Drawing a Picture of Immigration Detention

CHICAGO, Ill. — Time seemed endless for Luis León Ortega, who spent nearly seven months in various Illinois detention centers after being caught by immigration officials and scheduled for deportation hearings.

Leon The shadowy world of immigration detention has been in the spotlight lately with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials being forced to make public a series of reports about conditions at numerous detention centers throughout the country. The reports tell the stories.

Luis León Ortega has the pictures. “I used to draw to pass the time,” says León, a native of Guanajuato, Mexico. “There was a Hispanic guard who always had pencils, so I asked her to lend me one and she did.”

León’s drawings are simple, yet provocative. One traces the very symbols often used to highlight this country’s greatest attributes: an august bald eagle, the prominent Statue of Liberty, a bold Sears Tower, the nation’s stately capitol dome.

But these images are ominously juxtaposed against a symbolic wall — the U.S.-Mexican border wall — that twists into a serpent bearing its sharp jaws, mouth wide open and ready to strike. In the drawing the serpent is poised to devour a man trapped in its mouth, presumably the artist.

Images of Stability

Immigration Detention Sketch There are 35 sketches in all. Some of them depict innocent childhood subjects like Disney characters, a dog with a Chicago White Sox baseball cap. Others are more conceptual, like the one depicting a tree whose vine-like branches covered in spines twist around a heart – a common image in Mexican culture that could either reflect a loss of faith in God, or suffering of the heart. There is also the famous crime-fighter Batman – one of his son’s favorite drawings — and an eerily simple depiction of his own isolation in jail cell number 115.

To add a bit of color to his drawings, León purchased Kool-Aid packets and mixed in a little water.

Six Months, Five Transfers

León’s journey through the murky world of U.S. immigration detention centers began on a normal Chicago winter day, back in February 2008. He was pulled over by police and charged with driving without a valid driver’s license. Authorities quickly discovered his undocumented status, and he would spend the next 30 weeks rotating between five different Illinois correctional centers. He only remembers the names of two – the McHenry County Adult Correctional Facility and the Pontiac Correctional Center.

Every day, officers would try to get him to sign a voluntary deportation order.

“The first thing they do when you go to breakfast is try to convince you to sign your deportation papers. They did this every single day,” León recalls.

“We weren’t allowed to have anything in our cells. Masked guards armed with large, rubber-bullet guns would search our cells. They swarmed in as if they were the SWAT team. If they found even a packet of sugar, we were confined to our cells for 15 consecutive days,” he says.

His cell was just large enough for two beds, a shared toilet and a sink.

During meals, detainees were forbidden from speaking, so León would look forward to the little time he could talk on the telephone with his wife and children. But even that was complicated, as phone calls were limited to 20 minutes each day and phone cards were costly. A $20 card yielded only three calls.

“Once they told me a lawyer was coming to meet with us. But there wasn’t enough time. There was only one lawyer for 300 people. He managed to speak with only 10 people, and I wasn’t one of them.”

If access to legal help was nearly impossible, so too was León’s ability to turn to religion for comfort. In order to visit the chapel, detainees had to add their names to a list two or three days in advance. They were forbidden from having religious items in their cells, except for a Bible. A prayer card sent by his wife was intercepted and confiscated. The chaplains who did visit detainees spoke only English.

“Once a week they would allow us to see our families for 30 minutes. But we didn’t get to see them in person. We had to look at each other projected on a screen and we had to speak to each other on a telephone. I would go to a room where the telephone was, and my family would be in another room below me,” León said.

After six months, he was released on bond. The six-foot-tall, 43-year-old had lost a significant amount of weight. Pictures of León before his arrest show a much heavier and healthier man. Today, his hands sweat when he recalls those months spent behind bars, where he was isolated from his wife and two children who lived at the family’s Southside Chicago home.

Authorities have begun the deportation process against León. His two U.S.-born children wonder if they’ll have to live in a country they know little about, or face living without a father at home. León’s next hearing isn’t until 2011, perhaps enough time, he hopes, for something to be done by President Barack Obama, who as a candidate promised swift immigration reform.

In the meantime, León holds down a job and provides for his family by working six days a week at a local supermarket.

Pulling Back the Veil

For years, ICE officials fought to keep the treatment of immigration detainees a secret. Last month, a three-year legal battle ended with an order for ICE officials to make public a series of reports that documented inspections at numerous detention centers throughout the country. On August 6, ICE Director John Morton announced that one center, the T. Don Hutto Residential Center in Taylor, Texas, which held up to 400 detainees, would no longer be used for detaining families.

The reports, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and lawsuits brought by rights groups, confirm many of León’s allegations of ill treatment at the hands of authorities.

In Illinois, a report by delegates from the American Bar Association, who visited the DuPage County Jail in 2003 and the McHenry County Correctional Facility in 2006 (one of the centers where León was held), found that detainees could not speak to legal assistants without an attorney present; could not see a doctor without a judge’s order; were denied dental care; and in at least one incident suffered physical abuse. The report also confirmed León’s allegation that detainees were unable to freely practice their religion.

Mary Meg McCarthy, director of the National Immigration Justice Center – one of the groups that successfully sued ICE for public access to documents describing detainee conditions — says she is happy the documents were finally made public. But she recognizes that many conditions detainees face remain unchanged.

“When the telephones don’t work properly and visiting time is strictly limited, the individual rights of detainees continue to be violated,” McCarthy says.

According to Gail Montenegro, regional spokesperson for ICE in Chicago, in 2007 ICE contracted the private companies Creative Corrections and the Nakamoto Group to inspect the centers where detainees were held.

Creative Corrections issued reports annually through June 2009 before being replaced by another company, MGT of America. According to Montenegro, Nakamoto continues functioning as an “on-site” monitor of conditions to guarantee that detainees’ rights are not violated.

ICE stopped sending detainees to DuPage County Jail in August 2004, but ICE officials say the decision was unrelated to the 2003 inspection by the American Bar Association delegation.

In a statement, Montenegro wrote that ICE officials learned of the attorneys’ delegation report on McHenry County Jail in early 2007 and quickly began addressing the report’s criticisms of detainee treatment.

“(McHenry County Jail) currently complies with ICE detention standards and was recently rated ‘Good’ by Creative Corrections in its most recent 2008 annual inspection,” Montenegro wrote.

One key issue left unresolved, however, is whether Congress and the Obama administration are willing to pass laws that protect detainees’ rights. Advocacy groups representing former detainees are lobbying for these laws, and at least two bills are under discussion in Senate committees.

But Homeland Security authorities acknowledged that a complete overhaul of the U.S. immigration detention system could take years. In the meantime, tens of thousand of undocumented immigrants remain in detention, their fates as uncertain as León’s.

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This article originally appeared on La Raza and New America Media.

Fort Hood Soldier Refuses Deployment to Afghanistan

President Obama has ordered 21,000 more troops to deploy to Afghanistan this summer, seeking to more than double the 32,000 deployed in the next few months. The move is controversial inside the military and a handful of soldiers — like Specialist Victor Agosto of Miami, Fla. — have refused to deploy. Agosto, who has already served one tour in Iraq, told his superiors that the U.S. military occupation of Afghanistan is “immoral and unjust” and “does not make America safer.” He faces a Special Court Martial, with a maximum punishment of one year in prison and a bad conduct discharge.

Why did you decide to join the army?

I’d been in college for two years and I was tired of it. I wanted to be something. I wanted to see the world. I was in Miami Dade College and I really didn’t have a clear idea of what I was going to do. I was just focusing on my classes for my associate’s degree. I had always wanted to join the army, but I had initially wanted to graduate from college first so I could have a commission, but then I just decided to go in and be enlisted.

Is your opposition to the war in Afghanistan based at all on your previous military experience in Iraq?

I would say, not really. I was in Iraq when I turned against it, but it wasn’t because I had a traumatic experience or anything like that. I never shot anyone. I never got shot at. I never felt I was in any danger or anything like that. I was on the FOB [the base] the whole time. I was doing I.T. work: configuring computers, routers, servers, switches, providing customer service.

So you didn’t see or do anything while you were in Iraq that caused you to have any particular opinion about it one way or the other?

I guess the main thing that got my mind going was seeing how much money the contractors were making, and how little sense that made to me. And I guess that just got me thinking, exploring in that direction. Something is not right here. It’s a jump from that to concluding that the war is not right but that’s what got the ball rolling.

And once the ball got rolling, how did you get to the next step?

Well, I was reading books, like Noam Chomsky’s Hegemony or Survival. That was the one that just totally shattered any conception I had about moral superiority or good intentions.

Obviously there are many theoreticians writing various things about American policy. Why did this resonate with you?

Well it was just that the stated reasons for the war didn’t make sense.

And so the reasons that you concluded after doing your reading were what?

Ultimately, just for more control and to project American power. Obviously, there’s oil in Iraq. And American corporations stand to benefit a great deal from controlling the oil fields, but the main thing is just that there are benefits to obtaining control, and it’s the same in Afghanistan.

But the big difference of course is that there is no oil in Afghanistan.

That’s right.

So how did you go from having this particular feeling about the war in Iraq to refusing to deploy to Afghanistan, which is of course a different war. And there are a lot of people who would say ‘Iraq is a bad war but Afghanistan is a good war, because the people who attacked us on 9/11 were based out of Afghanistan.’

Well, to me there really isn’t a difference. To me the main thing is control, just to project power. If you look at what the goal of the war in Afghanistan was -– to make American people safer — an occupation can’t accomplish that. Those things can’t be accomplished through military means. The occupation in both places just increases resentment against Americans and actually endangers the soldiers that are there because the occupation fuels the insurgency. We go after an insurgent and kill several innocents in the process and it just creates more insurgents. And the process would continue like that indefinitely. And I think that those in power know this. And so the reason that we’re there can’t be to make the American people safer.

And that’s what you wrote in a statement to military counselors that you would not deploy to Afghanistan because it is “immoral and unjust” and “does not make the American people any safer.” What would make the American people safer in your opinion?

Victor Agosto’s handwritten declaration to a military counselor.

Well I think that the terrorist networks gain recruits from populations that have been oppressed. Until these grievances are addressed, there will always be a fresh supply of people who will join up with these extremist groups and decide that they want to attack America. There is really no battlefield solution to terrorism.

People say, ‘Look, I know the U.S. military operations in Afghanistan are not necessarily the most productive, but imagine there were no American soldiers there -– the Taliban would just take over again.’

I don’t really see that as worse than what we’re doing now. As I said before, until we actually address the grievances of people in that part of the world, we’re really not going to defeat terrorism. Being there does make things worse. It wouldn’t be an ideal situation to just leave and then perhaps the Taliban would re-establish control over the country, but that to me would be better than what’s going on right now.

How do the other soldiers that you interact with at Fort Hood feel about your decision to refuse to go?

They’ve been generally positive. I really don’t get a lot of negative feedback from people. I know that negative feeling exists but people don’t usually come up to me and tell me that. And when they have, they always set it up saying they really respect me and stuff, but they disagree with what I’m doing. It’s never a bitter type of response.

Why did you decide to contest this head-on instead of just passively resisting during your deployment to Afghanistan, since as you describe it, you’re more of a back office soldier?

I guess a combination of things. I concluded some time while I was in Iraq that these wars were wrong, but I wasn’t ready to make that jump because I feared the consequences. But after a while I got to meet a lot of people in the peace community who would be supportive of me if I were to take such an action. That, combined with the fact that I just wasn’t sure if I could live with myself if I were to deploy, if I actually got on a plane and went over there. It made it almost a no-brainer for me and something I needed to do.

You’re facing a Special Court Martial, where you face a bad conduct discharge and a year in prison. Suppose you were to get a bad conduct discharge and some amount of prison time. How would you compare that to deploying to Afghanistan?

I’d say it’s more than a fair deal. I mean, if those are my two options, I’d say that’s a no-brainer right there. I would much rather go to prison for a year than go to Afghanistan for a year.

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This article originally appeared on New America Media. Victor Agosto spoke with NAM editor Aaron Glantz from the U.S. Army base at Fort Hood, Texas.

Engineering Laughs

Dan Nainan is living his dream.

It’s a few minutes before eight on a Sunday evening in Ontario, California and the energetic comedian has just performed for 1000 people at the North American Kerala Hindu Convention. He’s famished and briefly considers the convention’s vegetarian buffet, then heads for the hotel steakhouse instead, pausing en route to shake hands and give out business cards.

“Take two, they’re free!” Nainan shouts to passersby, rolling his r’s Indian-style. “Indians LOVE free stuff!” the comic (who is half Indian) confides with a wink.  “Hey, look me up on Facebook!” he urges a group of Desi teens. “I only have one friend!”

Between gulps of grilled salmon (no butter, he is watching his waistline) he returns messages on his Treo 700p while simultaneously extolling the virtues of his favorite discount travel websites.

Later, Nainan sets up shop in the hallway outside the banquet room.  As the moon rises over the Doubletree Inn, he hawks his latest CD and tries to book more gigs so he can keep doing what he loves to do:  make people laugh.

Nainan has logged more than 125,000 flight miles this year. By year’s end he will have performed more than 150 gigs in nearly 50 cities worldwide. Although it sounds brutal, his frenetic pace has led to some prestigious gigs, including performing with comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Bob Saget and touring with Indian comic Russell Peters. He has appeared on Saturday Night Live and Last Comic Standing and is currently filming alongside Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel in a movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

Recently, I caught up with the multiversant performer and he told me the joke about the Indian/Japanese guy who went to sleep an Intel engineer and woke up a comedian.

Only, in Nainan’s case, it’s no joke.

*******

Q:  You bill yourself as “the only Indian/Japanese comedian.”  How has your ethnic background influenced your career?

A:  It’s funny, when I took my first comedy class, I asked the teacher if she thought that [my ethnicity] would be a disadvantage.  I was seriously concerned about that because there weren’t many mixed race comics out there.  But she told me ‘this is going to be your greatest advantage’ and she turned out to be extremely prophetic and correct. I don’t do only ethnic jokes, but by doing those jokes I am able to gain acceptance.  Both cultures - Indian and Japanese - have been very accepting.

Q:  Growing up, did you identify more as Indian, Japanese or American?

A: I was born in Indiana so I really identified more with being American. The only problem was that the other kids made fun of me a lot because of my race.  Starting with college, [my race] became less of an issue.  Now in my adult life, I welcome it.  It’s very flattering to be asked about my race.  It took me a while to realize that people were not asking that with any malice.  Now it’s more a source of conversation.

Q:  Were you a funny kid?

A:  No, I was extremely, painfully shy and withdrawn.  A real wallflower.  It was so bad I didn’t even get invited to parties.  I was a straight A student but once a month or so I would say something really witty and smart alecky and everybody would burst out laughing and I would get kicked out of class for the rest of the day.

Q:  In the late 1990’s you were working for Intel as a demo engineer. How did you get into comedy?

A:  My job at Intel was to design technical demos that would be featured in the speeches of executives like CEO Andy Grove.  [I traveled] all over the world – to distributors’ conferences, analysts’ meetings in New York City, shows in Vegas.  We were doing live demos on stage for things like voice dictation or the latest graphic software in front of thousands of people or sometimes millions on television. I was extremely nervous so to try to get over that I took Intel’s Toastmasters class, which prepares you to do business presentations. But it wasn’t enough of an adrenaline rush because I was in front of 10 to 15 nerds like myself.  Then I heard there was a comedy class being offered in San Francisco.  People had told me I should do comedy or acting.  That was the germination of the idea that I could do comedy.  That, paired with the need to get over stage fright was the impetus to take a comedy class.

Q:  When did you realize that you could make a career doing comedy?

A:  The final event for the class was a show at a real comedy club.  I was very, very nervous about that.  Terrified!  I practiced my act over and over, said it in the car all the way to San Francisco.  When I got onstage [the audience] was laughing and laughing from the get go.  I didn’t know it then, but for a debut it was extremely successful.  A few weeks after that, Intel sent me on the road again to a convention in Vegas.  I had my tape of that first show with me and I mentioned to some people that I had it.  They watched it and they liked it.  It turned out they were in charge of the entertainment for the final team dinner for Intel.  So I performed at that event and I did impressions of Andy Grove and Bill Clinton and they absolutely loved it.  Two months later I performed the same act at an international sales conference and I had 2500 people rolling at that event.  People actually thought I had been hired as a professional comedian.  That’s when I thought, hey, I can do this!  I decided to leave Intel about a year and a half later to get serious about comedy.

Q:  Much of your comedy is based on your ethnicity.  Why does that resonate with your audiences?

A:  I think that, especially from the Indian side, you have an audience that really hasn’t been exposed to stand up comedy.  It’s an art form invented in America and isn’t something that’s been prevalent throughout the world.  But, because of Russell Peters, comedy is now gigantic in the South Asian community. I think that if you do ethnic humor, it is going to appeal to that ethnicity.

Q: Do you perform for both Asian and mainstream audiences?

A:  I would say ninety percent of the shows I do are for Indian audiences, eight percent are East Asian and two percent are mainstream. I think people tend to identify with whatever race you look like.  There are a lot of Indians who have dark skin like me but I don’t think there are too many Japanese who have my skin tone. But it’s also very gratifying to perform for mainstream audiences.  If you can do ethnic jokes for mainstream and have them laugh, it’s kind of like you’ve won a battle.

Q:  Are there any subjects you stay away from in your act?

A:  I don’t do any profanity.  I don’t do sex humor.  There are a lot of staples in mainstream comedy clubs [that I don’t do], like picking on the disabled or mentally challenged.  I just think it’s really cruel and that isn’t the kind of humor I want to do.  I think that actually helps me because doing that kind of humor narrows the kind of groups that will hire me.

Q:  You’ve worked with some well-known comedians.  Who influenced you the most?

A:  Jerry Seinfeld. I asked him once if he had any advice and he said ‘Dan, you’ll work a lot more if you do clean.’ So I try to emulate him in [that sense]. Also, his approach was different.  Your typical comic is an alcoholic or drug addict, getting stoned after the shows, waking up at five in the afternoon.  Jerry had a different attitude.  He would dress up onstage and show up at noon and people would be shocked.  I like to emulate the fact that he is a real professional.  Comedians are known for diva behavior and I don’t like to do that.

Q:  You’ve been filming a movie this summer.  Can you tell me about it?

A:  I just wrapped up filming The Last Airbender, a live-action adaptation of the TV series The Last Avatar.  It’s an M. Night Shyamalan movie, the first that he, himself, hasn’t written. I play the part of Fire Nation Soldier as well as stand in for [actor] Aasif Mandvi. Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire is one of the stars.  I shot for 16 days in Philadelphia, which enabled me to get my Screen Actors’ Guild card.  I got to know Night very well and I got to know Dev and Aasif really well and had an absolute blast.

Q:  When will the movie be released?

A:  It’s coming out in June of next year.

Q:  What was it like to work with M. Night Shyamalan?

A:  Night, as everyone calls him, was absolutely magnificent.  Everyone says you’re not supposed to talk to the director or the stars, but that was completely untrue on this movie.  He was standing next to me on my second day of shooting.  I told him that I had performed at a wedding part at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia about a year and a half ago and that his father and mother had come up to me an introduced themselves as his parents.  His eyes widened and he said, “That was you?!  My father was absolutely raving about you!”

Q:  What else have you been working on?

A:  I just shot my first episode of Desi States of America, which is on [an Indian] channel called PanDesi.  I’m the host and I do some improv stuff and some sketch stuff.  Once it airs, it will be available on their YouTube channel.

Q:  When you’re not performing, what do you like to do?

A:  It’s really important to stay in shape, so [I do] karate, squash, cycling, lifting weights. I don’t watch television, ever – I think I watch fewer than 10 hours a year.  I’m always learning a language on my MP3, whenever I’m driving or on the subway or at the gym. I also play five instruments: keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and cello. Once I get my home studio set up, I’m going to start writing some songs.  Secretly, I want to be a musician.  Every musician wants to be a comedian and vice versa.  It’s funny how that works.

Q:  What advice would you give to young people who want to pursue a non-traditional profession?

A:  A lot of people say to me, “I want to be a comedian or a dancer or a musician or a director, but my parents want me to be a doctor or an engineer.  This is a constant struggle between the young and the old.   What I would tell kids is your parents are right - you really should get gainful employment first.  To suddenly come out of college and say I’m gonna be a poet or a musician…you just can’t do that.  It takes years of honing your art before you can get to the point where you make money. If you want to do something artistic you need to have a 9 to 5 job and make a living first.  The times that you can work on your craft are evenings, when everyone else is watching television, and weekends, when everyone else is getting drunk.

Q:  Have your parents been supportive of your comedy career?

A:  My parents have been extremely supportive.  But I’m not like the guy who wanted to become a comedian right out of college. If that had happened they would have been horrified.

Q:  What is something that nobody knows about you?

A:  I have a hard time admitting this, but I have a pink and white Hello Kitty toaster.  It actually toasts an image of Hello Kitty’s face on the bread.  I also have one of the only bottles of “Michael Jackson King of Pop” cologne in existence.  They were going to market it but never did.  It’s actually a pretty nice scent!

For more information on Dan Nainan, visit his website: www.nainan.com

94607: Oakland’s Childhood Asthma Hotspot

West Oakland is pinned between the Bay Area’s largest, busiest port and two major commuter freeways, and is home to decades of legacy pollution, making this marginalized but determined community a hotspot for childhood asthma and other illnesses.

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Photography & Audio by Kim Komenich; produced by Kim Komenich, Josh Wilson and David Cohn for Newsdesk.org; Crowdfunded by Spot.Us. Part of the Bay Area Toxic Tour.

Managing Diabetes with a Phone Call

SAN FRANCISCO — Luis de Jesus, a Spanish-speaking factory worker, says he enjoys a better quality of life now than when he was first diagnosed with diabetes 10 years ago, thanks to having better control over the disease.

De Jesus enrolled in a program at San Francisco General Hospital’s (SFGH) Center for Vulnerable Population. The program is specifically tailored for “vulnerable” people like him with poor control of their diabetes and with low incomes. Although DeJesus works two jobs to support himself and his family, he has no health insurance.

“I had zero knowledge about how to control or manage diabetes prior to my participation in the project,” the 54-year-old Jesus said through an interpreter. “[The program] was so practical.”

Called Improving Diabetes Efforts Across Language and Literacy (IDEALL), the hospital’s approach uses simple communication technology to help people manage their diabetes without having to make frequent hospital visits.

The IDEALL project team developed an automated telephone support system (ATSM) for diabetes management.

The system provides weekly calls in the patient’s native language–English, Spanish or Cantonese–regarding issues ranging from symptoms and taking prescribed medications, to diet, physical activity and self-monitoring of blood sugar.

The calls also offer advice about psychological issues and referrals for preventive services.

Depending on their automated responses during the call, the patient then receives automated health education messages and a “live” telephone call back from a bilingual nurse care manager. The IDEALL team found that the program could reduce diabetes-related health disparities in vulnerable populations.

“We were really impressed that diabetes patients with limited literacy and limited English proficiency, who many health care workers consider to be ‘hard to reach,’ were the most likely to use this communication tool,” said Dr. Dean Schillinger, director of the SFGH’s Center. He is also chief of the California Diabetes Program in the California Department of Public Health and head of the IDEALL team. “We found that better communication between a public health care system and the vulnerable populations they serve yielded concrete benefits,” Schillinger said.

But Schillinger warned that the program should be seen as “an adjunct” to primary care offered by physicians, not a replacement.

“Diabetes requires daily home management by the patient and occasional visits to the clinic,” noted Susan Lopez-Payan, coordinator of the California Diabetes Program. “The IDEALL project reaches out to patients in their homes.”

An estimated 23.6 million people, or nearly 8 percent, of the U.S. population, live with diabetes. Nationally, the number of people diagnosed with type-2 diabetes has doubled over the past two decades, qualifying it as an epidemic, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In California, one out of nine adults has the disease.

Diabetes is more prevalent among those without a high school education, and disproportionately affects underserved and ethnically diverse populations, including Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans and Asian and Pacific Islanders.

The correlation between the disease and educational level is in part because of the patient’s ability to read food labels, track blood sugar levels, assess insulin amounts, record meal schedules and communicate with clinicians when complications arise.

Schillinger said he hopes that the IDEALL project becomes a “standard of care” across California, given how “scaleable and cost-effective it is.”

The Center for Vulnerable Populations has received additional federal funding to scale up and adapt the ATSM system with a local Medi-Cal health plan partner, the San Francisco Health Plan.

De Jesus has nothing but praise for the program. “Had I not had this opportunity, I would have had to look for alternative programs to help me,” he said. “Because of the program, I now know how to live better.”

The California Medical Association Foundation, too, is trying to reduce the disparities in diabetes care in ethnic minorities.

Today, in Sacramento, it will release the outcome of a Qualitative Collaborative it launched in 2006 to help improve the quality of diabetes care provided by solo and small group practices.

Called the “Advancing Practice Excellence in Diabetes,” the project was initiated to improve diabetes care provided by individuals or groups of primary care physicians fewer than five, said Elissa K. Maas, the foundation’s vice president for programs.

“It was also done to find how the disparities in diabetes care in ethnic minorities could be reduced,” Maas said, noting that ethnic physicians are the most likely to be seeing patients in underserved communities.

In California, small group health care providers represent approximately 60 percent of all primary care physicians who, in 2007, provided care to over 800,000 patients with type-2 diabetes, she said. In the United States, most diabetes care is provided by primary care physicians.

Twenty-four solo/small group primary care practices started in the collaborative, all of them working in the largely agricultural communities of Butte, Glen, San Joaquin, Riverside and San Bernadino.

“We wanted to work with physicians serving a large number of South East Asian communities,” Maas said.

The collaborative found that regardless of the size of the practice, improvements in patient care could be made by taking “small steps,” she said.

For instance, only two primary care groups had patient information stored in electronic devices, something necessary to efficiently track the care patients with diabetes were receiving.

By the end of the Qualitative Collaborative, in December 2008, Maas said, “we helped [participants] build a system that fit the size of their practice.

“We were stunned by the changes that had occurred. We saw improvement not only in the staff’s performance, but also noticed such changes in patients as a drop in blood sugar and cholesterol levels,” as well as an increase in the number of foot exams. (Blisters and red spots on the foot, as well as numbness, are telltale signs of high blood sugar.)

Maas said that by making basic changes in their practice, primary care physicians could help in reducing the number of hospital admissions of their patients with diabetes.

In the long run, “it can save money and improve patients’ health and well-being,” she said.

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This article originally appeared on New America Media.

Living and Growing in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - In the district of Praça Onze, around the corner from Rua Marquês de Sapucaí where the world-famous Rio Carnaval makes its annual procession, the presence of Crescer e Viver, or “Living and Growing,” is unmistakable with its prominent blue-and-white striped circus tent. It is fenced off in an almost sanctifying gesture from its surroundings of a weed-ridden, empty tarmac lot dotted with a few cars and backed by a panorama-spanning view of Rio de Janeiro’s equally famous favelas (slums).

Across from the lot, the newly built Praça Onze metro station stands in stark contrast to the old, crackling buildings - a sign of progress in this decaying part of Rio de Janeiro. The facing walls of the cozy and quaint staff offices at Crescer e Viver are one continuous mural, colorful and bright, depicting cartoon characters, clowns, and smiling children. Painted in bold, block letters are the words “ART & CULTURE! Promoting citizenship.”

Under the tent, children are gathered in various groups, each led by an instructor. Some of these instructors were once students themselves. A group of about a dozen bright-eyed youths are being taught tissu, a form of aerial ballet using silk ribbons. Some appear nervous, others eager, as they watch a peer climb and descend in daring twists and turns. The younger ones, about 6 or 7-years-old, are gathered in a circle doing stretches and push-ups. The more advanced and experienced teens learn the staples of circus acrobatics: back flips, front flips, somersaults, and tumbling. The reverberating laughter and chatter of children at play mixed with the rhythmic stamping of feet upon the cushioned mats is constant under the 40-meter high tent.

The children mostly come from the surrounding favelas of Coroa, São Carlos, Estácio, Querosene, and Zinco, places where laughter is sometimes drowned out by the ominous sound of gun battles. It is the all-too-familiar sound of turf wars fought between rival drug lords or shootouts with the police or special military units. This drug war has been a fact of life for favela dwellers ever since the Colombian cocaine trade expanded into Brazil in the early 1970s.

Ironically, many of the soldiers who fight this brutal war are the children of these communities. These “lost children,” according to Joseph Page, scholar of Brazilian studies, have been, for the last two decades, “part of an ever-expanding pool of people without hope, a dehumanized subspecies that poses a threat to social stability.” He says they are the byproduct of the savage capitalism that fed the Brazilian economy in the late 1960s and early 1970s and took an especially harsh toll on the children of the families forgotten in the countries rush to development.

That generation of children was raised only knowing poverty, crime, and violence. With the military dictatorship at the time turning a blind eye to the problem, it became a vicious cycle that has continued on to the current generation of children. Many have ended up as part of the growing population of “street children,” estimated by UNICEF to be at around 12 million in the entire country.

If these children aren’t making their living on the streets selling their bodies, candy, or stealing, they are caught up in the drug trade or are at risk of becoming involved in gangs actively trying to recruit them. Jens Glüsing, a Brazil-based correspondent for Spiegel International, says gangs target children 16 and under specifically because they can not, under current law, be given an adult prison sentence. This means if they are arrested, they would only be in prison for a few months, and in most cases, would return to the gang shortly after release.

It is these at-risk youths and adolescents that Vinicius Daumas and Junior Perim founded Crescer e Viver for. The organization was born out of the Porto da Pedra (Port of the Rock) Samba School in the neighborhood in São Gonçalo. In 2001, their chosen theme ‘crescer e viver agora é lei’ or ‘growing up and living is law now’ paid homage to the Statute of The Child and Adolescent. Passed in 1990 by the Brazilian National Congress, the landmark legislation guaranteed children and adolescents the right to protection of life and health through the implementation of public social policies. After carnival, several members proposed transforming the theme into a social program and 3 years in, it had become an institution with about 200 members, a number that has grown beyond expectations.

“Nowadays we are independent and recognize our history and birth in the samba school, but we are not attached to that anymore. The samba school plays carnival, which is its real purpose. The social program, Crescer e Viver, became an organization and has its own life. The son was born, grew up and walks with its own legs” says Daumas.

He and Perim both recognized early on that, despite the passing of the statute, underprivileged children and adolescents were still falling through the cracks of society and into all the wrong places. No samba school, including Porto da Pedra, is equipped to tackle the problem as their limited resources are put into the competitions.

Since the 1990 statute was passed, there has been a slow, but steady shift in societal attitude from exclusion and blame of the street child to incorporation and acceptance of collective responsibility for the welfare of the child, a move that Daniel Hoffman of the North American Congress on Latin America wrote in a 1994 report was “a greater challenge than writing new laws.” Crescer e Viver and the thousands of non-government organizations like it that have sprang up since the last decade to meet this challenge, are a testament to that change.

However, on the part of the government, little has changed. Hoffman, in the same report notes, “The obstacles to implementation of the Child Statute are considerable, including lack of basic resources and infrastructure, resistance from local and state-level politicians, and non-compliance within the judiciary (which loses much of its power under the new laws). Application of the Statute is blocked, above all, by popular attitudes that continue to regard street children as present or future criminals that need to be repressed.”

To Daumas and Perim, tangible and permanent social change comes in the form of grass roots movements dedicated to the empowerment of young people. “It’s what we call socio-productive inclusion of these young people” says Daniela Ramiris, former Assessor of Institutional Development at Crescer e Viver. She says using the circus program as a vehicle, the organization instills in these young people the will to transform society and the conditions they live in and educates them on their rights as citizens. Their ultimate goal is to give them the practical skills, knowledge, and confidence to pave their own path in life.

In the United States, this is the expected role of teachers and mentors, but in Rio, the public education system is in a constant crisis. Teachers are underpaid and lack basic teaching supplies, many facilities are in disrepair, and misplaced priorities at the local and state level leave things like after school programs and computer labs something to wish for. Since the early ’80s, the nonprofit sector, which includes social, art, and education programs like Crescer e Viver, have been making up for the shortcomings of Rio’s public sector, especially in those areas. Not many complain though. Self-reliance is as Brazilian as samba.

Disabled Vet Standing on His Own New Feet

Chapter I

On May 23, at 6:00 a.m., Chang Wong and his tank crew were out on patrol when they were struck by a roadside bomb.

“I remember looking through my tank sight and a second later, my head was pushed way back, away from the sight,” Wong recalls. “I looked around and noticed that my both feet were severely damaged.”

Wong tried to stand and run, but couldn’t lift himself up. So he started yelling for help. “When they finally pulled me out, I was in so much pain and adrenaline I started cursing and yelling,” Wong says. “Throughout the entire ordeal, I was conscious until the field nurses and doctors put me to sleep.”

Doctors at the field hospital at the giant U.S. military base in Balad amputated both of Wong’s feet. They had initially hoped to save his right foot, but because of the severity of the fractures and poor blood circulation, they had no choice but to remove it as well.

Little did Wong know, his life was hanging by a thread. The blast from the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) did more than damage his feet; it sent shock waves that rippled throughout his entire body causing further complications.

L.A. Vets Project - Sgt. Chang Wong from New America Media on Vimeo.

Both lungs collapsed, which nearly ended his life; Wong was also given 55 units of blood. Because of the severity of the situation, the Army doctors had an extremely difficult decision to make: whether to use a medical device not approved by the military and face possible reprimands, or continue with conventional methods that were not helping Wong recover.

After eight very precious days, Wong was airlifted to Regensburg University Hospital in Germany, where he would be treated with the unapproved medical device, the “nova-lung.” This machine is intricate and unique for its size (it looks like a compact disc player with four tubes) because it mimics and performs like a set of real lungs. The “nova lung” is connected to the veins and arteries, found near the groin. And as the blood circulates throughout the body, it passes from the patient’s veins through the machine, where it releases carbon dioxide and picks up oxygen. For the next two crucial weeks, Wong was fighting for his life once again. He had fevers over 100 degrees, non-clotting nosebleeds, and tubes going into and coming out of his chest.

Once Wong was stabilized, they transferred him to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the U.S. military’s largest hospital in Europe. Finally, on June 22, 2005 – nearly a month after the IED blast – he was moved to his final destination, Fort Sam Houston, near San Antonio, Texas, where he would receive the remainder of his medical care and begin the long road to recovery.

Chapter II

Chang Wong’s mother, Lien Chu remembers receiving a telephone call. For one whole week, she said she cried her heart out. The military sent her and his father, David Wong, to Germany, where they spent three weeks, in and out of the hospital, caring for their son. After leaving Germany, both parents accompanied him to Texas.

For the first few weeks, his mother would accompany Wong, day and night, and speak to him until he slowly fell asleep. She would stay with him for the next five months.

As Wong was weeded off heavy sedatives, he began to realize that both his legs were amputated below the knee. And at the young age of 23, he found it extremely difficult to accept this reality. He immediately went into denial.

Wong speaks about his battle through depression with such strength and resilience. “I was scared; I was terrified; I was afraid that if I fell back asleep I wouldn’t wake back up again… I didn’t eat, didn’t drink, and didn’t feel like talking but also didn’t want to be alone. And it wasn’t until the 4th of July weekend that I fully accepted all the events leading up to present day and moved forward. I had friends and relatives, who flew in to see me but at that time, I didn’t care for visitors. I begged my mother to leave me behind, to go back home and carry on with her life. She defiantly refused and kept telling me that she would do no such thing. I then turned to my friend, Sara Zigman, and asked if she would convince my mom to leave me be; she also refused.”

“At this point, I gave up and decided to lay there, restless. My mom, thinking that I was finally calm decided to pour some water into my mouth and with no such luck, grew increasingly angry, upset, and tired. She wound her hand back and slapped me across the face; the pain registered, it felt real, I came to the realization that I was not dreaming, that this wasn’t some horrendous dream or trick my mind was playing on me.”

Following that incident, Wong gradually accepted his outcome and decided never to look back and pity himself.

Lieu Chu poured out her heart to take care of her son, consistent with Asian family values — filial piety, parental care and interdependency. These notions define specific rules of conduct in social relationships and place great importance on the family. The family provides support and assistance to each individual member; in turn, individual members provide support and assistance to the entire family. These relationships, interactions, and obligations are lifelong; and the goal of individual members is not necessarily autonomy or independence.

Charter III

After graduating from Alhambra High School in 2000, Wong had plans to attend a local community college but because he had just received his permanent resident status, he was charged as an out-of-state student. Not wanting to pay such a high fee for a community college, he decided to take that year off and enroll for the following fall semester.

Before the new school year began, a few of his friends approached him about serving in the United States military. They told him his college tuition would be paid for, that he would acquire leadership skills, and see different parts of the world. After giving the idea of serving in the military some thought, Wong took on the commitment. Without notifying his parents, he enlisted in the United States Army. His parents were shocked and extremely upset when they found out. It is atypical for someone with a Chinese heritage to enlist into the military voluntarily because in Asia, military service is a requirement.

August 2001, Wong was sent to Fort Knox, Ky., for basic training and one-station-unit training (OSUT). After completing the grueling, four-month training, he was deployed to South Korea for a one-year tour and from there, he deployed back stateside to Fort Irwin, Calif., where he remained before deploying to Iraq. On January 2005, his unit was activated and deployed to Iraq. Wong was a tank gunner in the 1st squadron, 11th Armor Calvary Regiment.

Born in 1982, in Malacca, Malaysia, Chang Wong is of Chinese decent. His family immigrated to America when he was two. Before enlisting into the U.S. military, he had just received his green card and was not yet naturalized. Prior to his deployment to Iraq, Wong sent in his application to be naturalized and was waiting for an interview and a swear-in date. He received notice in May and was relieved that he would soon become a United States citizen. But because Wong had joined the military, he never had a chance to make that interview; therefore, immigration authorities requested an immigration officer from Italy to set up a naturalization ceremony for him at the hospital in Germany. Wong was finally naturalized on June 13, 2005, three weeks after losing his legs in Iraq.

His naturalization ceremony was atypical. He doesn’t remember it because he was sworn in a medically induced coma.

Charter IV

In April 2006, Wong returned back home to the city of Alhambra. That following summer, he enrolled at Pasadena City College, the school he had planned to attend before joining the military. After completing his general education requirements, he applied and was accepted to California State University, Fullerton, where he is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business. He is expecting to graduate no later than 2011. While attending Cal State Fullerton, he is staying with his aunt in Rowland Heights.

Chang Wong received his first prosthesis in August of 2005; the first pair of legs was temporary. After several major and minor adjustments and improvements, he received a pair of permanent prosthesis in early 2006. When he bathes, he sits on a chair and removes his prosthesis; afterwards, he puts his prosthesis back on.

After using the prosthesis for a period of time, they need to be adjusted, refitted and modified, but the prosthetics manufacturing company requires the approval of the Department of Veteran Affairs before they can begin any type of adjustment and modification requests. In order for this to occur, Wong needs to be seen by the VA prosthetists and this takes between several weeks and several months. He hopes that this process will become more efficient and less time consuming.

Oftentimes, Chang Wong will wear pants over his prosthesis, which makes him look like any able-bodied person. However, this “healthy” appearance also brings him problems.

For example, one time, when Wong drove himself to the campus, he parked his car in a disabled parking spot. Since he appears young and “healthy” looking, other people who are around, frown, look down upon him, and even harass him for parking in the disabled spot. Security guards and campus police have also questioned him—“How did you get this handicapped parking permit?” He had to produce his veteran certificate of disability, and sometimes he even lifted his pant leg to reveal his metal prosthesis before they believe him. As a veteran who sacrificed life and limb for this country, he feels he has been wronged but also understands why.

In the summer, Wong wears shorts and runs at a park near his home, using specialized running prostheses that resemble skis. Children are often curious and even follow him around to watch him run. Wong isn’t embarrassed by his appearance but finds it uncomfortable when adults stare at him like he has been cursed.

While at school, he does not participate in sports; but he plays wheelchair basketball with friends and occasionally swims and skis.

Chapter V

Today, Chang Wong is being compensated for his disability from the Veterans Administration and Social Security. In addition, he receives free medical services in military hospitals. Fortunately, even in this economic downturn, Wong is able to meet his financial obligations and live somewhat comfortably.

Wong, like many other wounded soldiers and marines, were in a fight for survival. Fortunately, due to advancements in body armor, medical procedures, and such, his chances of survival increased dramatically—compared to soldiers and marines who served in Vietnam or World War II.

With that in mind, soldiers would come back from the battlefield alive but with very serious, visible amputations and disfigurement. In addition, they came back with less visible injuries—post traumatic stress syndrome. Similar to the experiences of veterans before him, they all face the long and sometimes, very lonely road to recovery. Like all major obstacles in life, overcoming this or any hurdle requires perseverance, support, and a strong will to keep pressing forward.

Wong is a strong-willed individual who wanted nothing more than to recover—physically, mentally, and spiritually—and return back to his normal life. He began setting recovery goals that were very unrealistic and when he did not meet his goals, he pushed himself even further and harder. His ambition, focus, and dedication were unreal and he fully recovered in less than eight months.

But Wong’s journey is not over. As the years go by, it will become even more complicated. Not only will he have to overcome any difficulties that may take shape but also now he must deal with the degrading stares, misunderstandings, and discrimination.

Wong’s home is located in U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff’s district. The reporter called Yvonne Hsu, the congressman’s district representative, and asked how Schiff’s office can help veterans, such as Chang Wong. Hsu asked Wong to call the office—she would like to speak to him in order to determine what types of benefits he is eligible for. She also hopes Wong and other veterans know that if they require any assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), they are welcome to contact their elected officials.

Chang said he would give her a call after midterms.

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This article originally appeared on New America Media.

Modern Day Percussionists: Street Beat

Meet a modern day version of an energetic and community oriented percussion group - one that will transform a bucket, a trashcan or a set of rims into solid musical instruments. Street Beat entertains audiences of all ages by combining percussion, dance and education. Their interactive shows have enlightened diverse crowds through arts education and music appreciation. Street Beat also performed over 400 shows in 2008 and is set to tour the U.S. starting this fall.

In this week’s MD Spotlight, meet 31-year-old Ben Hansen, the founder of the L.A. based percussion and dance troupe.

What is Street Beat and how did it get started?

It’s a modern day percussion troupe, [which] takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. Our main objective is to stimulate people of all ages groups [and encourage] them to keep some kind of musical engagement as part of their daily lives. We feel it’s a big part of being human, healthy and having a spiritual connection and as a way of releasing passion and creative energy.

We got started when I got my green card 5 years ago. I wanted give back to the local SoCal community. I moved here from Denmark as a drummer because I had a contract. I started shifting gears after getting my green card and focused on music education and spreading music awareness amongst youth.

We started at the Avalon Gardens School in L.A. [There was an] African percussion class that had no funds so I pulled inspiration from other drummers and got creative. We came up with the concept of “repurposed percussion” of all of our instruments. We found left over water drums and we repurposed them.

Street Beat has evolved – we had 400 shows last year. We [are managed by] Columbia Artists Management in New York; we produce a show of 11 crew members that will tour this fall. We focus on dance as well, linking percussion with street style. We will start at Lancaster Performing Arts Center in early October then go to the east coast for four weeks.

How many members are part of Street Beat?

A total of 26 members in the company – some are in the instructional aspect, running workshops, staff development [while] some are performers only and participate in small and large shows. We do corporate shows and shorter high impact shows.

What is your niche? What sets you apart from other groups?

We have among all cast members the ability to produce music entertainment on a  slightly more professional level. We use African, Cuban, Latin, West African and jazz concepts to produce something more dynamic and complex.

The other niche is our ability to connect with the crowd. Especially with younger crowds. Arts education is a very successful program. We can offer some of the best arts education; our program enables us to use creative awareness of these basic primal tools and compare them to school or something students work on daily. To be a street beater, you have to use pedagogy and engage with crowds.

What are your goals for the future? How long has SB been around?

Unify the world, which is so spread and torn these days in so many different ways (culturally and religiously). Our inner mission is try to unite everyone through music and percussion as a founding element that will over exceed any other power.

Is this your sole job?

It started as a project with Avalon Gardens school, I was a freelance drummer and played with bands around town. As I got more excited about creating, producing and seeing changes within kids we performed for and worked with, my focus was on Street Beat more. I was luckily able to pass on my gigs to other guys I worked with.

It’s been a pretty smooth transition, we are looking at expanding as times goes by. We want to take arts education through out the nation.

What is the art education program?

We are like consultants. We come with our services to school sites and provide everything needed. We do staff shows for companies, performances at schools, we have direct assessment time and provide all the instruments. We teach kids the basics of percussion within one hour but prefer 120 minutes to teach the main concepts of percussion. We can put an advanced drum piece together after that workshop. We  also have our assemblies - the clip with Corvin Bleu was a 45 minute duo.

We also do larger assemblies with two drummers and two break dancers. The focus is to teach kids the responsibility [needed] when combining dance with percussion.

Also, we do human beat box, [which is] beat boxing and body drumming. We teach kids how we can practice our passion without instruments.

Biggest challenges up to date?

Sometimes it’s challenging to accommodate clients requests if conditions for a successful workshop are not met. We have two different programs for elementary schools and we like to split up our assemblies in two. We’ve a developed a presentation for low and high grades. It’s challenging when schools split up the student body and we have to present programs for kindergarten and sixth graders [together]. Some schools work well with us and some don’t. It’s not as successful as it could be if were divided the  right way.

What do you like most about what you do?

The ability to connect to people and spread joy through very random, every day items. Also, realizing possibilities exist in everything beyond their appearance. We feel people are stimulated by this.

Some of our instruments are literally left over items in our home that we turn into percussion instruments and some are found in junkyards. Some of our broken water drums from schools are donated to us and we take them back to the shop and cut out the upper part and turn it into a cylinder we use as a base drum. We made our own medal symbols, some of it wears out so on  occasion, we purchase actual trashcans but that doesn’t happen that often.

What do you like least about what you do?

My neck always hurts and my voice is kind of raspy after shows. But I love it, too.

How many instruments do you take to a show?

It depends on sites and their real estate size. Some performances are in really small areas so we can’t bring a lot. At performing arts centers we have an arsenal of gear. It all depends on the show.

How do you transport the instruments?

When we do local shows, we use smaller vehicles depending on how many crew members are going. Sometimes we travel to location individually. We are able to fit our equipment.

Tell me about your members.

They’re in their mid 20’s to mid 30’s. Because of educational aspects, it’s important that they’re at a certain experience level not only as performers but as instructors and speakers before even considering being a part of our crew.

What are your favorite causes?

The environment and trying to resolve conflicts caused by religion worldwide. I’m doing as much as I feel I can at this point by using music as a catalyst for unification and energy amongst everyone in the world.

Favorite pastime outside of work?

I still love music so I spend a lot of my time on it. I like the entrepreneurial aspect of things. My days easily turn into 17-18 hour days for marketing [purposes]. Also being at our shows; I’m trying to establish energy. Walter and Josh did an amazing performance themselves.

Do you have any mentors?

Micheal Shermer – he has an incredible ability to speak and to bring awareness to shed light on things in a very successful way for everyone to understand. He’s a science historian, his ability to open people minds and talk about things in a logical way has inspired me. The list would go on for religion.

Best practical advice to pass along?

To believe in yourself. Our instruments have a whole other side and beauty in them and are items that you’d never consider instruments. We want our kids to look at themselves [in that way].

The way we carry the show, the need of academic achievement is so important to success that we try to fuse that in what we do so that it’s inspiring to the kids.

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To learn more about Street Beat, visit their website here or contact Ben Hansen at Bh (at) streetbeat (dot) biz.

The Climate Gap - Poor, Minorities Hardest Hit by Climate Change

People who live in neighborhoods with dirtier air and water – usually low-income and ethnic minorities - will bear the brunt of climate change, according to a report released May 29.

Climate change will increase pollution, harm public health, raise the costs of food, energy and water, and result in job losses, with the greatest burden falling on communities of color and the poor, the study found.

“Climate change is real. So is the climate gap. It’s not something fictitious, made up by communities who feel underrepresented,” said Dr. Manuel Pastor, one of the report’s authors and a professor at the University of Southern California.

Pastor, who directs the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity at USC’s Center for Sustainable Cities, says that as environmentalists and policymakers come up with policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they also need to address the disproportionate impact that climate change will have on the neediest populations. “The levees that would have protected the poor of New Orleans would have protected the whole city,” he said.

Climate change, studies show, will increase extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods, droughts and wildfires. Air pollution will also worsen with the warming temperatures. Both will take a toll on public health, with people of color and the poor worse off.

African Americans in Los Angeles are twice as likely to die from heat wave-related illnesses than other city residents. A study of the 2006 California heat wave found that Latinos had the highest rates of emergency room visits and hospitalizations in the state. The risk of death because of heat wave-related illness is also higher for infants, the elderly, people with chronic conditions, and those without air conditioning or access to transportation to get to cooler places.

In some cases, people had air conditioning but felt they could not afford to turn it on, said report co-author Rachel Morello-Frosch, a professor of environmental science, policy and management in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. Communities of color and low-income people tend to live in areas abundant in heat-absorbing concrete and asphalt and lacking in parks and trees that provide shade. This “heat-island effect,” said Morello-Frosch, intensifies the impact of heat waves.

Minimizing the effects of heat waves requires investment in access to quality housing, air conditioning, transportation, cooling centers, green space, as well as more public outreach and education, she said. Another strategy to reduce the impacts of climate change on communities of color is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in neighborhoods with the heaviest polluters.

But this would take an economic toll on the same communities. That’s because the heaviest polluters and emitters of greenhouse gases in California, including power plants, oil refineries and cement factories, employ more people of color (60 percent of their workforce) in jobs that tend to be unionized and higher paying.

Climate change will also result in job losses in the agricultural and tourism sectors, which employ large numbers of minorities.

Some argue that policies that reduce greenhouse gases would increase energy and water costs for consumers, especially those who can least afford it.

But poor families already spend a larger fraction of their household income on water, food and electricity costs, according to the report. Those in the lowest income group paid three times as much for water, and twice as much for food and electricity as those in the highest income group.

“The do-nothing approach will make gaps worse,” said Morello-Frosch.

The report comes at a time when both California and the federal government are considering policies to tackle climate change and reduce carbon emissions. The Waxman-Markey climate bill, passed by a U.S. House of Representatives committee last month, sets ambitious goals for emissions reductions, but does not address how pollution allowances would be distributed, or to what extent they would be auctioned or given away for free. It also does not specify how revenue generated under the system would be spent — for example, to offset consumers’ higher energy bills. The bill still needs to be approved by a full House vote.

Last year, California approved a scoping plan to implement AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. But Dr. Shankar Prasad, of the Coalition for Clean Air, says the state’s plan does not require a portion of the revenues generated to go back to the communities most affected by climate change. The Coalition is among a group of organizations that is pushing for state legislation to create a community benefits fund.

With the state in the midst of a budget crisis, Morello-Frosch believes that tapping revenue from a cap-and-auction system and pouring a portion back into the neediest communities may be the most effective strategy.

USC’s Pastor says there has not been enough communication between environmentalists, who are fighting the effects of climate change, and communities of color, who will feel those effects.

“Environmentalists have had carbon blinders on,” he said. “They’ve been focused on how to reduce carbon emissions … without considering that co-pollutant effects, cost issues, and green jobs creation are essential to the conversation.”

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This article originally appeared on New America Media.

Spoken Word Artist: Gabriela Garcia Medina

At first glance it may not be obvious that this small framed girl has the orating power and self confidence of a seasoned artist in tune with her life’s purpose. In reality she is a 26-year-old woman who captures the imagination of her audience, has them laughing and rooting as she maneuvers through a rhythmic incantation about a mother’s magical powers or a feminist’s view on love. Her voice pierces the walls of engaged venues and she leaves them wanting more.

In this week’s MD Spotlight, meet Gabriela Garcia Medina, a spoken word artist mixing stories, poetry and emotion to convey messages of hope, revolution, identity, love and so much more.

How did you get into poetry and spoken word and what attracted you to it?

There have been a few stages in my life that were detrimental. [First], my family left Cuba in 1989, and went to London. One of my school field trips was to a soup kitchen [to] help homeless people. I didn’t understand that there were people who didn’t have food or homes [at the age if ten]. I cried at home and the only way I stopped crying was by writing a poem. My family started nurturing me to keep [writing].

When I was 15, there was an event at Columbia University in New York where children from around the world applied for a summer program: I got chosen. I spent my 16th birthday in New York City - spent it in development workshops. [One] field trip was to the Nuyorican Cafe and I saw people older than myself doing spoken word - not poetry but not hip hop [either]. I said, “Wow, I totally want to do what they’re doing.”

When I graduated high school in Europe, I came to UCLA for college in 2001. My first and second boyfriends were poets and one was a Def Poet- he was getting paid. I realized then that I could make a living out of my poetry.

What is the typical process of getting a poem from your mind onto the stage?

There are two different ways I write a poem. One is the structured way - I’ll get commissioned by an organization. They give me a theme, time and money. I have freedom as to how I write the poem but the idea and theme is [provided].

[Then with] every interaction I have with people, in the back of my mind I know that I have to write this poem. Everything that I do, I try to relate to my poem. I might be having a rough day, [and] writing is a way I heal. Maybe I [will] have a conversation with you today about something that changes my views then I go home and write a poem about it.

[My poems are] usually 6 minutes [in length] like the “Magician.” I memorize them by reading them over and over again on stage. When I’m getting on stage, I tell myself that everything I have to say is valuable and positive. That kind of affirmation helps me memorize what I wrote. Not everybody has the opportunity to get up on stage and share their thoughts. I tell myself to honor that opportunity–it’s almost a prayer.

What do you call your style of spoken word?

I’ve seen in poetry [that] people are influenced by each other. The artist amalgamates and I try to grow and expand the style in which I write. I never want to be one style. I don’t want to be the angry revolutionist. I’m tired of the poems that get people angry and riled up but not inspired to do something. I want to inspire people to feel great about who they are and feel empowered about who they are and do something. Now I’m thinking: how do I tell stories?

Slam is competitive poetry and I don’t believe that people should judge your art. [In slam competitions] you write for the audience because you want to get that perfect 10. You stop writing for what your spirit wants to say and for yourself. That style is very dynamic, which is good and very performative, but you’re not writing for yourself anymore. [Your poetry] stops being genuine.

How do you remember your lengthy poems?

I meditate for a minute before getting on stage. I get nervous when I do shows in front of thousands of people. So I tell myself: “You have this amazing opportunity to get out there and touch these people. You can get scared or you can really do the best you can.” I pep talk myself and it really works.

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on two poems and editing one. It’s called ‘At least I’m a good poet,’ [and] it’s about not knowing how to cook. The underlying story is really deep. In life, you can be good at as many things as you want, but you have to commit and try and know that you will get better (that inspires people). [It's also about] identity. Just because I’m Cuban, I don’t have to eat pork fat, love Fidel and smoke cigars. Your identity doesn’t have to be applied [onto you] by outside factors - you define it yourself. I’m talking about being a Cuban vegan and cooking Cuban vegan food [but also about how] it wasn’t working out. That one is almost done. I’m working on memorizing it now.

[Also] soap operas, like Stella Novela, [are a] part of our culture [and] I grew up listening to [them]. My grandparents, aunts and the whole neighborhood in Cuba listened to them. They shapes our identities as women and machismo as men. It’s a sad perpetuation of how the media want our people to look – light skinned, light haired. Now I’m using humor more – people listen to it more than anger. [The poem is] about how this has shaped our identities as women and Latinas.

The next poem I’m working on is about the declaration of hope - about revolution, social justice and spirituality. How I moved from anger, going to anti-war rallies to a more proactive and creative place, but it’s just as reactionary. You can affect more change if you can be proactive and creative about what you want to build, not destroy. People say what they’re against when you ask them about their politics - but what are you for? What will you create and do when war is over? I’m struggling right now because I don’t want to get preachy - I’ve written it four times and it’s not ready to be born yet, which is okay.

What sets you apart from other poets?

I have my own unique voice and style that I continually try to grow out of and into something else. A woman, person, activist and spiritual person - that’s hopefully reflecting on the subjects I choose to write about. I’m always changing and evolving. There are a lot of good poets, but they fall into one style; that’s good but it has an expiration date. I continually try to go outside and try something different. [I] always try to expand my style and voice – I want to redefine that rhythm that I use in my poetry while I’m trying to continually grow.

Biggest challenges up to date?

Right now with my writing, my poetry career has taken off really fast. I’m very lucky to be living off my poetry right now – it’s a big deal. I wasn’t prepared for so much success so quickly - it threw me off balance. I haven’t had time to write because I was in production and performance mode. I haven’t been able to edit a poem for 5-6 months. I’m booked until Sept. 2010 - so if you want to bring me out to your school, you have to talk to my agency.

It’s great. I don’t want to complain but it’s important for me, knowing I’m in my next stage as a performer, to know that I have to write. I have to write in a safe place, where my mind is open. Two hours in a hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee is no the place to write about the woman you met at the sweat shop in downtown L.A. Now my challenge is to move forward in this stage – I see my challenge as an opportunity to grow.

What do you like most about what you do?

I get to meet incredible young people all over the country - they’re like sponges absorbing ideas. I get to present ideas [of] alternative forms of culture and empower them – give them ideas that are bigger than them. Hopefully they will go out and do something ground breaking. Everyday I’m around people with different beliefs - it’s not easy. I like to push the envelope.

At social justice events, I don’t want to write only what they want to hear. And I love that I can do this full time – 4-5 months a year I’m performing at schools. The rest of the year, I can do what I want. [I can] teach at a girls’ school in Monrovia, California, take a class or do things that I’m passionate about.

What do you like least about what you do?

What I like least is that I spend very little time with the kids I speak to.

I wake up at 5 a.m., take a plane at 6:30 a.m., and get into a city by early afternoon. In 3 or 4 hours, I get to a hotel, drop off my stuff, and get ready. Then I do a performance, do a Q&A show, get back to the hotel, drive over to the airport, and then fly to another city the next day.

I don’t like that; it doesn’t give me time to connect with friends in a community, and I can’t root myself. I’m not always on - I’m always genuine and 100 percent myself, but I’m not always on. Sometimes I’m going through something, and I want to be in my room, meditating [while] burning incense. Lately I’ve felt inauthentic because of it. But now I realize this has become a job. I have to be a performer, and I have to be that performer when I’m on stage.

What are your most notable milestones?

I’ve had a very interesting life: I’ve seen the world which has made me compassionate about all people. I graduated college in ‘06 – I almost didn’t want to graduate. I was very political. I had to go through that phase to get to the next phase – [I was] developing as a writer.

I don’t like the idea of milestones – that means that there are certain stages in life that make a big impact and others don’t. I view my life as very fluid, changing and evolving, letting me move forward.

My family is completely displaced. I grew up in Cuba. I visited Tehran, Iran in 1995. It was very life-changing – I was visiting my dad who was working there. I loved the country; it was different from what I was used to.

This last summer I cycled across the country – from Oregon to Virginia. It was very humbling physically and emotionally. It was a very empowering experience. I got to meet a lot of interesting people on the road – I was humbled by there compassion.

We’re influenced by the people we come in contact with in life – I’m excited for the AIDS life cycle this summer. I’m cycling from San Francisco to L.A. to raise money for AIDS from May 31 to June 6.

This is not like [before]; it’ll kick ass but it serves a different purpose. It’ll bring awareness to my family and friends that even if there are hard times right now – as much as we’re struggling – there’s always someone struggling more.

My agency is based out of Minneapolis; we communicate via email and a shared calendar. I block off dates I don’t want to work. [So] I’ve blocked off April 29 – Sept. 15. My dad’s coming over from Argentina, and I’m flying him out to spend a month with me. I’m [also] going to Thailand and Cuba.

Any particular moments from a show worth mentioning?

I have a pet peeve: when people have phones on during a show; it totally throws me off. Sometimes the audience doesn’t realize how affected we are by their energy. While we’re there, we’re exposed to them; it throws us off if they’re texting or checking their phones.

Best practical advice to pass along?

[Because my family is composed of ] first generation immigrants, they prioritized my education. They were disappointed when they saw I wanted to be a creative person [and] not an engineer, doctor or lawyer. I didn’t have their support and had to fight for it.

I get to do [spoken word] for a living and full time. The interesting thing is that my aunt is an engineer, and she’s worried that she’ll be out of a job. Here I am writing and I’m not worried for the next two years. People will try to use fear to make you not do what you want in life, and as long as you don’t succumb to that fear and really believe in your work, you’ll make it. People will pick up on your genuine work, support [it], and be a part of your life.

What did you do before you got into poetry?

[I did] theater in UCLA, and I double minored in Chicano and African American studies. I started a clothing line, sewed myself, toured and set up booths with a friend. I worked as a tour guide and project director for an art outreach program. I always worked with youth and have been committed to them.

Favorite pastime outside of work?

I love to cycle and salsa dance (the Cuban style not L.A. style. It’s not as showy). I do it full time with friends at a Culver City Brazilian bar. Poetry used to be my hobby during college – now that it’s my life and career, I found I need to do something else [as a hobby]. Dancing is like praying, meditating and [expression].

During a tour, I Google vegan restaurants, Bikram yoga studios and look for a place to go dancing after shows. You can’t put me in a box.

Do you have any mentors?

Not that she knows me, but I love Alice Walker – she wrote Temple of my Familiar, my favorite book.

My favorite author is Octavia Butler – I’ve read all 20 of her novels, because she too can’t be put in a box. She was a 6 foot tall black woman and a science fiction writer. She was a pioneer – she was brave enough to write about something she was passionate about.

Favorite book?

Temple of My Familiar and So Far From God

Passions in life?

Creativity and art and using them to heal, empower and make a proactive difference.

What inspires you to stay in this field every day?

I realize I’m doing the right thing, and I sleep like a baby. That’s a good thing. Every morning, I’m excited to live my life and fulfill my purpose. My goals will always change and grow but that’s my goal. Every morning it’s reaffirmed.

Who would you like to meet one day?

[I would like to meet:] Muhammad Yunus [who won the Nobel Prize for establishing a microcredit movement in the developing world]; Michael Pollan, who wrote the Omnivore’s Dilemma; and Lila Down, who is the Mexican Billy Holiday and sings old Mexican mixed with political music. I’d also like to meet President Obama, the whole Obama family, as well as Paulo Coelho, who wrote The Alchemist.

Who would you like to be contacted by?

I want to go into different proactive organizations, empowering women’s organizations, group homes, social entrepreneurship and micro-lending organizations. As much I love doing college shows, I [also] like to do venues that have less funding but are doing social justice work.

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