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NEWS & LETTERS, April-May 2006Loss of emergency medical treatment in the Black and Brown communityLos Angeles--I believe one of the reasons the Martin Luther King Trauma unit in South Central was closed is because downtown Los Angeles is being remolded into a beautiful center and loft area from all the old beautiful buildings. There was one old department store I can remember years ago near Morningside Hospital, where the paramedics took people for emergency treatment. Morningside Hospital closed after many years, then Daniel Freeman Hospital in South Central was used. But Daniel Freemen had to close its trauma unit because of lack of money. Poor people could not pay. Then everyone was taken to MLK--the only hospital built in Watts after the 1965 riots. MLK was known for their trauma unit. I remember a shooting on McKinley Avenue near a school. The victim was taken to MLK. The news reported that if they had been taken somewhere else, they would not have survived. Many of us know Howard Hall, who was accused of the shooting at 56th and Vermont, and that victim was taken to MLK trauma unit. I could name many shooting incidents and the victims were all taken to MLK. MLK was built to provide medical services to south Los Angeles. Now people are dying because there is no longer a trauma unit in south Los Angeles. Harbor General is approximately 20 to 25 minutes away by freeway. CLOSING OF TRAUMA UNITS I believe one of the many reasons they closed the trauma units was the wealthy people living downtown did not want to go to MLK for emergency care. They have now added a trauma unit to California Hospital in central Los Angeles. California Hospital has been there for many years without a trauma unit. My friend recently had a car accident just a few miles from MLK, yet they took her to California Hospital. This system was created to keep the poor people down and make us stay in our own community. Most of the businesses are not Black-owned. Money made in south Los Angeles does not stay here. It goes home with the owners of liquor stores on every corner. I wish people would not give them business. The owners let you spend your money but won't give you a job. DEATH ROW KILLINGS There is something else on my mind--the killing of human beings on Death Row. I am glad that Michael Morales was not executed. (See "Workshop Talks," page 1.) What changed the doctor's mind about participating in that execution? Was it because it took so long to get the needle into Tookie Williams' arm when they executed him? Is it racism, or do the doctors think electric shock is better? Do the doctors have a license to kill? In California there is a law which allows cops to charge and prosecute supposed gang members of being domestic terrorists. This law is racist to its core. --Georgiana Williams |
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