Newsletter of the Lambda Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma
Theta Sorority, Incorporated
Volume 8, Issue 4, March/April 2001
Summit V is a campaign to educate and elevate
awareness of health issues, especially those that seriously impact African
American women. The centerpiece of
Summit V is a Clinical Depression Education Campaign. The campaign is
designed to encourage individuals to recognize, get evaluated, and, if
appropriate, seek treatment for symptoms that they may be experiencing which
may be, in actuality, symptoms of clinical depression. African American
women are prime targets for the disease because of their desire to do it all -
juggle the demands of career, home and community without complaint.
In a survey by the
National Mental Health Association only 31% of African Americans believe
depression is a "health problem" and only 41% stated that they would
seek treatment from a qualified professional if they suffered from
depression. Given these perceptions, it is no wonder that the disease is
diagnosed and treated less in Black women than in Hispanic or white women.
Clinical depression is a
serious medical illness that causes persistent changes in a person's mood,
behavior and feelings. If affects more than 17 million people each year
and the prevailing rate of depression among African American women is about
twice that found in all men. Unlike the feelings of depression, which
come and go, the disease of depression persists and may deepen over several
weeks, months or years. If left untreated, depression can be a factor in the
development of even more serious mental illnesses and disorders, thereby
threatening the productivity and survival of the individual and, in turn, the
African American family and community.
Statistics show that 80%
of people with clinical depression respond favorably when they receive
treatment. Delta has accepted the challenge to educate ourselves and
others in our respective communities by conducting this campaign. We
recognize that clinical depression is often not discussed in our communities;
however, we cannot afford to dismiss the fact that it does exist among us.
Find out more about
clinical depression and other health issues by joining us at the Women’s Health
Forum: “Heath and Healing - Let it Begin Within” on Saturday, March 17th,
2-4pm, at the Johnson & Wales University Multicultural Center.
Clinical
Depression Symptom Checklist
Have you, or
someone you know, experienced any of the following?
q A persistent sad,
anxious or "empty" mood.
q Sleeping too little, especially early morning waking,
or sleeping too much.
q Reduced appetite and/or weight loss, or increased
appetite and weight gain.
q Loss of interest or
pleasure in activities once enjoyed.
q Restlessness,
irritability.
q Difficulty
concentrating, remembering or making decisions.
q Fatigue or loss of
energy.
q Feeling guilty, hopeless
or worthless.
q Thoughts of death or
suicide.
If you have checked 4 or more of these
symptoms, it is suggested that you, or the person you are evaluating, consult
your physician to discuss your results.
DSQ April 2001 Events
Habitat for Humanity International
Putnam House Building Project
8:30am-12noon
Call Courtney at 401-521-8808 to RSVP
and for details.
The mission of Habitat for Humanity
International, a non-profit ecumenical Christian housing ministry, is to
eliminate poverty housing from the world and to make decent shelter a matter of
conscience and action. Join the ladies
of the Providence Alumnae Chapter and the Lambda Iota Chapter in fulfilling
this mission by lending a hand to build a home in our community for the less
fortunate.
SUNDAY, APRIL 8, 2001
Wall Street Forum:
"Making $$$...How to be a Smart
Investor"
co-sponsored with PaineWebber
Incorporated
2:00pm-4:00pm @ Brown University,
Wilson Hall 101
Join guest facilitator, Ebony
Thompson from PaineWebber Incorporated, in learning how to make the most of
your money. Get advice on the
strategies of "smart" investing:
stocks, bonds, CDs and more.
SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2001
Coming Soon..."The
Epitome"
by Soror Maria Fermin, Fall 1993
As we look in history,
we find many notable women who have paved the way for African Americans. Women who have had a dramatic effect on
history such as the first African American to integrate the University of
Georgia. Women whose purpose in life
was to struggle for African American empowerment by forming and leading such
groups as the National Association of Colored Women and the National Council of
Negro Women. Women who not only battled
discrimination as African Americans, but as African American feminists. Women who would not tolerate one form of
discrimination over another. These
women are important to us all for their achievement in politics, the arts,
education, journalism, even the world of sports. We admire them for their determination, we hail them for their
strength, and we love them for their perseverance. It is safe to say that the women depicted below have impacted our
lives in many ways. They are pioneers,
they are women, they are Delta.
Mary McLeod Bethune opened the Daytona Industrial
Institute for the Training of Negro Girls.
The school became an important community resource and evolved into what
is now Bethune-Cookman College.
Bethune’s struggle to make education available to thousands continued to
be her major focus when she founded the National Council of Negro Women.
Nannie Helen Burroughs opened the National Training School for Women and Girls in
Washington, DC at a time when African American empowerment, let alone African
American women’s empowerment, was a virtual impossibility.
Elizabeth Catlett has had a long and extraordinary
career in American and Mexican art. A
distinguished sculptor, she was the first female professor of sculpture in the
Fine Arts School at the University of Mexico.
Charlayne
Hunter-Gault was one of two black
students to desegregate the University of Georgia. That was the first time she made the news. Today she is an award-winning journalist
whose honors include two Emmys and a Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcast
Journalism for “Apartheid’s People”, a broadcast series on South Africa.
Patricia
Roberts Harris was
a lifelong activist, promoting equal rights for blacks and women. Major achievements along her path breaking
political career include becoming the first African American woman to head a US
embassy and the first African American to hold a cabinet post.
Lena Horne became the first black woman to successfully
challenge African American stereotypes in film. A glamorous figure, even in the1940s when most of the roles
available cast African American women as maids, Lena insisted that she would
not be typecast, and MGM agreed.
Pauli
Murray was the first black woman to be
ordained an Episcopal priest. Murray
spent much of her life helping to dismantle barriers of racial and gender
discrimination and was a founding member of the National Organization for
Women.
Ethel L.
Payne is known as the “First Lady of the
Black Press”. Payne’s years of civil
rights coverage earned her an invitation to witness the signing of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. She served as a
consultant to the Social Security Administration under President Lyndon B.
Johnson. In 1972, she became the first
black female commentator employed by a national broadcast network when she was
hired by CBS.
Wilma
Rudolph is one of
the most inspiring examples in modern sport of triumph over adversity. Although Rudolph was stricken with polio at
the age of four, she became the first American to win three gold medals in
track and field at a single Olympiad.
She has been inducted into the Women's Sports Hall of Fame, the Black
Sports Hall of Fame and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
Mary
Church Terrell was appointed to the District of
Columbia Board of Education, a first for an African American woman. As president of the Colored Women’s League
of Washington and later as the president of the National Association of Colored
Women, Terrell was instrumental in local affiliates’ establishment of
kindergartens, day-care centers and nursing schools.
Brainchild - Josephine Ventura, Fall 1993