Here's a post written by Mathis at our sports site. Don't forget about Dallas South Sports, we're always looking for contributors if anyone one would like to blog about sports. Thanks Mathis for this excellent perspective. I have lived in South Oak Cliff for the last two and a half years. My wife and I previously lived in North Dallas. As you can imagine, several things are different between the two locales. The cost of houses, the places of worship, the places to shop, the bars and the golf courses immediately come to mind. There is another difference between the two that I would have never suspected - places to eat, specifically healthy places to eat, and places to exercise. Healthy places to eat, parks, jogging trails, fitness centers and gyms are not easy to find in South Oak Cliff. They are not as near as prevalant as North Dallas, M Street area or Uptown. Why is that the case? What are the effects? Look at these statistics: Many obesity-related diseases including diabetes, hypertension, cancer and heart disease are found in higher rates among various members of racial-ethnic minorities compared with whites. Diabetes has been reported to occur at a ...

CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON ANNOUNCES OVER $12 MILLION IN FEDERAL GRANTS FOR HIV EMERGENCY RELIEF PROJECTS FUNDS IN DALLAS COUNTY Washington, DC - (Friday, February 29, 2008) Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson announced that Dallas County Health and Human Services has been awarded a $12,722,134 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help assist patients with HIV/AIDS in the Dallas area. The grant will make available comprehensive programs and accessible clinical care needed by HIV/AIDS patients. The funds will also ensure resources to develop and operate effective, appropriate and cost efficient programs to provide health care and support services for individuals and families dealing with HIV disease in Dallas. "This grant will help bring the most appropriate care to HIV and AIDS patients in our community," said Congresswoman Johnson. "I am pleased that Dallas County Health and Human Services, which has been serving the area's needy populations, was able to secure this valuable funding." Recently, in coordination with National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Congresswoman Johnson teamed up with members of the Congressional Black Caucus ...

The following is a press release for Dr. Ian Smith's 50 million pound challenge.  I have been a fan of Dr. Ian since his days as a contributor to Men's Health magazine.  I continue to admire his work on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club.  New York City, Nov. 7, 2007 - Dr. Ian Smith's 50 Million Pound Challenge has reached the one million pound milestone.  Since its launch in Washington, DC on April 7, the historic campaign by the African-American community has encouraged people to save lives by getting fit and losing weight.  So far, more than 250,000 people have signed up at 50millionpounds.com and contributed to the early success of the initiative.   "We are so proud of the individual accomplishments that have resulted in us reaching this important early goal.  On November 15, I want us to celebrate taking off our first million pounds and all the participants who made it happen.  I hope people all across the country will join me in lighting a candle to celebrate the million and to signify our commitment and hope," said Dr. Ian Smith, best-selling author and diet expert on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club.  "I continue to challenge the ...

Washington, DC - (Wednesday, October 3, 2007)   Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson issued the following statement today after President George Bush vetoed legislation to improve the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).   "This could have been a day when the American people can be especially proud of their elected representatives for protecting our children, but instead the President has denied ten million American kids access to health care by vetoing this legislation.  There is no justification for the President to veto SCHIP which costs less than $3.50 a day to cover a child through the Children's Health Insurance program.    "Insuring kids is cost-effective for taxpayers who pick up the tab for indigent care in emergency rooms.  Today's veto will ensure more of the same: overcrowded emergency room, the threat of illness and disability, and our state continuing to have the highest number of uninsured kids in the nation.   "A healthy child is more likely to succeed in education and life.  As American children wait, I will continue to work with a bipartisan majority in Congress to increase support for SCHIP in the House so we can override the veto and provide 10 million children with ...

It's just too much to ask for this President to fund anything besides the war and the wealthy.  In explaining his veto of a bill extending healthcare coverage, to the children of working poor, the President says the compromise bill is "too costly." "This bill would shift [the program] away from its original purpose," he told Congress. "Our goal should be to move children who have no health insurance to private coverage, not to move children who already have private health insurance to government coverage." Does anyone believe that this man even knows what that means?  Seriously, it makes me sick to think that the guy who refused to send back anything, even porked filled trash, sent to him by the Republican Congress would now all of a sudden find his veto pen. Read the L.A. Times coverage of the Bush veto written by staff writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. Thanks to Bronze Trinity for the Times story. 

Mandrake Society Radio posts an audio interview with Venton Jones of Abounding Prosperity, Inc., an organization that addresses the health, social, and economic disparities among African-American men and their families. To hear the interview in it's entirety, please click here .  Thanks to Pegasus News for the heads up. 

Here is a response posted to this site by Liz Moyer of Texas Instruments' Environmental, Safety & Health Services.  The post is in response a post by Lincoln Allen (click here to view). From Ms. Moyer's post  The posting by Mr. Lincoln Allen contains factual inaccuracies and claims that are misleading to readers. Texas Instruments (TI) has been working proactively and in cooperation with regulatory agencies to address historic environmental impacts at its North Dallas Campus for more than two decades. Extensive scientific testing and monitoring gives us confidence that there is no basis for health concerns or adverse impacts to Hamilton Park from our operations. A detailed explanation of TI’s participation in the Voluntary Cleanup Program is available at http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/citizen/factsheets/cleanup.shtml. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the regulatory agency responsible for oversight of activities we are conducting under its Voluntary Cleanup Program was recently quoted in the Dallas Business Journal (April 27-May 3 story titled, “TI Spends Millions to Study, Clean Up Chemical Spills”) as saying, “We have no information to indicate that an adverse impact has occurred to anyone to date. Information collected to date, including groundwater samples, do not indicate a groundwater plume underneath the ...

This is a post that was received at The Lobby at Dallas South - our discussion board (join now!). The post was sent in by Lincoln Allen. Since his original message, I've e-mailed Lincoln a.k.a. Toxic Texas, and checked out the stories that he links to at the bottom of the post.  Please read this post, which raises a very important issues in our community regarding potential enviromental racism.  Posted by Lincoln Allen Environmental Racism - Toxic Contamination in Dallas, Texas, USA I am writing about Hamilton Park, a predominately low-income Black community in North Dallas, Texas.  Contamination has been discovered within the soil of Hamilton Park. The nearby streams, Cottonwood and Floyd Branch, are devoid of life, no fish, no animals, no insects. The sides of the streams are collapsing due to the lack of vegetation and roots to hold the soil in place. Some residents had reported catching deformed fish in the stream until suddenly one day all the fish died.The contamination is less than one half mile from the Hamilton Park Elementary School. There are also foul odors and fumes coming from the factory and polluting the air. The toxic contamination came from leaking underground storage tanks from ...

The Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC), Inc. will be hosting their 2007 Super Weekend:Taking Steps Towards Better Health program next weekend.  The ABC, along with local community and church leaders issue a call to action urging all Dallas residents to find out their risk of heart disease and stroke.   Join the Association of Black Cardiologists at Friendship-West Baptist Church and Conference Center on Saturday May 19 from 10 am to 3 pm.  Friendship-West is located at 2020 Wheatland RD in Dallas.  Free parking and refreshments will be available throughout the day. During the event, ABC will offer FREE heart health information and screenings; including health seminars, blood pressure checks, glucose and cholesterol screenings as well as body mass index and weight readings.  Physicians will also be on hand for consultations. The event will also have interactive fitness and cooking demonstrations, insurance information, and children's activities. For more information, contact Carla Meadows at carla@northstarpr.net or at 972-267-0990 The 2007 Super Weekend is a program of the Association of Black Cardiologist, Inc.  It is sponsored in conjunction with the Friendship-West Healthcare Ministry and is supported by AstraZeneca.  

World AIDS day was almost two weeks ago, but at the rate that HIV/AIDS is spreading through the African-American community, we have to address the issue more than once a year.  I recently had an interesting discussion with June Trimble, who works on HIV/AIDS related programs at UT Southwestern here in Dallas.  The information she shared with me was mind boggling, and I thought it would be great if more people could get a feel for the work that's being done.   DSB: June, what are some of the things you do both personally and professionally in regards to HIV/AIDS?   JT:    I’ll start with my work professionally.  I work for a university that is the lead agency for two Ryan White CARE Act Title IV Programs.  What we do is provide funding to several community-based organizations to serve HIV impacted women, infants, children, youth and their affected family members.  We operate as a network of coordinated services to meet the medical and social needs of the target population. Aside from the administrative arm of the project we also offer a Women’s  Enrichment Program for HIV+ women and provide Peer support to HIV + young people 13-24. Personally, I don’t necessarily target HIV/AIDS prevention directly.  I work ...