< PreviousTALK ACROSS PA 8 | TALK MAGAZINE • SPRING 2021 UPPER DARBY by Ashley Caldwell The Upper Darby School District community is mourning the loss of board member Leah Dawes, who suddenly passed away Saturday. She is survived by her only daughter, Ma’Lia, and a host of friends, family, and colleagues. Dawes, a Drexel Hill resident, was appointed to the school board in 2020 after her predeces- sor, Dr. Monica Taylor, was elected to County Council in 2019. She served as a liaison to the PA School Boards Association (PSBA) and a liaison to the Walter M. Senkow and Westbrook Park elementary. PHILADELPHIA by Sharyn L. Flanagan Emma C. Chappell, founder of United Bank of Philadelphia, has died at 80. She founded the city’s only African-Ameri- can owned bank in 1992 by raising $6 million to fund the venture. Chappell was the first African-American woman to form a commercial bank in the United States. She said she started the bank with a focus on improving banking services in historically under- served neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Chappell was the bank’s chairman of the board, president and CEO until 2000. She attended West Philadelphia High School and was a member of Zion Baptist Church. “My heart is broken,” said Joann Bell, who co-hosted a show with Chappell on WURD radio and co-founded the Black Women’s Leader- ship Council with her. “We were friends for 40 years.” Another longtime friend, Faatimah Gamble, talked about how they bonded over their similar backgrounds. “She soared, it didn’t deter her,” Gamble said of Chappell. “She did something that many of the banks didn’t do back then,” Gamble said. “She made sure that people of color received the support that they needed on many levels. She took care of her community.” “A friend to numerous United States Presidents, and influential in the workings of party politics, Emma will always be remembered for her leader- ship, advocacy, and business acumen giving voice to social justice, racial and gender equality, and creat- ing change. She never shrunk from a worthy battle as she continued to work using the radio airwaves, leadership as co-convener for the Women’s Leader- ship Council along with other civic organizations to exemplify her strong Christian faith and commit- ment to service.” SHARPSBURG by Rob Taylor, Jr. In the estimation of Sharpsburg Borough Councilmember Joe Simbari, a longtime Sharps- burg resident named Anita Schaming was the “quintessential, absolute best candidate” to be appointed a Sharpsburg Councilmember. “Not only is she a resident but a business owner, and she’s right in the heart of some of the decisions we’re going to be making about parking and traffic in the upper end of Main Street in Sharpsburg,” Councilman Simbari said of Schaming, during the borough’s monthly council meeting in February. Sharpsburg Mayor Matthew Rudzki, Esq., had the tiebreaking vote. “We have three great candi- dates, but I think one candidate outshined all of the other candidates and has been an integral part of the community, so I’m voting no at this time,” he said. Which candidate was Mayor Rudzki speaking of, who had outshined all the other candidates, if it wasn’t Schaming? “Her leadership around organizing people and bringing people into the process has impressed me not just tonight…but for years at this point,” echoed Councilwoman Reno of Portis. “She’s been on the front lines of engaging people and helping them get involved and advocating for changes they want to see.” “I have a lot of respect for Kayla, I have a lot of respect for what she’s trying to accomplish. Her heart is definitely in the right place,” said Mayor Rudzki. “Kayla has been an incredible advocate for both racial justice issues, which are hugely important in our community and beyond, and for other issues of equity,” added Councilwoman Reno. “…Kayla has been an incredible advocate for both racial justice issues, which are hugely import- ant in our community and beyond.” Portis also told Councilmembers she wanted to see more “equity within our borough,” in the form of “diverse housing options and employment opportunities. I would like to see diversity in our po- lice department, wheelchair-accessible playgrounds,” and improvements to Sharpsburg’s parks. PITTSBURGH Evan Frazier, founding director of The Ad- vanced Leadership Initiative (TALI), is taking on a new role as president and CEO of The Advanced Leadership Institute, Inc. (TALI) on March 8, 2021. Frazier will be leaving his current role as senior vice president of Community Affairs at Highmark Health in early March. This transition follows the receipt of a Richard King Mellon Foundation grant in December of 2020 to support TALI's expansion into an institute. It was Frazier's early vision as founding direc- tor, along with guidance from TALI's Execu- tive Committee, that launched The Advanced Leadership Initiative in 2018. During that time, TALI partnered with Carnegie Mellon Univer- sity's Tepper School of Business to develop its signature program, the Executive Leadership Academy. The Advanced Leadership Institute will continue the initial efforts of the initiative and plans to announce its expanded strategic direction in Summer 2021. Over the next few months, Evan will be focused on building the TALI Institute team, securing additional resourc- es, and developing a portfolio of opportunities to impact a larger pool of African American leaders. "It has always been our plan to make TALI a Leah Dawes Emma C. Chappell Kayla Portis Evan S. FrazierTALK ACROSS PA WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 9 self-sustaining institute. Now is the time to make that happen. I am excited about taking on this challenge, and I'm making a full commitment to doing what is needed to build the infrastructure to create more sustainable opportunities for existing and emerging African American leaders in Pittsburgh and beyond," says Evan Frazier. TRAINER Faith King, of Trainer Borough, has announced her candidacy for a Borough Council seat and Michael Straw, of Media Borough, announced his candidacy for a Borough Council seat. If elected, King would be the first Democrat to hold a seat in the bor- ough’s history and Straw would be the first openly gay Republican to occupy that seat. HARRISBURG by Taylor Tosheff Th e Latino Hispanic American Community Center opened its doors to off er vaccines to its community. “Th at was one of my wishes, to be secure for my family and for my commu- nity,” said Carlos Torres, who received his first vaccine. Th e center partnered with Penn State Health to give out 50 vaccines. “Th ere are a lot of other health dispari- ties that existed in the community, in the minority communities and COVID just exacerbated that,” said Gloria Vazquez Merrick, Executive Director of the Latino Hispanic American Communi- ty Center. Th e Department of Human Services is working to connect to communities by establishing five Regional Account- able Health Councils. Each council will be made up of health care pro- viders, health systems, and communi- ty-based organizations to reduce health disparities and promote equity. “We know there are places with the biggest health disparities within the common- wealth,” said Teresa Miller, Secretary of Depart- ment of Human Services. “Let’s focus on those and let’s see if we can see those metrics change over time by all of the entities in the community that is im- pacting families, coming together and sort of rowing in the same direction.” Faith King At Geneva, expectations are great. But thanks to expert, caring faculty, an environment where students share and learn together, and more than 200 student programs and activities to foster deep interactions, the support is greater. Learn more about Geneva College, the community that inspires academic excellence and spiritual growth, by going to Geneva.edu or participating in a virtual information session or visiting. Copyright 2021 Geneva College. Geneva College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, disability and national or ethnic origin. COMMUNITY THAT SUPPORTS Check us out today at: Geneva.edu & SPIRITUAL GROWTH ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE EXPERIENCE CAMPUS UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS & PROGRAMS GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS 93 % GRADUATES EMPLOYED OR IN GRAD SCHOOL WITHIN 6 MONTHS 93 % Geneva.edu/visitBUSINESS NEWS 10 | TALK MAGAZINE • SPRING 2021 When she immigrated to the United States from Guatemala to attend college at Michigan State University, she thought she wanted to work behind the scenes in the food business. “I worked with companies like Hormel and McCormick, I lived in San Diego, West Chester, and Miami, I moved from job to job and ended up in Western PA." She eventually stayed in Philadelphia as she started working for her Master’s Degree at St. Joseph’s University. “I realized I did not want to work behind the scenes anymore, I wanted to do something with food,” said Deleon. Real motivation came at the beginning of 2016, when the Trump administration took control of the White House and many Americans began to find hate towards hard-working Hispanics. “I wanted to change the mentality of what people think about immigrants. I wanted to prove to people how beautiful Hispanic culture is,” said Deleon. With that thought, Deleon decided to focus on food as a history lesson for curious locals. “I started doing pop-ups all over the city, then I did catering,” she said. As soon as she got wind of a space opening up in Center City, she jumped on it. “I decided I wanted to make it fast-casual for people who are on the go because there are a lot of offices on Market St. which means a lot of people are always on the go,” she said. Deleon started creating dishes that reflected her Latin American heritage and has since become a success. “It went so well in the beginning, we off ered churros, and that was my mom’s idea,” said Deleon. “She was so excited about the churros being a success. Not a lot of people are familiar with churros and that is a big part of Latin America.” Th e restaurant was booming, and new faces were entering every day. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Deleon’s business pivoted. “Th ere was no more office crowd, no more lunch rush,” De Leon said. As the number of COVID-19 cases continued to flourish throughout the city, she and other organizations decided to rely on each other during the uncertainty. Deleon also believed that now was the time to give back to the community that gave her that opportunity of opening her Guatemalan restaurant. “We started bringing food to frontline workers, brought food to the suburbs, made meal kits. We did everything we could to basically stay alive. And here we are,” she said. As the vaccine rollout now pumps into higher gear, all of her hard work might be paying off . Deleon recently shared the exciting news with Philly by announcing that she will be opening up a second space for El Merkury in the historic Reading Terminal Market. Her space will feature authentic, prepared foods that exhausted customers can take with them to feed their families. “It has been in the works for a year and a half,” she said. “Initially, it was going to be a Guatemalan grocery store and then we changed it to a deli, and last year we were going to literally sign the lease until covid happened.” For the most part, she is excited to be expanding photo by AL DIA How El Merkury by Tiff any Rivera continued on page 28 came out of the pandemic to . . . . . BUSINESS NEWS Nearly one in five Black Pennsylvanians was unemployed as 2020 ended, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning D.C. think tank. Th at was the highest rate of unemployment for Black people in any U.S. state at the time. As vaccines roll out and some economic indicators improve, a pandemic that has disproportionately harmed Black people also has worsened pre-existing economic inequality, experts and community leaders said. Initially, the pandemic actually leveled the playing field, according to Kyle Moore, the economist focusing on race and inequality for EPI who crunched the data. Pre-pandemic unemployment was low on average, but Black workers were still about twice as likely to be unemployed as white workers. But as jobs plummeted in March and April 2020, that reduced inequality. “Th at ratio actually fell to an extent that Black workers were only about 20% more likely to be unemployed than white workers, at least at the beginning,” Moore said. In other words, when everyone was laid low, things were fairer. Once the slow economic recovery began last year, pre-existing gaps reappeared and began widening. Now, “unemployment rates for Black workers are falling a lot slower, similar to previous recessions,” Moore said. “Th at points towards more structural issues with the economy.” Pennsylvania is the most extreme example of that national trend, which EPI pulled from Bureau of Labor Statistics data for the second half of 2020 to examine the demographics of the early economic recovery. “Unemployment rates were highest for Black workers in Pennsylvania (19.5%), Michigan (17.9%), Illinois (15.7%) and the District of Columbia (15.6%). Black workers were more than twice as likely to be unemployed as white workers in the District of Columbia and four states: Alabama, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Texas,” reads the report. While these numbers are for 2020, preliminary numbers from 2021 do not indicate a change in the overall trend even as employment picks up, said Moore. Data for January and February show that the diff erence between Black and white unemployment nationally is continuing to grow farther apart. To Moore, that signals just how baked in racial inequality is, “that this is what the economy looks like even when we have quote-unquote low unemployment.” Regina A. Hairston, president, and CEO of the Afri- can American Chamber of Commerce for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, said these figures reflect what she sees in the local Black-owned business community. “Access to capital has always been an issue,” she said. “Black business owners flock to businesses that are easier [to] enter into” such as salons, barbershops, and retail establishments. Th ose are some of the same industries to suff er most due to pandemic job loss. Personal service jobs, such as the beauty industry, are still down 14.4% since January 2020, according to numbers from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. “Black and brown workers were typically employed in industries that were hardest hit by the pandemic. So those industries included hospitality, so your hotel, your maintenance workers,” said Jabari Jones, president of the West Philadelphia Corridor Collaborative, an economic development group. State data also backs that up. Th ere are fully one-quarter fewer jobs in Pennsylvania in leisure and hospitality fields than there were pre-pandemic, and Black workers are over-represented in some of those positions. As many jobs moved online, Jones said he saw first- hand how many people simply didn’t have that option. “In our city, we have a lot of folks who have been low- skilled, low wage workers. Th at has put them in jobs that are not able to go virtual,” he said. Virtual work also remained out-of-reach due to Myneca Y. Ojo • Director, Office of Diversity & Inclusion 717.831.7333 • mojo@paturnpike.com FOR JOB OPPORTUNITIES & INTERNSHIPS: www.paturnpike.com/yourTurnpike/employment.aspx FOR BUSINESS & CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES: www.paturnpike.com/business/business _ supplier _ diversity.aspx WORKFORCE PLANNING BUSINESS & SUPPLIER DIVERSITY CEO INTERN FELLOWS PROGRAM FOR DIVERSE GROUPS COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION & CULTURAL AWARENESS DRIVING Diversity & Inclusion THROUGH Commitment & Opportunity pushed Black unemployment higher in PA by Laura Benshoff continued on page 28 COVID WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 11LATINX NEWS 12 | TALK MAGAZINE • SPRING 2021 Student nurse Kerlly Barba is busy. "We are vaccinating our Hispanic people, very honored to do this because I am Hispanic myself," she said. In two days, 200 people will stream through a clinic at the Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley on Bethlehem's south side. Executive Director Victoria Montero says the center teamed up with St. Luke's to give Latinos and minorities greater access to the COVID vaccine. "At the beginning of the pandemic more than 60% of the cases were from our minority communities, so what we're trying to do is make it accessible with- in the neighborhood and their language," Montero said. Th at's where Barba comes in. In addition to giving the vaccine, she is translating, answering questions, and putting patients at ease. "I feel like a lot of people especially Spanish-speaking people get nervous when a diff erent person gives them their vaccine because they can't really talk to them or ask them the questions they want to ask," Barba said. Barba says they are the same questions she gets from her English-speaking patients, things like side eff ects and when they have to come back for the second shot. Montero says the clinic was so successful that the 200 vaccine slots were filled quickly. She says the center hopes to expand access to the Latino and minority community by holding more clinics like this in the future. She is also pledging to donate her first-year salary as a Councilwoman to aff ordable housing initiatives in the city. Describing herself as a problem-solver, Jennie Jenkins-Dallas has identified four critical areas of improvement to make city government work better: • Communication: City Council needs an open and working relationship with the Planning Commission and all departments. We can’t aff ord to work in silos. A house divided will fall. • Cooperation: City Council must work with ANY Mayor in office. Division in such a small city is detrimental to what is best for the People. I will not play politics with your life. If an idea makes sense and benefits the city, I will vote yes. If not, I will vote no. It’s that simple. • Creativity: We need to think outside the box to generate revenue for the city. As a marketer and successful entrepreneur, I have the necessary skills and drive to promote Harrisburg and build our economy. • Fairness, Equality, and Prosperity: Harrisburg is a community of communities, and we must ensure that the city government is addressing the needs of everyone, not just the privileged few. We must confront real problems like aff ordable housing, food scarcity, promoting small businesses (especially minority-owned companies), infrastructure, and public safety. A Harrisburg city resident since 2006, Jenkins-Dallas moved here to follow her dream to work as a police officer. As the Community Policing Officer, she worked to clean up our neighborhoods, get our youth off the street, and create positive relationships. Jennie acknowledges that some may view her removal from the position in 2016 as politically damaging, but she is eager to set the record straight. “One of the main reasons I’m running is because I know how hard it can be to take on a corrupt system and win,” Jenkins-Dallas said. “Despite the relentless attacks I faced from the establishment, I was not only vindicated but won a sizable settlement from the city because of their conduct. Ultimately, I wrote the city a check for $350, and the city wrote me a check for $140,000; what does that tell you about who was right and who was wrong?” But Jenkins-Dallas stresses her run for City Council is solely about the future, not the past. “I have no ill-will towards anyone,” Jenkins- Dallas said. “My only agenda is building positive relationships to benefit the people of Harrisburg, and I’m ready to work with anyone who shares that goal.” Jennie Jenkins-Dallas is currently the publisher of La Voz Latina Central, the largest bilingual publication in the Midstate, and Black Wall Street PA. She also serves as vice-president of Estamos Unidos de Pennsylvania, a non-profit that provides scholarships to students, as well as 2nd vice-president of the Latino Hispanic Professional Associations. While her vision for Harrisburg is aspirational, Jennie plans on addressing the everyday problems facing city residents. “Last summer, I was out walking and fell into a massive pothole,” she recalled. “It’s the failure to take care of the little things that cause people to lose faith in government’s ability to get things done. If I’m elected, we’re going to get things done.” Bethlehem's south side Jennie Jenkins-Dallas, a successful entrepreneur, wife, mother, grandmother, and former Harrisburg police officer, is running for Harrisburg City Council in the May 18 Democratic Primary Election. “Much like the city of Harrisburg, my family includes whites, blacks, and Latinos,” Jenkins-Dallas said. “As a member of City Council, I will promote unity and respect everyone regardless of race, neighborhood, or economic status.” Jennie’s vision for Harrisburg includes moving forward with like- minded candidates who are willing to put aside political agendas and work for the people while serving as an essential check to the power of the Mayor. “Regardless of who is Mayor, the City Council is a co-equal branch of government, and we need to work together,” Dallas-Jenkins said. “Because I take the role of City Council as a check to the Executive branch, I have decided to stay neutral in the mayoral race. My loyalty is solely to the citizens of Harrisburg and no one else.” Harrisburg City Council Candidate Jennie Jenkins-Dallas 12 | TALK MAGAZINE • SPRING 2021LATINX NEWS WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 13 by Jeff Cole The report looks at 61 school districts in the Philadelphia collar counties of Bucks, Mont- gomery, Delaware, and Chester where 23% percent of the students are Black and Hispanic. Making sure students get a good and equitable education. Ideally, that's the goal of any school but in reality, it’s not always the case. A new report examined how Black and His- panic students are faring in collar county school districts. Public schools in suburban communities are often better funded and provide more opportu- nities for students to learn. However, a new report by a children’s advoca- cy group finds Black and Hispanic students find barriers to achieve even in the suburbs. "Across the counties the higher the concentra- tion of Black and Hispanic students in any one school district the less funding they typically have in a classroom," author of the report Tomea Sippio-Smith said. The report looked at 61 school districts in the Philadelphia collar counties of Bucks, Mont- gomery, Delaware, and Chester where 23% percent of the students are Black and Hispanic. It found Black and Hispanic students are dealt with more "harshly" when disciplined and schools are quick to call the police. "They’re rote reaction is if a kid of color gets in trouble, they’re simply going to call the police more quickly than they would a White kid," Cole asked. "There’s something else going on there. The numbers don’t say that, but something is here that’s chronic and persistent across school districts, across the suburbs," Sippio-Smith said. The inequity has led to what is called "devas- tating achievement gaps" between White students and those of color. In reading, a gap of 22% between White and Black students and 16% between White and Hispanic kids. Collin Woodland, a sophomore in the highly regarded Wallingford-Swarthmore School District in Delaware County, says he had to fight his way into advanced courses and argues students in nearby struggling Chester are being denied what even he has. "For me, it’s hard just to run this race just five minutes away In Chester-Upland they’re just fight- ing to get in. The roots of racism they run so deep," he said. WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 13 Find Barriers Black and Hispanic StudentsWays to Make Your College Diversity Program a Success On-Campus and Online by EVERFI How to Promote College Diversity Programs Higher education institutions all over the country are focused on diversity initiatives on college campuses and online. UC Santa Cruz announced the hiring of a new Campus Diversity Officer for Staff and Students. And it’s not the only one. UConn also hired its first Chief Diversity Officer. Additionally, students are also raising awareness of campus diversity. In previous years, students at Penn State organized a walk to promote inclusion on campus. And UW-Madison announced plans to start a pilot program with the goal of addressing cultural competency and community building. Strategies for Successful College Diversity Programs 1. Write a diversity action plan and commit to evaluating results and making changes each year. 2. Deliver diversity and inclusion training to all staff, faculty and student employees that teaches them how to engage with others in a way that promotes respect and opportunity. 3. Revise job descriptions to ensure there is no limiting or dis- criminatory language such as “young, new-grads” to attract a wide range of qualified candidates. 4. Make sure the institution’s website is ADA-compliant and accessible to people with disabilities. 5. Hold town-hall meetings to encourage dialog and foster con- tinuing learning about campus diversity, respect, and inclusion. 6. Conduct focus groups with minority populations to identify opportunities to improve diversity on campus. 7. Reach out to colleagues who frequently interact with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows and inform them about open positions. 8. Have each new faculty member participate in an orientation program that covers the school’s diversity initiatives and plans. 9. Create a mentoring program for new/ junior faculty members to encourage the retention of diverse groups. 10. Plan recruitment events for first-generation college students that explain the process of admissions, financial aid, and col- lege terminology. 11. Monitor turnover rates and include questions about diversity in exit interviews. 12. Hold networking events for faculty and historically underrep- resented communities to encourage interaction and discussion on diversity issues. 13. Develop relationships with diverse, local populations and communities to provide work and volunteer experiences that connect to coursework. 14. Supply coaching services to applicants that need assistance during the application and interview process. 15. Make financial support and resources available and promote them to diverse populations of students. 16. Provide childcare options or expand existing offerings to sup- port students, faculty, and staff with families. 17. Create marketing materials that better and authentically repre- sent diversity at your campus. 18. Offer services and resources to ensure a good work/life balance and communicate them to faculty, staff, and students. 19. Recruit students from high schools that are in English as a Second Language classes or who are studying abroad. 20. Sponsor social and holiday events that promote diversity among students, faculty, and staff. Conclusion This is by no means an all-inclusive list of strategies for success- ful college diversity programs. It’s simply a jumping-off point to get you thinking about the different strategies you can use at your campus to improve diversity and inclusion. Let us know in the comments which strategies you’ve used or if you have any to add to the list. And check out our diversity and inclusion training designed specifically for higher education campuses. 2021 Most Diverse Colleges in Pennsylvania | In Order – Top 20 1. Swarthmore College 2. Carnegie Mellon University 3. Penn State Abington 4. University of Pennsylvania 5. Bryn Mawr College 6. Drexel University 7. Haverford College 8. Penn State Harrisburg 9. Temple University 10. Franklin & Marshall College 11. Harrisburg University of Sci- ence & Technology 12. Penn State York 13. Albright College 14. University of the Arts 15. Penn State 16. Penn State Beaver 17. La Roche University 18. Lehigh University 19. Gannon University 20. Lafayette College 20 14 | TALK MAGAZINE • SPRING 2021 by NicheBLACK COLLEGE POPULATION IN PENNSYLVANIA Where would You like Your Child to attend in 2021? WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 15 SCHOOL STUDENT BODY 201120182021AID RECEIVED Bryn Mawr College 1,3726%6%5%52% Robert Morris University 3,5009%6%7%73% Bucknell University 3,6003%3%3%38% St. Vincent College 1,4916%5%6%79% Carnegie Mellon University 6,8055%4%4%39% Slippery Rock University 6,9687%5%5%68% DeSales University 1,9632%4%5%78% Temple University26,21010%13%13%67% Clarion University 2,9956%7%8%80% University of Pittsburgh18,3438%5%5%49% Drexel University13,8789%7%6%64% University of Scranton 3,6261%2%2%72% Duquesne University 5,7324%5%5%66% Washington & Jefferson College 1,2593%5%7%79% East Stroudsburg 4,9546%16%20%82% Villanova University 6,5285%5%5%47% Edinboro University 2,9989%N/A6%77% York College of Pennsylvania 3,6853%5%6%58% Franklin & Marshall College 2,3064%6%6%55% Wilkes University 2,1103%N/A4%81% Juniata College 1,3062%3%4%72% Lock Haven University of PA 2,4807%9%7%78% Kutztown University 6,4626%N/A8%74% Marywood University 1,6491%N/A2%81% PA State University39,529N/A4%4%47% Mercyhurst University 2,3054%5%4%78% Gannon University 2,7756%5%5%76%HEALTH NEWS Vaccine Hesitancy Her name is Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett. If you are African American and hesitant to take the vaccine, you might be comforted to know that an African American woman was at the forefront of its development. Listen to the words of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Insti- tutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease who said in a webinar, “So, the first thing you might want to say to my African-American brothers and sisters is that the vaccine that you’re going to be taking was developed by an African American woman and that is just a fact,” Dr. Fauci stated. I do understand vaccine hesitancy. With our country's history of healthcare inequities, it is understandable. One of the common concerns is getting infected when one is vaccinated. Know that receiving a COVID-19 vaccine does not infect you with the virus, instead it stimulates your body to make antibodies to protect you from the virus. Also, in the clinical studies that led to vaccine authorization, one of every three participants were either Black or Hispanic. This is a very diverse clinical trial which is important. You may also be comforted to know that prominent leaders, like former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, have already been vaccinated. As an African-American physician leader in Pittsburgh, I can assure you the vaccine is safe and effective. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit African Americans the hard- est. Most of us know someone in our family, co-workers or friends who have been affected with illness or death. Our community needs to be vaccinated, but sadly, recent polls show only slightly more than half of us are planning to be vaccinated. The COVID-19 vaccine today is manufactured by three companies, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson, and they are all effective. If you only want one shot, then you want to get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine because it has been shown to prevent death and hospitalization. If you don’t mind getting two shots on two different occasions, then the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine is also a very effective option for you. The point is to just get vaccinated whichever vaccine you choose. Why is it so important to get vaccinated? The most important reason is to do everything we can to prevent more death and serious illness. COVID-19 infections can cause serious illness by not just attacking our lungs but attacking our blood vessels. Sadly, this means that some who were infected have had heart attacks, strokes and lost limbs to name a few. This is real. It is not a hoax, and the African American community has been hit hard. The only way for our community and our country to get back on track is for of us to be vaccinated. So we must get vaccinated. All of us should be vaccinated. Trust in Dr. Kizzme- kia “Kizzy” Corbett and her team get answers to any questions and please get vaccinated. Dr. David Webster, Vice President and Executive Medical Director, Clinical Services, Highmark Do you know that an African American woman developed the COVID-19 vaccine? 16 | TALK MAGAZINE • SPRING 2021HEALTH NEWS Current Medical Racism Fuels Black Americans’ Vaccine Hesitancy by April Dembosky For months, journalists, politicians and health officials — including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Dr. Anthony Fauci — have invoked the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study to explain why Black Americans are more hesitant than white Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine. “It’s ‘Oh, Tuskegee, Tuskegee, Tuskegee,’ and it’s mentioned every single time,” said Karen Lincoln, a professor of social work at USC and founder of Advocates for African American Elders. “We make these assumptions that it’s Tuskegee. We don’t ask people.” When she asks Black seniors in Los Angeles about the vaccine, Tuskegee rarely comes up. People in the community talk about contemporary racism and barriers to healthcare, she said, while it seems to be mainly academics and officials who are preoccupied with the history of Tuskegee. “It’s a scapegoat,” Lincoln said. “It’s an excuse. If you continue to use it as a way of explaining why many African Americans are hesitant, it almost absolves you of having to learn more, do more, involve other people — admit that racism is actually a thing today.” It’s the health inequities of today that Maxine Toler, 72, hears about when she asks her friends and neighbors in Los Angeles what they think about the vaccine. As president of her city’s senior advocacy council and her neighborhood block club, Toler said she and most of the other Black seniors she talks with want the vaccine but are having trouble getting it. And that alone sows mistrust, she said. Toler said the Black people she knows who don’t want the vaccine have very modern reasons for not wanting it. They talk about religious beliefs, safety concerns or a distrust of former President Trump and his conten- tious relationship with science. Only a handful mention Tuskegee, she said, and when they do, they’re fuzzy on the details of what happened during the 40-year study. “If you ask them ‘What was it about?’ and ‘Why do you feel like it would impact your receiving the vaccine?’, they can’t even tell you,” she said. Toler knows the details, but she said that history is a distraction from today’s effort to get people vaccinated against the coronavirus. “It’s almost the opposite of Tuskegee,” she said. “Because they were being denied treatment. And this is like, we’re pushing people forward: Go and get this vaccine. We want everybody to be protected from COVID.” The “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male” was a govern- ment-sponsored, taxpayer-funded study that began in 1932. Some people believe that researchers injected the men with syphilis, but that’s not true. Rather, the scientists recruited 399 Black men from Alabama who already had the disease. Researchers told the men they had come to Tuskegee to cure “bad blood,” but never told them they had syphilis. And, the government doctors never intended to cure the men. Even when an effective treatment for syphilis — penicillin — became widely available in the 1940s, the researchers withheld it from the infected men and continued the study for decades, determined to track the disease to its endpoint: autopsy. By the time the study was exposed and shut down in 1972, 128 of the men involved had died from syphilis or related complications, and 40 of their wives and 19 children had become infected. Given this horrific history, many scientists assumed Black people would want nothing to do with the medical establishment again, particularly clinical research. Over the next three decades, various books, articles and films repeated this assumption until it became gospel. “That was a false assumption,” said Dr. Rueben Warren, director of the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care at Tuskegee University in Alabama and former associate director of minority health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1988 to 1997. A few researchers began to question this assumption at a 1994 bioethics conference, where almost all the speakers seemed to accept it as a given. The doubters asked, what kind of scientific evidence is there to support the notion that Black people would refuse to participate in research because of Tuskegee? When those researchers did a comprehensive search of the existing litera- ture, they found nothing. “It was apparently a ‘fact’ known more in the gut than in the head,” wrote lead doubter Dr. Ralph Katz, an epidemiologist at the New York Universi- ty College of Dentistry. So, Katz formed a research team to look for this evidence. They complet- ed a series of studies over the next 14 years, focused mainly on surveying thousands of people across seven cities, from Tuskegee to Baltimore and San Antonio. The conclusions were definitive: While Black people were twice as “wary” of participating in research, in comparison with white people, they were equally willing to participate when asked. And there was no associa- tion found between knowledge of Tuskegee and willingness to participate. “The hesitancy is there, but the refusal is not. And that’s an important dif- ference,” said Warren, who later joined Katz in editing a book about the research. “Hesitant, yes. But not refusal.” continued on page 18 WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 17 It’s Not Tuskegee. Next >