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Health and Education Are Topics of Virtual Meeting
By Tricia Hall
Sojourner’s Truth Reporter
State Representative Paula Hicks-Hudson sponsored a virtual
chat on July 8, 2020. The 75-minute conversation included
Doni Miller, CEO of Neighborhood Health Association, and
Sheena Barnes, Toledo Board of Education member. The meeting
is connected to a series of digital summer events where
local statehouse lawmakers provide updates, called the Ohio
Promise Virtual Town Hall Tour.
State Representative Hicks-Hudson opened the virtual meeting
by introducing both guests and explaining their credentials.
“I want to thank each of you for joining me for this virtual
chat. I want to welcome my two friends, Doni Miller and
Sheena Barnes. Today we’re going to have a conversation.
We’re going to talk about what’s going on at the statehouse
and how legislative decisions are hitting on the local
front.”
The first 15 minutes provided Hicks-Hudson with the
opportunity to explain to the viewers the actions taken by
the legislature and provide the discussion framework. “In
the statehouse we want to deliver results to the taxpayers.
We have passed 13 priority bills, one of those was mine and
reduces sentences for drug offenses. We have passed a bill
that invests in our children but the budget was hit hard due
to COVID-19. We are still attacking systemic racism, which
has rose to the forefront in the last few months,” explained
Hicks-Hudson.
The conversation shifted to the first of two topics:
healthcare. Hicks-Hudson described House Concurrent
Resolution 31 to the audience. According to The Ohio
Legislature website, the resolution would declare racism a
public health crisis and promote racism equity.
Representatives Stephanie House of District 11 and
Representative Erica Crawley of District 26 are the primary
sponsors.
The following representatives are listed as co-sponsors:
Gill Blair, Kristin Boggs, Janine Boyd, Juanita Brent,
Richard Brown, Jack Cera, Randi Clites, Jeffrey Crossman,
Sedrick Denson, Paula Hicks-Hudson, Catherine Ingram, Brigid
Kelly, David Leland, Michele Lepore-Hagan, Mary Lighbody,
Beth Liston, Joe Miller, Jessica Miranda, Michael O’Brien,
John Patterson, Phil Robinson, John Rogers, Allison Russo,
Michael Skindell, Kent Smith, Lisa Sobecki, Bride Sweeney,
Emilia Sykes, Terrence Upchurch, Casey Weinstein, and Thomas
West.
Doni Miller explained to the viewers that people must take
care of their health, especially if they are at risk, and
explained the healthcare system must improve. “I want to
talk about healthcare for black folks in Ohio, what we can
do for ourselves and what we can demand from those elected
to represent us. Black folks are dying at amazing rates from
diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. We live in
communities with housing that makes us sick. Racism in
healthcare is structural and impacts medical services,
provider training, facility design, and even facility
placement. Those are designed to hurt us, but we can’t die
waiting on this system to change,” said Miller.
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Paula
Hicks-Hudson
Doni Miller
Sheena Barnes |
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Neighborhood Health Association is one of the key Covid-19
testing partners and according to Miller these common
concerns:
- Patients can’t catch coronavirus by taking the test,
- Coronavirus is not the flu,
- Testing is important for the patient and the family,
- Serious cases of coronavirus can impact a patient for
three months,
- Call the Lucas County Health Department or Neighborhood
Health Association for test sites.
“COVID-19 is three times more likely to impact a black
person or person of color. We are dying daily, and we aren’t
making health issues a real priority,” said Miller.
The conversation shifted to the final topic: education in
Ohio schools. Sheena Barnes, newly elected Toledo Public
School board member, discussed House Bill 197. Hicks-Hudson
described this bill as, “a way to suspend third grade
reading towards grade promotion.”
“I am proud of what Toledo Public Schools is doing for
social education justice, this is connected to what we’re
talking about here, and connected to the number of jail
cells for African Americans. Reading levels are connected to
the number of school resource officers needed and
disciplinary problems,” explained Barnes.
Toledo Public Schools mobilized resources once the state
announced the stay-at-home order in March, these resources
included: buses that carried WiFi, computers, WiFi hotspots,
and weekday lunches. According to Barnes, TPS still couldn’t
provide resources to every student due to homelessness.
“We have the highest percentage of youth homelessness in
Ohio for any school district. We feel short feeding the kids
during COVID, but it’s not because of TPS but because some
of these kids are so mobile and move from place to place. We
need the state to assist us with this and get to know the
kids in this community,” said Barnes.
“Northwest Ohio is different than other parts of Ohio, and
it’s important that these voices are heard. I want to thank
my sisters in the struggle and thank each of you for taking
this time to join us today,” concluded Hicks-Hudson during
her final remarks.
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