Brooklyn print edition (PDF) - Caribbean Life

Aug. 31–Sept. 6, 2012 • Caribbean Life • Brooklyn/Staten Island • Page 16
Healthy families
on the move
Central Brooklyn is facing a
very real health crisis. According
to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, roughly 13
people die every hour because of
an obesity-related disease, including
heart disease and diabetes. In
Central Brooklyn, seven out of 10
adults are overweight or obese
and more than 40 percent report
getting no physical activity at all.
Not surprisingly we have some of
the highest rates of heart disease
and diabetes related deaths in
New York City.
While these statistics are
grim, innovative efforts such as
Healthier Families on the Move
are proving that a little motivation
can have a big impact.
Launched by the Brooklyn Alliance
for Safer Streets on July
25, the initiative provides organized
runs, walks and rides each
Wednesday throughout Central
Brooklyn starting at the centrally
located Restoration Plaza.
Healthier Families on the
Move will continue throughout
the summer, and culminate with
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration
Corporation’s 31st Annual 10K
Run and Fun Walk. This much
anticipated community event
draws residents of all ages and fitness
levels - from athletes warming
up for NYC’s ING Marathon,
to families looking to get outside
with their neighbors and support
their community. This year’s
BSRC 10K will incorporate bike
riders as well, offering something
for everybody.
The Healthier Families on
the Move and Bedford Stuyvesant
Restoration Corporation’s
active living initiatives are part
of a broader strategy to impact
disparities in health outcomes
across the borough. Driving these
efforts is the Brooklyn Community
Transformation Coalition,
a group of some 50 organizations
and stakeholders working
together with the Partnership for
a Healthier New York City.
The Brooklyn Community
Transformation Coalition aims
to effect changes in health disparities
across Brooklyn with the
help of local organizations who
are most able to mobilize the
communities they serve. Serving
as borough lead for the Coalition
and for the Partnership
for a Healthier New York City,
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration
Corporation is the nation’s first
community development corporation,
providing a full spectrum
of community development programming
from workforce development
and social supports to
education and the arts.
Effective and easily replicable
programs such as Healthier
Families on the Move have the
potential to dramatically impact
health outcomes by creating
opportunities for communities
to offer active living options and
influence the behaviors and attitudes
that lie at the very core of
poor health.
Verna Ademu- John, project
coordinator for Restoration’s
Health Initiatives.
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Kenton Kirby
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kevin Williams
Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Roderick J. Broome, Fabian Burrell, Tangerine Clarke,
Robert Elkin, Patrick Horne, Nelson King, Donna Lamb, Tequila Minsky, Vinette K. Pryce,
George H. Whyte, Bert Wilkinson, Lloyd Kam Williams
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OP-EDS
Obama’s Race Still Has Bearing
Long before a little-known
Illinois politician ran for president,
the mainstream media
focused on his race. When he
flourished as a presidential candidate
four years ago, everyone
in America knew that Barack
Obama was Black.
Have his blackness and extensive
coverage of that fact boosted
his political career or made it
more difficult for him to win reelection?
Perhaps surprisingly,
some of the nation’s best political
minds are divided on this
question.
Obama’s race dominated
media coverage about him before
he became president. In 2004,
he made headlines for becoming
only the third African-American
elected to the U.S. Senate since
Reconstruction. In the 2008
presidential campaign, news
stories questioned whether he
could connect with African-
American voters because he was
born to a white Kansan mother
and a Black Kenyan father,
neither connected to Blacks in
America.
When Obama became the
first Black president, mainstream
media portrayed his
historic accomplishment as a
In the midst of this summer’s
heat wave, we still enjoy a measure
of outdoor time, but certainly
relish the air-conditioned relief
indoors. As the toll of heat-related
deaths continues to rise, how
many of us know that Congress
is proposing budget cuts to the
federal assistance program for
air conditioning and heating bills
for hard-hit families? Yes, budget
decisions in Washington come
home to roost right here close
to home. And the impact can be
devastating.
What budget priorities will do
the most to meet the needs of
our people and guarantee American’s
freedom and strength for
years to come? It’s time to take a
symbol of a post-racial, colorblind
America. That framing is
contrary to the experience of
millions of African-Americans
and other people of color beset
by conscious and unconscious
bias daily in this country.
As Obama’s first term nears
its end, the impact of his race
in mainstream media coverage
remains unclear.
At times, his blackness may
have been an advantage in news
reports about him, say political
experts consulted by the
Maynard Institute for Journalism
Education. In other cases,
however, his race has been a
distinct disadvantage, marginalizing
him in ways that his
presidential campaign rivals,
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and
former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
Romney, a member of a religious
minority, haven’t been.
“During the presidential
campaign, he was probably
treated better than other candidates
in the mainstream press
because of the historical nature
of his candidacy,” says Michael
R. Wenger, senior research fellow
at the Joint Center for Political
and Economic Studies in
Washington. “After his election,
closer look at Pentagon spending,
which includes funding for wars
and nuclear weapons. This budget
has grown unchecked since 1998
at a cost of trillions of dollars to
taxpayers. And while Congress is
proposing devastating, draconian
cuts to essential programs, such
as assisting families struggling
with out-sized utility bills, the
Pentagon gets yet another handout
from the budget writers.
Our nation’s greatness and
future security are not aided by a
bloated nuclear arsenal, unnecessary
weapons systems and endless
war. Our future will be best
served with investments in education,
jobs, healthcare, science and
technology and a clean environ-
I think the media tried very
hard to make the case that we’re
in a post-racial society.”
Wenger, author of the soon
to be released book, My Black
Family, My White Privilege: A
White Man’s Journey Through
the Nation’s Racial Minefield,
says that notion is misleading
because institutional racism
didn’t disappear when Obama
became president. He also takes
issue with the media covering
extravagant claims by conservative
Republicans about Obama.
Wenger says no president’s
religious beliefs have been
questioned to the extent that
Obama’s have, in the sense
that because Obama has Black
Kenyan heritage, people have
accused him of lying about
being a mainline Protestant
like the majority of Americans.
While the mainstream media
may not have started rumors
about Obama’s religious background,
they helped to spread
them, he says.
Herb Tyson, a Democratic
government relations consultant
in Washington, agrees.
“First of all, they [the media]
don’t challenge the reports
Continued on Page 18
The Budget and Pentagon spending
ment. To make those investments,
we must cut excessive Pentagon
spending.
As president of the Women Legislators’
Lobby (WiLL) and a Georgia
State Senator, I work with
legislators across the country. In
nearly every state, they are battling
budget shortfalls year after
year. After 9-11, state budgets
have taken on massive new costs
for homeland security measures.
National Guard and other returning
veterans need state and local
services. The women state legislators
in our national WiLL network
understand that increases
in Pentagon spending mean their
strapped state budgets get fur-
Continued on Page 18
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