Election 2020 feels like ages ago. Why am I posting this video only now?
Well, 2020.
Continue readingSecurity
I am examining what I depend on for security, and I encourage all of you to do the same. Neither you nor I may be an insurrectionist or domestic terrorist, but we all depend on something or someone for security.
The Trump supporters I know depend on him for security because he advances their capital gain. Who or what do you depend on for gain of any type in your life?
Is it your partners, parents, guardians, siblings, relatives, friends, bosses, jobs, investments, properties, or other people and assets?
Continue readingUnity
I have read, watched, processed, and am continuing to process the insurrection at the United States Capitol in Washington, DC. When I read articles like this one from NPR Timeline: How One of the Darkest Days in American History Unfolded, I feel many emotions, but surprise and shock are not among them.
Based on my informal and formal education of American and world history, my observations of the racial inequities and injustices among the diverse individuals and groups in my social networks, and my own life experiences, I am neither shocked nor surprised that predominantly White domestic terrorists invaded the United States Capitol. I am neither shocked nor surprised that those White insurrectionists have not suffered punishment for their actions in the way that protesters for Black Lives Matter have endured.
I am still hurt. I am still mourning. I am still livid. I am still sad that this transpired.
Continue readingLunch with Lindsay: Parenting and Working During a Public Health Crisis
It has been seven weeks since you heard from me. Since I last wrote on here, I have been so busy that I recorded my last episode of Lunch with Lindsay in late August; however, I did not get to share it here until today. If you read my post on my other blog, you know that I am Forcing Myself Off of the Hamster Wheel in order to make time to blog again.
Continue readingProving Your Pain
Today I called an airline for a refund on a flight I had scheduled prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was quite an ordeal.
In November 2019, I bought tickets to travel to Austin, TX, in May 2020. I had no clue that I would be diagnosed with breast cancer weeks later, how expensive cancer be as I worked to improve and maintain my quality of life, how challenging it would be to interact with medical providers and loved ones, how much pressure it is to take care of others even when I needed care, how the COVID-19 pandemic would intersect with my cancer and fertility treatment, how emotional freezing my eggs would be, and how George Floyd’s murder would place the United States’ racism under a magnifying glass in ways that reminded me of the ways others and myself have experienced racism in this country.
Continue readingThin Blue Line Flag
Have you slept well? Last night, I was writing a letter to a journalist at a local newspaper. It is The Patriot Ledger. The following is this newspaper’s post on Facebook:
If you want to learn more about the “thin blue line flag,” here is an article on it from NPR and another one from Boston.com.
This flag made it to fire trucks in my city.
As a woman of color and a cancer patient and survivor—during the COVID-19 pandemic—and during an era of reckoning with racism—I have to pick and choose how I will invest my energy.
Continue readingRacism Is a Public Health Crisis
Almost two and a half months ago, this article on racism being a public health crisis was published on Boston.com. The journalist Dialynn Dwyer quoted leading experts and hospitals such as the Dean of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the President of Massachusetts Medical Society, Boston Medical Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Continue readingLunch with Lindsay: Diversity and Inclusion Work During a Reckoning
Last week, I continued the Lunch with Lindsay video series with my friend Paty. She and I met our first year at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Almost two decades later, we reminisced on college, reflected on how we have evolved, and discussed how she approaches diversity and inclusion work during a reckoning with racism and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Continue readingWhere Are the Black Perspectives?
George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Tony McDade. Ahmaud Arbery. Atatiana Jefferson … Charleena Lyles, Korryn Gaines. Philando Castile. Sandra Bland. Freddie Gray. Michael Brown, Natasha McKenna … Trayvon Martin … Rodney King … Emmett Till.
You may be familiar with some of these names more than others. We do not know about you, but we cannot accept this list getting longer.
Continue readingThe Patient and Family Advisory Council
This summer, I had an appointment at my hospital. I had a negative interaction with a medical provider. It was not the worst in the world; it was not the best either. Initially, I decided not to share my feedback with the hospital, but I later opted to call and share my experience with its staff. My intention was to take a developmental approach to the situation. As the environment of this country has evolved in the past couple months, I felt responsible for doing what I can to make it better. The following is a statement I wrote as part of my application for the hospital’s advisory council for patients and families.
Continue reading
Unfiltered Snapshot 