racism – watercress words by Dr Aletha

updated January 15, 2022

The Reverend Dr. King led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968.

His famous “I have a dream” speech, delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. is remembered, read, and recited by people all over the country if not the world on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day every year.

The United States observes the third Monday of January as a federal holiday in honor and memory of the birthday of the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929)

quote from Martin Luther King about hate

Dr. King’s life reminds us of the tragic effects of interpersonal violence. His life ended suddenly and prematurely when, on April 4, 1968, an assailant shot him as he stood on a hotel balcony. He had delivered his last speech just the day before. The shooter was apprehended, and after confessing to the murder, sentenced to life in prison where he died.

Most people know of Dr. King’s assassination, but don’t know his mother, Alberta Williams King, also died violently. At age 69, sitting at the organ of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, Mrs. King was shot and killed on June 30, 1974. Her 23-year-old assailant received a life sentence and died in prison.

Violence, a major health risk

Violence between persons creates social, economic and political problems, and serious medical consequences. It is a leading cause of death, especially in children, adolescents and young adults.

Non-fatal injuries often cause severe and permanent disability that changes lives, burdens families and increases medical costs astronomically. These include

TBI, traumatic brain injuries
Spinal cord injuries leading to paraplegia, quadriplegia, ventilator dependence
Amputations of limbs
PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder; other forms of anxiety; depression
Chronic pain, often leading to opiate dependence

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.
Dr. King

The risk of health disparities

This observance also reminds us of the problem of health disparity. Health disparities are

preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health

that are experienced by populations that have been disadvantaged by their social or economic status, geographic location, and environment.

These populations can be defined by factors such as

race or ethnicity,
gender,
education or income,
disability,
geographic location (e.g., rural or urban),
sexual orientation.

Health disparities are directly related to the past and present unequal distribution of social, political, economic, and environmental resources

This was especially true with the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDC listed several reasons why this occurred.

There is evidence that people in racial and ethnic minority groups are more likely to live in areas with high rates of new COVID-19 infections (incidence).
Crowded living conditions and unstable housing contribute to transmission of infectious diseases and can hinder COVID-19 prevention strategies like hygiene measures, self-isolation, or self-quarantine.
Racial and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately represented in essential work settings such as healthcare facilities, farms, factories, warehouses, food processing, accommodation and food services, retail services, grocery stores, and public transportation.^19,20,21,22
Some people who work in these settings have more chances to be exposed to COVID-19 because -close contact with the public or other workers, not being able to work from home, and needing to work when sick because they do not have paid sick days.
Social determinants of health may also influence access to testing.
Underlying medical conditions that increase risk for severe illness from COVID-19 may be more common among people from racial and ethnic minority groups.¹⁹Common underlying conditions among those who require mechanical ventilation or died included diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, chronic kidney disease on dialysis, and congestive heart failure.²⁰
Together, the evidence from the provisional death data from NCHS and recent studies clearly illustrate the disproportionate burden of COVID-19 deaths among racial and ethnic minority groups, particularly Hispanic or Latino, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native people.

Long before COVID, doctors knew our Black patients fared worse with many common serious diseases

Learn Why 7 Deadly Diseases Strike Blacks Most from WebMD

I have a dream over the image of Martin Luther King Jr. — photo by Ruel Calitis, Lightstock.com

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies,

education and culture for their minds,

and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.

Dr. King

You can learn more about Dr. King and listen to part of his famous speech at

Biography.com

"I have a dream" by Martin Luther King, Jr. — Plaque honoring “I have a dream” speech by Dr. King , in Washington D.C. looking toward the Washington Monument

The following book suggestions lead to affiliate links which may pay a commission to this blog at no extra cost to you. These commissions help me fund this blog.

a biography about Dr. King written for children

I Am Martin Luther King, Jr.

exploring the HEART of health equality

Thank you for joining me to remember the late Dr. King. Please enter your email address to be notified of new posts as soon as they are available, you won’t receive anything else.

This is one of those post updates I would rather not need to write. On January 6, 2022, acclaimed actor Sidney Poitier died at age 94 in his parents’ native country the Bahamas.

Although movie historians insist on recognizing him as the first Black Man to win the Best Actor Academy Award, I believe he is best remembered as a person who overcame incredible personal challenges to achieve a successful career that not only entertained but challenged the status quo and taught difficult lessons about human relationships, especially the scourge of racism.

Mr. Poitier twice portrayed physicians in movies. The first, in 1950, which was also his film debut, was in No Way Out, where as a black physician he treated a bigoted white patient. Even now, it is not unusual for a black physician to encounter rascism in white patients; in 1950 it was essentially the norm.

The next film is better known, possibly because he acted opposite two of the most successful actors of that time. In 1967 Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy played a married couple whose white daughter was engaged to a young black physician, played by Sidney Poitier. The movie, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, was nominated for the Best Movie Academy Award and won for Best Story and Screenplay.

The film was one of the few films of the time to depict an interracial marriage in a positive light, as interracial marriage historically had been illegal in most states of the United States. It was still illegal in 17 states—mostly Southern states—until June 12, 1967, six months before the film was released. Roughly two weeks after Tracy filmed his final scene (and two days after his death), anti-miscegenation laws were struck down by the Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia. (Wikipedia)

The following is taken from my original post about Mr. Poitier.

Lilies of the Field

Although his acting ability had already won critical acclaim, a young actor made movie history in 1963 in a film based on this Bible text. In Lilies of the Field , he portrayed an itinerant handyman who meets a group of German-speaking nuns living in rural Arizona. After performing a small repair on a roof for them, he naturally asks to be paid. To which the Mother Superior replies,

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Matthew 6:28,29 ESV

In case you’re not familiar with the reference, it’s from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount; here is the full context.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (In the Old Testament, Solomon was a King, who was the richest man in the world at that time.)

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Matthew 6, ESV

That actor went on to have one of the most successful acting careers in history, winning numerous more awards, but more importantly appearing in productions that explored issues of race, discrimination, human rights, and justice.

Sidney Poitier, now 93 years old, won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field. He was the first black man to win the best actor award, and the second black person to win any Academy award. ( Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for her role in 1939’s Gone with the Wind, making her the first black person to be nominated for and receive an Oscar. In June 2020 HBO planned to add “historical context” to the streaming version of the movie.)

He went on to win the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama, the first Black person to win in that in that award program. He later won the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award in 1982.

In a post on the website The New Lyceum, Joey Barretta wrote this about the actor.

Sidney Poitier was the first black actor to win the Best Actor Oscar in 1964, the same year that the Civil Rights Act was passed and a year prior to the Voting Rights Act. He rose to be a star at a time in which racism was common and his career began before segregation was abolished. This man is a true hero, albeit one who played some compelling fictional characters setting an example for the fallacy that is racism. By portraying decent men, he set an example of excellence in character that even the prejudiced whites of his day could not ignore.
J. Baretta, March 5, 2018

Cry, the Beloved Country-based on the novel about apartheid in South Africa
To Sir, With Love-social and racial tensions in an inner city school
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner – interracial marriage
A Patch of Blue and The Defiant Ones -interracial friendships
In the Heat of the Night and They Call Me Mister Tibbs!– racial bias among law enforcement professionals
Separate but Equal– portrayal of Thurgood Marshall, future Supreme Court Justice
Mandela and deKlerk-portrayal of Nelson Mandela, future President of South Africa

I’d love for you to read the original post so just follow this link.

How Lilies of the Field challenged the fallacy of racism

September 19, 2020February 28, 2021

exploring the HEART of life through literature and media

I’ll hope you’ll watch Lilies of the Field if you’ve never seen it before. And also watch some of Mr. Poitier’s other films, which add revealing context to the social justice issues our country is confronting and correcting in the 21st century. Check out this article for some suggestions .

I also referenced the Loving vs Virginia Supreme Court case in a post I’d like for you to read also.

Say Goodbye for Now- a book review

Dr. Lucy lives alone except for the menagerie of injured animals she has doctored back to life. She likes her life the way it is, until she opens her home to three unexpected and unlikely guests.