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OP-ED: FDA — Smoking While Black and Brown in America

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Our experiences inform us that the implementation of a menthol ban will inevitably and undoubtedly create an increased number of stops, frisks, and interactions between law enforcement and members from Black and Brown communities. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, Black and Brown residents in the U.S. continue to have a long and troubled legacy of disproportionately larger numbers of police stops and interactions with the police. The proposed menthol ban will do nothing to quell this troubling reality.
The post OP-ED: FDA — Smoking While Black and Brown in America first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

4 years ago

April 5, 2022

Oakland Post

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, President and CEO, National Newspaper Publishers Association

Whenever the history of racial discrimination in the United States appears to repeat itself, it produces predictable rhymes and sometimes tragic social consequences. Mark Twain, Ida B. Wells, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison all had one thing in common as visionary authors. They used their pens to offer literary critiques about America’s historical inflection points concerning racism and systemic inequalities.

The federal government’s recent announcement that it is close to proscribing a ban on menthol cigarettes is another public policy gone astray that will produce unintended racial-discriminatory consequences. As a result of a decades-long marketing campaign aimed at African Americans, nearly 85% of all non-Hispanic Black smokers choose menthol cigarettes, the highest percentage of menthol cigarette use compared to other racial and ethnic groups. The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should be questioned about their disparate targeting of African American and Latino-American smokers who disproportionately prefer to smoke menthol cigarettes. This is an urgent matter now that the FDA has just asked the government’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review the proposed discriminatory ban.

Driving while Black and Brown, jogging while Black and Brown, and breathing while Black and Brown have had, at times, fatal consequences intergenerationally for women, men, and youth from our communities. Now, our families and communities will have to contend additionally with smoking while Black and Brown in America.

For the record, I do not smoke tobacco or marijuana. I am raising questions, however, to the FDA and to the U.S. Congress because I care passionately about protecting the civil rights and cultural rights of communities of color. We should learn from the past about how to avoid racial injustice rather than to entertain the repetition of pseudo-justifications of wrongdoing and counterproductive public policies that disparage communities of color.

Recalling back in the 1980s and 1990s there was the prevalence of the availability and use of crack cocaine that swept severe drug-related suffering in urban areas across the nation. Because of decades of White flight and self-segregation, those same inner-city areas were disproportionately populated by Black and Brown families. The result was another regrettable chapter in American history when crack cocaine ravaged our communities.

The subsequent response from the federal government was neither compassion nor empathy. Rather, the U.S. Congress passed the now-infamous 1994 Crime Bill, which treated the possession of crack cocaine disproportionately harsher in the criminal justice system than powder cocaine, which was more expensive and more commonly used by White drug users. Too many communities of color were once again devastated by the unjust massive long-term imprisonment of crack cocaine users for decades that literally destroyed families and left hundreds of thousands of children without parents while escalating mass incarceration of Black and Brown people to an unprecedented national level.

It is, therefore, against this historical backdrop that we find anew the recent contradictory announcement by the Biden Administration’s FDA. According to the Centers for Disease Control, over 85% of Black and Brown smokers prefer menthol cigarettes. While there may be compelling public health concerns that can be cited to support proposing a ban on smoking cigarettes, the question arises why the FDA only wants to target and ban “menthol” cigarettes that are disproportionately used and preferred by Black and Brown smokers. Law enforcement agencies, similar to what happened by law enforcement in response to the crack cocaine epidemic, will ultimately have to enforce the proposed ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes.

In addition, serious concerns today abound among national and local law enforcement leaders that a prohibition of these particular tobacco products will only end up dramatically increasing an illicit, underground market for these menthol products. I am certain that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will rightly oppose any public policy by the FDA that will lead to further substantial border insecurity from the future billion-dollar illicit smuggling of proposed menthol-banned tobacco products into the United States. Another serious unintended consequence will be the illegal trafficking of FDA-banned cigarettes by international terrorists who will profit millions of dollars from that illicit trade.

I write, therefore, on behalf of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and the Black Press of America that have been “pleading our own cause” since March 16, 1827 with the first publication of Freedom’s Journal 195 years ago. Our concerns are not hypothetical and do not exist in a vacuum.

Our experiences inform us that the implementation of a menthol ban will inevitably and undoubtedly create an increased number of stops, frisks, and interactions between law enforcement and members from Black and Brown communities. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, Black and Brown residents in the U.S. continue to have a long and troubled legacy of disproportionately larger numbers of police stops and interactions with the police. The proposed menthol ban will do nothing to quell this troubling reality.

Moreover, there is data to suggest that a prohibition on the sale of menthol cigarettes would not meet the proposed ban’s intended goal. According to a report by the United States Surgeon General, published in 2020, “the evidence is suggestive but not sufficient to infer that restricting the sale of certain types of tobacco products, such as menthol or other flavored products, increases smoking cessation, especially among certain populations.” Indeed, a report by the National Bureau of Economic Research echoes this concern and suggests that a prohibition on menthol cigarettes is “unlikely to be a panacea,” because while the product may be prohibited in Canada, it is available on Native Canadian reserves, and still available for purchase throughout Mexico.

On his first day in The White House, President Biden signed the Executive Order (13985) on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government. That was a much-needed federal corrective action taken by President Biden. Notwithstanding those facts, it has become a noticeable contradiction for the FDA to now embark on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) with respect to a menthol ban tentatively scheduled for April 2022.

What are some of the possible alternative options for the FDA and for the U.S. Congress with respect to menthol cigarettes? One option is for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Commissioner of the FDA to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and additional relevant entities (including representatives of community organizations that have been historically underrepresented in the Federal Government and underserved by, subject to discrimination in, Federal policies and programs) to conduct a national study on the impact of a menthol ban would have on:

the frequency of adverse law enforcement interactions with members of communities of color, underserved and other discriminated communities
the illicit sale of counterfeit cigarettes in communities of color, underserved and other discriminated communities, and
the likelihood that counterfeit cigarettes illicitly sold in communities of color, underserved and other discriminated communities would contain a mixture of lethal substances in excess of the toxins found in ordinary commercially approved cigarettes

There are other options in addition to the stated above proposal that I am confident can and should be explored by both the U.S. Congress and the FDA. What should be prohibited at this point should be all forms of racial profiling and targeting. Smoking while Black and Brown should not be the predicate for more negative disastrous interactions between law enforcement and our communities who have already suffered too much. I recently had the honor to attend a national meeting of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Black police chiefs and other Black law enforcement executives from across the nation voiced their concerns about the negative, disparate and dangerous unintended consequences of the proposed FDA ban on menthol cigarettes.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is currently the President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and Executive Producer/Host of The Chavis Chronicles television show that is broadcast weekly on PBS TV stations throughout the United States.

The post OP-ED: FDA — Smoking While Black and Brown in America first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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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.

Published

6 days ago

March 24, 2026

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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.

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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Grief, Advocacy, and Education: A Counselor Reflects on Black Maternal Health

SAN DIEGO VOICE & VIEWPOINT — Last month healthcare leaders, birth workers, and community members gathered to honor the legacy of Charleston native Dr. Janell Green Smith, a nurse-midwife and doctor of nursing practice who died in January from childbirth complications. She had participated in more than 300 births and specialized in helping Black women give birth safely.

Published

6 days ago

March 24, 2026

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By Jennifer Porter Gore | Word-In-Black | San Diego Voice and Viewpoint

In 2024, the number of U.S. mothers who died as a result of pregnancy or childbirth dropped compared to 2023. But while slightly fewer Black mothers died that year, they still had three times the mortality rate of white women.

South Carolina’s rates of maternal deaths outpaced even the national rates. In fact, the state’s overall rate of maternal deaths between 2019 and 2023 was higher than all but eight states and the District of Columbia.

Last month healthcare leaders, birth workers, and community members gathered to honor the legacy of Charleston native Dr. Janell Green Smith, a nurse-midwife and doctor of nursing practice who died in January from childbirth complications. She had participated in more than 300 births and specialized in helping Black women give birth safely.

Her death shocked the community and her colleagues who are determined to address concerns about Black maternal health. The event also covered the importance of protecting mental health during grief and of men’s role in solving the maternal health crisis.

As both a therapist and a father, Lawrence Lovell, a licensed professional counselor and founder of Breakthrough Solutions, discussed ways the event’s attendees could process their grief over Green Smith’s death. He also shared ways male partners can advocate for women’s maternal health during pregnancy and childbirth.

Lovell spoke not just as a therapist but also as a father whose own family had briefly crossed paths with Green Smith. The event, he said, emerged organically from a moment of collective mourning.

Despite the grief, “it was still, like, a really beautiful event, a much-needed event, and it almost felt like we were all giving each other a collective family hug,” says Lovell.

His connection to Green Smith, Lovell says, was brief but meaningful during his wife’s pregnancy with their second child. Green Smith was practicing at the same birthing center where they had their child. She began practicing in Greenville a short time later.Even that short connection carried significance for Lovell, given the small number of Black maternal health professionals.

Lovell did not initially plan to become a mental health practitioner; he chose the career path after graduating from college, when someone suggested he consider psychology. His interest deepened when he noticed how few Black men work in mental health.

“Being Black man and playing football in college, there weren’t a lot of people that look like me talking about mental health,” says Lovell. “[I wanted] to give people that look like me an opportunity to work with someone that looks like them.”

Working with Expectant and New Parents

Lovell often counsels couples preparing for parenthood by, helping partners understand what a successful pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum recovery look like. That often means helping women manage postpartum depression.

As a man, Lovell says, it’s “humbling” that a woman “just trusts me enough to work with me through their pregnancy or their postpartum recovery.”

In his work, Lovell has noticed how few men understand pregnancy before they experience it with their partner. Because early pregnancy symptoms are often invisible, he says, men may underestimate how much support a mom-to-be actually needs.

“Sometimes they may not realize they don’t know much about pregnancy and what to expect in those three trimesters,” Lovell says. “I tell a lot of the men that just because you can’t see [she’s pregnant] doesn’t mean that she won’t appreciate your intense support in that first trimester.”

Education about pregnancy and postpartum recovery, he says, can change how men support their partners.

Teaching Advocacy in the Delivery Room

Another major focus of Lovell’s counseling is preparing men to advocate for mothers during labor.

“Helping men understand what pregnancy looks like: what delivery is going to look like, and what are the realistic expectations that I should have of myself in postpartum,” he says.

Lovell encourages partners to be honest about their expectations for what will happen during delivery. He helps them prepare for the big day by discussing the birth plan and knowing how to quickly recognize problems. Clear communication, he says, prevents misunderstandings.

He regularly trains men to ask their partners detailed questions about their expectations during and after pregnancy. Advocacy in medical settings can be especially important and requires attention to details the mother may not be able to address.

“It’s always important to fine-tune things and truly understand what helps your partner feel most supported,” Lovell says. “Instead of guessing, you should ask.”

Lovell recalls a moment during the birth of his first child when he had to take that role.

During the delivery, “I felt like something wasn’t as sanitary as I’d like it to be,” he says. “I asked, ‘Hey, can you switch those out? Can you change your gloves?’”

Lovell has a succinct but powerful message he regularly shares with clients’ families, and he shared it with attendees at last month’s event.

“Just to believe women,” he says. “I’ve worked with different couples, and sometimes I’m not really sure that there’s enough empathy from the men.”

That includes how women express pain.

“If a woman says, ‘my pain is at a nine,’ just because how you would express yourself at a nine is different than how she’s expressing herself at [that level] doesn’t mean you shouldn’t believe her,” he says.

Empathy, he says, can change outcomes far beyond the delivery room.

“We’ve got to believe women when they’re talking about their experiences and their feelings and their pain,” he says. “I think there’s a lot that we can prevent if we empathize better.”

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Future of Florida’s Black History Museum in Limbo

JACKSONVILLE FREE PRESS — A proposal sponsored by Tom Leek, a Republican from Ormond Beach, has now passed the Senate in back-to-back legislative sessions. But the House version, filed by Kiyan Michael, a Jacksonville Republican, did not receive final approval in either year, effectively stalling the effort.

Published

6 days ago

March 24, 2026

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Jacksonville Free Press

Plans to establish a long-awaited Black history museum in Florida are once again on hold after legislation needed to advance the project failed to clear the state House for a second consecutive year, despite repeated approval in the Senate.

A proposal sponsored by Tom Leek, a Republican from Ormond Beach, has now passed the Senate in back-to-back legislative sessions. But the House version, filed by Kiyan Michael, a Jacksonville Republican, did not receive final approval in either year, effectively stalling the effort.

Under Florida law, identical or similar bills must pass both chambers before heading to the governor’s desk. Without House approval, the legislation has been unable to move forward, leaving the project in limbo. Long journey, contested location.

The proposed museum, formally known as the Florida Museum of Black History, has been years in the making, with lawmakers and community leaders framing it as a long-overdue institution to preserve and showcase the state’s African American heritage .A central point of contention has been the museum’s location. St. Augustine — widely recognized as the nation’s oldest city and a site deeply tied to both slavery and early Black history — emerged as the leading contender. Supporters argue the city’s historical significance makes it a natural home for the museum. However, competing interests and regional considerations have fueled debate, slowing consensus among lawmakers.

While the Senate-backed measure has consistently advanced, the lack of alignment in the House has underscored ongoing divisions about how and where the project should take shape.

The holdup in the Florida House appears to be less about opposition to the museum itself and more about a combination of procedural bottlenecks, unresolved structural issues, and lingering disagreements over how the project should be formalized and governed.

Despite the legislative setbacks, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has publicly voiced support for the museum. Speaking last month during the unveiling of a statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass in St. Augustine, DeSantis said the project would move forward “one way or another,” signaling an intent to see the museum built regardless of legislative hurdles.

The anticipated museum has already cleared several hurdles. St. Johns County signed an agreement last year with Florida Memorial University to use the land that once housed its campus last year’s legislative session netted $1 million in funding for St. Johns County to work on planning and design for the museum. However, its anticipated that a million $3 million is needed.

Still, without statutory approval to finalize key components — including governance, funding mechanisms and site selection — the project remains largely conceptual.
With the House bill failing again, the timeline for the museum’s development is unclear. Lawmakers could revisit the proposal in the next legislative session, but any further delays risk pushing the project back several more years. Advocates warn that continued inaction could stall momentum for a museum many see as critical to telling a fuller, more accurate story of Florida’s past. For now, the effort remains paused — caught between political support at the top and legislative gridlock within the Capitol.