I really missed sharing my reflections this past year. My posts were inconsistent. I felt like the past two years had sapped my creativity, I had my performance review and finally had to look over some accomplishments. I want to thank all of my colleagues who shared in my success. We were able to accomplish this together over the past two years:

1. Rodríguez JE, Wusu MH, Anim T, Allen KC, Washington JC. Abolish the Minority Woman Tax! J Women’s Health (Larchmt). 2020 November 20. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2020.8884. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33216695.
2. Foster KE, Johnson CN, Carvajal DN, Piggott C, Reavis K, Edgoose JYC, Elliott TC, Gold M, Rodríguez JE, Washington JC. Dear White People. Ann Fam Med. 2021 Jan-Feb;19(1):66-69. doi: 10.1370/afm.2634. PMID: 33431395.
3. J, Anim T, Wusu MH, Foster KE, Parra Y, Amaechi O, Allen KC, Rodríguez JE, Campbell KM, Tumin D, Washington J. An Approach to Faculty Development for Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine. South Med J. 2021 Sep;114(9):579-582. doi: 10.14423/SMJ.0000000000001290. PMID: 34480190; PMCID: PMC8389351.
4. Rodríguez, José E., Kendall M. Campbell, and Judy C. Washington. “Dismantling Anti-Black Racism in Medicine.” American Family Physician 104.6 (2021): 555-556.
5. Azza Eissa, Robyn Rowe, Andrew Pinto, George N. Okoli, Kendall M. Campbell, Judy C. Washington, José E. Rodríguez.  Implementing High-Quality Primary Care Through a Health Equity Lens The Annals of Family Medicine Feb 2022, 2785; DOI: 10.1370/afm.2785
6. Oni K, Allen K, Washington J. Prioritize Comprehensive Women’s Health Training, Protect Our Communities. Fam Med. 2022;54(8):658-659. https://doi.org/10.22454/FamMed.2022.203722.
7. Rodriguez, Jose E., Kendall M. Campbell, and Judy C. Washington. “Remove Race as an Initial Identifier From Clinical Presentations Reply.” AMERICAN FAMILY PHYSICIAN 106.2 (2022): 120-121.
8. Rodríguez, J.E., Figueroa, E., Campbell, K.M. et al. Towards a common lexicon for equity, diversity, and inclusion work in academic medicine. BMC Med Educ 22, 703 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03736-6
9. Foster KE, Robles J, Anim T, et al. What Do Underrepresented in Medicine Junior Family Medicine Faculty Value From a Faculty Development Experience? Fam Med. 2022;54(9):729-733. https://doi.org/10.22454/FamMed.2022.895447.
10. Campbell, K. M., Washington, J. C., Baluchi, D., & Rodríguez, J. E. Submit It Again! Learning From Rejected Manuscripts. PRiMER, 6.
11. Black Women & Public Health: Strategies To Name, Locate, And Change Systems Of Power SUNY PRESS, Black Women’s Wellness Book Series (2022) FROM THE INTRODUCTION: Black Women and Public Health: Strategies to Name, Locate, and Change Systems of Power seeks to create an interdisciplinary dialogue that bridges gaps between researchers, practitioners, educators, and advocates. Black women’s work in public health is a regenerative practice. Just as Dr. Anna Julia Cooper wrote in her 1892 essay, “Womanhood: A Vital Element in the Regeneration and Progress of a Race” we look backward, inward, and forward to renew and refresh as we work to improve the quality of life for ourselves and others.     CHAPTER 11 Am I My Sister’s Mentor?: Why Mentoring Underrepresented Minority Medical and Public Health Faculty Can Improve the Health of Black Women. Andrea Anderson, Judy Washington, and Joedrecka S. Brown Speights

Thank you all for giving me the opportunity to collaborate and create.

It has been a long year with so much happening, and once again, I said I was not going to do it this year because we are not having guests over. But a pang of nostalgia and the fear of losing tradition was overwhelming, so  I will make Gumbo again this New Year’s Day. We will also have black-eyed peas with the leftover ham bone from Thanksgiving. The bone was in the freezer. Once again, I must share how this Gumbo came to be. I thought I had a great recipe in a cookbook titled “One of a Kind: Recipes from the Junior League of Mobile.”  I remember taking the cookbook to my husband’s aunt Tommie for her advice on the ingredients. A former New Orleans native and authentic Cajun (her father was from Paris and her mother, African American) known for her Gumbo recipe, guarded like a state secret. She took the book and crossed out (with great emotion) some of the listed ingredients and added no new ones.

I did not know that excellent Gumbo is simple,  just Andouille sausage and lots of shrimp. The secret is the roux and the cooking time. The best okra is frozen, and do not cook it for long. Add the shrimp, and do not overcook. It only takes a few minutes if the Gumbo is hot. That gave me her special recipe, which I continue to make. I realize, though, the actual ingredient is “Love.”  

This year was supposed to be one filled with accomplishment. Who would have predicted a war in Ukraine? We traveled to Indianapolis in May 2022 for the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine meeting. This was the first in-person meeting since December 2019. It was also just before the mask mandate in airports was lifted. At the meeting, I ended two years as the President of the Foundation and a member of the Board. I was emotionally overcome and could barely finish my first in-person Board meeting since March 2020. It was bittersweet to be in Indianapolis. We had planned to spend time with my Uncle Pap, but he died in Indianapolis from COVID in March 2021, just before the widespread COVID vaccine was available.

These past few years have transformed how I deal with colleagues and patients. I am not judgmental, but I am tolerant and understanding of dismissive attitudes about the disease, how it spreads so quickly, and how it has left a trail of death and lasting effects worldwide. When patients say they do not want a Flu shot or the COVID vaccine, I just say it is their choice, but they are putting others at risk. I stop there.

This year also was filled with an unexpected loss. My nephew was killed by a drunk driver, and feeling my sister’s and my brother-in-law’s pain and witnessed their pride and love for their beautiful baby, now grown into an accomplished, award-winning athlete and businessperson, taken from them but forever in their hearts. Their grace and eloquence were unmatched. I would not have been able to hold it together.

We had our own brush with COVID. Thankfully home testing and Paxlovid helped our beloved husband and Father recover. I also attribute the four COVID vaccines he had. My case was also mild. I celebrated my birthday with friends on Broadway. My first time there since March 2020. We saw “The Piano Lesson” and had dinner. We had our usual trip to Ocean City in December and celebrated Roy’s birthday. It was so great to be there. We realized that since Thanksgiving was a week early, we had fewer people there. We did see our family in Baltimore for the first time since 2020.

This was supposed to be a year to celebrate, but we do so with caution. Now realizing that we are old enough to see the people who were our young heroes now dying in their 90s. However, I had the beautiful experience of witnessing the birth of our beautiful grandson (I have known his mother since she was in college, and she adopted me as one of her mothers). He joined his beautiful sister and wonderful parents.

We are now COVID-boosted times three but are still cautious. This is an unpredictable moment in history. Massive snowstorms, extreme temperature fluctuations, drought, and severe weather events. Taking the time to make Gumbo seems appropriate for this moment in history. I need to stir up some love. 2020 ripped my heart into pieces. I am still trying to define what I lost and gained for myself. In 2021, the loss of my uncle was too much, and even now causing my mother sadness. She misses her brother. 2022 was supposed to be the year, but I still wear a mask and no party dresses. I am thankful we are here and am hopeful for 2023. I made significant accomplishments in my new position, published multiple articles, including a book chapter, and saw my mentees marry and accomplish much.

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ Martin Luther King, Jr.

 “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice.” T.S. Eliot

New Year’s is a time of reflection and reconnection to oneself. I always make black-eyed peas for good luck. Once again, my New Year’s commitment is to be a loud voice and advocate. I still plan to get into some “good trouble,” and I know you will join me. We have so much work to do in 2023. I am a descendant of enslaved people who were taken from their homeland and stripped of their names, not their pride. I can trace my roots back to 1840. We must dismantle racism and rebuild trust in our government. We were asked to do that in 2022 and will be asked to do it in 2023.

The year 2022 saw us vote in record numbers, take to the streets to fight for justice, and make history in countless ways. The new year 2023 will require the same from us. Unfortunately for us in healthcare, we will have to deal with surges of COVID and other viral infections and care for all our other patients.

To 2023 and keeping hope alive!!!

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” —Oprah Winfrey

According to historical references, Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on June 19, 1910. I had to look this up because a patient I saw yesterday told me that June 19 was his mother’s birthday. He related that she was born on the first Father’s day and now lived to see the first official celebration of Juneteenth. Father’s Day is a time to honor those men who love and support their families. Loving husbands and fathers make a difference during difficult times. The men in my family have been such shining examples of great fathers. My brothers-in-law,  uncles, and cousins are wonderful Dads to their sons and daughters. On Monday mornings, I have a call with my collaborators on a project. One of them always has to wake up his princess and get her to school. It is 6:30 in his time zone. The other is usually driving to work. So we always get an update on the kids. For me, my dads were my many Uncles. They were always there to provide love and support. My stepfather taught me to drive, and though the initial experience was full of drama, I passed the test. I can still merge onto freeways with great ease and respect for semi-truck drivers.   

My husband spent many days taking our son to the Pediatrician alone for shots. It was challenging to get away from my training and, later, the office. He did soccer games, tennis lessons, and all the homework. He was the Book Fair volunteer; he and another Dad would make sure the kids made intelligent book choices. He was the chaperone on the school trips. He made all the visits to the orthodontist for the brace, found the Barber for the haircuts, and scheduled the music lessons. He cooked all our meals and even did the laundry.   I met him a few years after his divorce. After we started dating, I met his son and daughter when they were ages 7 and 8. I decided to put his daughter’s hair in a neater style. She was so cute. Black fathers have been the victim of stereotypes of being absent and uninvolved. They are nothing but that. Despite the challenges they faced during the brutality of being enslaved, they managed to care for their children. After being freed, many sought to find their families. Historically, America has always minimized their success, and they are victims of structural and institutional racism. Yet, they skillfully and lovingly coach their children in all sports. They sometimes choose not to confront teachers, or if they do, it is to prevent their wives from being seen as “angry black women” No, that’s true. I always sent my husband to the school to handle any concerns expressed by the principal. It always worked out well.

So as we celebrate this Father’s day on June 19 and also recognize the first official recognition of Juneteenth as a national holiday, let’s commit to the work of righting history.

Happy Father’s Day!!!!

I was not going to do it this year. With the Omicron variant running rampant, we are not having guests over. However, I made Gumbo again this New Year’s Eve. I could not give into my disappointment. We will also have black-eyed peas with the leftover ham bone from Thanksgiving. The bone was in the freezer. I had what I thought was a great recipe in a cookbook titled “One of a Kind: Recipes from the Junior League of Mobile.”  I remember taking the cookbook to my husband’s aunt Tommie for her advice on the ingredients. A former New Orleans native and authentic Cajun (her father was from Paris and her mother, African American) known for her Gumbo recipe, guarded like a state secret. She took the book and crossed out (with great emotion) some of listed the ingredients and added no new ones.  I did not know that excellent Gumbo is simple. She did not use crab meat, chicken, or the gumbo file but just Andouille sausage and lots of shrimp. The secret is the roux and the cooking time.  The best okra is frozen, and do not cook it long. Add the shrimp, and do not overcook. It only takes a few minutes if the Gumbo is hot. That gave me her special recipe, which I continue to make. I realize though the actual ingredient is “Love.”

The story of my Gumbo is one of loss but also of love. We lost Aunt Tommie from complications of  Alzheimer’s and have lost so many other family members since I acquired her Gumbo recipe. Now, COVID-19 has taken so much from us this past year. I lost my Uncle Pap, and he was like a father to me. I felt so helpless as he died in Indianapolis. The solace came from a nurse who said, “We love Mr. Waldrop and will take good care of him.” No holiday gatherings and the need to keep our families safe. No walks with friends or casual meetings. I realized that for me, this was transforming how I deal with colleagues and patients. Not being judgmental, but I am tolerant and understanding of dismissive attitudes about the disease and how it so easily spread and the fact that it is leaving a trail of death and lasting effects worldwide.

Taking the time to make Gumbo seems appropriate for this moment in history. I need to stir up some love. 2020 ripped my heart into pieces. What I lost and gained I am still trying to define for myself. In 2021 hopefully, those mended pieces of my heart healed, leaving no visible scars. The

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into (a) friend.”‘ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Being mindful of and not dismissive of past historical injustices, I made a weighty decision after reading all the information I could get. I took the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and completed my third dose. My whole family got vaccinated. It was my responsibility to step up and speak out for science. My goal is to make sure that factual and reliable information is shared and that I can be a voice to listen, inform and support my family, patients, colleagues, and friends as they make their own personal decisions.

 “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice.” T.S. Eliot

New Year’s is a time of reflection and reconnection to oneself. I always make black-eyed peas for good luck. My New Year’s commitment is to be a loud voice and advocate. I plan to get into some “good trouble,” and I know that you will all join me. We have so much work to do in 2022. As Black and Indigenous People of Color, we must rebuild trust in our health care system, dismantle racism and rebuild trust in our government. We were asked to do that in 2021, and we will be asked to do it in 2022. The year 2021 saw us vote in record numbers, take to the streets to fight for justice, and make history in countless ways. The new year 2022 will require the same from us. Unfortunately for us in Healthcare, we will have to deal with COVID-19 surges and care for our non-COVID patients.

We must remember to wear our masks and practice social distancing by avoiding indoor gatherings.

To 2022 and keeping hope alive!!!

Happy New Year!

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” —Oprah Winfrey

I have been unable to write for the past few months. I had many thoughts, but I could not put them on paper because they were too harsh to express. We are a nation overcome with fear—conspiracy theories about viruses and vaccines. We are being held hostage by those too divisive to understand the need to care for us all. We have not embraced the facts: the need to vaccinate the world: we are not getting back to the old normal: we are now entering a new way of life.

Healthcare has changed, and we need to address the workforce constraints we have created by pricing out those we need and not giving them a fair chance to enter careers in medicine. In addition, medical education is too expensive, making it difficult to enter any health-related career.

Merry Christmas. We are home because my wise mother said weeks ago, do not get on the plane to come here. “ People are acting up in the airports and on the plane.” She was right. The Omicron variant has humbled us. Proving that COVID 19 is unpredictable. When we think we have won the game, it steals bases and scores, pushing it into overtime again. So, thankfully, we played it safe. I texted all my friends, talked to my best friend and called my mother. After that, I will speak with my sisters and other close family and settle into another movie.

Merry Christmas!