shahbazz decided to become "a one man, community , activist, volunteei vigil" who works with prisoners at the Idaho State "Correctional Prison, teaches at a local elementary school one hour a y~r-y~- ,r?j, ^ .7-^.;.. .-v, '.>??? week and participates in the YMCA Fundamental Basketball Seminars for kids on Saturdays. He is also a full-time manager of cue of the top banks in the Pacific Northwest As we focus on violence in our communities, we must also talk about domestic violence and sexual assault As signs of hope, one reader, Shani Bakuba of Cambridge, Ma. pointed to rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters and counseling programs which are found in many communities to tyeat the victims and provide safe space. There's no question that violence is swirling all around us, threat ening like some horrible tornado tafaar dKSftt whole communities and kill those nearby. African Americans and other people of color are especially hard-hit by it. But a few weeks ago a Philadelphia subuiban white student was beaten to death by a gang of his peers. A few weeks ago assault weapon bullets pidrced die walls and windows of the White House. The violence is not just a question facing pur American society, it is a basic civilization question. Can we as human tx^igs live together in justice and peace? V \ / People in Lockwood and Coliseum Gardens in Oakland would answer yes. They are signs of the hope. Hope that our communities and our people can heal themselves. Hope that our children's children will know safe and just communities, with flowers and children playing and laughing and flourishing. There's another 1970s song which says, "There's No Stopping Us Now" and that's the truth too. (Bernice Powell Jackson is the executive director of the Untied Church of Christ Cotnmission for Racial Justice .) African- Americans Must Sacrifice to Pull the NAACP out of Financial Crisis This morning I sent off a check for $1,000 to the NAACP. (iiveu family obligations and the press of other expenses, that's quite a stretch for me. But it's a stretch that 1, and all African Americans who t-au po\ sibly afford it, need to make because the NAACP is in deep financial' trouble. It has launched a fund drive to erase its debt anil rebuild, and it's essential for African-Americans to step forward and help an organi zation that has done so much and has so much more to do. . ? The recent problems that led to the NAACP's financial crisis have been amply discussed, but it's clear that the organization is now trvi ig to recapture its vital role in our society. ? It deserves the wholehearted support of all Americans. Th<\bl;ick community is mobilizing to do its part and the grass-roois campaign is taking off, led by a $5 million pledge from a dozen church groups ipcluding all of the largest black denominations. The NAACP must /five because of its historic contributions and bccause there is a continu ing necessity for the positive role it can play in today's society. ? Let's never foiget that the NAACP was born at a time of legalized segregation and institutionalized oppression of black folk. Legal segre gation was buried and institutional discrimination .'e'i:a?nc?d thank-. largely to the NAACP's protests in the streets and in the courts. Then are sigi u t leant, numbers of black representatives in Congress, state legislating, and local governments today because of the NAACP's challenges to Jim Crow voting laws and its role in helping to pass the Voting Km! its Act of 1965. TO BE EQUAL By HUGH B. PRICF The growing African- American middle class, which has made important gams in corporate management jobs and in small businesses, is espec ia)l \ indebted to the organization's efforts to remove racial bar riers and open barriers and open opportunities. But it's not just history that mandates support for the NAACP in its hour need, but the future. 71ie Urban League, for example, builds bridges for our people to cross over into society's mainstream, but it takes other strong, viable organizations to insist that those bridges be built We need the NAACP to protests inequities, expose discriminatory practices, and mobilize people to march for justice. I sometimes hear people wonder whether there's any need for the NAACP in today's presumably more enlight ened society. If anything, it's needed more than ever. Today's America is plagued by growing poverty; our cities are crumbling under the weight of social problems; economic shifts leave millions without a place in the new emerging Information- Age economy; and racism lives on, often cloaked in pseudo-scholarly tones about race-based intelli gence differences. Instead of facing up to our problems, many people are in a state of denial, pretending they don't exist or simply uttering platitudes about "values." ? ? 1 -? ir And the post-election news from Washington suggests a new, cal lous national agenda. All Americans must respond generously to the call to help the NAACP get back on its feet An organization that has done so mikh for so many now needs hel? itself and we can deny it at our periL r~ (Hugh B. Price is director of the National Urban League.) , The Choke For African- Ameruc an Nl ws USPS 067910 t : ;?y ; ?? \ 1 , 617 N. Liberty Street . Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102 The Winston Salem Chronicle is pub lished every Thursday by the Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co. Inc. Soimn Chronicle was estab lished by Ernest Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974. '? ? ; : * Tim dutmftcle Is m proud wmbtr of: ? Audit Bureau of Circulation - National News Association ? North Car ? North Carolina Black *10-722-8624 ? 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Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Dec. 15, 1994, edition 1
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