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Lets Get Real
29 Plays2 years ago
In this episode, we get real about Suicide Prevention Month and National Recovery Month, the rippling effect of Roe v. Wade overturned, Age limits for elected officials, Hispanic Heritage Month, Young black athletes, and more!
In the Financial Corner segment, Aldwin discusses student loan debt and the SAVE plan.
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
Benefits of Joining SNMA
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.
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Why join the SNMA? For more than 50 years, SNMA has been the leading organization in promoting increased enrollment in retention of minority medical students. Our signature pipeline programs are designed to ensure that future generations of medical graduates are not only diverse, but culturally competent. SNMA offers many benefits, such as leadership opportunities, scholarships, research opportunities, test prep, and so much more.
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become a part of the nation's oldest and largest independent student run organization and help to continue diversifying the face of medicine. For more information, go to https semicolon slash slash snma.org.
00:00:50
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Dash, page, dash, join us. Y'all already know what the vibes is. Y'all just type in SMA and Google. I didn't have to say that, all that. But type SMA, join, you'll get there. Get to the page, join us. We need you. Let's galvanize the truth. Let's go.
Podcast Introduction
00:01:23
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Welcome to SNMA Presents the Lounge. Whether you're in the student lounge, doctor's lounge, or lounging around at home, get ready to join SNMA for meaningful conversations on topics affecting minorities in medicine and groups that often sit at the margins of healthcare. I'm student
Back-to-School Memories
00:01:38
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Dr. Isabella, and it is back to school season for some of us, most of us, who knows. But our icebreaker for today is what is you guys' most memorable moment during this time growing up? So I can start.
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I would say growing up, so I kind of like I grew up in northern New Jersey, lives in your typical suburban area. And I had the fortune of being close to like my elementary school, middle school, like walking distance close.
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And every year at my elementary school, they had a, it was like a school fair that they would have. And I went like every year as a kid. And I even went a little bit as a middle schooler because you know, like at that point in time, I could walk there if I wanted to. And then like sometimes you could see like older kids there and like,
00:02:22
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Maybe there was a guy you thought was cute. You wanted to like come around, like whatever. And it was just cute because they had like little, you know, fun fair games and like they had like food that they were selling. I was just like, you just kind of knew that fall was here because they typically started it like sometime around mid-September. So it kind of to me was like an introduction like, oh, yeah, we're moving from summer to fall. And just that nostalgia that it is so it was associated with. So, yeah, that was my favorite memory growing up during fall.
Parental Influence on Education
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What about you guys?
00:02:54
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I would say, for me, it's not going. Who are you? OK, all right. Oh my gosh, he's pressing already. He's all the way back over there. You didn't sound like he was going to introduce yourself. I was like, make sure you let the people know who you are. I mean, we like 500 episodes in. We are. But this could be somebody's first episode. They could just be like, hey, this is my first episode. Who is this guy? OK. That's true. You're right. You're right. You got it. I'll let you win this one for now.
00:03:24
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Now, honestly, I would say my most memorable moments was during this time was, you know, getting up and, you know, seeing my mom grind and, you know, walk me to the actual bus stop and having those very intermittent close conversations before I got to school, how affirming she was and reminded me of how powerful I was and why education was necessary.
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And I think a lot of those conversations helped me to get to my current position. Because you know where I live at, most individuals haven't attained the same level of educational attainment that I did. So she created a sense of protection and guidance for me. And when I was able to get on that bus, I was like, I'm going to conquer today. I'm going to make my mom proud. And to this day, those same emotions fill me up to be able to do that. And I hope I'm continuing to do that. So I'll say, yeah, that's probably my most memorable moment.
00:04:14
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beautiful. This is Erica and Erica dingle. Hey, Hey, my most memorable moment for at least elementary junior high and even high school honestly was back to school shopping with my mom. Um, we would go on Jamaica Ave in Queens, New York.
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We'd hit up all the stores, cookies, worth timers, VIM. Oh yeah, go back. Yeah, we'd get to shopping and just blessed and highly favored that my mother would not really tell me no when it came to certain items that I wanted. I did wear uniforms to school because I went to private school, like literally.
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all the way through. Um, but you know, there was still stuff I wanted to get to make sure I had my little fly gear. Um, but it was also really good quality time. Like that helped to foster the relationship we have now. So that is one of my most memorable things doing year after year.
00:05:25
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For sure. So let's get into our favorite segment of
Mental Health Awareness in Medicine
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the show. It is time to run the list. So for our preclinical students running the list or the patient list on the wards allows the team to address pressing matters of the day. And as always in this segment of the show, we'll be discussing some recent events in medicine that affect the communities and populations we serve.
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So let us tackle our run the list. And you know, I want to include real quick, a little trigger warning. Um, we're about to discuss the sensitive topic as it is national suicide and national recovery month. So
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Let's discuss. We got our resident, as I always call him, our resident mental health person. I love that you do that. That is so affirming. Thank you, Erica. You're very welcome.
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But yes, it is National Suicide National Recovery Month and each and every year over 700,000 people pass away from suicide. And we talk about in particular over the last decade when we talk about black youth ages 10 to 24, the percentages of suicide attempts and completed suicides have increased tremendously by 60 to 70% in due parts to a lot of different factors. But I think overall when we talk about
00:06:57
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suicide prevention and awareness, being a voice of connectivity, socialization, being present and giving people grace. I always mention giving grace to people each and every day because life is so hard. Life is so challenging and it's filled with adversity. There's several notable Black celebrities that we can even think about as it pertains to suicidality.
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Lance Blanks, who was a basketball player who turned an NBA executive. DJ Twitch, who was so popularized on the Ellen Shown, as well as during the pandemic. We even talk about Chesley Criss, who was a beauty pageant queen. We talk about the mayor of Hidesville, Maryland, Mayor Kevin Ward, and so many other individuals that
00:07:43
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unfortunately have been tragically affected. And the thing is, there's a face that you present to the world and there's a face that you present to yourself. And you never know what people are going through. Mental illness does not show up in the standard form, like being sad, depressed, and you like
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Everyone has different capabilities to adjust to different scenarios and experiences and traumas. And coming to that realization and being able to comfortably communicate that in our society, especially in the Black community, there's so much stigma behind mental health. And it's up to us, especially on this podcast and all our listeners, to help destigmatize that.
00:08:19
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make conversations comfortable for people in the rooms that when you enter into a patient's room, whether you're in your psychiatry rotation or you're in, you know, your plastic surgery or in OB-GYN, right? I used to, you know, bring a chair up to all my patients, sit down with them and really assess how are they feeling mentally. And sometimes I'll be late around just because of that, but because I was really, really connected to that because your mental health affects your physical health. If you're feeling well,
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If you're not feeling well in your mind and in your spirit and your essence, then physically you're not going to be able to heal. You're not going to be able to have the conviction and confidence to move forward in life. And so knowing also that mental health affects all demographics, regardless of race, regardless of if you have money and you don't have money, like everybody's going to be plagued with some challenges and being able to internalize and understand how those challenges affect us, how it affects our heart, our body, our mind, our thoughts, our behavior.
00:09:16
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It's so critically important. I address this to say to each and every one of you that are listening, please take the time to take care of yourself, especially in medicine. Find what works best for you in terms of coping, whether it's taking a walk in the park. You know, a lot of people have low vitamin D levels in America. Over 80% of people in America have low vitamin D, which is shown to increase our immunity and also boost also our capabilities with our mood, right? Doing things like journaling, going out with friends,
00:09:44
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Find the things that make you normalize as a human being. And you don't necessarily have to be an automaton. You don't have to always be studying. You don't have to always be teaching. You could still be that human being that you always envisioned yourself to be and change the world as you see fit. So I'm grateful that we've had this platform to discuss this. I would like to hear you guys' thoughts on suicide prevention and recovery.
00:10:06
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Yeah, I mean, I definitely think that one of the biggest news is that just came out in terms of, you know, the theme of this month, Johannes Cadane, who was a young 22 year old man, he was found dead, you know, in the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. And I think what was interesting about his
00:10:28
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death was that, you know, people weren't sure if it was a suicide at first, because it was like he had just gotten his dream job, you know, at Netflix had just moved he wasn't he was only at the job for maybe like about I think a week or two before it happened. And
00:10:42
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You know, his car was parked there. They said his phone and wallet and other items were left in the vehicle. People weren't sure like was it like they was he murdered and then it was framed as a suicide and all of these things. And so they ruled it a suicide. I'm not sure really by what parameters. I'm assuming an autopsy or whatever. But I do think that it's interesting that even when even when someone's at the peak of their life, right, it doesn't negate the fact that they could still be struggling. And so I wonder, you know, just like.
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you guys' thoughts on what kind of advice you would give to our listeners who could maybe be feeling like, hey, I'm at this peak of my career. I'm in a really good place. How do you support them even when they're still feeling like I really don't see the point or those suicidal thoughts?
00:11:30
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Get a therapist, honestly, like prevention, like start with one. Um, so you don't end up in a place where you have no one to call, like.
00:11:42
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have a therapist on speed dial. Not only that, like have a safe space in the form of a friend or a sibling or, you know, someone that you know, you can call. I remember when I was at a point, I don't remember the app and I don't even know if it's still in existence, but there was an app that allowed you to like set a number of people that when you were quote unquote in crisis, you could
00:12:12
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reach out to, like the app would just contact them and let them know. And I had my mom and another good friend of mine, cause I just knew they knew where I was at and they would be there for me. So, um, but it does take, um, a little bit of, I don't want to say it's humbling the right word. Like sometimes we have this pride as
00:12:35
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as African Americans and even Caribbeans, that goes along with the stigma of like, oh, I should be further along than this. I shouldn't feel this struggle. And it's like, now, humble yourself and realize you are human. We are not supernatural. We're not superhuman.
00:12:55
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just be okay with not being okay. Like once you get there, it's like, all right, if I'm okay with not being okay, then I can let somebody that I trust know that. And you'd be surprised. Like so many people are there, especially nowadays and they get it. So it's like, find somebody to support you. Also 988 that suicide hotline number. Um,
00:13:19
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And I know it's easier said than done. Like who's gonna, who's really gonna talk to me and talk me off a ledge? You be surprised. It's that one second that means a matter, the difference in life or death, right? And it's literally that one second that can change everything. So I think I, I rambled a bit, but if I could like bullet it, it would be,
00:13:45
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you know, the number 988, have a trusted person and then really proactively have
Impact of Abortion Legislation
00:13:52
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a therapist. Like even if you think you don't need one, just get one. Right. You know, 70% of completed suicides individuals had a major crisis event 24 hours prior to that. So speaking to like what you're seeing, Erica, like it could be that one event that triggers you, but immediately as soon as you recognize
00:14:11
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that I'm going through a crisis, that you reach out to someone where there's a support system, where there's your therapist, whether it's other coping skills that you may do, meditate, et cetera, et cetera, yoga, et cetera, and the like. That can ultimately change a lot of those circumstances. But being able to have that individuality, I think, is definitely a certain key that so many people don't. In our society, we're oftentimes isolated
00:14:34
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is a society where we don't think about the collective culture, the collective mindset, we don't think about others, but rather think about ourselves. And that makes it such a challenge to communicate how you're feeling. Cause like, Oh, you won't be I, especially in the black community, just push through, get through. But I remember in residency, people telling me all the time,
00:14:51
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But then I'm going through my mental angst and it's like, that's not really necessarily supportive. Getting through to a certain extent to when, to what point do I get through to like fall off the cliff, to like, you know, bust through this door and I no longer want to come back. You know what I mean? So, you know, just being mindful and I love that we're having these conversations and
00:15:11
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learning to appreciate the individuality of this and I hope that we continue to have these conversations so that no one ever feels alone and I'm glad you mentioned the hotline and obviously I'm one of those like even at my job the other day a black man told me that his father had died you know recently
00:15:29
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And he was standing in the mirror. He's one of the janitorial stats. And he's staring into the window and out there. He was just in a kind of stance. And I asked him, bro, are you OK? And he told me, nah. And he told me, situation. And I just hugged him. And I just went up to him and just hugged him. And this is a guy that I don't really know. But because I feel like those small gestures are so important, and people have those critical needs, that he may not have been hugged that week or that month, you feel me?
00:15:59
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Yes, learn to cherish each other and love. Love will prevail. It's easy to hate, but it's hard to love. But once you love, a lot of solutions and a lot of conflict in this world will be appropriately navigated.
00:16:12
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And you mentioned like a very important part which is, you know, having these difficult conversations because that's the only way you can move through and really learn how to navigate situations like this. I mean, another example of a difficult conversation is like the conversation of an unwanted or unexpected pregnancy, right? A lot of women kind of, you know, especially with
00:16:34
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the Roe vs. Wade that's kind of coming up in politics and people trying to dismantle it and try and find a way out of that policy because of everybody's own convictions on the topic of, say, abortion, being one of the most morally controversial
00:16:53
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issues when it comes to planning of pregnancy or pregnant or, you know, options that women have. Of course, we know that adoption is an option. We know that, you know, birth control is meant to be preventative measures to before you even get to the topic of abortion versus adoption versus keeping the baby. So what they're kind of finding this year was that in Illinois, specifically, there were
00:17:16
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about 18,300 more abortions in the first half of the year compared to 2020. And so and as well as even in New Mexico, there was a whopping 220% jump in the number of abortions. So it seems like this is coming from the surrounding states of you know, Illinois and New Mexico that maybe have abortions banned after they had that kind of overturning of the policy.
00:17:39
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And it kind of now leads to the question of how is this going to affect us at large, especially when it comes to just the status of abortion rights in all of the states? What do you guys think that this is leading to? Well, it's already a public health issue. I feel like, or I think,
00:18:03
Speaker
It will continue to impact providers who provide abortion care. Um, I think providers will become more strained. Um, I mean, I don't know what recovery times are looking like in these areas. Like is, are, are, is there infrastructure in place to allow for them to recover? Um,
00:18:30
Speaker
I don't know. It's Roe versus Wade being overturned was just... I don't know. I have so many feelings on that, but it makes me question
00:18:46
Speaker
Will all of these women be provided with the best care when all of these other states are being slammed? Like, is it possible for them to end up with something malpractice related because they're trying to get through X amount of abortions a day?
00:19:04
Speaker
I don't like hypothetically, like, I don't know. Does this mean that other providers from other states need to now get licensed in other states? You know, the states that they're unable to perform these procedures, do they have to relocate in order to kind of help? I don't know. I don't know.
00:19:27
Speaker
Yeah, it says so much layering complexities with this. And even talk about like, disparities to access, you know, with certain groups of people having to go through those states like get a car and have gas money to get over there and have, you know, take a day off for work, right, because you have to go to the clinic and etc. So we know it, you know, affects, you know, most likely black woman at a
00:19:51
Speaker
more devastating rate, not having accessibility to these options. And I think, like you mentioned, Erica, what is the provider access? How does that also affect the providers that are in states with the bans as well that are supportive of abortion and women rights? What can they do? Even thinking about
00:20:10
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leveraging their physician hood and their knowledge and power in terms of changing the circumstances. And also I think about this from the perspective of
00:20:22
Speaker
You know, it's just tough because on the federal level, there's certain things being done, and then on the state level, there are certain things done. And there's this concordance with our judicial system. How can that be so? Even the same thing can be applied when we talk about marijuana and things of that nature.
00:20:40
Speaker
but it just shows how disparate and disconnected our society, our culture, our political state of affairs are and how people are not respectful of women and their decisions and their rights and how change needs to be implemented as soon as possible.
Aging Political Leaders: A Debate
00:20:58
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This is a God-given right for women to make these decisions and I think that is a travesty
00:21:03
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that now you have women that have to endanger themselves. And even when we talk about after having an abortion, you know, typically women need to rest and things that those kind of things. But now they have to go back to their estate. They do have to pay for a hotel. So we talk about all these financial implications that we may not necessarily think about or see. But it does cause such a disastrous thing for something that should be a choice for a woman to have.
00:21:29
Speaker
Agreed. Agreed. You said, you wonder how, in terms of like the government and how this is happening. Well, we have governmental leaders who are above the age of the average US adult.
00:21:47
Speaker
That's how and why. It came in hot on its own because it's a good question. You have these majority leaders who seem to just remain in office until
00:22:05
Speaker
death, do they part? Um, and yes, we are talking right now about leaders like Mitch McConnell. Um, we're going to address the health scare and that he's been, or seizures or whatever he's been having on national TV. I'm sure you all have seen it. Um, so Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, he's a Republican out of Kentucky. He is 81 years old, y'all.
00:22:33
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leader of the US Senate Republican Caucus. Within the last couple of months, he's had two occasions where he's literally just frozen on camera during press interviews. And Mitch McConnell
00:22:47
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now is not even the only US center whose health has been called into question, but let's pause here for a second because did you guys see it? It was crazy to watch. Social media had a field day. They had the Mitch McConnell mute challenge, similar to the Beyonce on mute challenge. And not even, I mean, we don't make fun of people when they have health issues. It's not that, it's just,
00:23:15
Speaker
I think we're laughing to keep from crying at this point as a people because you literally have our governmental leaders who physically on television cannot, they don't appear able to do their job. And this funnels into other issues like
00:23:40
Speaker
abortion issues and abortion rights. So we're not we're not making fun of this. I'm making light of it by any means. We're just kind of kind of baffled and befuddled at how again, like I mentioned, the average U.S. Senator, the age is what, 65?
00:24:04
Speaker
And the median age for a US representative is 57.9. Like our governmental leaders are aging. And I think we can have now a discussion on what, so what are y'all thoughts on having lowered age limits for people in government? Should they be younger? Should they stay older?
00:24:27
Speaker
I mean, if the retiring age is, you know, typically 65, then I feel like the same should apply to the political arena. You know, from the perspective, you know, individuals over 80 are increased risk for, you know, dementia and, you know, things like mood disorders.
00:24:44
Speaker
memory issues, which we're seeing with our current president, obviously. And Mitch McConnell, I wouldn't even doubt that he has other severe impairments and physical issues. At 81, I mean, being a senator, I'm sure, is a stressful job in some aspects. At that age, you should be resting and letting the youth come in and mentoring and giving them service so that they could service our communities and our nation in a productive and appropriate way.
00:25:10
Speaker
But I feel like, again, ego is going to be the death of this country. Ego is the death of us all because they want to be in these positions of leadership and they want to override and oversee all that they, I guess, have created and curated over the last decades.
00:25:25
Speaker
and such that they're unable to relinquish that. And we see that in the medical hierarchy system, where people are not capable physically and mentally to do it, but because they have that ego in place, and it's like, this is mine, this is my baby, and I'm not letting go of it. Sometimes enough is enough. We respect your service and what you've done, but at the same time, it's time to allow others to learn, to grow in that same position, so that we can change so many of the dynamics that we're facing in this country.
00:25:54
Speaker
When I saw, you know, I'm part of this group, a young black American doctor, and, you know, they put the pulse above him, and they were trying to diagnose him, like we had focal seizures versus this and that. And it's like, no, I mean, the realities are like, regardless, like we saw something that ultimately was baffling, like something that you would not anticipate or expect one of your leaders to. And I feel like, again, this is representative of the American culture, where it's like, if you have
00:26:20
Speaker
health issues, don't work yourself out of your position. Just take a break. It's okay to take a break. If you know that something is going on, it's okay.
00:26:31
Speaker
to be able to say, I got to step back away from this. And I think that someone is more qualified or more capable at this point. And I feel like he hasn't done that. Biden hasn't done that. We have to come to a point where they have to respect themselves, but they also have to respect our country.
Pop Culture & Personal Lives
00:26:47
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? And by them continuing in such a role, that's being very disrespectful. So I wish them well. I don't wish no ill will toward any human being on this earth, maybe a couple of them.
00:26:58
Speaker
You know, not any of the individuals that we've mentioned here, they're out. The views of the SNMA podcast are not the views. Listen, the whole mentioning ill will thing. People will do it though. People will wish ill will towards you. They was doing it to Keke Palmer's boyfriend. They was wishing him a lot of ill will when he came out with that $200.
00:27:21
Speaker
It was really wishing him a lot of ill will. When they saw that he could not accept Kiki for who she was and the platform in which she chose to be Kiki Palmer, he got dragged. He very much got dragged. But the funny thing is that
00:27:41
Speaker
The funny thing is that not everything is as it seems. Not everything is as it seems. And that is what I learned. And that's what I'm trying to say. It's all perspective, right? We assumed, we assumed that she had moved on and had, you know.
00:28:00
Speaker
I'm pretty sure y'all assume I knew shorty was right there with that man and I'll let y'all have that conversation so there was never an official break up right it was not like she said oh yeah I'm leaving Darius or whatever or she came with the very like subtle I guess ways to be like I don't know
00:28:19
Speaker
if whatever he's saying makes any sense because she came up with a you a mom t-shirt and merchandise. She had a whole song with Usher called um I think it was called Boyfriend or whatever and you know it was a lot of shade being thrown around but in the end we never got the final stance on the status of her relationship. So I do think that that is like
00:28:42
Speaker
something interesting. I don't know, it ruffled a lot of feathers. They were seeing together celebrating Kiki's birthday. Listen, I don't know how vocal I was in that conversation, I do not remember. But I do know that I did not say that that girl was leaving that man
00:29:03
Speaker
I knew this was a bag and I said, I have a feeling this is just to get a bag. Usher got a bag, Kiki got a bag. They were the cat's meow talk of every social media site all summer long. And yeah, it was good PR. They gave y'all a show, honey. It was great PR. I'm going to take tips because she actually did what she had to do.
Coco Gauff's Achievements
00:29:28
Speaker
She did. I mean, I'm proud of her, you know what I mean? I still stand on what I said in that episode, though. What was that? What did you say in the episode? Yeah, I could go back, you know, and watch it. Or I was listening. I don't need to repeat myself. Y'all trying to get me bashed, right? After Tyler Perry, right?
00:29:45
Speaker
No, we met. That's not my responsibility. You're trying to get me canceled like his boyfriend. Okay. If you get canceled, that'll be all on your own. It'll be all on your own. It won't be by the help of me or Erica. We're on your side. That's complete cap.
00:30:02
Speaker
But honestly, I'm glad I worked out for them. At the end of the day, you got to do what's best for you. And I still believe in the full Black household. Now, mother and father and a beautiful kid, at least that wasn't taken away. And I think that's the most important part, is utilizing this in a space where they can grow from it and get that back.
00:30:25
Speaker
Do your thing, baby. I love what you said. You believe in the full black household. And I'll tell you, one young lady who came from the full black household is out here actually winning, like legit. Miss Coco Golf won her first Grand Slam title at the US Open with father and mother there cheering her on in the stands. It was so, so beautiful to watch. And she actually, while she was playing one of those games, you know, there was some,
00:30:54
Speaker
some issue with the, is it a referee in tennis as well? Okay. And the other person that was playing, it was just, she had to speak up for herself essentially, and I'm so happy she did.
00:31:09
Speaker
It was in a match against Shorty from Germany, Laura. Yeah. And you know, I'm just, I'm happy she spoke up because we have to advocate for ourselves across the board and not cower.
00:31:27
Speaker
And even Ms. Coco, she said, thank you to the people who didn't believe in me out. She said this after the match to those who thought they were putting water on my fire. You were really adding gas to it. Now I'm really burning so bright now. And that's, that's, that's what we want. We, we want you to feel like you are on fire. Cause you definitely were sis. We enjoy watching this. I know I did.
00:31:59
Speaker
But I love that quote, honestly. And I think it applies to anybody listening. And even for ourselves, there's going to be people that's going to deter you, not believe you, tell you you're not capable. Always maintain that fire and passion within because what's meant for you is meant for you. And you got to continue along your trajectory and your path and be relentless with it. And I love that she was able to showcase that.
00:32:19
Speaker
You know, she's the second youngest winner after Serena, I believe, for the U.S. Open right at 19 years old. So she's done some incredible things. And as a black woman, I think that there should be more coverage on her, along with Naomi Osaka, who does a lot of stuff, especially for mental wellness and illness as pertains to athletes. But of course, the media controls the narrative that's out there, right? If a black woman is not twerking, if she's not showing her boo, if she's not showing sexualization of herself, then the media
00:32:48
Speaker
really tends to give coverage to them, right? But in this scenario, I love that she's receiving all the accolades, the celebrations, you know, the appreciation of what she's doing for the sport. And now there might be another Coco golf amongst the spectators or even somewhere around this country that's watching and saying, yo, I could do that, too, like even at a young age and bypass all these bystanders who didn't believe in me who say, oh, tennis is not a black sport or you're not going to make it through, et cetera, et cetera, and all those stereotypes.
Resilience in Black Athletes
00:33:16
Speaker
So I love it for her, you know what I mean? And I think that she's gonna continue to shine light and forget the haters, you know? Keep doing your thing.
00:33:28
Speaker
Yeah, it's a two-peat too because Shaqari Richardson is out here killing the game as well. She was kind of already in our viewpoint like last year, I believe. But then, you know, there was the whole thing with her potentially taking, you know, outside
00:33:47
Speaker
Well, yeah, I'm just going to try to be PG with it, taking other substances that may or may not affect her performance. And, you know, Drake put his little line in his song to be cute. So, yeah, it got its little shine, but she's back to show the world that she has moved on from that. She's in her zone. She was able to win first place at the 100 meter in the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
00:34:14
Speaker
beat out some of the best Jamaican sprinters that we know. Yeah, so she is like killing the game right now, and I'm happy for her. It's good to see that women like Coco and Shaqari can continue to put on for us black women, change the narrative, as you said, all the way in terms of how we are viewed in the media. Yeah.
00:34:37
Speaker
And I love, she's just like Flojo, if you're not familiar, who was a very popular runner in the 80s and 90s, who unfortunately passed away, but a similar spirit who she represented, who she wanted to represent. She got the long nails, the braids.
00:34:54
Speaker
like embracing herself and not being afraid because I feel like we have to conform like even in medicine like there's a certain level of conformity that people expect you but I always say embrace who you are and naturally live in your element because that's going to allow you to oversee and exacerbate who you are and what you want to accomplish right and don't let other people tell you who you should be or why it should be when you should be
00:35:17
Speaker
be originally that. So I love that for Shikari, the diaspora warriors are coming back. I still love that photo with her and the rest of the Jamaican team, especially Sherika Jackson, who also yesterday won first place in the Diamond League as well for the 100 meters out there.
00:35:33
Speaker
So shout out to her. But I love like, yo, we coming together like we remember like a couple of months ago or I think it was like last year, two years ago, there was like Jamaicans versus Americans like, yo, we part of the same melanin melanated culture, baby. Like we are diaspora. Like we got like we are empowered by something special that they can't touch. And so the fact that she hugged there and they, you know, dapped up.
00:35:57
Speaker
and they celebrated regardless of who was first, second, and third. It's a win for them, but also even bigger for the culture and the community at large as well. But also another homie that we got to talk about is Francis Thiafo, Jr., who became the first Sierra Leonean American and only the third man of African descent to be ranked in the top 10. It's crazy he's taking that long for somebody to be ranked top 10 in the tennis world behind Arthur Ashe and as well as James Blake,
00:36:26
Speaker
as well. So shout out to him doing his thing. I've seen around. I think he spent time with a lot of celebrities like Drake and Jaylen Brown and things that nature. So people are recognizing him and again, we, you know, creating this narrative that we can conquer other sports. We can conquer tennis.
00:36:45
Speaker
I'm waiting. The next thing I'm waiting for is cricket and rugby. We're going to take over. Oh, okay. Cricket. Yeah, tennis is having a lot of shine right now. So that's really nice and heartwarming to see. I also love the fact that there's athletes who are kind of going beyond like what it is that they're known for and doing other things with their life. That is like a new chapter like Naomi, like you mentioned earlier, talking about Naomi is also one of tennis's leading ladies. She also recently gave birth.
00:37:15
Speaker
to her adorable baby girl named Shy about two months ago.
00:37:21
Speaker
And this is, like, similar to when Serena had given birth, right? And people had their own, I guess, opinions on how would this change what she's known for as a tennis player and all of these things. But I think it's good when, like, a woman kind of embraces the other aspects of their dreams and goes after it, even when it doesn't align with what they're known for. So I don't know, like, what do you guys feel like or how do you guys feel the tennis world and maybe just even us as people who watch Naomi
00:37:49
Speaker
How do you think they're going to react to the fact that she's now a mom? If they are her fans, they should be in full support. I think we need to change the narrative of getting worn and tired as an athlete before you can actually start to enjoy the fruits of your labor, whether it's in being a mom or starting a business. If she wants to take time off,
00:38:19
Speaker
She I'm sure is aware what taking time off would do to her endurance and strength training. She's probably going to have to go extra hard. She's grown and she should be offered the same support that someone would if they decided to go extremely hard. Like Serena Williams, she went hard in the paint for a long time and I think
00:38:47
Speaker
if she could have a conversation with her younger self, she'd probably say, do it sooner, you know, cause it puts a lot on your body to have or start a family at that age. And I think she even discussed at one point just how her pregnancy process was and delivery and was like, I think she became like a meant advocate for like maternal health in that
Diversity in Politics
00:39:11
Speaker
experience. So, right.
00:39:13
Speaker
you know, like, we should be happy that she's pursuing motherhood at the age where it's appropriate if that's what she wants for her life. 100%. And you know, all of it, I'm sure you know, the financial implications of motherhood. For sure. Yeah.
00:39:33
Speaker
Okay, it's about that time, you know, financial implications. I don't know financial implications of motherhood because I've never been in a mother and I don't think I'll probably ever be a mother but I hope you'll be a dad one day though. So maybe it'll be a bit similar. Yeah, but
00:39:52
Speaker
Not 100%. But before we hit up the financial corner, I think that it's also important to understand that finances are critically important as it pertains to being elected in office. Recently, I was listening to a podcast with Stephen A. N. He interviewed one of the governors of Maryland, Wes Moore, who's only the third black governor to have ever been elected in the history of the US. And we also find that in Mexico, they're about to elect their first woman president.
00:40:22
Speaker
which is unprecedented. There's two women that are facing each other from different political parties. And I think what's important to understand is that if we are unable to diversify the political arena, then we are unable to change the circumstances of our environments and our communities. Because at the top, they are the ones that vote, that create the legislative connectivity to our communities.
00:40:46
Speaker
you know, addressing disparities, health and food insecurity, health disparities, and the like. And it's a travesty that here we have so many competent individuals across America that could be political strongholds and fire starters. But many of us don't enter into the political arena. Actually, I'm interested one day. I might run for mayor. I might hurt from government. You know what I'm saying? I'm going to have to clean up my IG and all that. But you've got a couple of years you've got to be feeling. OK. All right. We'll be watching out.
00:41:16
Speaker
I wanted to actually add that in lieu of that. And when we talk about even when we talk about the political landscape, 70% of those who are actually in Congress or in Senate have political ties to some form of slavery, right? They have some ancestors that have.
00:41:34
Speaker
actually own slaves. So obviously that presents an advantage from them because they have a foundation and a legacy of ruining black people's lives but also taking advantage of them and utilizing that as a financial resource to build their platform to get to their current descendants. But I want to ask you guys what is the importance of and why is diversity important in politics?
00:41:59
Speaker
It's 100% important politics because politics definitely controls the landscape in which we live in. I think it's super significant to bring up the fact that there's two Hispanic women right now running for president of Mexico. It is Hispanic Heritage Month. We do have to give recognition where recognition is due. This is a podcast that is aimed
00:42:25
Speaker
to elevate both black and brown physicians and physicians in training and soon to be physicians. And so I definitely want to give them their credit. I don't even think that that's something that's ever happened before in history. And so I guess it's also
00:42:41
Speaker
is kind of a foreshadowing of maybe what's to come even in America's political game soon. Are we going to be seeing two women candidates vying for the presidential seat? And so I do think it's just kind of important that we diversify politics in all facets, whether it's by race, gender, sexual identity, religious affiliation. Those are important because
00:43:06
Speaker
If I'm talking from the perspective of being an American, America is built on the fabric of diversity. And if we don't have that reflected in our politics, then it'll not. It wouldn't be able to translate to the people in which we're serving. So I think that's why diversity is important in politics.
Student Loans and Financial Relief
00:43:22
Speaker
Not sure if you have any.
00:43:24
Speaker
No, both of you said everything that I think on this. It's America. It's a melting pot. Why doesn't our governmental leadership reflect that across the board? It just doesn't make sense. So I'm in agreement with all of you. What you said, honestly. Sounds good.
00:43:49
Speaker
Well, thank you for sharing your thoughts. Now we can proceed with the show and create our ultimate ending to this episode with the financial corner, which I've missed dearly. It's been so long. Haven't I missed it? Like I see some tears about to shed.
00:44:10
Speaker
Yeah, I know. It's been a long time. It's been a long time coming. We're glad to have you back. I'm a I'm a yo I'm a I'm gonna drop a little little rhyme. You know, I'm saying to like give an intro to the financial corner, but it's not this episode though.
00:44:30
Speaker
You know what I want to talk about is, as you guys know, on August 31st, student loans repayment has been started.
00:44:41
Speaker
and getting ready in regards to that. I wanted to particularly talk about important statistics with women bearing the brunt of the student debt crisis and also one of Biden's new plans. So overall Americans owe over $1.7 trillion in federal student loan debt and women hold two thirds of that $1.7 trillion in debt.
00:45:00
Speaker
But it's also interesting to know that but with women with bachelor's degrees, they earn only 70 cents for every $1 that men earn. So obviously student loan repayment can be a struggle for women in many contexts. And by 2027, 40% of all jobs are expected to require a bachelor's or master's degree.
00:45:18
Speaker
which is why oftentimes 74% of women's students plan to continue their education according to a recent survey beyond the actual bachelor's degree. Now, when we talk about the Biden's plan, unfortunately, at the federal level, they did stop with a $20,000 repayment.
00:45:36
Speaker
Um, it was stop hold it. Um, and so many people were just gung ho for that. Um, and I was going home for that $20,000. I'm going to need to hire you to, you know,
00:45:56
Speaker
to fend for my own suit of loan repayment when the time comes. So I know I'm going to win it because of you. I mean, you are the biggest advocate. Yeah, I got you. I'm going to pull up. I'm going to pull up to the actual White House so you can see my energy. Oh, OK. White House. No violence, no violence, no violence.
00:46:12
Speaker
But so Biden has started a new repayment plan. It's called the save plan, which stands for the saving on a valuable education plan, which is an income driven repayment program that calculates payment size based on income and family size. And it's going to be starting in July 2024. So what happens is if you're approved for this, your monthly payments will be slashed in half for your undergraduate loans. So it could fall anywhere from 10% to 5% of your disposable income.
00:46:38
Speaker
which helps a lot because then you'll have more money that you can allocate to rent, to taking women or men on dates, whatever you may prefer, or being outside, whatever leisure activities you have. And also for those with both graduate and undergraduate loans, payments would be between 5% to 10% of their income. So interesting enough, I think with this actual repayment, I think it's a great idea because it creates less of a burden on many individuals.
00:47:07
Speaker
So far, 4 million people have already signed up. So if you have not, and you're interested in a repayment plan that I think is very reasonable for where we are with our economics, with inflation, with the need for financial assistance and support, as many people are still trying to find jobs and find some sense of stability. I think that this is a great place.
00:47:28
Speaker
to help you overcome those hurdles and be able to be in a position where you could save more money for other endeavors that you may have. So I give this plan a B plus B minus Biden. I still need my money. I need my money. Yeah, I need it.
00:47:45
Speaker
I'm still waiting. Do you see why I said you'd be advocating for me? Because, you know, you're a harsh critique. He's my friend, Uncle Joe this time. He said, bye. He said, bye. We put the balls on him, you know what I mean? But overall, for those that are not aware, yes. If you have student loans, be ready to start repaying them. Your loan servicer should be reaching out to you via email or calling and leaving voicemails in the next
00:48:10
Speaker
several weeks. So have fun with that because I'm going to have to figure out how to run the mines. I'm a half a million dollar man, baby. So what y'all think though, what y'all think about those that new repayment plan? Are y'all going to join? You know, there was a tweet that really resonated with me that I saw regarding just this whole loan situation. And
00:48:39
Speaker
Someone said, you know, um, will, like, will there ever really be a need, um, you know, to start repaying back loans? And they said, well, no, because Jesus already paid the ultimate price. And you know what? I'm, I think I'm going to rock with that sense of it. Cause the thing is you can't, you can't charge me if I'm dead. You can't listen, right?
00:48:57
Speaker
I could technically decide to pay this forever and it'll never be fully paid off because you cannot, you can't, you can't, you know, tap on me from the grave. I will not be coming back to finish pay whatever it is that I do. So, you know, I see it as it's not an issue. It's not you pay what you can pay at the pace of what you can pay.
00:49:19
Speaker
And when it's the end, it's the end. That's just how I view the matter. But I'm not sure, Erica, if you share a similar sentiment or? I just feel like it's above me now. And I'm standing on that. That's all I got. It's very much about me. It's very much about me. It's above me now. So we'll see. We'll see what happens.
00:49:45
Speaker
Nah, that's a fact. Well, thank you guys for your contribution. And I look forward to hearing more about your loan forgiveness and your loan journey, as I will share mine as well. Thank you for the financial corner. It was good. It was glad to have you back. We missed it. So I'm sure our listeners are happy to hear you again talk about all things finance related.
00:50:10
Speaker
Financial corner, corner. Yes, yes. Now I'm there going to drop us, you know, a rhyme next time. That's fine. Okay. I got you. Looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it. Well, you know the vibes. That's our show. It was great. We had fun. We had laughs. We had good energy, good vibes, and we really appreciate y'all tuning in on this episode of The Lounge.
00:50:32
Speaker
and 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. Be sure to follow the SNMA on all of our social media platforms to stay up to date on upcoming events. Have a good one. See you guys next episode.