Caribbean American Weekly - Issue 111

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ISSUE 111 VOLUME 19

Nov 12, 2020

SERVING THE CARIBBEAN AND HISPANIC COMMUNITIES! THE SOUL OF AMERICA IS RESTORED!

A Presidency for All Americans

BY MARY CAMPBELL SPECIAL TO CAW Black Women Who Aimed for the White House ....8

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ears. Dancing. Hugging. Honking.

The sounds of music filling the air. Screaming. Breathing. Sighs of relief. Why? On Saturday, November 7, Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential Elections along with his running mate, Kamala Harris.

President-elect Biden. Sounds good, really good. Let’s move along and say, President Joe Biden. In the words of President Biden. Editorial credit: VP Brothers / Shutterstock.com

continued on page 6

If Gov’t Doesn’t Work for Blacks, It Doesn’t Work .... 4

Kamala Harris, Our New Vice-President: We Are So Proud of You

BY JANET HOWARD SPECIAL TO CAW

Knowledge is Power when you use it!

Get a FREE Consultation!

Ask the Lawyer:

Call 855-768-8845 Helping Veterans Every Day ....26

K

amala Harris has what I like to call happy eyes.

And those happy eyes culminated with the most joyous laugh heard around the world on Saturday, November 7, in a video posted to her social media. In that, she excitedly says, "We did it, we VP Harris. Editorial credit: VP Brothers / Shutterstock.com

continued on page 9

CARICOM Leaders Congratulate Biden & Harris ....2

Brian Figeroux, Esq., Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association Gonsalves’ Historic Victory ....12

5 Ways to Boost Savings, Reduce Anxiety ....17

5 Signs You May Married the Wrong Person ....25

Brother Rojo Speaks on Diabetes & COVID-19 ....18

8-PAGE HEALTH SPECIAL ....15-22

CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP Caribbean Consulates Anguilla 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200 Antigua & Barbuda 305 East 47th Street, Suite 6A New York, N.Y. 10020 Tel: 212-541-4117 The Bahamas 231 East 46th Street New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-421-6420 Barbados 820 Second Avenue, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-551-4325 Belize 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1911 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-593-0999 Dominica 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400H New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-949-0853 Dominican Republic 1500 Broadway, Suite 410 New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-599-8478 Grenada 685 Third Avenue, Suite 1101 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-599-0301 Guyana 308 West 38th Street New York, N.Y. 10018 Tel: 212-947-5119 Haiti 815 Second Avenue,6th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-697-9767 Jamaica 767 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-935-9000 Martinique 444 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-838-6887 Montserrat 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200 Panama 1212 Avenue of the Americas, 20th Floor New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-840-2450 St. Kitts & Nevis 414 East 75th Street, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10021 Tel: 212-535-5521 St. Lucia 800 Second Avenue, 9th Floor New York, N.Y. 10007 Tel: 212-697-9360 St. Maarten 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1807 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 800-786-2278 St. Vincent & The Grenadines 801 Second Avenue, 21st Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-687-4981 Trinidad & Tobago 125 Maiden Lane, 4th Floor New York, N.Y. 10038 Tel: 212-682-7272 For more Consulate information go to www.cawnyc.com/directory

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CARICOM Heads Congratulate Biden and Harris

BY CALVIN G. BROWN, WIREDJA.COM

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ONTEGO BAY, Jamaica [November 7, 2020]: Caribbean heads of government have extended congratulations to President-elect of the United States of America Joseph Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, following the November 3, elections in the United States, making Biden the 46thUS President.

Jamaica In his congratulatory message, Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness said: “On behalf of the Government and people of Jamaica, I extend heartiest congratulations to the President-elect and Vice President-elect of the United States Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris.

The United States of America will have its first woman and person of color as Vice President in Kamala Harris. We are proud that she has Jamaican heritage.

Her ascension to the role of VP is a monumental accomplishment for women all over the world and I salute her. Jamaica looks forward to the continued strong bilateral relations with our largest trading partner, the US, particularly as we work to stimulate our economies in the face of the COVID19 pandemic.”

Antigua & Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister Gaston Browne said on behalf of the people and government of Antigua and Barbuda and on my own behalf, congratulate you warmly on your election as the 46th President of the United States of America. I recall our work together while you served as Vice President to advance the security and well-being of the United States and its neighbors in the Caribbean. I especially recall with appreciation, the work that you had started on building security in energy and my par-

Editorial credit: Michael D Edwards / Shutterstock.com

ticipation with you in conferences to facilitate progress in this vital area."

“Allow me also to note that today, November 7th, 2020, marks 48 years to the day when you were first elected to Senate as a 29-year old. Your stamina and energy – and most importantly your commitment to public service for the people of the United States has been exemplary and outstanding,” Browne said, extending congratulations on behalf of the people and government of Antigua and Barbuda.

“As you begin to plan for your assumption of office in January 2021, I know that you will be cognizant the Caribbean is the “third border” of the United States and that our governments have a joint responsibility to cooperate in economic and social development that will keep our collective neighborhood prosperous.

“I greatly look forward to our two governments working closely together to meet the great challenges of our time, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, restoring our economies to full strength, putting our people into the fullest employment possible, tackling the existential threat posed by climate change, and making our world a safer place for all.

I wish you every success as you prepare to take up office and I pray for the success of your administration and for the well-being of all people of the United

Phillips Hails Newly-Elected PNP President Mark Golding

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INGSTON, Jamaica: Outgoing president of the People's National Party (PNP) Dr Peter Phillips has congratulated Mark Golding on who was Saturday elected president of the Peoples National Party over Lisa Hanna.

Dr. Phillips has urged the Party, including all members, affiliates, and supporters, to unite in full support of the leader.

The organization embarks on charting the way forward in keeping with the traditions of progressive politics and the need to strengthen the PNP's electoral appeal.

Golding's 296 margin of victory, 1,740 to Hanna's 1,444, is being touted as the biggest margin of victory in a PNP presidential election in recent time.

In a tweet, Golding thanked his supporters: "Comrades, Delegates, Friends

thank you for your vote and your confidence in me.

Tomorrow we start the rebuilding of a unified, stronger, and purposeful Peoples National Party! I couldn't have done this without you, and I don't plan to move forward without you either! " He told the media at PNP Headquarters following his win that he is ready to take on a bold new era in the 82-year-old organization, and the work begins tomorrow.

He said in this new era, the world is different from what it was a year ago.

"Indeed, the world is different from what we knew it to be 24 hours ago," said Golding before congratulating US president-elect Joe Biden and vice-president-elect Kamala Harris on their victory in the United States election.l

States,” Browne wrote in his letter to Biden.

Barbados Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley in a statement said "America has spoken and the world is inspired.

The people and Government of Barbados warmly congratulate President-Elect Joe Biden and his Vice President Elect Kamala Harris, the first woman and person of color to hold that position.

I am sure that we in the Caribbean will look forward with optimism to working with the new administration to confront a number of global issues from the awful pandemic to the climate crisis to the pursuit of racial justice.

There is much work for the world to do if we are to lift up our people across the globe to fight these issues that know no boundaries but require character and leadership to defeat them."

St Lucia St. Lucia’s Prime Minister, Allen Chastanet, said he had been watching “along with you and the rest of the world, the elections in the United States” and that the “results indicate that the American people have decided that Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris will be their leaders.

“On behalf of the Government and People of St. Lucia I congratulate the President-elect and Vice President-elect.

The United States has long been a friend to St. Lucia and we very much look forward to that relationship continuing.

Initiatives important to our mutual interests include economic prosperity, climate change and security,” he added.

Trinidad & Tobago For his part, the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley said “given the close familial ties of both our countries and our joint economic and security connections, we look forward to the strengthening of those bonds in the months and years ahead.

“We, as Caribbean people filled with pride, extend a special accolade to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as we acknowledge her Caribbean roots and wish both officeholders a very successful term, not only for the American citizens but for all the people of the world,” he added.l

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THOUGHTS

Can Joe Biden Heal A Divided America?

BY MIKE BEBERNES THE 360, YAHOO NEWS

Why there’s debate As sincere as Biden’s efforts to unite the country may be, many argue that they are likely doomed from the start. In order for Biden’s message to resonate, it must first be heard. Partisan news and social media have resulted in information bubbles that can be difficult for even the president to penetrate. Trump has also instilled in his supporters a deep distrust of government that will endure long after he’s out of office, some argue. His continued refusal to accept the results of the election will also mean that many in the GOP base won’t see Biden as a legitimate president.

Biden will also have to contend with congressional Republicans, who have little political incentive to cooperate with Democrats, especially if they maintain

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. —Hosea 4:6 Publisher I.Q. INC. Managing Editor & Editor-in-Chief

Pearl Phillip

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central theme of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory speech Saturday was the need for the United States to find unity at a time of deep division. “This is the time to heal in America,” he said. It was the continuation of a message that was the core of his presidential campaign, which he called a “battle for the soul of America.”

Biden’s calls for harmony — a stark contrast to the divisiveness of President Trump — clearly resonated with a large share of voters. But the 2020 election also provided ample evidence of how deeply divided the country is. More than 71 million Americans voted for four more years of Trump, the second-highest vote total in history behind Biden’s 76 million. Support for the two candidates was split along stark lines based on race, age, income, geography, religion and other factors.

Polarization in the U.S. didn’t start with the Trump presidency. But research suggests that in recent years the political divisions are becoming increasingly personal, driven by the idea that one’s party affiliation is a moral choice, rather than a matter of policy disagreement. In this context, political divisions are guided as much by antipathy for the other side as they are by support for one’s own party.

TEAM

Legal Advisor Brian Figeroux, Esq. Assistant Editor Marilyn Silverman Graphic & Website Designers Praim Samsoondar Kendrick Williams Anvaar Sabirov

New York City, New York/USA November 7, 2020. Thousands celebrate Joe Biden defeating Donald Trump in the Presidential Election and Kamala Harris the first woman Vice President of the United States. Editorial credit: Steve Sanchez Photos / Shutterstock.com

their Senate majority. With so many important issues that will need addressing at the start of Biden’s presidency, the two parties may be primed for a series of bitter legislative battles over how best to solve them. Biden will also face pressure from many Democrats to take a more aggressive line on policy, which could inflame tensions further.

Others take a more optimistic view. The simple act of replacing Trump, who stoked conflict constantly, with a less bombastic personality can go a long way toward easing tensions in the country.

Biden also has the opportunity to align the nation behind the common mission of overcoming the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic fallout, two crises that have affected Democrats and Republicans alike. During his time as a senator and vice president, Biden built a reputation as one of Washington’s great dealmakers. If anyone can help Democrats and Republicans in Congress find common cause, it’s Biden, some argue.

Perspectives —Optimists Biden is the ideal personality to help bridge the divides between Americans “Biden’s greatest task...is to heal a fractured nation. He is uniquely positioned to do this with unquestionable empathy, compassion and dignity.” — Editorial, San Antonio Express-News

Under Biden, things at least won’t get worse “Complete harmony will never happen but it makes a difference whether you’re pouring fuel on the fire or trying to dampen it.” — Rory Carrol, Guardian The are many opportunities for Congress to find common ground “No doubt there will be partisan fights and gridlock that impede progress in some, or many, areas of public policy.

But better that than grand reforms passed on a partisan basis that are not durable or sustainable, and become grist for endless vitriolic debate. Mr. Biden may not have a policy mandate, but he clearly has a governing one: to steady the ship of state after the trauma of Mr. Trump’s rule.” — Charlie Dent, Financial Times Trump will no longer be in a position to stoke tensions “America will no longer have a President who uses division as an instrument of power. Governance and foreign policy will not be made by tweet. Biden has already announced a task force to fight the worsening pandemic. And the burden of Trump's racial fear-mongering will be lifted from Americans of color. Trump's demagogic presidency will become an aberration in American history, rather than a new foundation that affronts the country's bedrock values.” — Stephen Collinson, CNN

Interns Sharif Tyler Casey Tong Contributors Jennine Estes Erin Telesford Janet Howard Mary Campbell Tarsha Gibbons Travis Morales Victoria Falk Email info@myiqinc.com Telephone 718-771-0988 Website www.cawnyc.com

Biden is uniquely equipped to bring the unity that Americans desperately want “There is also a sense that many in the nation are tired of the anger, the divisiveness, and Trump’s tweet-a-minute presidency. They want action, they want calm, and, above all, they want an effective COVID-19 relief package. And if any degree of comity can be restored to Washington, it may be Biden who can do it.” — Michael Hirsh, Foreign Policyl

This is an edited version of the original article. For the skeptics’ views, visit www.cawnyc.com

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CIVIL RIGHTS

If Government Doesn’t Work for Black Americans, It Doesn’t Work

BY HEATHER BOUSHEY VIA URBAN MATTERS

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he voices of protesters on the streets of cities and towns across the United States reverberate a message Black Americans have spoken out about for generations: They cannot trust and have never been able to trust government to act on their behalf, whether it’s addressing police- and statesponsored violence, a deadly disease, economic inequality, or the day-to-day racism that presses on them throughout their lives. In short, our public institutions have failed Black Americans.

These failures of our institutions of governance pose a fundamental challenge to our nation. In order to have an economy where growth is strong, stable, and broadly shared, we need institutions capable of ensuring that the rules are fair and fairly enforced. We need institutions that can ensure inequality is contained and those at the top of the wealth and income ladders are not allowed to run away with all the gains. We need institutions capable of providing counterweights to concentrated economic power

so that it does not transform into concentrated social and political power.

None of this can happen if government institutions are structured to oppress rather than support. That is, if government does not work for Black Americans, it doesn’t work.

There is, of course, plenty of blame to lay at the steps of the White House, but the current moment isn’t about one president or one administration. Instead, it’s about a governing ideology, where institutions of governance too often serve only those with economic or political power, who are able to subvert the process of governing to disproportionately benefit themselves.

Michigan State University economist Lisa Cook’s pathbreaking research shows, for example, that lynching and other violence against Black Americans in the late 1800s and early 1900s limited their applications for patents. She found that between 1870 and 1940, “violent acts account for more than 1,100 missing patents compared to 726 actual patents among African American inventors over this period.” In addition to inflicting trauma on generations of Black Americans,

Editorial credit: Michal Urbanek / Shutterstock.com

Cook’s research shows how violence reduced “the level, direction, and quality” of U.S. productivity and growth.

When institutions terrorize the population, they limit the potential of every citizen to be a full participant in our society and our economy. We cannot benefit from our nation’s capacity for growth unless we understand how institutions affect the ability of people to participate in public life, and take action to ensure equal access, influence, and control.

The costs of our nation’s failure to ensure effective and inclusive institutions are clear. The coronavirus crisis has laid bare our economy’s profound vulnerability, a result of decades of rampant inequality, attacks on public institutions, and blind faith in markets to solve public problems. When the novel coronavirus hit our shores, we were uniquely ill-prepared, being alone among our economic competitors for not having in place policies guaranteeing workers the right to stay home when sick, ensuring that all have access to healthcare, providing robust workplace safety protections, and requiring employers to pay into social insurance programs to guarantee wage replacement when unemployment rises.

The virus exposed these and other major structural weaknesses in our economy and society – weaknesses that are making the resulting recession far worse than it needed to be and will make recovery all that much harder, unless we address them.

Despite what the American public has been told time and time again, neither individuals nor markets nor State and local governments on their own can solve either the health crisis or the economic crisis. Our current challenges underscore that we’ve disinvested or simply never prioritized equal access and control of public institutions. A vital federal government with robust institutions that can act with intention, effectiveness, and accountability, and that ensure racial justice must emerge from this moment.

Only then can America deliver on its

promise of opportunity and prosperity for all.

Yet the attitude expressed by this administration and many in Congressional leadership is, “We’ve done enough; you’re on your own.”

Revenue-strapped states and localities are on their own maintaining health and education and fire and police departments, and securing the necessary tests, tracking, and protective gear to combat the coronavirus. If they cannot afford it, they should just declare bankruptcy.

Small businesses are on their own to deal with faceless banks and bureaucracies while big business bailouts are fast, efficient, and at a massive scale. Workers are on their own, struggling to access benefits from overwhelmed agencies that are deliberately underfunded, understaffed, and hamstrung by dated technology. Too many of those required to go to work – disproportionately people of color – still often lack proper protective gear, even in medical and other care settings. And supply chains are ill-managed, leading to food being discarded, even as millions go hungry, while states have had to compete for necessary medical supplies as the federal government neglects its coordination responsibilities.

This is the moment to reorient both our ideas and actions. Economics is being transformed by empirical research based on increasingly sophisticated data. The evidence from that research exposes the “you’re-on-your-own” economic ideology – the conventional wisdom that has largely governed economic policy for decades – for what it is: empty and wrong. This thinking obstructs the ability of every child, family, and worker to achieve their full economic and social potential, limiting the potential of our economy writ large.

By insisting on tax cuts and constraining federal spending, the proponents of this ideology subvert the effectiveness of government institutions at all levels. This outdated ideology reinforces inequality continued on page 5

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CIVIL RIGHTS Black Americans/ continued from page 5 and distorts the macroeconomy by putting excessive resources in the hands of the wealthiest corporations and individuals, who channel it into financial speculation, resulting in lackluster investment in the “real economy” and stalled productivity to show for it.

The evidence that inequality harms is all around us. The vulnerability of communities of low-income, as well as Black, Latinx, and Native American families to the effects of the coronavirus and the recession is stark. The same living and working conditions that obstruct people’s economic opportunities – the lack of access to affordable housing, inadequate healthcare, unsafe working conditions, the lack of paid sick leave – expose them in greater numbers to sickness and death from Covid-19. The failure to have effective institutions that protect all workers means our entire economy is less resilient, and more economically unstable as a result.

This is no surprise. Only a decade has passed since the end of the previous global financial crisis, and the empirical evidence shows us that the benefits of the recovery went largely to the wealthiest, who emerged strong as ever while too many working families never recovered.

Even before this new recession, gains in Gross Domestic Product and reduced unemployment – the conventional measures of economic success – masked the reality that growth has been dispropor-

MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES – November 7, 2020: Hundreds of people took to Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair to celebrate the election of Joe Biden as president of the United States.

Editorial credit: Jai Agnish / Shutterstock.com

tionately benefiting those at the very top of the income ladder.

In order to have economic growth that is strong, stable, and broadly shared, we cannot rely on markets to carry out the work of government. Allowing markets to determine outcomes while pretending that the rules that govern markets are always neutral, fair, and race-blind shifts economic risk toward people and families and away from institutions that could better bear them.

Paul Romer won a Nobel Prize for developing the idea that we could spur economic growth through promoting innovation. Key to this was the idea that

government must ensure that people can claim the financial gains from their inventions through setting up a patent office and enforcing patent rights. What his idea didn’t take into account was that all the institutions that undergird the ability to develop a new idea and gain patent rights have to work in practice.

As Lisa Cook recently said in a Planet Money episode, ensuring innovation is not as simple as saying you have a patent system: “That’s not how it works. You can have laws on the books and not enforce them and never have growth.”

This brings us back to trust. Government must work on behalf of low-income,

Black, Latinx, and Native American people and make sure their needs are truly reflected in the policy agenda. People must see that they can both develop and deploy their talents and skills in the economy and that those at the top are not encouraged to subvert outcomes to benefit themselves rather than our economy and society writ large. People must have both confidence and proof that they are protected from oppression and statesanctioned violence.

As we look to strengthening our democracy and recovering from this coronavirus recession in the years to come, core to any economic agenda must be to confront the role that effective institutions play in fostering growth that is strong, stable, and broadly shared. If large portions of our population can’t trust the government to act on their behalves, then we need to acknowledge our government isn’t working the way it needs to.l Heather Boushey is president and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth and author of Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do About It. A prominent advisor in the campaign of President-elect Joe Biden, she received her master’s and doctorate degrees in economics at The New School. This article originally appeared on the digital publishing platform medium.com on July 1st, 2020.

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ELECTIONS 2020 A President for All Americans/ continued from page 1 President Barack Obama, he is “fired up and ready to go.” Biden is ready to work, and boy, does he have his work cut out for him. Biden has the tall task of healing a divided country and restoring the soul of the nation. He is up to the challenge.

Biden is the right man for the job and tasks ahead. His victory speech confirms this. Here are his words: My fellow Americans — The people of this nation have spoken.

They have delivered us a clear victory.

A convincing victory.

A victory for “We the People.”

We have won with the most votes ever cast for a presidential ticket in the history of this nation — 74 million.

I am humbled by the trust and confidence you have placed in me.

I pledge to be a President who seeks not to divide, but to unify.

Who doesn’t see Red and Blue states, but a United States.

And who will work with all my heart to win the confidence of the whole people.

For that is what America is about: The people.

And that is what our Administration will be about.

I sought this office to restore the soul of America.

To rebuild the backbone of the nation — the middle class.

To make America respected around the

RESTORED! world again and to unite us here at home.

It is the honor of my lifetime that so many millions of Americans have voted for this vision.

And now the work of making this vision real is the task of our time.

As I said many times before, I’m Jill’s husband.

I would not be here without the love and tireless support of Jill, Hunter, Ashley, all of our grandchildren and their spouses, and all our family.

They are my heart.

Jill’s a mom — a military mom — and an educator.

She has dedicated her life to education, but teaching isn’t just what she does — it’s who she is.

For America’s educators, this is a great day: You’re going to have one of your own in the White House, and Jill is going to make a great First Lady.

And I will be honored to be serving with a fantastic vice president — Kamala Harris — who will make history as the first woman, first Black woman, first woman of South Asian descent, and first daughter of immigrants ever elected to national office in this country.

It’s long overdue, and we’re reminded tonight of all those who fought so hard for so many years to make this happen.

But once again, America has bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice.

Kamala, Doug — like it or not — you’re family. You’ve become honorary Bidens and there’s no way out.

To all those who volunteered, worked the polls in the middle of this pandemic, local election officials — you deserve a special thanks from this nation.

To my campaign team, and all the volunteers, to all those who gave so much of themselves to make this moment possi-

ble, I owe you everything.

And to all those who supported us: I am proud of the campaign we built and ran.

I am proud of the coalition we put together, the broadest and most diverse in history.

Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

Progressives, moderates and conservatives.

Young and old.

Urban, suburban and rural.

Gay, straight, transgender.

White. Latino. Asian. Native American.

And especially for those moments when this campaign was at its lowest — the African American community stood up again for me. They always have my back, and I’ll have yours.

I said from the outset I wanted a campaign that represented America, and I think we did that. Now that’s what I want the administration to look like.

And to those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight.

I’ve lost a couple of elections myself.

But now, let’s give each other a chance.

It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric.

To lower the temperature.

To see each other again.

To listen to each other again.

To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy.

We are not enemies. We are Americans. continued on page 7

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ELECTIONS 2020 A President for All Americans/ continued from page 6 The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season — a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to heal.

This is the time to heal in America.

Now that the campaign is over — what is the people’s will? What is our mandate?

I believe it is this: Americans have called on us to marshal the forces of decency and the forces of fairness. To marshal the forces of science and the forces of hope in the great battles of our time.

The battle to control the virus.

The battle to build prosperity.

The battle to secure your family’s health care.

The battle to achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism in this country.

The battle to save the climate.

The battle to restore decency, defend democracy, and give everybody in this country a fair shot.

Our work begins with getting COVID under control.

We cannot repair the economy, restore our vitality, or relish life’s most precious moments — hugging a grandchild, birthdays, weddings, graduations, all the moments that matter most to us — until we get this virus under control.

On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as Transition Advisors to help take the Biden-Harris COVID plan and convert it into an action blueprint that starts on January 20th, 2021.

That plan will be built on a bedrock of science. It will be constructed out of compassion, empathy, and concern.

I will spare no effort — or commitment — to turn this pandemic around.

I ran as a proud Democrat. I will now be an American president. I will work as hard for those who didn’t vote for me — as those who did.

Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end — here and now.

The refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with one another is not due to some mysterious force beyond our control.

It’s a decision. It’s a choice we make.

And if we can decide not to cooperate, then we can decide to cooperate. And I believe that this is part of the mandate from the American people. They want us to cooperate.

That’s the choice I’ll make. And I call on the Congress — Democrats and Republicans alike — to make that choice with me.

The American story is about the slow, yet steady widening of opportunity.

Make no mistake: Too many dreams have been deferred for too long.

We must make the promise of the country real for everybody — no matter their race, their ethnicity, their faith, their identity, or their disability.

America has always been shaped by inflection points — by moments in time where we’ve made hard decisions about who we are and what we want to be.

Lincoln in 1860 — coming to save the Union.

“And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings, Bear you on the breath of dawn, Make you to shine like the sun, And hold you in the palm of His Hand.”

Editorial credit: grandbrothers / Shutterstock.com

FDR in 1932 — promising a beleaguered country a New Deal.

JFK in 1960 — pledging a New Frontier.

And twelve years ago — when Barack Obama made history — and told us, “Yes, we can.”

We stand again at an inflection point.

We have the opportunity to defeat despair and to build a nation of prosperity and purpose.

We can do it. I know we can.

I’ve long talked about the battle for the soul of America.

We must restore the soul of America.

Our nation is shaped by the constant battle between our better angels and our darkest impulses.

It is time for our better angels to prevail.

Tonight, the whole world is watching America. I believe at our best America is a beacon for the globe.

And we lead not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.

I’ve always believed we can define America in one word: Possibilities.

That in America everyone should be given the opportunity to go as far as their dreams and God-given ability will take them.

You see, I believe in the possibility of this country.

We’re always looking ahead.

Ahead to an America that’s freer and more just.

Ahead to an America that creates jobs with dignity and respect.

Ahead to an America that cures disease — like cancer and Alzheimers.

Ahead to an America that never leaves anyone behind.

Ahead to an America that never gives up, never gives in.

This is a great nation.

And we are a good people.

This is the United States of America.

And there has never been anything we haven’t been able to do when we’ve done it together.

In the last days of the campaign, I’ve been thinking about a hymn that means a lot to me and to my family, particularly my deceased son Beau. It captures the faith that sustains me and which I believe sustains America.

And I hope it can provide some comfort and solace to the more than 230,000 families who have lost a loved one to this terrible virus this year. My heart goes out to each and every one of you. Hopefully this hymn gives you solace as well.

And now, together — on eagle’s wings — we embark on the work that God and history have called upon us to do.

With full hearts and steady hands, with faith in America and in each other, with a love of country — and a thirst for justice — let us be the nation that we know we can be.

A nation united.

A nation strengthened.

A nation healed.

The United States of America.

God bless you.

And may God protect our troops.

As we can see from Biden's speech, it's a continuation of a message that was the core of his presidential campaign, which he called a "battle for the soul of America." The battle is won, but the war still rages. We stand with President Joe Biden and are confident that the soul of America will be restored. It's a process, and Biden, along with his history-making Vice-President Kamala Harris, will get the work done. The famous Chinese proverb states that "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". We are beginning that journey with the right leadership that has at its foundation: experience, empathy, decency, respect, commitment, and dedication. America has started to breathe again.l

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8

ELECTIONS 2020

Before Kamala Harris, Many Black Women Aimed for the White House

BY SHARON AUSTIN THE CONVERSATION

T

he vice president-elect of the United States is the American daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants.

With Joe Biden’s projected presidential win over Donald Trump, Sen. Kamala Harris breaks three centuries-old barriers to become the nation’s first female vice president, first Black vice president and first Black female vice president. Harris is also of Indian descent, making the 2020 election a meaningful first for two communities of color.

Harris wasn’t the first Black female vice presidential aspirant in American history.

Charlotta Bass, an African American journalist and political activist from California, ran for vice president in 1948 with the Progressive Party.

Before she was Biden’s running mate, Harris was his opponent in the Democratic presidential primary. She is one of many Black American women to have aimed for the highest office in the land despite great odds.

Hands that once picked cotton African Americans have faced many hur-

dles to achieving political power in the United States, among them slavery, Jim Crow and disenfranchisement.

Black women, in particular, have hit barrier upon barrier. Women didn’t gain the right to vote in the U.S. until 1920, and even then Black people – women among them – still couldn’t vote in most of the South. In the 1960s, Black women helped organize the civil rights movement but were kept out of leadership positions.

I address issues like these in the government and minority politics classes I teach as a political science professor. But I also tell my students that Black women have a history of political ambition and achievement. As the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. said in 1984 about the progress Black voters made last century, “Hands that once picked cotton will now pick a president.”

Today, Black female mayors lead several of the biggest U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco.

Black women are police chiefs, gubernatorial candidates, and, in growing numbers, congresswomen.

Now, Black women, who once had no chance of even voting for president – much less being president – see one of their own a step away from the Oval Office.

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Washington, DC, USA 7/11/2020 Kamala Harris first woman vice president. Editorial credit: VP Brothers / Shutterstock.com

‘Unsuitable’ for the job?

Kamala Harris is a Democrat who served as California’s attorney general and later one of its senators. But, historically, most Black female presidential candidates have run as independents.

In 1968, 38-year-old Charlene Mitchell of Ohio became the first Black woman to run for president, as a communist. Like many other African Americans born in the 1930s, Mitchell joined the Communist Party because of its emphasis on racial and gender equality. Black female communists fought Jim Crow, lynchings and unfair labor practices for men and women of all races.

Mitchell’s presidential campaign, which focused on civil rights and poverty, was probably doomed from the start. In 1968, many states didn’t allow communists on the ballot. Media outlets from the Boston Globe to the Chicago Tribune also discussed Mitchell’s “unsuitability” as a candidate because she was both Black and female. Mitchell received just 1,075 votes.

Other independent Black female presidential candidates include community organizer Margaret Wright, who ran on the People’s Party ticket in 1976 and Isabell Masters, a teacher who created her own third party, called Looking Back and ran in 1984, 1992 and 2004.

In 1988, psychologist Lenora Fulani became the first woman and the first African American to appear on the ballot in all 50 states. Running as an independent, she received more votes for president in a U.S. election than any other female candidate before her. Teacher Monica Moorehead of the Workers World ticket, ran for president in 1996, 2000 and 2016.

In 2008, the year Barack Obama was elected president, Cynthia McKinney, a former U.S. representative from Georgia, was a nominee of the Green Party. And in 2012, Peta Lindsay ran to unseat President Obama from the left, on the Party for Socialism and Liberation ticket.

Only one Black woman has ever pursued the Republican nomination: Angel Joy Charvis, a religious conservative from Florida, who wanted to use her 1999 candidacy to “to recruit a new breed of Republican.”

Unbought and unbossed Those Black female presidential candidates were little known. But as the first Black female member of Congress, Shirley Chisholm had years of experience in public office and a national reputation when she became the first Black American and the first woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. Chisholm’s campaign slogan was “Unbought and Unbossed.”

Chisholm, who mostly paid for her campaign on her credit card, focused on civil rights and poverty.

She became the target of vehement sexism. One New York Times article from June 1972 described her appearance as, “[Not] beautiful. Her face is bony and angular, her nose wide and flat, her eyes small almost to beadiness, her neck and limbs scrawny. Her protruding teeth probably account in part for her noticeable lisp.”

Chisholm received little support from either Black or female voters and won not a single primary.

The Black women who followed in Chisholm’s footsteps from Congress to the Democratic presidential primary, including Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and Harris herself, have seen little more success. Harris was among the first 2020 Democratic primary candidates to drop out, in December 2019.

Challenges for Black women Why did these candidacies and those of other Black women who aimed for high office fail?

In most cases, my research finds, America’s Black female presidential candidates haven’t made the ballot. Those who did had trouble raising funds.

Because their candidacies weren’t taken seriously by the media, they had trouble getting their messages heard. Historically Black female presidential candidates have received no real support from any segment of American voters, including African Americans and women.

Generally, people – even those who might have been heartened by the idea that someone who looked like them could aspire to the White House – thought they couldn’t win.

As a two-term vice president who had a major role in governing under President Obama, Joe Biden knows what the office entails. In Harris, he selected a woman who not only helped him win the election but is also ready to govern.

November 2020 is a watershed year for African Americans, Asian Americans and women who’ve so long been excluded from so many aspects of politics.l Sharon Austin is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida

Visit www.cawnyc.com and to Kamala Harris’ victory speech

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9

ELECTIONS 2020 Kamala Harris: So Proud of You/continued from page 1 did it, Joe. You're going to be the next President of the United States!" Yes, Kamala, Joe did it. You did it also. You are the Vice-President of the United States of America. What a historic moment for you, all women, primarily black and minority women, and little girls.

Moment in History Harris is very much aware of her moment and history. When she walked on stage to "Work That" by Mary J. Blige for her first speech, she was glowing in a white pantsuit; of which the color held significance. August 26, 2020, marked the 100th anniversary of the federal government certified states' ratification of the 19th Amendment on women's voting rights. The U.S. suffrage movement colors are purple for loyalty, white for purity, and gold for hope. Today, women continue to wear the color white to pay tribute to the suffragists and fight for women's rights. Way back in March 1913, more than 8,000 women wore white to parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., the day before President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration, to demand a constitutional amendment allowing them the right to vote. Since then, many women in politics have donned the color for significant occasions. Shirley Chisholm wore white when she became the first Black woman to be elected to Congress in 1968.

Geraldine Ferraro wore white when she accepted her nomination as the first female vice-presidential candidate in 1984. Hillary Clinton wore the color when she accepted her party's nomination in 2016, as did Alexandria OcasioCortez when she was sworn in as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in 2019.

Even Harris' pearls conveyed a message. A member of Howard University's Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, Harris, has been wearing pearls since her college days. "The symbolism for the AKA sorority is pearls, which each pearl represents the original founding and incorporated members who started the sorority in 1908," Darnell-Jamal Lisby, a fashion historian, revealed.

Daughter of Immigrants, Praise for Women and Joe Biden Harris is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants. Harris is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants.

Harris immigrant parents: a Black father, Donald Harris, an economist, is from Jamaica, and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a cancer researcher, and civil rights activist, was from India. Paying homage to her background, she commemorated being named the first woman vice president in American history by choosing to wear clothing by an immigrant, woman-founded, American-based label, Carolina Herrera, who was born in Venezuela. She expressed her gratitude for the women who shaped, inspired and paved the way for her ascension. She also praised the man who had the boldness to select her as his running mate.

Washington, DC, USA 7/11/2020. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Editorial credit: VP Brothers / Shutterstock.com

Harris: "And to the woman most responsible for my presence here today, my mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who is always in our hearts. When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn't quite imagine this moment.

But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible. So I am thinking about her and about the generations of women, Black women, Asian, white, Latina, Native American women, who throughout our nation's history, have paved the way for this moment tonight, women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all. Including the Black women who are often, too often overlooked but so often proved they are the backbone of our democracy.

All the women who have worked to secure and protect the right to vote for over a century 100 years ago with the 19th Amendment, 55 years ago with the Voting Rights Act and now in 2020 with a new generation of women in our country who cast their ballots and continued the fight for their fundamental right to vote and be heard.

Tonight, I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision to see what can be unburdened by what has been. And I stand on their shoulders. And what a testament it is to Joe's character that he had the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exists in our country and select a woman as his vice president."

First of Many Firsts and An Inspiration to All Harris is known for many firsts. She has been a county district attorney, the district attorney for San Francisco - the first woman and first African-American and Indian-origin to be elected to the position. Now she has many firsts in her role as vice president: the first woman, the first African-American woman, the first Indian-American, and the first AsianAmerican.

A few weeks ago, Harris was seen in a video on social media telling her niece that she can be President. When Biden selected Harris as his vice-president, she instantly became a symbol of hope for all girls, especially brown and black. Young girls were delighted that they could see someone looking like them in such a positive spotlight. For women, it motivated

and energized them to continue the fight of shattering glass ceilings as well as inspiration and validation. Harris emphasized these thoughts and feelings in her victory speech: "But while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities and to the children of our country regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction and see yourselves in a way that others may not simply because they've never seen it before."

So Proud of You Kamala Harris, as your husband Doug, said upon learning of your historic victory, "I'm so proud of you." We are so proud of you also. We love you, respect you, and will fight with you. We wish you and President Biden much success.

We know that it's not going to be easy.

We know that you are ready to do the work from day one. We got your back.

Remember your words during the 2020 Black Girls Lead conference: "There will be people who say to you, 'You are out of your lane.' They are burdened by only having the capacity to see what has always been instead of what can be. But don't you let that burden you."l

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KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

10

Executive Orders on Evictions are Expiring. New Ones are Being Issued.

Here’s What You Need to Know

BY ALLISON DIKANOVIC, THE CITY

I

n recognition of National Preparedness Month, the New York City Emergency Management Department reminds New Yorkers to prepare for emergencies. This year’s events will be held virtually and will include weekly preparedness themes, along with a social media engagement campaign.

These initiatives will provide the foundation to equip New Yorkers with the necessary tools to prepare their families, pets, businesses and communities for any emergency.

Some of the pandemic-prompted rules concerning evictions in New York changed again this week — spurring potential confusion for both tenants and landlords.Here’s what you need to know: What’s going on with evictions?

First things first: Eviction cases are starting to work their way through Housing Court.

But tenants should know that just because a landlord tells you to move out

New York City Chinatown Tenement Apartment Building Fire Escape

does NOT necessarily mean you’re being evicted. Eviction is a legal process that needs to happen in court. As a tenant, you have the right to stay in your home as that legal process unfolds.

The guidance for tenants who have been sued by their landlord for not paying rent during the pandemic has been in a swirl of flux. We’ve had a week of Gov.

Andrew Cuomo’s executive orders about evictions expiring followed by new ones being issued.

The bottom line If your landlord has filed a petition for eviction against you for nonpayment anytime starting June 22, 2020 (when Housing Court reopened), you DO need to answer that petition, even if the court or your landlord has told you otherwise.

If you don’t answer that petition, you could lose your eviction case without ever having your day in court due to what is called a default judgment.

A default judgment happens when a tenant doesn’t respond to the court about their landlord’s petition to evict them.

When a judge makes this ruling on a case for nonpayment, they can issue an eviction warrant without holding a hearing — meaning you aren’t involved in the decision. After that, a marshal serves the tenant the official notice of eviction, which can be very difficult to reverse.

Key question: When was the petition filed?

If the petition was filed ON or AFTER Nov. 3: You need to answer the petition WITHIN 10 DAYS of when it was served.

If the petition was filed anytime BEFORE Nov. 3: you need to answer the petition by Jan. 2, 2021, per a new order from Cuomo.

Tenants who had petitions filed against them before Nov. 3 get more time to answer. That’s because the court had previously said they would have more time due to COVID-related concerns at courthouses. But this led to nearly 15,000 tenants not answering their petitions, putting them at risk of automatic default starting Nov 3.

Here’s what Ellen Davidson, tenant attorney with The Legal Aid Society said: “This tries to address the problem that there are tenants out there who failed to answer because the courts told them not to, and when the courts changed the

policy, they failed to tell the tenants that the policy had changed.”

Here’s what Lucian Chalfen, spokesperson for the Office of Court Administration said: “We made landlords send that out with their petitions, but it was never meant to be interpreted as saying that tenants didn’t ever have to answer the petition or that we assumed responsibility for telling every tenant when they had to answer.”

What should you do?

If you received a petition: You can answer it by calling the courts at one of the numbers below or you can go to Housing Court in person. You should call the number associated with the borough where you received the petition.

Manhattan: 646-386-5505 Bronx: 718-466-3000 Brooklyn: 347-404-9201 Queens: 718-262-7300 Staten Island: 718-676-8455 To understand what you need to do if your landlord is trying to evict you for not paying rent, you can call 311 and ask for the tenant helpline. You can also connect with a tenant union. Check out our resource guide or email opennewsroom@thecity.nyc if you need help finding one in your neighborhood. l This story was published on November 5, 2020 by THE CITY.

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11

IMMIGRATION

Court Protects Some TPS Holders’ Right to Apply for Green Cards

BY KRISTIN MACLEOD-BALL

T

he U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled that certain people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) can apply for green cards without leaving the United States.

In Velazquez v. Barr, the Court held that receiving TPS is treated as an “inspection and admission” when someone applies for a green card. These prerequisites are important because immigrants generally cannot receive a green card without leaving the United States unless they were inspected by an immigration official and then admitted or paroled into the country.

The October 27 decision applies to people who have TPS, entered the United States without being inspected and admitted or paroled, and live in the 8th Circuit (Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota).

People in that group who are eligible to become permanent residents of the United States—for example based on marriage to a U.S. citizen or because of their employment—can apply for a green card. However, the decision does not have any impact on people with TPS who

are not otherwise eligible for green cards.

TPS is a humanitarian protection that allows certain people to remain in the United States after a natural disaster, armed conflict, or other extraordinary conditions makes it unsafe for them to return to their home countries. It allows people to live and work in the United States as long as the Department of Homeland Security continues to designate their home country as qualifying for TPS. However, it does not give people any permanent immigration status in the United States.

Velazquez provides important protection to people who made lasting connections to the United States while living in the country with TPS. Many have been in the United States for decades.

For example, Ms. Velazquez, one of the plaintiffs in the case, came to the United States in 2000 from El Salvador. She received TPS the next year, after El Salvador was designated for TPS following a series of devastating earthquakes.

Over the years, she continually renewed her TPS, paying fees and submitting to background checks at least every 18 months. After she married a U.S. citizen, she applied for a green card

in 2017. Her application was initially denied because, the government claimed, she was never inspected and admitted into the United States.

The recent decision recognizes that the TPS application process serves as an inspection and admission. Therefore Ms. Velazquez and others in the same situation within the 8th Circuit will be allowed to receive green cards and remain in the United States with their families.

Other courts have made similar decisions. Both the 6th (MI, OH, KY, TN) and 9th Circuit (CA, AZ, NV, WA, OR, ID, MT, AK, HI) Courts of Appeals have provided the same protections to TPS

holders who are otherwise eligible for green cards. However, the courts in the 3rd, 5th and 11th Circuits have decided the issue the other way.

This decision is especially important because the Trump administration is trying to force many TPS holders out of the country by terminating TPS for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan. While the terminations have not yet gone into effect due to ongoing litigation, many TPS holders who are long-time residents of the United States are at risk unless they have a path to a more permanent immigration status.l

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ISLAND FOCUS: ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES

12

Gonsalves’ ULP Scores Historic Fifth Electoral Victory

BY CALVIN G. BROWN, WIREDJA.COM

K

INGSTOWN, St. Vincent and the Grenadines [November 6, 2020]:Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is being hailed as a 'five star general' as he successfully lead his Unity Labor Party (ULP) to an unprecedented fifth consecutive electoral victory with an increased majority in Thursday's general election.

Preliminary figures released by the electoral office showed that the ULP had won nine of the 15 seats in the Parliament, an increase of three seats on the one-seat majority he had in the past two general elections.

It is the first time that a political party in St Vincent has won five consecutive general elections.

The 74-year-old Gonsalves easily won his North Central Windward seat he has been representing since 1994, brushing aside his two contenders - Chieftain Neptune of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) and Kadmiel McFee of the CVG Green Party.

He defeated first-time candidate Chieftain Neptune, of the NDP, by 2,853 votes to 886, while Kadmeal McFee, one of two candidates fielded by the SVG

Dr Ralph Gonsalves

Green Party, got 10 votes.

In securing a fifth term in office, the ULP dashed the hopes of 61-year-old NDP leader Godwin Friday’s hopes of becoming the nation’s fifth prime minister. Friday, however, secured a fifth consecutive term as MP for the Northern Grenadines, defeating first-time candidate, Carlos Williams, of the ULP, 2,123 votes to 458 in the traditional NDP stronghold.

In a message posted on his Facebook page, Gonsalves thanked voters for returning the ULP to power.

“It’s celebration time. It is five in their tail,” he wrote. “I am humbled and hon-

ored that the people of St Vincent & the Grenadines embraced our bold vision for the future and rejected the politics of hate, backwardness and colonialism."

Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves fended off a strong challenge by a female first-time candidate, where the NDP’s Laverne Gibson-Velox lost by 186 in the constituency of East St. George.

Gonsalves, who is heir apparent to his father, the prime minister, obtained 2,845 votes compared to the 2,659 that GibsonVelox, was able to attract. In the 2015 polls, the finance minister secured the highest number of votes, eclipsing his father, the prime minister.

Elected to Parliament for the first time is the ULP’s Orando Brewster, who secured a convincing 521-vote victory over the NDP’s Benjamin Exeter in Central Leeward.

Brewster got 2700 votes, compared to Exeter’s 2179, a better showing than former deputy prime minister Sir Louis Straker, who came out of retirement in 2015, to contest the seat for yet another time.

In 2015, Sir Louis won the seat by 313 ballots in a vote that is still the subject of an election petition that is still proceeding before the Court of Appeal.

Dwight “Fitzgerald” Bramble, who replaced former NDP leader Arnhim Eustace, 76, who did not seek re-election after five terms, due to declining health, defeated Health Minister Luke Brown, by 241 votes amassing 2,547 votes, compared to Browne’s 2,306.

In yesterday’s elections, electoral officials say that 98,119 persons were registered to vote in this country of 110,000 residents.

The incumbent Unity Labor Party, as well as the main opposition New Democratic Party each fielded 15 candidates while the SVG Green party fielded two candidates.l

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FAMILY MATTERS

13

How Children With Lethal Cancers and Other Incurable Illnesses Have Benefited from the Affordable Care Act – and Why They’ll Suffer If the Supreme Court Overturns It

BY LISA C. LINDLEY, THE CONVERSATION

T

he Affordable Care Act once again is headed for a date with the Supreme Court, with health insurance coverage for tens of millions of Americans possibly on the line in a case that will be heard Nov. 10, 2020.

But a much smaller group of people with exceptional needs could also lose coverage – children with cancer and other serious diseases. This benefit is an example of another benefit of the ACA, and one that many people don’t know about, that could go away if the court strikes down the ACA. Under the law, children with cancer and other serious illnesses who are enrolled in hospice care – or end-of-life care – can still receive coverage for medical treatment. Through this provision, the ACA gives these very ill children and their parents a glimmer of hope. The law mandates an option called concurrent care —

the option to continue treatment while in hospice. Since 2010, more than 20,000 terminally ill children have used concurrent care.

Few people know of this one paragraph in the ACA. ACA, Section 2302 (Concurrent Care for Children) requires state Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program to cover ongoing

treatment of a terminal illness and hospice care concurrently for kids under 21 years. This legislation has been an important part of my work for the past decade as a pediatric hospice researcher and associate professor at the College of Nursing, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

A decision no parent should have to face The ACA extended health care insurance to a broad range of people – about 20 million. While the little-known provision about children with cancer may not be as broad in scope, the effect is deep.

Until the ACA was enacted 10 years ago, there were two care choices for kids with cancer whose parents were told they had less than six months to live: They could continue treatment for their little ones, or they could decide to cease treatment and enter hospice. In most cases, when a patient enters hospice care, insurers no longer will pay for treatment.

Instead, the care becomes comfort care.

The decision to enter hospice care is always one of the toughest decisions patients and their families ever make. It is impossible to know the heartbreak that parents of children with cancer must make in choosing between hospice care continued on page 14

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FAMILY MATTERS

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Children With Lethal Cancers/ continued from page 13 or treatment.

Hospice may be connected in many people’s memories to a grandparent, mother or father who had hospice care before they passed away. But what you might not know is that hospice is available to children. Pediatric hospice provides many of the same services your adult family member received, but with smaller stethoscopes and a lot more people involved, including parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, school friends and neighbors.

Medical advances have improved life expectancy for children with cancer, and yet more than 30,000 children die each year of health-related problems. Under the ACA, children with cancer have been able to continue their chemotherapy and radiation, while using hospice services to manage pain, symptoms and other psychosocial needs – ensuring a better-quality end of life. And families could continue to hope for any cure. Children with cancer and their families have a need for the ACA. From evidence to legislation Concurrent Care for Children was decades in the making. Child advocates field-tested the principles of concurrent care prior to ACA. Children’s Hospice International, children’s hospitals, hos-

pices, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and state medicaid offices conducted demonstration projects in the 1990s around the U.S. in place like Colorado, California and Florida to assess the feasibility and acceptability of providing both medical treatment and hospice care for children. The results were positive and attributed to the early recognition that parents should not have to decide between medical treatment and hospice care for their children.

Children’s Hospice International and other advocates lobbied the members of the 111th Congress of 2009 about the demonstrated results and the importance of pediatric concurrent care. As a result, Sens. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Herb Kohl (D-

WI), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Tom Carper (D-DE) sponsored the Advanced Planning and Compassionate Care Act of 2009 (S.1150) that included pediatric concurrent care language.

The House version of the bill (H.R. 2911) was sponsored by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sander Levin (D-MI) and William Pascrell (D-NJ). Although this federal bill did not pass, it had bipartisan support and provided traction for including concurrent care in the ACA. Why concurrent care matters Our research team is one of the first to examine U.S. Medicaid children while they are receiving concurrent care. This research is supported by the National

Institute of Health. These kids are some of the very sickest in the nation, even at end of life. They have very complicated care needs as their families navigate the health care system to gain access to medical treatments and hospice services. And yet we see significant growth in the use of concurrent care – from 30% to over 70% in recent years. Concurrent Care for Children has become an important part of caring for children with cancer at end of life.

The U.S. Supreme Court hears opening arguments for 1 hour and 20 minutes on whether the ACA is constitutional, in whole or part – California v. Texas. The outcome of this case will determine the fate of the ACA. Although a court decision is not expected for two to three months, striking down the ACA will most likely eliminate Concurrent Care for Children. While states such as Washington, Oregon, and Utah have legislatively enacted concurrent care into their Medicaid plans, most states are unprepared and will discontinue a service that has been used by more than 20,000 terminally ill children. The possible demise of Concurrent Care for Children reminds us that parents should never have to choose between hospice and hope for a cure for their kids.l Lisa C. Lindley is the Associate Professor of Nursing, University of Tennessee

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Health Special November 2020

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. We Stand Greater Than Diabetes.

H

earing that your child or loved one has diabetes can be a shock.

But after that shock wears off, know that there are plenty of things you can do to help manage this illness. With planning and preparation, you can get back to normal life and resume your daily activities.

You can make physical activity part of every day. You can create a balanced diet for your child—one that everyone can live with and thrive on. Throughout it all, know that diabetes can’t keep your child from doing whatever they want and achieve their highest goals. There are Olympic athletes with diabetes, as well as professional football players, politicians, actors, rock stars and CEOs. So, take a deep breath. You can do so much to make sure the people you love are thriving as they manage their diabetes.

Whether you’ve been newly diagnosed, have been fighting against type 1 or type 2 diabetes for a while or are helping a loved one, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the right place to start. This is the start of gaining a deeper understanding of how you can live a healthier life—with all the tools, health tips and food ideas you need. Wherever you’re at with this disease, know that you have options and that you don’t have to be held back. You can still live your best life. All you have to do is take action and stick with it.

United by a common purpose Right now, things are difficult for people living with diabetes—and for those who love them. Between the constant bad

news and the bleak forecast, it's easy to feel powerless, afraid and small.

Enough is enough. It's time to embrace a message of hope and empowerment.

Because hope is greater than fear. Actions are greater than words. And unity is greater than division.

November is American Diabetes Month—a time to take action together, as a community. Because together, we can conquer this disease. Together, we stand greater than diabetes.

Speaking > Silence If not now, then when? If not you, then who? There's no better time than American Diabetes Month to reach out to your representatives and make your voice heard. Join the community in advocating for expanded testing, zero-dollar co-pay caps and continuous health care coverage.

Thriving > Surviving Making healthy choices and taking steps to manage your diabetes can ensure you don't just live but thrive with diabetes.

But it's important to take steps now-your health can't wait. It's time to thrive by finding a balance of nutrition, physical activity and mental health management.

Visit www.diabetes.org Equity > Prejudice No matter one's race, income, zip code, age, education or gender, good health and health care are human rights. This American Diabetes Month, know your rights and share our Bill of Rights with your loved ones.

Advancement > Acceptance More than 34 million Americans are living with diabetes. Among those who have dies from COVID-19, 40% were living with diabetes. It’s time to make sure tomorrow is greater than today.

We Stand Greater Than Diabetes It’s our chance to show the world what life with diabetes is really like. Every year, our community comes together to ring the alarm on the diabetes epidemic.

For the millions of us who are at risk for it, it’s a time to get educated, find resources and make sure all those around us are aware of their risk, too. And for the millions of us living with diabetes, it’s a chance to tell our stories and awaken the world. Until we find a cure, we will find each other and lift each other up. Will you join us? Visit www.diabetes.org l

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High blood pressure, diabetes & your heart Type 2 diabetes puts you at higher risk for heart disease, but there are steps you can take to lower your risk. Managing your blood pressure is one way to lower your risk of heart disease.

High blood pressure is anything above 120/80 mmHg.

What can you do?

Start simple

What’s the connection?

Ask your doctor to check your kidney function and blood pressure.

Adults with diabetes are

Know your numbers

MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK OR STROKE THAN PEOPLE WITHOUT DIABETES.

The combination of high blood pressure and diabetes drastically increases your risks. That’s why it’s vital to keep your blood pressure in a healthy range.

If you have diabetes, there is a lot you can do to manage your high blood pressure.

Talk to your doctor about your next steps.

Keeping your blood pressure and blood glucose in your target ranges is vital for your overall health.

Keep it up Take care of yourself with exercise, healthy diet and taking your medications as prescribed.

You’re not in this alone. Find answers to your questions and join the initiative at: https://KnowDiabetesbyHeart.org/join © 2020 American Heart Association, Inc. and American Diabetes Association, 501(c)(3) not-for-profits. All rights reserved. Know Diabetes by Heart is a trademark of the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association. Unauthorized use prohibited. Citations available upon request.

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HEALTH SPECIAL

17

Stressing Over Your Retirement Plan? 5 Ways to Boost Savings, Reduce Anxiety

M

any Americans have long stressed over their finances, and the COVID-19 pandemic has increased that anxiety, a survey shows. Well over 80% said the crisis is causing them stress with their personal finances, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education.

One of the top stressors, many studies have shown, is having enough money saved for retirement. But people can lessen their worry by learning more of the basics – and it’s not as hard as some might think, says Bob Kaye, a personal wealth manager and the author of How to Avoid Not Having Enough Money to Live On After Retirement: Making Smarter and Simpler Decisions for Stress-free Retirement.

“Knowing the basics of a field of endeavor can lessen one’s confusion and stress when attempting to make progress in that field,” Kaye says. “Unfortunately, in the field of finance there are a very high number of theories and methods that are purported to be ‘basics’ but are not.

They are in some cases true but not of high importance and in other cases outrightly false.

“I have found in working with clients, families, business owners and professionals that there is likely to be a reluctance to

advertise one’s lack of knowledge in some financial and investment areas.

There is a reluctance to admit that one would prefer a grade school approach rather than a graduate degree approach, when in fact such an approach is exactly what is needed.”

Kaye offers five tips for saving for retirement: •Take advantage of your employer-sponsored plan. “Use it to the fullest extent you can,” Kaye says. “Besides the automatic nature of the 401(k) plan and its pre-tax contribution, there is the bonus of many companies matching that employee contribution. Don’t miss out on such extra free money for your retirement.”

•Differentiate “long-term” from “shortterm.” Kaye says many people get these mixed up and sometimes put long-term savings into short-term investments.

“Long-term is most likely a stock-market type of investment,” Kaye says, “which someone can afford to fluctuate over time but hopefully will have a higher return later. Short-term is a CD or bond fund; they have a lower earnings rate but there are fewer worries about losing original principal.”

•Properly allocate long-term savings.

“Sometimes accounts are invested in only one category, such as ‘large growth,’” Kaye says. “Leaving out proper allocation of funds can make for a bumpier ride in the future on account values. There can be on the order of about five different allocations likely and being sure to choose accordingly can lead to better diversification, better efficiency in investing, and smoother growth of savings over the long term.”

•Don’t get caught up with too much attention on fees. Kaye suggests looking for the overall net return, not the lowest fee or expense. “With the same return expected, of course lower expense charges would be preferable to higher expense charges,” he says. “It is very important to understand, however, that one would be

better off with a fund with a 12% return and a 2% expense charge netting 10% return than one would with a fund with a 10% return and a 1% expense charge netting 9% return.”

•Cover for inflation by putting your longterm investments into equities. “Putting long-term investments into bonds or fixed types of investments may not keep up with inflation for the long-term,” Kaye says. “If there was no such thing as inflation, then retirement planning would be much simpler.”

“You have only to review the many conflicting opinions, statements, and advice to recognize that much must be false, simply because there are so many whose opinions conflict with so many others in this area,” Kaye says. “The idea of basics cannot be accented enough.” l

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HEALTH SPECIAL

18

Diabetes and COVID-19: What You Need to Know

BY VICTORIA FALK, SPECIAL TO CAW

T

he coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minority groups, with high rates of death in African American, Native American, and LatinX communities.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) agree that people with diabetes experience higher rates of severe complications and death due to COVID-19 than people who do not have diabetes. Also, the ADA warns that people who already have diabetesrelated health problems are more likely to have worse outcomes if they contract COVID-19, than people with diabetes who are otherwise healthy, regardless of whether they have type-1, type-2, or gestational diabetes.

According to the ADA, the body's ability to fight off viral infections can become compromised when blood sugar levels fluctuate or above target levels.

The CDC recommended the following: that people with diabetes continue taking

Brother Rojo

their pills or insulin, as usual, test their blood sugar levels regularly and keep track of results, have at least a 30-day supply of all essential medicine and insulin at home, contact your healthcare provider if you feel sick, and follow the

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healthcare provider's instructions. If you are struggling to pay for insulin during this pandemic, speak to your health care provider immediately and contact the ADA for a listing of resources available to help during this pandemic.

"I'm doing okay. I call my doctor regularly and have everything I need at home. I don't mind being at home because I know that I'm at high risk if I'm in the streets, "said Lisa, who has diabetes. "My doctor said that I have an emergency, but I'm not "the emergency."

He said the office is crowded with coronavirus patients, but I should call the office if I feel sick. The doctor called to check on me a few times. But I monitor my blood sugar at home. I ordered a thermometer and a blood pressure monitor," said Larry, also diabetic.

While some diabetic patients are becoming more self-reliant and are maintaining contact with medical providers via telephone and video chats, it is important to know how to recognize health concerns. The CDC identified the following emergency signs for diabetes people: shortness of breath, persistent pain, or pressure in the chest, confusion, and bluish lips or face. The CDC's list of warning signs for COVID-19 includes fever, headache, sore throat, dry cough, shortness of breath, muscle pain, the new loss of taste or smell, and diarrhea. If you have any of these symptoms, it is recommended that you call your doctor.

If you do not have a doctor, locate the nearest COVID-19 free testing center in your community.

Rupert Knights, known throughout the community as Brother Rojo, is a community educator, vegan chef, author, the founder of Powerful Pioneers, and a "Wellness Warrior." On November 5, 2020, I met with Brother Rojo to discuss diabetes and what he has noticed amongst his community. He invited me to observe his Alkaline Wellness Lifestyle Class, where he shared tips with

students on preventing and managing diabetes.

Brother Rojo has been teaching the course for years. However, since the pandemic interest in this class has grown.

"There are pros and cons," said Brother Rojo. "The community has become more interested in health and wellness, and more people are seeking information.

However, social media is taking over, and people are going for anything.

People are claiming to be experts, are taking advantage of others, and selling health information for thousands of dollars. People are capitalizing on the ignorance of others.

Plus, people are on Google looking for answers to important health questions.

Who is Google? You have to be careful about believing everything you see online because you have no idea where that information is coming from," cautioned Brother Rojo.

Brother Rojo encourages his students not to think of their health as an idea you pick up and put down. "Alkaline wellness is a lifestyle. These diseases are commercial," said Brother Rojo, before showing his students snacks that are being marketed to the Black communities that contain harmful ingredients.

"Imagine how many people will want to buy these snacks because there are pictures of their favorite Rappers on the packages, not knowing how harmful the ingredients are to their bodies," said Brother Rojo.

Brother Rojo discussed the importance of healthy food choices to prevent and manage diabetes. People with diabetes who control their blood sugar levels experience more favorable outcomes and lower their likelihood of dying from COVID-19.

Brother Rojo encouraged students to prepare their food at home. "Everything is about balance. You never want your sugar level too low or too high. You want to stay neutral," said Brother Rojo. His students took notes as he gave tips on which foods to eat, tonics that help maintain good health, and herbs that help neutralize the body. "We have to get back to our roots – go back to granny," said Brother Rojo as he recalled what he learned from his elders and "sacred knowledge from the ancestors."

Whether it is from community educators like Mr. Knights, also known as Brother Rojo, the American Diabetes Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or another reputable source, make sure to stay informed during this pandemic. The better you are at preventing or managing diabetes, the better your chances are to have positive outcomes if exposed to COVID-19.

If you would like to learn more about the Alkaline Wellness Lifestyle classes and Powerful Pioneers, call (347)7725879 or follow #ISAYWELLNESS on social media.l

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HEALTH SPECIAL

19

Can I Really Be Burnt Out Because of Working From Home?

BY TAYLOR ADAMS MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA

I

t has been 23 weeks since MHA began working from home because of COVID-19. Daily life has changed a lot over the course of the last five months, including more hours of sleep.

Could sleeping more be the result of more time spent indoors or is it a recurring symptom of depression? (That is probably a different conversation…)

Although I am getting enough sleep, I have never been more mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. Instead of taking walks like I used to at the office, I find myself collapsing on my bed midday for my breaks. Why am I so tired?

Since the start of COVID-19, many organizations moved to remote work as an alternative to working at the office, and millions of employees experienced a rapid shift in their routines, schedules, and lifestyles. People are now sharing the same space with spouses, partners, children, and pets but are still expected to maintain the same amount of productivity and communication as if they were in the office. To make up for lost time, people may be working longer hours and struggling to establish boundaries

between “work” and “home”. These new challenges and change in routine can lead to chronic stress and an increased risk for burnout.

One popular phrase circulating on social media states, “You are not working from home; you are at your home during a crisis trying to work.” The last five months have been an unrelentless roller coaster of information, stress, and anxiety. A certain amount of stress is healthy and is intended to help your body react quickly and effectively to a high-pressure situation. However, chronic stress, a state where you’re perpetually reacting with the fight or flight response, can pose serious concerns for your physical and mental health and lead to burnout.

As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), burnout is a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Burnout is specific to the workplace, and there are three primary signs of burnout.

Exhaustion – Restlessness, depleted energy, irritability, negative impact on relationships with family and coworkers Personal Efficacy – Confidence in one’s ability to succeed, doing the bare minimum, easily distracted, just going through the motions

Cynicism – Withdraw from work activities, reduced feelings of empathy and responsibility towards coworkers and work, resentment and hatred towards coworkers and work Unfortunately, burnout doesn’t tend to go away without some type of intervention. Understanding the source of your stress or burnout can help you identify solutions for how to reduce its impact and return to a greater sense of ease.

This may include learning techniques for stress or workload management, taking a personal day to recover, or taking a vacation to recharge. It may be time to think about changing managers, teams, or projects, or seeking out other positions or responsibilities within the organization.

During these tumultuous times, it is completely understandable to be feeling burnt out. If you feel like you may be on the verge of burnout, please don’t hesitate to have that conversation with the appropriate person at your organization.

Now is the time to challenge your understanding of burnout and how it applies to you, your manager, or your co-workers in an office or remote environment.

For more information, you can access MHA’s Employee Support Guide at https://mhanational.org/employeesupportguide.l

Taylor Adams is the Manager of Workplace Mental Health at Mental Health America

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20

HEALTH SPECIAL

Managing Your Diabetes in the Workplace: It Can Be Done and the Law Is on Your Side

BY MARILYN SILVERMAN

P

iercing rays of sunshine seep through your closed Venetian blinds. Time to get ready for work.

You grab this. You grab that. However, if you are a diabetic there are a few more things you have to grab. It’s easy to manage your diabetes at home. There is your refrigerator and your medicine cabinet and your family who knows all about your medical condition. But managing your diabetes in the workplace is just as manageable.

As per the American Diabetic Association, it is estimated that an astronomical 18 million men and women residing in the U.S. today live their lives every day with diabetes. What is diabetes? Diabetes is characterized by high blood glucose or sugar levels that ensue from defects in the body’s ability to produce or use insulin. Fortunately for its sufferers it is designated as a disability due to its detrimental impact on the body’s endocrine functioning. Why fortunately? Just a few short years ago in 1990, to be precise, the Americans with Disability Act, a federal anti-discrimination act became law. Why? To protect

people with diabetes from unfair treatment. This was a milestone since it enabled diabetics to work without fear lest their condition jeopardized their jobs.

Gina Gavla RN, indicates that once upon a time in the not too distant past, workers faced discrimination, e.g., they weren’t permitted to take breaks to check their blood sugar, eat or take insulin—the only way they could perform their jobs responsibly. Outrageous? Yes. But now you as a diabetic possess certain delineated legal rights—you have the right to ask your employer for reasonable accommodations. Reasonable is the key word in

this sentence. Some representative examples of reasonable accommodations within the business infrastructure be it a retail establishment, a factory, an office or whatever: •Breaks to check blood sugar, eat and take medication.

•To maintain diabetes supplies in close proximity to your workstation.

•Ability to inject insulin; if preferable a private space should be provided away from the prying eyes of colleagues.

According to WebMD, insulin can be stored in an insulated lunchbox if a refrigerator is not available on the premises.

The conveniences of home are not always duplicated at work.

•For those afflicted with a vision disorder a sizable computer monitor.

•Don’t stay glued to a chair all day since physical activity is beneficial.

•It is recommended that a letter authored by your doctor should accompany your request. Diatribe Learn indicates that you should have a comprehension of your legal rights due to your official designation as an individual with diabetes.

A dilemma typically arises whereby you wonder if it is necessary to inform your boss. It is a good idea to do so since you will have to justify your request. But your boss is mandated to keep this information confidential. Your health is a private matter and should not be broadcast for all to hear. You should schedule a meeting with your boss and emphasize that your condition will not negatively impact your work. Everything you need to do is done at intervals. You won’t be injecting insulin every minute of the day.

Your boss should understand that these reasonable accommodations will not constitute a costly expenditure in the daily management of their business and furcontinued on page 21

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HEALTH SPECIAL

21

More Wearing Masks But Ignoring Other Precautions

BY CAROLYN CRIST, WEBMD NEWSBRIEF

M

ore Americans wore face masks this summer than in the spring, but they were less likely to follow other public health measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to a new survey released Tuesday from the CDC. In addition, younger people between ages 18-29 were less likely to wear face masks or follow the recommended behaviors.

“Improved communication and policy priorities are needed to promote recommended COVID-19 mitigation behaviors, particularly among young adults,” the CDC COVID-19 Response Team wrote.

The team surveyed 2,000 adults between April and June. In April, about 78% of U.S. adults said they wore face masks, which increased to 89% in June.

In addition, most adults said they had canceled or postponed social plans and avoided most restaurants. Other behaviors — such as handwashing, social distancing and avoiding crowds — remained the same or declined during the time period.

Those who were 60 and older were most likely to follow the recommendations, and those between ages 18-29 were least likely to adhere. Between April to June, mask-wearing increased from about 84% to 92% in older adults and 70% to 86% in younger adults.

Older adults might be more concerned about the coronavirus and their higher risk of having severe COVID-19, the researchers wrote. Younger adults might be less likely to follow the recommended behaviors for “social, developmental and practical factors,” they added.

“There’s more we must do to reduce infection, but that’s an astounding increase — from 0% in less than 8

months,” Thomas Frieden, a former CDC director, told NPR. Importantly, those who said they wore masks were more likely to follow other recommendations. Those who didn’t wear masks were less likely to follow the other recommendations by June.

“Significant declines in self-reported mitigation behaviors among those not reporting mask use suggests that a minority of persons might be increasingly resistant to COVID-19 mitigation behaviors,” the researchers wrote “Or unable to engage in mitigation behaviors because of the constraints introduced by their return to work, school or other settings.”l

Diabetes in the Workplace/ continued from page 20 thermore will not cause much disruption in the workplace environment.

Everyday Health recommends that you confide in one or two co-workers, since at work we develop a sense of camaraderie with our colleagues. Explain your condition in simplistic terms; you don’t have to quote from medical texts. Paint a picture of what a low blood sugar episode might resemble and discuss emergency plans. If you are an hourly worker in a neighborhood fast food franchise or a corporate employee in an ivory tower and you are a diabetic, you can contribute as a productive and valued employee. You just have to remember to do certain things throughout the day and remember that you have the legal right to do so.

Here are some types of discrimination you might experience: you might not be asked to make a presentation at an out of town conference because of the general concern that traveling with your condition will be difficult. You may not be allowed to be on the office volleyball team. If you feel you are discriminated against ASAP consult with an attorney who is experienced in workplace discrimination. Contact the Law Offices of Figeroux & Associates; they have extensive experience in workplace discrimination and will represent you with the compassion and respect you deserve. l

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MANAGING DIABETES

How to Help a Loved One

With Diabetes When You Live Far Apart Offer your support.

Learn about diabetes.

Managing diabetes is not easy, whether a person has just been diagnosed or has been living with diabetes for many years. Family support can help a person with diabetes manage everyday tasks and deal with changes in care over time.

Learning about diabetes can help you understand what your family member is going through and find ways to help them prevent emergencies and manage their health care. It can also make talking with your family member’s doctor easier. Here are some tips:

But if you live far away from your loved one with diabetes, you may worry about how you can help. Being prepared with the right information can help you provide support, even from a distance. This short guide offers tips that can help.

Learn as much as you can about your loved one’s diabetes medicines, supplies, and equipment, including their blood sugar monitor and test strips.

Go to CDC’s Living with Diabetes website to learn more about managing diabetes. See the Resources for Everyone section on page 4 of this guide for other ideas.

Ask your loved one to teach you about how they are managing their diabetes and what kinds of support they may need. For example: f Do they just need someone to check on them now and then? f Do they need someone to take them to appointments or help make medical and financial decisions? f Remember—it’s their health, so it’s up to them how much they want to share with you. Let them know that you’re there to support them if they need you.

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TRAVEL & LIFESTYLE

23

Survey: Pandemic Has Shifted How Americans View Travel

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has had an undeniable, unavoidable impact on the world — from the way you conduct business, to how you shop for groceries. It may have even shifted your idea of what is important in life.

According to Hankook Tire's latest Gauge Index, Americans say spending time with family is a top priority. In light of everything 2020 has brought so far, Americans are shifting gears with a renewed emphasis on things they may have previously taken for granted: from time spent with loved ones, to road trips to favorite vacation destinations, and even, surprisingly, the daily commute.

The rise of the road trip For many, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a wrench in vacation plans. But Hankook found that nearly two-thirds (62%) of Americans are still hopeful and excited about the idea of an upcoming vacation. And more than likely, that vacation will be a road trip.

As consumers remain skeptical of traveling by plane and other forms of public transit, they are finding a safe hygiene haven in their own vehicles. According

to the survey, 60% of Americans expect to take more road trips as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many expect a rise in road trip plans enabling travelers to explore while still safely adhering to social distancing guidelines.

So, who are they going with? Even as restrictions lift, Americans remain uncertain about traveling with people outside their households. At the same time, they don't necessarily want to travel with everyone in their household.

When asked who Americans would most like to travel with after the pandemic restrictions ease, the top choice was their significant other or spouse (40%), indicating a desire to spend some quality time together. Traveling with a spouse or significant other was more than twice as popular as the next most popular choice: traveling with your children (18%).

Redefining the daily drive Americans' preference for wheels over wings doesn't stop when it comes to planning their next vacation. It will also have a significant impact on the daily commute. Americans widely agree automotive travel will be the top form of transportation after the COVID-19 pandemic

eventually subsides (62%). Only a small percentage of people expect to regularly use other forms of transportation — including public transit (9%), ride sharing (7%) and trains (6%) — with the same regularity.

Of course, nobody knows what that regular rush hour might look like, as offices across the country look for ways to safely stagger workforces and encourage working from home to allow for proper social distancing. Many will continue to avoid commutes altogether as companies encourage employees to keep working from home. When the time is

right to resume your daily commute to work or school, make sure your vehicle is ready for the job as well by checking your tire pressure, any flat spots developed from prolonged parking and that A/C and heating systems are ready.

Overall, it's clear that one of the many perspectives the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped is Americans' attitudes toward driving. What may have once been a daily drag might now be a necessary change in routine, and a welcome opportunity to spend time with the people that matter most. l

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LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

25

Five Signs You Might Have Married the Wrong Person

BY JANET HOWARD, 311DIVORCE.COM

D

o you ever find yourself wondering what you saw in your spouse prior to marriage? Do you question whether you made the right decision in getting married or whether you should have remained single until you found a better partner? You might need to face your concerns head-on and decide whether your marriage is worth saving. If any of these five signs are present in your relationship, there’s a good chance you might have married the wrong person.

•Some people are not well-suited for marriage. Even though you might have grown up believing that marriage was supposed to last forever, some individuals are incapable of remaining in longterm committed relationships. If you married a partner who has ongoing problems honoring their vows of monogamy, you might have married the wrong person.

•If you’re a better person when you’re away from your spouse, you might be in the wrong relationship. Marriage partners are supposed to lift you up and make you feel good about your relationship. If you find you’re happier and more fulfilled

when you’re on your own, chances are good a divorce might be in your future.

•If you catch your spouse browsing online dating websites, it might be time to consult a divorce lawyer. Regardless of their excuses, there is no reason a partner in a committed relationship should be checking out dating candidates on sites like Match or Tinder. It might be time to reconsider whether you married the right person or whether it is time to start looking for the marriage exit door.

•If you dread staying married more than you dread being single again, chances are mighty good you married the wrong person. Being single lets you redefine yourself. Accept the error of your ways and move towards a happier life after a divorce.

•When your friends ask you why you’re still with your spouse, it might be time to consult a divorce attorney. If your friends can see how disastrous your marriage is, you might need to take off your blinders and see the truth they see. Wanting a mar-

riage to work isn’t going to help if you married the wrong person in the first place. It is better to part ways so you can both find happiness than to stay in a marriage that is unhealthy for both of you.

If any of these five signs are present, you might have married the wrong person. You can learn from your mistake and take your newfound wisdom into your new life after your divorce. Life can get better; you just need to end your troubled marriage first.l

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26

CONVERSATIONS

How You Can Help Veterans Every Day

BY SHELLEY MACDERMID WADSWORTH THE CONVERSATION

A

s the nation celebrates our 17 million living veterans, it is also important to know that the number of these heroes who are ending their own lives prematurely is rising.

In the general population, suicide is the 10th most common cause of death, but among veterans with PTSD, it’s fourth.

Among veterans younger than 35, it’s second. Suicide rates are also rising among members of the military. Since 2017, rates for active-duty service members have been above those of civilians.

The same is true for National Guard service members since 2015 and and nonactive veterans for the past decade.

I’m a researcher who studies risk and resilience in military and veteran families. I can tell you that the single most common stressor for those who attempt or complete suicide is a serious relationship difficulty with an intimate partner or someone else within the previous 90 days. And more than half of service members who attempt or complete suicide had been seen within those 90 days by a medical, mental health or social service professional. Almost one-third communicated a potential for self-harm.

It’s not only medical professionals who can help a veteran who is dealing with

despair and contemplating death by suicide. You can also help.

A ‘good catch’ Some recent studies have suggested that a complex array of factors combine to lead a person to contemplate death by suicide. And many things contribute to the feelings of despair that veterans experience.

In addition to post-traumatic stress disorder, other mental health problems and medical challenges, veterans also face unemployment, bereavement and parent-

ing issues. It is easy to understand how veterans might feel overwhelmed and desperate.

Through my work, I’ve heard firsthand the stories of service members and veterans who had decided to take their own lives but did not. Often I’ve observed that it was a “good catch” that did it: a friend or family member answered a call at an odd hour; noticed the person seemed “off” and asked careful questions; stayed with them while summoning professional help; or checked in with them so they wouldn’t feel isolated.

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Families, friends, neighbors and colleagues all may have opportunities to make these catches.

Peer support programs may also help.

Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are effective alone or in combination with clinical treatment for substance use disorders. Results regarding mental health problems such as depression are more mixed, but a consistent finding is that peer support can help promote compliance with treatment, communication with clinicians, improved coping and self-care, and increased feelings of hope and self-efficacy. Studies suggest that peer support can also help people during transition times, particularly when they are leaving military service to return to civilian life.

Veterans themselves are taking action.

In the Department of Veterans Affairs, peer facilitators are key to a new “whole health” approach. American Legion members also offer support aimed at preventing suicide. Across the country, veterans treatment courts routinely include mentors to boost the success of clients.

Peer support is out there Not all peers have to be veterans.

Sometimes the strongest connections are with those who have had different challenges and who also can therefore relate – like a family member’s addiction, or one’s own disability or mental health problem.

Many peer networks can help, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the American Cancer Society and the Alzheimers Association. Even though they may not focus specifically on suicide, they help reduce isolation, increase social connections, and support coping and self-care.

We can all help to prevent death by suicide. And joining a peer support program or training to make ourselves ready aren’t the only ways. Simply being more attentive as a friend, family member, neighbor or colleague can help.

It is normal for a person to feel awkward when talking to someone contemplating death by suicide. Learning is a great way to prepare. For example, “Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR)” is evidence-based training that can help anyone recognize early warning signs of suicide, learn ways to offer hope and encouragement, and connect with help.

On this Veterans Day, by all means, let’s thank veterans for their service. But perhaps we could challenge ourselves to go further and do service on behalf of others. Who knows what opportunities might arise to make a good catch?

If you or anyone of your loved ones are in need of help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or text 838255. You can also get help at the Veterans Crisis Line and the Military Crisis Line. l Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth is a Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Purdue University

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