OpEd

The Holiday Suicide Rate is a Myth

Media are in a catch-22 situation regarding reporting on the holiday season. On the one hand, there’s the push to spread the news that this is the season when sales are high and consumers spend more than any other time of the year. Sales and shopping lines, shipping costs, and timely deliveries consume the headlines for weeks, while the impact of COVID-19, travel safety, and the high cost of gas, airfare and food compete for the same attention.

In addition, how the holidays impact physical, emotional and mental health also compete with warnings that suggest the best ways to get through what is described as one of the most stressful seasons of the year.

However, the good news, so to speak, is a report issued recently by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania that debunks the myth that the year-end holiday season is the time when suicides rise. In fact, APPC reported, “although the U.S. suicide rate increased in 2021 after two years of declines, the average daily suicide rate during the holiday months remained among the lower rates of the year.”

Yet, it appears that media organizations, including newspapers and broadcasters, continue to perpetuate the false myth despite APPC’s efforts to “correct the popular misconception linking the holidays with suicide.”

The report considers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which showed reports from the Centers for Disease Control that suicides in 2021 were 4% higher than in 2020. Still, “the CDC noted that the monthly number of suicides was lower in 2021 than in 2020 in January, February, and July, and higher in all of the other months.”

The report highlighted, “In 2021, the average number of U.S. suicide deaths per day in January and December put those two months among the lowest of the 12 months – 10th and 12th, respectively.”

“For some people, this may be an emotionally fraught time of year,” said Dan Romer, research director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. “With stories focusing on the holiday blues, seasonal affective disorder, and other changes in the seasons, there are a lot of factors that would seem to support the myth. There is also a concern for those who have lost friends and family during the year and who may be experiencing sadness about those losses. But we should not assume that these experiences lead people to suicide.”

We agree with APPC that “this suicide myth must be debunked because allowing people to think that suicide is more likely during the holiday season can have contagious effects on people who are contemplating suicide.”

Clearly, we are tougher and more resilient than we think, and the holiday season brings more hope and promise than anxiety and strife. APPC strongly urges media organizations to stop perpetuating the myth, and we will abide. However, if readers have strong feelings, we advise you to dial 988 to get the help you need.

WI

It’s Official; Republicans Must Do Better

Senator Raphael Warnock has officially won the seat to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate, giving Democrats the majority they hoped for. But what say ye, the Republicans? Yes, it was a tight race and one that required a runoff between Warnock and the other guy; the football player that happens to be African American and reportedly a man that doesn’t tell the truth about critical issues, including abortion.

Where do the Republicans find these people, and what are they doing to improve the party’s impact, influence and status? What made them believe that the American public would support Sarah Palin, the “I can see Russia from my backyard” candidate who ran for Vice President with running mate John McCain? And, then there was Herman Cain, Mr. 9-9-9, rest his soul, who had the credentials, if for no other reason than he was a Morehouse man, but his candidacy for president ended following sexual harassment allegations. Many others can also be named, but the man of the hour who garnered the Republican Party’s most recent loss is Herschell Walker. What was it about Walker that made Republicans believe he would appeal to voters who are looking for a qualified representative in the Senate and not the football field?

The Republican Party is not monolithic. It’s not all White, all male, all rich, all Southern, all proTrump, or all racist. In fact, while most consider Republicans the conservative party, others who share their conservative views and would consider the party a viable option are disenchanted with a leadership that lacks discernment of opinions and values and people to represent them. They ask why the party will not stand up to their former President Donald Trump and denounce his role in instigating an insurrectionist uprising and his reportedly most recent call to terminate the U.S. Constitution.

We praise Senator Raphael Warnock and congratulate him for a hard-fought victory. He will represent all of the people of Georgia, regardless of party affiliation. Meanwhile, we admonish Republicans to pay close attention to see what positive and progressive leadership looks like. There are lessons the Republican Party needs to learn, and they only need to look back at their history to find what made them the party so many voters wanted to join. WI

TO THE EDITOR

Obama Forever

I love the photo of Barack Obama's portrait in the White House from last week's edition! As a photography lover, this is one I will most certainly frame. Happy holidays!

Elizabeth Cozette Washington, D.C.

Welcome Aboard!

Congratulations to Micha Green in her new role as managing editor at the prestigious Washington Informer. As a longtime reader and supporter, I look forward to where you will take the paper under your leadership.

Sherman Jones Laurel, Md.

Readers' Mailbox The Washington Informer welcomes letters to the editor about articles we publish or issues affecting the community. Write to: lsaxton@washingtoninformer. com or send to: 3117 Martin Luther King Jr Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. 20032. Please note that we are unable to publish letters that do not include a full name, address and phone number. We look forward to hearing from you.

Guest Columnist

Choices at a Table of Plenty

Marian Wright Edelman

When I was a child, my father kept an editorial cartoon pinned up in the vestibule of our church that made a deep impression on me I have never forgotten. It was a black and white drawing by the Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Herblock that was originally published in The Washington Post in October 1947. The picture shows well-dressed, happy people sitting at a banquet table overflowing with place settings, goblets, and so much food — a roast, gravy boats, bread and butter, covered dishes, heaping platters of sides — the table cannot hold any more. Hovering behind them and filling the rest of the image is a crowd of gaunt, wide-eyed hungry children dressed in rags. Back at the table, one of the dinner guests is speaking cheerfully to his smiling companions. The caption reads: "Shall we say grace?"

Over Thanksgiving, many Americans were blessed and deeply grateful to gather with family and friends and say grace around a table that looked a little like the one in the cartoon. But many others were outside watching quietly with no place at America's table of plenty.

For families who couldn't gather with loved ones during the pandemic, celebrating around full tables seemed especially joyful in 2022. But there are millions of Americans for whom trying to put a holiday meal on the table — or just making sure everyone has enough to eat every day — became even more difficult this year. The Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) expansions enacted during the pandemic in the American Rescue Plan helped millions of working people and families with children afford food and other basics. On Nov. 30, the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee released a report showing once again the expanded CTC's dramatic success in helping child poverty fall to its lowest rate on record in 2021. But when Congress let those expansions expire last December just as prices for many essentials were beginning to rise, many adults and parents couldn't fill the gap. Research now shows food insufficiency rates among households with children increased 25 percent

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Guest Columnist

Julianne Malveaux

An Executive Order for Reparations

Congressman John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced H.R. 40 in every congressional session from 1989 until he left Congress in 2017. Then, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) ably took the baton and ran with it, amassing more than 200 Congressional cosponsors for the legislation that would study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans.

Had House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) chosen to schedule a vote on H.R. 40, it would likely have passed, given its strong cosponsorship. While as many as 40 senators have supported the companion legislation, S-40, introduced by Sen. Cory Booker, reparations legislation was not likely to pass the Senate. With Republicans poised to take the House of Representatives, H.R. 40 won't get a House vote. But President Biden can move the reparations movement forward by signing Executive Order 40 (#EO40), which could establish the commission that H.R. 40 requires.

The organizations that support H.R. 40, including the NAARC, National African American Reparations Commission (on which I serve), and N'COBRA, the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, are urging President Biden to sign this executive order on Dr. King's birthday in 2023.

Callie House was one of the first reparations advocates, advocating for the National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Act, seeking pensions for formerly enslaved people who fought in the Civil War. The government, of course, opposed her efforts, with the Post Office Department aggressively vilifying her. House was convicted of postal fraud (the same thing Marcus Garvey was convicted of). Her jury was all white males. She was incarcerated for a year, a blow to the reparations movement. House was a threat to the illusion of white supremacy. Her organization filed a lawsuit against the US Treasury, seeking to distribute cotton tax revenues to formerly enslaved people. Of course, the case failed, with the US Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court asserting that the government had immunity for the crime of enslavement and owed nothing to formerly enslaved people. In the eyes of white America, House had to be punished for her audacity, thus her conviction and jail sentence.

Callie House sowed the seeds that are now bearing fruit. For example, the notion that cotton tax money should be used to compensate those who picked cotton has borne fruit in the contemporary reparations movement. In Evanston, Illinois, the first municipality to implement reparations, marijuana tax money is being used to compensate those affected by discriminatory housing policies.

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Guest Columnist

Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.

Proposed Journalism Competition Preservation Act's Negative Impact on Small Minority-Owned Newspapers

In September, lawmakers in Washington rushed through major legislation that would reward massive, legacy media corporations at the expense of smaller community-focused and minority-owned newspapers. While the Journalism Competition Preservation Act (JCPA) is meant to protect publications like those in the National Newspaper Publishers Association, it would ultimately threaten our ability to inform our communities, line the pockets of massive media conglomerates and hedge funds, and lead to the proliferation of harmful misinformation. Good intentions sometimes have negative and counterproductive consequences.

The goal to foster quality, local journalism and journalist jobs is well-intentioned. Local news outlets provide Americans with important information about the political, economic and cultural issues that matter to them. The news industry has reached an inflection point, and much work is still needed to secure a bright and sustainable future for minority-owned publications.

Newspaper employment has fallen by 70% in the past 15 years, and 20% of America's counties are at risk of becoming news deserts. The top 25 media chains now own a third of all U.S. newspapers. Thousands of newspapers have been acquired by hedge funds and private equity firms like Alden Global Capital or by media behemoths like Gannett, Lee Enterprises and McClatchy. For these media companies, a local newspaper is an asset for profit — not a valuable source of local information. Big media chains acquire newspapers, lay off journalists and staff, drive down wages and shutter publications forever — as they spend millions on executive salaries and stock buybacks.

Now, these same media companies and hedge funds are a step closer to receiving huge payouts — without any accountability or transparency to direct funds to local journalism and journalists. The JCPA would require tech platforms to carry and pay any

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Guest Columnist

Unchecked

Noteworthy indicators demonstrate our "shrinking" world. The rapid spread of COVID-19 is a clear example. Plant and animal invaders without natural enemies also proliferate exponentially and cause significant damage to our ecosystem.

Wikipedia describes the spotted lanternfly as: a planthopper indigenous to parts of China. It has spread invasively to Japan, South Korea, and the United States. Its host plants include grapes, stone fruits, and … Chinese sumac tree. In its native habitat, their populations are kept in check by parasitic wasps. … The piercing wounds caused by their mouthparts and the honeydew waste they excrete have been found to be significantly detrimental to the health of host plants. In 2014, it was recorded in the U.S. and is now invasive throughout the Northeast.

Contrary to what may be suggested, this is not an entomology essay. It provides background to a story about a psychological assault on a 9-year-old Black child.

That 9-year-old, Bobbi Wilson, learned about the harm posed by the spotted lanternfly. In October, with homemade insecticide in hand, Bobbi explored her Caldwell, N.J., neighborhood for the winged invaders. She enthusiastically pursued her mission until it was interrupted by the police who had been called with a report of "a little Black woman walking, spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence. I don't know what the hell she's doing. Scares me, though." The complaint also noted that she wore a "hood."

Gordon Lawshe, a former Republican councilman in Caldwell and a neighbor of Bobbi's family, made the complaint. The police responded but upon arrival determined that Bobbi was a child. The responding officer waited with Bobbi until her mother came to see what was happening. After she arrived, Bobbi's mother, Monique Joseph, recalls Bobbi asking, "Am I in trouble?" Joseph pulled her close while she and the officer reassured her that nothing was wrong. The excuse offered by Lawshe was that he thought she was a "lost little girl" or "little old lady with dementia." The apology Lawshe offered was not accepted because Joseph could not understand why he called the police before his own investigation, especially since their families had been neighbors for

E. Faye Williams

WILLIAMS Page 46

Guest Columnist

A. Peter Bailey

Economic Guidance From Professor James Clingman

It is not an exaggeration to say that day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year, most Black newspaper columnists, Black television and radio commentators, Black civil rights leaders and especially Black politicians read, write and talk about Black politics from every possible angle. Unfortunately for Black folks, they don't do the same with the critical subject of economics.

What they and the rest of us need to do is to take time to read a March 20, 2013, column by the gifted professor James Clingman. The column is titled "Putting Economics Before Politics," if we want to know the real deal about that important subject.

Professor Clingman's first paragraph states the following: "It is always been intriguing to me that we have elected thousands of Black politicians since Reconstruction, especially since 1970, while the number of Black economic advocates pales in comparison. While understanding that Black economic advocates are not elected per se, it is obvious to me that if economics is at the bottom of everything in this country, Black people should have at least as many Black economists, economic advocates and economic literary instructors as we do politicians."

Professor Clingman's closing paragraph in the same column states: "Economics is about empowerment and our dollars should be used more wisely to that end. Politics is about self-interest and our votes should reflect that truth. … The best help is self-help. We must organize and rally around basic economic principles. And until we our really serious in playing the political game, we must wean ourselves of the milk and pabulum of political dependence and get on a steady diet of competitive economics and mutual respect."

What Professor Clingman is really telling us is that there is no political power without economic power. There may be a limited degree of political influence but to have political power a group must first possess economic power.

Fortunately, there is a growing number of young Black folks following the guidance suggested by Professor Clingman.

WI

Guest Columnist

Marc H. Morial

Karen Bass' Historic Election Ushers in a New Era of Inclusive, More Equitable Civic Leadership

"Karen Bass has a long history of always being on the side of the people, fighting for the people, fighting for the people whose voices aren't in the room but must be present. That's who Karen Bass has always been. It's who she will always be."

The National Urban League and the civil rights community have had few champions in Congress as tenacious and effective as Rep. Karen Bass of California.

Earlier this year, the National Urban League worked closely with Chairwoman Bass and the Congressional Black Caucus on negotiations that led to President Biden's Executive Order on Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety. She and I partnered last year to highlight racial equity in COVID vaccines, and she advocated fiercely for the National Urban League's priorities in the federal COVID relief responses. She has been a mainstay of our annual Legislative Policy Conference.

Now, the House of Representatives' loss is the City of Los Angeles' gain. We are proud to congratulate Rep. Bass as she prepares to be sworn in as the first woman to hold the office of mayor of Los Angeles.

Her inauguration on Dec. 12 also will mark the first time in history that the nation's four largest cities will be led by Black mayors. She joins Eric Adams of New York, Lori Lightfoot of Chicago and Sylvester Turner of Houston.

As a former big-city mayor myself, and a past president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, I am perhaps a little biased but I am convinced that mayors are the most important elected officials in the country. Cities are the economic engines of the nation. They are laboratories of innovation. When a failure of leadership at the federal level crippled the nation's response to the COVID pandemic, our mayors stepped into the breach.

The election of Rep. Bass, a longtime social justice advocate and coalition-builder, can be seen as a rejection of racially-divisive policies such as the "tough-on-crime" agenda advocated by her opponent, and the underhanded scheming revealed by a leaked recording of city

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