EmPOWERED to serve panel advises Black women to prioritize personal health
15th March 2021 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
The American Heart Association recently sponsored an hour-long online workshop featuring several leading women from the nation’s top collegiate sororities, companies and organizations as part of the AHA’s effort to address health disparities impacting Black women.
On February 25, as part of both Black History Month and American Heart Month, Black Entertainment Television’s vice president of digital media, Amy Dubois Barnett, moderated the AHA’s workshop under its EmPOWERED to Serve™ effort, in collaboration with the association’s ongoing Go Red for Women movement.
EmPOWERED to Serve gathers leading women in the areas of entrepreneurship, non-profit organizations and other individual agents of social change to develop solutions to combat the stark health disparities and challenges found in Black, minority and lower-income communities – problems highlighted and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last month’s EmPOWERED to Serve Black Women and Well-Being Roundtable included influential business leaders, social welfare advocates, leaders of the four major sororities of the Divine Nine National Panhellenic Council and The Links., Inc., which continues its charitable and community service-driven mission.
The online workshop addressed the fact that members of the Black community, especially Black women, are especially vulnerable to higher rates of health problems like cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure and diabetes that are often overlooked and pushed aside by busy women at their own peril. Participants noted that about half of all Black American women have some sort of cardiovascular disease, with one in three women ultimately dying from it.
“As women, we’re doing it all,” said Alpha Kappa Alpha member and successful heart transplant recipient Ovuke’ Emonina McCoy in introducing the workshop. “We’re taking care of our families, taking care of our husbands, taking care of our children, our careers and community and sorority work.”
She said the startling rates of heart disease among Black women “has to change. I’m asking all women to stop – stop and think about what you’re doing to care for your own health. We need to be exercising, eating right, managing our blood pressure and caring for our mental well being and stress. We need to take care of ourselves, sisters, so we can care for everyone else in our lives.”
Dubois Barnett stressed how severely and disproportionately cardiovascular disease can impact certain vulnerable communities, including Black women. “Within one area code, life expectancy can vary up to 20 years,” Barnett said, “and it’s no secret who’s dying first.”
She added that health can be negatively affected by societal problems that are particularly pronounced in minority communities, such as lack of access to healthy food, unsafe environments and a dearth of stable housing. And, she added, the challenges have only been heightened during the pandemic.
“COVID-19 has been a catalyst for further revealing health inequities, particularly in Black communities,” she said. “Our communities are hit harder because of an over index of these pre-existing conditions and social determinants.”
Participants detailed several definite actions Black women can take to improve their own health and the well being of their often underserved communities, including spreading the word about the efforts of the AHA and other organizations dedicated to cardiovascular wellness, and taking time for stress relief and mental-health maintenance.
Dr. Cheryl Pegus, a member of the AHA board of directors and executive vice president of Walmart Health & Wellness, said Black women can monitor the positive impacts of their positive changes to their daily routine by monitoring their “three numbers” – blood pressure, glucose levels and cholesterol levels.
“That’s how you will know you are making changes,” Pegus said. “You’ll not only see it in the buttons and zippers [of clothes sizes], but you’ll also see it in those three numbers. Every little bit matters, and that is taking control and being able to manage your own health no matter where you are and no matter what circumstances you’re under.”
Pegus noted that Black women will face obstacles in their pursuit of better health results in the form of the racism and disparity that has been baked into American society.
“When we talk about structural racism, these are the areas we may not have full control over,” she said. “It’s how these structures are put in place to limit our opportunities for social, economic and financial advancement, and all of them separately and additively impact our health.”
“Racism induces adverse effects,” she added, “whether it’s blatant racism, or whether it’s perceived only by you, it has an impact on your health.”
She said research has indicated that acute social factors such as structural racism can cause so much anxiety and distress that it damages the walls of blood vessels, a condition that makes once-theoretical health issues much more visible and tangible.
“It is real, and it is a health concern that we all must address,” she said, adding that Black women should monitor their diets, increase their physical activity, refrain from smoking and know their numbers.
She added that women must press their children’s schools to educate younger generations about the gravity of heart disease, especially in minority communities, and she stressed that the COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out are trustworthy, soundly tested and effective, and that the Black community shouldn’t be hesitant to receive them. The negative impacts of the virus, Pegus said, can exacerbate and worsen existing cardiovascular disease.
Other participants in the panel discussion included Mary Bentley LaMar, North Atlantic regional director of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Beverly Evans Smith, national president and CEO of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; Valerie Hollingsworth Baker, international president of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.; Rasheeda Liberty, international president of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.; and Kimberly Jeffries Leonard, national president of The Links, Inc.
This article originally published in the March 15, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
