Archive for the ‘Health’ Category
Dennis deLeon, Founder of Latino Commission on AIDS, Passes On
6:44 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Activism|Health · Comments Off
15 Dec 2009
From the official press release:
The Latino Commission on AIDS mourns the passing of its founder, Dennis de Leon, a tireless advocate for social justice and one of the first openly HIV-positive Latino leaders in the country. He was a pioneer and a visionary, and in his lifetime he sought to curb and eliminate health disparities among marginalized communities. As a lawyer and later a non-profit executive, deLeon believed in bridging cultural differences to effect progressive social change.
For 15 years, de Leon was the President of the Latino Commission on AIDS, a national service and advocacy organization addressing HIV/AIDS and health disparities in the Latino community nationwide.
deLeon, 61, was one of the first city officials to announce that he was infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The cause of death was heart failure.
VIGIL/VIEWING
WHEN
Wednesday, December 16th
4:00pm – 9:00pm
WHERE
Redden’s Funeral Home
325 West 14th Street
(between 8th and 9th)
New York, NY 10011
Map Link
FUNERAL
WHEN
Thursday, December 17th
10:00am
WHERE
Parish of St. Joseph
371 Avenue of the Americas
(between Washington and Waverly Place)
New York, NY 10011
Map Link
(*) Post the Funeral there will be a gathering to celebrate the life of Dennis de Leon at a near by Parish – details to follow.
Martes Movie Moment : Health Care Reform Racistas!
9:26 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Health|Media|Politics|race · Comments Off
8 Dec 2009Nothing like throwing down fear of the R word as a way to fight health care reform.
It could alternately be argued that those who support the current health care reform plan currently under debate in the Senate are racists, since the current plan limits access for immigrants, both documented and not. I’m just saying.
Via / Race Talk
Health Care Reform : Sacrificing Millions for the Approval of 60
1:52 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Health|Immigration|Politics · 6 Comments
2 Dec 2009
With the health care debate in full swing in the U.S. Senate, there is much focus and attention being paid to access to abortion and rightfully so. My inbox is filled with petitions and requests to email Senators. Hell, even my 60 some year old mother says she wants to make sure she has access to an abortion. But so far there has been just one petition demanding that the undocumented should be able to purchase their own insurance with their own money (isn’t that what capitalism is all about?).
Recent polls show that overall Latinos are in favor of health care reform especially the public option.
Overall, Latino registered voters are very supportive of efforts to reform the nation’s health care system, and show especially strong support for including the ‘public option’ as part of the reform effort. While President Obama continues to enjoy strong support from the Latino electorate, less than 1 in 7 survey respondents felt the needs of the Hispanic community were fully taken into account during the health reform debate.
World AIDS Day
7:18 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Health · 3 Comments
1 Dec 2009
Today is World AIDS Day, a day to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS around the world. Late last night I received an email from the Latino Commission on AIDS on the state of the Latino community in terms of not just infection rates but perhaps more critically now, rates of testing.
Latinos in the U.S. represent 15.3% (U.S. Census Bureau) of the population but account for 19.0% of people living with AIDS and are reported to be 18.0 % of those living with an undiagnosed HIV infection (According to CDC figures for only 34 States, which do not include Puerto Rico)… CDC data shows that Latinos progress to AIDS faster than any other racial or ethnic group with 42% being diagnosed with AIDS within 12 months after learning of their positive HIV status compared to 34% late diagnosis among white non Hispanic and 35% among blacks.
When was the last time you were tested?
Shackled While Giving Birth “Illegally”
2:25 pm By la Macha · Health|Immigration|Women · 1 Comment
23 Nov 2009via Latina.com comes the latest news of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s “law enforcement.”
The most recent atrocity committed by the self-proclaimed “America’s Toughest Sheriff” involves a woman who was detained while 9-months pregnant. Alma Minerva Chacon’s case has been receiving media attention due to the brutality with which she was treated. The very same night of her arrest, Chacon went into labor and found herself afraid and alone, being rushed to a local hospital with her hands and legs chained in shackles.
Once she reached the hospital, nurses repeatedly begged the Sheriff’s staff to allow them to unchain the mother, but they refused and Chacon was forced to give birth while still shackled to the bed. At one point, the nurse asked for them to release her so that she could be escorted to the bathroom for a urinalysis, but even that request was denied. But the worst came once Chacon gave birth to her baby girl.
Still chained to the bed, Arpaio’s police staff refused to allow Chacon to hold her newborn baby and then warned her that if no one came to pick up the child within 72 hours, she would be turned over into state custody. Telemundo 52 sat down with Chacon and let her tell her side of the story. Check out the interview below and if you don’t support Sheriff Arpaio’s barbaric practices sign the petition at www.SheriffJoeMustGo.com
Let’s say this woman did commit the most violent of violent offenses. Let’s say she killed five border patrol agents as she illegally crossed into the U.S.. And then spit on their bodies as she crossed past them.
Does she deserve to be shackled while giving birth? Are there no standards of humanity that the U.s. government must hold itself to? When you commit a crime–are you suddenly devoid of humanity? Entitled to no human rights at all?
This horrific practice doesn’t just happen to undocumented workers, either.
Sign Petition So that Undocumented Workers Can Buy Their Own Insurance
11:16 am By la Macha · Health · 3 Comments
23 Nov 2009Please please, before we move on, take just a moment to note the ultimate horrible irony of the title of this post.
Done?
Ok. I just got this in an email:
Dear Friends,
Please sign the following urgent petition to Congress and Pres. Obama telling them to allow undocumented immigrants to purchase health care insurance. The newly introduced Senate health care bill DISALLOWS undocumented immigrants from purchasing insurance even with their own money. This is an inhumane, deplorable, and unacceptable policy that we must vehemently oppose.
Please lend your voice to this very important effort.
In Solidarity,
Efrén Paredes, Jr./Tlecoz Huitzil
http://healthcare.change.org/actions/view/allow_undocumented_immigrants_to_purchase_health_care#
Honestly, this whole health care debate is exhausting me. Over and over and over again, our public “representatives” seem to be deliberately searching for a way fuck me/us over in the most heinous and despicable ways possible. It’s weird how something that is supposed to be about making people safer and healthier requires a good beating before hand.
Needless to say, even if we can defeat this measure, it will be a largely symbolic victory. Undocumented immigrants don’t have the greatest paying jobs in the world–and poor people can always find better things to spend their money on than problems that may or may not happen in the future. Couple this “pay for their own health insurance” crap with the “pay a steep fine” crap that will surely come up again once immigration reform gets put back on the table…and what we have is basically debt peonage run and controlled by the U.S. government.
It’s weird how this clip is the only that can get a smile out of me at the moment.
Bay Area Community Members to Hold Vigil and Release Statement about Murders in Maryland and Puerto Rico
6:03 pm By la Macha · crime|GLBT|Health|Puerto Rico|San Francisco|sex|Violence|youth · 1 Comment
20 Nov 2009PRESS RELEASE
TIME: Sunday, November 22, 3:30pm
LOCATION: Mac Arthur and Grand Ave. at Lake MerrittCONTACT: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Liz Latty
PHONE: (510) 282-5223
EMAIL: morethanavigil@gmail.comBAY AREA COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO HOLD VIGIL FOR QUEER/TRANS TEENS MURDERED IN MARYLAND AND PUERTO RICO
OAKLAND, CA – Outraged at the murders of two queer and trans teenagers last week, Bay Area queers and allies will gather at Lake Merritt this Sunday for a candlelight vigil and open mic to mourn and brainstorm ways to keep their community safer from violence.
Last Friday, 19-year-old Jorge Steven López-Mercado got into a car with Juan Martinez-Matos, 26, who later said he had been “searching for a prostitute.” Martinez-Matos murdered, beheaded and dismembered López-Mercado after, he said, he discovered that López-Mercado had male genitalia and was wearing feminine clothing. Martinez-Matos then set fire to Lopez-Mercado’s remains and left them on the side of a road. Martinez -Matos is now in custody and has confessed to the murder. His bail is set at $4 million.
The same week, in Baltimore, Maryland, queer fifteen-year-old Jason Mattison, Jr., was raped and stabbed to death in his aunt’s home by an adult male, a family friend with whom, according to a Baltimore police spokesperson, Mattison allegedly had a “forced sexual relationship.”
Queer activists say they worry that López-Mercado’s murderer will successfully invoke the defense of “gay or trans-panic” to justify the brutal killing. “The fact that Martinez -Matos is saying that López-Mercado was ‘wearing women’s clothing’ indicates that he might try to say he was ‘fooled’ and therefore ‘forced’ to kill López-Mercado for their gender identity,” Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, one of the organizers of the Oakland vigil said.
“This is completely inexcusable,” Liz Latty, another organizer of the rally this Sunday, said. “It’s blaming the victim. We unequivocally denounce the way that the lives of queer and transgendered people, sex workers, people of color, women and low-income people are devalued and seen as disposable. We especially denounce the ways in which femme-presenting sex workers of color are incredibly targetted for violence.”
Referring to López-Mercado’s murder, police investigator Ángel Rodríguez Colón told Univisión, “These types of people, when they enter this lifestyle and go out into the streets, know that this could happen.”
“We are outraged at the murders of López-Mercado and Mattison,” Oakland vigil organizer Latty said. “We, queer and transgendered people in Oakland, are mourning these senseless deaths. Yet we are also a resilient community. We wish to stand in solidarity with those in Puerto Rico and Baltimore who are surviving despite this invisibility and injustice.”
Bay Area organizers of the vigil have been in contact with friends of López-Mercado and are hoping to coordinate memorial events and future actions with the Puerto Rican and Baltimore queer communities.
Harry Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the FBI in Puetro Rico, said that the agency will monitor the investigation since federal statutes regarding hate crimes are implicated. Puerto Rican lawmaker, Charlie Hernandez, who authored the Hate Crimes Act of 2002, has been asking officials to consider charging Matos under that law. It would be the first time in Puerto Rico that a murder would be classified as a hate crime. According to the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force, López-Mercado is the tenth murder victim of a hate crime in Puerto Rico in the last seven years.
But Oakland vigil organizers say they want a different kind of justice that doesn’t rely on increased policing or punishment. They say that the prison system has not made life safer for victims of violence, especially those who are queer and transgendered people of color. Organizers say that violence against queer youth of color is only exacerbated by increased police enforcement, which disproportionally targets and locks up low-income people, people of color, sex workers, and gender non-conforming people.
“Hate crimes legislation and more police patrols would not make our communities safer. It would not have prevented the murders, and no punishment will bring these two men back,” organizer Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha said. “Systemic homophobia and transphobia killed López-Mercado and Mattison, who like other queer or gender non-comforming youth of color, faced barriers like street harassment and discrimination in every facet of life. What could’ve actually saved the two young men are things like free or affordable public transportation, an end to housing and employment discrimination against people of color, queer and trans folks, and the decriminalization of sex work.”
“We don’t know how Lopez-Mercado identified, gender-wise, right now,” added Piepzna-Samarasinha. ” What we do know is that transphobia is a huge part of why they were murdered. As we continue to receive information from Lopez-Mercado’s friends and family members about how Lopez-Mercado saw their gender, we will change their pronouns to the ones they preferred. We want to work to create a world where all people are free to live in safety with any gender expression they desire.”
Vigils mourning López-Mercado and Mattison will also take place this Sunday in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Amherst, MA, Tara Haute, Abilene, TX, Atlanta, and Durham.
Sexual Violence Against Women in Immigrant Detention
12:17 pm By la Macha · GLBT|Health|Immigration|Women · 1 Comment
17 Nov 2009As horrified as I was to watch this video of Esmeralda speaking about her experiences in immigration detention prisons, I am so glad that she is speaking out. For so long, sexual violence against women in detention prisons has been the secret people don’t talk about. Or if they do, it’s (justifiably so) with pseudonyms or only found out about after a newspaper reporter manages to dig around enough.
This horror–the horror that specifically targets immigrant women in detention, is not new, it’s not unusual, it happens all the time. Women locked in little cells, many times with their children, and then forced to submit to the will of guards who promise extra blankets or play time for the kids, or most times, nothing at all.
Please watch Esmeralda’s testimonio (but be forewarned, there is lots of triggering stories!!!)
Esmeralda: A Transgender Detainee Speaks Out from Breakthrough on Vimeo.
It’s important to also point out that Esmeralda faced sexual violence that other women did not specifically because she is transgendered. So, even though she is a woman, she was put in prison with men. The U.S. government (not sure about Mexico), recognizes only the gender that is legally given to a person upon their birth, and as such when there are no transgendered facilities (which are bad enough because they segregate trans people from general populations as if they have a disease or something, talk about stigma!!!), trans women and men are often forced to stay in facilities meant for the opposite sex. Which makes already vulnerable women without citizenship papers or other legal representation even more vulnerable. If it’s nearly impossible to report guards, how on earth can women report fellow detainees who hurt her? Not to mention what happens if she has a period or needs other reproductive services while in a prison that functions for men’s needs?
These prisons (AND, please be aware, the U.S. prison system in general! These abuses are not particular to detention prisons!!!!) are a violation of human rights and dignity–and are one of the main reasons why I support calls for immigration reform (even as I work towards something more radical). The abuse is so horrific and so violent, we can not wait until there is something more radical in place to stop the violence. And doing nothing is an even worse idea. Please see restorefairness.org for how you can help!
Video found via Facebook
Nadya Suleman Speaks Again
11:48 am By la Macha · Health|Women · 2 Comments
17 Nov 2009
Diiiiiiiios Mio. Remember the woman who gave birth to eight children after she underwent fertility treatments? Well, she’s in the news again, this time to explain why in the hell she felt it was necessary to be implanted with all eight of her embryos.
“You don’t understand,” she said. “If you have these frozen embryos that are there, and they were writing you letters saying, We are charging you this much, and it’s going up and up and up every month that they are stored — you can either use them or destroy them. You’re like, O.K., I have six already. What’s another? And maybe it won’t even work. So, I just decided to take the chance because I didn’t want to destroy the embryos. That was the main focus — not like: ‘Oh, gosh! I really want eight!’ People were thinking, ‘Oh, she wanted so, so many.’ No!”
She sounds like she’s coming from a really frightening place of Christian fundementalism (it’s a baby no matter what I must save it!) and desperate poverty. How many of us haven’t been in that same place with some other aspect in our lives? Getting those bills every single month when you know you can’t pay them, being told by a friend to “come get your shit or I’m dumping it all” when you know you have no place to bring it home to…we’ve all be there before. We’ve all done things like make eight kids share one Popsicle and lecture the kids that they should be thankful for the opportunity. We make jokes about it, but that poverty staring us in the face is very real, isn’t it?
So, I feel really bad for Suleman. But boy…I think it might be time to really question the idea of people who are adamantly pro-life getting IVF treatments. Or maybe doctors should only be allowed to fertilize two eggs at a time. Or something. I’m not really on top of how IVF treatment works–I know what I know because I’ve been told by friends who’ve gone through it how it works.
But the bottom line for me is that I just don’t think any human woman should be carrying eight fetuses at one time, even if she does so willingly. Morally and ethically, the argument simply can’t be made that it’s ok to place such stress on a woman’s body. And if people feel that they *must* place that kind of stress on their bodies because of the moral choice to not “kill a child,” then I think that the system needs to begin to find moral and ethical ways to confront those beliefs in a way that prioritizes the needs of the mother first and foremost.
Maybe Nadya Suleman is actually one of the best arguments out there for state health coverage that covers fertility treatments? Then people can afford to take the chance of only attempting one or two embryo fertilizations at a time?
Latinas and Vaginal Douching
9:52 am By la Macha · Health|Immigration · 2 Comments
13 Nov 2009
I was reading this article about douching and how it’s not good for you (probably not safe for work–multiple uses of p* word, no pictures.), and I started wondering. I’ve always thought of douching as a white girl thing. All the commercials (mom and daughter on a beach, etc) highlight white women–and all the articles that talk about why douching is bad for you are written by white women and highlight the experience of douching white women.
Do Latinas douche? And if they do, why are they doing it? And why do only white girls get access to the knowledge that douching is actually quite horrible for you?
Turns out, I’m not the only one who had these questions. Researchers conducted studies and found that douching is a regular part of a big population of Latina’s lives. Specifically, immigrant Latinas.
Of course, I can’t read the results of the entire essay without paying for it (damn you academic websites!), so some of my questions are going unanswered. Like: How did the researchers define “Latina” (were blatinas a part of the make up?)? And is there a certain era that saw an increasing in douching Latinas? What was it? And what mitigated the increase? And how many generations does the practice linger once women have immigrated? Does the move to the U.S. increase usage or does the practice gradually die away?
But for now, it’s just good to know that a harmful practice that Latinas participate in can be confronted. Latinas, if you’re douching, please be aware that douching can often cause problems with your system (yeast infections, etc). It also *does not* stop pregnancy. You’ll need a condoms or birth control for that. And finally, douching actually increases your chances of catching an STD.
Remember: The truth, simply, is that the vagina is the original self-cleaning oven. It needs no help. Then get yourself some condoms and/or birth control. Love your body before all else.
Hola!
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
About | Advertise with us | Contact | Twitter
blog advertising is good for you
blog advertising is good for you
- Karen: Have you see the census figures for 2010? Latinos are not all that diverse. Most" Latinos" are Mexic [...]
- Maegan La Mala: Hi Karen, I agree but only in part. I think that people do get up in cults of personality but th [...]
- Maegan La Mala: I haven't heard anything about a rally being held Jose Luis. i know Presente.org is organizing a pet [...]
- Karen: Also, Al Sharpton, now a host on MSNBC, brought attention to the Trayvon Martin case because he knew [...]
- jose luis: when the rally is going to be held in SAn Diego..if there is on??? [...]
- Washington DC Bound
- By Land & By Sea Drawing Attention to Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar Lopez Rivera
- Welcome to NY Secure Communities
- DOJ Puts Sheriff Arpaio on Notice. Who Will Put the DOJ on Notice?
- VL at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival: Babygirl
- 45th Precinct Residents to File Complaint Against Abusive NYPD Officers
- Monday Musica : Maga Bo – Quilombo do Futuro
- NYC : Confronting Police Violence in the Courts – May 19, 1-3pm – Justice Committee Workshop
- Passage of NYS DREAM Fund No Dream Come True
- No Surprise in the S-Comm Task Force Sham
