Election Day ought to be a national holiday. Parents should give you the option to maintain their children near polling stations. This could also be a security issue in swing states where voltage is high. And in blue states, like where my family and I live in New York, it is best to have your kids nearby once you experience a disappointment that turns your stomach, gives you a headache, and makes you wonder if black women ever they’ll do. get what we actually deserve.
Children are profound of their simplicity. The day after election results declared Donald Trump the winner of the 2024 presidential race against Vice President Kamala Harris, I used to be disenchanted but not surprised. I hoped against hope that America would select an overqualified black and Indian woman who had served in all three branches of presidency over a failed businessman turned reality star and former president. I used to be flawed.
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 06: Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris interrupts her acceptance speech on stage at Howard University on November 6, 2024 in Washington, DC. After a controversial campaign focused on key battleground states, Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump, was predicted to win a majority of electoral votes, giving him a second term as US president. Republicans also secured control of the Senate for the primary time in 4 years. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Donald Trump’s problem – and there are numerous of them – shouldn’t be a lot what he says or does individually, but what he represents collectively. It reminds us how powerful white supremacy is. His ascension to the very best office within the land once more sends the message that you just haven’t got to be nice to guide. You may be sexist, racist and self-centered and still win. This is a lesson that his followers have learned and implement of their on a regular basis lives. This, along with the rights and freedoms he hopes to eliminate, is precisely what’s so devastating about one other Trump presidency.
When you are attempting to show your kids that kindness and caring for others matter, how do you explain Trump?
I’m now a mother of two children. My youngest daughter might be 4 once I leave office. As for her, I worry in regards to the health care she may at some point need and be denied, in addition to the lads she may encounter gassed by his misogyny. However, I’m most nervous about my son. When Trump leaves office, he might be seven years old. While black men overwhelmingly supported Harris on this race, it will be remiss to not acknowledge that Trump’s ideologies appear to be permeating black men somewhat more effectively. And one among my biggest fears is that my son will develop into a part of this problematic minority. I’ve been excited about this for years. Trump’s presidency only jogs my memory that I cannot let go. I must be much more committed to the morals and values I intend to impart and the way I plan to realize them.
Listen, respect and follow black women.
It’s no coincidence that America felt comfortable with Kamala Harris serving as Joe Biden’s deputy, but modified its mind when a Black woman ran for the highest spot. While there are countless examples of Black women leading families, churches, and full movements, men of all colours consistently wish to put us within the passenger side.
Since childhood, I purchased my son books that featured Black characters at the middle, women who dreamed, achieved and led. I would like him to get used to this idea. He surrounds himself with many black women in our black family, and I’m already teaching him to respect them, their bodily autonomy, and to be sure that he doesn’t see black women as existing solely to serve him as a boy and eventually a person. As he grows, I plan to show him to Black women in various leadership positions to show him to hearken to Black women not only because we’re the backbone of the community, but in addition because we are sometimes the wisest, most compassionate, and most capable people within the room.
Don’t be guided by whiteness and individualism.
The reason Trump is in office is because a whole lot of white people wanted him there. We must be clear about where the blame ought to be placed. Black people, for essentially the most part, did what we needed to do. We tried to vote for the very best interests of all the country. White people voted for white supremacy. In a rustic where whiteness has unchecked power, it is straightforward to be seduced. Many black people have tried to evolve to whiteness within the name of access and upward mobility. But it cost them. It cost them community, connection to themselves, and most frequently it cost them their souls. (In the black and biblical sense.)
There is strength in community and unity, especially throughout the black diaspora. We are survivors, innovators, and powerful beyond measure. Whiteness could also be winning, but as a black person on this country, it isn’t value chasing that unattainable, soul-crushing status. The price is just too high. I would like to show my son the great thing about all the black community: black men, black women, black queer people, and non-binary people. I would like him to know that working to empower the least of us uplifts all of us. Taking care only of yourself is an empty pursuit.
Read the book… and not only the headlines.
The country has a literacy problem. Black and brown students across the country struggle with literacy. The Republican Party is pleased about this fact. This is the rationale they actively try suppress the modicum of accurate history taught in our public schools. They know that knowledge empowers and emboldens the marginalized. They wish to keep us at nighttime. I even have watched recordings and heard quite a few conversations during which Trump supporters being interrogated prove that they don’t actually know not only what he represents, but in addition what he says. People don’t read anything however the headlines. And it isn’t nearly older or unaware voters. College students: our greatest and brightest, they do not read. A brand new term has appeared called LiHos. Refers to individuals who have little information but high opinions.
I do my best to instill a love of reading in each of my children in order that they’ll turn to books and reading as a source of delight and power.
Channel your rage.
They love calling a black woman evil. We have every right to be. We are uninterested in receiving lower than we deserve in virtually every aspect of life. I would like to show my children that as a substitute of demonizing Black women for his or her anger, realize that sometimes it’s justified. This anger was used for our liberation. It could also be sacred. In my home, we practice respiration work and emotion regulation. But there’s power in sitting with our emotions moderately than attempting to cover up the unpleasant ones. If they’re first acknowledged, they’ll result in truth.
Trump returns to the presidency. We are uninterested in the ways of this world. But the identical thing I hope to show my children, I remind myself: hearken to the Black women who’ve never failed to offer a way of affection, support, and a soft place to go in a difficult world. Remember the community. Our power has never been limited to government.
As we grieve, mourn and bind up our wounds, allow us to go searching and serve the individuals who might be most affected by these next 4 years… and beyond. Read to remain informed, read to flee, read as resistance. Finally, your anger could also be righteous. Don’t run away from it or try to disregard it with toxic positivity. Use this.
This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
There is a battle raging in American cities over whether to proceed using fluoride in water.
This is a process generally known as fluoridation that began around 1945. According to to the American Cancer Society became popular across the country after scientists noticed that individuals living in water with higher concentrations of fluoride had less tooth decay.
In 1962, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) advisable adding fluoride to public drinking water supplies to forestall tooth decay. The American Cancer Society estimates that fluoride is currently used in public drinking water supplied to roughly three in 4 Americans.
However, opponents have been warning for years that fluoride in drinking water is unsafe to devour. One of the organizations leading this initiative is Fluoride Action Network (FAN). The organization, whose mission is to lift awareness of what it claims is the “toxicity of fluoride compounds,” says many of the world’s developed countries don’t use fluoride in drinking water at the identical levels as America, or in any respect.
The organization says yes it helped over 500 communities successfully reject fluoridation, and there could also be more.
Federal leaders have gotten increasingly vocal in their support for ending the use of fluoride
While FAN says communities have rejected fluoridation for the past few a long time and the method has stalled in consequence, the fight has been thrust into the highlight over the past few months.
First, the National Toxicology Program, a federal agency throughout the Department of Health and Human Services, reported with “moderate certainty” that there may be an association between communities with higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in children. According to the Associated Press, these communities use greater than twice the advisable limit.
A month later, a federal judge apparently ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to further regulate fluoride in drinking water because higher levels could affect children.
Robert F. Kennedy, nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to direct the Department of Health and Human Services, announced an end to fluoridation.
This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
The Australian Drugs Regulatory Authority has issued an order safety warning over Phenergan and related products containing the antihistamine promethazine.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has stated that over-the-counter products shouldn’t be given to children under six years of age due to concerns about serious unwanted side effects akin to hyperactivity, aggression and hallucinations. Breathing may turn into slow or shallow, which can be fatal.
When high doses are administered to young children, difficulties in learning and understanding, including reversible cognitive deficit and mental disability, may occur. – said the TGA.
The latest warning follows international and Australian concerns about the drug in young children, which is commonly used to treat conditions akin to hay fever and allergies, motion sickness and for short-term sedative effects.
What is promethazine?
Promethazine is a “first generation” antihistamine that has been sold over the counter in Australian pharmacies for a long time for a spread of conditions.
Unlike many other drugs, first-generation antihistamines can cross the blood-brain barrier. This means they affect your brain chemistry, making you feel drowsy and sedated.
In adults, this will likely be useful for sleep. However, in children, these drugs can cause serious unwanted side effects on the nervous system, including those mentioned on this week’s safety alert.
We’ve known about this for a while
We have known about the serious unwanted side effects of promethazine in young children for a while.
Advice regarding 20 years ago In the United States, the drug was not recommended for use in children under two years of age. In 2022, an Australian Medicines Advisory Committee made its own suggestion to increase the age to six. New Zealand released similar warnings and advice in May this 12 months.
Over the last ten years, there have been 235 cases of serious unwanted side effects from promethazine in each children and adults reported to the TGA. Of the 77 deaths reported, one was a toddler under six years of age.
Reported unwanted side effects in each adults and children included:
13 cases of accidental overdose (leading to 11 deaths)
eight cases of hallucinations
seven cases of slow or shallow respiration (leading to 4 deaths)
six cases of decreased consciousness (leading to five deaths).
TGA security alert comes after an internal investigation by the manufacturer of Phenergan, Sanofi-Aventis Healthcare. This investigation was initiated in 2022 advice from the Medicines Advisory Committee. The company has now updated its information for consumers and healthcare professionals.
What can you use instead?
If you have allergies or hay fever in young children, non-sedating antihistamines akin to Claratine (loratadine) or Zyrtec (cetirizine) are preferred. They provide relief without the risk of sedation and other disturbing unwanted side effects of promethazine.
If symptoms of a chilly or cough occur, parents must be reassured that these symptoms will normally subside with time, fluid intake, and rest.
Saline nasal sprays, adequate hydration, a humidifier or elevating the child’s head can relieve the congestion related to hay fever. Oral products containing phenylephrine marketed for nasal congestion must be avoided because evidence shows that this is the case This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
