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Homecoming SZN Part 4
38 Plays2 years ago
As dedicated as we are to becoming competent physicians, we also need to strike a healthy work-life balance. It's Homecoming SZN and we're discussing our favorite Homecoming nostalgic moments, Health Literacy Month, and recent events in pop culture, and politics!
In the Financial Corner segment, Dr. Aldwin addresses strategies to prevent becoming a victim of student loan fraud.
To share your thoughts on our discussions, 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
Introduction and Conference Announcement
00:00:00
Speaker
The view expressed on this podcast represent only those of the hosts and do not represent the views of the Student National Medical Association. It's that time again.
00:00:09
Speaker
We are excited to celebrate our 60th anniversary and AMEC Conference in New Orleans on March 27th through the 31st, 2024. The theme of this year's conference is From Pressure to Purpose, Illuminating the Path to Excellence. This theme embodies the spirit of the SNMA, as well as the fullness of the journey each member commits to taking when pursuing a career in medicine.
00:00:36
Speaker
AMEC registration is now open. For more details, visit snma.org forward slash page forward slash AMEC 2024.
Podcast Introduction
00:01:05
Speaker
What's poppin' everybody? Welcome to SNMA Presents to Lounge. Whether you're in a student lounge, doctor's lounge, or lounging around at home, get ready and active to join SNMA for meaningful conversations on topics affecting minorities in medicine and groups that often sit at the margin of healthcare. I am that doc from the block, white coat poppy, Bronx dealer on the score, Dio, all of that, Dr. Aldwin in the building,
Reflections on Community and Culture
00:01:31
Speaker
you know what I'm saying? And today's question is, if you could go back in time,
00:01:35
Speaker
where would you go? And what would you be excited to celebrate? I would say for me, I would go back probably to like the late 70s, early 80s, because that's that fun, you know, get them off it, you know what I'm saying? You know, every time I feel like that was
00:01:50
Speaker
That was a critical period because we were socializing, we were connecting, we were bonding. We were just right after the civil rights movement where everyone had the afros and the puss and it was picking it out with the little pics and walking around with a right hand up with a fist and feeling embracing of the culture of being black and being part of the diaspora.
00:02:08
Speaker
And I would love to be able to celebrate that experience of just genuine love, like coming in my community, coming off the block, not experiencing the animosity that I feel nowadays, that Black people express toward each other. Nobody smiles. Nobody hugs each other. Nobody shows love. Nobody engenders the positivity that we used to have, the plight, the courage, the struggle that we all face. Not everybody faces those struggles individually, as opposed to as a group, as a collective dynamic.
00:02:36
Speaker
And so that's what I wish we could embrace now in today's world. But how do y'all feel about that?
Memorable College Experiences
00:02:42
Speaker
What's y'all? Time to go back to what we just celebrate.
00:02:46
Speaker
Well, hello, everyone. I'm student Dr. Isabella. And if I could go back in time, you know, I'm always somebody, but it's all about moving forward in life and not going back. So that is a little bit conflicting for me. But if I had to choose, I'd probably go back to like freshman week at Howard. I think I have never experienced such lightness and just
00:03:13
Speaker
just like newness since that time. I felt like I was full of life, I was so optimistic, like I was so excited to explore like what laid ahead of me and it was really my first time really kind of coming out of my shell and being open to creating a new foundation outside of my hometown.
00:03:31
Speaker
And I really think that that was just a memorable week. I probably would have been more intentional about trying to really meet more people during that time. But I think it was, you know, it was just like a very new experience. So I navigated it how I did. But if I had to choose, I'd probably go back to that that time. It was a good one. Freshman week was definitely nice, right? Mm hmm. It was dope.
00:03:56
Speaker
This is Erica dingle and what would I go back in time to I would probably go back to college as well. and celebrate graduation, maybe again just to re experience it.
00:04:14
Speaker
It was a time where I don't think we realized that life would change so much. I mean, you have an idea, but you really have no idea of what life is to become when you leave campus.
00:04:34
Speaker
I would make it a different type of celebration. I think we all went out after graduation with our families to eat and we went to parties, but I would try to extend the celebration. I don't know, maybe even living with my friends for a month after college and just celebrate with them.
00:04:53
Speaker
Because it was the last time that all of us for four years, like we lived together, we grew up together, that we would be in the same place. Like homecoming doesn't guarantee it, you know. But yeah, I would definitely go back and just celebrate being with them one more time.
00:05:14
Speaker
for what is likely the rest of our lives. Right. Yeah, no, I think that's beautiful that we, you know, that we both touched on college being such a pivotal time. But, you know, guys, it's it is that time again.
Significance of HBCU Homecomings
00:05:28
Speaker
It's very much that time again for our listeners, for our preclinical students, it's time to run the patient list. So 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 affecting our communities and the populations we serve. It is homecoming 2023 season. It is
00:05:50
Speaker
that time again, October being the month that we all go back to our respective HBCUs and celebrate just being back to an environment that we spent four years of our lives in, as well as just coming back as alumni, seeing the new students and just engaging in those typical homecoming traditions.
00:06:09
Speaker
Of course, but we know that homecoming isn't just limited to HBCUs, but it's very, very significant in the HBCU culture. So I already know that you guys both went to HBCUs at some point. Erika, you went to Hampton. Aldon, you did go to Morehouse for your master's. I went to Howard for undergrad.
00:06:28
Speaker
So we've talked about it, of course, on previous episodes, whenever it is homecoming season, but, you know, remind the listeners like what that experience is like for you guys when you go back to your HBCUs and you, you know, celebrate homecoming with all of your friends and, you know, faculty, family, whoever it may be.
00:06:51
Speaker
Cousin, what up? Nah, homecoming feels like everybody's your cousin. Everybody's a good vibe. And for me, I'm already a type of individual that likes to say hi to everybody. I'd be walking the streets in New York saying, what up to people? And they'd be like, yo, you the ops. I went to my school of medicine. So it kind of flipped my switch. Because in New York, you isolate and you focus on the tasks you get to your destination. But then
00:07:14
Speaker
And in Georgia, it kind of bred me to socialize. And then when I came into that experience of being at homecoming, it felt like I was truly part of some of the special part of a family, especially not knowing a lot of people in that area. It was very heartwarming. So you just go down the line, get the food, the drinks, all the good vibes, the good music. You never know who you're going to run into also. Fortunately, there's a lot of successful people that have come out of the HBCUs that may come back and pop out.
00:07:44
Speaker
and show they love and show they good energy. So it's always like a good vibe, a good time. I can't say that I had like a specific memory of like, oh, this is like something like crazy monumental, but I will say that being able to experience that as like a once in a lifetime thing. And it feels like you were a chosen one when you go to Homecoming. It's like, you're part of a historic, prestigious, like privileged history. You know what I'm saying?
00:08:07
Speaker
in terms of HBCUs and colleges and the like, and not many people have that opportunity. Like, I don't know many people from my block that went to college, nonetheless, the actual HBCU and have that story in a claim to be energized and invigorated in such a special way. Yeah, I think Homecoming is, you know, we know it's a celebration and we know it is
00:08:31
Speaker
oftentimes more closely associated with HBCUs. I am aware that other institutions like PWIs, they do have their own homecoming traditions, but I think in terms of looking forward, gosh, in terms of looking forward to going back, you know, getting rejuvenated, reinvigorated, even
00:08:54
Speaker
to just rehash old times, right? You go back, take a trip down memory lane. But for many of us and medical students alike where you might be one of 20, and I feel like 20 is a lot, Black students, you get to kind of get together and
00:09:15
Speaker
It's like a face that can empathize with my experience. Even if your friends that you attended undergrad with aren't in medical school, they still have their own experiences in corporate America and just being black in America. I will also say one of my favorite, most favorite homecoming experiences as an alumni was at Prairie View.
00:09:41
Speaker
in Texas, Prairie View A&M. And the reason is in the South South, they do homecoming different with tailgating, like just seeing the older alumni, the seasoned alumni with their trailers, their tents.
00:09:57
Speaker
being so welcoming, not only to the people they attended college with, but to the young alumni, the fried fish, the barbecue. And then, you know, a meeting of the minds, right? Like getting mentors just based off a conversation. So it's not just a party. It's an experience that is truly enriching to the soul.
00:10:25
Speaker
But we cannot ignore the party aspect of it, correct? But I'm so glad that you like touched on the other side of it, which is like the enrichment side where you are gaining, you know, wisdom and experience from those who came before us, you know, when we attended that HBCU. So yeah, that's 100% amazing. You already know how I'm going to be come October at Howard. I will not be bleached.
00:10:52
Speaker
It is the weekend of October 20th for those who are planning to come.
Health Literacy and Racial Disparities
00:10:58
Speaker
That is when it is going to be. We are a hundred percent outside. That's the only option. That's the only option. And you know, it's like it's.
00:11:09
Speaker
So for those who attended HBCUs, October really for us is homecoming. But for those who probably didn't attend HBCUs, October is probably just another month, especially to our listeners and to our health professionals. Probably what would be more relevant for them is talking about October being Health Literacy Month. So Health Literacy Month was founded in 1999 by Helen Osborne and is now brought to you by the Institute of Healthcare Advancement.
00:11:33
Speaker
So we know health literacy is a broad term, but it can really kind of be staggered into two main buckets. One being personal health literacy and organizational health literacy. So personal being how well a person can find understanding, use information and services to make decisions about their own health and the health of others versus organizational being how well organizations equitably help all people find, understand and use information and services to make decisions about their own health and others.
00:12:02
Speaker
So we know it's significant because patients who aren't able to successfully interpret health information have increased hospitalization rates, they develop more diseases, and they experience higher mortality. And there's many ways that you can tell if somebody may not be that health literate, either if they're always frequently missing appointments, maybe they're not really compliant with their meds, maybe they're unable to really give you that coherent sequential history about this is what's been going on when you ask them to give you an update about their health.
00:12:32
Speaker
And so I want to ask, of course, you guys as health professionals, what are some ways you guys believe that providers can educate their patients when it comes to their health?
00:12:43
Speaker
You know, to be honest, like I think that in this capitalistic structure, it's so hard to really spend time to educate your patients because for, often times like in medical school, we learn all this terminology and biochem and all these various things that we also don't learn how to communicate to our patients because we have this vast expansive knowledge in our brains, but to be able to inherit that knowledge dissect it and break it down to the point where we could actually relate to the patient on a,
00:13:10
Speaker
I wouldn't say low level, but lower level in terms of understanding and awareness. I think that that becomes a challenge. But also, like I said, as it pertains to revenue base and capitalism, oftentimes it's about how many patients you see and not the quality of the experience that you create for your patients. So I hear so many times, like when I was in residency, so many times I had patients be like, yo, it was dope. Like you really sat down with me because I would literally pull chairs and sit down next to my patients and talk to them. I remember I had a lady
00:13:40
Speaker
that basically was having like diarrhea like you know persistent diarrhea for three four months started suffering dehydration metabolic acidosis all these things you know like all those things that happen when you have diarrhea and we had GI come see her we had you know
00:13:57
Speaker
the surgeons on the GI side see them as well. So I remember one time I came into her room and she was reading a book and, you know, again, I sat down right next to her and I told her, like, oh, you may have a condition called, you know, reactive colitis and all these kind of things, kind of broke it down to her. And she was like, yo, you're the first person to ever talk to me that like broke it down in that way. And I'm like, oh, you've seen like 10 to 12 different doctors that came to see you. And the fact that I'm just the intern, I'm like in my third month of residency and I literally don't know anything.
00:14:27
Speaker
And these people know more than me, but the fact that you said that I've told you more than they could is just astonishing to me. But that just goes to show the level of discrepancy and difference between how we feel we're doing what we're doing for our patients. Seems like we're doing a lot, but we're not necessarily doing what we think we are.
00:14:45
Speaker
Being able to spend that time, I think, is critical and being mindful. Not everyone in the sense, your perspective as a provider, as a physician, then you gotta be able to break it down and spend that time with them because you never know how you're gonna change the outcome. You might even change their mental health, their ability to perceive of that disease just by spending the extra five minutes. That's supposed to just leave them out there, you know what I'm saying? Baking in the sun and trying to figure out, like, am I gonna die from this? Things we think you're not gonna die from, somebody might think it's literally lethal to them.
00:15:13
Speaker
You know what I mean? So it's very important for us to take that time. Yeah, I think it's a couple of things that would help to identify low health literacy as well as, I mean, all when you spoke to a lot of different points and aspects on how to improve it, but regarding, let's say like non-compliance with medication or being unable to give coherent or sequential history,
00:15:40
Speaker
There was a study published in the Health Literacy Research and Practice. I believe it's an older study, but it was from an article, mentioned in an article on a website everydayhealth.com, and this was in February of 2022. They state that racial and ethnic minorities are among those most affected by low health literacy, including the 58 percent
00:16:09
Speaker
of African Americans who have basic or below basic health literacy compared with 28% of white Americans. And this was around the time where the Affordable Care Act was greatly expanding health care coverage. So we have to think of the boomers, the baby boomers, and their level of education. Can they read beyond a fifth grade level to where you would
00:16:36
Speaker
be able to kind of put the words together and actually understand what's being told. A lot of practices now, you know, being that they're on these electronic medical record systems, they even incorporate patient handouts where everything essentially from your visit
00:16:54
Speaker
upwards of like laboratory results and prescriptions are given, but can they interpret them? Do they have an advocate in the home that can help with understanding and beyond understanding like staying on top of what it is that they are dealing with health-wise?
00:17:17
Speaker
I know personally my mom, you know, educated to a bachelor's level. She has trouble even understanding sometimes what exactly is going on. And like all when you mentioned the level of explain, you know, of how it is, how it is explained, excuse me, by these providers, you know, sometimes they'll take the time and be detail oriented regarding it.
00:17:43
Speaker
And then other times they give you five words and expect you to just figure it out. But I, there's certain things I just don't think are taught in medical school and can be taught personally. I don't think you can teach empathy. And I think a lot of
00:18:03
Speaker
A lot of what comes from making sure that your patients are health literate has to deal with kind of putting yourself in their shoes and empathizing a bit. Now I do realize there are constraints put on providers by insurance and you have X amount of time that you can spend with patients and you gotta get paid and X, Y, and Z, but you know,
00:18:28
Speaker
I think it's possible to help increase the literacy of patients just by taking one step further than just being a provider. 100%. Yeah.
00:18:46
Speaker
Any other thoughts or did I sum them up? I think you summed everything up, girl. Yeah. Bodyed it. Put that body back. And you know, I mentioned insurance, right? So we know the government is really at this point heavily involved in health care matters, how practitioners, providers are paid out based on what they're seeing.
Government Shutdown and Political Challenges
00:19:13
Speaker
the how often they're being seen and the government seems to want to have a lot to do with legislation. Well, as they should, right?
00:19:26
Speaker
But let's get down to it. Government shutdown is where I'm trying to go. You're going there. I saw it. I feel like the government medals in, yes, I was trying to get there. The government medals in aspects of life that they should just let other people deal with. Have a health care council and deal there, and then government
00:19:52
Speaker
deal with the legal and fiscal and separate there. But anyway, I'm rambling. We were on the verge of a government shutdown, which did not happen because there was a deal made, if I'm not mistaken. For those of you that do not know, because I was unaware, I was like, government shutdown, what does that mean? Do we just not go to work anymore? Yeah, we put them on, man. What's a government shutdown? It was very unclear.
00:20:22
Speaker
Are my loans going to be absolved in this government? Okay, y'all can shut down until next year if my loans is disappearing. Not shut down forever. What you mean? So next year, I don't want to have to ever pay my loans. It would be shut down to the end of my life, then y'all can restart. It would be true. Okay, so for our listeners, what is a government shutdown? So
00:20:46
Speaker
A government shutdown in the United States would occur when legislation to fund the federal government is not passed before the next fiscal year begins. Now, shutdowns can affect multiple agencies across local, state, and federal government, which ultimately would threaten the economy. And the federal government would cease non-essential operations and stop paying non-essential workers.
00:21:12
Speaker
active duty military personnel would then have to work without pay. So we don't want a government shutdown for the simple fact that non-essential workers would not be paid and then our military would deserve to be paid. Right. That's right.
00:21:30
Speaker
So what exactly happened? Congress was very divided this term with the House Republicans, which is was led by the now former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. I'm not sure if you want more earrings.
00:21:45
Speaker
and the House Democrats led by minority leader Hakeem Jeffries. Now issues with the funding of a bill included additional aid for Ukraine in their ongoing war with Russia, increases in funding for federal disaster relief, and a deal was ultimately reached, but it only funds the government until November 17th when a new deal will have to be reached.
00:22:12
Speaker
Now, to bring it back to a medical and health standpoint, I guess my question would be with regards to a shutdown happening, how would this affect community health programs that are government funded?
00:22:30
Speaker
Yeah, that's kind of where something like this inevitably is going to lead to in terms of big picture question, like how is this going to affect things that the government is supposed to handle if you guys are shutting down. It's not going to be good, I don't think, if I had to guess, because there's a lot of, especially if we're talking about, say, federally qualified health centers, like FQHCs,
00:22:59
Speaker
those are very tied to government funding. A lot of people, especially in rural areas, tend to receive their care in those kinds of facilities. If there's no government support in places like that, I don't see that going well for people who rely on their providers that work at these places to get their
00:23:26
Speaker
medications that they have for their chronic diabetes or their heart disease or high cholesterol, whatever you want to use. So yeah, it's not going to be good for them. It's definitely not going to be good for them. And so it makes me hope that the government has plans to figuring out what this new deal is going to look like and fast because like November 7th is coming up. So tomorrow. Yeah. So I don't know. They got to start thinking quickly.
00:23:54
Speaker
Yeah, this is in a month, you know. When I say it's tomorrow, because the way September came and went, I feel like all the other birds are going to follow suit. Right. 100%. Well, you know, the US, out of any developed country in the world, spends the most on health care expenditures. I mean, that, you know, trillions of dollars each year that we spend.
00:24:20
Speaker
But when we talk about like, you know, the government shutdown how it relates to overall health and the political space. I think it's really interesting because it is bipartisan and it's like,
00:24:31
Speaker
You have one side versus the other side, but really there's no side that's really from, in my opinion, really advocating for the people in the interest of the people. We have people that are in positions that have been there for years and years. Longer than I've been alive, you got people that's in there that are not ingrained and entombed in real life and real society. They're not really in the streets. They're not really where the people reside and live at. The people that get up at five in the morning, go to work, hustle, grind,
00:24:56
Speaker
work for 12, 13, 14 hours, come back home, change the kids diapers, feed the kids, then, you know, try to attempt to go to sleep, but have anxiety, stress over if they could afford diapers the next day for the kid or afford to even be able to live, and especially in the state of affairs that we're in.
00:25:12
Speaker
with inflation and economically, a lot of people are not, you know, comfortable. I mean, the average American doesn't have more than three months emergency fund, you know what I'm saying, enough to pay beyond three months of their rent or three months, be it beyond three months for food and things of that nature. So these people who are living in these extraordinary lives, they have these cars, they have these pensions, these checks,
00:25:34
Speaker
that's pulling up for them. Every time I see this shutdown, it's like, yo, what are y'all really, like, what is this shutdown really about? Like, yo, get to it because people's lives are really affected, like we mentioned. That's what it's really about though, like, that's what I'm trying to figure out.
00:25:49
Speaker
The military people is going to get their bread cut off. Like, do you ever even care? You know what I'm saying? So, I mean, I'm glad that they were able to negotiate, but it's been interesting because they also lead a Kevin McCarthy because it seemed like he cut a side deal with Ukraine. But also during one of the negotiation deals, he pulled the fire alarm because he wasn't feeling what was going on.
00:26:10
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? Like we're in dire straits and you know, you take it to the full spectrum to pull the fire alarm so that you, you know, devastate this whole meeting. But at the end of the day, it says a lot about the egos that are going on in Washington. We talked about this in our previous episode. Like we need an infusion of young people, people that are really about it and not people that
00:26:30
Speaker
are trying to garner interest in their own agenda, but rather we need people to focus on the agenda of the people that are being affected each and every day that aren't seen, that aren't represented, that aren't talked to, that aren't being felt.
00:26:45
Speaker
Right, and I think it's a notable mention to state that. So that fire alarm incident that you mentioned, Alduin, apparently was done by Jamal Bowman, a Democratic representative of New York, allegedly because he couldn't get into the building to vote. So he couldn't get into the building. And Jamal, Jamal saw like he one of us too. So like- One of us, yeah.
00:27:11
Speaker
You are Keem Jeffries. Shout out to Keem Jeffries, the blackest name you could ever have ever in Congress. And then Jamal Bowen. Shout out to y'all. Y'all representing. Y'all from the block. Yeah. We go give a pass. We go give a pass. All right. But OK, New York. There's two New Yorkers on this call. You're two New Yorkers on the call. You already know.
00:27:32
Speaker
I am from the sibling New Jersey, okay? The suburbs. The suburbs. New Jersey, get out of here. Get out of here, New Jersey. We don't need they. The only New Jersey. We don't need they. I'm in Jersey right now, so I came to talk. Oh, okay. Oh, where in Jersey are you?
00:27:50
Speaker
I mean- You better be able to say this town. You better be able to say this town. Why would I not be able to say the town? I mean, East Orange, what you mean? Oh, East Orange. Okay. You're in the North Jersey. Okay. That's where I'm from. Love that. But the mess has not only been happening in Congress, it's also been apparently happening in you guys' hometown. So
00:28:14
Speaker
or home state, sorry, home state.
NYC Immigration Challenges
00:28:17
Speaker
So here in New Jersey, we cannot take any accountability. So New York, y'all gotta figure out what's going on, like what's going on with this immigration influx that is kind of going beyond what New York apparently can handle.
00:28:32
Speaker
It's saying that New York City typically receives tens of thousands of new immigrants each year, but since spring of 2022, there's been more than 118,000 migrants and asylum seekers who have arrived. So what are you guys' thoughts on kind of this happening? Because it seems like it's putting a lot of strain on the city's resources. It's costing over $1 billion and projected to cost over $4 billion by July 2024.
00:28:58
Speaker
in terms of all of the financial implications of these migrants and asylum seekers coming into New York City? Well, New York has always been a place where people come. I mean, we know. This is immigration central for years on end. And I think
00:29:23
Speaker
We need to examine the immigration system, which is outdated. And we have both Democrat and Republican leaders who are discussing the need
00:29:35
Speaker
for immigration reform, but then the other party gets blamed. So, you know, there's really no resolve. I also think the reason we are seeing more of an influx, you know, you have political instability in countries like Haiti, you have economic crises in Cuba, you have violence in Southern Mexico and Central America. So like New York City,
00:30:05
Speaker
inclusive of the five boroughs when I say New York City. So you talk in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island.
00:30:12
Speaker
and the BX, the Bronx. That's right. Last but best. The listeners could see all the making X with his arms. Literally, I love the representation. I just had to put that out there. It's just, what can you do? This is known. New York is like the melting pot. Right.
00:30:36
Speaker
I think for a while, we've welcomed, nobody really cared. But at this point, now you're seeing protests starting to arise and come from communities that were traditionally pro-immigrant. But the fact that New York is still recovering economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, right? We're still feeling the strain.
00:30:59
Speaker
We notice bus and the transit prices rising daily, 100%. It's just expensive to live here.
00:31:10
Speaker
I don't know, I think where we start is having a conversation between the parties that can actually do something about it. And instead of, like I mentioned previously, the blame game, because nothing gets done when you have our leaders who are pointing fingers at each other, kind of like that Spider-Man gif, where it's like Spider-Man's pointing, the other Spider-Man's pointing at each other. Nothing's going to get done.
00:31:40
Speaker
And yeah, I don't know what else to say on it other than the people who are in charge and can actually make change need to be serious about making the changes that need to occur. So you can accommodate them.
00:31:56
Speaker
I mean, my personal opinion is that our duty is not to accommodate every single migrant that comes into New York City, right? Because we're the only city that's doing that. Think about 118,000 people in one year. Right. I mean, that is incredible. You have people in Texas, Florida, sending buses up to Kamala Harris and then even to New York City. And it's like,
00:32:22
Speaker
We're supposed to be a democracy, we're supposed to be a nation that works together in tandem, right? But you're putting all these pressures on New York City to accommodate these individuals, but also puts pressure on education, finances, economics, the health.
00:32:38
Speaker
And yeah, I thoroughly disregarded that. And New York City, yes, we're a sanctuary city. So in our opinion, people that come here, you're going to be safe. You're going to have the opportunity to potentially get a work permit. You're going to potentially have the opportunity to seek asylum because of various things that are going in your particular country. But I feel like the owners should not be only on New York City and other cities within the actual country aren't
00:33:02
Speaker
taking that responsibility and obligation onto themselves and really burdening us. And I think that is unfortunate. I mean, I currently work at a hospital where we actually, most of our, like 90% of the people in our hospital are migrants, you know? So I see them every day. I see these people actually interact with them and engage with them. And, you know, I've learned, like remarkably, like their stories are so incredible. Like so much things have transpired just to get them to get to New York City. Many of them,
00:33:29
Speaker
don't have that bus to get up here, right? They just figure out their ways. A lot of them deal with trauma, sexual trauma, abuse, right? Exploitation and all those things. And in regards to their stories, it's incredible, but on top of that, like, I feel like we are, we also have
00:33:46
Speaker
an obligation to not necessarily exclude them as human beings, because now what we're seeing is that Trump, you know, there's been a reversal of the wall that's being built. I don't know if you guys have seen part of that new deal that we just talked about. They're actually rebuilding some of the walls. 500 miles have been built already, and now they're building more of the walls. That's not gonna deter people from getting into this country one way or another. People is gonna get it. They're gonna swim. They're gonna take horses. They're gonna fly away.
00:34:11
Speaker
Right. Okay. Skydive. Like, people's like they have record number of people they find dead bodies across the desert from people coming from Mexico into the US. They find those bodies people dehydrated, died from a variety of illnesses and conditions.
00:34:31
Speaker
just to get it to America. It's so bad where their countries are that they're willing to die just to get here. You know what I'm saying? That's true. And so I agree with you, Erica, like there should be a conversation, but really the conversation should be we can't deter these people from coming here. You know what I'm saying? I mean, I think
00:34:48
Speaker
It's very complicated and it's very political and not saying that it's right or wrong. But I do believe that every human being deserves a right to live, a privilege to be comfortable, to work toward a life where they can take care of their families and things of that nature. And sometimes these people don't even have that operate. I mean, I met a Haitian family a couple of weeks ago that was from Chile that they were talking about being persecuted and
00:35:10
Speaker
you know, being in a disadvantaged position where people didn't respect them and they left that country because of that, because of the fact that they couldn't feel comfortable that they thought that they may have potentially lost their lives or their families lives. So it's incredibly important for us to have these conversations, but not necessarily put that burden on just one city and other cities got to really step up. A hefty conversation.
00:35:37
Speaker
Tough needs to be had. And I feel like this isn't new, right? It's not something that we've discussed.
00:35:46
Speaker
I mean, we might have been mentioning it here for the first time, but I'm sure we've heard about this for the last however many years of being in New York. I've been in New York all my life with the exception of living in college, living away for college. HU? We do that for Howard. Okay, sorry, go ahead. I did it on purpose, my bad. The homecoming episode.
00:36:13
Speaker
But another story that we've been discussing for years on end and this, I don't know how it's going to land with our listener population, the ages, you know, I'm not sure what our youngest or
Tupac's Murder Case Developments
00:36:26
Speaker
oldest listener remembers, but we had some news come out about the killer or alleged killer of Tupac Shakur, Keith in custody. And this was one of the biggest, greatest
00:36:42
Speaker
hip-hop tragedies of the 90s. And I do remember learning about Tupac's death and I don't necessarily remember where I was, but there are people that have that ingrained in their memory, but it was recently brought back into the culture and into our consciousness when Dwayne Keith Davis was indicted for the murder of Tupac Shakur. Now, this man has previously said in interviews and his
00:37:12
Speaker
personal memoir that he was a passenger in the vehicle that pulled up to the stoplight where Tupac's vehicle was. And I mean, he's been on a
00:37:24
Speaker
He's been on a run for years, not on the run, but he's been on a run for years of just kind of giving information and oversharing. And it's kind of like, well, what did you expect to happen, sir? I'm also hoping more information comes out and this can be settled because, you know, I'm not a mother.
00:37:49
Speaker
But as a mother, I can only imagine like a fiendish accord, like how she's felt over, this is almost 30 years now, decades, not having your son's murderer in jail and just all of the conspiracy theories and maybe we could finally put this to rest. I don't know, do y'all have any thoughts on it?
00:38:10
Speaker
I would just like to say my, our buddy Shug Knight. Shug Knight. He has gone, he has gone scot free for way too dang long and we need to, we need to get Shug together. Okay. He has, he has been to common link. Oh, he's, that man finally in jail? Oh, wow. He's been in jail. He's been in some while. Really?
00:38:33
Speaker
Oh, no. Okay. That's my bad. Oh, that's my bad. I thought we had this man running around Scott Freaks. I was like, he's been the common link in so many 90s, hip hop, death row, like situations, whatever. You know, yes. So I would like to say that. Okay, so now that Suge is out of the picture.
00:38:54
Speaker
Yeah, so this guy Keith, Keith, I just I, I don't know how I feel about this. Like, I'm wondering why now. That's my question that I'm getting on. Like when I'm hearing about the story is like, why now? Because like he we've known for a while his role that he played
00:39:13
Speaker
in the murder that he was in the car, you know, that he was present. So I'm just wondering what exactly did they find that all of a sudden they want to start like trying to build a case on him? I do, I do think it's good that they actually are creating development in Tupac's murder case that we are getting somewhere, but it's like,
00:39:30
Speaker
I don't know how it goes down in the government where they just all of a sudden get this burst of inspiration to start trying to dig into something that happened 30 years ago. Where was this energy then? I don't know. I don't know how, what if Keith really is the one who created this entire thing? Did that man pull the trigger?
00:39:53
Speaker
only he and God knows. That's all I can say. That's all I can say on the situation. You know, with Keith David, he was, he was given a clemency and leniency from LA County. And that's why he was going on this tirade about doing his conversations and interviews regarding the actual, actual killing of Tupac. And it was so explicit. He wrote in his own book that it was so explicit that it was so detailed. I was like, bro, you were there and you know exactly who pulled the trigger. They actually recently did an interview. What a quick, not
00:40:20
Speaker
interview, but they had a comment. There's somebody that called Shignite actually in prison and Kelly, and he admitted like, yeah, it wasn't the K.P.D. that actually shot the shot. He knows who it is, but you know how there's this street code and everything of that nature, they're not going to reveal that. But these two individuals know exactly who killed, and it's crazy to think like all these years, like forget all that street code stuff, like somebody's family needs some clarity in
00:40:49
Speaker
clear understanding of what happened. And actually, they mentioned, even with Afeni Shakur, she actually is so done with the situation, she doesn't even care to find out who actually killed her son, because at this point, her thoughts and regards to her son is that, you know, he's moved on and successfully transitioned in a space where he doesn't have to deal with this. But I think even for his fans, like, we need some clarity on this. And I'm glad that even though it's taken so many years for this to happen, there's an answer, because there's so many murders that happened that
00:41:19
Speaker
we're just like, whatever, we'll never find out what happened. We never, you know what I'm saying? You got people like Emmett Till in his situation, you know, a lady, you know, I spit on her, you know what I'm saying?
00:41:29
Speaker
She did what she did. You feel me? So let with that being said, I'm glad that this is happening. And hopefully we find more truths. And there's allegedly that he is connected to this. And it's a complicated issue. But we know that we have somebody in hand that was witness to the murders. And hopefully we find out sooner rather than later what happens. And they put them paws on him while he's in prison. Enjoy yourself while you're
Celebrity Relationships and Social Impact
00:41:56
Speaker
out there.
00:41:56
Speaker
But enough of the hatred, let's talk about love. Well, actually, maybe there is. Let's talk about love. Maybe there is no love because what we're seeing, Tiana Taylor and Iman Schumpert, you know, one of the foremost regarded young couples in hip hop and culture, in, you know, sports and the like, were found to be separated. Rumors were started that shared that Iman Schumpert was allegedly cheating on Tiana Taylor.
00:42:26
Speaker
After video circulating on social media showing him in the background of another's woman. It could be his friend guys Stop assuming a man calf friends a woman. We have in a whole set of five Video where where was the video? It's on tick-tock Exactly. Yeah, I could go on Google and do what I need to do to find it, right? But fans and Tiana as always, you know and a couple of
00:42:51
Speaker
Started dragging him like Tiana. I mean you can't make this up like Tiana There was a photo of Tiana and Chris Brown that was really close a couple months ago, but nobody dragged her for that Tiana eventually came to his defense. Why do you have to take it there all dude? Why are you gonna? Because like oh, why are you gonna actually listen to his podcast? I'm on amongst men He actually had a recent episode about mental health which is pretty cool with his brother
00:43:15
Speaker
But anyway, so I feel like that, you know, there's disparities with how people target black men versus black women in these scenarios. But anyway, that is not about the topic, right? Not, you know, in all fairness, Iman and I are separated and have been for a while is what she said. You know, not too much my bestie. She wrote on a post on Instagram and to be 1000% clear and fidelity ain't one of the reasons for our departure. And they've been married since 2016.
00:43:41
Speaker
And, you know, that happened after they got engaged at their baby shower for their daughter, June's beautiful daughter. And then they also have, you know, another beautiful child as well. But I wanted to ask for you guys, how do you feel about this Black celebrity breakup? We've seen a lot of this going on in our media. Luckily, the Obamas are still running. Last week was an anniversary. They're still standing strong. They're still standing strong, man.
00:44:07
Speaker
Oh, my gosh. Shout out to them last week. They had the anniversary. I am Team Obama. I am Team Obama. Let me just say that. Let me just put that out there. See, Michelle gave us the cheat code. She gave us the cheat code on how you stay married to somebody for over 30 years who is that successful and a black man. She gave us the cheat code. She told us that you have to like the man. You got to actually like him. And that's what the issue is. A lot of people don't actually like their spouses. You all think you like them, but you don't. And that's the problem.
00:44:36
Speaker
You guys, you think you like them, but you do not like that person because when stuff hits the fan, you don't want to stay around. So I think it comes back to this point that matters when it comes to partnership marriage, especially within the Black community. You guys have to not only agree on the goals you have to uplift each other and support each other through life and grow with each other, but you have to fundamentally like each other.
00:45:03
Speaker
Because if you don't fundamentally like each other, anything that happens can easily break you guys apart. Marriages have been failing. Have you guys watched, seen the news? Marriages are ending left and right and center. Like it's actually kind of an epidemic right now with these with these black marriages. They just fail and left and right. And it's it's so it's so disappointing to see as somebody who is a big proponent and like fan of black love. Like what is going on? Like, why why does this continue to happen?
00:45:31
Speaker
I would like to say that I'm so glad that the Obamas are standing strong, looking moisturized, and continuing to do God's good work, which is showing what it means to be a successful Black couple in love. So yeah, you know, Iman and Tiana, I don't know. Honestly speaking, they weren't really, to me, the epitome of like a Black
00:45:53
Speaker
couple. So like, I don't really have I don't really have much to like, heart ball when it comes to them. Like, honestly, I don't want to lie and say I was rooting for them because it's kind of like I don't really know much about the couple to begin with. Like, yeah, I would see them together. I think I watched like one interview of them together and it looked cute. But like, I don't know. Like when it comes to the celebrity life, it seems like any small thing you break up. So like, I don't know if I can say I'm surprised about it, to be honest with you. So yeah, that's kind of where I how I feel about the situation.
00:46:23
Speaker
I'm over here dying laughing. Um, you know what, what I think I, I wonder, cause you said both of y'all said a lot, but as you mentioned, black love and the examples and everybody breaking up, right. When I consider the relationships of old.
00:46:48
Speaker
the ones that have stood the test of time, those families who are coming up on 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 years of marriage. Who were their examples for black marriage? They didn't have any, you know what I mean? Like we had a lot, we
00:47:04
Speaker
Not necessarily idolized, but like social media has us looking at everybody's everything, but our own. And I think that's a part of the problem. Like looking to other, oh my God, like, like, and I feel you, the Obamas, I think they are dope, but like there was once upon a time where a couple.
00:47:23
Speaker
like the Obamas existed and nobody saw their relationship. They just knew they were married. You know what I mean? So it's, I think, I think culture, ooh, I might get a little canceled for this one, but I think we just do too much focusing on other people's relationships. Like why do we need an example of black love? You know what I mean? Like, right.
00:47:51
Speaker
What if the Obamas did not showcase and I don't think they actually showcase per se, but there was a time when nobody said like, Oh, these, that's the example of marriage.
00:48:03
Speaker
And marriages were surviving. So perhaps we need to stop looking at other people's relationships as an example that now I understand we in the black community, like some of us grew up in two parent homes, some of us didn't. So, you know, if you're looking for an example, because you want to
00:48:24
Speaker
gleaned from. I get that, but I just, I think we're doing way too much at looking at snippets, literal snippets of people's lives on the only thing we have access to, which is social media. Like they can show us anything. So for us to even say like,
00:48:43
Speaker
Tiana and Iman, are we surprised? Why, you know, surprised? Like I, yes and no. I mean, did we know what was going on in the relationship for real? Yes, they had a reality show or whatever show they had displaying their life on social media. But even that, that's edited down. We don't know anything about these people's lives. We don't know nothing.
00:49:08
Speaker
Uh, Michelle Obama gave us her cheat code, but that's not necessarily going to apply to everybody. I mean, I think the basis of it, you gotta like a person. Let me tell you something. I know wives that don't always like their husbands, but they have a level of respect.
00:49:25
Speaker
And they are committed. And I think that's what keeps people around. So I think it's just, what's good for the goose is not always gonna be good for the gander. And we're in a society now where everybody's looking for answers somewhere and we really need to just kind of sit with ourselves and figure out our own answer. I think that can be applied across life, relationships and everywhere.
00:49:53
Speaker
Okay. Uh, but yeah, let's, let's get to the financial corner, quick corner. We back at it again. So we, today we're going to talk about student loans, obviously, um, student loan repayment has
Student Loan Repayment and Financial Hope
00:50:04
Speaker
restarted. So I hope you got checked out balance, got to studentgov.a, whatever that, you know, get on there, make sure you know where you at. Um, but I want to talk about, um, being careful with the student loans because there's actually scams that are going on, uh, by the loan forgiveness scams.
00:50:19
Speaker
Since last year, the Federal Trade Commission has received more than 4,000 complaints related to the student loan debt relief scam, which incredibly has happened to so many individuals. As we know, this is a commonality for people internationally being predatory in nature. And unfortunately, the FTC and the Department of Justice, fortunately, announced that over 22,000 borrowers will receive refunds from a $9 million settlement from
00:50:48
Speaker
quite known company called Ameritech Financial Student Loan Debt Relief, which was operated by an individual named Brandon Fier through 2018. This person charged up to $800 in illegal upfront fees and required $100 to $1,200 in advance fees for enrollment in a financial education program. And people were also paying monthly payments of $99. That's supposed to go toward their debt. Overall, they took out $28 million from people that thought that it was a validated program.
00:51:18
Speaker
which is unfortunate. You know, these people are working hard and giving their money to something that is not necessarily doing his due justice. And even regards to even now, when we talk about a lot of people are not keen and aware, and I want to implore you guys to continuously educate yourself about what's going on with student loan debt relief, because a lot of people believe that Biden's plan to forgive $20,000 is still going on. And these people, again, are predatory on that, calling people on their phone, leaving voicemails,
00:51:46
Speaker
and things of that nature. And people are just hyped up because believe it or not, 50% of people actually in America out of the $1.7 trillion that are owed in Sloan that have less than $20,000 that they owe. So once that plan goes through, they're like, yo, I'm good. Like I don't have to worry about anything else. So people are quick to just hop on that immediately. So I wanted to tell you guys how to avoid student loan scams.
00:52:12
Speaker
Make sure you sign up to be notified when the student debt relief application becomes open and might become and might not. Obviously, the Supreme Court have negated that, but still have hope. Grandpa Biden might change his life. Why do you like this? Well, why am I like, what? I'm just saying, right? He's grandpa Biden. Bros over 80s, son. He's grandpa. Make sure you create your FSA ID. And also,
00:52:40
Speaker
Many of people's loan services have changed. So make sure you go on studentaid.gov to make sure that you know who your loan services have changed. So the loan services that you had prior to the pandemic is most likely different than the ones that you have now. Actually, around 44% of federal student loan borrowers who began repayment this month have a new loan services. So that's almost half of the people that are actually there. And make sure that your loan service has the correct information and report the scammers to the Federal Trade Commission. What you should not do
00:53:10
Speaker
is not pay anyone to help you apply for debt relief. Just do everything online on sudneya.gov. Any numbers on it, it's official. Do not reveal your FSA ID login information to anyone, or give personal financial information to an unfamiliar caller. They're going to leave you voicemails. They're going to continue attacking you on your voicemails. So don't reach out to them, because nobody's calling you. There's too many people for them to call. They're not calling you regarding your loans.
00:53:39
Speaker
Over the next 12 months, actually, I'm not telling someone this, if you're not able to actually pay your loans, the government will not put your loan into default. So it can't affect your actual credit score for the next one. So you could not pay your loan for the next 12 months, but it's going to improve, obviously, along with interest. But saying that to say, there's still some leeway with that. And also do not refinance your federal student loans unless you know the actual risk. So be aware of them, scammers. Be in tune. Educate yourself. Read about it once a week.
00:54:09
Speaker
You know, once every couple of days, just know what's going on, because it's very easy to fall into the ploy and abyss of the madness that's going on that people are trying to take advantage. Well, I love that money talk. I'm sure everything can say that. Yeah, it was great. Absolutely. Although my loan service is now Jesus saves because I told you that only God
00:54:32
Speaker
God already paid the ultimate price. That is what I have put in my hope and trust it, okay? That Biden could go somewhere.
Episode Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:54:41
Speaker
My loan is covered. Yo, we got to leave the country, son. Yo, forget the loan, bro. My loan servicer is I'm out of the country. That's what it is. You're listed, okay. All right, but we loved the financial corner today. Thank you, Dr. Aldwin, for laying the information. Thank you to our listeners once again for listening on this episode.
00:54:59
Speaker
episode of The Lounge. So that's our show. Thanks so much, guys, for joining us for 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 at podcast at SNMA.org. Y'all already know the vibes. Be sure to follow the SNMA on all our social media platforms to stay up to date on upcoming events. We out here. Have a blessed day. We love y'all.
00:55:31
Speaker
Bye!