The opioid epidemic & our Black Asses
Welcome to the twelfth installment of This Black-Ass Life! This week we’re talking about Black folks and the opioid crisis. Unlike what we’re seeing on the mainstream media (and no, we’re not using the term like Limoncello Lucifer uses it), this issue is not confined to White, rural communities. Keep reading for info on the opioid crisis in our communities, Blue Ivy’s stunt game and DJ Envy’s Beige Rage.
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l. The Facts
The epidemic of opioid drug overdose deaths is often perceived as a largely White problem, but Black people, particularly in urban counties are dying at a faster rate.
Yes, this current drug epidemic started in White suburban and rural areas, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug deaths among Black people in cities rose by 41 percent in 2016 and the drug death rate for Black people is far outpacing any other racial or ethnic group. Black people between the ages of 45 and 64 are the hardest hit.
For context, in 2016, the drug death rate among Whites rose by 19 percent.
What is killing Black people is fentanyl, a deadly new variant of heroin that is 100 times more powerful than morphine.
Why is this important?
Drug overdose is killing Americans at an incredible rate. For the second year in a row, life expectancy in the United States dropped , this has not happened since 1963. Drug overdose is THE leading cause of death for Americans under 55.
History tells us that the compassion reserved for White victims of drug abuse and drug overdose will not be extended to Black people.
For example, from 2012 to 2016, the Chicago communities with the highest rates of felony drug arrests were overwhelmingly the city’s poorest and Blackest.
Essentially, Black people are dying at a faster rate and the government will probably cease to see this as a public health crisis and we might be on the precipice of another punitive war on drugs.
What can my Black Ass do?
Black people are rightfully weary of government health interventions, BUT check out some of these proposed approaches to the opioid crisis in Black communities proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Join public health officials in demanding Tang Tyrant declare opioid addiction as a national emergency to unlock millions of dollars in funding to address this issue (Calling the issue a public health emergency means “it only gives the administration access to a fund totaling ... to $57,000.”)
ll. Other Things
I (Mitu) am a firm member of the #BodegaHive and I can’t stop watching this interview between Desus, Mero & the Breakfast Club. And then this breakdown of that interview’s breakdown on Desus & Mero’s show. I tend to find the Breakfast Club hard to watch (remember what they did to Janet Mock????), but a friend let me know this would be worth it and it was - so I want to pass this along to you all.
Watch Jay-Z try and FAIL to stop Blue from bidding tens of thousands of dollars on art.
Important to me (Mitu): Duke won, UNC lost, madness continues yet all feels right (for now).
Read this back and forth between Soledad O’Brien and Chris Cillizza. She read him for filth and I (Jumoke) GUFFAWED.
Our Black-Ass song of the week (Mitu):
Rihanna, Drake and Pharrell picking up the ball for team light skinnted where DJ Envy fumbled with this Lemon remix.
Obligatory Kanye check-in:
Chicago is ADORABLE; and also Drake & Ye may be working on new music together (in Wyoming) - ALBUM SOON COME.
Things we are looking forward to / things we are not looking forward to:
I (Mitu) look forward to Blue Ivy continuing to stunt on the rest of us. It’s her universe and we’re just living in it. (FYI, Blue Ivy bet one minute’s allowance - $20,000 - while attending an art auction with her roommates.
I (Jumoke) am looking forward to Acrimony. Including Medea, Tyler doesn’t write good characters for Black women. BUT this looks messy as hell and that’s why I need to watch it. Taraji is also playing a further unhinged version of Cookie and I am here for it.
lll. Text from a Black-Ass Mama
Here's my (Mitu's) Black-Ass Mama reporting on my cousins' boldly open boredom with her story-telling.
Stay Black, watch A Wrinkle In Time again and we’ll hit your inbox next on April 2.