04
READY FOR ACTION
ISSUE NO. 4 DECEMBER 2020
NASHVILLE ALUMNAE CHAPTER A SOCIAL ACTION PUBLICATION THIS ISSUE
FROM THE FRONT LINES EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN PURPOSE IN ACTION
COVID-19: From the Front Lines
WE ARE THE UNSEEN, FORGOTTEN, YET ESSENTIAL WORKERS OF THIS PANDEMIC. Delbrita L. Greene, Premier Funeral & Cremation Services
A hug. A handshake. A smile. A touch... But COVID. This year, a year that has seen so much suffering, pain, and heartbreak is complicated by the fact that simple, but meaningful human interactions are questionable and at times prohibited.
So great is the burden of our death care
professionals as they meet families in their greatest time of loss. They are tasked with explaining to grieving families that they cannot hold a traditional home-going service because most church facilities are closed and if they do choose to hold a service, then only ten people can attend. But thankfully, professionals like Delbrita Greene of Premier Funeral & Cremation Services are available to present families with innovative ways to celebrate the life and legacy of loved ones during this time.
From legacy parades to graveside services and virtual
services across digital media platforms, Greene is dedicated to ensuring that families who entrust her with their final arrangements can look back on that moment knowing they were cared for during that time.
When asked how death care professionals are handling this pandemic, Ms. Greene said, "We're busy, and emotionally drained.
We are the
unseen, forgotten, yet essential workers of this pandemic." She explained that many states do not even consider death care professionals essential; therefore, the basic items provided to other front line workers are not available to them. She went on to say that while it is understood that a virus can live in a person's body, even after death, we do not know how that plays out for persons who die from complications of COVID-19.
As such, embalmers must take precautions and should wear respirators and personal protective equipment
(PPE) when embalming a person's remains.
Though Greene's team has access to such equipment, that is not necessarily the case across the
country where embalmers in some states are not deemed essential workers.
Greene notes that despite the fact that funeral home businesses
have doubled and tripled their business during this pandemic, as people, they are more isolated and limited in their interactions because every interaction with a family, every service, every embalming and burial, potentially exposes them to the virus.
As this holiday season ramps up across the world, Greene encourages us "to sit this one out." The dangers of COVID-19 are real, so we must protect ourselves and consider our front line workers who sacrifice their lives and families each and every day to serve their communities.
Delbrita L. Greene is a licensed funeral director, embalmer and certified crematory operator. She is a native of Birmingham, AL, but has resided in Nashville for over 20 years. Greene is a graduate of Tennessee State University, where she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Cardio-Respiratory Sciences, a graduate of the John A. Gupton Mortuary College, and holds an MBA with a minor in Management and Leadership from Trevecca Nazarene University. Two years ago, she opened Premier Funeral and Cremation Services, a boutique style funeral business in Nashville, TN, where she offers traditional funeral services, cremation services, and green/eco-friendly burial options. Greene was initiated into the Alpha Chi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. at Tennessee State in the Spring of 2003, and is currently a member of the Nashville Alumnae Chapter. Please visit Premier Funeral & Cremation Services - https://www.premierfuneralstn.com/ for more information.
From the Front Lines: A COVID Conversation with Dr. A. Kenitra Henderson-Fitts Q: What is the most important thing we can do right now to protect ourselves during this time?
Q: As a medical professional, what have you found to be the most challenging during this time?
A: The most important things you can do is wear a mask when outside of your home, maintain social distancing as much as reasonably possible, stay home if you feel ill and contact your physician to determine if COVID testing is necessary. AND please don't be a part of spreading misinformation about the virus or the vaccine.
A: The most challenging aspect is that this public health crisis has been politicized, resulting in the death of almost 300,000 people. This did not have to happen.
Q: What would you say to those who are nervous and/or suspicious about the vaccine? A: Talk to your physician about your concerns as they can provide you with the facts available to them at this point. Though less than 1,000 African-Americans were involved in the Pfizer trial, the lead researcher for that vaccine was a black woman! And despite being nervous now, realize that the vaccine will likely not be available to the general public until sometime this summer; however health care workers, nursing home residents, elderly and teachers may have access sooner. I would encourage you to continue to learn as much as you can while we wait for the vaccine to be distributed widely. Also, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will require two doses delivered 21 days apart. The ability of the vaccine to be effective is reduced from 90% to 50% if only one shot is taken, so if you choose to be vaccinated, be sure to take both doses. As with any shot, there will likely be mild side effects such as low grade fever, muscle aches, injection site discomfort. Please remember that the vaccine is not a cure and masking and social distancing will still be necessary to get us through this.
The health of your neighbors is not a red or blue thing - it's a do the right thing. Q: Even though COVID has produced a lot of challenges, has there been a silver lining at all? Are there "good" things that have happened as a result of this season? A: The good thing, if we can call it that, is this pandemic has highlighted the necessity of a strong public health/preventative health care system in this country. Currently, our healthcare system focuses on curing sickness after it has already occurred, and now the country sees the importance of prevention. As a result, we are really looking at other chronic illnesses, which is resulting in improved nutrition, increased interest in exercise/regular physical movement, and increased medication compliance. Q: As we go into this holiday season, do you have any words of advice for our readers? A: Please remember to wear a mask and also remember social distancing calls for physical distance - but get creative about staying in contact with family and friends - send a random text, make a phone call, send Christmas cards this year and put a special note in it, be a porch drop-off bandit! Also don't forget the holiday season puts extra stress on people's emotional/mental health - let's check on each other.
Dr. Henderson-Fitts is a board certified physician currently employed as a local primary care provider with an additional physician supervisory role to on-board, train, and ensure implementation of successful quality metric programming at other local clinics. She also serves a medical director of a local hospice agency. Dr. Henderson-Fitts completed her undergraduate studies and Tennessee State University and earned her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She completed an internal medicine residency and chief resident year at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti, MI. A Spring 1996 Alpha Chi initiate into Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Dr. Henderson-Fitts is currently a member of the Nashville Alumnae Chapter.
I was elected to lead, not to be liked, so my first priority will be to the children and their safety. ~ Christiane Buggs A conversation about COVID and education begins with the tornadoes that ravaged the Metro Nashville area on March 2, 2020. Because of widespread damage to homes, roads, and schools, students could not attend school. Then about two weeks later, COVID begin spreading rapidly across the country,
COVID CONVERSATIONS: EDUCATING OUR YOUTH
and as a result, students have yet to return to in-person learning.
On the one hand, this sudden shift in student learning environments has sparked many conversations about how we educate our youth, and on the other hand, it has incited controversy and protest from others. When asked how she handled the voices, demands, and protest of parents and community members, Christiane Buggs, chairwoman of the Metro Nashville School Board, responded, "I've learned that I was elected to lead, not to be liked, so my first priority will be to the children and their safety." And though the voices who oppose the District's COVID response are loud, Buggs noted that those voices are a minority and do not represent the community as whole. What she has learned is that affluent parents cannot comprehend the inconvenience of district-wide COVID precautions, while parents in our most disenfranchised communities are most concerned with providing for their families and keeping their children safe from a deadly virus. Layla Sexton, Jabberwock Princess 2019 and
As such, innovation in how we educate children has been paramount.
1st
Though this virus has shone a light on the inequities across schools and
School,
communities in the district, it has also forged community partnerships in
playing Trapped in the Castle and time on the
places that traditionally worked in silos. The community also gained a new appreciation for the work of educators and realized that teacher salaries and the $11,000 allocated to educate each student in the public school system is not sufficient. With all of these items and many others on the table, Mrs. Buggs hopes that as the equity agenda comes to the forefront in 2021 that the community will join the conversation and lend a hand in re-imagining and developing how we deliver education to students in our communities across the district.
Grader
at
says
Andrew that
she
Jackson misses
Elementary her
friends,
swings at recess, since she now has to attend virtual school.
However, there are many things
that she enjoys about being home.
First, she
can see her parents, sister, and Rock N' Roll (elf) and Rudolph (reindeer) during the day while she is learning instead of just before and after school. Secondly, her mom's lunch is way better than school lunch, and third Layla has made new friends in her virtual class that would not have been in her class at school.
On the
When asked what we can expect in the future - code for when are the
subject of masks, Layla does not mind wearing
children going back to school - Mrs. Buggs expressed that while she remains
her mask, so long as it isn't a "kiddie" mask
hopeful for the return of our youngest learners and those with special needs
because according to her, those "just don't fit
after winter break, safety is the primary concern, so we will have to be
right." And finally, even as a first grader, Layla
flexible and see what the new year brings with the distribution of the
understands
COVID vaccine and numbers across the district.
explained that "Germs are everywhere! And if
the
gravity
of
COVID,
she
you don't wear your mask, they can go in your mouth and in your tummy, and that will make you very sick." Despite COVID and having to go to virtual
Christiane Buggs is the chairwoman of the Metro Nashville School Board, where she has served for five years. Additionally, Buggs serves as Project Manager for the Literacy Parntership with the United Way. She is a Tennessee State University graduate and Spring 2007 initiate in the Alpha Chi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
school, Layla summed it all up in one word: thankful! She's simply thankful that she can still learn!
Purpose in Action : A Word from the Commissioner of the National Social Action Commission Honorable Brenda Gilmore, TN State Senate, D19
“If you can't figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.” - Bishop T.D. Jakes
We are all born with a purpose… it just takes some of us a little longer to figure out exactly what that purpose is. But Senator Brenda Gilmore has known her purpose since the time she was a little girl. Growing up in small town Gallatin, Tennessee she discovered that social action was in her DNA. “Even when I was a young girl, it was a part of my life. I always enjoyed working in the community. I taught Sunday School as a teen and would take my class to nursing homes to minister to the residents. Volunteering in my small town was just a natural path for me, Gilmore said.” What came natural to the young Gilmore took her from the halls of Tennessee State University to the Metro-Nashville Council and the Tennessee State Senate. Now, she can add Commissioner of the National Social Action Commission of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated to her long list of activism. “This is something I’ve always wanted to be a part of. I know the work the commission does and how it impacts the entire country. I am excited about my appointment because I know the sincerity the commission has to make a difference.”
Since her initiation into Delta almost 35 years ago, Gilmore has served as President, Vice-President and Secretary of the Minerva Foundation, Chair of Founders Day, May Week, Charity Ball and the Step Show committees. “Social action is what attracted me to Delta. It is the foundation that our sorority is built on and the thread that runs through all of our programmatic thrusts. Remember, our founders participated in the women’s suffrage movement when it was extremely challenging for them to do so. They persevered in the fight even though black women did not gain the right to vote until decades later. But they were still there fighting. For that reason, we have a legacy to protect and pass on to the next generation of leaders.” While maintaining social action during a pandemic has had its challenges, Gilmore is still on the front lines, fulfilling her purpose. “I try to be a good role model by staying engaged and protecting myself and the community. Everywhere I go I wear two masks, maintain social distance, wash my hands frequently and I educate my community as often as I can on how important it is that we take this pandemic serious. It has ravaged the black and brown communities, but I still have to be involved because I know there is work to do. It’s important that we continue with active and aggressive voter registration, getting people in our community to go out and vote. I think that helping people who have barriers, such as felonies, to engage in the democratic process is critical.”
While Gilmore has served as a mentor to countless young women looking to follow in her footsteps, she is committed to educating Sorors across the country on the importance of being involved in politics and having their voices heard. “My advice is to get involved! You can do something, large or small. When all of us work together, that’s when we really move the needle in terms of making a difference and changing lives. I feel all of us, especially college educated women, have an obligation and a responsibility to give back. We are leaders. We don’t sit on the sidelines.”
Nashville Alumnae Chapter Social Action Committee SocialAction@NashvilleAlumnae.com www.nashvillealumnae.com Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is a non-partisan organization that does not endorse any political candidate, party, or cause. Ready for Action is a newsletter published by the Nashville Alumnae Chapter designed to inform and educate individuals about pertinent social and political issues that affect the local and national community.