RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT
My People Perish for the Lack of Knowledge, Pt. 3
COVID-19 Hits Black America Hard! How frustrating is it to watch the news day after day, to hear how African Americans are the hardest hit during this COVID-19 pandemic? According to American Public Media, Nov. 12, newest statistics show: • Of the more than 240,000 U.S. deaths catalogued in this Color of Coronavirus update, this is the number of deaths documented by group through Nov. 10: Asian (8,687), Black (46,211), Indigenous (2,251), Latino (46,912), Pacific Islander (334) and White (123,429). Additionally, 5,373 deaths are recorded only as “other” race (and likely include more Indigenous people and Pacific Islanders), while another 8,510 had an unknown race. • In the past four weeks, the death rate among Indigenous people has accelerated the fastest. These are the documented, nationwide actual mortality impacts from COVID-19 data (aggregated from all U.S. states and the District of Columbia) for all race groups: o 1 in 875 Black Americans has died (or 114.3 deaths per 100,000) o 1 in 925 Indigenous Americans has died (or 108.3 deaths per 100,000) o 1 in 1,275 Latino Americans has died (or 78.5 deaths per 100,000) o 1 in 1,325 Pacific Islander Americans has died (or 75.5 deaths per 100,000)
o 1 in 1,625 White Americans has died (or 61.7 deaths per 100,000) o 1 in 2,100 Asian Americans has died (or 47.6 deaths per 100,000) • Black Americans continue to experience the highest actual COVID-19 mortality rates nationwide—about two or more times as high as the rate for Whites and Asians, who have the lowest actual rates. Indigenous Americans’ death rate is just slightly lower than Blacks. You also heard the reason is because of pre-existing conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and body mass (overweight) issues, to name a few. Why do you suppose this is true? Hosea 4:6 says it best, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” This series, for maybe the fifth time, is my effort to help each of you understand how these health challenges can either cause one devastation, or with proper knowledge, you can be spared. Let me repeat for anyone who may be reading this for the first time. Back on Christmas Day, in 2000, when my mother passed away from complication of the three culprits, my family was uninformed about diabetes. We wanted to know more about the disease that took our mother in such a brutal fashion, so much pain and suffering, a classic case. Mother had both legs amputated, she had kidney failure
Mt. Zion Baptist Church
and dialysis, she had at least ten strokes or more, plus she suffered with high blood pressure for years. As her oldest daughter, I promised to educate millions of people regarding the causes and preventions of type 2 diabetes. In sharing with the general public, my mother's death shall not be in vain. Let’s now talk about causes of all three of the conditions that African Americans find themselves suffering with. This problem of type 2 diabetes dates back when Blacks were enslaved. Dr. Sherita Hill Golden head of the Diabetes Center at Baltimore’s John Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, noted that when Blacks were enslaved “the masters were the only ones to suffer from diabetes” because of poor diet and no exercise. You will read these words in every column, and that is: My people perish for the lack of knowledge. The big news is we can all shake off the shackles of these three killers of diabetes, high blood pressure and quit being overweight, by simply changing our diet by eating less carbohydrates, eat more green leafy vegetables, cut out sweets, and control portion sizes of starchy, carbohydrate-containing foods t portion sizes; secondly, take thirty minute walks at least five times each week; and third, eliminate stress from our lives. Look for more details about these preventions next week. WI
John F. Johnson Reverend Dr.
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Mount Olivet Lutheran Church
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Service and Times Sunday Worship Service - 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. Children’s Church - 11:00 a.m. (1st & 3rd Sundays) Communion - 10 a.m. 4th Sunday Sunday School - 9:15 a.m. (4th Sunday 8:15 a.m.) Prayer Meeting & Bible Study - Wednesday 7:00 p.m.
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Service and Times Divine Worship, Sunday 10:00 a.m. Communion 1st and 3rd Sunday “Friendliest Church in the City” Website: mountolivetdc.org Email: mtolivedc@gmail.com
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NOVEMBER 19 - 25, 2020 39
