More people are dying before they turn 65. Who it affects, and what it means. A new study reveals an increase in premature deaths among 18-to-64-year-olds, with Black adults and certain states disproportionately affected.

I spoke with the @washingtonpost.com about why people - especially Black people - are dying prematurely at increasing rates. COVID factors into rising numbers, but this article points out that policy has a larger impact on our lifespans than you might think.

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in..."

Clearly some elected officials, who profess to be people of faith, missed a few Sunday school lessons.

Public media is starting to disappear. Health consequences will soon follow. When the stations are gone, people will be in the dark without the important weather and safety updates these public bro

“If and when public media outlets are forced to cut their signals for good, millions of Americans—including many who cast their ballots for this administration—will be left in the dark,” writes @1mabl.bsky.social in his latest.

Statement From Richard Besser, MD, on the Expiration of SNAP, WIC, and ACA Benefits In a statement, RWJF President and CEO Richard Besser urges the administration to immediately release its SNAP contingency reserves to help families in dire need of food support.

We hear lots of talk about values and morals. Want to test the values or measure the morality of a nation? Count the number of people it allows to stay sick and children it allows to go hungry. We have to do better for American communities.

www.rwjf.org/en/about-rwj...

Squeezed with Yvette Nicole Brown Every caregiving journey is unique, but the isolation, guilt, and exhaustion is universal. In Season 2 of Squeezed, Yvette Nicole Brown dives back into the everyday realities of caregivers today, from...

Best news of the week: Season 2 of #Squeezed is out now!

Host, @ynb.bsky.social explores the realities caregivers face today – from the joys, the impossible choices, and the reality of quite literally being squeezed. The lineup of guests is unmatched! 🔥

🎙️Listen here: lemonada.lnk.to/SqueezedTO

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2024 The U.S. Census Bureau today announced that real median household income was $83,730 in 2024.

The Census Bureau released the 2024 data on health coverage, poverty and income. This release will be a snap shot, the “before” picture to compare to after the coming cuts and changes take effect.

Check out the data for yourself: www.census.gov/newsroom/pre...

State leaders are battening down the hatches to prepare for the storm that is about to hit our health system, namely major cuts to Medicaid. This is a helpful resource to understand where this storm will hit the hardest. Spread the word! 🔁

Thanks for passing me this positivity chain, @1mabl.bsky.social!

What gives me hope are programs like Rx Kids that have delivered over $13M in cash support to more than 3K families. Parents say it helps them make ends meet! rxkids.org/rx-kids-part...

Passing to @mona-shah.bsky.social!

The so-called Big Beautiful Bill passed this summer, but the damage will be felt for years. @rwjf.org created a chart to help explain what to expect.

Share this in your feed, pin it up in your community, email it to your local government. People must know how they’ll be affected by these policies.

Thanks for starting the positivity chain, @draveneljoseph.bsky.social

RWJF grantees like @wordinblacknews.bsky.social give me hope because they are telling powerful health equity stories, when doing so isn’t popular or easy.

Passing to @jenniferngandu.bsky.social

Black-and-white photo of Morgan Lasher, smiling in front of a concrete wall. Text reads “ComNet Denver Learning Lab: Comms as Community Building – Morgan Lasher, Unify America,” with illustrated green and blue foliage at the bottom.

Join us at ComNet25 Denver for a Learning Lab from Unify America! Attendees will learn:

- Four ingredients of community building (impact, learning, purpose, & belonging)

- How comms drives those pillars to create & support community building

- The comms role in collaboration

RWJF Statement on the Firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez Richard Besser, MD makes an official public statement on the ousting of CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez.

Pushing Dr. Susan Monarez out from CDC will cost lives.

A sign at the museum with the title “Slavery and Freedom,” which describes how the institution of slavery was integral to our nation’s founding.

Visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture this past weekend. And this is the first sign you see when starting the timeline of Blacks in America.

Dr. John Hope Franklin was right: "We've got to tell the unvarnished truth."

So now museums can’t talk about how “bad” slavery was? My thoughts on that.

What happened to American generosity? YouTube video by The Contrarian

“They’re burning it all down, but they don’t realize they’re going to need the very things they’re burning down.”

Partisanship begets blind hubris. Allyn Brooks-LaSure warns that dismantling public services undermines America’s values, and capacity to address health and environmental challenges.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows The RWJF Health Policy Fellows program provides the nation’s most comprehensive learning experience at the intersection of health, science, and policy in Washington, D.C.

Don’t miss this year’s call for applications for the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program - applications are due November 3.

Share this with your feed and others you think should apply:
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...

We cannot build a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right, if we cannot tell the truth about our nation and ourselves. Since the administration is suppressing our nation's history, we all have to tell the truth everywhere. All the time. To everyone.

White House announces more aggressive review of Smithsonian museums In a letter to the Smithsonian’s leader, White House officials said they would review exhibition text, curation, exhibition planning and collections starting with eight museums.

What is a “constructive description" of the Trail of Tears, Jim Crow, slavery, or the real cause of the Civil War? What is "unifying" language for Japanese internment camps, the KKK, and January 6th?

wapo.st/3UWNQtE

If Venus Williams, a world-renowned athlete with an incredible career, is worried about health insurance, imagine how all the people struggling to make ends meet feel, especially after the administration gutted Medicaid.

www.newsweek.com/venus-willia...

RWJF has long stood with other individual and institutional funders in supporting public broadcasting. That support will not change. In addition to our resources, we all must also raise our voices to denounce these punitive cuts and proclaim the value of public broadcasting to our society.

These same communities, particularly in rural areas that rely heavily on CPB-supported stations, will feel the brunt of this loss. In some cases, these areas disproportionately represent the very regions that this administration claims to champion.

In the process, they are also pulling the plug on valued community news sources that broadcast critically important evacuation orders, offer ground-breaking educational programs, and produce impartial news that showcases how American communities are thriving together.

This action follows recent Administration cuts to everything from food security to Medicaid to our public health and research institutions. With this track record, it’s clear what the Administration is doing to America’s highest ideals and trusted institutions: stripping them for parts.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it's shutting down The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funnels federal money to public media stations, says it's winding down operations after President Trump signed a law rescinding all funding.

Congress and the Trump administration have once again abandoned the American people. Their decision to slash CPB’s funding will leave American communities less informed, less engaged, less connected, and less safe. It definitely won’t make us great.

www.npr.org/2025/08/01/n...

Black Reproductive Justice Policy Agenda - In Our Own Voice

Data on the dire state of maternal health in the U.S. is not enough. People need solutions.

Thankfully, in Our Own Voice put together a policy agenda for Black Reproductive Justice that points to a path forward.

Please share this with your circle.

blackrj.org/blackrjpolic...

This is a fascinating look into how far SNAP dollars get people depending on where they live in the U.S.

Spoiler alert - they don’t get people far enough, and this gap will only get worse with the looming SNAP cuts.

Americans are hitting our limit watching profit be prioritized over people. Our health system hasn’t worked well for a long time, and now we’ve watched it be stripped for parts to pad the one percent’s pockets.

Healthcare is not a luxury; it should be a right. Our system needs to recognize that.

My take on Public Media and Public Health. @contrariannews.org

Thank you to The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State for your support that enabled two of us from The Jersey Vindicator team to attend the annual Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in New Orleans. We learned so much this week!