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Op-Ed: OCCUR Gives the East Bay the Scoop on Sugary Drinks

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By Denise Deluca, OCCUR, Program Manager

At OCCUR we believe that all individuals should have the opportunity to live healthy lives regardless of their race, income, zip code or level of education, and that having information and tools to living a healthy life is essential. 

 

For the people we serve, low-income residents and youth in the East Bay, often the truth about the harms of sugary drinks and healthy alternatives is drowned out by the predatory marketing of the beverage industry.

 

Did you know that African American youth see 3 times as many ads for sugary drinks as their white peers? With 1-2 sugary drinks a day linked to type 2 diabetes, it’s no wonder that unless we change course, half of all African American and Latino children born in 2000 will get type 2 diabetes in their lifetimes.

 

Furthermore, medical authorities have established that sugar-sweetened beverages are the number one source of added sugars in the American diet contributing to obesity, hypertension, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

 

The data reveals a perfect storm for the risk of chronic disease. Beverage companies target youth and communities of color. Consumption of sugary drinks has increased 500 percent in the past 50 years and now is the single largest category of caloric intake in children, surpassing milk a decade ago.

 

And yet, studies show that cutting back on sugary drinks helps control weight, and more importantly, reduces your risks or even reverses devastating diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

 

This fall, OCCUR will join other local community organizations in combating the pervasive health threats linked to sugary drinks that are impacting our Oakland community. The program will train a cadre of residents to share facts and strategies for low-income individuals living in the East Bay Area to make healthier nutritional choices and whenever possible select water as the beverage of choice.

 

OCCUR will conduct the trainings in locations where we have supported constituents with safety net programming for over five decades. Students from the David E. Glover Education and Technology Center, a Program of OCCUR that trains youth in tech skills, will explore creative solutions to address this public health challenge in their East Oakland community.

 

It’s time to work together and get loud to combat the unhealthy forces that undermine our communities’ health and prosperity. Join us and change the future.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 11 – 17, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 11 – 17, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of December 4 – 10, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 4 – 10, 2024, 2024

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COMMENTARY: PEN Oakland Entices: When the News is Bad, Try Poetry

Strongman politics is not for the weak. Here in the U.S., Donald Trump is testing how strongman politics could work in the world’s model democracy.

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By Emil Guillermo

As the world falls apart, you need more poetry in your life.

I was convinced on Tuesday when a weak and unpopular president of South Korea — a free nation U.S. ally — tried to save himself by declaring martial law.

Was it a stunt? Maybe. But indicative of the South Korean president’s weakness, almost immediately, the parliament there voted down his declaration.

The takeaway: in politics, nothing quite works like it used to.

Strongman politics is not for the weak. Here in the U.S., Donald Trump is testing how strongman politics could work in the world’s model democracy.

Right now, we need more than a prayer.

NEWS ANTIDOTE? LITERATURE

As we prepare for another Trump administration, my advice: Take a deep breath, and read more poetry, essays and novels.

From “Poetry, Essays and Novels,” the acronym PEN is derived.

Which ones to read?

Register (tickets are limited) to join Tennessee Reed and myself as we host PEN OAKLAND’s award ceremony this Saturday on Zoom, in association with the Oakland Public Library.

Find out about what’s worth a read from local artists and writers like Cheryl Fabio, Jack Foley, Maw Shein Win, and Lucille Lang Day.

Hear from award winning writers like Henry Threadgill, Brent Hayes Edwards and Airea D. Matthews.

PEN Oakland is the local branch of the national PEN. Co-founded by the renowned Oakland writer, playwright, poet and novelist Ishmael Reed, Oakland PEN is special because it is a leader in fighting to include multicultural voices.

Reed is still writing. So is his wife Carla Blank, whose title essay in the new book, “A  Jew in  Ramallah, And Other Essays, (Baraka Books), provides an artist’s perspective on the conflict in Gaza.

Of all Reed’s work, it’s his poetry that I’ve found the most musical and inspiring.

It’s made me start writing and enjoying poetry more intentionally. This year, I was named poet laureate of my small San Joaquin rural town.

Now as a member of Oakland PEN, I can say, yes, I have written poetry and essays, but not a novel. One man shows I’ve written, so I have my own sub-group. My acronym: Oakland PEOMS.

Reed’s most recent book of poetry, “Why the Black Hole Sings the Blues, Poems 2007-2020” is one of my favorites. One poem especially captures the emerging xenophobia of the day. I offer you the first stanza of “The Banishment.”

We don’t want you here
Your crops grow better than ours
We don’t want you here
You’re not one of our kind
We’ll drive you out
As thou you were never here
Your names, family, and history
We’ll make them all disappear.

There’s more. But that stanza captures the anxiety many of us feel from the threat of mass deportations. The poem was written more than four years ago during the first Trump administration.

We’ve lived through all this before. And survived.

The news sometimes lulls us into acquiescence, but poetry strikes at the heart and forces us to see and feel more clearly.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. Join him at www.patreon.com/emilamok

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