Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 10-27-15 Edition

Local
Couple Who Lost Son In Accident Attend Million
Man March
From left to right: Crystal J. Wilson, local “Black Lives Matter” leader; Deanna Hardy-Joseph, Congressman Alan Grayson, and An- drew Joseph, Jr.
From left to right: Dale Cephus Johnson, Beatrice X, Lashawnda Rhymes, Deanna Hardy-Joseph, and Andrew Joseph, Jr.
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
Andrew Joseph, Jr. and his wife, Deanna, gathered up their two children and moved to Tampa from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The family was looking for- ward to starting over in Tampa, and planting roots here with their children at- tending and graduating from school.
In February 2013, Andrew Joseph, III was permitted to attend the Florida State Fair for the first time without his parents along. It was a fateful gesture as Joseph, III ended up losing his life after he and a group of other kids were ejected from the Fair Grounds. Joseph, III, unfamiliar with the area, was attempting to get home by running across I-4 when he was struck and killed by a motorist.
Since that time, the Josephs have demanded ac- countability for their son’s death.
On October 10th, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph traveled to Washington, D.C. to be a part of the 25th anniversary of the Million Man March.
“It was amazing seeing so many Black males attending the march, and my wife and I
got the pleasure of joining Minister Farrakhan on the state during his speech,” said Joseph, Jr.
“We found the message Minister Farrakhan deliv- ered that day to hit us right at home, because justice is some- thing we’re still seeking for the death of our son.”
As an added surprise, recording artist Usher wrote a song about Joseph, III on be- half of the family.
“We were more than shocked at the gesture by Usher. We were so grateful that he thought enough of our pain to do something like this. We will forever be indebted to him,” said Joseph, Jr.
“I was allowed to address the crowd about what hap- pened to my son, and I’m happy with the support we’ve gotten from local groups like Black Lives Matter and Tampa For Justice. They will be joining us in the boycott of the 2016 Fair.”
Joseph, Jr. said what will make it even sweeter is their protest will occur around the same time presidential candi- dates are scheduled to speak to Fairgoers.
“We’re anxious to see how they will react to our protest, and if they will offer any help so we can get some justice.”
U. S. Rep. Castor Meets With Cancer Survivors
Pictured L-R: Marcillina Adonis, Executive Director for Calvary Community Clinic; John DeMuro, Moffitt Cancer Center; Patsy Sanchez, breast cancer survivor and Director of Diversity & Inclusion at the University of South Florida; Pastor Vincent; U. S. Rep. Kathy Castor, 14th Congressional District of Florida; Carrol Vaughn, breast cancer survivor; Chloe Coney, District Director for the Office of U. S. Rep. Kathy Castor; and Nikki Inda, community relations coordinator at Moffitt Cancer Center.
U. S. Rep. Kathy Castor
highlighted the disparities in diagnosis and treatment for African American women re- cently when she met with local breast cancer survivors at the Mt. Calvary 7th Day Adventist Church’s Free Calvary Com- munity Clinic. The Clinic, lo- cated at 3401 E. Louisiana Ave., opened this summer to serve the East Tampa commu- nity,
With pink ribbons pinned over their hearts for breast cancer awareness month, U. S. Rep. Castor convened a roundtable to bring awareness about health disparities that affect African American, His- panic, Asian and American In- dian women when it comes to the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
“The biggest disparity is that African American women are more likely to die even after their diagnosis of cancer while other women are more likely to get diagnosed,” U. S. Rep. Kathy Castor said dur- ing the roundtable discussion. Participants in the discussion were Carroll Vaughn, breast cancer survivor; Patsy Sanchez, breast cancer sur- vivor; Pastor Patrick Vin- cent, Chair of the Calvary Community Clinic, Marcil- lina Adonis, Executive Di-
rector of the Calvary Commu- nity Clinic; and Nikki Inda, community relations coordi- nator for Moffitt Cancer Cen- ter.
“Among Hispanic women, breast cancer leads in new cases for all cancers and leads in estimated deaths from can- cer.”
U. S. Rep. Castor’s
roundtable discussion fol- lowed a study released two weeks ago that once again con- firmed that African American, Hispanic, Asian and American Indian women tend to fare worse with breast cancer. The study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, included more than 100,000 women and is touted as the largest to-date to examine disparities in breast cancer treatment in the United States.
The study states that African American, Hispanic, Asian and American Indian women showed 20-60 percent higher rates of diagnosis with stage 2 to stage 4 breast can- cers of any type compared to Caucasian women. The risk was highest among African American women, who had a 40-70 percent greater risk of being diagnosed with stage 4 of any type of breast cancer, compared to white women.
Cancer is most lethal at stage 4.
“I applaud Moffitt Cancer Center for partnering with Cal- vary Community Clinic to pro- vide mammogram vouchers so that our East Tampa neighbors without insurance can access this important health screen- ing that could lead to early di- agnosis and save lives,” U. S. Rep. Castor said. “By open- ing Calvary Community Clinic, East Tampa’s first free clinic, Pastor Vincent and his church are working hard to ad- dress an unmet need in this community and helping to re- duce health disparities when it comes to breast cancer as well as other illnesses.”
“If you have nothing but your health, then you have everything. Calvary Commu- nity Clinic features an intake room, numerous exam rooms, triage and classroom space. A private pharmacy next door partners with the clinic to fill patient prescriptions. The clinic offers evening and week- end hours and fully staffed by volunteer physicians and nurses. “Our next step is get- ting our education seminars going, such as diabetes man- agement and weight loss,” Pastor Vincent said. “We also want to acquire a van to use to help transport our neighbors to the clinic.”
U. S. Rep. Castor also vowed to address these health disparities.
“I intend to work to elimi- nate these health disparities by insisting that doctors offer ad- equate care for all, regardless of race, income or health in- surance status – make sure they remember that every woman is someone’s sister, daughter or mother,” U. S. Rep. Castor said. “The sur- vivors I met with today are tes- tament to the importance of health coverage, early detec- tion, and access to quality can- cer care and advanced treatments in all our neighbor- hoods.”
PAGE 4 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2015