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Faith Confronts Economic Reality in Fate of Jahi McMath

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For many families of color who do not have deep pockets and friends and families in high places, interactions with police, the judicial system and even the hospitals are often problematic – even at their best.

Instead, people rely on their faith, their belief that God, not money and not officials or experts, makes the ultimate decisions that determine everyone’s lives.

People survive because they believe what others say is impossible is often possible.

The actions of Nailah Winkfield, mother of 13-year-old Jahi McMath, represent this truth. They fought for their daughter all her life, and they continue to fight for her because they rely on their faith.

Jahi underwent tonsil surgery at Children’s Hospital in Oakland on Dec. 9 and soon after experienced complications and went into cardiac arrest.

Three days later, on Dec. 12th, the hospital declared she was brain dead.

An Alameda County Superior Court Judge allowed numerous outside doctors to conduct tests, and all came to the same conclusion that Jahi could not breathe on her own and all brain activity had ceased.

Therefore, she was legally dead.

This is where the ethical debate begins. Though her heart is still beating, the declaration of brain death made it a coroner’s case, supporting Children’s Hospital stance that the young girl should be removed from the ventilator.

The family of Jahi did not accept the verdict of those who were responsible for their daughter’s condition and prays that with proper nutrition and time, she might possibly recover.

The battle between Children’s Hospital and Jahi’s family intensified because of Winkfield’s faith and unwillingness to pull the plug.

Sam Singer, spokesperson for the hospital, said, “No amount of hope, prayer or medical procedures will bring her back.”

But the questions remain: Can a hospital infringe on someone’s religious beliefs if they do not accept a medical decision? What is a hospital’s responsibility to confer and attempt to reach consensus with the family?

And why was the hospital in such a hurry to pull the plug?

Some of these questions were raised by Oakland, Civil Rights Attorney John Burris, speaking Tuesday at a forum called “Race Matters” sponsored by the Oakland Unified School District.

Having dealt with a similar situation in his own life, Burris said he understands what the family of Jahi McMath is going through.

He said the family was not properly advised and that the hospital was probably “quick” to end Jahi’s life without working closely with the family.

According to Burris, at least part of the driving force behind ending Jahi’s life support so quickly is “economics.”

If a child dies from medical malpractice, the hospital is limited to a maximum payout of $250,000, he said, but if the child were to live and needed continuing care, the cost to the hospital potentially could be unlimited.

The hospital’s position in essence, he said, is that, “You can have your religious belief, but you can’t make us pay for it.”

Further, the hospital’s perceived insensitivity to Jahi’s family has become a major issue among many in the community.

Chas Jackson is a former after school instructor teacher at the school Jahi attended and said he noticed the hospital’s defensiveness when the family did not accept the hospital’s decision.

It was as if the hospital administrators “threw up their hands” and tried to remove themselves from the situation, Jackson said.

“It came off as tacky and tasteless on Children’s Hospital’s part, and only damaged my shining image of their establishment,” he said.

Children’s Hospital seemed to be more worried about a pending lawsuit than the fate of Jahi and the grief of her family, he added.

Christopher Dolan, the family’s attorney, says Jahi’s body is in very bad shape and is deteriorating. Medical experts say this commonly occurs in brain dead patients.

However, Winkfield has said that as long as Jahi’s heart is beating she is alive, and the family will continue to fight.

“God has the final say, not the doctors,” she said.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 8 – 14, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 8 – 14, 2026

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Oakland Post: Week of April 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 1 – 7, 2026

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Black Artists in America, Installation Three Wraps at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens

TRI-STATE DEFENDER — With 50+ paintings, sculptures and assemblages, the exhibit features artists like Varnette Honeywood from Los Angeles, whose pieces appeared in Bill Coby’s private collection (before they were auctioned off) and on “The Cosby Show.” Also included are works by Alonzo Davis, another Los Angeles artist who opened one of the first galleries there where Black Artists could exhibit. 

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By Candace A. Gray | Tri-State Defender

The tulips gleefully greet those who enter the gates at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens on an almost spring day. More than 650,000 bulbs of various hues are currently on display. And they are truly breathtaking.

Inside the gallery, and equally as breathtaking, is the “Black Artists in America, From the Bicentennial to September 11” exhibit, which runs through Sunday, March 29. This is the third installment of a three-part series that started years ago and illustrates part of the Black experience through visual arts in the 20th century.

“This story picks up where part two left off,’’ said Kevin Sharp, the Linda W. and S. Herbert Rhea director for the Dixon. “This era is when we really start to see the emergence of these important Black artists’ agency and freedom shine through. They start to say and express what they want to, and it was a really beautiful time.”

With 50+ paintings, sculptures and assemblages, the exhibit features artists like Varnette Honeywood from Los Angeles, whose pieces appeared in Bill Coby’s private collection (before they were auctioned off) and on “The Cosby Show.” Also included are works by Alonzo Davis, another Los Angeles artist who opened one of the first galleries there where Black Artists could exhibit.

“Though [Davis] was from LA, he actually lived in Memphis for a decade,” said Sharp. “He was a dean at Memphis College of Art, and later opened the first gallery in New York owned and operated by black curators.”

Another featured artist is former NFL player, Ernie Barnes. His work is distinctive. Where have you seen one of his most popular paintings, Sugar Shack? On the end scene and credits of the hit show “Good Times.” His piece Saturday Night, Durham, North Carolina, 1974 is in this collection.

Memphis native James Little’s “The War Baby: The Triptych” is among more than 50 works featured in “Black Artists in America, From the Bicentennial to September 11” at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, the final installment of a three-part series highlighting the impact and evolution of Black artists through 2011.

Memphis native James Little’s “The War Baby: The Triptych” is among more than 50 works featured in “Black Artists in America, From the Bicentennial to September 11” at the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, the final installment of a three-part series highlighting the impact and evolution of Black artists through 2011.

The exhibit features other artists with Memphis ties, including abstract painter James Little, who was raised in a segregated Memphis and attended Memphis Academy of Art (before it was Memphis College of Art). He later moved to New York, became a teacher and an internationally acclaimed fixture in the art world in 2022 when he was named a Whitney Biennial selected artist at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Other artists like Romare Bearden, who had a Southern experience but lived up North, were featured in all three installments.

“During this period of time, he was a major figure,” said Sharp. “He wrote one of the first books on the history of African American art during a time when there were more Black academics, art teachers, more Black everything!”

Speaking of Black educators, Sharp said the head curator behind this tri-part series and Dixon’s partner in the arts is Earnestine Jenkins, Ph.D., an art history professor at the University of Memphis, who also earned a Master of Arts degree from Memphis State University (now UofM).  “We began working with Dr. Jenkins in 2018,” he said.

Sharp explained that it takes a team of curators, registrars, counterparts at other museums, and more, about three years to assemble an exhibit like this. It came together quite seamlessly, he added. Each room conjured up more jaw-dropping “wows” than the one before it. Each piece worked with the others to tell the story of Black people and their collective experience during this time period.

One of the last artists about whom Sharp shared information was Bettye Saar, who will turn 100 years old this year. She’s been working in Los Angeles for 80 years and is finally getting her due. Her medium is collages or assemblages, and an incredible work of hers is on display. She’s married to an artist and has two daughters, also artists.

The exhibit catalogue bears some of these artists’ stories, among other scholarly information.

The exhibit, presented by the Joe Orgill Family Fund for Exhibitions, is culturally and colorfully rich. It is a must see and admission to the Dixon is free.

Visit https://www.dixon.org/ to learn more.

Fun Facts: An original James Little design lives in the flooring of the basketball court at Tom Lee Park, and he makes and mixes his own paint colors.

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