Category: Back issues of PHN

The Pandemic of Anti-Blackness

By Lorin Jackson

From PHN Issue 44, Fall 2020

“These are hard times for Black America,” Lecia Brooks and Eric K. Ward write in an article for the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Black communities are disproportionately devastated by COVID-19—one in 500 of us is projected to die from the virus by January 1—along with police violence and criminalization, wage inequities, healthcare disparities, environmental toxins, and hate crimes.”

COVID-19 and anti-Blackness go hand-in-hand. Anti-Blackness is a pandemic and has been for many years. As with COVID-19, anti-Blackness is a global phenomenon that impacts the well-being of Black people.

Continue reading

How Other Health Conditions Interact with COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

By Lily H-A

From PHN Issue 44, Fall 2020

Researchers have found that there are certain factors, including having other health conditions, that make it more likely you will have a severe illness if you catch COVID-19.

Here are some of the factors that seem to go along with more complications from COVID-19. Of course, having these health conditions doesn’t guarantee you’ll definitely get severely ill if you catch COVID-19. And people who are otherwise healthy can still get very ill if they catch COVID-19. The best way to prevent getting severe complications from COVID-19 is to not get it at all, so it’s important to keep practicing social distancing when possible, wearing a face covering, and practicing hand hygiene.

Some of these you can do more about than others. For the ones you can do something about, we’ve included some tips. Eating healthy, being physically active, and quitting smoking can improve or lower your risk of a lot of these health conditions. If you take medications, take them regularly and make sure you have enough refills.

Continue reading

Self-Care Tips From Contributors

From PHN Issue 43, Fall 2020

My Daily Health and Fitness Program
By Aging Graciously

My daily health and fitness program is simple, easy, and doable. I borrowed it from a Loma Linda University health article and would like to share it with you. It’s the acronym “NEW START”:

N is for NUTRITION: Eat your vegetables, fruits, and hot cereals on your food tray, along with your healthy snacks in your lunch box such as almonds and dried fruit

E is for EXERCISE, ENERGIZE: Walk, stretch, jog, move around

W — drink your required amount of WATER: This is mandatory

S — get your 30 minutes of SUNSHINE: Get outdoors

T — be TEMPERATE: Don’t overdo anything; use moderation

A — get fresh AIR: Early morning is best

R — get your REST: Sleep your 8 hours

T — TAKE TIME for prayer and meditation

Every day is a brand new day—a new start.

Continue reading

COPD: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

By Seth Lamming

From PHN Issue 44, Fall 2020

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common group of diseases that affect the lungs and airways. COPD is treatable and preventable, but it is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. COPD is caused by smoking or inhaling fumes or dust over a long period of time. Sometimes genetics and environment can cause COPD, as well as untreated asthma.

The lungs are a pair of air-filled organs in the chest that allow your body to take in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Air goes down the trachea (windpipe) and splits off into two bronchi (smaller windpipes) that supply each lung. The two windpipes supplying each lung branch off and get smaller and smaller, like tree roots. At the end of each airway are tiny alveoli (air sacs). Blood vessels surround the air sacs and take oxygen from them to the body.

Chronic bronchitis and emphysema are the two major categories of COPD. Many people have a combination of both, but one type usually dominates. Chronic bronchitis is when the airways become inflamed and get narrow. The airways also release a lot of thick mucus that the body cannot clear. In emphysema, the air sacs get damaged and can no longer exchange oxygen with blood vessels in the lungs. Air gets trapped in the lungs, which causes airspaces in the lungs to get permanently enlarged. The word “obstructive” in COPD refers to air getting trapped in the lungs. Physical changes to the airway make it difficult for people with COPD to fully exhale each breath.

Continue reading

Medical Concerns and Advocacy in Prison: My Perspective

By Joshua O’Connor AKA “Apache”

From PHN Issue 43, Summer 2020

One concern I would like to address is the deliberate indifference and lack of remedy regarding addressing medical concerns in prison. For months, I have been trying to get a new mattress, because my current one is flat and falling apart. In fact, the mattress is only about half an inch thick.

A few years ago (prior to my incarceration), I was in a terrible car accident. My friends and I were lucky to be alive after the accident occurred. I did come away from the accident with multiple injuries, though. I sustained a skull fracture, major concussion, broken leg, broken ankle, and a dislocated kneecap. I still suffer pain all over my body to this day.

The current mattress I have has made my pain so much worse, so I contacted multiple staff members, including medical staff and the sergeant, to ask for a new, better mattress. Nothing happened at first. It wasn’t until I sent a grievance that the sergeant had me come to his office to discuss my concern.

Continue reading

Spiritual Health Resources for Solitary Confinement

By Joshua O’Connor AKA “Apache”

From PHN Issue 43, Summer 2020

Spiritual Health is just as important—if not more important—than your physical health. It’s what gives you the willpower to wake up and thank the Creator for all you have. It’s also what gives you the willpower to work out and better yourself.

I know it’s hard to do when you’re in solitary confinement. In solitary, there is no access to the sweat lodge and Pow Wow, for all my Native brothers and sisters. I hope that changes soon, because Native Americans should have access to their spiritual practices like everyone else in the general population.

Here are some things I recommend you do while you’re in solitary confinement if you want to continue your spiritual practices:

Continue reading

My Experience with PTSD

By Bernard Lee Starks Jr.

From PHN Issue 43, Summer 2020

Hi, my name is Bernard Lee Starks Jr. I am a 30-year-old African-American male who has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Contrary to the belief that PTSD only happens in people who have experienced war, my PTSD comes from getting sucker-punched over an intense three-year span in a juvenile correctional facility. The degree to which I was affected was unknown until I became an advocate against sexual violence and began reading about rape trauma syndrome.

Being in confinement is very difficult, especially while fighting symptoms of PTSD. It’s always noise from people or machinery which adds difficulty to maintaining assertiveness. After speaking with a trusted psychologist at 20 years old, I was told I likely had PTSD.

Continue reading

Prison Gerrymandering and the Census

By Alicia Dorsey

From PHN Issue 43, Summer 2020

There is a national call to end prison gerrymandering—to end the manipulating of our votes and federal resources. Prison gerrymandering was started by the Republican party and their erroneous “tough on crime” propaganda. Prison gerrymandering manipulates our votes by building prisons, jails, and youth residential placement in areas of small populations, to inflate the area’s population for the census count every 10 years.

The census count began in 1790 to count our population. In 1902, the United States Census Bureau was formed under the Commerce Department to produce data about us and our economy. The census uses the collected data to create political representation and federal funding allocations based on counting people at their place of residence the day of the census count. This federal funding includes monies
for public health and other social services that many of our brothers and sisters behind bars are denied. The incarcerated community are only considered residents of the voting district where their prison is located on the day of the census count. Our brothers and sisters behind bars, in most states, are not permitted to vote in the district that used them for population count. They are not permitted to use the
schools, playgrounds, or hospitals (unless on their dying beds), allocated in their names by the census count. And the neighborhoods or cities where our brothers and sisters behind bars come from are not granted the federal funding that they would have received if people were not in prison elsewhere.

Continue reading

How I Survived Cancer in Prison

By Johnnetha S. Hawthorne

From PHN Issue 43, Summer 2020

My name is Johnnetha S. Hawthorne, and I have had cancer five times in the course of my life. My last bout with cancer was in 2017, while I was incarcerated. This is my story of discovering I had cancer, what helped me through that extremely hard time, and how I survived with help from loved ones. I hope my story encourages others to find their strength and know they can make it and will if they just keep going.

My journey with breast cancer began on May 28, 2017, when I discovered a lump on my right breast while showering. My first reaction was sheer panic. I touched the area repeatedly in disbelief. I met with the nurse and asked her to examine me. She did and was as terrified as I was. I told her about my cancer history, and she immediately contacted the head of the medical department.

Continue reading

Summary of Recent Events in the Community

By Lily Ha

PHN Issue 43, Summer 2020

Since the end of May 2020, there have been major uprisings in the USA and across the world against racism and police violence. This timeline summarizes some of the important events in these uprisings and political upheaval to date.

Continue reading