The random misadventures of a (formerly)Single Super Mom

Did you know that Black women are over 1.5 times more likely to die from cervical cancer than White women? And over 200% more likely to die from complications due to childbirth? Can you imagine being a Black or Brown woman and going to the hospital to get your appendix removed...and finding out that the government and your doctor sterilized you without your consent? African-American patients tend to receive lower-quality health services, including for cancer, H.I.V., prenatal care and preventive care, vast research shows. The dirty and sordid history of women's health in this country is terrifying and appalling. Dr. J Marion Sims, called the "Father of Modern Gynecology", was a pioneering physician and slave owner in the 1800's. During that time, Blacks were still thought to be little more than "animals", and ostensibly Black women didn't feel pain. He used enslaved Black women for countless experiments without their consent, during a time when Women...

I recently had a conversation with a very dear friend of mine who has been a nurse for over 20 years.  She was taking a break from Social Media due to a lot of different factors, but I reached out to her to see if she was okay.   She told me that she'd heard over and over during the years from Black patients, "I don't trust doctors", and she couldn't figure out why.  Why would you not trust the people that are supposed to keep you healthy and help you when you're sick?  And that would make sense under most circumstances.  However, since the slave times, there has been a lack of regard for the health of Blacks in this country, and it hasn't changed.  From food deserts to disdain from providers to the root of so many health problems for Blacks..it's a bitter pill to swallow.  Currently we are seeing extremely disproportionate numbers of COVID positive patients in the Black community.  For the first time, people are asking "why?" and they are fl...

If you don't know who Harry Anslinger is...you should. He said the following.... “Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men. The primary reason to  outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.” "I wish I could show you what a small marihuana cigarette can do to our degenerate Spanish-speaking residents. That’s why our problem is so great, the greatest percentage of our population is composed of Spanish-speaking persons, most of who are low mentally" Marijuana has been illegal in this country for close to 100 years, but many people don't know why it became illegal in the 1st place. Harry had a personal vendetta against people of color, jazz music, and a fierce need to prove that whites were superior and that BIPOC were basically...trash. There was a HUGE push with nationwide propaganda using fear tactics to "scare" the White Majority into keeping Cannabis public enemy number one. In 1850, cannabis, a plant with a history of medical us...

During this time of racial unrest and tension, I have tried my best to educate and illuminate some of the lesser known parts of Black History that have led us to this place. Everything from Slavery to Systemic Inequality to Redlining, and I myself have learned things that I never knew.  So much of the history of this country, and the world, has been diluted and sanitized to make it palatable.  This history is ugly.  It's raw. It's destructive. It's horrific. And it's time that we know the truth so that we can do better.   With today being Juneteenth, or Emancipation Day, I will start here and collect each post I have written and researched so we can all have a better understanding on how we got here.  What is Juneteenth? PEOPLE were taken from Africa and MADE into slaves. They had families that were ripped apart. Women were forced to breastfeed grown men in the holds of ships after their babies died so they could provide sustenance for the crossing. The thi...

Events over the last 4 years have turned this country into a powder keg of racial tension, and there have been explosions everywhere.  The most recent one, the murder of  George Floyd by 4 White police officers in Minneapolis, has put the nation front and center in terms of racial disparity and unrest.  There have been peaceful protests as well as rioting, and people are at a loss as to what to do.   This is just one in a long line of things that have happened to make my heart bleed.  As the daughter of a Black man, the sister of a Black man, and the mother of a Black man, I am saddened and disappointed and scared because things in this country seem to be getting worse instead of better.   I was born in the North and was subject to my share of racist behavior. It wasn't nearly as overt and often, but it happened. The problem is, I learned later, that I was raised in a "nice" Black family. A Cosby show type of family. A non threatening family that...

Some of the Mentors of Team 4935 I know a lot of people don't understand why I take so much time out of my life to devote to volunteering.  It's not just a way for me to give back, it is a way for me to show others how life changing the organization I volunteer for can be.  12 months a year, I am a volunteer and a mentor.  From September through May, I will put in as many as 30 hours a week volunteering, on TOP of working a full time job. When I tell people about being a mentor for a robotics team and I tell them that we build competitive robots the very 1st question out of 90% of people's mouths is "Is that like Battlebots?" Our Demo Bot "Blue" No.... it's NOT Battlebots Karen...😂. We have approximately 6 weeks to build a maximum 120 lb robot that goes pretty fast and it's got to withstand collisions from OTHER robots, work with 2 other robots in 3 on 3 competition,  be able to perform specific tasks and score as many points as th...