Erica Gerrity and Isis Rising: Coalition-building to support incarcerated pregnant women and new mothers

By |

When the Minnesota Women’s Press first reported on the work of Isis Rising: A Prison Doula Project, Erica Gerrity had a lofty goal. As program director, she hoped that by 2020, all pregnant incarcerated women in Minnesota would have access to the informational and emotional support offered by doulas during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period.

Continue Reading

Tom Heuerman: Relieving our pain

By |

We do live in times of great pain and suffering—locally, nationally, and internationally. And with television and social media we can see and feel all of the world’s angst—often more than we can bear.This is a Community Voices submission and is moderated but not edited. The opinions expressed by Community Voices contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the TC Daily Planet.Some of us use chemicals to alter how we feel and become addicted. Others become dependent on sex, porn, food, power, money, status, gambling, video games, the Internet, “likes” on Face Book, our children’s successes, and scaling the corporate ladder. And most of us appear driven to consume the biomass of the planet as fast as we can despite the threat to humanity.Anne Wilson Schaef and Diane Fassel wrote in The Addictive Organization, “An addiction is any process over which we are powerless. Continue Reading

The thousand dollar pill

By |

Vox tells the story: a miracle pill that cures hepatitis C restored normal life, liver function, the ability to walk, and even hair to 74-year-old Philip Mason. The new drug, Sovaldi, sells for a thousand dollars per pill or $84,000 for the full course of treatment, making billions of dollars in profits for its owner, the Gilead drug company. That makes Sovaldi the latest example of the runaway greed and profit-taking by drug companies. Continue Reading

Under state plan, Luverne is 199 miles away from nearest proposed medical cannabis dispensary

By |

One of the most moving moments of last spring’s medical cannabis debate in the Minnesota House of Representatives was when Southwest Minnesota state representative Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake), who lives with multiple sclerosis, rose to speak of his transformation from being an opponent of legalizing cannabis for medical use to becoming a supporter of the new restrictive bill. Continue Reading

Community health overview: Korean Americans

By |

According to the 2010 U.S. Census the eight largest Asian American populations in Minnesota are the Hmong, Asian Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, Laotian, and Cambodian communities. Specifically, 27 percent of the total population identify themselves as Hmong, 15.5 percent are Asian Indian, 11.7 percent are Chinese, 11.1 percent are Vietnamese, 4.9 percent are Laotians, and 3.9 percent are Cambodians (See Figure 2). Continue Reading