City Government
Commentary: Black Institutions Must Stop Taking Big Tobacco Money
It’s hard to believe that with the amount of damage that the tobacco industry has inflicted on the Black community, that there are still Black organizations accepting their funding. By doing so, these Black organizations enable the tobacco industry to portray themselves as allies to our community. They help silence our voices and efforts aimed at encouraging policymakers to take specific steps to protect our people, thus becoming complicit in our death and disease.

By Dr. Phillip Gardiner
It’s hard to believe that with the amount of damage that the tobacco industry has inflicted on the Black community, that there are still Black organizations accepting their funding.
By doing so, these Black organizations enable the tobacco industry to portray themselves as allies to our community. They help silence our voices and efforts aimed at encouraging policymakers to take specific steps to protect our people, thus becoming complicit in our death and disease.
The problem with accepting these funds is the tobacco industry has a history of targeting and exploiting vulnerable communities, especially Black communities, through predatory advertising and marketing tactics.
Our people must be aware that accepting money from the tobacco industry contributes to the ongoing exploitation of our people through their predatory practices of marketing menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
The African American Control Tobacco Council is calling on Black organizations to be united in our fight against Big Tobacco and help save Black lives. Tobacco companies are actively opposing public health measures aimed at protecting Black Americans from the harm caused by their products.
The Backstory
A 1953 study by Roper, B.W. found that only 5% of African Americans smoked menthol cigarettes. A 1968 poll of People’s Cigarette Smoking Habits and Attitudes by Philip Morris showed that menthol use among Blacks had almost tripled to 14%. A report by Brown and Williamson in 1978 found that it had tripled again to 42%. By the 2000s, over 80% of Black smokers used menthol cigarettes.
Today, 85% of Black adults and 94% of Black youth who smoke are using menthol products. These striking statistics arise from the success of the industry’s predatory marketing of these products in our community, where there are more advertisements, and most disturbingly, menthol cigarettes are cheaper compared to other communities.
In 2022, the use of cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos was highest among Black youth. These practices, coupled with buying the silence of some Black spokespersons for the past 50 years, have led to Black Americans dying disproportionately from heart attacks, lung cancer, strokes and other tobacco-related diseases.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture
Across this country, tobacco companies are vigorously opposing public health policies that would protect Black Americans from these products, specifically the proposed FDA ban on menthol products.
These same companies continue to strategically provide monies to Black institutions to create the illusion of being socially responsible and invested in our well-being.
Black institutions must reject funding from or any form of partnership with tobacco and vaping companies and hold them accountable for the harmful effects they’ve had and continue to have on public and mental health, the environment and social justice.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is one of those institutions. They currently list Altria as a member of their Corporate Leadership Council. It should be noted that Altria owns a 35% stake in JUUL Labs, the e-cigarette company that malevolently popularized e-cigarette usage among America’s youth. We are calling upon the museum to divest their funding portfolio of all tobacco industry contributions moving forward.
The museum undertakes highly commendable work to document African American life, history and culture. However, we must bear in mind that American history is forever interwoven with the enslavement of African people on tobacco plantations.
Unfortunately, traces of that exploitation continue to exist to this day, principally taking the form of marketing menthol cigarettes and flavored little cigars to the Black community.
The museum is only one example, and we are challenging all Black organizations currently accepting funding from the tobacco industry to divest. If current efforts to protect present and future generations are not realized, African Americans will continue to pay the disproportionate price of death and disease for generations to come.
A New Road Forward
In 2021, the AATCLC was joined by the Action on Smoking and Health, the American Medical Association, and the National Medical Association when we sued the FDA to compel them to take menthol off the U.S. market.
Imagine our nations medical doctors joining with us to sue our own government to take these deadly addictive products off the market. This August, the FDA is slated to make a final ruling to take all menthol and flavored products off the market. We have a lot of work to do to ensure this happens and a large part of that is having the support of Black institutions.
Blacks people have been at the head of this fight, and we have made great strides in protecting the next generation from the industry’s emerging tobacco and nicotine products.
In November 2022, California went to the polls and soundly rejected the tobacco industry’s attempt to undermine Senate Bill 793, making their state the second after Massachusetts to pass legislation to take menthol and all flavored tobacco products off the market. We are working hard to encourage all states to follow suit.
Now is the time to take a stand and be a part of the solution: Stop taking tobacco industry money.
Dr Phillip Gardiner is the co-chair of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council. The AATCLC works at the intersection of public health policy and social injustice. www.SavingBlackLves.org
Bay Area
Gov. Newsom Requests Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Counties Impacted By Storms
Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a request Tuesday for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for nine California counties, including Monterey County. If approved, the move will pave the way for federal aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be provided to local governments and individuals impacted by storms in February and March.

By Thomas Hughes
Bay City News
Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a request Tuesday for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for nine California counties, including Monterey County.
If approved, the move will pave the way for federal aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be provided to local governments and individuals impacted by storms in February and March.
In addition to Monterey County, the request included Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, along with Calaveras, Kern, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Tulare and Tuolumne counties.
Four other counties were added to a previous emergency declaration from the governor, including Alameda, Marin, Modoc and Shasta counties.
“Over these past months, state, local and federal partners have worked around the clock to protect our communities from devastating storms that have ravaged every part of our state. We will continue to deploy every tool we have to help Californians rebuild and recover from these storms,” Newsom said.
If approved, aid from FEMA can be used for individual housing assistance, food aid, counseling, medical and legal services. It will also cover some storm-related costs like debris removal.
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors has requested additional state aid to help undocumented residents receive direct assistance that they aren’t eligible for from FEMA.
The governor said in a press release that funding from the state’s Rapid Response Fund would be made available to those residents and will ensure that families with mixed immigration status can access federal aid.
A local resources center opened Wednesday at the Watsonville Veterans Memorial Building at 215 E. Beach St. The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. through April 7. The center is staffed with personnel from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and Monterey County emergency staff who will help guide Monterey County residents through the recovery process.
An eviction moratorium was passed by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will provide limited eviction protection for residents who lost income because of the storms. If the Presidential Disaster Declaration is approved, FEMA assistance could help some eligible residents receive money to help pay rent, which will not be forgiven during the moratorium.
Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of March 29 – April 4, 2023
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 29 – April 4, 2023

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.
City Government
Fremont: City Appoints First Female Fire Chief
Fremont has appointed a new fire chief who will be the department’s first woman in that role, City Manager Karena Shackelford announced this week. Former Deputy Fire Chief of Operations Zoraida Diaz will be the next fire chief in the Bay Area’s fourth largest city beginning April 7. Women make up only 5.8% of fire chiefs in the U.S., according to Zippia.com, a site that gathers career data.

By Bay City News
Fremont has appointed a new fire chief who will be the department’s first woman in that role, City Manager Karena Shackelford announced this week.
Former Deputy Fire Chief of Operations Zoraida Diaz will be the next fire chief in the Bay Area’s fourth largest city beginning April 7.
Women make up only 5.8% of fire chiefs in the U.S., according to Zippia.com, a site that gathers career data.
Her previous work with the department has included partnering with police and other first responders in Fremont to enhance service to the community, Shackelford said in a statement. She has also created incident action plans for civil unrest, public safety power shutoff events, COVID-19 protocols, and organizing response around the area’s recent weather events.
Before coming to Fremont, Diaz worked in the Oakland Fire Department, rising to the rank of assistant fire chief.
Diaz is fluent in Spanish and worked for 15 years as a social worker before becoming a firefighter.
“I am honored to be named Fremont’s next Fire Chief and my mission will be to cultivate a professional environment where civic and employee pride promotes excellence and a workforce that values transparency, equity, inclusiveness and belonging,” said Diaz.
Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.
-
Activism7 hours ago
Oakland Post: Week of March 29 – April 4, 2023
-
Activism1 week ago
Oakland Post: Week of March 22 – 28, 2023
-
Activism2 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of March 15 – 21, 2023
-
Activism3 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of March 8 – 14, 2023
-
Activism4 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of March 1 – 7, 2023
-
Bay Area4 weeks ago
Help Save North Oakland Missionary Baptist Church, the 2nd oldest Black Church in Oakland
-
Black History2 weeks ago
Hidden History Black Museum Opens in Los Angeles
-
Bay Area4 weeks ago
Alameda County Supervisors Will Allow Tenant Eviction Protections to Expire at End of April: Oakland’s eviction moratorium remains in effect for local residents