huffpost--2020-06-16--8 Ways To Support The Black LGBTQ+ Community For Pride Month

Pride Month may be a celebration for people across the LGBTQ+ spectrum , but it ’ s also a time to remember hard-won civil rights moments in the past ― many of them led by Black ( and brown ) trans and queer people ― and to recognize that the fight for queer and trans equality is still very much alive .
( It ’ s especially important to advocate for the rights of trans women of color , who face starkly disproportionate violence in comparison even to the rest of the LGBTQ community . )
“ And we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fight for Black liberation by other Black cisgender and heterosexual folk , ” Armon said .
“ Pride to me this year is the same as every year — it ’ s about making sure that Black transgender people are front and center in the fight for Black liberation because if we are not liberated , no one is .
Period.
” 1 .
Recognize that Pride Month began as a riot and Black queer trailblazers were at the forefront of it .
When police hauled away employees and patrons , the Stonewall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Resistance turned into a riot , followed by days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement .
Today , the Stonewall uprising is heralded as the beginning of the mainstream LGBTQ rights movement .
“ We need to remember that it was QTPOC , specifically trans women of color , who threw those bricks and kicked off the Pride movement as we know it , ” said Arielle Gray , a queer Black writer and artist based in Boston .
“ Pride has undergone very many iterations over the years , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roots , ” she added .
“ Otherwise , we become complicit in the erasure of womxn like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.
” 2 .
Donate to Black transgender and queer-led organizations that are doing work on behalf of the community .
3 .
Join the fight toward eradicating homelessness , which disproportionately affects Black transgender and queer people .
4 .
Amplify Black queer voices and their causes .
5 .
When you ’ re at a protest , follow the lead of Black and queer organizers .
White people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last month have made headlines for being rather overzealous in voicing their discontent .
In many cities , they ’ ve ignored Black protesters ’ pleas to not spray paint or damage property , for instance .
( In a viral video from protests in Los Angeles , Black women are shown confronting a white woman who ’ s in the midst of tagging a Starbucks .
“ They not going to show y ’ all ’ s faces on the news when they see that on their building .
They going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the woman tells the non-Black protesters . )
6 .
Support Black asylum seekers and immigrants being held in detention .
7 .
Use your white privilege for good .
Become aware of how queer people of color are barred from resources that will help them start their own organizations because of white bureaucracy , then “ once you ’ re conscious of that , help us acquire the resources to start our own organizations by using your voice and redistributing your resources to us , ” they said .
8 .
Stay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep fighting and learning .

LOADING ERROR LOADING
It’s been one hell of a year for queer Black people: First came COVID-19. Black and brown Americans are disproportionately dying of the coronavirus, exposing deep-seated racial health disparities that have existed too long in the United States.
Advertisement
Then on Friday, the Trump administration removed protections that prohibit discrimination in health care against transgender patients. (The timing of that move ― Friday was the fourth anniversary of the mass shooting at Orlando gay club Pulse ― seemed especially cruel.)
Given the widespread injustices felt by so many in the Black and LGBTQ+ communities, Pride this month is needed more than ever.
Pride Month may be a celebration for people across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, but it’s also a time to remember hard-won civil rights moments in the past ― many of them led by Black (and brown) trans and queer people ― and to recognize that the fight for queer and trans equality is still very much alive. (It’s especially important to advocate for the rights of trans women of color, who face starkly disproportionate violence in comparison even to the rest of the LGBTQ community.)
“We’re still assaulted and killed at disproportionate rates compared to non-Black queer folk,” said Asanni Armon, a Black trans organizer who works with For the Gworls, a nonprofit that raises money for rent assistance and gender affirmative surgery for Black trans people.
Advertisement
“And we’re still being erased in this larger fight for Black liberation by other Black cisgender and heterosexual folk,” Armon said. “Pride to me this year is the same as every year — it’s about making sure that Black transgender people are front and center in the fight for Black liberation because if we are not liberated, no one is. Period.”
With all that in mind, we asked advocates like Armon and allies to share some ways readers can uplift and fight for the LGBTQ+ Black people. See what they had to say below.
1. Recognize that Pride Month began as a riot and Black queer trailblazers were at the forefront of it.
We would not have a Pride Month or the modern gay rights movement without the Black queer community.
Pride began with a series of riots and demonstrations led by queer Black trailblazers such as Marsha P. Johnson and Stormé DeLarverie in response to a police raid at The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village.
Here’s a Cliff’s Notes’ version: In the early morning of June 28, 1969, police raided a popular gay bar, The Stonewall Inn, in Manhattan. Stonewall was (and still is) located in a heavily gay neighborhood, and although police claimed they were raiding the bar for serving alcohol without a liquor license, law enforcement of the era was notorious for targeting spaces frequented by the LGBTQ community.
When police hauled away employees and patrons, the Stonewall crowd and neighborhood residents grew incensed. Resistance turned into a riot, followed by days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement. Today, the Stonewall uprising is heralded as the beginning of the mainstream LGBTQ rights movement. “We need to remember that it was QTPOC, specifically trans women of color, who threw those bricks and kicked off the Pride movement as we know it,” said Arielle Gray, a queer Black writer and artist based in Boston. “Pride has undergone very many iterations over the years, but we must always, always remember its roots,” she added. “Otherwise, we become complicit in the erasure of womxn like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.”
Spencer Platt via Getty Images A memorial for the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting stands outside The Stonewall Inn in Manhattan's Greenwich Village on Monday.
2. Donate to Black transgender and queer-led organizations that are doing work on behalf of the community.
Be intentional about donating to local Black, trans and queer organizations in your communities, as well a Black, trans and queer organizations that do their work nationally and internationally, Armon said.
Here’s a (by-no-means comprehensive) list of organizations to consider donating to:
3. Join the fight toward eradicating homelessness, which disproportionately affects Black transgender and queer people.
Forty percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, even though they make up 5% to 10% of the overall youth population. That’s why the fight to end homelessness and establish universal housing is so pressing in the queer community.
“Black transgender and queer people are disproportionately homeless, and this is due to bigotry in families, institutional homophobia, transphobia and general anti-Blackness that allows businesses to discriminate against Black transgender people,” Armon said.
Advertisement
To show up in this fight, donate to nonprofits that work to keep Black transgender people off the street. Advocate for citywide and statewide housing measures where you live, and amplify housing rights organizers’ voices, Armon said.
It’s also important to pay attention and call attention to efforts by this current administration that target transgender people. For instance, the Department of Housing and Urban Development recently proposed a new rule that would weaken Obama-era protections for homeless transgender people, allowing federally funded shelters to deny people admission on religious grounds or force transgender women to share bathrooms and sleeping quarters with men.
4. Amplify Black queer voices and their causes.
Have you been following more people of color and LGBTQ+ voices the last month? That’s a good thing. Continue to listen and share their words. Listening rather than talking over is a vital part of being an ally, said Sampson McCormick, an award-winning gay Black comedian.
“What Black people need for our allies to understand is that one of the most compassionate things that a person who truly cares about justice, equality and that really believes that Black lives matter can do is be quiet and listen,” McCormick said.
“It’s an opportunity to be educated and hopefully take that education, apply it to how you see us, hear about us in the media, and to correct false and inaccurate perceptions,” he said.
Advertisement
Don’t minimize Black people’s experiences (“We know what our experiences are as Black people because we’ve lived them, and so many generations before have, as well,” McCormick said). Instead, share those experiences with members of your family or friends who may not hear about it otherwise.
“Take the education back to your friends, family and spaces that Black people usually don’t get to hold space in,” he said. “Listen to us out of compassion, not fear or shame.”
5. When you’re at a protest, follow the lead of Black and queer organizers.
White people who’ve been protesting police brutality the last month have made headlines for being rather overzealous in voicing their discontent. In many cities, they’ve ignored Black protesters’ pleas to not spray paint or damage property, for instance. (In a viral video from protests in Los Angeles, Black women are shown confronting a white woman who’s in the midst of tagging a Starbucks. “They not going to show y’all’s faces on the news when they see that on their building. They going to blame that on us,” the woman tells the non-Black protesters.)
Don’t go rogue at protests. Follow the lead of Black leadership and Black organizers, said Jaelynn Scott, the co-executive director at the Lavender Rights Project.
“It’s easy for white rage to be centered at protests,” she said. “Let the most marginalized lead the movements, because if you secure rights for those folks, you’re ensuring the rights for everyone else, too.”
Advertisement
Sarah Morris via Getty Images A sign reading "All queer right are because of Black trans women" is seen at the All Black Lives Matter Solidarity March on Sunday in Los Angeles.
6. Support Black asylum seekers and immigrants being held in detention.
According to a report by the Transgender Law Center, Black migrants in detention tend to be detained longer, are put in solitary confinement more frequently and are forced to pay the highest bond amounts to get out of detention centers.
“We are talking about bonds as high as $25,000, $30,000. Most people can’t pay and are stuck in detention, aka immigrant prison, until the money is raised,” said Ola Osaze, the director of the Black LGBTQ+ Migrant Project.
Osaze pointed to the case of Sza Sza, a Jamaican trans woman and asylum seeker who has been detained for several years in immigration prison.
“Black asylum seekers like Sza Sza who have fled near deadly persecution are often denied asylum by immigrant judges, which means being detained for longer periods of time while they appeal their cases and/or face deportation back to places they fled in the first place,” he said.
Advertisement
NEW: First-person account from Sza Sza, a trans woman detained at Aurora, where an employee tested positive for COVID-19. "We are human just like everybody else," Sza Sza said. "We live & die just like you, & we will die just like you." https://t.co/qnhJ860SkL — Tina Vasquez (@TheTinaVasquez) March 27, 2020
7. Use your white privilege for good.
Continue to be an active supporter after Pride Month ends and once protests against police brutality start to taper off. Now that you’re politically engaged, stay that way. Get involved in community efforts and vote for candidates who openly fight for queer and transgender rights.
Then, use whatever privilege you have to continue to elevate Black queer voices with your purchasing power, on social media, in the workplace and beyond.
“You can read books and essays that we’ve written. You can pay us to write about these things,” Armon said. “You can put us in leadership positions with the intention of us making sure that your organizations begin to put Black, trans rights at the forefront of their missions.”
Become aware of how queer people of color are barred from resources that will help them start their own organizations because of white bureaucracy, then “once you’re conscious of that, help us acquire the resources to start our own organizations by using your voice and redistributing your resources to us,” they said.
Advertisement
Matt Winkelmeyer via Getty Images Protesters at an All Black Lives Matter Solidarity March on Sunday in Los Angeles.
8. Stay hopeful and recognize the victories, but keep fighting and learning.
We touched on some of the ongoing civil rights battles being fought by queer people and people of color right now. But there are obviously glimmers of hope, too.
In a landmark decision Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that federal civil rights law protects employees from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The decision will for the first time extend federal workplace protections to LGBT employees nationwide.
Celebrate those wins ― it’s important to stay hopeful ― but keep your eye on the prize: Don’t forget there’s still more to fight for and still loads more to learn as an ally.
As Gray put it: “Ultimately, amplifying Black queer voices means listening attentively, learning and sharing the work that Black trans people are and have been doing in the liberation movement.”


huffpost--2020-06-16--Coronavirus Cases Surge In Alabama, South Carolina And Oklahoma

People walk along the shore as beaches reopen after closures aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus disease ( COVID-19 ) in North Myrtle Beach , South Carolina , U.S. , April 21 , 2020 .
( REUTERS/Rachel Jessen ) ( Reuters ) - New cases of COVID-19 nearly doubled in Alabama and South Carolina in the second week of June compared to the prior seven days , a Reuters analysis found , as 17 U.S. states reported weekly increases in the spread of the novel coronavirus .
Alabama ’ s new cases rose 97 % to 5,115 for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % of COVID-19 tests coming back positive compared to 6 % in the prior week , according to the analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project , a volunteer-run effort to track the outbreak .
New cases in South Carolina rose 86 % to 4,509 , while the positive test rate rose to about 14 % from 9 % over the same period , according to the analysis and state data .
When asked to comment on the increases , South Carolina and Alabama health officials said some residents were not following @ @ @ @ @ @ @ large gatherings and wear a mask in public .
In Oklahoma , where President Donald Trump plans to hold an indoor campaign rally on Saturday , new cases rose 68 % to 1,081 in the second week of June , while the positive test rate increased to 4 % , from 2 % the previous week .
The three states are among hot spots throughout the South and Southwest that helped push the total number of new infections in the United States up 1 % in the week ended June 14 , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Reuters found .
The state that reported the largest number of new cases was California at 20,043 , up 10 % from the previous week .
Nationally , the rate of positive tests has hovered around 5 % for several weeks , according to the analysis .
More than 583,000 tests were reported in a single day last week , a new record .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) has recommended states wait for new COVID-19 cases to fall for 14 days before easing social distancing restrictions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Columbia have met that criteria , the analysis showed .
Pennsylvania and New York lead with nine straight weeks of declines , followed by Rhode Island and Indiana .

LOADING ERROR LOADING
People walk along the shore as beaches reopen after closures aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, U.S., April 21, 2020. (REUTERS/Rachel Jessen) Rachel Jessen / Reuters
(Reuters) - New cases of COVID-19 nearly doubled in Alabama and South Carolina in the second week of June compared to the prior seven days, a Reuters analysis found, as 17 U.S. states reported weekly increases in the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Advertisement
Alabama’s new cases rose 97% to 5,115 for the week ended June 14, with 14% of COVID-19 tests coming back positive compared to 6% in the prior week, according to the analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the outbreak.
New cases in South Carolina rose 86% to 4,509, while the positive test rate rose to about 14% from 9% over the same period, according to the analysis and state data.
When asked to comment on the increases, South Carolina and Alabama health officials said some residents were not following recommendations to maintain social distance, avoid large gatherings and wear a mask in public.
In Oklahoma, where President Donald Trump plans to hold an indoor campaign rally on Saturday, new cases rose 68% to 1,081 in the second week of June, while the positive test rate increased to 4%, from 2% the previous week.
Advertisement
Oklahoma officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The three states are among hot spots throughout the South and Southwest that helped push the total number of new infections in the United States up 1% in the week ended June 14, the second increase after five weeks of declines, Reuters found.
(Open https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser for a Reuters interactive)
The state that reported the largest number of new cases was California at 20,043, up 10% from the previous week.
Nationally, the rate of positive tests has hovered around 5% for several weeks, according to the analysis. More than 583,000 tests were reported in a single day last week, a new record.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended states wait for new COVID-19 cases to fall for 14 days before easing social distancing restrictions.
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have met that criteria, the analysis showed. Pennsylvania and New York lead with nine straight weeks of declines, followed by Rhode Island and Indiana.
Advertisement


huffpost--2020-06-16--Low-Cost Drug Improves Chances Of COVID-19 Survival, Study Shows

Researchers in England say they have the first evidence that a drug can improve COVID-19 survival : A cheap , widely available steroid called dexamethasone reduced deaths by up to one third in severely ill hospitalized patients .
Results were announced Tuesday and researchers said they would publish them soon .
The study is a large , strict test that randomly assigned 2,104 patients to get the drug and compared them with 4,321 patients getting only usual care .
The drug was given either orally or through an IV .
After 28 days , it had reduced deaths by 35 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ breathing machines and by 20 % in those only needing supplemental oxygen .
It did not appear to help less ill patients .
“ This is an extremely welcome result , ” one study leader , Peter Horby of the University of Oxford , said in a statement .
“ The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment , so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients .
Dexamethasone is inexpensive , on the shelf , and can be used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though the drug only helps in severe cases , “ countless lives will be saved globally , ” said Nick Cammack of Wellcome , a British charity that supports science research .
“ Dexamethasone must now be rolled out and accessed by thousands of critically ill patients around the world , ” said Cammack , who had no role in the study .
“ It is highly affordable , easy to make , can be scaled up quickly and only needs a small dosage.
” Steroid drugs reduce inflammation , which sometimes develops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overreacts to fight the infection .
This overreaction can prove fatal , so doctors have been testing steroids and other anti-inflammatory drugs in such patients .
The World Health Organization advises against using steroids earlier in the course of illness because they can slow the time until patients clear the virus .
Researchers estimated that the drug would prevent one death for every eight patients treated while on breathing machines and one for every 25 patients on extra oxygen alone .
This is the same study that earlier this month showed the malaria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus .
The study enrolled more than 11,000 patients in England , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland who were given either standard of care or that plus one of several treatments : dexamethasone ; the HIV combo drug lopinavir-ritonavir , the antibiotic azithromycin ; the anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab ; or plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 that contains antibodies to fight the virus .
Research is continuing on the other treatments .
The research is funded by government health agencies in the United Kingdom and private donors including the Bill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute ’ s Department of Science Education .
The AP is solely responsible for all content .

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Researchers in England say they have the first evidence that a drug can improve COVID-19 survival: A cheap, widely available steroid called dexamethasone reduced deaths by up to one third in severely ill hospitalized patients.
Results were announced Tuesday and researchers said they would publish them soon. The study is a large, strict test that randomly assigned 2,104 patients to get the drug and compared them with 4,321 patients getting only usual care.
Advertisement
The drug was given either orally or through an IV. After 28 days, it had reduced deaths by 35% in patients who needed treatment with breathing machines and by 20% in those only needing supplemental oxygen. It did not appear to help less ill patients.
“This is an extremely welcome result,” one study leader, Peter Horby of the University of Oxford, said in a statement. “The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients. Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide.”
Even though the drug only helps in severe cases, “countless lives will be saved globally,” said Nick Cammack of Wellcome, a British charity that supports science research.
“Dexamethasone must now be rolled out and accessed by thousands of critically ill patients around the world,” said Cammack, who had no role in the study. “It is highly affordable, easy to make, can be scaled up quickly and only needs a small dosage.”
Advertisement
A picture taken on June 16, 2020 in Paris shows a box of Dectancyl, a drug manufactured by Sanofi containing dexamethasone. BERTRAND GUAY via Getty Images
Steroid drugs reduce inflammation, which sometimes develops in COVID-19 patients as the immune system overreacts to fight the infection. This overreaction can prove fatal, so doctors have been testing steroids and other anti-inflammatory drugs in such patients. The World Health Organization advises against using steroids earlier in the course of illness because they can slow the time until patients clear the virus.
Researchers estimated that the drug would prevent one death for every eight patients treated while on breathing machines and one for every 25 patients on extra oxygen alone.
This is the same study that earlier this month showed the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine was not working against the coronavirus. The study enrolled more than 11,000 patients in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who were given either standard of care or that plus one of several treatments: dexamethasone; the HIV combo drug lopinavir-ritonavir, the antibiotic azithromycin; the anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab; or plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 that contains antibodies to fight the virus.
Research is continuing on the other treatments. The research is funded by government health agencies in the United Kingdom and private donors including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Advertisement
___
AP medical writer Maria Cheng contributed reporting from London.
___


huffpost--2020-06-16--Americans Are The Unhappiest They've Been In 50 Years, Poll Finds

This bold — yet unsurprising — conclusion comes from the COVID Response Tracking Study , conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago .
It finds that just 14 % of American adults say they ’ re very happy , down from 31 % who said the same in 2018 .
That year , 23 % said they ’ d often or sometimes felt isolated in recent weeks .
Now , 50 % say that .
The survey , conducted in late May , draws on nearly a half-century of research from the General Social Survey , which has collected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least every other year since 1972 .
No less than 29 % of Americans have ever called themselves very happy in that survey .
Most of the new survey ’ s interviews were completed before the death of George Floyd touched off nationwide protests and a global conversation about race and police brutality , adding to the feelings of stress and loneliness Americans were already facing from the coronavirus outbreak — especially for Black Americans .
Lexi Walker , a 47-year-old professional fiduciary who lives near Greenville , South Carolina , has felt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this year .
She moved back to South Carolina late in 2019 , then her cat died .
Her father passed away in February .
Just when she thought she ’ d get out and socialize in an attempt to heal from her grief , the pandemic hit .
— The public is less optimistic today about the standard of living improving for the next generation than it has been in the past 25 years .
Only 42 % of Americans believe that when their children reach their age , their standard of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 57 % said that in 2018 .
Since the question was asked in 1994 , the previous low was 45 % in 1994 .
— Compared with surveys conducted after President John F. Kennedy ’ s assassination in 1963 and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks , Americans are less likely to report some types of emotional and psychological stress reactions following the COVID-19 outbreak .
Fewer report smoking more than usual , crying or feeling dazed now than after those two previous tragedies , though more report having lost their temper or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twice as many Americans report being lonely today as in 2018 , and not surprisingly given the lockdowns that tried to contain the spread of the coronavirus , there ’ s also been a drop in satisfaction with social activities and relationships .
Compared with 2018 , Americans also are about twice as likely to say they sometimes or often have felt a lack of companionship ( 45 % vs. 27 % ) and felt left out ( 37 % vs. 18 % ) in the past four weeks .
The new poll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ significant changes in Americans ’ assessment of their families ’ finances since 2018 and that Americans ’ satisfaction with their families ’ ability to get along financially was as high as it ’ s been over nearly five decades .
Jonathan Berney , of Austin , Texas , said that the pandemic — and his resulting layoff as a digital marketing manager for a law firm — caused him to reevaluate everything in his life .
While he admits that he ’ s not exactly happy now , that ’ s led to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happy before the pandemic ?
“ 2020 just fast forwarded a spiritual decay .
When things are good , you don ’ t tend to look inwards , ” he said , adding that he was living and working in the Miami area before the pandemic hit .
As Florida dealt with the virus , his girlfriend left him and he decided to leave for Austin .
“ I probably just wasn ’ t a nice guy to be around from all the stress and anxiety .
But this forced an existential crisis.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ work , said things have improved from those early , dark days of the pandemic .
He ’ s still job hunting but has a little savings to live on .
He said he ’ s trying to kayak more and center himself so he ’ s better prepared to deal with any future downturn in events .
“ Human beings are remarkably resilient .
There ’ s lots and lots of evidence that we adapt to everything .
We move forward , ” she said , adding that she ’ s done @ @ @ @ @ @ @ found that some people are slightly happier than last year .
Melinda Hartline , of Tampa , who was laid off from her job in public relations in March , said she was in a depressed daze those first few weeks of unemployment .
Then she started to bike and play tennis and enrolled in a college course on post-crisis leadership .

LOADING ERROR LOADING
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — It’s been a rough year for the American psyche. Folks in the U.S. are more unhappy today than they’ve been in nearly 50 years.
This bold — yet unsurprising — conclusion comes from the COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. It finds that just 14% of American adults say they’re very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018. That year, 23% said they’d often or sometimes felt isolated in recent weeks. Now, 50% say that.
Advertisement
The survey, conducted in late May, draws on nearly a half-century of research from the General Social Survey, which has collected data on American attitudes and behaviors at least every other year since 1972. No less than 29% of Americans have ever called themselves very happy in that survey.
Most of the new survey’s interviews were completed before the death of George Floyd touched off nationwide protests and a global conversation about race and police brutality, adding to the feelings of stress and loneliness Americans were already facing from the coronavirus outbreak — especially for Black Americans.
Lexi Walker, a 47-year-old professional fiduciary who lives near Greenville, South Carolina, has felt anxious and depressed for long stretches of this year. She moved back to South Carolina late in 2019, then her cat died. Her father passed away in February. Just when she thought she’d get out and socialize in an attempt to heal from her grief, the pandemic hit.
“It’s been one thing after another,” Walker said. “This is very hard. The worst thing about this for me, after so much, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Advertisement
Among other finding from the new poll about life in the pandemic:
— The public is less optimistic today about the standard of living improving for the next generation than it has been in the past 25 years. Only 42% of Americans believe that when their children reach their age, their standard of living will be better. A solid 57% said that in 2018. Since the question was asked in 1994, the previous low was 45% in 1994.
— Compared with surveys conducted after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Americans are less likely to report some types of emotional and psychological stress reactions following the COVID-19 outbreak. Fewer report smoking more than usual, crying or feeling dazed now than after those two previous tragedies, though more report having lost their temper or wanting to get drunk.
— About twice as many Americans report being lonely today as in 2018, and not surprisingly given the lockdowns that tried to contain the spread of the coronavirus, there’s also been a drop in satisfaction with social activities and relationships. Compared with 2018, Americans also are about twice as likely to say they sometimes or often have felt a lack of companionship (45% vs. 27%) and felt left out (37% vs. 18%) in the past four weeks.
What is surprising, said Louise Hawkley, a senior research scientist with NORC at the University of Chicago, was that loneliness was not even more prevalent.
“It isn’t as high as it could be,” she said. “People have figured out a way to connect with others. It’s not satisfactory, but people are managing to some extent.”
Advertisement
The new poll found that there haven’t been significant changes in Americans’ assessment of their families’ finances since 2018 and that Americans’ satisfaction with their families’ ability to get along financially was as high as it’s been over nearly five decades.
Jonathan Berney, of Austin, Texas, said that the pandemic — and his resulting layoff as a digital marketing manager for a law firm — caused him to reevaluate everything in his life. While he admits that he’s not exactly happy now, that’s led to another uncomfortable question: Was he truly happy before the pandemic?
“2020 just fast forwarded a spiritual decay. When things are good, you don’t tend to look inwards,” he said, adding that he was living and working in the Miami area before the pandemic hit. As Florida dealt with the virus, his girlfriend left him and he decided to leave for Austin. “I probably just wasn’t a nice guy to be around from all the stress and anxiety. But this forced an existential crisis.”
Berney, who is looking for work, said things have improved from those early, dark days of the pandemic. He’s still job hunting but has a little savings to live on. He said he’s trying to kayak more and center himself so he’s better prepared to deal with any future downturn in events.
Reimagining happiness is almost hard-wired into Americans’ DNA, said Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside.
Advertisement
“Human beings are remarkably resilient. There’s lots and lots of evidence that we adapt to everything. We move forward,” she said, adding that she’s done happiness studies since the pandemic started and found that some people are slightly happier than last year.
Melinda Hartline, of Tampa, who was laid off from her job in public relations in March, said she was in a depressed daze those first few weeks of unemployment. Then she started to bike and play tennis and enrolled in a college course on post-crisis leadership.
Today, she’s worried about the state of the world and the economy, and she wonders when she can see her kids and grandkids who live on the West Coast — but she also realizes that things could be a lot worse.
“Anything can happen. And you have to be prepared,” she said. “Whether it’s your health, your finances, whether it’s the world. You have to be prepared. And always maintain that positive mental attitude. It’s going to get you through it.”
The survey of 2,279 adults was conducted May 21-29 with funding from the National Science Foundation. It uses a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.


huffpost--2020-06-16--Virginia Democrats Could Elect The First Black Physician To Congress

Dr. Cameron Webb For Congress Dr. Cameron Webb from Virginia could go down in history as the first Black physician elected to a full-fledged spot in Congress .
One of the four candidates vying for the Democratic nomination on June 23 to replace outgoing Rep. Denver Riggleman in the Old Dominion ’ s 5th Congressional District seems uniquely tailored for the times : He ’ s Black , he ’ s a doctor and he ’ s thrusting health care to the forefront of the election .
Dr. Cameron Webb is a fresh-faced , 36-year-old doctor from Charlottesville who could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black physician elected to a full-fledged spot in Congress .
It ’ s a prospect that carries particular weight now as Black communities are facing the worst of the coronavirus outbreak and as President Donald Trump works to undermine medical experts ’ advice on how to stop the virus .
“ Now more than ever we need leadership to fix our health care system , and I realized there ’ s a role for me to play here , ” Webb told HuffPost .
“ I say this all the time : This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any that I ’ ve seen before.
” The record number of unemployed Americans means that people are being dropped from their employer ’ s health insurance plans at a time when access to care is more critical than ever , Webb said .
It ’ s a crisis that could make his pitch for uncoupling health insurance from jobs potentially attractive to voters — even to the district ’ s mostly rural , conservative-leaning ones .
Webb takes a more conservative approach that aims to “ fix private insurance so we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he told The Roanoke Times in May .
His platform calls for a model that encourages employers to contribute to health insurance costs for workers but allows employees to choose between a public or private plan .
There ’ s no public polling data on the 5th Congressional District race , but Webb has racked up a suite of endorsements from national party heavyweights , including California Sen. Kamala Harris and New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries .
He has also won the backing of 314 Action , the science-based political action committee .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a tech startup founder , Marine Corps veteran Claire Russo and John Lesinski , a commercial real estate executive .
Webb , who is the Director of Health Policy and Equity at the University of Virginia School of Medicine , has been on the front lines of the pandemic treating COVID-19 patients as he juggles being a father , husband and political candidate .
He would be the first Black physician elected to Congress from a state .
( Delegate Donna Christensen , a Black physician from the Virgin Islands , served @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have voting powers . )
The Spotsylvania , Virginia , native received his medical and law degrees , and his wife , Dr. Leigh Ann Webb , is a practicing emergency room doctor .
He credits his time as a White House fellow — having been tapped by President Barack Obama to work on the White House Health Care Team and My Brother ’ s Keeper Initiative — with helping him to recognize the importance of policymaking in shaping health care .
“ Seeing that pendulum swing from Obama to Trump made me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government was and impacted health access and outcomes , ” Webb said .
“ Health doesn ’ t happen inside of hospitals or in clinics .
It truly does happen in communities.
” Virginia ’ s 5th Congressional District is a sprawling one , spanning from the southernmost border of North Carolina to outside Washington , D.C. Low voter turnout for next Tuesday ’ s primary , which Gov .
Ralph Northam delayed by two weeks , is to be expected because of COVID-19 .
Although the district is rated R+6 on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ measure of the jurisdiction ’ s party-leaning tendencies , the chances of a Democratic candidate capturing this historically right-leaning area is not far out of reach .
The last Democratic candidate to be elected was Tom Perriello in 2008 , as support for Obama that year led to a higher Black voter turnout in the district .
Perriello held the seat until 2010 , when Republican Robert Hurt won in the wave of GOP midterm victories .
Riggleman won in 2018 .
And while two of Virginia ’ s five pivot counties are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voted for Obama in 2008 and then Trump in 2016 — Democrats like Webb could benefit from another wave of support for Biden this November .
Those chances are also looking increasingly likely since the incumbent Riggleman lost the party ’ s nomination on Saturday to Bob Good , a born-again Christian and former official at the Evangelical school Liberty University .
Despite an endorsement from Trump , who hailed him as a “ true conservative leader , ” Riggleman faced backlash from local party members who opposed a same-sex wedding he had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2018 , he ran as a moderate on health care and said he was going to protect the Affordable Care Act and build upon it , ” Webb said .
“ But instead , what he ’ s done is he ’ s voted against protecting people with preexisting conditions and voted against reducing the cost of prescription drugs .
”

Dr. Cameron Webb from Virginia could go down in history as the first Black physician elected to a full-fledged spot in Congress. Dr. Cameron Webb For Congress
Virginia’s largest district has been a Republican stronghold for a decade. But intraparty tensions and fallout over the coronavirus pandemic could finally break the GOP streak.
One of the four candidates vying for the Democratic nomination on June 23 to replace outgoing Rep. Denver Riggleman in the Old Dominion’s 5th Congressional District seems uniquely tailored for the times: He’s Black, he’s a doctor and he’s thrusting health care to the forefront of the election.
Advertisement
Dr. Cameron Webb is a fresh-faced, 36-year-old doctor from Charlottesville who could go down in history as the first Black physician elected to a full-fledged spot in Congress. It’s a prospect that carries particular weight now as Black communities are facing the worst of the coronavirus outbreak and as President Donald Trump works to undermine medical experts’ advice on how to stop the virus.
“Now more than ever we need leadership to fix our health care system, and I realized there’s a role for me to play here,” Webb told HuffPost. “I say this all the time: This is the health care election, unlike any that I’ve seen before.”
The record number of unemployed Americans means that people are being dropped from their employer’s health insurance plans at a time when access to care is more critical than ever, Webb said. It’s a crisis that could make his pitch for uncoupling health insurance from jobs potentially attractive to voters — even to the district’s mostly rural, conservative-leaning ones.
“This is that moment for us to break that connection between employment and health insurance,” he added. “I call that the original sin of American health care.”
Advertisement
But Webb still supports a private option, putting him more in line with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden than Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the former vice president’s erstwhile rival and ideological opponent.
Over the past few years, Sanders and the Democratic Party’s resurgent left wing have popularized “Medicare for All,” a single-payer government program that would all but abolish private health insurance.
Webb takes a more conservative approach that aims to “fix private insurance so we’re putting people over profits,” he told The Roanoke Times in May. His platform calls for a model that encourages employers to contribute to health insurance costs for workers but allows employees to choose between a public or private plan.
He doesn’t sugarcoat the question that dogs most Democratic candidates seeking to reform health care: It’ll raise costs.
“It does increase the costs to have 100% of Americans covered,” Webb said. “But if everyone could have access, everybody would have had access to [COVID-19] testing.”
Advertisement
Webb is also campaigning on mainstay Democratic issues. On climate change, he backs a 100% renewable electricity standard, a position that directly challenges Dominion Energy, a powerful fossil-fueled utility company in Virginia and a kingmaker in state politics. He also supports ending the cash bail system nationwide and legalizing marijuana.
There’s no public polling data on the 5th Congressional District race, but Webb has racked up a suite of endorsements from national party heavyweights, including California Sen. Kamala Harris and New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. He has also won the backing of 314 Action, the science-based political action committee. His primary opponents include Roger Dean Huffstetler, a tech startup founder, Marine Corps veteran Claire Russo and John Lesinski, a commercial real estate executive.
Webb, who is the Director of Health Policy and Equity at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, has been on the front lines of the pandemic treating COVID-19 patients as he juggles being a father, husband and political candidate. He would be the first Black physician elected to Congress from a state. (Delegate Donna Christensen, a Black physician from the Virgin Islands, served in Congress until 2015 but did not have voting powers.)
The Spotsylvania, Virginia, native received his medical and law degrees, and his wife, Dr. Leigh Ann Webb, is a practicing emergency room doctor. He credits his time as a White House fellow — having been tapped by President Barack Obama to work on the White House Health Care Team and My Brother’s Keeper Initiative — with helping him to recognize the importance of policymaking in shaping health care.
“Seeing that pendulum swing from Obama to Trump made me realize how powerful the space of the government was and impacted health access and outcomes,” Webb said. “Health doesn’t happen inside of hospitals or in clinics. It truly does happen in communities.”
Advertisement
Webb teaches a health policy course at the University of Virginia. Dr. Cameron Webb For Congress
Virginia’s 5th Congressional District is a sprawling one, spanning from the southernmost border of North Carolina to outside Washington, D.C. Low voter turnout for next Tuesday’s primary, which Gov. Ralph Northam delayed by two weeks, is to be expected because of COVID-19. Although the district is rated R+6 on the Cook Partisan Voting Index, a polling-based measure of the jurisdiction’s party-leaning tendencies, the chances of a Democratic candidate capturing this historically right-leaning area is not far out of reach.
The last Democratic candidate to be elected was Tom Perriello in 2008, as support for Obama that year led to a higher Black voter turnout in the district. Perriello held the seat until 2010, when Republican Robert Hurt won in the wave of GOP midterm victories. Riggleman won in 2018. And while two of Virginia’s five pivot counties are located in the district — ones that voted for Obama in 2008 and then Trump in 2016 — Democrats like Webb could benefit from another wave of support for Biden this November.
Those chances are also looking increasingly likely since the incumbent Riggleman lost the party’s nomination on Saturday to Bob Good, a born-again Christian and former official at the Evangelical school Liberty University. Despite an endorsement from Trump, who hailed him as a “true conservative leader,” Riggleman faced backlash from local party members who opposed a same-sex wedding he had officiated.
Webb said Riggleman’s record on health care has also left a gap.
“When Riggleman ran in 2018, he ran as a moderate on health care and said he was going to protect the Affordable Care Act and build upon it,” Webb said. “But instead, what he’s done is he’s voted against protecting people with preexisting conditions and voted against reducing the cost of prescription drugs.”
Advertisement
“He hasn’t done anything meaningful to help improve access or affordability to health care,” he added. “That’s why people are inclined to find leadership elsewhere.”
While Webb’s vision for health care might lean more moderate, the candidate said he is open to a single-payer system in the future.


huffpost--2020-06-16--Oklahoma Governor Invites Donald Trump To Visit Site Of Tulsa Race Massacre

Oklahoma Gov .
Kevin Stitt ( R ) invited President Donald Trump to visit the site of the Tulsa Race Massacre when he travels to the city on Saturday for a campaign rally ― an event the president had postponed after heavy criticism for initially scheduling it on Juneteenth , a holiday that recognizes the end of Black slavery in the U.S .
But the state lawmaker who represents the area , Rep. Monroe Nichols ( D ) , told HuffPost that suggesting Trump visit the site of the massacre was like “ pouring a little salt in the wounds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rally will be Trump ’ s first since pausing campaign events during the coronavirus pandemic .
The date ― initially scheduled for June 19 , Juneteenth ― as well as the location both earned quick condemnation , given Trump ’ s record on race , his history of racist dog whistles and his response to ongoing protests of anti-Black racism and police brutality .
Stitt told reporters on Monday that he personally asked the president and vice president to join him in visiting the Greenwood District , an area once known as “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anniversary of the massacre approaching in 2021 , Stitt mentioned that the state has appropriated $ 1.5 million toward a museum on the massacre and that he was hoping for federal funds to help build it .
“ Being from Tulsa , that is very important to Tulsans , ” Stitt said .
“ It is very important to Oklahomans and really reconciliation in our state.
” “ When you consider that people actively tried to cover up the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre for decades , I think it would be historic if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his respects to the site and used the international media focus that follows him to raise awareness of what happened there , ” Bynum said .
“ I am grateful for Gov .
Stitt making the recommendation and entirely agree with it.
” The importance of the site is exactly why Nichols thinks a Trump visit might not be such a good idea .
He noted that Trump said in 2019 that there were “ very fine people ” on both sides when white nationalists clashed with counterprotesters in Charlottesville , Virginia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still rings the ears of a lot of African Americans here in Tulsa today , ” Nichols said .
The Significance of the Greenwood District Tulsa ’ s Greenwood District , an affluent African American community , was the talk of the nation in the early 1900s .
Greenwood Avenue , known as Black Wall Street , had it all : restaurants , hotels , newspapers , theaters , grocery stores , beauty salons , doctors ’ and lawyers ’ offices and much more .
On May 30 , 1921 , Dick Rowland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accused of sexually assaulting Sarah Page , a white woman , while the two were in an elevator .
The details differed ― some witnesses said Rowland had tripped ― and grew more exaggerated as time went on .
Rowland was arrested the next day , and soon after , white and Black armed mobs gathered around the courthouse where Rowland was being held .
Within 24 hours , more than 800 people were injured , and historians now believe as many as 300 were murdered .
Over 6,000 Black Tulsans were imprisoned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ District had ceased to exist .
The fact that Stitt referenced the massacre as “ Tulsa Race Riot ” ― verbiage that has been intentionally left behind as it doesn ’ t accurately portray the event 99 years ago ― was criticized by Nichols , as was the governor ’ s lack of outreach to Black lawmakers .
“ I think it is pretty frustrating that the governor has done no outreach to the Black community or the Black elected officials here in Oklahoma , and given the response , it seems like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the wounds to be like , ‘ Oh Mr. President , you come here !
’ even though people have had a big issue with him being here in the first place , ” Nichols said .

LOADING ERROR LOADING
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) invited President Donald Trump to visit the site of the Tulsa Race Massacre when he travels to the city on Saturday for a campaign rally ― an event the president had postponed after heavy criticism for initially scheduling it on Juneteenth, a holiday that recognizes the end of Black slavery in the U.S.
But the state lawmaker who represents the area, Rep. Monroe Nichols (D), told HuffPost that suggesting Trump visit the site of the massacre was like “pouring a little salt in the wounds” of Black Oklahomans.
Advertisement
“You can’t roll back civil rights protections and then come to the Greenwood District to pay homage,” Nichols, who is Black, said in an interview.
The Tulsa rally will be Trump’s first since pausing campaign events during the coronavirus pandemic. The date ― initially scheduled for June 19, Juneteenth ― as well as the location both earned quick condemnation, given Trump’s record on race, his history of racist dog whistles and his response to ongoing protests of anti-Black racism and police brutality.
Stitt told reporters on Monday that he personally asked the president and vice president to join him in visiting the Greenwood District, an area once known as “Black Wall Street.” With the 100th anniversary of the massacre approaching in 2021, Stitt mentioned that the state has appropriated $1.5 million toward a museum on the massacre and that he was hoping for federal funds to help build it.
“Being from Tulsa, that is very important to Tulsans,” Stitt said. “It is very important to Oklahomans and really reconciliation in our state.”
Advertisement
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum (R) said he welcomed the idea of Trump visiting. Stitt and Bynum are both white.
“When you consider that people actively tried to cover up the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre for decades, I think it would be historic if the president of the United States paid his respects to the site and used the international media focus that follows him to raise awareness of what happened there,” Bynum said. “I am grateful for Gov. Stitt making the recommendation and entirely agree with it.”
The White House declined to comment on whether Trump will visit the area.
The importance of the site is exactly why Nichols thinks a Trump visit might not be such a good idea. He noted that Trump said in 2019 that there were “very fine people” on both sides when white nationalists clashed with counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. The remark “still rings the ears of a lot of African Americans here in Tulsa today,” Nichols said.
The Significance of the Greenwood District
Tulsa’s Greenwood District, an affluent African American community, was the talk of the nation in the early 1900s. Greenwood Avenue, known as Black Wall Street, had it all: restaurants, hotels, newspapers, theaters, grocery stores, beauty salons, doctors’ and lawyers’ offices and much more.
As Greenwood boomed, racial tensions grew in Tulsa.
On May 30, 1921, Dick Rowland, a young Black man, was accused of sexually assaulting Sarah Page, a white woman, while the two were in an elevator. The details differed ― some witnesses said Rowland had tripped ― and grew more exaggerated as time went on. Rowland was arrested the next day, and soon after, white and Black armed mobs gathered around the courthouse where Rowland was being held.
Advertisement
Shots were fired, and Black Tulsans retreated to the Greenwood District. Angry white mobs followed, looting and burning down Black Wall Street.
Within 24 hours, more than 800 people were injured, and historians now believe as many as 300 were murdered. Over 6,000 Black Tulsans were imprisoned and held for days. The Greenwood District had ceased to exist.
The fact that Stitt referenced the massacre as “Tulsa Race Riot” ― verbiage that has been intentionally left behind as it doesn’t accurately portray the event 99 years ago ― was criticized by Nichols, as was the governor’s lack of outreach to Black lawmakers.


huffpost--2020-06-16--As Coronavirus Bears Down, A Private Equity Deal Haunts A Top Puerto Rican Hospital

Hospitals , the vast majority of which are run by for-profit companies following a wave of privatization in the 1990s , prepared for a deluge of wheezing , feverish patients and dwindling supplies of protective gear .
But they weren ’ t ready for a severe drop in overall patients and the loss of revenue that caused .
Hospitals across the island started furloughing nurses and doctors the next month even as the death toll from COVID-19 , the deadly respiratory disease caused by the virus , continued to climb .
Grupo HIMA San Pablo , Puerto Rico ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the deepest cuts of all .
In late April , the company , which operates five hospitals across the island ’ s populous northeast , said it would lay off or reduce hours for 2,000 of its 4,900 employees .
The decision ― ultimately dialed back to 10 % of its workers ― came just two weeks after a pediatrician at its medical center in the mountain town of Caguas became the first doctor in Puerto Rico to die of COVID-19 .
The turmoil is a microcosm of the decadeslong crisis in Puerto @ @ @ @ @ @ @ status and high poverty rate rendered the island vulnerable to predatory lending practices and left its roughly 3 million residents with fewer protections than those enjoyed in the 50 states .
The situation within Grupo HIMA represents what some see as a philosophical debate unfolding in Puerto Rico , as the business class seeks to restore the island ’ s creditworthiness through tough choices and workers , bearing the brunt of those decisions , feel pushed to their limits .
In Philadelphia , private equity baron Joel Freedman shuttered a 456-bed hospital that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refused in March to reopen the facility to treat coronavirus victims unless the city paid him $ 1 million a month , a price officials said was too steep .
North of the city , in the Lehigh Valley , Cerberus Capital Management ’ s health care subsidiary threatened to close a 196-bed hospital it bought in 2017 unless the state paid the private equity firm $ 8 million for the month ― to which the state agreed .
And multiple private-equity-owned emergency room staffing companies have cut salaries or furloughed workers in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Things started to unravel soon after .
In an April 2013 lawsuit , the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation cited a 2007 loan Grupo HIMA received from the now-defunct Eurobank as an example of the San Juan-based bank ’ s reckless lending to companies that failed to demonstrate adequate income to pay back the borrowed money .
( The lawsuit may have made it difficult for Grupo HIMA to access traditional lines of credit , though the company rejected that characterization and said another bank picked up the loan after Eurobank ’ s closure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is still pending final judgment in a Puerto Rican court , as Grupo HIMA has continued appeals .
The company listed the lawsuit as one of its two biggest liabilities in its most recent audit filing to the Puerto Rico State Department .
Grupo HIMA did not disclose an estimate of the total potential sum “ due to the complexity and stage of this litigation , ” according to the filing .
But one union official told HuffPost the company owes at least $ 6 million in unpaid bonuses .
But in 1996 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with congressional Republicans to phase out the tax break that encouraged U.S. manufacturers to set up shop in Puerto Rico , setting off a downward debt spiral as the island ’ s government took out loan after loan to compensate for lost tax revenue as companies fled .
At the same time , Puerto Rico ’ s then-Gov .
Pedro Rosselló was transforming the island into a haven for conservative policy experiments , slashing capital gains taxes by 65 % , granting parochial school vouchers and privatizing industries from telecoms and hotels to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experiments went bust ; a government agency took back control of the water systems in 2001 .
But private hospitals proliferated .
Of the 66 hospitals listed in a 2018 directory from Puerto Rico ’ s Department of Health , 52 are private , 13 are public and one is federal .
The majority of private hospitals are controlled by four companies .
The largest , Metro Pavía , operates 12 hospitals and is controlled by the Artau family , which owns not only the health care providers but one of the largest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a report from watchdog group LittleSis .
Grupo HIMA is the second-largest , with five hospitals .

Demonstrators protest in front of the heavily guarded Capitol building in San Juan. picture alliance via Getty Images
As the coronavirus pandemic reached Puerto Rico’s shores in mid-March, the island enacted one of the strictest lockdowns in the United States, installing a nightly curfew and threatening violators with fines of up to $5,000 and six months in jail.
Hospitals, the vast majority of which are run by for-profit companies following a wave of privatization in the 1990s, prepared for a deluge of wheezing, feverish patients and dwindling supplies of protective gear. But they weren’t ready for a severe drop in overall patients and the loss of revenue that caused. Hospitals across the island started furloughing nurses and doctors the next month even as the death toll from COVID-19, the deadly respiratory disease caused by the virus, continued to climb.
Advertisement
Grupo HIMA San Pablo, Puerto Rico’s No. 2 hospital chain, announced the deepest cuts of all. In late April, the company, which operates five hospitals across the island’s populous northeast, said it would lay off or reduce hours for 2,000 of its 4,900 employees. The decision ― ultimately dialed back to 10% of its workers ― came just two weeks after a pediatrician at its medical center in the mountain town of Caguas became the first doctor in Puerto Rico to die of COVID-19.
Grupo HIMA blamed Puerto Rico’s government for failing to deliver on extra stimulus funding it promised to keep hospitals afloat during the crisis, and said its struggles are no different from other health care providers across the country. By June, the company said it rehired most of its furloughed workers through a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan.
But the reprieve is temporary. When it runs out, workers and union officials fear the company will make steeper cuts than any of its rivals because it’s struggling to pay back past-due loans to a notorious “vulture” fund.
A HuffPost review of financial disclosures and regulatory filings indicates Grupo HIMA is past due on paying off nearly $20 million to WhiteHorse Finance, the lending subsidiary of Miami-based private equity giant HIG Capital whose $34 billion portfolio includes major investments in for-profit prisons and immigrant detention centers. While Grupo HIMA appears to also owe money to other lenders, watchdog groups say the spending cuts track with the private equity playbook and mirror similar attempts by the industry to squeeze profits out of health care companies amid a historic pandemic.
Advertisement
“We’re scared,” said one employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being fired. “We’re scared for our jobs. We’re scared we might get infected at any moment. And we’re scared about the hospital falling into these creditors’ hands.”
The turmoil is a microcosm of the decadeslong crisis in Puerto Rico, an American territory whose colonial status and high poverty rate rendered the island vulnerable to predatory lending practices and left its roughly 3 million residents with fewer protections than those enjoyed in the 50 states. The situation within Grupo HIMA represents what some see as a philosophical debate unfolding in Puerto Rico, as the business class seeks to restore the island’s creditworthiness through tough choices and workers, bearing the brunt of those decisions, feel pushed to their limits.
Yet it may also offer another example of how the private equity industry, whose cut-throat profit squeezing earns frequent comparisons to birds that subsist on the carcasses of others, has inflamed a devastating public health crisis.
In Philadelphia, private equity baron Joel Freedman shuttered a 456-bed hospital that primarily served poor patients in September and refused in March to reopen the facility to treat coronavirus victims unless the city paid him $1 million a month, a price officials said was too steep. North of the city, in the Lehigh Valley, Cerberus Capital Management’s health care subsidiary threatened to close a 196-bed hospital it bought in 2017 unless the state paid the private equity firm $8 million for the month ― to which the state agreed. And multiple private-equity-owned emergency room staffing companies have cut salaries or furloughed workers in recent weeks, as ProPublica reported.
The Walking Debt
Grupo HIMA’s financial woes started in February 2013, when the hospital system received a $262 million loan from Credit Suisse and the Bank of Nova Scotia.
Advertisement
The loan was intended to fund Grupo HIMA’s first expansion outside Puerto Rico ― a bid to take over a trio of public hospitals in Madrid as the Spanish government sought to sell off public assets at the peak of that country’s own debt crisis. The company put up its properties in Puerto Rico as collateral.
A month later, WhiteHorse Finance entered the fray, announcing its control of two liens against Grupo HIMA’s properties.
A patient lies in a hospital bed in the hallway inside the emergency room at the Grupo HIMA San Pablo hospital in Caguas, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 29, 2017. Boston Globe via Getty Images
Things started to unravel soon after. In an April 2013 lawsuit, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation cited a 2007 loan Grupo HIMA received from the now-defunct Eurobank as an example of the San Juan-based bank’s reckless lending to companies that failed to demonstrate adequate income to pay back the borrowed money. (The lawsuit may have made it difficult for Grupo HIMA to access traditional lines of credit, though the company rejected that characterization and said another bank picked up the loan after Eurobank’s closure.)
A month later, health care workers at the Spanish hospitals went on strike to protest privatization efforts, including Grupo HIMA’s planned takeover of three hospitals. In January 2014, Spanish officials canceled the deal.
Advertisement
Repaying the loans depended, in theory, on Grupo HIMA expanding its operations to increase its revenue. Instead, the company started to cut costs.
In December 2015, the company refused to pay its workers the annual Christmas bonus required under Puerto Rican law. The firm said the Puerto Rican government granted an exemption from the law amid a wave of requests from other troubled companies. But the bonuses were enshrined in workers’ contracts at Grupo HIMA’s three unionized hospitals. In January 2016, the General Union of Workers, a local affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, sued over the missed bonus payments.
Years later, the lawsuit is still pending final judgment in a Puerto Rican court, as Grupo HIMA has continued appeals. The company listed the lawsuit as one of its two biggest liabilities in its most recent audit filing to the Puerto Rico State Department. Grupo HIMA did not disclose an estimate of the total potential sum “due to the complexity and stage of this litigation,” according to the filing. But one union official told HuffPost the company owes at least $6 million in unpaid bonuses.
Debt was the other, bigger liability the company reported. By the end of 2018, the most recent year covered in the audit disclosures, Grupo HIMA’s debt swelled to $280 million, a $20 million increase from 2017.
The company’s revenues, meanwhile, stagnated. Grupo HIMA reported unbilled receivables ― a line item that typically represents money the company is technically owed but deems unlikely to recoup ― from Puerto Rico’s Medicaid-backed government health insurer increased by 3 percentage points between 2017 and 2018.
Advertisement
“Their cash flow is not improving because they’re still owed a ton of money from health care providers and insurance companies ― but not enough to justify a $20 million bump in indebtedness,” said Armando Santiago Pintado, a legal expert and coordinator with Hedge Clippers, a nonprofit watchdog that tracks public institutions’ debt to private financiers. “It’s just insane.”
Between 2017 and 2019, Grupo HIMA shed nearly 200 workers at its biggest hospitals, according to a HuffPost analysis of employment numbers the company disclosed in the annual Caribbean Business Book of Lists for each year. By contrast, Metro Pavía Health System, the island’s largest private hospital chain, lost just 59 employees during that same period. Hospital Auxilio Mutuo, another large hospital in San Juan, was down six employees.
Grupo HIMA has not yet submitted its 2019 audit to the island’s regulators and, as a private company, it does not release its quarterly earnings to the public. But WhiteHorse’s quarterly reports show Grupo HIMA owed the final payments on its two loans in July 2018 and April 2019, respectively. But recent filings list a new May 2019 acquisition date on one of the loans, suggesting Grupo HIMA refinanced the deal.
A spokesman for WhiteHorse did not respond to multiple emails requesting comment.
Grupo HIMA Vice President Heidi Rodríguez Benítez acknowledged “that loan expired.” But, in two lengthy phone interviews, she repeatedly declined to comment on the deal, stating the company’s “relationship with the lenders” is “confidential” and she was “not at liberty to speak about individual lenders.”
But she said “decisions regarding our workforce and the times when we have made a determination to reduce the workforce are all decisions that the hospital has made,” and while “we discuss these topics with our lenders, we do not allow them to intervene in those decisions.”
Advertisement
“We’re having all of the costs without any of the returns,” she said during the first interview in April. “It’s just simple math.”
Rather, she said Grupo HIMA had banked on the Puerto Rican government directing stimulus money to hospitals. But the fiscal control board that since 2016 has had final say over any public spending in Puerto Rico quashed legislation that would have provided more money to hospitals.
In June, Grupo HIMA received some funding from the government, and secured a Paycheck Protection Program loan through the federal Small Business Administration, allowing the firm to bring furloughed employees back full time. But the fate of the workforce once that program expires rests in restoring revenues from patients returning for service.
“We’re doing everything we can to go back to resuming our occupancy from before the pandemic,” Rodríguez Benítez said. “Hopefully that’s where we’re headed.”
Yet narrowing the company’s financial pressures to the past few months ignores the reality that the “interest they’re paying to a private debt firm is money that’s not going into providing care for patients at the hospital,” said Jim Baker, executive director of the group Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a watchdog group that tracks the effects of loans.
Advertisement
“It’s millions of dollars they’re paying in interest annually on this debt to HIG,” Baker said. “If they’re ultimately stuck in high-interest loans with companies like this, it undoubtedly impacts the quality of care they can provide.”
A Troubled Private System
Profit-seeking wasn’t always a fixture of Puerto Rico’s medical system. From the 1960s to the 1990s, the island experienced a period of relative economic stability as the United States poured resources into its biggest quasi-colonial possession in hopes of quelling calls for independence and making Puerto Rico an example of capitalism’s supremacy over neighboring communist Cuba.
But in 1996, President Bill Clinton struck a deal with congressional Republicans to phase out the tax break that encouraged U.S. manufacturers to set up shop in Puerto Rico, setting off a downward debt spiral as the island’s government took out loan after loan to compensate for lost tax revenue as companies fled. At the same time, Puerto Rico’s then-Gov. Pedro Rosselló was transforming the island into a haven for conservative policy experiments, slashing capital gains taxes by 65%, granting parochial school vouchers and privatizing industries from telecoms and hotels to tap water and health care. Some experiments went bust; a government agency took back control of the water systems in 2001. But private hospitals proliferated.
A person carries a Puerto Rican national flag during a protest against the government's austerity measures in 2017. Alvin Baez / Reuters
Of the 66 hospitals listed in a 2018 directory from Puerto Rico’s Department of Health, 52 are private, 13 are public and one is federal. The majority of private hospitals are controlled by four companies. The largest, Metro Pavía, operates 12 hospitals and is controlled by the Artau family, which owns not only the health care providers but one of the largest private insurers, First Medical, according to a report from watchdog group LittleSis. Grupo HIMA is the second-largest, with five hospitals.
Advertisement
Yet as the majority of hospitals turned into profit-seeking enterprises, roughly half of Puerto Ricans remained on the Government Health Plan, a program funded through Medicaid.
The problem there is that Puerto Rico, as a territory, does not receive the open-ended federal funds to match Medicaid-covered expenditures that states receive. It receives only a fixed block grant each year “that does not come close to covering the costs of health care for its Medicaid enrollees,” according to an April 2019 report from the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Once the block grant is spent, the island “must use its own funds to pay the entire remaining cost of Medicaid health care services,” the report read.
“We have the reality in Puerto Rico that the system was privatized in the ’90s, and more parts of the health care structure here are drawing private actors,” said Víctor Ramos Otero, the president of the College of Physicians-Surgeons of Puerto Rico, a trade group. “We’re dealing with that, and I think that’s a problem.”
Yet, since 2016, the Puerto Rican government hasn’t had direct control over its finances. After decades of selling bonds to make up for the tax revenue lost when manufacturers left the island, the territory defaulted on its loans. Unable to declare bankruptcy, Congress and the Obama administration established an unelected fiscal control board with final say over Puerto Rico’s spending. The control board has generally made paying back the island’s bondholders a higher priority than maintaining social services and pension payments to Puerto Ricans, and moved to reduce Medicaid spending.
The Government Health Plan made up 20% of the Grupo HIMA’s billed receivables ― money it’s owed ― in its 2018 regulatory filing, a 5% decrease from 2017. But the percentage of unbilled receivables ― money it’s owed but doesn’t expect to collect ― rose 3 points to 28%. The problem, said Santiago Pintado, is it’s costly to take insurers to court.
Advertisement
“They rarely go after them because it’s expensive and they don’t have the cash flow to do it,” he said.
Rodríguez Benítez was blunt: "If you speak to anyone from a hospital anywhere in the United States, I think most people would say health plans suck. That's just true. It's true about the government health plan, for sure."
COVID-19, meanwhile, could be on the brink getting worse as businesses and beaches start reopening. In June, the island began experiencing its highest seven-day averages of new coronavirus cases yet.


huffpost--2020-06-16--Through Food, Padma Lakshmi Explores What It Means To Be American

I basically wanted to see what our country was like on the ground .
Who were the new Americans , who were the older Americans who had established themselves here 30 years ago or 100 years ago ?
I wanted to look at who actually was shaping the country both in the culinary perspective , but also in a broader perspective .
Because the ideas of who gets to call themselves American and what is American food has largely been hijacked by people in power , but those aren ’ t the people who are shaping the American diet .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ rib and mashed potatoes ; we ’ re eating pad thai , we ’ re eating tacos , we ’ re eating sushi and shawarma .
If you look at surveys done by Uber Eats and stuff , that is what you will see .
Even in the middle of the country , the food is really diverse and dynamic , and it is that way because the people are very diverse and dynamic .
I personally think that ’ s something to be celebrated .
I also wanted these communities to speak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of other people speaking about immigrants and feeding a lot of misleading information .
I think some of the rhetoric that has come out of Washington has really vilified immigrants and negated the enormous contributions that immigrants have made to this nation .
The nation is what it is because of generations of immigration .
So , this is my answer to a lot of that rhetoric for political gain and fear mongering .
I posit that immigration is a powerful , positive thing to our economy , to our pop culture , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to our food .
That ’ s what makes us great .
That should be celebrated .
That should not be feared .
Immigrants are not a threat .
I mean , so much of my writing is personal , so that was OK .
But it was weird .
It was weird to put my kid on camera .
My mom is not camera ready , she ’ s not media savvy , so that felt really vulnerable .
And also I obviously couldn ’ t be objective about it , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was a little bit like pulling teeth for me just because I don ’ t want the series to come off as all about me .
That ’ s the opposite of what it ’ s about .
It ’ s about handing the microphone to other people who haven ’ t had the platform to say what life is like for them .
I just wanted to make sure that it didn ’ t come off as self-centered .
I relied heavily , for that episode , on my showrunner [ Sarina @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remember one day we were having a conversation and she was like , “ OK , I guess you don ’ t want it to be about you , but you should just expect the same out of yourself that you expect from all the other guests on the show.
” And so I had to have my kid on it , I had to show my house , I had to have my mom on it .
Because I ’ m asking all of these communities I go into to let me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ personal questions .
So it would have been totally hypocritical of me not to be willing to do the same with my own life .
But I don ’ t think I understood how much guilt she still carries about leaving me in India for two years without her and with my grandparents .
I know it intellectually , but to have her say it and so quickly get to tears ...
I think she still carries a lot of feelings about that .
You know , it ’ s an experience that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their parents have to make sacrifices .
And when you ’ re a kid , you don ’ t need your parent ’ s behavior to satisfy you because you don ’ t have the knowledge and life experiences to view it that way .
If you watch the Peruvian episode , Erik Ramirez ’ s mom has the same situation with his grandma .
It is a theme that runs through a lot of immigrant communities .
There ’ s a lot of sacrifice that ’ s made to come here to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contribute to the greater economy by pursuing your own “ American dream.
” By the way , I ’ m not somebody who ’ s a hardcore Democrat , either .
I only registered as a Democrat in this election so I could vote in the primaries .
I always grew up with both Democrats and Republicans in my family , and just approaching every candidate on the merits of his or her own views and qualifications .
So , I ’ m not by any means the standard bearer for the Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about me convincing Haddad of the errors of his beliefs , it was about me checking my ego and really allowing myself a true , deep glimpse into what his needs were .
If I were sitting at a bar or dinner party , I probably would have spoken my mind , but I ’ m a guest at his business .
I am the one who asked him to let me speak to him directly and speak to his employees and disrupt his business to film that day .
At the very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point of view without trying to manipulate it .
Last year was such a whirlwind .
I filmed a good portion of “ Taste the Nation ” during the summer from June to September .
Then we shut down production to allow me to go out and film “ Top Chef , ” which was filmed in September , October and then November in Italy .
I filmed one episode with Madhur Jaffrey in November and then filmed all of December .
Literally two days before Christmas , I had finished the principal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ show .
We had three production teams : one was in pre-production , one was in the field with me and then a third was doing post-production .
It was an intense experience , but one that I wouldn ’ t change for the world .
For me , it was really about showing , not telling , and demonstrating the humanity of these people , as opposed to all the white people in Washington bad-mouthing immigrants saying that they are going to bring crime and filth and take our jobs .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same goals that everyone else has , which is to live a peaceful life so that somehow their family could thrive , they could put their kids through school and take care of their parents and elders .
Those human values do not have an ethnicity and nobody should have a monopoly on that .

Padma Lakshmi talks to HuffPost about her new show "Taste the Nation." Illustration: HuffPost; Photos: Hulu
At the height of the pandemic, author and television personality Padma Lakshmi decided to turn off the news and turn on “Game of Thrones.” The host had recently wrapped production on her new Hulu show “Taste the Nation” and Bravo’s long-running culinary competition series “Top Chef” when she was given the gift of forced downtime.
“I never had the time to watch it,” she told HuffPost during a phone call. “So, during quarantine, I caught up and literally watched from Episode 1 to the conclusion. So that kept me in a bubble.”
Advertisement
That bubble of ice and fire burst when COVID-19 became more of an afterthought amid continued protests over racial injustice and police brutality in the U.S. Lakshmi was angry and, in usual fashion, took to social media to point out flaws in the system. (Exhibit A: President Donald Trump.) But what she didn’t realize was how relatable certain scenes from the HBO epic would be.
″‘Game of Thrones’ is so violent,” she said, “so it was just a vicarious way to parallel and experience a lot of the atrocities that were out in our streets.”
It may sound odd that Lakshmi ― an ambassador for the American Civil Liberties Union and an outspoken ally to marginalized groups ― was entrenched in the fictional world of Westeros at a time like this, but self-care is important to maintain as we risk information overload.
Which is why “Taste the Nation” comes at an ideal time.
The 10-episode series will entice audiences looking for a brief escape as Lakshmi explores the diverse food culture of various immigrant communities across the U.S., seeking out people who have impacted the creation of American cuisine. She eats burritos in El Paso, brews beer in a stranger’s garage in Milwaukee, and discusses the true definition of chop suey with Ali Wong in San Francisco’s Chinatown ― all while uncovering stories that challenge notions of identity and what it means to be American. Lakshmi, who was born in India, dedicates an episode to Jackson Heights, Queens, to share her own family’s traditions and sit down with her idol, Madhur Jaffrey, who paved a path for subcontinental cooking in the States.
Advertisement
But it was the unknown that excited Lakshmi most.
“It was a real odyssey because I was going into the corners of our country that I would have never had the opportunity to go to otherwise,” she said. “I’ve never been on a Native American reservation. I have never been on a fishing boat. I have never foraged for my own food. I have never chopped sugarcane. There were all these things that were firsts for me, which is what I wanted the experience to be.”
“I tried not to approach my work so much as a food expert or scholar, but rather as the audience’s representative,” Lakshmi added.
In this interview (which has been edited and condensed for clarity), she discusses traveling the country pre-coronavirus and how telling her personal story was harder than she imagined it would be.
On "Taste the Nation," Padma Lakshmi dives into Japanese culture, ubiquitous in Honolulu, to understand just how far its cultural footprint reaches. She slings fish and rolls sushi where a century and a half ago Japanese immigrants first docked on Hawaii's shores. Marie Hobro/Hulu
We’re in a pandemic, spending time with family, cooking, adjusting to a new normal. But now we’re once again facing the reality of police violence and racism in our country. How have you been coping with everything over the last few months?
Advertisement
I mean, look, I’m really disappointed. But I’m also thankful because I do have a nice place to shelter and quarantine with my family. I am in a place that’s better than many Americans. I have health insurance. I have the things I need, which is not true for a large number of Americans and people around the world.
On the other side, I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted emotionally. There is so much shit to get mad about that you just don’t even know how to organize it all. Lately, I felt like all I’ve been doing is yelling on Twitter and Instagram, which is why a lot of times you’ll just see my tweets on Instagram because I just don’t have the fortitude. But I can’t not say anything, you know? And then things come out that you’re like, “Oh my God, it’s way worse than even I suspected.”
It is exhausting, but it feels vital to stay informed. For me, it’s been about finding the balance between how much I take in and when I need to take a break and step away for a bit.
I just stopped watching CNN. Every day, since I can’t go work out, I’ve been jumping rope. I put my headphones in and I listen to “The Daily” from The New York Times and I listen to “Up First” by NPR. That usually takes me to a half an hour of jumping rope and I feel like I’ve gotten what’s most important. And then I’ll read the news, but I won’t watch the news.
In terms of coronavirus, for a lot of people it’s been about finding an escape. “Taste the Nation” offers that in a way as we’re stuck at home, we’re not traveling, we’re not out at restaurants. There’s something about this show that will remind people there’s a world out there and eventually we’ll get back into it.
Advertisement
I, obviously, couldn’t have known the environment in which I was releasing this show. I don’t think anyone would have predicted this kind of one-two punch that we’ve had ― a lot of it very necessary, by the way. But I hope that it really educates people, entertains them and allows them to vicariously travel through me.
In a blog post on HuffPost a few years back, you said the U.S. is a superpower because “we’ve managed to take the best of each immigrant culture and create our own uniquely American culture.” Did that statement inspire the creation of this series, which shows how cultures intertwine through food?
I basically wanted to see what our country was like on the ground. Who were the new Americans, who were the older Americans who had established themselves here 30 years ago or 100 years ago? I wanted to look at who actually was shaping the country both in the culinary perspective, but also in a broader perspective. Because the ideas of who gets to call themselves American and what is American food has largely been hijacked by people in power, but those aren’t the people who are shaping the American diet. We’re not all eating prime rib and mashed potatoes; we’re eating pad thai, we’re eating tacos, we’re eating sushi and shawarma. If you look at surveys done by Uber Eats and stuff, that is what you will see. Even in the middle of the country, the food is really diverse and dynamic, and it is that way because the people are very diverse and dynamic. I personally think that’s something to be celebrated.
I also wanted these communities to speak for themselves. I’m tired of other people speaking about immigrants and feeding a lot of misleading information. I think some of the rhetoric that has come out of Washington has really vilified immigrants and negated the enormous contributions that immigrants have made to this nation. The nation is what it is because of generations of immigration. So, this is my answer to a lot of that rhetoric for political gain and fear mongering. I posit that immigration is a powerful, positive thing to our economy, to our pop culture, to our art, to our media, to our food. That’s what makes us great. That should be celebrated. That should not be feared. Immigrants are not a threat.
Advertisement
“The idea of who gets to call themselves American and what is American food has largely been hijacked by people in power, but those aren’t the people who are shaping the American diet.” - Padma Lakshmi
You speak to your own experience as an immigrant. The episode “Don’t Mind If I Dosa” is a lovely look at your story ― and that of your mother and daughter. How was it for you to explore your own history through this outlet of food and cooking, which you love so much?
I mean, so much of my writing is personal, so that was OK. But it was weird. It was weird to put my kid on camera. My mom is not camera ready, she’s not media savvy, so that felt really vulnerable. And also I obviously couldn’t be objective about it, you know? So, that episode was a little bit like pulling teeth for me just because I don’t want the series to come off as all about me. That’s the opposite of what it’s about. It’s about handing the microphone to other people who haven’t had the platform to say what life is like for them. I just wanted to make sure that it didn’t come off as self-centered.
I relied heavily, for that episode, on my showrunner [Sarina Roma] to guide me. I remember one day we were having a conversation and she was like, “OK, I guess you don’t want it to be about you, but you should just expect the same out of yourself that you expect from all the other guests on the show.” And so I had to have my kid on it, I had to show my house, I had to have my mom on it. Because I’m asking all of these communities I go into to let me into some intimate spaces and ask very personal questions. So it would have been totally hypocritical of me not to be willing to do the same with my own life.
What did you learn from being more vulnerable?
I learned that my mother doesn’t put molasses in Rasam, which is something I never knew or thought about. [Laughs]
Advertisement
But I don’t think I understood how much guilt she still carries about leaving me in India for two years without her and with my grandparents. I know it intellectually, but to have her say it and so quickly get to tears ... I think she still carries a lot of feelings about that. You know, it’s an experience that a lot of immigrant children have because their parents have to make sacrifices. And when you’re a kid, you don’t need your parent’s behavior to satisfy you because you don’t have the knowledge and life experiences to view it that way. If you watch the Peruvian episode, Erik Ramirez’s mom has the same situation with his grandma. It is a theme that runs through a lot of immigrant communities. There’s a lot of sacrifice that’s made to come here to this country and have the privilege to contribute to the greater economy by pursuing your own “American dream.”
Padma Lakshmi and her mother, Vijaya Lakshmi, in 2016. David Livingston via Getty Images
There are so many interesting moments you have with guests on the show. During the El Paso episode, for instance, you were able to discuss politics with a conservative business owner, Maynard Haddad, who runs his restaurant with the help of Mexican immigrants.
I really wanted that interview very badly because I wanted to make a full portrait of the complexity and nuance of that particular community. Here’s a guy who will tell you that all his employees are family to him and he loves them like his own, and I believe him. And yet, even though he doesn’t agree with Trump’s policies on immigration, he will still support Trump. And in that moment where he says, “What choice do I have?” In my head, I’m screaming, “You have a lot of choice! You don’t have to vote Republican.”
Advertisement
By the way, I’m not somebody who’s a hardcore Democrat, either. I only registered as a Democrat in this election so I could vote in the primaries. I always grew up with both Democrats and Republicans in my family, and just approaching every candidate on the merits of his or her own views and qualifications. So, I’m not by any means the standard bearer for the Democratic Party. But it wasn’t about me convincing Haddad of the errors of his beliefs, it was about me checking my ego and really allowing myself a true, deep glimpse into what his needs were. If I were sitting at a bar or dinner party, I probably would have spoken my mind, but I’m a guest at his business. I am the one who asked him to let me speak to him directly and speak to his employees and disrupt his business to film that day. At the very least, I needed to hear his point of view without trying to manipulate it.
Did you find that, when you approached people for interviews and asked to be in their kitchens, they were truly open to telling their stories?
Yeah. I mean, I don’t want to be where I’m not welcome and I also understand privacy, because it’s been hard to maintain my own privacy in the public eye for a very long time. Half the people knew that I was an established person who was totally legit in food on TV. I’m self-aware enough to know that that gave me a certain entrée that I may not have had 20 years ago. And so, I think it was easier for them to open up to me because the presumed main subject was food and I use that conversation about food as a way to embed myself in their communities and talk about deeper issues.
Clearly, people outside of the fancy food world have very emotional connections and fully formed opinions about things that they can eat. Everyone will talk to you about their grandmother’s apple pie or their abuela’s tamale. So, in a way, that gave us a common ground in the elementary discussion. And in the process of that, they felt that I was genuinely curious to hear their point of view, to hear what their experience was, to let them tell their own story. I did not want to manipulate any of my subjects into feeling like they had to give me a right or wrong answer.
Advertisement
What an opportunity to have before going into lockdown. You were able to travel the country, meet new people, try new foods, eat at an array of restaurants ...
Last year was such a whirlwind. I filmed a good portion of “Taste the Nation” during the summer from June to September. Then we shut down production to allow me to go out and film “Top Chef,” which was filmed in September, October and then November in Italy. I filmed one episode with Madhur Jaffrey in November and then filmed all of December. Literally two days before Christmas, I had finished the principal photography and all the travel for the show. We had three production teams: one was in pre-production, one was in the field with me and then a third was doing post-production. It was an intense experience, but one that I wouldn’t change for the world.
For me, it was really about showing, not telling, and demonstrating the humanity of these people, as opposed to all the white people in Washington bad-mouthing immigrants saying that they are going to bring crime and filth and take our jobs. That they were the everyday folk who have the same goals that everyone else has, which is to live a peaceful life so that somehow their family could thrive, they could put their kids through school and take care of their parents and elders. Those human values do not have an ethnicity and nobody should have a monopoly on that.