Absolutely spot on—let’s talk about that $629 bag of saline. Saline, a simple mix of salt and water, costs about a buck to make. Yet, somehow, hospitals charge hundreds of dollars for it. Why? Because the system is broken, plain and simple. 1/5
These insane markups aren’t paying for better care—they’re covering bloated admin costs, inefficiencies, and profit margins. And guess what? We’re the ones paying for it, whether through sky-high premiums, copays, or taxes. 2/5
This matters because these ABSURD markups don’t just drain wallets; they also stifle trust in the system.
How can anyone trust a system that charges $629 for something that costs less than a cup of coffee to produce? 3/5.
Many Latinos have an identity crisis when they’re asked to comment on their race. Like most countries outside the U.S., Latinos tend to identify with their nationality, and when asked to comment on their race they either say Latino (even though that’s not a racial category), 1/13
they say they are white (since many are white presenting, 80% of US Latinos are lighter skin), or they rather not answer (bc they feel don’t know their racial background/composition/heritage and that creates cognitive dissonance I.e identity crisis). This ‘not knowing’ is 2/13
a direct result of slavery, colonization,and deliberate policies of blanqueamiento (racial whitening practices to “improve” the race towards whiteness) and mestizaje (planned racial mixing with the purpose of minimizing the nonwhite part of the population) in Latin America. 3/13
Did you know that there is a proposal to stop the counting of AfroLatin@s?
It is true that both race and ethnicity are social constructions; however, Latinos/Hispanics are comprised of many races! Pretending that Blackness exists outside of the Latino/Hispanic ethnicity 1/11
would contribute to AfroLatin@ erasure and anti-Blackness in this country.
Help us oppose this proposal!
Here are 5 ways you can take action RIGHT NOW 👉🏾 2/11
1. Get educated - Join us TOMORROW for an important bi-lingual conversation moderated by Dash Harris with Dr. Nancy López, Dr. Tanya Katerí Hernández and Dr. Zaire Dinzey-Flores as they discuss how proposed changes to counting AfroLatin@s could have dire implications. 3/11
Pediatrician here. I’m seeing a lot of misinformation about the polio vaccine so I wanted to clear a few things up. Ninety nine out of every 100 people who get the polio vaccine series will be protected from polio, which is why doctors recommend everyone get vaccinated. 1/10
The polio vaccine was available in the U.S. in 1955. Thanks to widespread use, the U.S. has been polio-free since 1979. Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is the only polio vaccine that has been given in the U.S. since 2000. IPV is given by shot in the leg or arm. 2/10
Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is used in other countries where polio is more of a threat. It uses a weakened live virus that is given to children as drops in the mouth. In rare instances, the weakened virus can mutate into a form capable of sparking new outbreaks. 3/10
Here’s my critique of the U.S Latin dance community. My Colombian friend who grew up dancing salsa all their life shouldn’t feel “out-of-place” at your Salsa night. My Dominican friend who grew up dancing bachata shouldn’t feel out-of-place at your Bachata night. 1/8
Yet, this happens all the time.
And it’s not bc y’all have some formal training and they can’t keep up. Or bc you dance better.
You don’t.
I have yrs of training and can reassure you of that. Yet, I go to these places and see how y’all move and don’t want any part of it. 2/8
Many of you whitewash our dances and water down our culture, and in your quest towards “mastery” fail to create spaces where real people from those communities feel included/represented. It’s wild to me to go these spots and see folk from every other ethnic group except ours. 3/8