Oakland’s Health Disparities in Black & White

On Tuesday May 18th, 2010 from 7-9pm, the African People’s Education & Defense Fund (APEDF) is hosting a public community forum on African community control of health care as the solution to the current crisis facing the African community in Oakland. The forum will present a positive strategy for all communities to benefit by having equal access to needed resources.

Come hear as dynamic young African presenters, high school student Edward Choice , Jr. and college student Nyisha Monacrease, speak first hand of the disparities that they experience.

Dr. Muntu Davis, health officer of the Alameda County Public Health Department who is one of the authors of the report quoted above, will be speaking at the forum.

There wlll also be a multi media presentation on the understanding which guides APEDF projects and campaigns and shows the way forward:

“Health is essential to life. Yet in the U.S., the world's richest country, African people suffer and die from an epidemic of curable diseases. This can in part be attributed to the lack of quality health services available, difficulty in obtaining healthy food, environmental pollution, and the lack of genuine economic development in our communities resulting in the serious ongoing stress of poverty. This has led to an actual decline in life expectancy for African men in particular -- unprecedented in modern times. In this country, health and life expectancy are tied to economic status. Additionally, studies show that black people in particular are consistently denied the same quality of care as white people who live at a comparable economic level.”

For decades, APEDF has had a track record of developing institutions and programs that serve and empower the African community, building institutions and programs empowering African people to control our own health and healthcare.

Current projects include fundraisers and community programs such as: Tyron Lewis Community Gym, the Healthy Connections Newsletter, the Basketball Program, Uhuru Furniture in Philadelphia, PA and Oakland, CA and Uhuru Pies. Also discussed will be a new and exciting initiative, the Community Commercial Kitchen Project, which will be launched in June 2010.