Author: Carma Henry

The Biden administration this week urged an appeals court to uphold a ruling that Florida violated federal law by blocking Medicaid coverage for transgender people seeking hormone therapy and puberty blockers.

Initially conceived by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, “Operation Lonestar” has stirred significant controversy, with reported incidents resulting in at least 74 deaths and numerous instances of violence and mistreatment of migrants over the past year.

      The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new gene-editing therapy to treat Sickle Cell Disease, a debilitating blood disorder that affects at least 100,000 Americans, most of whom are Black. The treatment, called Casgevy, is the first approved medicine in the U.S. to use the groundbreaking gene-editing tool CRISPR to alter DNA.

     The pancreas, situated behind the liver, produces hormones that assist in digestion and control of blood sugar levels. Pancreatic cancer, as in Reynolds’ case, is often detected too late to save a patient’s life.

      The latest findings on life expectancy in the United States from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) underscored a noteworthy upswing for the African American population in 2022. With the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continuing, the NCHS has highlighted the positive strides in health outcomes, particularly for Black Americans.

     Ify Ifebi, founder of the African Women’s Cancer Awareness Association (AWCAA), remembers welcoming her mother to the United States in 1989, coming to assist her a few weeks after the birth of her daughter.

Dr. Cynthia M. Wesley Photo courtesy of Dr. Cynthia M. Wesley

      “The United States vetoed a resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Friday, December 8, 2023, demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, as civilians casualties rise amid Israel’s military campaign against the Palestinian military group Hamas,” says reporter Eric Brazail-Eimil from Politico.

     For 12 years during months of October, Black Women for Positive Change has sponsored annual days, weeks and months of Non-Violence, Families, Voters Rights and Opportunities. It is our belief that with the epidemic of violence gripping the nation, America should be anxious for new approaches that can promote violence prevention, anger management, conflict resolution and de-escalation of violence.

     The historic Clean Energy Future Package and Clean Energy and Jobs Act, just recently signed into law by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, will greatly accelerate the state’s transition to the exclusive use of clean power sources like wind and solar.