Insight ::: 07.03.2023

Empowering the local workforce

We’ve invested nearly $100 million in workforce development. Alongside hundreds of other employers and community partners, we’re increasing the talent pipeline by helping our neighbors get the skills and experience to build careers that support families and fuel our economy.

Here in the Twin Cities, we’re investing in our community by investing in people’s futures. I’m proud of the work we’re doing to help train and identify talent for in-demand careers by contributing to local initiatives through employer and academic partners.

Lucas Giambelluca President, Bank of America Twin Cities

Learn more at bankofamerica.com/twincities

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Obituary: “Queen Mother” Maxine Sykes McFarlane

Love in action speaks louder than words - Pass it on! -

”Queen Mother” Maxine Sykes McFarlane, 97, joined the Ancestors on Thursday, June 22, 2023, while in hospice care at Allina Mercy Hospital in Fridley, MN. She was preceded by her husband, Alvin A. McFarlane Sr., and two daughters, Kathleen McFarlaneDavis and Julitta McFarlaneShanklin. She is also preceded by 4 sisters and 2 brothers, and her parents and grandparents.

Queen Mother McFarlane was born on March 23, 1926 to Allen Sykes, and Martha Harrison Sykes in Sunflower, Mississippi. She married Cuban-Jamaican immigrant Alvin McFarlane in Kansas City, Missouri, at the end of WWII.

Mother of 12

biological children, but motherfigure to hundreds more, Queen Mother McFarlane delivered a distinguished career of service based in faith traditions that guided leadership in community

and civic engagement, entrepreneurship, and social action.

She was an Evangelist Missionary in the Church of God in Christ, working under jurisdictional leaders including Bishop V.M. Barker, pastor of Barker Temple COGIC, and his successors, Bishop E. Harris Moore, and Bishop John Mark Johnson, pastor of Barker Memorial Cathedral of Praise, COGIC.

Early in her career, she and her husband owned and operated a neighborhood grocery store in the 28th & Brooklyn neighborhood in Kansas City. The family moved to Worthington, MN in 1965 due to Al McFarlane’s job relocation at Armour’s Meat Packing Company. In Worthington, Queen Mother McFarlane became active in Minnesota’s Human Rights Commission and the Minnesota Association for Mental Health beginning

a phase of civic engagement that characterized her life work as a human rights activist and advocate. In 1969 she founded the Action Committee for Social Change (ACSC). When job opportunities brought the family back to Kansas City in 1975, ACSC partnered with Harvesters to deliver food supplies and hold necessities to families and churches throughout the Kansas City Metropolitan area. The organization created and operated a food pantry at Barker Temple, 1709 Highland in Kansas City. ACSC echoed the ground-breaking communitybuilding work of her nephew, Bernard Powell, and his work in a pioneering agency and collaborative, Social Action Committee of 20 (SAC-20). SAC-20 launched business and workforce development programs as well as neighborhood safety and beautification initiatives. Powell was

assassinated in 1979.

Queen Mother McFarlane and ACSC pivoted to undertake the mission of preserving the public memory of Bernard Powell and launched a multi-year campaign to build a life-size statue of the slain leader, centered in a fountain, symbolizing the eternal, regenerative work Powell and our community at large have undertaken to advance the cause of freedom and promise of democracy in this country and the world.

Queen Mother McFarlane’s signature song of praise was the instructional hymn, “Pass It On”. Her performance of the song in churches, community events and gatherings, and even on Reggae and Gospel music stages, reminded audiences of the obligation to be community and to build community by sharing “the experience” of community by passing it on, one person at a

Episcopalians of color assemble at ‘Why Serve’ to learn about vocational opportunities, build relationships

By Shireen Korkzan

Dozens of Episcopalians of color gathered June 22-25 at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, to learn about ministry opportunities at various levels in The Episcopal Church and how to lead congregations in a tech-forward future.

The Episcopal Church’s department of Ethnic Ministries hosted Why Serve, which was attended by lay Asian, Black, Indigenous and Latino Episcopalians who are currently discerning whether to pursue lay or ordained leadership roles. The event consisted of various workshops and presentations by missioners of African Descent, Asiamerica, Indigenous and Latino/Hispanic ministries addressing what the discernment process entails and the differences between lay and ordained ministries.

The Rev. Ronald Byrd, missioner for African Descent Ministries and a member of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s staff, told Episcopal News Service that Why Serve changes its curriculum every year based on which missioner is selected to run the program.

“People of color

have been marginalized in The Episcopal Church and have not had opportunities for access to leadership positions in the church,” he said.

“Why Serve was designed to provide a pathway for learning for discernment and about opportunities to serve God and God’s people.”

The Rev. Anthony Guillen, missioner for Latino/ Hispanic Ministries, told ENS he believes The Episcopal Church needs to pay attention to the lack of ethnic vocations currently available to persons of color.

“There are few vocations overall, and I think The Episcopal Church needs to ask itself why and to have conversations with [Episcopalians of color] so that we can do something about it together,” he said. “Why Serve provides the opportunity for individuals from different backgrounds to come together in this community and to explore their sense of calling.”

People of color make up 10% of The Episcopal Church’s total membership, according to data from the Pew Research Center, and many of them have openly expressed experiences of racism and

microaggressions by white Episcopalians despite the church’s ongoing strides toward systemic racial reconciliation.

Several Why Serve attendees shared their experiences of microaggressions by white Episcopalians during workshops — for example, Guillen shared a story of when he was ignored by white clergy at a parish he was visiting until they saw his senior title listed in a guest registry he signed.

The University of the South, established in 1857

with the intent to support a slaveholding society, is actively reconciling with its racist history. Those efforts include the removal of Confederate memorials on campus and granting generous financial aid packages to students of color. A portion of the Trail of Tears — a network of routes where tens of thousands of members of Indigenous Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole tribes were violently

The moment when state Senator Bobby Joe Champion was sworn in as president of the Minnesota Senate on January 3, 2023 was historic, as he became the first Black person to assume the role in the state senate’s 165-year history.

The Minnesota Senate is the largest upper house of any state legislature in the country. His election as president came at a time of great prosperity for the state with a record budget surplus. It is common for Black people to be given opportunities to lead hallowed institutions when those institutions are in crisis or facing a severe downturn, a situation referred to as “glass cliff,” but rare for them to be given leadership

His ascendancy also came when the DFL controlled both houses at the legislature and the governorship (trifecta) for the first time since 2012. All constitutional offices (governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state auditor, and secretary of state), are also held by Democrats.

Sen. Champion early this week sat down for an interview with Mshale in the side of downtown Minneapolis that he represents in the senate.

The affable Sen. Champion says he is proud of the accomplishments he and his DFL colleagues achieved in the first session of the 93rd Legislature that concluded

By Tom Gitaa By Ben Jealous,

I traveled recently from Baltimore, the city where my mother grew up, to Portland, Maine, where my dad did. It’s easy for many to see differences between one of the Blackest cities in America and largest city in one of the whitest states in the country.

What always hits me is what unites the two places: the suffering they’ve felt as a consequence of the decline of American industry in the 50 years of my life.

My father’s family once operated woolen mills in New England. Those factories no longer exist, like 63,000 factories across America that have shuttered since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was passed three decades ago.

As a result, millions of American families of every color have been locked in a downward spiral of economic

on the eve of the Memorial Day weekend, and that he looks forward to building on that record when the second session reconvenes in February. “It was a great session for all of Minnesota and especially those historically marginalized,” the Minneapolis Democrat said. “We passed Restore the Vote, a monumental bill restoring voting rights for over 55,000 fellow Minnesotans who are no longer incarcerated but living among us and contributing to society. We also passed the Jobs and Economic Development budget bill that will support folks all across our great state no matter their zip code, whether they are in

mobility for too long driven by the greed of multinational corporations and facilitated over decades by government policies like NAFTA. In part because of the pandemic and in part because of narrow cushion that’s left before our climate is beyond repair, we’re at a moment when we can turn that around.

Over the last three years, we committed as a nation to an unprecedented private and public investment in clean energy and infrastructure in ways that promises to reverse this dream-killing trajectory. We’re in a moment when we can finally shift from an economy defined by consumption back to one defined by working people making and using things they can be proud of again from electric school buses to solar panels. You’d think that opportunity would be welcomed by all. But the self-interested like Big Oil

Ben Jealous

Photo: Shireen Korkzan/Episcopal News Service Episcopalians of color gathered June 22-25 at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, to attend Why Serve, hosted by The Episcopal Church’s department of Ethnic Ministries. The annual conference helps discerning Episcopalians of color learn about vocational opportunities in the church.

MOTHER

“Queen Mother” Maxine Sykes McFarlane

Bobby Joe Champion reflects on his first legislative session as Minnesota Senate President

Photo: A.J. Olmscheid/MN Senate

New Hennepin Health chief medical officer has background in pediatrics, teaching, military service

Hennepin Health is proud to welcome Dr. Krishnan Subrahmanian as its new chief medical officer. Subrahmanian, widely known as “Dr. Krish,” is a board-certified pediatrician who currently practices medicine at Hennepin Healthcare and The Redleaf Center for Family Healing. He also serves as an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota and the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics work group on early childhood.

Additionally, Subrahmanian is a flight surgeon in the Minnesota Air National Guard. He will continue to practice medicine at Hennepin Healthcare while in his new role with Hennepin Health.

Queen Mother Mother

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time….being connected.

The song and its performance elevated another principle of Bernard Powell’s SAC 20 movement:“Ghetto or Gold

Mine - The Choice Is Yours!”

As early Alzheimer’s and dementia began to set in in her late 70’s, Queen Mother McFarlane relied heavily on her eldest child and partner in their life work, Kathleen McFarlaneDavis, Executive Director of ACSC. When Kathleen McFarlane-Davis transitioned to Ancestorhood in October, 2016,

“Dr. Krish is a member of the Hennepin Health clinical quality outcomes and credentialing committees and knows our organization well,” says Hennepin Health Chief Executive Officer Anne Kanyusik Yoakum. “His broad expertise and deep commitment to Hennepin County residents will be a great fit for Hennepin Health and our vision to change how we build healthy, equitable communities in Hennepin County and beyond.”

In his initial message to the Hennepin Health team, Subrahmanian said: “The kind of healing Hennepin Health fosters doesn’t just happen. It takes an inordinate amount of love, care, and work. I am

the McFarlane family facilitated Queen Mother McFarlane’s relocation to Hollywood, FL, where she was cared for by daughters, Patricia McFarlane and Roslyn Robinson, and her youngest son and daughter-inlaw, Lloyd and Wendy Garcia McFarlane. The daughters and Queen Mother McFarlane relocated back to Minnesota two years ago, living in the Mounds View area.

Queen Mother McFarlane is survived by 10 of her 12 children: Al (Bobbie), Ray (Clara Mae), Wayne, Patricia, Gregory, Micah (Elizabeth), Roland, Julian (Megan), Roslyn Robinson (Vernon, Jr.), and

Dr. Krishnan Subrahmanian

Lloyd (Wendy) McFarlane. A Memorial Service for the Minnesota family and friends will be held 11 am Friday July 7, at Estes Funeral Chapel, 2201 Plymouth Avenue North, Minneapolis, (estesfuneralchapel.com - 612521-6744) with a music and memories repast following. Funeral Services will be held at 11am the following Friday, July 14th at Barker Memorial Cathedral of Praise COGIC: 11401 E. 47th St. Kansas City, MO 64133. A program will follow at the Bernard Powell Memorial Fountain, celebrating her life and work and the ceremonial naming of 28th Street as Queen

Hennepin Health

Mother Maxine McFarlane Dr. Funeral arrangements in Kansas City by: Eley & Sons Funeral Chapel, Inc., (eleyfuneralhome. com - 816-924-8700). Additional

Information:

“Queen Mother” Maxine Sykes McFarlane Pass It Onhttps://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=oX9UCY6110Y Reflectionshttps://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=hXcTeZUAJY8 https://flatlandkc.org/ news-issues/raytown-martinluther-king-jr-celebration/ https://www.dglobe. com/news/ipso-facto-returningto-its-roots-for-regatta-show

humbled and honored to walk alongside colleagues who have dedicated their lives, talents, and efforts to making our community more equitable, more just, and healthier.”

Subrahmanian is the son of Indian immigrants who settled in the Twin Cities. He lives in Hennepin County with his wife and children. In his free time, he enjoys giving piggy-back rides, singing to his kids, running, and “wallowing in my fate as a tortured Minnesota sports fan.”

He has also been a community resource on children’s health and wellness, contributing to local media reports on topics ranging from baby formula shortages to racial

disparities and COVID-19.

Subrahmanian started his role as Hennepin Health chief medical officer on June 26.

More about Hennepin Health Hennepin Health is Minnesota’s only countyowned, state-certified health maintenance organization and provides health care coverage to Hennepin County residents enrolled in Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare. We partner with our members and communities to change how we build healthy, equitable communities by integrating health care and service to enhance the health and wellbeing of our members and the community.

the metro or greater Minnesota. We made critical investments in childcare, workforce and economic development so we can build an economy that works for all Minnesotans.

You know what? That Jobs and Economic Development bill also had the PROMISE Act which is a bill that I have been carrying for a while that will make our state more equitable for marginalized communities.”

The Jobs and Economic Development bill that Sen. Champion was referencing is a $1.37 billion investment in state spending that he was chief author of that focuses on bolstering workforce development and workplace safety across industries. Sen. Champion also pointed out that the bill Gov. Walz signed into law also includes over $350 million as a state match to compete for over a billion dollars in federal and private investment.

“We are moving our state toward exciting and

innovative growth in our economy by approaching industrial policy with a strong focus on bringing newgeneration technology into our state. We are positioning Minnesota to lead the nation in semiconductor innovation and bio industrial manufacturing,” said Sen. Champion.

“It’s a very time intensive job and there is nothing part-time about it,” he said when he was asked what he’d learned in the few months as senate president.

“I had to do triple duty while our majority leader worked remotely as she recuperated as well as be president, and of course also fulfill my role as senator for my constituents.”

Three months into the legislative session in March, Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic revealed she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and underwent successful surgery. Sen. Champion and Sen. John Marty of Roseville took over the in-person legislative work required. Sen. Dziedzic returned to the Senate floor on May 2, just three weeks to the end of session.

“It was not easy while she was gone but she

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did a great job remotely and we did what had to be done,” he said. “Sometimes there is no script, as life can throw you a curve ball, but we delivered for the people of Minnesota.”

“That required working with folks from the opposing party to deliver for Minnesotans,” he continued.

“Many of the folks opposing Restore the Vote for example would acknowledge privately that it would benefit many of their own constituents in rural Minnesota. If you look at the $1.37 billion jobs and economic development bill, there is money there for every part of the state, so people would oppose it but I don’t think they are going to argue that it does not benefit those they represent, we are making investments for the future competitiveness of the state and you do that when you have a surplus like we had, by building for the future.”

Sen. Champion also said he was happy to be around to see the state elect Black women to the state Senate. Minnesota which had never elected a Black woman to serve in the state Senate, shattered that glass ceiling by electing three in one swoop in November, with one of them, Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, becoming the youngest woman ever to serve in that role. He was full of praise for the trio of Black women senators, describing them as “hardworking and dedicated.”

Sen. Champion said Sen. Mohamed approached him and offered to work on the difficult

Episcopalians Episcopalians

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and challenging “Driver’s License for All” that Sen. Champion had chief authored. “This was not an easy bill as you know it was a heavy lift but she (Sen. Mohamed) was willing to put in the work,” he said. “I was very impressed by that and I let her help me lead it through the Senate. This was a bill that was supported by law enforcement and a lot of folks in local government like the mayors throughout the state but had opposition from the other party. Well, it took many years but we passed the bill as you know and it will improve public safety across our state. Our Black women senators are off to a bright future representing their constituents, don’t forget one of them Sen. Oumou Verbeten coauthored the CROWN Act that the governor signed into law which bans racial discrimination based on natural hair and Sen. Maye Quade was co-author of the legislation that will now see the provision of free school lunch and breakfast to every student. They are working hard.” The Senate president also touted the passage of legislation that the governor signed into law that makes Juneteenth a state holiday. In less than two weeks the state will commemorate the first Juneteenth as a state holiday.

“Great nations do not ignore their most painful moments, they face them. We took an important step as a state by deciding to make Juneteenth a state holiday so we can face the pain and

removed from their homelands in Southeastern United States and forced to migrate on foot to present-day Oklahoma — crosses through Sewanee, not far from the University

su

ffering caused by the legacy of slavery and segregation. It acknowledges our nation’s struggle and recognizes the importance of forging our future together,” Sen. Champion said. As the first Black Senate president, he said “I recognize the importance of the moment and I stand on the shoulders of many who sacrificed their lives so I can be in this position.”

Other issues that came up during the interview included the small number of Black legislators which the Senate president said needs to increase to better reflect the state’s demographics. The House and Senate combined has 10 Black legislators.

Sen. Champion was born in and raised in Minneapolis. He was first elected to the Minnesota House in 2008 where he served two terms and was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2012 where he has served since. Trailblazing legislation such as Restore the Vote and Juneteenth is not the first time he has taken on thorny societal issues. Prior to becoming Senate president, Sen. Champion had earned accolades for one of his signature pieces of legislation, “Ban the Box” which went into effect on January 1, 2014. Ban the Box prevents most private employers from asking job applicants on their application if they have been previously convicted of a felony.

“We are here to work for all Minnesotans, no matter where you live, rich or

of the South’s campus. Why Serve attendees learned about the University of the South’s reconciliation efforts while touring the campus.

The Rev. Mary Crist,

poor,” Sen. Champion said. Tom Gitaa Born and raised in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa, Tom is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Mshale which has been reporting on the news and culture of African immigrants in the United States since 1995. He has a BA in Business from Metro State University and a Public Leadership Credential from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He was the original host of Talking Drum, the signature current affairs show on the African Broadcasting Network (ABN-America), which was available nationwide in the United States via the Dish Network satellite service. On the show, he interviewed Nobel laureates such as 2004 Nobel Peace prize winner, Professor Wangari Maathai, the first woman from Africa to win the peace prize and heads of states. Tom has served and chaired various boards including Global Minnesota (formerly Minnesota International Center), the sixth largest World Affairs Council in the United States. He has previously served as the first Black President of the Board of Directors at Books for Africa. He also serves on the boards of New Vision Foundation and the Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium. He has previously served two terms on the board of the United Nations Association. An avid runner, he retired from running full marathons after turning 50 and now only focuses on training for half marathons.

a coordinator of Indigenous theological education for The Episcopal Church and a registered member of the Blackfeet nation in Montana, told ENS that Ethnic Ministries chose to hold Why Serve in Sewanee because of the university’s “sincere” efforts to make amends with its colonial past. Crist, who attended Why Serve on behalf of the Rev. Bradley Hauff, missioner for Indigenous Ministries, said she joined The Episcopal Church after searching for a church home where it was OK to explore and ask theological questions without being told that she “talks too much.”

While at Why Serve, Crist told discerners to be ready to serve before joining a vocation because “Christianity is not for wimps.”

“Do you take Jesus’ teaching seriously? You’re going to be serving unpopular people. You’re going to be serving the poor. You’re going to be serving those who are messed up on drugs. You’re going to be serving people who have illnesses, people who sin,” she said. “It’s a vocation of love and service. That is what Jesus made very clear.”

Why Serve used to

Queen Mother Maxine Sykes McFarlane, top 2nd from left, holds youngest son Raymond Lee McFarlane with her aunt Della Harrison at her right, and to her left , her grandmother

Lizzie Splond Harrison, her mother Martha Harrison Sykes Nall, her sister Teola Powell, and patriarch of the family Lorenzo Powell, holding Teola Powell II.

Seated on the floor from left: Robert Powell, Burnele Powell, Bernard Powell, Al McFarlane, Jr., Kathleen McFarlane, William Charles and Lonnie Powell. Lizzie Harrison had been born enslaved, the property of other humans in Alabama.

Ron DeSantis strikes out again...

compete at the highest level.”

I know that there are a LOT of Republicans who despise Donald Trump for his open bigotry, but as I’ve said many times before— Ron DeSantis is just as bad as Trump…if not much worse!

By Chuck Hobbs

During a recent Christian Broadcast Network interview, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called basketball players “freaks of nature” in comparison to baseball players, which the interviewer called a “thinking man’s game.”

During the interview, DeSantis said: “There’s so many places that you need to have on a baseball team and there are different skills that are required—so some people can be a pitcher, some people can be a middle in-fielder, some people can be a catcher. And so I think that there’s kind of a place for everybody in a baseball team if you’re willing to work hard, if you’re willing to practice. I kind of thought it was always a very democratic game, a very meritocratic game. Whereas I kind of viewed like basketball as like these guys are just freaks of nature. They’re just incredible athletes. In baseball, you know, you have some guys that might not necessarily be the best athletes, but maybe they’ve got you know that slider that nobody can hit, or they have the skills that allow them to

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be exclusive to Episcopalians of color between ages 18 and 30, but this is the first year the conference was open to all adults of all ages because, according to Byrd, discernment can happen at any age, and many people discern ministry as a second career or after retirement. The age requirement change resulted

For those unaware, baseball at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels in the U.S. is predominantly white, while basketball at the same levels in the U.S is predominantly Black. By making this shallow comparison, DeSantis either forgot—or didn’t care—that famed sportscasters Howard Cosell and Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder got fired from their jobs as sportscasters back in the 1980’s for expressing similar sports stereotypes. But that’s just the thing about stereotypes—they are often biased positions based upon lies! Now, I’m quite sure that DeSantis legitimately didn’t think that he was rattling a racist hornets nest by making a comment that I’m sure was meant to make himself look like a hard working intellectual jock as opposed to a gifted athlete, what with his having played baseball all the way through his college years at Yale University.

But I could only shake my head in disgust because DeSantis, who is seven years younger than I am, grew up in the same sporting era and surely watched athletes in basketball and football, the predominantly Black sports, work year ‘round to perfect their

in a mixed cohort of both young and older adults.

During the conference, the Rev. Pamela Tang, a deacon and interim missioner for Asiamerica Ministries, explained the differences between ordained church vocations and their eligibility requirements, concluding her presentation by saying, “Discernment is the beginning, not the end.”

Kim LuWald, a senior director for a nonprofit organization based in Florida,

crafts. Thus, DeSantis simply reworded the old stereotype that Blacks, specifically Black men, were “gifted” with skills, not hard workers!

Pictured above are a group of my oldest friends from the FAMU High Class of ‘90 during our 10th reunion in 2000. We all grew up playing all sorts of sports, and there were some really outstanding athletes among us who excelled at multiple sports through high school with one, Ken Riley II, who later became a star cornerback at Florida A&M University with another, Ricky Davis, later becoming a star basketball guard at FAMU in the 90’s. Now, you may find this hard to believe these days because I’m rather wide and heavy set, but I was a decent basketball player during my school days, despite being asthmatic (I kept an inhaler in my sock on the court). As FAMU High was a K-12 school, I grew up dreaming of the day that I would get to wear the orange and green and play against our rivals at Rickards and Shanks High School in our gym.

Well, when 9th grade rolled around, I joined my classmates at the first meeting for the junior varsity basketball team that was being coached by Mr. Steve Scroggins; barely cracking a smile, Coach Steve got my attention during that meeting in October of 1986 when he said, “the first two weeks of practice we aren’t going to

joined The Episcopal Church in 2019. She told ENS that someone like her, an Episcopalian of Vietnamese descent and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, is rare; however, she feels encouraged to live out the church’s values and show others what it means to be Episcopalian. LuWald is currently discerning a priesthood call, and she told ENS that Tang’s presentation and Why Serve in general have been helpful for her discernment process.

even touch a basketball. We are going to run, run, and run some more. We will run up the hills, we will run down the hills. We will run around the campus, downtown, and back. We will sprint up and down the basketball court over and over again to make sure that you are in the best shape for the fast pace with which we will beat our opponents this year.”

What my friends didn’t know is that Coach Steve ended my entire competitive basketball playing career right then, because I knew that the way my bronchial tubes were set up, that I wasn’t going to be up for all that extreme cardio conditioning.

What I did know is that my classmates who remained to tryout, Fred Higgs, Sterling Hollingsworth, Jason Ward, Ricky Davis, Ken Rice, Eric Henry, and Ken Riley, among others, were in excellent shape and got in even better shape during practices and games! Heck, ever since we were kids, Sterling and Eric Henry were literally the only Black dudes that I knew who won trophies as cross country distance runners, so I knew that Coach Steve was going to love coaching them if they stuck with it. So, instead of sulking, I became one of the biggest FAMU High JV basketball supporters and bided my time waiting for baseball practice to start in the spring, where I played 1st base and stayed in my limited conditioning lane.

Pamela Tang, deacon and interim missioner for Asiamerica Ministries, and Kim LuWald, a discerning Episcopalian from Florida, lead a worship service for Why Serve attendees June 24 at University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Photo: Shireen Korkzan/Episcopal News Service

“When a bishop or anyone in The Episcopal Church asks how we are to grow the church, say ‘we show up,’ because I want people to feel

Now, if you’re thinking, “but wasn’t DeSantis making a similar point, Hobbs” the answer is a hard “no!” You see, my childhood friends were not “freaks of nature” at all, they were just really talented athletes who practiced extremely hard to play the game(s) that they loved. As did I, even if my physical type was better suited for sports with rest breaks between the action (football/baseball), as opposed to basketball or soccer—both of which required literally non-stop movement.

But what’s most troubling to me is that DeSantis and his defenders seemingly shrug their shoulders when I or any number of Black men from my era tell them

encouraged; it’s the ministry of presence,” LuWald said.

“By us showing up and people seeing us, it speaks louder than anything … There’s richness that [people of color] are bringing to the church, in whatever capacity of service that we are in.”

Chauncy Molodow is a cradle Episcopalian of Mexican descent from Phoenix, Arizona. She told ENS she’s been wanting to become a priest since she was 12 years old, and she’s currently looking for answers to make sure she’s on the right

that such stereotypes are old, lame, and typical racist drivel. Perhaps those of this ilk will never understand our position on social media, so we will help them understand it fully come election season 2024— if DeSantis somehow beats his former mentor, Donald Trump, in the GOP Primary. Hobbservation Point is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Chuck Hobbs is a freelance journalist who won the 2010 Florida Bar Media Award and has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.

path. Why Serve answered a lot of questions that Molodow said she didn’t think to ask in the first place, including the difference between a vocational deacon and a transitional deacon. “[Tang’s presentation and the ensuing discussion] gave me the security to say, yes, this is what I want to do,” she said. “And no, it’s not because I’m young. It’s because that’s in my heart. That’s what I’m gonna do.”

BMI alone will no longer be treated as the go-to measure for weight management – an obesity medicine physician explains the seismic shift taking place

By Scott Hagan Assistant Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine,

Amid the buzz around weight loss drugs and rising rates of obesity worldwide, many health care professionals are questioning one of the key measures that has long been used to define obesity.

On June 14, 2023, the American Medical Association adopted a new policy, calling on doctors to deemphasize the role of body mass index, or BMI, in clinical practice.

The statement by the AMA, the nation’s largest association representing physicians, signals a significant shift in how clinicians regard BMI as a measure of general health. With over 40% of Americans having obesity as defined by BMI, a movement away from BMI could have broad implications for patient care.

As a board-certified obesity medicine physician with a research interest in patient-centered obesity care, I have written before about my concerns over use of BMI as a measure of health. The AMA’s policy statement creates an important opportunity to review the current use of BMI in health care settings and to consider what the future holds for the assessment of the health risks of elevated body weight.

BMI basics

Body mass index is a measurement taken by dividing body weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. The metric was developed to estimate a normal body weight depending on an individual’s height, given that taller people tend to weigh more.

It rose to prominence for clinicians in the 1990s following the World Health Organization’s adoption of the metric as the official screening index for obesity.

Research has consistently shown that BMI at a population level correlates strongly with body fat percentage and risk for serious health conditions. The index is easy to measure and inexpensive to calculate, allowing its wide implementation in health care settings.

Major limitations

Because of that ample body of evidence from previous decades, one of the long-standing assumptions in the use of BMI as a measure of general health is that it accurately predicts an individual’s body fat percentage and, therefore, the potential health risks of elevated weight.

However, while BMI may have strong correlations with the amount of body weight composed of body fat in studies of averages of large groups of people, it does not directly measure body fat for an individual. Therefore, people with the same BMI may have substantially different body fat percentage based on a variety of factors such as age, muscle mass, sex and race. In an example from one large study, adults with a BMI of 25 had a body fat percentage ranging from 14% to 35% for men, and 26% to 42% for women.

Ultimately, BMI cannot provide doctors with precise information about the portion of body weight composed of body fat, nor can it tell us how that fat is distributed in the body. But this distribution is important because research has shown that fat stored around the internal organs has significantly higher health risks than that distributed in the extremities.

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Further, just as a variety of health factors may affect the accuracy of BMI to predict how much body fat someone has, health outcomes such as developing diabetes at a specific BMI can vary substantially based on factors such as a person’s race, sex, age and physical fitness level.

Finally, a significant number of adults may have metabolically healthy obesity, defined as having a BMI above 30 without having high blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol. Adults with metabolically healthy obesity have significantly lower health risks associated with a high BMI and therefore may not benefit from weight loss.

Further, just as a variety of health factors may affect the accuracy of BMI to predict how much body fat someone has, health outcomes such as developing diabetes at a specific BMI can vary substantially based on factors such as a person’s race, sex, age and physical fitness level.

Finally, a significant number of adults may have

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metabolically healthy obesity, defined as having a BMI above 30 without having high blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol. Adults with metabolically healthy obesity have significantly lower health risks associated with a high BMI and therefore may not benefit from weight loss.

Although research in the 1970s suggested that any BMI above a normal (18.5-24.9) range shortened life expectancy, some modern studies suggest that BMI in the overweight (25-29.9) to class 1 obesity (30-34.9) range does not raise risk for early death.

The potentially lower risk of death in modern studies for people with higher body weight might be explained by improved treatment of conditions such as high cholesterol and blood pressure, common contributors to shortened life expectancy for people with a BMI over 30.

Using BMI to guide recommendations for weight loss

Clinicians commonly use BMI as the metric to decide whether to recommend

weight loss, drawing from recommendations such as those released by the United States Preventive Services Task Force, an independent, national panel of health care experts that writes guidelines on preventive health. The task force recommends lifestyle-based weight loss programs such as diet and exercise for adults with a BMI above 30, or above 25 if they have other obesityassociated health conditions such as high blood pressure or high blood sugar. Its members cite the potential for lifestylebased weight loss interventions to reduce obesity-related health risks as justification for the recommendation.

However, in their 2018 evidence review for these guidelines, task force researchers found no significant improvements in cardiovascular events, mortality or healthrelated quality of life in studies comparing those who received a lifestyle-based or medicationbased weight loss intervention, or both, versus those who did not.

The only specific health outcome that was prevented was developing diabetes. Whether newer, more effective weight loss medications, such as Ozempic, will lead to long-term health benefits remains to be seen.

Part of the reason that the evidence for health benefits of weight loss interventions is so poor is that body weight is regulated by a complicated hormonal system. An adult trying to lose weight with diet and exercise will face indefinite increases in hunger and reductions in daily calories burned as the body attempts to correct weight back to baseline.

As a result, even in the optimal setting of clinical trials, the task force found that only 1 in 8 adults would sustain clinically meaningful weight loss of at

least 5% of their prior body weight.

Alternatives for assessing weight and health

With the shift away from BMI, the AMA recommends alternative measures that clinicians can use for the assessment of the health risks of an elevated body weight. A variety of measures are suggested, including body adiposity index, relative fat mass, waist-to-hip ratio and waist circumference. These measures attempt to better characterize fat distribution in the body, given the increased health risks of fat stored around the internal organs. They require additional measurements in a clinic visit. Given the prevalence of anti-fat bias in health care settings, patients may find such measurements to be stigmatizing. Further, while these measurements may better predict health risks of elevated weight, evidence for using these measurements to improve health outcomes is lacking. In acknowledging the limitations in using BMI as a general measure of health or as a tool to assess the need for obesity treatment, the AMA has taken an important step toward diminishing the role of BMI in clinical practice. Further research is needed to identify the best ways to assess the health risks of elevated body weight. Scott Hagan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

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Body mass index has been the standard measure to classify obesity and overweight for decades.

University of Washington

Six Principles to Pitch Investors

By: W.D. Foster-Graham Book Review Editor

DON’T FEAR THE SHARKS Six Principles to Pitch

Investors

By Kelvin Johnson

“It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.” – Les Brown

Many of us have watched the reality show Shark Tank, where new entrepreneurs pitch their business products and services to the four Sharks with the goal of securing investment capital from them. As African Americans, building our own businesses is essential to our communities. Having a sound business plan and making the most persuasive pitch to investors is the basis for Kelvin Johnson’s company and his book Don’t Fear the Sharks.

Johnson’s road to entrepreneurship began in Pennsylvania with a postgraduate position as a certified public accountant (CPA), which transitioned into management consulting and later a director of operations for a tech company. These experiences spurred his desire to become a CEO of his own company and culture; this company is now known as Brevity, an artificial intelligence software product designed to help create the pitches and presentations that attract investors.

He acknowledges the miniscule (less than 1%) venture capital investments given to BIPOC businesses, which he used as fuel for rather interference with his goals. Before making a pitch, doing your homework and the research is a given, not an option. With

his six core principles and through testimonials, he outlines the process of the pitch and the post pitch:

1) validate your key assumptions

2) anticipate the post pitch

3) know your audience

4) incorporate your motivation

5) pitching is a numbers game and 6) make sure your pitch has the acronym SOUL™. Johnson’s road to success includes the challenges and failures he experienced, both personally and professionally, and the lessons he learned from them; as the saying goes in church, “Without a test, there is no testimony.” I appreciated his inclusion of cultivating relationships in addition to bringing his A-game, the importance of a strong support system, understanding your Why, and faith. In building Johnson Publishing Company, the late John H. Johnson stressed the importance of finding a need, meeting that need, and doing it well. Kelvin Johnson is doing just that.

Be it for fundraising, sales, seed money, or investment capital, Johnson provides a blueprint for pitches to help you succeed, to show and prove that your product/service is more than “a nice idea.”

As for his credentials, Johnson’s company Brevity is based here in the Twin Cities and backed by five institutional investors. He has been featured in Minneapolis Business Journal and the Star Tribune. He holds a master’s degree in Accountancy and Professional Consultancy, and a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting from Villanova University. Don’t Fear the Sharks is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Strive Publishing.

Thank you, Kelvin, for clearly, concisely, and compellingly meeting a need. And for all the future entrepreneurs out there in the community, believe in dreams and never give up.

Keith Johnson joined The Episcopal Church after learning about it in 2016. He and his wife are currently parishioners of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri. As a person of African descent, Johnson told ENS that Why Serve was a positive experience for him as he considers discernment for priesthood, and he was especially enthusiastic about meeting fellow people

Jealous

From 3

and Gas companies that are grabbing billions in historic profits and the politicians they support are doing all they can to roll back the commitments made since 2021. They even tied up the recent debate over a U.S. default on its loans to advance their opposition.

That’s an odd political play. A CBS News poll last month found more than half of Americans want the climate crisis addressed right now and more than two-thirds want it tackled within a few years.

That includes 44 percent of Republicans. Given every congressional Republican voted against the clean energy package last year, that large plurality is significant. It’s also a sign that many GOP leaders in Washington are increasingly out of step with their own constituents and districts.

When the group Climate Power looked at the nearly 200 clean energy projects launched since Congress and the President approved the federal spending package last summer, nearly six in 10 of them are in districts represented by Republicans who voted against the package. Those

of color from different parts of the country involved with The Episcopal Church in various capacities. The presentations and discussions gave him much to reflect on.

“How do we work together as ethnic ministries and have each of those four groups in their subsets vie for power and for representation, while at the same time not cannibalizing each other and saying, ‘My oppression and suppression is more important than yours?’

How do we as a collective work to have these conversations?” Johnson said.

Even though Asian,

projects mean at least 77,000 new jobs for electricians, mechanics, technicians, support staff, and others. Not since the days of FDR have we seen this kind of national investment.

Back then, building American industry was vital to winning a war against genocide across Europe. Today, our investment to turn our economy away from destruction and toward good jobs in a cleaner economy that

Black, Indigenous and Latino people are culturally and ethnically different, Crist said a key similarity that unites everyone is their histories of facing colonialism and oppression at some point in history, and that so-called minority groups in the United States are “victims of the doctrine of discovery.” However, “We’re very resilient people, so we’re still here. We’re all Episcopalians.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@ episcopalchurch.org.

sustains our planet is a fight to protect all of humanity.

Ben Jealous is executive director of the Sierra Club, the oldest and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the country. He is a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Never Forget Our People Were Always Free,” published in January.