I wouldn't go as far as saying the Jena march yesterday was a Selma moment. But I do acknowledge its relevance and I joined in solidarity with folks in Jena by dressing in all black.

However I couldn't help but wonder what was next after the national spotlight of the march; will the participants go back to the normal way of doing things until another outrageous moment of prejudice.

I don't want to sound cynical but in my short life I've seen some photo-op moments from the "Million-Man March" as a teenager to the recent burial of the N-word. Both of these events among a few have left me scratching my head for the point.

The Million-Man March was supposed to show black men as men of honor who stood up for their families and their communities but we see more black on black crime today.

And what was the burial of the N-word all about when there were more pressing matters in the black community such as the disparity in health care and education that needed a national spotlight? Has the burial of the N-word stopped the word from been used? I present to you Exhibit A in comedian Eddie Griffin who didn't get the memo for the recent Black Enterprise bash and Exhibit B in rappers who use the word as if it's going out of style.

I hope the organizers and the participants of the Jena March could go a step further by looking at the example of the Florida college students last year who camped out at the former Florida governor Jeb Bush's office. They protested for days to an overnight sit-in at his office until something was done about the untimely death of a special needs 14 year-old African-American Martin Lee Anderson at the hands of guards and the nurse who just stood there. In the following months, each notable figure involved in that case was either resigning or being brought to justice and even the racist boot camp was closed down. Now that's what a march supposed to do, ignite change.

Sent by Moji | 7:40 PM ET | 09-21-2007

Hi, Michel.

Did you see Michael Baisden's post today on his message board called Divided We Fall? They will be talking about it today and much more. He is clearing up a lot. I have copy and pasted it and provided a link on my blog. Feel free to check it out! http://ltsjazzyradio.blogspot.com/

Sent by Lawrence Tucker | 3:33 PM ET | 09-24-2007

Michel,

I enjoyed your show today (9/24).

But, you made a comment about the emergency room medical that needs to be corrected. You said that we have free health care in America because everyone can walk into an emergency to get care. That is an erroneous statement.

Emergency room care does NOT equal health care. Emergency room care is intended to stablize emergent medical situation, but nothing more.

For example, if someone got hit by a car, he could walk into any emergency room, and get the wound cleaned, and stitched up. But, if it's shown that he has broken bones, and that he'll need longer term surgery/rehabilition, those services will not be covered. He'll be told to go home, and followup with an orthopedist. And, of course, if the patient has no insurance and cannot pay, he'll not be able to do that.

Let me give you another example. Suppose it is coincidentally found on a chest x-ray that was done for ruling out trauma from the accident, that the patient actually has a tumor/cancer growing in his lungs. Well, the patient will not be treated for this tumor/cancer in the emergency room either. The patient will be discharged from the emergency room and be told that he'll need to follow up with a cancer specialist. Followup up care for this "incidental" finding of tumor will not be covered in the emergency room. As you can appreciate, no one gets chemotherapy treatment at an emergency room.

Or, suppose the patient got into an accident due to a medically related issue (e.g., he was drunk-driving, he had not been taking his seizure medication correctly, or he had fallen asleep at the wheels because he has untreated sleep apnea). Well, none of these root cause medical issues would have been dealt with in the emergency room setting (when was the last time that you've heard of someone undergoing a sleep study in the emergency room?Moreover, when the underlying medical issue is not resolved, it's likely that the patient will get into another accident in the future, and use the emergency room as a bandaid solution.

I hope these examples illustrate the concept and help folks' understanding that emergency care does not equal total health care. Just because you can get seen at any emergency room, it does not mean that you have health care. True universal health care will need to cover all aspects of health care.

Doctor in DC

Sent by Jo | 3:36 PM ET | 09-24-2007