California introduces first-in-nation slavery reparations package
Lara Korte
Wed, January 31, 2024 



SACRAMENTO, California — California state lawmakers introduced a slate of reparations bills on Wednesday, including a proposal to restore property taken by “race-based” cases of eminent domain and a potentially unconstitutional measure to provide state funding for “specific groups.”

The package marks a first-in-the-nation effort to give restitution to Black Americans who have been harmed by centuries of racist policies and practices. California’s legislative push is the culmination of years of research and debate, including 111-pages of recommendations issued last year by a task force.

Other states like Colorado, New York, and Massachusetts have commissioned reparations studies or task forces, but California is the first to attempt to turn those ideas into law.


The 14 measures introduced by the Legislative Black Caucus touch on education, civil rights and criminal justice, including reviving a years-old effort to restrict solitary confinement that failed to make it out of the statehouse as recently as last year.

Not included is any type of financial compensation to descendants of Black slaves, a polarizing proposal that has received a cool response from many state Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations, the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more,” Assemblymember Lori Wilson, chair of the caucus, said in a statement. “We need a comprehensive approach to dismantling the legacy of slavery and systemic racism.”

The package does have a provision that would give some monetary relief. The proposed bill, authored by State Sen. Steven Bradford, a Democrat from the Los Angeles area, deals with “property takings.” It would, “Restore property taken during raced-based uses of eminent domain to its original owners or provide another effective remedy where appropriate, such as restitution or compensation.”

Black lawmakers are already anticipating an uphill battle. They anticipate spending many hours to educate fellow legislators and convince them to pass the bills.

Some of the measures could also run into legal trouble.

Democratic Assemblymember Corey Jackson, who represents a district north of San Diego, is proposing asking voters to change California’s Constitution to allow the state to fund programs aimed at “increasing the life expectancy of, improving educational outcomes for, or lifting out of poverty specific groups based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, or marginalized genders, sexes, or sexual orientations.”

That plan could face a similar constitutional challenge like the one that ultimately dismantled affirmative action.

Other proposals include protections for “natural and protective” hairstyles in all competitive sports, and a formal apology by the governor and Legislature for the state’s role in human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants.

The caucus will flesh out the package in the coming weeks.


The California Legislative Black Caucus introduced more than a dozen reparation-related bills 

Taiyler S. Mitchell

HUFF POST
Thu, February 1, 2024 

The California Legislative Black Caucus introduced more than a dozen reparation-related bills Wednesday, the day before the start of Black History Month.

The historic package of legislation follows the June 2023 release of a 500-page Reparations Task Force Report, which listed myriad recommendations to remedy generations of systemic harm against Black Californians, beginning during slavery.

None of the 14 bills includes cash payouts to Black residents across the board in the face of a projected state budget deficit of nearly $40 billion, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A 2023 poll by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, co-sponsored by the L.A. Times, found that the majority of California residents do not support reparations in the form of cash.

“We started realizing with the budget environment we were going to have to do more systemic policy change to address systemic racism versus big budget asks because there just wasn’t the budget for it,” state Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson (D) said, according to the L.A. Times. “Our priorities centered around policy changes or creating opportunities.”

The bills, known collectively as the 2024 CLBC Reparation Priority Bill Package, focus on improvements in education, health, business, prisons and civil rights. According to The Associated Press, several of the bills call for California’s Constitution to be changed, which will be a tough sell to some lawmakers.

The package also has its critics, who say the bills don’t go far enough.

“Not one person who is a descendant who is unhoused will be off the street from that list of proposals. Not one single mom who is struggling who is a descendant will be helped,” Chris Lodgson, an organizer with the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, said, according to The Associated Press. “Not one dime of the debt that’s owed is being repaid.”

According to a news release from the California Legislative Black Caucus, this set of bills starts off a “multi-year effort to implement the legislative recommendations in the report.”

“We will endeavor to right the wrongs committed against black communities through laws and policies designed to restrict and alienate African Americans. These atrocities are found in education, access to homeownership, and to capital for small business startups, all of which contributed to the denial of generational wealth over hundreds of years,” Assemblyman Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer Sr. said in Wednesday’s news release.

Related...

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Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Seeking Reparations For The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre


California set to become first state to introduce series of reparations bills

Sarah Fortinsky
Wed, January 31, 2024 




The California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) announced 14 reparations bills Wednesday that it plans to introduce as the first step to implement policy proposals outlined in a report released last summer by the Reparations Task Force.

In a press release, the caucus described the “2024 Reparations Priority Bill Package” as a “multi-year effort to implement the legislative recommendations in the report.”

In introducing the 14 measures, California will become the first state to implement concrete legislative proposals to enact reparations, a movement that has been growing in recent years.

“While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more! As laid out in the report, we need a comprehensive approach to dismantling the legacy of slavery and systemic racism,” CLBC Chair Lori Wilson said in the press release.

“This year’s legislative package tackles a wide range of issues; from criminal justice reforms to property rights to education, civil rights and food justice. The Caucus is looking to make strides in the second half of this legislative session as we build towards righting the wrongs of California’s past in future sessions,” Wilson added.

Among the proposals is an amendment to the California Constitution to “allow the State to fund programs for the purpose of increasing the life expectancy of, improving educational outcomes for, or lifting out of poverty specific groups.”

Another amendment would “prohibit involuntary servitude for incarcerated persons.”

One measure addresses “property takings,” and one would allow for the restoration of “property taken during race-based uses of eminent domain to its original owners or provide another effective remedy where appropriate, such as restitution or compensation.”

The first step in laying out the package will be “a resolution that recognizes that harm and a subsequent bill that requests a formal apology by the Governor and the Legislature for the role that the State played in the human rights violation and crimes against humanity on African Slaves and their descendants.”

The 14 measures are categorized under primary topics: Education, Civil Rights, Criminal Justice Reform, Health, and Business.

Education proposals include creating grants to increase enrollment in STEM-related career and technical education programs at high school and college levels. One measure also proposes “career education financial aid for redlined communities.”

In addition to addressing property, the civil rights proposals would include, for example, extending the CROWN Act to prohibit discrimination based on certain hairstyles, explicitly in competitive sports.

Criminal justice reform proposals would eliminate the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) practice of banning books without proper oversight, restrict solitary confinement within CDCR detention facilities, and establish grants to fund community-driven solutions to decrease violence at the family, school and neighborhood levels.

Health measures would require advance notice to community stakeholders before grocery stores shut down in underserved or at-risk communities, and another would “make medically supportive food and nutrition interventions, when deemed medically necessary.”

The sole business proposal would eliminate barriers to those obtaining occupational licenses for people with criminal records.

The California secretary of state praised the announcement, writing: “I am optimistic and encouraged by the work, and look forward to amazing and ground breaking outcomes. The nation is waiting for us to lead. And as California always does, we will lead in addressing a delayed justice called Reparations.”

Assembly member and task force member Reggie Jones-Sawyer said in a statement: “We will endeavor to right the wrongs committed against black communities through laws and policies designed to restrict and alienate African Americans.”



News from the California Capitol: Reparations bill introduced

It’s official: California lawmakers will consider reparations this spring.

Andrew Sheeler
Thu, February 1, 2024 at 5:55 AM MST·3 min read




REPARATIONS PACKAGE COMES TO SACRAMENTO

The California Legislative Black Caucus on Wednesday unveiled a legislative package intended to implement reparations for Black Californians who were harmed by racist laws and policies in the state.

The package includes a resolution to formally recognize and accept responsibility “for all the harms and atrocities committed by representatives of the state who promoted,facilitated, enforced and permitted the institution of chattel slavery.”

It also includes bills to expand education opportunities and financial aid, restore property taken in race-based eminent domain cases, issue a formal apology for human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves, bar the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from banning books without oversight or review, restrict the use of solitary confinement and eliminate barriers to licensure by people with criminal records.

Also included in the package are proposed constitutional amendments to fund programs aimed at increasing the life expectancy and educational outcomes of Black Californians and other groups and ban prison inmate forced labor.

It’s an ambitious package, and one that is likely to run into some pushback from California Gov. Gavin Newsom for either policy, budget or political reasons. Newsom has previously has vetoed attempts to curb the use of solitary confinement.

But it follows the recommendations of the state’s reparations task force, and caucus Chair Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, said in a statement that “while many only associate direct cash payments with reparations, the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more.”

“As laid out in the report, we need a comprehensive approach to dismantling the legacy of slavery and systemic racism,” Wilson said.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who as an assemblywoman in 2020 authored the legislation that created the reparations task force, said she was pleased to see the caucus “pick up the baton.”

“The nation is waiting for us to lead,” Weber said in a statement. “And as California always does, we will lead in addressing a delayed justice called reparations.”

BLUE ENVELOPE BILL SEEKS TO REDUCE DANGER FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

People with special needs and developmental disabilities are at heightened risk during interactions with police officers. One Republican lawmaker, Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez of Rancho Santa Margarita, has introduced a bill, AB 2002, to reduce that risk.

The bill would create a state program where participants could inform police of their special needs by presenting a blue envelope containing their license and registration and discussing specific accommodations they require during an interaction.

“These blue envelopes have successfully been used in multiple counties and other states to improve accessibility and communication between law enforcement and individuals with disabilities,” Sanchez said in a statement.

According to 2022 data from the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board, police were more than five times more likely to use force against people with mental health disabilities and more than three times more likely to do so with people who have other disabilities.

The bill is sponsored by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez, whose own departments have already adopted a similar program.

 

Does the U.S. Really Need Mideast Oil—or the Mideast—Anymore?

Since 2014 the U.S. has become the world’s “top oil and natural gas liquids” producer (2022: 19.1 million barrels per day). It even leads Saudi Arabia and Russia so it’s no longer dependent on Mideast oil.

by Barbara G. Ellis / January 23rd, 2024

When my husband and I were flying to Beirut, Lebanon to co-edit the English-language Daily Star, we noticed our tickets were paid by ARAMCO (since 1988, “Saudi Aramco,” then one of the world’s largest American oil companies. That was a factor the publisher somehow neglected to explain, along with the pro-West bias of this influential and major Arabic newspaper chain. Not long after, we took a bomb in the lobby that shook the building, but no one was killed.

Having then just departed from two years in Tulsa—he on the World, me, as a journalism professor—we were well aware of oil’s power and domination over Oklahoma, let alone the world. Because neither industries nor the military could last without oil—even before WWII—Allies and Axis nations then fought to seize and/or control the flow from Iran (650 billion barrels ) and pander for the rest from oil-rich Arab countries.

Today’s Department of Defense (DOD) requires at least an estimated annual 4.6 billion gallons of fuel  to cover its global military reach. Small wonder decades of Administrations and lawmakers have been unwilling, or downright frightened, to end the U.S. military’s dependence on the availability and prices of Mideast oil.

So from 2001 to at least 2019, wars in the Mideast and Asia have cost American taxpayers an estimated $6.4 trillion , not to mention millions of dead and wounded, environmental destruction, and millions from the Mideast seeking refuge in Europe. Not to count millions spent by the ferocious joint response of American oil producers and military contractors and their legendary use of election donations to influence both Congress and presidents. Add advertising “buys” to the mainstream-media—all vested interests as usual defending American (business) interests abroad.

Wars to Seize, Control Oil Supplies

The Pentagon’s insatiable fuel demands explain why the Bush Administration almost too quickly used 9/11 as an excuse to invade and occupy Iraq. The real motive was more to “secure” its oil fields and production than to overthrow Saddam Hussain and destroy his nonexistent weapons-of-mass-destruction. It also explains why Iran—with its vast oil reserves—has been sanctioned as a U.S. enemy and is constantly under presidential and Pentagon threats ultimately to seize them as well.

As for Syria, the Pentagon has supported the Kurds’ separation of northern Syria to “help” protect its oil fields supposedly against possible reappearance of ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). That rationale has meant taxpayers unknowingly have spent millions to support 10 U.S. bases  (900 troops in Syria, 2,500 in Iraq ). They’ve only become aware of that factor because of recent rocket and drone attacks: 32 times in Iraq, 34 in Syria (70 casualties ) from anti-US militants allegedly supported by Iran.

The response seemingly has been a shocked “Why are our kids still there?”—and sitting ducks for local target practice. The official reason for U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria was the “enduring defeat” of ISIS . But that occurred five years ago. Those recent attacks resulted in three U.S. retaliatory air strikes  killing eight Iraqis, and an outraged Iraqi government (“…a clear violation of the coalition’s mission to combat [ISIS] on Iraqi soil”).

The bigger question now being raised, however, is whether the Administration and Pentagon even have a need for Mideast oil. This despite President Biden’s recent decision to permit $582 millions in weapon sales  to ingratiate this country once again to Saudi Arabia despite unneeded oil.

Or teaming earlier this month with Britain to use a blunderbuss against the Houthi “mosquito” guerillas attacking Red Sea shipping: Two massive retaliatory bombings by air and submarine of more than 28 mostly “militant” targets  along Yemen’s mountainous coast —and warnings of more to come  if the Houthis don’t stop. Never did the Biden Administration consider demanding shippers equip vessels with weapons and hiring “shot-gun” crews for protection. Nor are taxpayers likely to learn the raids’ cost from the Pentagon.

In today’s global uproar for a Gaza cease-fire, at least it’s now unlikely the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs or Biden will put American boots on the ground for Israel. They appear to be keeping their powder dry for the “pivot” to Asia, particularly China which will require massive shifts of personnel and war materiel from the Mideast. But quick exits from Vietnam and Afghanistan have demonstrated the Pentagon’s prowess in rapid-transfer logistics on short notice.

U.S. Is Now Top Global Producer of Oil and Natural Gas

The point is that the U.S. really is no longer dependent on Mideast oil. New drilling techniques such as fracking have made it possible to produce enough oil and gas domestically, as well as importing it abroad.

Millions of Americans probably are unaware that since 2014 the U.S. has become the world’s “top oil and natural gas liquids” producer  (2022: 19.1 million barrels per day).  It even leads Saudi Arabia and Russia.

To arrive at this point took Biden’s betrayal of millions of environmentally conscious voters of his March 2020 campaign promise  (“No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period, ends.”). What followed has been his steady approval of 6,430 new permits  for oil/gas drilling on public lands. He also revealed that 9,000 permits  previously issued to companies have yet to be used.

Four key signals have been afoot for months that U.S. decision-makers are planning a Mideast exit after Israel has “cleared” Gaza of Palestinians. The Yemen bombings may be the last hurrah of U.S. meddling in the Mideast. Such an historic, earthshaking shift of policy and subsequent monumental move could be immediately ahead—possibly before the presidential election.

Another telling exit signal is new resistance by American taxpayers to the Armed Services budget (FY24: $841.1 billion ) and endless wars, just demonstrated by Congressional Republicans  opposed to Ukraine spending in FY2024 and/or the Pentagon’s never-ending budgetary increases. Or hiding expenses by its sixth audit failure . Among the expenses revealed by the Pentagon’s inspector-general’s report to Congress was failure to track more than $1 billion  of “highly sensitive and sophisticated equipment and weaponry” to Ukraine.

Too, the Yemen attack without the Constitutional requirement of notifying Congress first brought dozens of lawmakers to the Capitol steps to object, echoing Rep. Cori Bush’s online protest of: “The people do not want more of our taxpayer dollars going to endless wars and the killing of civilians. Stop the bombing and do better by us.”

The Pentagon seems impervious even to possible budget cuts from Congress, illustrated by its latest cliffhanging decision over its allocation and future supplemental appropriations. And with good reason. The House did pass the initial FY 2024 bill by a whisker (218-210 ), then, a reassured temporary resolution (395-95 ). The Senate soon followed (87-11 ). Even in the Yemen attack, Pentagon officials’ influence over Biden  is such that his knowing the nation’s overwhelming mood opposes any more Mideast wars, he failed to go immediately on TV to explain this massive action.

A third signal of a U.S. departure is Saudi Arabia’s replacement effort  by seeking new oil customers in Africa and Asia. No fools about the loss of a major customer, its visionary decision makers have been have been working on an Oil Demand Sustainability Program  to:

“…promote oil-based power generation, deploy petrol and diesel vehicles… work with a global auto manufacturer to make a cheap car, lobby against government subsidies for electric vehicles, and fast-track commercial supersonic air travel.”

Influential Media Calls for a Mideast Departure

A fourth indication of a U.S. pullout is that increasing recommendation by influential publications seemingly based on clues perceived from the Biden Administration and Pentagon.

For example, a November op-ed in Foreign Affairs  strongly suggests the Administration needs a course correction in the Mideast, a rapid withdrawal of the Armed Forces to let the locals handle their affairs.

Jason Brownlee , in the Quincy Institute’s Responsible Statecraft newsletter, claims the Administration’s “prolonged… deployment” in the Mideast has been “driven by policy inertia more than strategic necessity.” The White House: “should scrap, not reinforce, America’s outdated and unnecessarily provocative troop presence in Syria and Iraq.” His firsthand observations of Taliban rule since the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, he wrote, showed the country finally had “internal stability” because political violence “plummeted by 80%” in the first year.

Military expert William D. Hartung  added that fears of other great powers filling a withdrawal vacuum were “overblown.” That:

 A more restrained strategy would provide better defense per dollar spent while reducing the risk of being drawn into devastating and unnecessary wars. The outlines of such an approach should include taking a more realistic view of the military challenges posed by Russia and China; relying on allies to do more in defense of their own regions; [and]… paring back the U.S. overseas military presence, starting with a reduction in basing and troop levels in the Middle East.

In the face-off against the monumental challenge of an uninhabitable planet, TIME magazine’s Alejandro de la Garza  noted even two years ago that:

 …the military cannot maintain its globe spanning presence and become carbon neutral at the same time. A sustainable military will have to be smaller, with fewer bases, fewer troops to feed and clothe, and fewer ships and airplanes ferrying supplies to personnel from Guam to Germany.

Leaving the Mideast carries the benefit of loosening the rigid thinking Pentagon leaders fixed on plotting wars to secure Arab and Iranian oil. Shifting plans for the Pacific Rim—North Korea and China—just might transform the Armed Forces into being smaller, fewer, and better. Especially removing our troops as moving targets in Iraq and Syria when we no longer need its oil, nor Iran’s. Trading and diplomatic policies could then lead the way instead of expending any more blood and taxpayers’ treasure on that region of the world.

Barbara G. Ellis, Ph.D, is the principal of a Portland (OR) writing/pr firm, a long-time writer and journalism professor, a Pulitzer nominee, and now an online free-lancer. Read other articles by Barbara.

RACIALIZED MEDICINE U$A

Study demonstrates benefit of precision medicine based on race/ethnicity

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

 

IMAGE: 

A NEW STUDY, LED BY HIROSHI YAMADA, PH.D. AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AT OU HEALTH SCIENCES, HIGHLIGHTS RACIAL DISPARITIES IN A SUBSET OF CANCER PATIENTS AND PROVIDES EVIDENCE FOR THOSE DIFFERENCES AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL. 

view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HEALTH SCIENCES

“Precision medicine,” an emerging approach to health care in which a patient’s genetics, diseased tissue and other factors guide clinicians to personalize treatment strategies, can dramatically improve health outcomes for people with various diseases, notably cancer.

Years of analysis of cancer specimens makes such targeted treatment possible, yet the samples being studied in the United States and Europe overwhelmingly come from people who are white. That reality means innovative new cancer treatments may have missed genetic predispositions toward cancer that are pronounced in people from non-white races and ethnicities.

A new study published by researchers at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine at OU Health Sciences highlights racial disparities in a subset of cancer patients and, using advanced biomedical research technology, provides evidence for those differences at the molecular level. The collaborative study among researchers in Oklahoma and Alabama was led by Hiroshi Yamada, Ph.D., and Chinthalapally V. Rao, Ph.D., assistant professor of research and professor in the Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology-Oncology, as well as Upender Manne, Ph.D., professor of anatomic pathology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. The study was published in NPJ Precision Oncology, a Nature journal publication, and the research was funded by multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health.

“People from various races, regions and communities face differences in the prevalence of cancer and survival rates from cancer,” Yamada said. “Poor cancer outcomes have reasons. But the reasons have not been understood at the molecular level. Unlike social factors such as poverty or access to advanced cancer care, molecular differences in cancer can be addressed by a drug or other personalized treatment. But because molecular analyses on cancers historically have focused on samples from white people, that has created a blind spot in treatment development.”

To investigate whether cancer racial disparities can be identified at the molecular level, Yamada and his team analyzed colon cancer specimens from American Indian patients in Oklahoma. In addition, researchers at the University of Alabama provided cancer specimens from African American patients in Alabama. For many years, statistics have shown that non-white populations often face cancer at a higher rate and have worse health outcomes than people who are white. Advancements in technology now allow researchers to find evidence for those disparities at the molecular level.

Yamada and his team indeed discovered differences in American Indians and African Americans, as compared to white Americans, in two important areas: gene expression (instructions in the DNA that tell cells what to do) and cytokines (proteins that play a role in how cells interact and communicate with each other). Because of what researchers know about those differences, some of the colon cancer drugs under development — mostly based on data from cancer samples of white patients — may be less effective for American Indians or African Americans, Yamada said.

“This study highlights potential targets for colon cancer prevention and treatment in American Indians and African Americans, which is information that would not be available through the analysis of cancer specimens from white populations alone,” Yamada said.

Yamada said that racial/ethnic groups share biological “patterning” that occurs because of social constructs (not unchangeable characteristics), as well as dietary habits, geographic locations, and other cultural practices and lifestyles. It is essentially impossible to separate these elements that make up biological patterning, he said, but from the standpoint of research, race is an important trait to consider.

Yamada said he hopes his study raises awareness about the shortage of cancer specimens from non-white populations and bolsters the effort to diversify samples for research. He also plans to continue his research in this area by investigating the function of genes that could be influencing colon cancer development and treatment outcomes in American Indians and African Americans. In the United States, colon cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women and, in 2022, was the second most common cause of cancer death.

“Molecular analysis is a new research tool in the field of cancer disparities,” said Yamada, who is among the early adopters of the approach. “Molecular analysis according to race, or any population vulnerable to cancer, will help to identify specific cancer traits, which can be used in the development of precision medicine. This approach will improve poor health outcomes in minorities who have cancer.”

The study is titled “Molecular disparities in colorectal cancers of White Americans, Alabama African Americans, and Oklahoma American Indians” and can be found here. Yamada also wrote a “Behind the Paper” article at communities.springernature.com.

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About the OU College of Medicine

Founded in 1910, the OU College of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences trains the next generation of health care professionals. The OU Health Sciences is the academic partner of OU Health, the state’s only comprehensive academic health system of hospitals, clinics and centers of excellence. With campuses in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, the College of Medicine offers the state’s only Doctor of Medicine degree program and a nationally competitive Physician Assistant program. For more information, visit medicine.ouhsc.edu.

The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences

The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences is one of the nation’s few academic health centers with all health professions colleges — Allied Health, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, Graduate Studies and School of Community Medicine. OU Health Sciences serves approximately 4,000 students in more than 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs on campuses in Oklahoma City and Tulsa and is the academic and research partner of OU Health, the state’s only comprehensive academic healthcare system. OU Health Sciences is ranked 108 out of over 2,900 institutions in funding received from the National Institutes of Health, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. For more information, visit ouhsc.edu.

About the University of Oklahoma

Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. OU was named the state’s highest-ranking university in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent Best Colleges list. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.

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JOURNAL

npj Precision Oncology

DOI

10.1038/s41698-023-00433-5 

ARTICLE TITLE

Molecular disparities in colorectal cancers of White Americans, Alabama African Americans, and Oklahoma American Indians

How do controllable risk factors for dementia vary by race, ethnicity?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY

MINNEAPOLIS – Approximately 23% of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or another related dementia in their 60s and later have cases that can be explained by controllable risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, physical inactivity, and too little or too much sleep, and that percentage varies depending on race and ethnicity, according to a new study published in the January 17, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. When including APOE ε4, a gene variant associated with the strongest genetic risk for late-age Alzheimer’s disease, the study found about a third of cases could be explained by these known risk factors altogether.

“There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, so preventing or delaying this disease and other related forms of dementia by reducing controllable risk factors is an urgent public health priority,” said study author Unhee Lim, PhD, of the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu. “Our study found not only does the percentage of cases linked to controllable risk factors vary by race and ethnicity, so do the most prevalent risk factors for each group.”

The study involved 91,881 participants of the larger Multiethnic Cohort Study with an average age of 59 who did not have dementia at the start of the study. Of participants, 34% were Japanese American, 28% were white, 19% were Latino, 12% were Black and 7% were Native Hawaiian.

Participants completed questionnaires about disease history and medications. They were asked about physical inactivity, defined as less than 30 minutes of moderate or vigorous activity per day, 12 years or less of education, and sleeping an average of less than five hours or more than nine hours a day. Participants also completed a food questionnaire to determine if they had a low-quality diet, such as a diet high in saturated fat. Researchers used the residential addresses of each participant to determine the socioeconomic conditions of their neighborhoods, including income, employment and housing quality.

After an average follow-up period of nine years, 16,507 people were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia at age 60 or older. Lim noted that disproportionately higher percentages were Black, 24%, or Native Hawaiian, 14%.

“The disparity for Black people has been reported by previous studies,” Lim said. “However, our study also discovered a disparity for Native Hawaiians, who we analyzed separately from Asian Americans. Native Hawaiians are often grouped with Asian Americans in research. However, studies have consistently shown Asian Americans have the lowest risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia.”

Researchers then determined what percentage of cases could be attributed to known risk factors including the gene variant APOE ε4 as well as 12 risk factors that can be controlled or changed: low physical activity; less education; low socioeconomic status; a history of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke or diabetes; not being married as a proxy for low social contact; current smoking; too short or too long sleep; obesity; and low-quality diet.

Researchers found 31% of all cases could be attributed to these known risk factors.

Looking only at controllable risk factors, researchers found the percentage of cases was similar among all female participants at 23% and all male participants at 24%.

However, when looking across racial and ethnic groups, the percentages varied. Researchers found controllable risk factors accounted for 33% of cases among Latinos, 29% among Native Hawaiians, 28% among Black people, 22% among white people and 14% of cases among Japanese Americans.

Researchers also examined top risk factors. Among female participants, low socioeconomic status accounted for 4% of cases followed by less education at 3%. Among male participants, the top risk factors were less education at 4% of cases followed by low socioeconomic status at 3%.

Top risk factors varied by race and ethnicity. For Latinos, diabetes was the top risk factor, accounting for 7% of cases. Among Black, Native Hawaiian and white people, low socioeconomic status was the top risk factor accounting for 6%, 5% and 4% of cases, respectively.  For Japanese Americans, physical inactivity led risk factors at 4%.

“Our findings confirm that less education, low socioeconomic status, and other risk factors in middle age account for substantial but varying proportions of dementia cases later in life across racial and ethnic populations,” said Lim. “Our findings call out the need for tailored interventions for various racial and ethnic groups, specific to more prevalent risk factors. Our findings also highlight the importance of discovering other risk factors in racial and ethnic groups whose cases are not as well explained by known risk factors.”

A limitation of the study was that there was not enough data to examine additional risk factors such as hearing impairment, depression, a history of traumatic brain injury or exposure to air pollution.

The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more about dementia at BrainandLife.org, home of the American Academy of Neurology’s free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life® on Facebook, X and Instagram.

When posting to social media channels about this research, we encourage you to use the hashtags #Neurology and #AANscience.

The American Academy of Neurology is the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 40,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy. 

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit AAN.com or find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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JOURNAL

Neurology

Black people face strokes at higher rates, younger ages than white people

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF NEUROLOGY

MINNEAPOLIS – Black people consistently had a higher rate of stroke than white people over a recent 22-year period, according to a study published in the January 10, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study also found that the average age of Black people experiencing stroke was nearly 10 years younger than that of white people, another inequity that grew over time.

“We found that the rate of stroke is decreasing over time in both Black and white people—a very encouraging trend for U.S. prevention efforts,” said study author Tracy E. Madsen, MD, PhD, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. “But there was an inequity from the beginning of the study, with the rate of stroke always being higher for Black people than their white counterparts. The disparity did not decrease in 22 years, especially among younger and middle-aged adults.”

Researchers evaluated stroke trends over time using data from hospitals in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky from 1993 to 2015. Stroke cases were recorded across a full year every five years—about 1,950 cases per year for a total of 9,728. Using U.S. Census data, they were able to calculate stroke incidence rates per 100,000 people.

The overall rate of stroke decreased from 230 cases per 100,000 people in 1993 to 188 cases per 100,000 people in 2015. For Black people, the rates went from 349 to 311 and for white people they declined from 215 to 170.

The rate of stroke among Black people continued to be 50 to 80% higher than the rate among white people across the 22 years, even after adjusting for age and sex—a disparity that was particularly stark in younger and middle-aged Black adults. The disparity shrank in older age groups, a difference the researchers say may be due to different survival rates in Black and white people.

While the rate of stroke was decreasing, the study found that strokes were occurring at younger ages over time, and this change was larger in Black people, exacerbating an existing disparity. Strokes struck Black people at an average age of 66 at the beginning of the study and at age 62 by the end of the study. For white people, the average age was 72 at the beginning of the study and 71 two decades later.

“These disparities present a major ongoing public health concern,” Madsen said. “More work is clearly needed to address systemic and policy problems, as well as factors at the provider and patient levels. These findings are a clear, urgent call for concrete efforts to build more equitable means of stroke prevention and care.”

Madsen noted a limitation of the study was that while race was the primary focus of the study, the key social factors that contribute to racial inequities like systemic racism and access to preventative care were not measured. 

The study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Learn more about stroke at BrainandLife.org, home of the American Academy of Neurology’s free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life® on Facebook, X and Instagram.

When posting to social media channels about this research, we encourage you to use the hashtags #Neurology and #AANscience.

The American Academy of Neurology is the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 40,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit AAN.com or find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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JOURNAL

Neurology

 

ASU research reveals regions in U.S. where heat adaptation and mitigation efforts can most benefit future populations

Study models the benefits of strategies to cope with and alleviate extreme heat in 47 of the largest U.S. cities through the end of the century

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

Tempe, Ariz., December 18, 2023 – Extreme heat waves, once considered rare, are now frequent and severe in cities due to climate change. Phoenix faced such a brutal heat wave in July of 2023 when it endured 31 consecutive days of high temperatures of at least 110 F. The severity of the heat wave triggered a state of emergency. In June of 2021, the town of Lytton, B.C., Canada, hit a blistering 121 F, leading to a fire that burnt most of the village. This pattern repeated in Europe in 2022, where heat caused fatal illnesses, wildfires and damaged infrastructure, highlighting an urgent need for climate adaptation measures. 

In order to make crucial urban-planning decisions across the United States, city managers and stakeholders will need to better understand the outcomes of potential solutions that address the immediate impacts of heat exposure on cities and the long-term climate impacts, both individually and together. 

 

New research published in the January issue of Nature Cities examines, for the first time, the potential benefits of combining heat adaptation strategies – such as implementing cool roofs and planting street trees – with mitigation strategies – such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions – to lessen heat exposure across major U.S. cities. It also identifies the regions in which these strategies could best benefit future populations. 

 

“Research to date has focused on the reduction of harmful impacts on cities resulting from either increased emissions of greenhouse gasses or direct effects from the built environment,” said Matei Georgescu, lead author of the paper and an associate professor at Arizona State University’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning. “Our work highlights the value of adaptation to reduce human heat exposure at the city level but then goes further to emphasize the benefits of deploying adaptation strategies in tandem with mitigation strategies.”

The paper, “Quantifying the decrease in heat exposure through adaptation and mitigation in twenty-first-century U.S. cities,” is coauthored by Ashley Broadbent of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Wellington, New Zealand, and E. Scott Krayenhoff of the 

School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. 

 

In the study, the researchers used computer models to simulate future climate conditions that account for urban expansion, greenhouse gas emissions and population movement through the end of the century.

 

Then they examined the extent to which adaptation and mitigation strategies, in isolation and in tandem, can reduce population heat exposure across end-of-century U.S. cities and large urban areas. 

 

The adaptation strategies examined included deploying cool and evaporative roofs on buildings and street trees that were applied uniformly across all cities. Mitigation strategies involved the reduction in global emissions of greenhouse gasses. The simulations examined a contemporary decade (2000-2009) against future projections (2090-2099).

 

The study found that some cities like Tulsa, Okla., will respond better to adaptation strategies such as deploying street trees and cool roofs to cope with heat, while others like Denver benefit more from reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

 

When focusing on lowering emissions as a strategy to reduce the impact of heat, the study found that exposure to extreme heat for people in cities tends to be higher in southern latitude cities compared to those in northern latitudes. This pattern is seen for adaptation strategies that help us deal with the heat right now and mitigation strategies that tackle the longer-term problems of climate change. 

 

The researchers also discovered that the effectiveness of these strategies in reducing extreme heat exposure varies throughout the day, but remains consistent during nighttime.

 

When simultaneously implementing adaptation and mitigation measures, the study shows the benefits are the greatest in the Northeast and Midwest regions, encompassing cities like New York, Boston and Chicago. Sun Belt cities, including Los Angeles and Miami, face more limited heat exposure reductions.

 

Relative increases in population heat exposure remain after implementing adaptation and mitigation measures and are limited to Southeast, Great Plains and Southwest urban areas. 

 

“We underscore the importance of characterizing such results on the basis of individual urban environments, as it paves the way for prioritizing strategies with identified impacts at the urban, rather than broader regional or national scale,” said Georgescu who also is director of ASU’s Urban Climate Research Center. “The study helps us develop a timeline of implementation strategies to enhance livability in our cities.” 

 

Moving forward 

 

In the future, the researchers suggest further advancing modeling work to examine how impactful adaptation strategies can be in reducing adverse heat-related impacts by targeting specific neighborhoods within cities while facilitating collaboration between cities and academic institutions. 

 

“Collaboration between cities and academic institutions is crucial to gather important data and develop sound policies that can effectively protect at-risk communities from the effects of climate change and the added burden of heat from the built environment,” said Georgescu. “By understanding which strategies work best at the local level, and how such strategies may work differently depending on geographical context, we can create effective plans to tackle place-based climate challenges while continuing to work on mitigation strategies that deal with long-term consequences. Working together is key to creating better strategies for a sustainable and resilient future.”

 

###

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JOURNAL

Nature Cities

DOI

10.1038/s44284-023-00001-9 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Quantifying the decrease in heat exposure through adaptation and mitigation in twenty-first-century U.S. cities

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

18-Dec-2023

Nearly half of Americans think the US is spending too much on Ukraine aid, an AP-NORC poll says

SEUNG MIN KIM and LINLEY SANDERS
Tue, November 21, 2023 

Ukrainian soldiers navigate on the Dnipro river by boat at the frontline near Kherson, Ukraine, Sunday, June 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

WASHINGTON (AP) — As lawmakers in Washington weigh sending billions more in federal support to Kyiv to help fight off Russian aggression, close to half of the U.S. public thinks the country is spending too much on aid to Ukraine, according to polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Those sentiments, driven primarily by Republicans, help explain the hardening opposition among conservative GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are rebuffing efforts from President Joe Biden to approve a new tranche of Ukraine aid, arguing that the money would be better spent for domestic priorities.

Yet opposition to aid is down slightly from where it was a month ago in another AP-NORC poll. Now, 45% say the U.S. government is spending too much on aid to Ukraine in the war against Russia, compared with 52% in October. That shift appears to come mostly from Republicans: 59% now say too much is spent on Ukraine aid, but that’s down from 69% in October.

Nonetheless, the Republican resistance to continued Ukraine aid remains strong.

“I understand the citizens need help, but I feel like we’re spending way too much money on Ukraine when we have our issues here, on our own soil, that we need to deal with,” said Eric Mondello, 40, from Fountain, Colorado. Pointing to needs such as health care for veterans and homelessness in communities, Mondello added: “I understand the U.S. has been an ally to others, but I feel like, let’s take care of our people first.”

More than one-third (38%) of U.S. adults say that current spending is “about the right amount,” which is up slightly from last month (31%). Among Republicans, nearly 3 in 10 (29%) say the current spending is about right, up from 20% last month.

Paula Graves, 69, is among those who says the amount of spending for Ukraine is the right amount.

“Putin, he’s straight up evil. I don’t think there should be any question in anyone’s mind,” said Graves, of Clovis, California. "He’s a dictator. He’s infringed on human rights, he’s a very scary person and if Ukraine falls to him, who’s next? What country’s next?”

Graves, who says she is not affiliated with a political party but leans more conservative, said she believes the U.S. has a leadership role on the global stage and added: “I think we definitely need to put America first, but I don’t think that needs to be first and only.”

The White House has been repeatedly pressing lawmakers to pass Biden’s nearly $106 billion emergency spending package that he proposed in October, which includes more than $61 billion specifically for the war in Ukraine. The rest of Biden’s request has aid for Israel as it battles Hamas, money for various priorities in the Indo-Pacific region and additional resources to help manage migration at the southern border.

On Ukraine, the Biden administration is increasingly warning that the well of aid is running dry. In an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Ukraine’s effort to defeat Russian forces “matters to the rest of the world” and pledged that U.S. support would continue “for the long haul.”

That message was reinforced at the White House.

“As President Biden has said, when aggressors don’t pay a price for their aggression, they’ll cause more chaos and death and destruction," John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, told the White House press briefing Monday. “They just keep on going, and the cost and the threats to America and to the world will keep rising.”

But Congress has rebuffed the White House efforts at bolstering Ukraine support at least twice in recent months. First, it ignored a roughly $40 billion supplemental request before a Sept. 30 funding deadline. Then last week, it passed a stopgap funding measure that keeps the government operating through early next year, but with no additional Ukraine aid.

In the Senate, a small bipartisan group is working on legislation that would combine fresh Ukraine assistance with stricter border measures to address concerns from Republicans that the U.S. was focused on needs abroad at the expense of issues closer to home. A broad majority of senators remains supportive of Ukraine aid, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., being one of the most stalwart supporters despite the isolationist strain in his party.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said lawmakers will continue to work on the Ukraine-border package over the Thanksgiving break and won't wait until mid-January — when Congress faces another government funding deadline — to act on Ukraine.

The big question mark is in the House, where still-new Speaker Mike Johnson — who had voted against Ukraine aid as a rank-and-file conservative — has spoken broadly of the need to counter Russian aggression yet faces unruly GOP lawmakers who have shown more hostility to continued support for Kyiv.

Johnson, too, is insisting that additional Ukraine aid be paired with tougher border measures, although it is far from certain that any immigration agreement that clears the Democratic-led Senate could pass the GOP-controlled House.

Half of U.S. adults are extremely or very concerned that Russia’s influence poses a direct threat to the United States. Democrats (53%) and Republicans (51%) are similarly concerned about Russian power – but Democrats are more likely than Republicans to see Ukraine as a nation of shared values to the U.S. and to support more aid for Ukraine.

About half of the public (48%) endorses providing weapons to Ukraine (57% among Democrats, 42% among Republicans). About 4 in 10 favor sending government funds directly to Ukraine (54% for Democrats, 24% for Republicans).

Americans have grown slightly more likely to say the U.S. should take “a less active role” in solving the world’s problems, compared with a September poll from AP-NORC and Pearson. Slightly fewer than half (45%) now say the U.S. should be less involved, up from 33% in September. Just 16% of Democrats now say the U.S. should take a more active role, down from 29% in September.

Peter Einsig, a Republican from Tulsa, Oklahoma, said he still believes the U.S. has a role to play abroad, but that he remains concerned about excessive government spending and federal debt.

Yet Einsig said he would be more inclined to support aid to Ukraine if there were more oversight into how the money was being used abroad, as well as a timeline of how much longer the U.S. would be providing support.

“We don’t have transparency on where the money is really, really going,” said Einsig, 40. “It’s a big lump sum.”

Four in 10 U.S. adults say Ukraine is an ally that shares U.S. interests and values. That view is most common among Democrats (53%), who are much more likely than independents (28%), Republicans (29%) and Americans overall to see Ukraine as a nation with similar values and needs. About half of Republicans say Ukraine is a partner that the U.S. should cooperate with, but say it is not a nation that shares U.S. values.

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The poll of 1,239 adults was conducted Nov. 2-6, 2023, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to represent the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

10 years later, a war-weary Ukraine reflects on events that began its collision course with Russia

HANNA ARHIROVA

Updated Tue, November 21, 2023

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — It happens every November, when the cold descends on Kyiv. The change in weather always makes Dmytro Riznychenko think back, and he is overwhelmed by his emotions.

“This is where it truly began," Riznychenko said, walking through central Kyiv's Independence Square recently, reflecting on the uprising that unleashed a decade of momentous change for Ukraine, eventually leading to the current war with Russia.

"Ten years of war and struggle,” the 41-year-old psychologist continued, wearily and reluctantly. “And it seems like the blood has only just begun to flow, truly. I regret nothing. But, God, it’s just so tiresome.”

On Nov. 21, 2013, the Moscow-friendly president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, announced he was shelving an agreement to bring the country closer to the European Union and instead would deepen ties with President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Outraged crowds soon filled Independence Square for peaceful anti-government protests. Later, after riot police used truncheons and tear gas to disperse the people, demonstrators set up tent camps with barricades, self-defense units and banners with revolutionary slogans. In response to the police violence, hundreds of thousands joined the demonstrations in early December.

The standoff reached a climax in February 2014, when police unleashed a brutal crackdown on the protests and dozens of people were slain between Feb. 18-21, many by police snipers. A European-mediated peace deal between the government and protest leaders envisioned the formation of a transition government and holding an early election, but demonstrators later seized government buildings, and Yanukovych fled to Russia.

The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance said 107 people were killed in the uprising.

Kateryna Gladka was a 23-year-old student when she joined the pro-Western crowds at the time, viewing it as the “revolution of her generation.”

“For me, the top priority was the value of freedom, basic freedom, and dignity.”

“We had to prevent a totalitarian regime and the return of Soviet things,” Gladka said in a telephone interview.

She recalls the police violence and blood staining the street near Independence Square, and “I very clearly understood that we had entered another stage.”

After Yanukovych's ouster, Russia responded in March 2014 by illegally annexing Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Then, separatist forces backed by Moscow began an uprising in the eastern Ukraine region known as the Donbas, which grew into a long-running conflict, leaving thousands dead.

Finally, in February 2022, Putin launched his war that continues to this day, with tens of thousands of deaths on both sides amid Europe's biggest conflict since World War II.

“Yanukovych was that puppet, a figure for Moscow, which hoped to use him as a person to keep Ukraine on the Russian leash,” said Kateryna Zarembo, an analyst at the Kyiv-based think tank, The New Europe Center. “When he fled, it became clear to the Kremlin that they were losing Ukraine.”

Asked Tuesday about the 10th anniversary of the start of the uprising in Kyiv, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Russia’s view that it was “a coup, a forceful coup financed from abroad.”

Ukrainians in 2013 had wanted the country to enter into a deal with the EU, but Putin pressured Yanukovych to pull out at the last minute. Ukrainian leaders who followed were more eager than ever to bring Kyiv into the Western fold.

“So what we saw in 2022 — that Ukraine had to be either part of Russia or destroyed — those intentions were seen earlier," Zarembo said. "When that didn’t happen, Russia intervened militarily.”

Despite the calamities, Ukraine has become more united than in its 32 years of independence and has drawn closer to the EU, the United States and the West in general — an outcome Putin had tried to prevent. Today, under President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the country has won widespread support and admiration amid the Russian invasion.

“All of this came at a very high cost,” Riznychenko said.

Standing on the Alley of Heavenly Hundred, so named to honor those killed in the uprising, he recalled the sniper fire from a special police unit known as Berkut, which was disbanded in 2014.

“There was a feeling that death had opened its arms,” Riznychenko said.

“It was cold, I remember how the dead were lying. I remember them under blankets near the Main Post Office. That I remember,” he added.

Now, their portraits are on permanent display on the street honoring those slain in what Ukraine calls its Revolution of Dignity, and Riznychenko said he later memorized the names. In 2014, he volunteered to fight in eastern Ukraine against the Moscow-backed separatists, and was injured in Ilovaisk.

Investigations of the shootings are continuing, and the Prosecutor General’s Office recently indicted five members of the Berkut police unit, all now living in Russia. Another 35 people are being investigated.

Independence Square today also features a multitude of small blue-and-yellow flags, with each symbolizing a fallen soldier in the war. Their numbers grow daily.

Every year, Gladka gathers with friends at a nearby restaurant, aptly named The Last Barricade, to commemorate the uprising. But after 21 months of war with Russia, the date brings conflicting emotions.

“To be honest, I am personally very tired of the fact that every generation has to die for Ukraine,” she said, noting that 10 years of her youth have been stained by violence, and she now wants a “normal and ordinary life.”

“This endless struggle is like some closed circle that just lasts for centuries,” she said.

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Associated Press photographer Efrem Lukatsky contributed

Ukraine Uprising Anniversary
In this file photo taken on Dec. 8, 2013, Ukrainians break a monument to Vladimir Lenin in central Kyiv, Ukraine on Dec. 8, 2013. On Nov. 21, 2023, Ukraine marks the 10th anniversary of the uprising that eventually led to the ouster of the country’s Moscow-friendly president.

 (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, file)