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 Harriet Tubman, a leader on the historical Underground Railroad, is the patron saint and guiding force behind CMHC, and is considered Critical Mass Health Conductor #1. The Critical Mass Health Conductor project is an invitation and a call to action to African Americans to be identifiable change agents and conscious health advocates in African American and African diaspora communities. Health Conductors are asked first to assume responsibility for their own health and second to be courageous and outspoken in promoting healthy messages within their families and their communities.
CMHC leadership recognizes the importance of self-determination and encourages Black people to make healthier lifestyle choices and promote holistic health for self-care. In order to sustain this growing initiative, CMHC has created CMHC Memorabilia, of which the first two products are the Safe House Card and the Sacred Note Card. This merchandise will not only act to spread CMHC’s message but will raise funds to support this emerging movement as we continue to recruit, train, and support African American leadership. In 2006, CMHC will move beyond Alameda and Marin counties into San Francisco and San Mateo.
The cards draw on the legacy of African American art and culture to promote self-healing and to inspire African Americans to live healthier lives. The memorabilia uses a cultural icon of our history (Harriet Tubman) to inspire us to make these life-altering changes. CMHC has the ambitious goal of having at least one Safe House Card displayed in every Black household throughout the Bay Area.
The Safe House cards and the Sacred Note cards are now on sale at the Bay Area Black United Fund office. These cards are a visual reminder of how important it is for African Americans to assume direct responsibility for their own health by focusing on preventive health and wellness through diet and nutrition, physical exercise and fitness, and stress reduction activities that acknowledge the healing power of Black culture.
This community action project is in response to the Alameda County Public Health Department’s (ACPHD) Health Status 2000 report with findings that substantiate the fact that quot;African Americans are dying younger and suffering from more diseases, not only when compared to White Americans but when compared to all other racial groups.quot;[1] While this statement refers specifically to Alameda County, it mirrors the health status of African Americans Bay Area–wide and, to a large extent, throughout the country.[2]
Dr. Woody Carter, executive director of the Bay Area Black United Fund, accepted the charge and challenge from Alameda County’s Public Health Department director, Arnold Perkins, to the African American leadership in Alameda County. The challenge was to actively address the health crisis in Alameda County’s Black neighborhoods by researching and devising a comprehensive plan that would inspire and mobilize the community to begin creating a legacy of good health. The Critical Mass Health Conductors project is that comprehensive plan.
Asara Tsehai, sustainability coordinator for CMHC, states, quot;We are mobilizing Black people in an intergenerational effort, regardless of age, gender, income or educational level, to look to the life and example of Harriet Tubman and use our culture as a foundation for transformation in the arena of personal health. The Safe House cards are designed to remind us of our own personal power to create health, wealth and self determination.quot;
For information about CMHC and to purchase the Safe House and Sacred Note cards, please contact Melody Powers at the Bay Area Black United Fund, (510) 763-7270, ext. 11. |
[1] Health Status 2000 report, Alameda County Public Health Department.
[2] African Americans access to health services is compromised by an uninsured rate that is one-and-a-half times that of Whites. With half of all African Americans living in families with incomes below 200% of poverty, this rate would be much higher were it not for Medicaid coverage. In addition, "seventy percent of African Americans live in communities that are short on doctors, nurses and dentists," according to Dr. David Satcher, U.S. Surgeon General. In "Satcher Says Race a Factor in Health," Oakland Tribune, Friday, September 15, 2000. |
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