CDC Relaxes Mask Guidelines As Black Women’s Groups Urge Renewed Focus On Health Care

In the clearest sign of a return to normality after months of coronavirus restrictions, the CDC told fully vaccinated Americans today they no longer need to social distance or wear masks indoors and outdoors. The relaxation of the yearlong guideline coincided with a Black women’s health webinar featuring a panel of doctors and civic leaders called the Black Women’s Power Hour.

“At OWN we are always striving to meet our audience where she is,” said Jennifer Giddens, head of marketing for the Oprah Winfrey Network.

OWN joined the Black Women’s Health Imperative, the Ad Council and several other organizations to sponsor the event which devoted much of the program to the specific health needs of Black women beyond the pandemic.

According to Dr. Angela Marshall, who is the Chairman of the Board of the Black Women’s Health Imperative, “Being Black is bad for your health, and racism is the cause.”

Marshall added that Black women have a life expectancy that is three years less than white women, stating, “We know that Black women are strong, and we are resilient and we shall overcome.”

The presidents of the Links, Incorporated, Black Women’s Agenda, and Black Women’s Roundtable discussed the wide-ranging and damaging effects of racism.

“Racism is a public health issue, and I’m very proud that the Centers for the Disease Control has designated it as such,” asserted Dr. Kimberly Jefferies Leonard.

Gwainevere Catchings Hess who leads the Black Women’s Agenda echoed Leonard’s sentiment.

“Racism just denies accessibility,” Hess stated. “You’re denied accessibility in education, jobs, zip codes, healthy foods, where you live, even your friends and all of that has an effect on who you are … and it should not be.”

As the panelists sought to underscore the importance of health, the focus turned to the urgent need for self-care.

“For some reason we think when we talk about self-care we’re talking about spas and facials,” said Beverly Smith, president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

But Smith made it clear self-care also encompasses managing chronic illnesses.

“Forty-nine percent of our men have high blood pressure, and we’re at 45 percent. For the bottom line, we are dying younger because we don’t take care of ourselves,” Smith explained. “Taking care of yourself so you can take care of others.”

For the past year African Americans have struggled to address the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but Dr. Florencia Greer Polite called for Black Americans to get back on track with comprehensive healthcare as the pandemic’s grip is loosened by the rising numbers of fully vaccinated Americans.

“We are coming out of that pandemic, ladies, so you need to take care of yourselves,” Greer said. “What we have to do is prioritize 20 to 30 minutes of exercise and what we put in our systems. How do we say, ‘I’m deserving of these minutes of exercise?’ At this point, we need to get back on track with mammograms, pap smears and colonoscopies.”

With the stress of the pandemic still a concern, the conversation touched on mental health with Kornisha McGill Brown of Jack and Jill calling for African Americans to be “intentional” about addressing implicit bias and negative stereotypes associated with seeking mental health assistance.