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Since 2021, the United States has experienced its worst years for maternal mortality. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021 saw a 40 percent increase in maternal mortality from the previous year.
These deaths occurred during pregnancy or up to 42 days after and “occurred from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management.” While the rate was 26.6 deaths per 100,000 live births for white birthing people, in the Black community, the rate was nearly 70 deaths per 100,000 live births. Black birthing people are 2.6 times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or in the weeks following labor than our white counterparts.
As we talk about reproductive justice, it is also important to talk about climate justice and how they are very much linked together. Climate justice is a framework that intersects the social, political, and ethical questions of how its benefits and burdens are differentially distributed. For example, socially marginalized groups experience the brunt of climate impacts while having limited to very little contribution in producing policies.
In Pittsburgh, people are breathing air that is filled with toxic matter, according to the American Lung Association. It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that in 2019, Pittsburgh was determined to be the worst place for Black women and birthing people to live.
Under-regulated chemicals such as vinyl chloride, the chemical spilled in the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment earlier this year, harm both the fetus and the pregnant person. Research has also linked hotter temperatures and wildfires due to climate change to higher rates of premature and low birth weight babies.
Most researchers agree that the effects of climate degradation and pollution on maternal and infant health have heavier consequences for Black people. They’ve also found the effect of extreme heat on preterm birth in Texas, California, Massachusetts, and Alabama are greater for Black people than their white counterparts.
In September 2023, the city of New Orleans and some surrounding parishes in south Louisiana began to prepare for three months of saltwater intrusion in the local water supply. In the meantime, current Louisiana Attorney General and Louisiana governor-elect Jeff Landry can be held partially responsible for the city’s ability to address the now sidestepped crisis, as well as the decayed state of the city’s entire water infrastructure.
Landry personally solicited the Louisiana State Bond Commission last year to withhold millions in funding from the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board due to the city government’s refusal to arrest and prosecute women in the wake of Louisiana’s total ban on abortion. The New Orleans Sewage and Water Board remains in desperate need of funding to take care of necessary repairs to its four water intake structures — one of which that has been inoperable for over 30 years.
Pregnant people in low-income neighborhoods in US cities, often where Black people live, do not face just one environmental health problem but often several, including air pollution, water pollution, lack of access to fresh produce, unlivable urban heat islands, and much more.
If we are going to be concerned about reproductive and maternal health, we have to pay attention to the climate crisis and other environmental disasters. On the other side of the mirror, people concerned about our planet’s environment need to pay more attention to the increases in maternal and infant mortality.
At the intersection of sexism and racism, we will find Black women facing a unique set of health outcomes under climate change. State-sponsored racist and sexist violence against Black girls and women in the United States has informed health outcomes throughout history. The truth is that gendered racism influences chronic health outcomes and climate change exacerbates them. Our bodies have the ability to adapt to minor and even repetitive injuries. But then there are those chronic stressors that take their toll, including housing insecurity, food and water insecurity, racialized gendered trauma, sexual violence, poverty, and more.
Black women have always been caretakers, whether we’ve wanted to be or not. The stereotypes that were created during slavery to justify the exploitation of Black women has continued to reinforce the idea of Black women as martyrs, jeopardizing their own health for the comfort of others. As it exists today, this stereotype could directly result in higher rates of infectious diseases among Black women under climate change.
The Biden-Harris administration has been somewhat outspoken on reproductive rights and has pledged to take climate action. But they have yet to connect the dots between the environmental justice and the reproductive justice crisis in the United States, even as they work to tackle both separately.
It is Congress that has to make sure the health needs and the right to a healthy environment are protected for people who are pregnant. It should be a simple thing; a natural thing. The Environmental Protection Agency needs to include reproductive justice organizations at every level fighting for pregnancy health on behalf of at-risk mothers.
Obstetrician/gynecologists also have a unique opportunity to raise awareness, educate, and advocate for mitigation strategies to reverse climate change affecting their patients and their families. I wonder how many of them do.
The Biden-Harris administration would also do well to establish some type of task force that works with the maternal and newborn health community, combining environmental advances with maternal and infant health. If it fails to do so, the maternal crisis in the United States will only continue to get worse.
Since 2021, the United States has experienced its worst years for maternal mortality. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021 saw a 40 percent increase in maternal mortality from the previous year.
These deaths occurred during pregnancy or up to 42 days after and “occurred from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management.” While the rate was 26.6 deaths per 100,000 live births for white birthing people, in the Black community, the rate was nearly 70 deaths per 100,000 live births. Black birthing people are 2.6 times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or in the weeks following labor than our white counterparts.
As we talk about reproductive justice, it is also important to talk about climate justice and how they are very much linked together. Climate justice is a framework that intersects the social, political, and ethical questions of how its benefits and burdens are differentially distributed. For example, socially marginalized groups experience the brunt of climate impacts while having limited to very little contribution in producing policies.
In Pittsburgh, people are breathing air that is filled with toxic matter, according to the American Lung Association. It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that in 2019, Pittsburgh was determined to be the worst place for Black women and birthing people to live.
Under-regulated chemicals such as vinyl chloride, the chemical spilled in the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment earlier this year, harm both the fetus and the pregnant person. Research has also linked hotter temperatures and wildfires due to climate change to higher rates of premature and low birth weight babies.
Most researchers agree that the effects of climate degradation and pollution on maternal and infant health have heavier consequences for Black people. They’ve also found the effect of extreme heat on preterm birth in Texas, California, Massachusetts, and Alabama are greater for Black people than their white counterparts.
In September 2023, the city of New Orleans and some surrounding parishes in south Louisiana began to prepare for three months of saltwater intrusion in the local water supply. In the meantime, current Louisiana Attorney General and Louisiana governor-elect Jeff Landry can be held partially responsible for the city’s ability to address the now sidestepped crisis, as well as the decayed state of the city’s entire water infrastructure.
Landry personally solicited the Louisiana State Bond Commission last year to withhold millions in funding from the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board due to the city government’s refusal to arrest and prosecute women in the wake of Louisiana’s total ban on abortion. The New Orleans Sewage and Water Board remains in desperate need of funding to take care of necessary repairs to its four water intake structures — one of which that has been inoperable for over 30 years.
Pregnant people in low-income neighborhoods in US cities, often where Black people live, do not face just one environmental health problem but often several, including air pollution, water pollution, lack of access to fresh produce, unlivable urban heat islands, and much more.
If we are going to be concerned about reproductive and maternal health, we have to pay attention to the climate crisis and other environmental disasters. On the other side of the mirror, people concerned about our planet’s environment need to pay more attention to the increases in maternal and infant mortality.
At the intersection of sexism and racism, we will find Black women facing a unique set of health outcomes under climate change. State-sponsored racist and sexist violence against Black girls and women in the United States has informed health outcomes throughout history. The truth is that gendered racism influences chronic health outcomes and climate change exacerbates them. Our bodies have the ability to adapt to minor and even repetitive injuries. But then there are those chronic stressors that take their toll, including housing insecurity, food and water insecurity, racialized gendered trauma, sexual violence, poverty, and more.
Black women have always been caretakers, whether we’ve wanted to be or not. The stereotypes that were created during slavery to justify the exploitation of Black women has continued to reinforce the idea of Black women as martyrs, jeopardizing their own health for the comfort of others. As it exists today, this stereotype could directly result in higher rates of infectious diseases among Black women under climate change.
The Biden-Harris administration has been somewhat outspoken on reproductive rights and has pledged to take climate action. But they have yet to connect the dots between the environmental justice and the reproductive justice crisis in the United States, even as they work to tackle both separately.
It is Congress that has to make sure the health needs and the right to a healthy environment are protected for people who are pregnant. It should be a simple thing; a natural thing. The Environmental Protection Agency needs to include reproductive justice organizations at every level fighting for pregnancy health on behalf of at-risk mothers.
Obstetrician/gynecologists also have a unique opportunity to raise awareness, educate, and advocate for mitigation strategies to reverse climate change affecting their patients and their families. I wonder how many of them do.
The Biden-Harris administration would also do well to establish some type of task force that works with the maternal and newborn health community, combining environmental advances with maternal and infant health. If it fails to do so, the maternal crisis in the United States will only continue to get worse.
Maybe Jason Momoa and director James Wan have been spending too much time on the set of Fast and Furious, or maybe just being around Vin Diesel saturates your brain with one idea, because the central theme in DC Studios’ latest film, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, is family. Although the word family isn’t said a trillion times in the film, it is solidified throughout the film with the reminder that Aquaman is not only King of Atlantis but a father, a son, and a big brother.
Jokes aside, I appreciated the direction the writers went with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. It had its sweet and heartfelt moments, while still being a fun, action-packed, lively, superhero film.
The film picks up as a direct sequel to Aquaman (2018). It is best to watch the first film for a refresher before watching this one. The film’s director and co-writer, James Wan, said it’s great to watch them both back to back. Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is on a mission of vengeance. He wants to kill Arthur and all he holds dear as payback for his father’s death. While searching for a way to power his suit, Black Manta finds the Black Trident, a dark relic powered by an evil ancient force.
Between brief conversations on ocean preservation and global warming, Arthur must work with his little brother, Orm, to protect the kingdom and stop Black Manta from destroying the planet. Along with Momoa and Abdul-Mateen II, also returning is Patrick Willson as Orm, Nicole Kidman as Atlanna, Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry, Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus, and Amber Heard as Mera. New to the action (apart from the post-credit scene in Aquaman) is Randall Park, along with Martin Short, Jani Zhao, and Indya Moore.
One of the fun things about this film is its action sequences. The choreography, the stunts, and the pacing all work really well together in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The jungle scenes are incredible and probably my favorite parts in this film. Any time Yahya Abdul-Mateen II uses the black trident is a notable experience. The final epic battle with trident versus trident is intense and captivating. The fighting choreo steps it up a notch compared to Aquaman (2018). Seeing these moments in IMAX 3D really makes it pop. It is also cool to see more of Atlantis. But it did leave me wondering where the human-like people hung out because all we saw were quirky CGI fish characters.
Speaking of baddie Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, he kills it as Black Manta. The ruthlessness, the ferociousness, the raw intensity all add up to a performance where he shows up and shows out. His upgraded suit is necessary for plot and substance. There was some clunkiness in the first film, but the kinks have been worked out in time for the sequel. He looks amazing, but his dialogue is lacking. The pain of losing his father and his brooding presence is felt, and he continues the villain role nicely.
Patrick Wilson is honestly one of my favorite actors to watch. He has an acting quality that really makes those around him step up their game, which is why I think the brotherhood/family storyline worked. Orm had the biggest character development of all the characters in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. His character arc had more appeal in this sequel, even more so than Aquaman himself. While Momoa can deliver the comedy and corny lines, Wilson brings a sincerity and balance to the cast. He isn’t over the top or super dramatic but offers a well-deserved lesson in redemption.
The whole family theme is really thrown in our faces — not sure if the rewrites and reshoots had a lot to do with it, but the amount of Guinness and Aquaman dad montages seem unnecessary. Just when it feels like he was a single parent, a random shot of Mera (Heard) will occur. The Arthur and kid scenes seem like a different film and slightly clumsy. I would have respected it more if he were a single dad at that point trying to balance family, relationships, and ruling a kingdom.
Other themes that didn’t hit as well were those centered on the Earth’s resources and the land and sea balance. What could have been a real Happy Feet moment ended up being a lackluster conversation in a film tiptoeing around the original reason Arthur took up the role as king in the first place: to keep Atlantis from attacking the surface.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is slightly predictable, but still entertaining. The theme of family sits at the center of the film with focus on the father-son and brother relationships. It’s nice to see superheroes in that “real life” light, but unfortunately, the daddy-and-me moments lack the heart and impact that the sibling bonding moments hold. The entire film is a little more grownup, but still uneven. Momoa has had a good run as Aquaman in the DC franchise, and I will be sad to see him go if this is indeed the last time he will don the gold and green.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is in theaters Friday, December 22, 2023.
“The Church on Ruby Road” gave us a really cute Christmas special starring the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday. We met Ruby’s delightful family, including her loving adoptive mum Carla and her witty gran Cherry. Her neighborhood is also delightful, including her neighbor Mrs. Flood, played by Anita Dobson. The special teases an ongoing mystery about Ruby’s biological family but something strange is also going on with Mrs. Flood, too. She breaks the fourth wall at the end and it makes us all wonder what’s going on with her. Who is Mrs. Flood in Doctor Who? Let’s dig into how she appears in the episode and what she could do in the future.
Near the beginning of the episode, Ruby Sunday comes home with two handfuls of groceries. We watch her neighbor Mrs. Flood argue with Abdul, another neighbor, about a large object that she’s sure he put on the sidewalk. That object is none other than the TARDIS. Abdul insists he knows nothing about this blue box. Ruby comes up and Mrs. Flood, who calls her Rubes, complains to her as Ruby looks at the box with lots of curiosity. She asks Mrs. Flood what it is and her neighbor says it is a police box. She admits she hasn’t seen one on the streets of London in around 50 years… and doesn’t want to see one now.
Later in the episode, Mrs. Flood is walking home when she witnesses the TARDIS dematerializing. Of course, she’s in shock and drops her shopping bags. After the Doctor returns from saving baby Ruby in the past, he parks the TARDIS on the other side of the street. Mrs. Flood is rather chipper and waves hello to him. When he comes back out, they have a short conversation, including Mrs. Flood asking who he is. Predictably, the Fifteenth Doctor just says he’s passing through and she tells him to take care. At the end, Ruby comes out to inquire about the Doctor and Mrs. Flood points her to the TARDIS. Strangely, she calls her Ruby and wishes her good luck. Mrs. Flood is even nice to Abdul, who is shocked to see the TARDIS disappear. She then turns directly to the camera and says “Never seen a TARDIS before?”
What Is Going on with Mrs. Flood in Doctor Who?
So, what’s up with this lady? Well, she clearly didn’t know what the TARDIS was at the beginning of the episode. There would have been no reason for her to put on a front (and argue) with Abdul if she knew the truth. It’s plausible Mrs. Flood did a bit of research after seeing the TARDIS leave. She’s an older lady but that doesn’t mean she can’t use the internet, right? However, the Doctor was only gone for a short amount of time. Did she have time to even look it up? Hmmm.
It’s not impossible that Mrs. Flood could have seen the TARDIS when the Doctor went back to that church on Ruby Road. It was a dark and wintry night and other houses were around. This episode revolved around coincidences, after all. Some fans wonder if Mrs. Flood is Ruby’s mom and we aren’t sure that’s the case. Ruby is 19 years old while Mrs. Flood appears to be in her 70s or maybe even 80s. Yes, some women do have children later in life but it’s a little too coincidental that she’d abandon Ruby and then end up being her neighbor. However, she could know more about Ruby than she’s letting on.
Hell, maybe Mrs. Flood is a villain. A flood is an influx of rain and rain is an anagram for… RANI. (I’m kidding about the Rani… or am I?) Or, there could be no mystery with Mrs. Flood and she simply said that line for funsies. Anita Dobson grew up watching Doctor Who, so perhaps it’s just a fun nod to her being a fan. It seems a bit too deliberate to just be this but who knows what Russell T Davies has in store.
Will Mrs. Flood Return to Doctor Who?
Either way, it seems we will get more Mrs. Flood in the future. You don’t score a legend like Anita Dobson and only use her once, right? During a charity appearance, Dobson hinted that her character’s nosy nature could draw her into the Doctor’s adventures. We will surely return to Ruby’s home life in Doctor Who season one and that’s where Mrs. Flood is. Hopefully, the questions we have about her will get answers as the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday’s journey continues.
The post Who Is Mrs. Flood in DOCTOR WHO? Ruby’s Mysterious Neighbor Raises Eyebrows appeared first on Nerdist.
I’ve been rewatching episodes of Haikyu lately. It’s that weird time of the year (a.k.a. the end of it) where everything seems to slow down and there’s not that much new content in circulation, so I turn to my old standbys: the shows I know by heart and by soul, the easy comforts. I would say I’m not entirely sure how an anime about a Japanese boys high school volleyball club became a vital touchstone in my life, but I actually do know. I know it very deeply, and I know this because back in 2020, I wrote about it. And at the time, it was perhaps the best thing I ever wrote. I was fresh off a week-long intensive non-fiction writing retreat, and I was inspired, emboldened. The end result was an essay that managed to effortlessly combined a deep dive media analysis of a sports anime, my own meditations on the pandemic, and a poignant reflection on the importance of human connection.
One thing I didn’t talk about as much during that essay though was how much the vocabulary of Haikyu had become ingrained in my speech. The most obvious one was “tempo.” Maybe that’s because it’s the one term that had significant overlap with my musical theater and writing background, but in any event, I have incorporated it into conversation, whether it is matching, speeding up, slowing down.
The other phrase though? Well, that’s the title of this essay.
“The View from the Top.”
At the start of the series, the five words specifically means the apex of the spiker’s jump, the vantage point where they are at their highest above the net and can see the entirety of the court. Over time, it becomes a more metaphorical one. To get to the proverbial top, to get to the summit, the boys from Karasuno had to put an incredible amount of effort to scale peak after peak. They had to constantly become better than they were in the last match, defeat seemingly undefeatable foe after foe, and even at their best, their best wasn’t always enough. And if it was, would that one victory be enough to satisfy them?
I have historically not been the biggest fan of New Year’s Resolutions. I’m not particularly fond of arbitrary goal setting based on the revolutions of the earth, and I’ve come to accept that my goal setting is best done at my own tempo (yes, this is entirely intentional). But as the calendar change looms, it is hard not to look at the journey thus far and wonder where else you can go from here. Of course, the journey looks a little different for a pop culture journalist and aspiring nonfiction writer than it does for a volleyball player, but I think the sentiment is the same.
For writers, sometimes the goal is a byline, is a book deal, a screenplay, a script. We all are looking to write our Magnum Opus, the defining work that we will be remembered by, the best thing we ever wrote. But that’s also impossible to assess in the moment.
Back in 2017, when I first joined Black Nerd Problems, my third ever piece was “Trains of Thought on Asian American Representation in Comics” and at the time, it was the best essay I ever wrote. Comprehensive in its viewpoints, reasonably complex in its structure, the piece was emblematic of the work I always admired BNP for producing, the cross section between pop culture and deeply personal. I felt like I hit it, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried that I’d never be able to produce something of that caliber again.
But then in 2019, I managed to dig deep thanks to the works of Raphael Bob-Waksberg and found it in me to write another thousand some words on the absurdity in fiction and reality. I weaved in anecdotes, I juxtaposed against media samples, I wrote one of my favorites line that still stings whenever I read it:
If you were to be on the other side of the beer-bottled kaleidoscope, would it really be that unfamiliar? Doesn’t it cut deep because it’s supposed to? Doesn’t it cut deep because it is a shard of glass?
And that was my best piece until the Haikyu piece came, and then even that was eventually displaced by my first ever non-pop culture related byline when I got to spend a thousand words talking about an abandoned cement factory in St. Louis. That was back in February of this year, and while I’ve written other things I’m proud of in the intervening time period, I have yet to write something quite like that, something that galvanized me to write it and something that reached readers.
Stagnation is a scary thing when you’re climbing, when you’re trying to reach the top. Stagnation means you’re wasting so much energy just staying exactly where you are, and in a world where the peaks are rising steadily, staying still feels awfully like going backwards. I’m about to quote a very silly source, but I often think about the final scene in Zac Efron’s We Are Your Friends, where he screams: ARE WE EVER GOING TO BE BETTER THAN THIS? Before dropping the beat, and I have already admitted that this is a silly thing, but I think it’s a valid question, an important inquiry, and one that still motivates me in a weird way.
I think I can safely say that I will write something better. I think as long as I keep trying, keep pushing the limits, keep tinkering, I’ll manage to find yet another thing only I could write. I’ll string together words in a novel way that will resonate like mountain winds. And all of these “best things I ever wrote” will act like a map to a summit I’ve yet to reach and will try to. The view from the top is not a fixed point, it is a relative point to reach, it is a modular mindset, and if you think you can be better, there’s probably a good chance you can get better.
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The post The View from the Top: ‘Haikyu’ and Reaching my Peak appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.