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Black Love, Black History, What's Next... A Mystery!
63 Plays2 months ago
Despite February being only 28 days long, this RTL discussion was far from short! Join our hosts as they not only celebrate the joys of Black History Month and Valentine's Day, but touch on other high yield topics of this month like Kendrick's Superbowl performance, the signing of Executive Orders, the Grammy's, the short lived Tik Tok ban, Match Day, and more!
TW: This episode does mention the sensitive topics of sexual assault and traumatic events.
Click here to apply to the Pre-Medical/Health Leader Scholarship application: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=8-Dtl2dCXkeadGCrglRkx8n_WHoNd95JvlgPZOJy2w9UQUFaTzhFSTcwNURKNFlUUE01N01aWDFCSy4u
Be sure to continue to stay tuned for more of our upcoming programming being released here on The Lounge!
To share your thoughts on our discussions or if you have any questions to ask our hosts, email podcast@snma.org for a chance to be featured on the show!
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed on our podcast do not reflect the official stance of the Student National Medical Association.
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Transcript
Opening & Pre-Medical Health Leadership Scholarship
00:00:00
Speaker
The views expressed on this podcast represent only those of the hosts and do not represent the views of the Student National Medical Association.
00:00:08
Speaker
We're thrilled to announce the application opening for the Pre-Medical Health Leadership Scholarship. This scholarship is dedicated to recognizing pre-medical students who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in their extracurricular activities, including SNMA.
00:00:22
Speaker
If you are a pre-med student who is not only academically driven, but also passionate about making an impact in your community, organizations, and the field of medicine, this scholarship is for you. Let us support your journey to becoming a leader in medicine while promoting diversity and excellence.
00:00:37
Speaker
Click the link below to apply now and take the next step toward your future in healthcare. care The deadline is March 1st, 2025 by 1159 Eastern Time.
The Lounge Podcast & Minorities in Medicine
00:00:45
Speaker
now let's
00:01:06
Speaker
All right, welcome to SMA Presents The Lounge. Whether in the student lounge, the doctor's lounge, or lounging around at home, get ready to join SMA for a meaningful conversation of topics affecting minorities in medicine and groups that often sit at the margins of healthcare.
00:01:20
Speaker
I'm Dr. Dumebi, and we have reached the month of celebrating love and Black History Month. As love is in the air, I'm curious to know, what is your dream day idea, Hose? Hmm.
00:01:33
Speaker
Well, I guess I can start.
Ideal Date Scenarios
00:01:36
Speaker
um So hi, everyone. I'm student Dr. Isabella, soon to be in a couple months. had Dr. Isabella, you know, have to spit on it.
00:01:46
Speaker
um
00:01:50
Speaker
So my dream date idea. i feel like I'm somebody who I really like. um I really like that part of the morning where like the sky kind of transitions like from the dark to like the light where you see like the pink, the yellows, that kind of thing. So I think I feel like I'd want to do something that's like an early morning kind of like picnic or something where like the dawn is about to break and you kind of just witness this beautiful sunset.
00:02:18
Speaker
doesn't really matter what I'm eating or like what's going on, but i feel like just that intentionality of like, the scene and the setting. And like, I feel like that period of time where the sun is like about to rise. i don't know. That's just so beautiful to me. So I feel like whatever activity where I could be able to witness that would be like a great day idea.
00:02:36
Speaker
But yeah. What about you guys?
00:02:41
Speaker
Um, for myself, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm bit of romantic guy. So my ideal date, it's going to be evening time. ah We're going to do a couple of things, right? So you you clear out your schedule.
00:02:53
Speaker
um It's going to start with an activity. out the schedule. hopeful but Clear out the schedule. clearance schedule um We'll usually start with some kind of activity with light drinks. You know what I'm saying? is Something like axe throwing, maybe bowling, something where we can like, you know, have some laughs, compete against each other, you know, have some light conversation like that.
00:03:12
Speaker
Then we're going to go to somewhere that's like not too, you know, uptight to eat, but you know, it's going to be something like more like casual, like, uh, good bar vibes, you know, somewhere like nice, uh, a nice, uh, watering hole for the, uh, for the and people who are coming from work and stuff like that. A nice after work spot, you know, ah get something, get something light to eat.
00:03:32
Speaker
Um, nice drinks, you know, good vibes. Usually there's good music playing stuff like that. You catch a little vibe at a spot like that. Then we'll leave and we'll go somewhere else that you can like, uh,
00:03:44
Speaker
comedy show kind of vibe, something where you can like, okay, now we're going to sit and experience something together. And then we finish off the evening with a, with an after hour spot, you know, something where once again, you know, good music drinks, something like that, where we can talk and like, you know, kind of round out the evening, see how we feel about each other, stuff like that.
00:04:03
Speaker
Um, yeah, that's, that's a, it's a good day right there.
Dating Tips & Relaxed Date Preferences
00:04:09
Speaker
it's giving full fleshed flesh date yeah that's i feel like that's how it should be though as a guy like you really should have that boop boop boop like the girl should just show up you know i'm trying to say and enjoy the enjoy the vibe enjoy the plan you feel me and and you're gonna be surprised every time i got some secret sauce should i give you the secret sauce isabella should i give you the secret sauce you listen we're already here what's the secret sauce So boom, right? this The secret sauce, right?
00:04:37
Speaker
Before you pick her up for the date, you get her address. You ask her, oh yeah, where am I picking you up? Boom, boom. You send a little edible arrangements ahead of you. um Let the edible arrangements get to the crib. Huh?
00:04:50
Speaker
huh Have you actually done this? I've actually done this. Yeah. okay You send the edible arrangements ahead and then, um, you know, you attach a nice little note to it. Like something, nothing crazy. It's a nice little note. Oh yeah. i Can't wait to see you later.
00:05:03
Speaker
Guess the energy high. You know what I'm saying? and then she fed and And then now, now the anticipation is there. Now everybody's excited for it. Now go have a great date. So it's a little secret sauce. for you little secret saucerry let happy that Happy February, everybody.
00:05:17
Speaker
okay period all right all right like that what about you do maybe i guess for me like i guess it's changed over the years now really like relaxing dates i used to like very like activities like rock climbing bowling all that stuff now i love to lay and i like being near water so like if there's somewhere where i can just lay it down and be near water have a nice little margarita cocktail whatever and just literally lay like i'm not trying to do anything but lay and um dream honestly because when do you have time just sit down and be with your thoughts and just yeah it's just relax and look at water i think it's cool yeah spoken like a true resident right no seriously seriously it's giving i need to rest even on dates right
00:06:02
Speaker
um yeah want to do right Nah, that's fire. That's fire. That was great. But now let's move into the February version of everybody's favorite time.
Kendrick Lamar & Super Bowl Performances
00:06:15
Speaker
Run the list. For our preclinical students, running the patient list on the wards allows the team to address pressing matters of the day. In this segment of the show, we'll be discussing some recent events in medicine and beyond affecting our communities and the populations we serve.
00:06:31
Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, Mustard. must I ain't gonna scream in your ears right now, but um we gotta jump straight into the Super Bowl. ain't even gonna talk about the game because that game was... Whatever. What's the medical way to say ah you you you you didn't find anything?
00:06:53
Speaker
inclusive or benign yeah benign that game was benign thank you guys that game was absolutely benign non-significant no no no significant findings yeah no but that halftime show though So um for those of y'all that may not know, you know, Kendrick Lamar performed. It was February 9th, 2025. It was at the Caesar Superdome in NOLA.
00:07:17
Speaker
um Big shout outs to NOLA. You know what I'm saying? The Super Bowl follows the SNMA's lead. You feel me? We did our, we did AMEC there. They was like, oh yeah, they did AMEC. We got to do the Super Bowl there now. Right. And Kendrick had a star-studded performance where he featured acts like ah Serena Williams, Samuel Jackson, SZA, and DJ Mustard came out as well.
00:07:39
Speaker
And he... decided to give it a bit of a ah narrative spin. He decided to um you know tell a story with his performance. And he drew in a record-breaking 133.5 million viewers across all platforms, streams, the broadcast,
00:07:58
Speaker
um the most watched Super Bowl ever. More than Michael Jackson, more than Beyonce, yeah ever. yeah What do we think?
00:08:12
Speaker
You know, I first want to say that a lot of what was surrounding the views that I think of the Super Bowl outside of, you know, it being Jalen Hurts, who's apparently easy on the eyes, but, you know, he has his his girl. So I'm not going, I don't disrespect relationships. So ah I close my eyes. And then, um but then on top of that, right, you have Kendrick's halftime performance, which we know his like most,
00:08:39
Speaker
anticipated song is going to be not like us which pretty much is a diss song right so this man's headlining song is going to be a diss song and the diss is against a very top dog in the industry drake so i feel like just the fact that we're like going through so many monumental things with this particular super bowl and i think also to jalen hurts being the qb at the time right we haven't had that many black qbs leading like super bowl victory so i think there was just a lot of a lot of like firsts well i wouldn't say it was a first at least for like jalen hurts but like at least there was like a lot of like monumental things happening for this particular super bowl which really drew in of a very sizable crowd i'll help set the stage for that one actually we have a rematch to the super bowl of two years prior kansas city versus philadelphia we have kansas city in their third straight super bowl attempting to complete uh the first ever three-peat um
00:09:32
Speaker
and And yes, and so so those things are are what's really like, you know, yeah setting the stage for this to be so monumental. And then, you know, you got Travis Kelsey, Dan Taylor Swift. Oh, and um President Donald Trump was in attendance as well.
00:09:45
Speaker
sorry So, yeah, definitely um just a lot of ah buzz around the Super Bowl overall. So, yeah, you know, the Super Bowl performances, the halftime show is going to be it's going to be powerful.
00:09:58
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. um I think it is worth mentioning, too, the thing that had a lot thrown a lot of people for a loop, which was Serena Williams popping out during the halftime and show. And apparently, so was she, is this a crip walk or like a gang walk? I don't know what.
00:10:15
Speaker
Okay. she she She performed, she she was featured crip walking in the performance, yes. Okay. She had job. It was a... This might sound a little ignorant. it Like, you being automatically from the Bay or from Compton, does that just mean that you're eligible to just crip walk however you choose to? see i see I see why you're asking that. see why you're asking that.
00:10:38
Speaker
A little bit, yeah, a little bit. You know, if you're from a certain side of town, you know what saying? that That to them is like, you know, party. It's a party dance, you know what I'm saying? um The way that Snoopy doing it, you know what mean? Like, it it they they kind of just... ah That's how they'll dance to their music or whatever.
00:10:53
Speaker
it was a tongue-in-cheek kind of appearance because, you know, she once was, you know, involved with Drake. no And she also received she received a lot of backlash when she performed the Cripwalk after winning in Wimbledon one time. And they attempted to strip her of her ah of her title because of And think she got fined because of it too. Correct.
00:11:17
Speaker
Correct. Yes. So, you know, the, the, the entire performance was very tongue in cheek, you know, um, Kendrick had an immense amount of symbolism. ah and if you ever get to watch it back or watch somebody, uh, pick it apart, very powerful, very powerful, very powerful.
00:11:34
Speaker
I want to get too deep into it on the pod, but yes, very powerful, um, performance. Yeah.
Grammy Wins & Black Excellence in Music
00:11:40
Speaker
um I think that the performance was a great kind of way to round out all of these beautiful like celebrations that we saw ah in the Grammy Awards. like To me, the Grammys was a huge step up this year from a was from what it was last year where we got all of these wins, right? Agreed.
00:12:00
Speaker
Beyonce won Album of the Year for the first time and Best Country Album. Kendrick won Best Song and Record of the Year. And then Dochi was the third Black woman to win to win rap album of the year right so we have like wow three heavy hitter black artists who really showed up and showed out so i think that was just really amazing to see um definitely uh and i think kendrick ended up with like five grammys for yeah yeah not like us overall um kendrick just opened his mouth someone go hand him a grammy right now i mean that's what drake said this man all he got to do is talk and someone go hand him a grammy i'm not surprised but yeah um' I'm not gonna lie Drake drake you you you can't talk on this I mean you gotta you gotta take you gotta take all these L's quietly quietly yeah and he's been doing opposite of that as far as this tracks go and as far as like you know just what this track has done yeah five Grammys and a Super Bowl performance the next week yeah ah state so i like like the end of the Super Bowl performance said that's game over
00:13:07
Speaker
That's game over. Right.
00:13:12
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, so we have ah Beyonce making history. She finally won album of the year. And I think a lot of people are wondering like, hey, why did it take her so long? Like, why? has it taken her so long after getting all these accomplishments? And then on top of that, there's actually been only four black women artists, period, who've ever won the award with her being the fourth.
00:13:31
Speaker
So why do you guys kind of think from your perspective that like, it just, she just now got this album of the year award? It's very interesting because she's like one of the most decorated, like in terms of the Grammys, right? But to not like the year is quite, I actually was surprised that she has never won before. And I think it just has to do with people not giving people their flowers, like components of, of their, I guess, persona or their performance are great, but like the whole, they can never like just shape the whole package. I think that's kind what the year kind of,
00:14:01
Speaker
identifies, like they always try to put Beyonce like in a box. Like but like when Halo came out, like she's like R&B, soulful, whatever. And then when she had like energy and all the other songs, she's like in that techno dance type of space.
00:14:15
Speaker
And then it was like, people get confused when Beyonce just switches almost every album. It's like a whole new genre. Then she's pop, then she's this, then she's that. I feel like it has to do with people trying to put Beyonce in a box.
00:14:28
Speaker
right I think this one kind of signified like you can't put her on in a box. like She's well-versed and everything like that. so I think that a good bit of it is they're not trying to give album of it. So one, I think that she's benefiting a little bit from the streaming era, right?
00:14:46
Speaker
I think that you know her album sales didn't truly reflect just how much people were listening to her. You know what I'm saying? um Just because, you know, we're to keep it a stack. um her constituents people that's listening to her may not buy as many albums you know what i'm saying they may not actually like purchase or whatever as opposed to you know other people and so now like streaming numbers are able to like even the playing field a bit more people can really see like okay she's popular but we're getting to see like exactly just how popular and you know it kind of closed the gap with sarah's like you know any other people that may have been winning album of the year
00:15:23
Speaker
I think that the album of the year is a tough category to win. Yes. And I think that the, the you know, the Grammy ah judges are always going to be like heavily scrutinized or whatever the case may be. Those guys, you know, they've made some questionable choices over the years.
00:15:40
Speaker
Yeah. I think they exclude certain categories or genres rather from album of the year contention. And I think that, you know, part of what Beyonce had to do to, to, to get here was kind of master every, like, like perform highly in every genre. You know what I'm saying? And now that she's made it to like, kind of like, you know, a pop ish country ish, uh,
00:16:07
Speaker
You can't put her in a box. She's really just Beyonce. The category is just Beyonce. Now that she can't be in a box, you can't say, oh, yeah, well, this genre, that. Nah, she kind of like has it all going for I think that made her more like when more likely to win off ah off of that.
00:16:25
Speaker
Yeah. yeah i agree.
Jay-Z's Lawsuit & Due Process
00:16:31
Speaker
With Beyonce comes her her just as equally successful spouse, Jay-Z. The the and one who's won the most Grammys in a in Grammy history, by the way. Gotta throw that in. Remember, guys, this is...
00:16:49
Speaker
Black History Month right now. So of course, with this being the lounge podcast, which is under the Student National Medical Association, which serves the black medical community, of course, we got to, you know, everything right now, most of i will say most of this episode, we are going to highlight black excellence. So we are going to talk about Jay-Z. And we know a lot of the press he's been receiving right now hasn't unfortunately been super positive. um He was currently tackling a case uh with a miss jane doe who had filed a lawsuit recently in 2024 uh december of last year alleging that both jay-z and our other friend mr sean diddy combs um had sexually assaulted her in 2000 when was 13 years old
00:17:38
Speaker
um When this kind of came out, Jay-Z did take to, you know, social media and putting out ah a statement through Roc Nation kind of stating that this was a very, you know, frivolous and kind of just untrue claim.
00:17:54
Speaker
um Some people kind of questioned like, Maybe him doing it looked a little bit odd. Like that wasn't really something that someone who isn't supposed to be guilty would probably do. But, you know, everyone kind of had their opinions about it.
00:18:06
Speaker
However, to his, I'm sure, happiness and and maybe a little bit of even shock, ah the lawsuit was actually dismissed on Valentine's Day of this year with Jane Doe's attorneys filing a notice of voluntary dismissal of prejudice in a Manhattan federal court.
00:18:22
Speaker
um This legal action ensures that the plaintiff cannot bring the same claims against Jay-Z and Diddy in the future. um So of course, like I said before, Jay-Z was stating, quote, today is a victory.
00:18:34
Speaker
And um he just kind of emphasized the emotional toll that these allegations had taken on both him, his family, and kind of just really underscoring the importance of trying to protect people who he believes to be genuine victims and who are false falsely accused. So, you know, I think it's interesting because, you know, Jared, before we had a discussion about this in the last, in a,
00:18:52
Speaker
either an episode or two ago yeah and how we kind of had differences in like when do we say that uh someone who's being accused of something is really you know guilty or innocent and i said yeah and i said i tend to start off you guilty until i feel figure out that you're innocent and you said you know you need to see the facts first before you can prove that somebody's guilty and i think both both can be true and for me i guess it was more the preference of like When it comes to cases like this, this is kind of where I stand. But, you know, I think both can be true. And so that all being said, um why do you guys think that this, like, why do you guys think this lawsuit is being dismissed? Do you think he didn't actually do it? Do you guys think, you know?
00:19:34
Speaker
I mean... I don't know if it necessarily matters. I mean, it matters, of course, but like it's not really about like did he do it or did he not do it? Because I didn't go to law school, obviously, but for my friends who are lawyers, they say like it's more about the facts and the legalities of the case and the procedement versus like did they actually do it or not. That's why people have defense attorneys. They probably did it.
00:19:58
Speaker
Maybe. don't know. But that's why they have attorneys to make sure that there's like due process, right? Because everyone deserves process. So I think it's mainly about like, it's a double edged sword. Like one with this person coming forward and saying that this happened to her and now it's being dismissed.
00:20:14
Speaker
Does that weaken the villa validity of other claims? And unfortunately, it does in some sense in like the public view and stuff like that, but it should, right? Because everyone's claimed a different, whether she was telling the truth or not, or there's half truths, whole truths, whatever that shouldn't weaken the validity of someone else's claim. Like everyone deserves due process.
00:20:34
Speaker
But then on the other hand, we've seen in the media, ah black men being wrongly accused of things yeah and being convicted of things that they did not do. And then trying to get justice later on when the damage has already been done too.
00:20:48
Speaker
So it's also a Jay-Z, Jay-Z, got his due process and I feel like whether or not he deserves due process, I don't know. I'm not in his head. I don't know what he does in the meantime, but it's like, it's just kind of like, you know, it's not, I don't think it's a win for anyone because i feel like people still need to be prosecuted, but at least, you know,
00:21:10
Speaker
there was due process i don't know how to really describe without saying like i'm on the one side or the other side because i'm not but it's just more of like victims deserve to be heard but people deserve to people who are being claimed as guilty have the right to defend themselves if that makes sense i i i agree and i i think that um what the likely situation here is like the initial thing they were coming after was money, right? Like, the first the the lawsuit itself, like, name the dollar figure, like, oh, like, we're coming for X amount of dollars from Jay-Z. And, you know, that was where he made the claim, like, you're not getting one red penny from me, stuff like that.
00:21:49
Speaker
So, yeah it gave Shakedown vibes off-rip. um And I also think that, you know, since the Me Too era has, like, come and, like, you know, kind of been here for a while, there might be, like, a bit of, like, a...
00:22:02
Speaker
more changes to how they adjudicate cases where it's coming back from so long ago that there won't be any way to get like physical evidence there won't be any way to get like surveillance cameras and stuff like that it's kind of like okay, like you kind of have to come through with a rock hard solid case where like this is ironclad, this is concrete, we can't refute anything or like you're going be wasting everybody's time. You know what i'm saying?
00:22:30
Speaker
So I think like there's a chance that they might have seen like, oh, you're up against such a tall wall. yeah yoga We're just going to withdraw. We're not even going to like continue trying to pursue this. When you think about it, Jay-Z has all the means to fight this. You know what I mean? He's a billionaire. has every dollar spare on this. You know what mean?
00:22:49
Speaker
Correct. It could also just be the case of like, she's like, I just can't build a case again. Even though it did happen, it did happen, right? But she build a case just because it was so long ago and there's no proof and he has all the money to fight it. You know what I mean? It's unfortunate.
00:23:07
Speaker
yeah unfortunate think you guys are all making solid points and I definitely, I agree with all that. i am Yeah, I think um I will say maybe a good way to round this out is if in the case that this really did happen, I hope and pray that she gets peace and you know that like she finds healing from this because you know, um I do think that um essay of all forms, um domestic violence of anyone's body
00:23:38
Speaker
of all forms is wrong and I, you know, I will never endorse that. And so if, like I said, I i wasn't there back in 1999 or whenever they said this happened, but if it did happen, i just pray that she gets the healing and peace that she needs.
00:23:49
Speaker
um So, yeah. um So a little bit of a somber note, but gonna try and ride back on that high of Black History Month, okay?
Howard University's Research Status & HBCUs
00:23:57
Speaker
Definitely, definitely. I was about to say, i got I got a little Black History Month for um fact for y'all.
00:24:02
Speaker
Howard University has actually regained its status as an R1 university. And what that means is that it is a, um it's a research status, basically. like right like So R1 stands for Research 1, and it's the highest classification for research among U.S. universities.
00:24:18
Speaker
And Howard, I know Isabella gonna love this one, is the only the HBCU with the classification. There it is! Okay, man, we've been right. Listen, I've known Howard to be that R2 status, and they would talk about, yeah, we're R2 status, which, you know, was still very strong. But to know that we made it to the ranks of lot one yeah man, happy Black History Month. Historically, Howard first attained the status in 1987, but they got reclassified to R2 in 2005, you know, due to, like, changes in evaluation criteria or whatever.
00:24:50
Speaker
um And essentially, you know, Howard has been trying to, you know, bolster their research program and regain that R1 status. And as of February 13th, 2025, Howard has regained it. So here are your flowers. Congratulations.
00:25:05
Speaker
i Love it. Love it. all of it I think there was even like a statement made from the president. The president said, um Howard University's achievement of R1 status demonstrates our research capacity and reforms our deep commitment to tackling society's most pressing questions through cutting edge scholarship and technological innovation.
00:25:25
Speaker
um So I think that's fire. You know, being an HBCU graduate myself, I think that it is a good thing that HBCUs, you know, are on the cutting edge of research. right Shameless plug, Delaware State University actually bolsters itself as the most cutting edge university ok in terms of ah I'll say the the technological risks that they're willing to take. So they get into places like AI, they're getting into space with cryptocurrency and trying to stay on the cutting edge of things like that for their students to be able to offer them, you know, real world 21st century opportunities.
00:26:04
Speaker
So it's good for all of HBCUs to be um kind of, you know, getting their feet wet in this kind of space. yeah And I even think like for the medical students, PhD students, whoever that's there, you know how a lot times people will do like a research year in medical school or something, and then they'll have to go out to like a different institution to get experience because maybe their institution doesn't offer that.
00:26:27
Speaker
But it's so great that Howard is one of those institutions that has it in-house. So like the medical students, the law students, whoever's doing research there um can just stay at Howard and like contribute to the and to Howard's like papers and their public...
00:26:40
Speaker
publications and things like that. So I think it's super great for everyone involved. So yeah, I love the shout out to my HBCU Howard University period where where we stay on top. We're back on top.
00:26:51
Speaker
of You don't have to be annoying.
Engagement & Relationships in Medicine
00:26:57
Speaker
um ah no i love it this is a great news um now it is valentine's day month because you know i'm just gonna attribute it to a month and i know it's a particular day okay do maybe i will cut this out of the recording if you want me to but girl what is that rock on your finger that i am seeing are you engaged yes i'm playing with me stop oh my gosh I got engaged in December. You got engaged this summer?
00:27:20
Speaker
in December. December? Wait, did you have that ring on the last time we recorded? Probably. No, this is crazy. This is crazy. Okay, guys. Congrats to one of our hosts who's engaged. Thank you. Okay. I did not know that. I'm so sorry. I'm just not seeing it. Not that you mentioned it. It is a very big rock. Yeah.
00:27:39
Speaker
It's big. Hold on. Yeah. Girl, are you the only doctor in this relationship? I can't believe you. know I love it. I love it. I love it. Okay. Well, that's a great way to start off talking about Valentine's Day and Black history. Boom. Black love. um yeah I'm here for it. I'm here for black love. Meets West. He's East African and I'm West African. Oh, that's so cool.
00:28:06
Speaker
I love that. I love that. That's great. um Okay. Well, we have a perfect example of black love right here on the show, guys. um Our host is Dr. Dumevi. um But I will say, let's talk about kind of this broader topic that kind of, I would say, um applies to a lot of women black women within within medicine when it comes to relationships and kind of forming relationships, sustaining romantic relationships as black women in medicine.
00:28:35
Speaker
like being married, you know, the, the con, the show married to medicine, we're seeing all this black level. Is it, is it true? Is it a myth or is it a fact? Because it's like, I'm seeing this thing on TV. Y'all y'all are telling me, okay, once I get my MD, the black man's supposed to drop down, but he hasn't dropped.
00:28:50
Speaker
So, keep yeah two rebe said ye got three one
00:28:58
Speaker
So, um okay, let me actually be serious about this. But um I will say, i think, you know, and do maybe you can jump in at any time. i do think it's a very unique experience being a Black woman in medicine and kind of like what that means with finding, you know, romantic love in in that space, um particularly in a field where there's not that many Black people, period, right?
00:29:22
Speaker
Mm-hmm. and so just kind of like navigating this intersectionality where we're talking about like our race our gender and then on top of that our profession and kind of some of these societal expectations that may include like just being this like strong black woman who can get through anything and maybe doesn't need love or doesn't need companionship but then a lot of times like forgetting that you know we are still women at the end of the day like we are still people at the end of the day and and these are things that we we want um and i also think that It's just something that a lot of Black women also tend to struggle with sometimes when they talk about, you know, being in medicine and and trying to find partnership. um
00:29:59
Speaker
So there's a lot of ways that we could go about this kind of conversation. But I guess, how do you guys think that... Just the the a Black woman choosing to go into medicine, how can that impact kind of her ability to really find like, whether it's true love or partnership or just companionship, like how do you think that that can potentially affect that?
00:30:20
Speaker
I think, okay, me personally, i feel like in general, like as a woman, but specifically as a black woman, when you also accomplish a lot, the the pool gets smaller and yeah and it gets drastically smaller compared to other racial counterparts. I will say it's very obvious. Like when I was in med school, um I'll just say like the white girls, they were engaged, married, whatever, very early in the program. So did six-year program. They're all like shacked up by like the third year out of the six years versus a lot of my friends um and who are in other races, they're either still single or dating, but they're not married or anything like that. Right. I think it's just because when you're a black woman, your pool just gets smaller as you accomplish more. And you have to realize like, and is this not to be like,
00:31:08
Speaker
uppity or whatever, but like you're not for everybody. if in if To be honest, you're just not for everybody. I remember when I was like in my earlier years in med school, like I would date people that couldn't even finish pre-algebra, freshman year college, everything. And it just doesn't work. It literally does not work. And I think as Black women who, and a lot of Black men are not also going to medicine, like the numbers are dropping in that regard too. Right.
00:31:35
Speaker
pool is just so small. So I left the pool completely. Like I was like, I'm not going to be your doctor. Like you didn't have to. Right. I feel like as a Black woman, you have to diversify yourself in other spaces. Like you have to like,
00:31:48
Speaker
put yourself out there and other avenues, go studying the business school, go studying the engineering school. Plop yourself. Oh, wait, are you telling me? So is that, is that what happened? You were studying in the engineering school girl. I on Bumble. Like that's just what I did. i mean And that's how I saw the guy. Like that was just it. Hey, the subscription, know who likes you. And I think the problem is you don't know who likes you. So just choose people that like you.
00:32:10
Speaker
Like it's just, I think that's just what it is too. Like you have to choose people that approach you because you don't have time to be, waste, like you don't need your time to there. So I think that was super like helpful for me, I guess. And then also just putting yourself in other spaces that are non-medicine related because unfortunately they're just not, if you're looking for another, if you're a black woman wanting to date a black man,
00:32:34
Speaker
man therere they're not that many in medicine. So you have to put yourself like NSBE and like the Black Law Society. Okay. Start joining these member Afrotech conference. That one has been getting more buzz, right?
00:32:48
Speaker
so i think- Go where you're appreciated. Don't try and force things and don't settle. I would say to I think a lot of times people think like, oh, well, because I'm up here and I have all this, you know, like that I have to be with somebody that and like it's not even about income. It's literally about mindset. Right. Like you can be a high school teacher making sixty thousand dollars a year. But if you're the hardest working person, that doesn't matter because you're hard But if you're living literally are not living up to your potential, then that person's not for you.
00:33:18
Speaker
Like they're just going to put you down. So that might be my problem, girl, because I'm to hold you i look at money. But, you know, I think that is a good thing. I'm like living this meager life. like Yeah, but I'm sorry. I want to live a good lifestyle, baby. And I know I can provide myself with that.
00:33:38
Speaker
So preferably I'd like my partner to do the same. But, you know, you're right. there Yeah. But I think if they don't have the same mindset as you. Yeah. Like i dated this person he was like a second year out of six in the program and he couldn't even keep a job at Popeye's. Like the guy was just so lazy and daft. Like I kid you not.
00:34:00
Speaker
He couldn't even like function. like and then like He was a business major and then ended up getting like so like expelled from the school because of a 1.9 GPA. The guy was just not with us. You know what mean? like No, he's not with us.
00:34:18
Speaker
like The man didn't die. You know what i mean? And that's when I decided, you know, live my life like this where a man can't keep a job at Popeye's. That's crazy behavior. So the fact that you honestly even dated a guy who was working at Popeye's, I mean, more power to you really were just about the heart.
00:34:34
Speaker
I was just like, oh, you know, because I was just thinking like, you know, you know, my parents, my mom's an MP, my dad's a doctor. So maybe I just came from too much. So that was why I was able, like I had a stronger foundation than he did. So he has to take more time to catch up, but he will catch up.
00:34:48
Speaker
But when I'm seeing that you're getting fired from Popeyes, I'm just like, it's not about the foundation. You just don't know. i can and that's what it like you can't fry chicken yeah that's just what it was okay okay you know i really appreciate that do maybe thank you that's a great perspective from an engaged woman guys so this is actually something that had results right she's not talking out of her wahoo get on bumble bumble works okay okay great i love it jared what is your perspective as a black man what do you think what's our issue what's my problem do i have a problem
00:35:25
Speaker
um we We don't got enough time in the segment for me to get at you personally, Isabella. We can talk offline. Oh, God. Wait. Hold on, guys. But, um... Do maybe... I think your answer was very we're very intelligent. I think it was very... um think was very real as well for the fact of the matter is right medicine is a tough field being a black woman in america is a tough role oh as such y'all don't have time to play around y'all don't have time to um to sift through the who's and what's and when's and where's like you don't have the free time you know what i'm saying yeah you also don't have like the um
00:36:08
Speaker
the space to allow yourself to be vulnerable to nonsense and i think that is the dilemma y'all want to be vulnerable y'all gotta be hard all day at work y'all gotta be hard residents y'all gotta be hard medical students y'all are looking for a place to come and be vulnerable to oh my gosh do maybe did you just look at him as i said that oh that was that's it that Wasn't that beautiful?
00:36:31
Speaker
oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Wow. Oh Lord. That's a beautiful thing. Love is sweet. February y'all. February is doing it. ah palm
00:36:44
Speaker
Yeah. Y'all want place that Chaka come to and like, you know, let the societal guards and barriers down. And unfortunately there is like, you know, slim pickings with regard to that.
00:36:58
Speaker
I do think, you know, Isabella, you made a great point in terms of if you are looking for someone that is trending in the same direction as you, like, I think like a very important thing, you know, I hate to say this like out loud.
00:37:11
Speaker
I really do. I'm turning 30 this year. Is that something negative? Why are you breathing, huffing, and puffing like it's a negative thing? so You'll see what you can hear.
00:37:22
Speaker
um I'm turning 30 this year. As such, you kind of... um you get it you you get adjusted to certain shifts in life. And what you one of the big shifts that I'm starting to see is your friends from your 20s are not the same friends you're going have in your 30s. You know what I'm saying? The friends you have in your 20s are very much like, you know, I'm here for a good time, not a long time.
00:37:44
Speaker
um the Very much the people you know you came out of college with. But like as you develop professionally, as you develop spiritually, as you develop family-wise, financial-wise, like as you develop,
00:37:56
Speaker
People are going to stay or go to based on their own actions with with regard to whether or not they are developing and trending in the same direction as you. Yeah. If you want dead weight on you, you know i'm saying? Not to say like, you know, your friendships are like, you know, going to determine where you go in life, but they do. I think.
00:38:15
Speaker
my opinion Yeah. To a degree they do. You know i'm saying? And it's even more so with a partner. And so when I say it like, you know, partner wise, you want someone that's trending in the same direction as you. You want someone that like, like think about it, right?
00:38:29
Speaker
How many hours per week does the average medical school student study? Somebody say a number. Maybe like 60 hours week. 60 hours a week. So if you can't go to your job and perform for 40 hours a week, we're already at a disconnect. You know what I'm saying?
00:38:46
Speaker
And then I'm going to, you know, start whatever program I'm doing and I'm going to be a resident. I'm going be an attending and I'm going to be working this year. you know, inordinate amount of hours. I'm working more hours than the average individual and I'm responsible for very important things. And, you know, I'm meeting people and I'm going places and I'm, I'm doing all these kinds of things. And I want someone that can,
00:39:09
Speaker
join me in those spaces you don't need to be a doctor too you do not need to be up there with me on the podium but you do need to be able to carry yourself in that room yeah right you need to be able to say like like i can introduce you proudly and be like yo this is my man and like you know yeah leave him alone and be able to go talk to somebody and he not go embarrass you while you while your back is turned correct correct right um'm ah I'm going to step off my soapbox with this last thing.
00:39:36
Speaker
One thing that um you know I've told a couple of the bros of like bros of mine that I do business with, one extremely strong indicator of whether or not you should do business with another man is his wife.
00:39:51
Speaker
ah yeah that's like If you meet his wife and it's someone that, you know, I'm not going even put anything out there. It's an intangible thing. If you can notice the intangible thing that makes you say, hmm, I got to question this brother's judgment now.
00:40:08
Speaker
Based on who he chose as his life partner, that's not a good sign. You know so what I'm saying? Sorry, I don't want to make this too long, but what would be like some red flags about the wife? going to just say, just say,
00:40:22
Speaker
Someone that
00:40:26
Speaker
is a, I'm not going to say leech. Leech isn't the right word. Someone that that doesn't help you reach your your potential. She's um like a Michelle Obama of type vibe. You know, like she's not.
00:40:38
Speaker
Exactly. Someone who just who just is a dead weight. She's not actively contributing or doing anything. I'm not going to say dead weight. Yeah. I'm not going to say dead weight, but she doesn't. so So, from a man's perspective, right?
00:40:50
Speaker
My wife is my enhancer. My wife will be someone who I'm going to be good and she's going make me great. You know what I'm If you good without your wife and then you still good with her, that's, you know what mean? Like it's like I said, it's an intangible thing. It's not something because it's every situation is going to be different. Every situation is going to have different applications.
00:41:11
Speaker
However, you two as a couple, as a duo, as a tandem, y'all supposed to be like rock solid. You know what i'm saying? yeah um i would say one red flag. Let's let's give it like real simple. One red flag.
00:41:24
Speaker
she could be coaxed into ish talking you when you're not present. You know what i'm saying? Yeah. Like, let's say like, like, you know what I'm saying? Like a couple of guys, like, like the guys is making jokes. She go and join in on the jokes instead of defending you in your actions.
00:41:39
Speaker
Correct. not Things like, and you know, there's a ah whole extra long list that we don't have time for today. However, If that woman makes me, you if the the person you chose as your partner makes me second guess your judgment, it makes me second guess if I can do business with you.
00:42:00
Speaker
That's fair. And the same should go for you you ladies as woman yeah high earning, high status professionals. Yeah. Don't choose someone that's going make me second guess your judgment.
00:42:13
Speaker
Yeah. That's a word spoken by mr Jared Jeffrey, DJ Absolute himself. We love that. Now, this was about Black women, but I think it's nice to have a Black man also give his perspective. So, yeah, I mean, Valentine's Day, you know, I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day. And I think this is a good way for us to kind of, you know, close on that topic.
00:42:35
Speaker
It's unfortunate the next topic that we have to talk about. But, you know, it's... um it This is an episode or this is a show that we talk about current events. And so what we do this episode is all over the place.
00:42:48
Speaker
it's It's really all over the not going lie to you, but you know what? Our listeners, they're faithful. They're loyal and they can keep up with us. Yeah, they can keep up with us. So, Trump is currently our president and we, you know, this is a nonpartisan podcast. I would like, I always like to give that reminder. So that way, if you guys feel like we're going off on a certain view, we're not, this is nonpartisan. So anything we're saying is, you know, a bonafide fact that we have actual sources to back it up we're not just talking just to talk so um he has done a couple of things so far it's only been what two months yeah about two months that he's been in office and there's been a lot that's happened so far um so we it's barely been one yeah like 30 days yeah he got inaugurated on martin luther king day that was january 17th it ain't been that much time
00:43:39
Speaker
yeah yeah he's done enough stuff for about a year though but you know yeah he's pretty much finished his presidency so as far as i'm concerned
Trump's Executive Orders on Education & Healthcare
00:43:49
Speaker
okay well um let's just kind of get into some of the things so you know we heard about the federal funding freezes which um apparently the administration had said that the freeze was quote in no way going to affect social security medicare medicaid or other entitlements that americans depend on however um There was an article that was written on stat that kind of leaned towards the fact that that may have still happened because there were people were kind of scrambling a bit for like, I believe almost 24 hours when certain things were shut off and all those things.
00:44:17
Speaker
So they actually kind of put like a nice little, I guess, painted a picture for us that really puts things into perspective as to like, if this actually was to have continued what this could have looked like. So Quote or start quote, turn off the spigot even briefly and it's felt far from Washington, D.C.
00:44:32
Speaker
It was felt in Bell, West Virginia, 13 winding miles south of Charleston along the Canal River, where Nancy Hastings, an elderly interviewee, wondered what she would do she no longer had a ride to dialysis.
00:44:43
Speaker
It was felt in Seattle, where a geologist delayed paying rent because his grant payments froze right before the first of the month. It was felt in eastern Missouri, where a cattle rancher worried he'd lose his farm because the government reimbursement was ah for well drilling and fencing suddenly vanished.
00:44:57
Speaker
It was felt across Virginia where community health centers had to close some of their clinics. It was felt in California where scientists who run earthquake warning stations weren't sure they'd still have jobs in a week. It was felt in Wisconsin where some 250 families were left without childcare when a Head Start program shut down. So, you know, fortunately, I don't think any of these things happened because it did not...
00:45:17
Speaker
continue after people started complaining but i just want to kind of paint that picture as to what something like this could have looked like if it actually had gone into effect long term um so we're gonna move on okay that's not it so there's also the department of education shutdown um so what is the department of education guys um well a lot of people actually think that they are the ones who you know kind of um operate us schools to kind of set the curricula but actually that responsibility belongs to states and local districts so the agency does kind of oversee student loan programs and they also administer pell grants that help low-income students attend university and then it helps to fund other programs like students with disabilities or students living in poverty
00:45:58
Speaker
um but you know once again the the actual setting kind of what is being taught is based on the states and local districts um the budget is pretty high ah the department's allocation was 238 billion in fiscal year 2024 which is less than two percent oh sorry let me correct that so it's actually not that high because it's actually less than two percent of the the total federal budget so i would say maybe compared to what the entire federal budget looks like it's a sliver, if we're saying just 2%, has about 4,400 employees, which is the smallest of any cabinet level department.
00:46:31
Speaker
And most public funding for US schools actually comes, like I said, again, from the state and local governments. And so um it seems like, you know, money is actually going into the Department of Education, but once again, just kind of a small sliver.
00:46:44
Speaker
And actually, Trump really cannot shut the department down on his own. um He would actually need congressional approval to get rid of the department, but under rules that he would probably also need a super majority, which is 60 out of 100 senators.
00:46:55
Speaker
And so Republicans have a 53 to 47 majority in the Senate, so they would actually need at least seven Democrats to vote to abolish the agency. And according to BBC, who I'm getting most of this information from, that's likely unable um going to happen. And so um i think let's kind of hone in on to the department of education because you know we are in medicine um which is a form of education um i kind of want to ask you guys trump has been talking about shutting down the department of education for a while now since actually his first time as president why do you kind of think that this has been like a pretty big goal for him i can't even tell you why i don't like maybe i just don't have the
00:47:32
Speaker
the range or the bandwidth to understand why it needs to be shut down but know that at least i feel like we're already receiving the effects of this issue with like are they okay i guess i need clarification are is this department the one that's in charge of like student loans and like the safe plan and other Yeah. So we're already dealing with that where there's no safe plan. I can't pay off my student loans. I will be real. Like I owe maybe like 300 K now because of this issue with the um student loan problem. And I'm incurring like $1,100 per month of interest because I'm now in forbearance.
00:48:10
Speaker
So I, hope huh? Sorry. I helped paint the picture for you. Yeah. I just don't get it It'll be real simple. You never got those loans in the first place.
00:48:22
Speaker
Okay. Can they take it away if I didn't get it? Please. and me it with So without the DOE, you don't get those loans. Without the DOE, you find a way to pick for school out of pocket.
00:48:36
Speaker
Without the DOE, oh, maybe you take a mortgage on your house to pay for college. And you know, that works great if you have a house. if Not maybe you can get a personal loan from a bank, but we all know how difficult it is to get personal loans as opposed to student loans.
00:48:54
Speaker
So without institutions and agencies like this, financial aid doesn't exist. Pell Grant doesn't exist. Federal subsidized student loans don't exist. And so the the goal here access.
00:49:09
Speaker
Access. It's restricting access to higher education. Okay. At least from where I'm sitting, and that's what it looks like. I think that's a good picture. I think that's a good picture to paint. um and You know, it's a long list at this point. Let me just read it out because I'm not about to talk about Trump all day on Black History Month. This is anti-Black.
00:49:28
Speaker
This is anti-Black. Okay, let's hone in on, I think, out of all the things. So we know that he, the ICE the ice thing, ah birthright citizenship policies he was trying to set. We you know that we've been seeing ICE a lot more, right, in around town, at hospitals, at, you know, kind of big,
00:49:44
Speaker
public places and um that's just all ridiculous uh at least from the perspective of what we know to be a country that is full of immigrants i personally like let me just say this i personally feel like it's ridiculous snma yeah very nation yeah yeah Yes, i I personally think so. i This is not what the SMA thinks. This is what Isabella thinks. So let me just start off with that.
00:50:05
Speaker
um So that's one thing. um Then we have the anti-DEI initiatives where basically we see a lot of... um them try uh the administration trying to remove dei policies from the fabric of our our current yeah like i guess our current um there there's no more there there is no more federal mandate for diversity equity inclusion to be um included and there's no so it's not even a federal mandate you're uh
00:50:38
Speaker
DEI was basically a requirement to gain access to federal funding. So if you were applying for any kind of federal grants or federal money, you had to meet a certain diversity, equity, and inclusion quota.
00:50:50
Speaker
right um and so now that quota no longer exists and you know companies like costco kroger ben and jerry's macy's old navy nordstrom's can't forget target have decided to roll back their um sorry sorry sorry i read the wrong list i read the wrong list So they're actually committed to DEI. Yeah. So Costco, Kroger. All those guys except Target are committed to DEI.
00:51:17
Speaker
Yes, yes, yes. And Target was very quick to pull back the DEI. If the announcement was made at 1130, Target's DEI department was fired by 1 p.m.
00:51:32
Speaker
Okay, it was like a quickie. And the the the the, so I think actually just to kind of go into the anti-DI, I think is, of course, this definitely applies to us. We are black people in medicine. And, you know, um I think that,
00:51:47
Speaker
there was this conversation that Tabitha Brown, you you all may know her, um who kind of has like a ah social ah social media presence and also has businesses. She actually has her hair hair care business that is being sold at Target. And she went on her social media platform to then talk about how she feels like you know, completely maybe not shopping our target will potentially hurt black businesses. And then they can have the excuse of, oh, well, your business isn't performing well, and they're going to take it down from the shelves. And now it's going to be like this way of trying to almost like eliminate or stop the success of black businesses because there are these
00:52:24
Speaker
companies who are not in alignment with us, but then who are still selling our products and then also harming people who are trying to kind of make black businesses continue to be on the uprise. And some people were kind of, you know, leaning into what she was saying. some people were saying oh, well,
00:52:39
Speaker
can we really trust what you're saying? Like at the end of the day, some people are saying, I don't trust rich people. I don't trust people who I know have the funds. Like, you know, this is more maybe self-interest versus does she really care about trying to protect about black businesses or she just care about her own money, that kind of thing. And so i don't know, what do you guys think? I mean, do you think it's worth continuing to support companies like Target so long as we only buy black or do we just need to kind of completely cancel Target? I mean, or other companies like Target who kind of rolled back their DEI initiatives?
00:53:08
Speaker
So I think it's important to, like, like recognize, like, DEI did not, like, specifically state hire Black people, you know? Diversity, equity, and inclusion was supposed to be just that.
00:53:20
Speaker
It was supposed to create diverse and equitable um workplaces. That meant, you know, hiring people from different um ethnic backgrounds, hiring women, hiring people from the LGBT communities.
00:53:30
Speaker
So, like... anti-DEI is not so much necessarily a outright attack on blackness I do think that it should be you know taken with a grain of salt with regard to at a certain size your company should you know engage in these ideas not because of the fact that like it was a mandate or to get funding out of it but because Everybody benefits from more diverse spaces You know what i'm saying Everybody um Your company performs better when you have A more diverse space So it's more so like you know Assessing it from that perspective um As far as Target goes I think they still Too expensive anyway don't go there at all You said I'm on a budget Yeah That's fair
00:54:23
Speaker
offer um to shot yeah that's fair I think it's definitely maybe for me, maybe like a phase out type of thing. I don't think I can abruptly, I'm going to be honest, like abruptly stop going to Target. It's the yeah grocery store. like there I'm not going to hold you. I just want to go get some two days ago. They sell my favorite candy, unfortunately. Like my makeup from Target. You know, like phasing them out. If, you know, if I'm seeing like some of these brands go off the shelves because of these things, I do think that Target needs to find a way
00:54:55
Speaker
to rectify this. So like their loyal customers can continue to shop here, um but there's no rectification or if they don't care, or if it's like, you find that black labels are leaving the shelves. I think you have like, at some point take a stand as like a community, like, cause it's not okay. But.
00:55:13
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's a realistic take. And yeah, I totally agree. um There's more. So we did hear about this. Listen, i like, we want to get to talk about other stuff. Like we haven't even gotten to the heart of our Black History Month, you know, um conversations. And so let's keep going. So censorship of medical info on the CDC website. So we kind of heard about some important medical articles from the CDC being taken down in recently. So um they actually, there was actually some CDC personnel who spoke up. And so let me actually just kind of give a picture first.
00:55:50
Speaker
ah So the research from the CDC scientists actually cover a very broad range of health topics, like from infectious diseases, such as flu to maternal reproductive health, like which is Dumé B's domain.
00:56:02
Speaker
to environmental pollut ah ah pollutants, to mental health, and just more. So there's so many things that the CDC covers. um And so they actually said that there was an internal memo that was sent out to some CDC staff, and it was reviewed by NPR that states that the language in mass external communications had to be compliant with executive orders. and That's kind of what they heard.
00:56:20
Speaker
um And so authors who had submitted manuscripts um were being instructed to ask journal editors to withdraw them if they were in conflict with Trump's executive order on gender and cannot be adjusted to align with EO requirements, according to the memo.
00:56:34
Speaker
And so some of those authors who um also weren't federal employees, some CDC authors were actually advised to request to withdraw their names from the author line. So just kind of a lot of censorship on all forms of these CDC article articles. And Of course, um the former deputy director of CDC, actually who just retired back in 2021, said um it's discouraging and potentially chilling that articles that had made it through the peer review process needed to be pulled back.
00:56:58
Speaker
I think we're used to the CDC scientific communication being critical for Americans' health, and the idea that it's being slowed down or possibly censored is very concerning. So doesn't sound like they're too happy about the changes. I want to I want to um I was listening very intently to what you just said, because I was wondering which policy were were these being um reacted to.
00:57:18
Speaker
right What is in reaction to this one must be the um the executive order stating that there are only two genders, male or female. so um So just just wanted to, you know, highlight that, that that is the executive order that this is in response to.
00:57:33
Speaker
Yes, correct. Yes, that was the specific one that they were referring to. There was a couple, there was multiple stuff, of course, that they had taken down, but I think more recently, this um transgenderism kind of ah policy they've had enacted of trying to kind of yeah reverse that has been more recent.
00:57:50
Speaker
um And just to end, what we're still on the topic of health is we also heard about ah Trump withdrawing the US from the WHO, the World Health Organization.
00:58:01
Speaker
Um, Yeah, I don't really know what else is more so relevant to say. I mean, I guess we can talk about the fact that from a financial standpoint, according to Judd Walston, who actually, um he's someone who works within ah the, what is he, the Black, so his name is Robert E. Black, he's the chair in international health, and this was actually from a podcast interview.
00:58:22
Speaker
from Hopkins School of Public Health. um And he pretty much just said that from a financial standpoint, we are the largest contributor to the WHO, somewhere between 12% to 15% from 2020 to 2023. The WHO is already struggling financially, and so the US's withdrawal will likely lead to a loss of jobs, reduction of work, and less ability to do the functions we just see they had proof previously discussed.
00:58:45
Speaker
And And so um just kind of thinking about how not only does the US pulling out from the WHO may potentially affect us from a health standpoint, right? Like not being plugged into what's going on globally when it comes to health, but then also the fact that the US has such a big role in terms of um how we almost inform health to the public and even like across the world.
00:59:09
Speaker
And so just kind of think about the ramifications of that. And so this was once again, from the ah podcast episode from Hopkins ah official ah public health podcast called Public Health on Call. So, um you know, I think That is a huge summary of all of the relevant things that has come into the new administration since Trump has taken office and kind of how it impacts black and brown people and people in medicine.
00:59:36
Speaker
before Before we move on. hmm. Can I get you guys' is ah prediction on what you think? Maybe the next song three, six months or so looks like.
00:59:51
Speaker
This being one month of changes. This is one month of changes.
00:59:59
Speaker
What do you guys think August or September looks like?
01:00:07
Speaker
Hopefully nothing worse than this. That's my prayer. I mean...
01:00:12
Speaker
you know, once again, um these were everything we stated just now was pretty much what has happened, right? We're not making these things up. And no matter what your opinion is about everything that's happening, the reality is that it is going to have consequences on everybody in this country, um for per you know, especially minority populations and people who work in spaces that deal with health and just our health in general. And so there are real consequences to this stuff. And so I I'm hoping and praying that the ramifications are not worse than what I already feel like there are going to be.
01:00:50
Speaker
But that's kind of like where I stand in terms of, like, I have no clue. It's like, I can't, it's hard to really predict when it comes to our current president, what's going to be the next step and like where he's going to go. And so it's really hard for me to like say confidently that it's going to look like this. I just, I just hope it doesn't look any and terrible any more terrible than it looks right now once again my opinion my opinion don't know i feel like my i mean a lot of this is already bad like we have a lot like in my hospital we have so many immigrant patients you know we already have ice protocols like what does it do if ice comes to our hospital and says yeah yada yada yada you know mean so yeah my hope is that it doesn't get worse than this and that it's a whole lot of talk and not a whole lot of action um but like just like you're already like destroying the cdc or like not destroying the cdc but like removing things or censoring things from the cdc and like withdrawing us from the who like what about like is he gonna come for residency spots next is he gonna cut things in half with that cut our salary yeah right right right like exactly lower the supply of doctors like you know like i just feel like he needs to just take a pause and kind of think about some things you know it take a little vacation you know
01:02:13
Speaker
Yeah from my perspective I think that this is a ah The word radical comes to mind right um With regard to The degree of change that is happening It's a lot of sweeping change A lot of sweeping reform All at once and you know I forget exactly how executive orders work I believe that executive orders They get enacted immediately But after a certain amount of time Congress gets to vote on them right um However, I think that even the knee jerk reaction of everybody trying to stay in compliance, everybody trying to, okay, this is the new normal. This is the new normal.
01:02:55
Speaker
Okay, we have to abide by this now. Okay, we have to abide by this now. Yeah. This much change this quickly. Yeah. I believe is bad for Americans.
01:03:07
Speaker
And I think it's bad just because you kind of have to become like a Trump like reporter to to to to stay on top of everything. Like, OK, so.
01:03:20
Speaker
ah like like So literally, it's the like part of the executive order on um on the genders was that all federal employees had to remove any kind of transgender talk from their workspace overall.
01:03:34
Speaker
So that means if you had he, him in your email signature after that executive order, you were like you know out of compliance. You were out of federal jurisdiction at that point. You know what i'm saying? yeah And it's subtle things like that that it's just like,
01:03:51
Speaker
it makes it a little scary, you know, like to be on the wrong side of the federal government at the swipe of a pen, you know? Um, yeah, i just wanted pen he was pen happy. He was pen happy. He was signing those executive orders. I remember it was over 200 signed on, um, on inauguration day. Oh god a man. And he hasn't slowed down.
01:04:09
Speaker
enjoy yeah I just wanted to to grab you guys' thoughts on this because, um, you know we definitely like reported on a lot of changes like a lot of orders that have been enacted but like it's always interesting to see what people and especially you know you guys being in the hospital what do you think the ground level effect of this many executive orders will be you know like what is the the total order yeah um from my perspective, I have friends who are teachers who have traumatized students but because we have seens they have ICE yeah um agents that have come into classrooms and pulled students out.
01:04:50
Speaker
yeah know like Imagine you sitting with your best friend, your best friend, you you know, your best friend was whatever, and now like your best friend was literally like dragged out in handcuffs, you know what I'm saying? yeah You're 10 years old, now you've seen that. that was yeah like a now lot of It's traumatizing. It's just it's traumatizing and you know i really just hope that we can make it out alive these next four years. That's all I can say. And that's where I'm going to leave it. um i'll so I'll say that I hope that our um democracy continues because...
01:05:24
Speaker
Once again, you know, like the the benefit of a democracy is that people vote on the things that they want to happen. You know, the proper way to institute change is you present a bill, people vote on the bill. And once the bill is enacted, you know, then it becomes law.
01:05:39
Speaker
Yeah. Not the other way around. And so the way around, hopefully our democracy can still stand. You know what saying? You know, we're going to put that in prayer the same way that we're going to put my rank list in prayer, guys.
Match Day & Medical Students' Wellness
01:05:52
Speaker
Okay? Because match day is approaching and rank lists are almost due. So rank lists are actually due.
01:06:01
Speaker
march for 5th sorry march 5th listen um let me not get these dates wrong lord um and so i think this is a ah big this is a big um moment and milestone in a lot of medical students careers because we're ultimately choosing where the next step is going to look like i mean i wouldn't say it's just us choosing it right because the program got to choose to that that's the part that's scary right it's not just you So you have to choose, they have to choose and a match will come into effect. And so I think, um you know, shout out to all of the fourth years who are currently ruminating over their lists and maybe thinking about number one versus number two versus number 15, whatever.
01:06:44
Speaker
um i think it's all going to be okay. And I just am wishing everybody the best of luck on the match. um i'm proud of all black and brown people entering this profession and the fact that we've come to this point i'm proud of people like do maybe who's a resident who's already there and who's on her way to becoming an independent practitioner it's just it's great it's great all around and despite some of the doom and gloom that's been happening this month this is once again one of those moments of like black history month that we can look fondly upon and you know, celebrate future budding black physicians who are soon going to find out where they're going to be training. So yeah, we're looking forward to that.
01:07:20
Speaker
um I think, sorry, I think when you are making your rank list, I think the biggest thing is knowing what your non-negotiables are and like sticking to it, you know? A lot of people try to say, oh but you know this fancy name program where it's in a great state or it's in a great city, but your boundaries and what you want out of program valid because you have to live with it for the next how many or so years.
01:07:45
Speaker
And think even if a program is not as prestigious, but has everything you want and the people are great and the hours are not as bad as like another place, I would say choose wellness over anything because the the you're going to be a physician regardless you match at your number one or your number 15 and they're all accredited programs they're going to get you through you're going to be a board certified physician afterwards like that's not the problem like choose a place where you can see yourself truly being happy because if you don't have your mentality like intact it doesn't even matter where you are oh it doesn't matter yeah well you if you cry in afternoon at 28 and then on top of that you hate your co-residents it's not it's not giving
01:08:28
Speaker
Like, it's too much. So, like you know, if the hours are hard, at least, you know, being with people that you enjoy, being in a specialty that you enjoy, like if you're dual applying specialties, be honest with yourself. the The most prestigious specialty is not always the best specialty, you know, like, time you know, like, be real and honest with yourself. I i had a friend.
01:08:45
Speaker
Shout out to my neurosurgery. Right. Yeah. like i Be honest. you really You really want to cut open that brain? want saying Do you really want to work like that?
01:08:56
Speaker
ah okay And her friend, she was applying diagnostic radiology and interventional radiology. And then she to this epiphany towards the end of match. like like She was only applying interventional radiology for prestige.
01:09:07
Speaker
Simply for prestige. And not necessarily because she had a passion to do interventional, right? She really just wanted to it. DR, which is still a big feat to do, right? So she reorganized her rank list um to put the DR programs that she actually really liked the best at the top, you know? And I think you just have to come to that realization that, yeah, we've been hustling and grinding in this, and it's okay for your reality to change, and it's okay to choose so okay to choose money over whatever. It's okay to choose happiness over prestige.
01:09:36
Speaker
i think just sticking with your boundaries is super important. Yeah. 100 i totally agree um hi yeah i love it um now unfortunately i do have to kind of take a moment we were you know talking about we we did we kind of transitioned right we transitioned to the match and and the beautiful nature of it my blood pressure awful right Yeah, maybe we probably should you know, maybe we should have thought a little bit more about how we were going to come into some of these things, but it's okay.
01:10:08
Speaker
Once again, i have faith that our listeners, you guys are rocking with us, right? Please tell me your tell me your following. So um once again, some of this unpredictability of what's been going on across the world, um we had like the new administration and kind of some of those changes. And then unfortunately, we did have a lot of plane crashes happening, unfortunately, and there were lives lost in a couple of those. um One of the most significant being the DC plane crash where there was everybody, there was all casualties, no survivors.
01:10:39
Speaker
um I even want to just give a special shout out to one of the people who was actually supposed to be a Howard university professor who also, you know, um died on that plane crash. And so um we're just going to give like a moment of silence for the,
01:10:53
Speaker
people who have lost their lives on these plan crashes. So if we can kind of all just take like 15 seconds and kind just do a moment of silence.
01:11:21
Speaker
Okay, um so rest in peace to all those who have ah lost their lives in the plane crashes that have recently happened. And also, I do want to plug in the terrorist attack that happened in NOLA on New Year's this past um this this literally this upcoming this past year.
01:11:39
Speaker
um Also, want to say rest in peace to all of those who lost their lives in that as well.
TikTok's Impact on Black Creators
01:11:44
Speaker
um okay well kind of getting to a little bit more of a lighter hearted topic um we there was another scare but not anywhere near this kind of scare but a more unserious scare with tiktok um where people were afraid that this was going to be gone forever and tiktok was banned for less than 24 hours and it made a epiphany again um do maybe you are our tiktok extraordinaire
01:12:14
Speaker
you are our tiktok
01:12:18
Speaker
so um you know i just want to know like so there's black you know content creation has become such a big deal right now in our society and a lot of people are making money off of you know uh tiktok uh sorry content creation and tick tock has become a part of that revenue driving and so um actually they're according to capital or actually according to business insider and capital b news at least 16 of tick tock news news consumers are black which is a proportion that's higher than the percentage of black people in the u.s and actually around half of all tick tock accounts
01:12:53
Speaker
followed by you U.S. adults or influencers and creators. And the platform itself generated $15 billion for small and medium-sized businesses and supported 224,000 U.S. jobs in 2023. um So, you know, from your perspective as somebody who is a ah content creator, I don't even think just on TikTok, but other platforms. i mean, what do you feel like this could have, like, if this ban hadn't remained, how could this have impacted not only just like the content creation industry, but specifically the black content creation industry as someone who does this.
01:13:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think TikTok has really, I guess, revolutionized how people make money, correct? Like, people can have multiple streams of income or have it be ah have TikTok be your only income and has really, like, allowed people to even have, like, family businesses, like, when they have, like, family blogging and stuff like that on TikTok. So I think it's a big loss.
01:13:44
Speaker
It was a big loss. That six hours that we didn't have TikTok was a big loss. um Just because I think it's just taking away people's jobs, you know, and not breaking up families. It's not that dramatic, but it's, like,
01:13:55
Speaker
you know People who now have like two parents in the home that are able to work from home and take care of their children and like make money from that. um Give their children like generational wealth that maybe they didn't grow up with. And a lot of TikTokers, especially TikTokers who have family vlogs,
01:14:10
Speaker
um they even like put in money for their children so that when they're 18 that they can get money when they're done with that. So I just think that there's a big like snowball effect with it. um And then also I think TikTok just makes people happy in general. Like when the six hours that it was banned, like I was like, am I depressed or I just haven't scrolled? Because Instagram does not hit the same. You know what i mean? I was like, need an SSR? I was like, no, I'm not depressed.
01:14:32
Speaker
I'm just bored. Like I'm literally just bored. So I think, specifically for Black content creators, I think a lot of black, and like, tick like, I'm not saying like black people run TikTok, but a lot of like means and trends are started. by I'll say it.
01:14:47
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Like I don't even be on there and I know we run it. Right. And like, even like the first little trend. Our music run it. Our creators run it. Our comedians run it. We start the ways that everybody else follow. You keep going.
01:15:00
Speaker
Yeah. And like, even like the first trend like renegade or whatever, that was a black woman that started it. Right. so I think, um, you know That's just like a platform where Black people thrive, and that's our creative outlet. And then also like information purposes. like So there's an OBGYN on there that I follow, Dr. Fran.
01:15:19
Speaker
um She has like this famous list of doctors or OBGYNs that will tie your tubes before you're 30, because that's like a big deal, a very big controversial thing. So there's even a lot of OBGYNs at UC who are on that list, and people...
01:15:33
Speaker
like reach out to them saying like, will you tie my tubes at 25? Because I know for sure i don't want to have children and blah, blah, blah, blah. That's the impact of TikTok. Like you're able to like get like healthcare care resources.
01:15:44
Speaker
um Doctors are on there now. Like all these professionals are on there now to like, stop the misinformation that I think a lot of social media was. And I think TikTok is so accessible. And the algorithm is so great where anyone can really pop off at TikTok, really at any moment, if you play the algorithm to your favor, right? Like I haven't posted in a couple months just because residency is literally draining the life out of me.
01:16:07
Speaker
But I know like when I post something and people like it, it reaches the audience and needs to reach. And I think that's like what's so cool about TikTok. And I hope it never leaves because even without the whole money purpose and whatever, like it's a source of entertainment, so source of joy for me. I have a lot of friends that I've never met, but I know them on TikTok, you know? And so, oh yeah, it needs to stay around, please.
01:16:29
Speaker
please trump let it stay not please trump yeah they said that he was the response the reason why he came back ah okay that was one of the best um magic tricks of all time and being one to introduce the legislation that would get rid of it and then four years later being the one to to so save it yeah yeah my my man is a master of marketing yeah That war in NBA man Is showing it's head right now We can't have no more business people We can't have no more television stars I need politicians in the White House Because he is pulling tricks that ain't never think of And you gotta give it to Donnie That boy's smart
01:17:13
Speaker
He ain't in there for nothing. He ain't in there for nothing. He's not in there for nothing. okay um As a non-TikTok user, I must say that y'all had me weak.
01:17:29
Speaker
with how y'all was moving with that time off. I think it was crazy because y'all all say Instagram don't hit, but y'all was coming back to Instagram to express your tears and and all of that stuff. ain't never seen so many people in the in the in the Instagram. ah and commonens section Oh, yeah.
01:17:44
Speaker
The little bubble thing, the thoughts, ain't never seen all y'all in the Instagram thoughts. Y'all was all of about other apps ruining algorithms and throwing off feeds and stuff like that. I was like, oh, y'all need to go somewhere. yeah They were in distress. that Everyone was in distress. Go touch grass or something. Yeah, it was a
Celebrating Black History Month & Trailblazers
01:17:59
Speaker
lot. Gotta hear But just like what you said to me, think.
01:18:02
Speaker
i think black people do thrive on tiktok and it's we're we're grateful right that it's still here it came back it's actually been back on app stores now more recently so it's here and it's and and hopefully it's here to stay now talking about black people thriving i mean it is black history month we of course we're not going to end our episode sad we're going to end episode elevated in black excellence and black pride. And we want to shout out a list of some prominent black figures in medicine.
01:18:32
Speaker
um So kind of just to do a quick summary, we have Dr. Audrey Manley. She is a pediatrician and public health administrator who made history as the first African-American woman appointed chief resident at Cook County Children's Hospital in Chicago in 1962.
01:18:46
Speaker
um She has done so many other things. She um went on to service the eighth president of Spelman College and HBCU. And even just demonstrating her passion for service, she worked with Crossroads Africa, where she ran a children's ward and night in a Nigerian hospital, further furthering her commitment to global child health.
01:19:01
Speaker
um Then we also have Dr. Natalia M. Tanner Kane. She was also a trailblazing pediatrician and the first African-American board certified pediatrician in Detroit. And so in 1952, she became the first Black physician on staff at the Children's Hospital of Michigan during widespread segregation.
01:19:16
Speaker
um And so one of her key achievements was creating a liaison committee to unite the organizations of the Society of Adolescent Medicine, the American Academy Pediatrics, and the National Medical Association.
01:19:27
Speaker
together um in their shared mission to improve children's health. So shout out to Dr. Natalia. Then you have Dr. Alexa Canady. I feel like I've heard her name a lot, but she has also been a very pivotal figure in medicine. She made history as the first African-American woman to become a board certified pediatric neurosurgeon in the United States.
01:19:42
Speaker
um She was chief of neurosurgery at the Children's Hospital of Michigan from 1987 to 2001. And her research she's done research that's contributed to innovations in neurosurgical techniques, such as the development of a program programmable anti-siphon shunt for treating hydrocephalus which hydrocephalus is basically just enlarged ventricles so she is uh known for that so shout out to dr alexa canady then we have dr andrea hayes oh pediat i guess yeah peds is like they're they're on fire okay so she is a pediatric surgeon and in 2002 became the first african-american female pediatric surgeon to be board certified in the united states and
01:20:19
Speaker
um she has done a lot of things one of uh one of the more um really cool things she's done was actually actually uh was the one who helped to develop ah to develop the first orthotopic xenographic model of metastatic e-wing sarcoma which is basically like a bone a form of bone cancer um and uh she was also the first to successfully use heated chemotherapy to treat children with desmoplastic round small cell tumor so doing a lot within um oncology for kids um in terms of pediatric uh surgery and currently she's actually the professor and chair of surgery at howard university college of medicine okay shout out to hu because you know like of course we have to have one of them right uh and the associate director for the cancer center at howard and last but not least we have dr valerie m rice she's an ob-gyn shout out to dumay b okay your specialty specializing
01:21:10
Speaker
in women's health and the first black woman to serve as president and ceo of morehouse school medicine um so she has actually been um had leadership that's transformed morehouse into a major center for training underrepresented medical students and she also has been recognized for her research and reproductive endocrinology so basically the physicians um who help to bring life into the world for people who will have difficulty um having you know children for whatever reasons so yeah That's kind of our short but not exhaustive list of some really amazing trailblazing Black figures in medicine. And so shout out to all of them.
01:21:45
Speaker
We appreciate you guys. We are happy to follow into your footsteps as physicians and budding physicians. And so, yeah, happy Black History Month. Happy Black History Month.
01:21:57
Speaker
Happy Black History Month. That's our show. Thanks so much for joining us on this episode of The Lounge. Let us know your thoughts about the discussions we had today or ask us a question for a chance to be featured on the show by emailing us at podcast at snma.org.
01:22:17
Speaker
Be sure to follow the SNMA on all of our social media platforms to stay up to date on upcoming events. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. Happy belated Valentine's Day. Happy Black History Month.
01:22:30
Speaker
We'll catch you guys all on our next episode. Bye. Bye. See ya.