Kwanzaa 2021: Night 5 Purpose. Creativity Includes Flexibility, Save African-American History, Rebuild Communities.

Our current environment has been really dangerous for the study of African American history. To make a long story short, you have one group that wants to deny that slavery had bad aftermaths, and the other group claims Blacks had no success before the Civil Rights Movement. Upon my study of African American History, I included that era between slavery and the civil rights movement. Booker T. Washington was an important leader in the 19th century. He was the founder of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a college that focused on practical education, such as agriculture. Washington’s model influenced Matthew Gaines of Brenham, Texas who was instrumental in the founding of Texas A&M. The TAMU System always included an HBCU, Prairie View A&M. Charles and Ana Spaulding of Durham, North Carolina founded the Mutual Life insurance Company. Durham also has North Carolina Central–a leading HBCU; this city was hailed as having the nicest White people in the USA by both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. Booker T. Washington asserted it’s more important to make a dollar than to spend it in the theater of your choice. Martin Delaney (1812-1885) was hailed as the Malcolm X of his generation, for he was the first Black field officer, a medical doctor, and a book/magazine author. The list goes on.

This 7-minute Kwanzaa talk is going to be different from my 6 previous keynote addresses between 2002-2016 since I’m going to bounce around the 7 Principles. Today is Night Five Purpose. We planned on having a more discussion-style format this year, partly because COVID led to our program’s cancellation last year. Kwanzaa 2013 was another discussion-style format too. Creativity in Kwanzaa focuses on applicability, the “get-it-done” aspect of creativity. Leave the community better than when you found it. Gifted & Talented Education notes there are three other aspects of creativity: originality, fluency (lots of ideas), and flexibility (ability to adjust). Urban Studies scholar, Dr. Richard Florida of the University of Toronto, observes that thriving downtown areas need the 4 T’s: talent, tolerance, technology, and territorial assets. Hopefully, my talk will show flexibility successfully.

Faith is traditionally addressed in Tyler by Reverend Reginald Garrett. I’m going to say just one thing about Faith, and it’s from a Chinese viewpoint. The etymology of faith (hsin) is a person standing next to his/her word; thus, it’s synonymous with faithfulness. It’s the 5th and final virtue, meaning you perform the rest quite well. Meanwhile, in Christianity faith means you have the right opinion of God and the universe, so you may be able to get away with some stuff, some of the time.

The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa should have appeal to all people, regardless of race: 1. Unity, 2. Self-Determination, 3. Collective Work & Responsibility, 4. Cooperative Economics, 5. Purpose, 6. Creativity, and 7. Faith. You could cheer for your hometown’s success in an economic plan. Remember when the Moore Grocery Lofts at the northern edge of downtown won a state award for Best Adaptive Reuse? Several years ago, I had the insight that Kwanzaa is the effort to serve as a public intellectual. A public intellectual can be defined as one who brings their scholarship to societal issues outside their formal expertise.

Night 4, Cooperative Economics featured Derrick Choice, I was really glad to hear Derrick Choice talk about North Tyler in the pre-integration era when businesses were strong. Mr. Choice is a former North Tyler congressman among other positions. You can find a YouTube video by the late councilman, Ed Moore, when he described “The Cuts,” a major business area in North Tyler. Desegregation led to many businesses moving south. Many years ago, I even interviewed an old neighbor about sadness concerning desegregation.

Recently, I have done some research at the City of Tyler website https://www.cityoftyler.org and was pointed to Planning and Development websites, particularly Commercial Use Categories. As someone who rides the bus, I have the luxury of staring at the side of the road, but I see the same abandoned buildings in business areas/shopping centers for years. What if shopping centers could come together as a group and tell the weary local real estate agents who they’d like to recruit? For example, if we already got a Whataburger, don’t look for another burger restaurant. If we already got a Cefco, don’t get a dollar store that sells beer, go for a Dollar Tree. So, my comments during Mr. Choice’s talk for Cooperative Economics are relevant to tonight’s talk about Purpose.

I found about Kwanzaa when I was an elementary substitute teacher in the Garland ISD. It helped relieve a lack of books about and for little Black kids. Later, as a Developmental English/Writing instructor at Texas College, the HBCU in North Tyler form 2001-06, I usually assigned a Black History essay, and it became a chapter section in my ongoing textbook. Regardless of type of essay, I encouraged students to choose a happy story, so they’d be more likely to finish their essay. Essay prompts often take a format like, “Describe your favorite or worst job.” Furthermore, maybe you could just pick an upper quartile fun job, so you don’t have to spend a bunch of time figuring out what was “Number 1.”

SOL Tuesday: Kwanzaa 2021–Rescuing African-American History: Success Before the Civil Rights Movement, Booker T. Washington & the Rest, by J.D. Meyer

We’re having Kwanzaa again in Tyler, TX, as it was canceled last year because of the COVID-19. The director invited me to help set up at the library auditorium and talk to a local conservativeTV station. I was warned that much of the questioning would likely revolve around, “Why would a White person attend Kwanzaa? (OK, 7/8 White).” The seven principles of Kwanzaa are (1) Unity, (2) Self-Determination, (3) Collective Work & Responsibility, (4) Cooperative Economics, (5) Purpose, (6) Creativity, and (7) Faith. These are universal concepts that anyone could study, enjoy, and live by. Furthermore, it’s easy to compliment your home city’s achievements with this analytical tool. I believe Kwanzaa enables us to serve as a public intellectual–someone who is trying to use his/her education to benefit society in areas outside one’s areas of expertise.

I’ve always had multicultural interests, starting with Japan and Pre-Columbian history in grade school. My interdisciplinary M.S. thesis was, “Approaching Cognitive-Behavioral and Existential Therapy through Neo-Confucianism.” My favorite music interests have moved from soul to melodic heavy metal to Tejano, and I still like them all. Today was my sixth anniversary of joining a Facebook closed group: Friends from A-Far: A Confucianism group! (We prefer the term, Ru. Missionaries named us after Confucius). I’ve been a taqueria fan for decades.

I first learned about Kwanzaa when I was a substitute teacher (among other jobs) in the Garland ISD during the late ’90s. Since I usually subbed in elementary grades, I found some Kwanzaa books for young kids. Later, I became a full-time Developmental English instructor at Texas College, the HBCU in Tyler, from 2001-06. I wrote and copyrighted a textbook for my course, which included a chapter on African-American Studies. Sometimes, I gave a Black History essay assignment. I encouraged the students to choose a happy topic, so they wouldn’t get depressed and not finish their assignment. I’ve been the main speaker for six Kwanzaa nights between 2002-2016, as well as some general lectures on Kwanzaa elsewhere. Reverend Reginald Garrett always does Faith night, the seventh and final night of Kwanzaa.

This year, I already had a topic for a Kwanzaa talk, centered around discussing African-American success after slavery but before the civil rights movement. African-American history has rarely been so endangered in recent memory. The radical political right claims that we must not teach Critical Race Theory in elementary or secondary school. Actually, it’s a law school topic; that is graduate college. The warning seems to be code for not admitting that slavery happened.

On the other hand, my approach is influenced by an article by Elizabeth Wright, “Keeping the Spotlight on Failure: How to Make Sure the Patient Doesn’t Get Well.” Ms. Wright explains that Black history is normally taught as (1) uprooting from Africa into slavery, (2) freedom followed by segregation, and Jim Crow laws, and (3) civil rights leaders bring integration and success. However, there were many successful entrepreneurs and educators in the segregated era. Alas, the issues-views.com website is gone! Booker T. Washington asserted that the ability to make a dollar was important than being able to spend it in the theater of your choice. Economic success would precede change in the law. Booker T. Washington became the first president of Tuskegee University in Alabama. The practical education focus was agriculture and engineering. This led to the Morrill Act that provided state funding for colleges in each state specializing in fields such as agriculture, engineering, and more. Matthew Gaines of Brenham, Texas–a Black man–was instrumental in the founding of Texas A&M. Charles and Ana Spaulding founded the Mutual Life Insurance Company of Durham, North Carolina–a city hailed by BTW and W.E.B. DuBois as the city with the nicest White folks in the USA, together with North Carolina Central–a leading HBCU. Martin Delaney (1812-1885) was hailed as the Malcolm X of the 19th Century, for he was the first Black field officer, a medical doctor, and a book and magazine author! The list goes on. My approach this time could probably be classified as Black Conservative.

Stop Asian Hate

To protest the Anti-Asian movement, I wore the following to Stanley’s Famous Bar-B-Q on Saturday afternoon: (1) my new red Sriracha hot sauce T-shirt, (2) a black bandanna with yin-yang symbols, and (3) my old maroon half-length kimono with the dragon on the back. …..I became a fan of Japanese culture in 3rd grade. I began studying Neo-Confucianism for my M.S. nearly 40 years ago. I taught South Vietnamese refugees ESOL in the late 90s–still have a full-sized flag. It looks like the Cefco logo!

Here’s my response to the CNN special: “Afraid: Fear in America’s Communities of Color.” Y’all hang in there. Multicultural White folks can relate to your grief. I’m happy to be a member of two private Confucian (Ru) groups (related thesis in 1984). My teaching audience was usually Black or Mexican-American. Tejano, soul, and melodic heavy metal rock! #StopAsianHate.

Irregular Verbs Spreadsheets

All 4 Principal Parts Different

	IRREGULAR VERBS	All 4 Principal Parts Different		Part 1                              .
	Present	Present Participle	Past	Past Participle
1.	arise	arising	arose	arisen
2.	awake
3.	be
4.	bear
5.	begin
6.	bite
7.	blow
8.	break
9.	choose
10.	do
11.	draw
12.	drink
13.	drive
14.	dwell
15.	eat
16.	fall
17.	fly
18.	forbid
19.	forget
20.	forgive
21.	forsake
22.	freeze
23.	get
24.	give
25.	go
26.	grow
27.	hide
28.	know
29.	lie
30.	mow
31.	prove
32.	ride
33.	ring
34.	rise
IRREGULAR VERBS	All 4 principal parts different			Part 2
	Present	Present Participle	Past	Past Participle
35.	saw (cut boards)
36.	see
37.	sew
38.	shake
39.	show
40.	shrink
41.	sink
42.	sing
43.	slay
44.	sow
45.	speak
46.	spring
47.	steal
48.	stink
49.	stride
50.	strive
51.	swear
52.	swell
53.	swim
54.	take
55.	tear
56.	throw
57.	tread
58.	wake
59.	wear
60.	weave
61.	write

	IRREGULAR VERBS	Same Past & Past Participle	3 Forms—chart 3
	Present	Present Participle	Past/Past Participle
62.	bend	bending	bent
63.	bind
64.	bleed
65.	breed
66.	bring
67.	build
68.	burn*
69.	buy
70.	catch
71.	cling
72.	creep
73.	deal
74.	dig
75.	dive**
76.	dream*
77.	feed
78.	feel
79.	fight
80.	find
81.	flee
82.	fling
83.	fly
84.	grind
85.	hang*
86.	have
87.	hear
88.	hold
89.	keep
90.	kneel*
91.	lay
92.	lead
93.	leave
94.	lend
95.	light
96.	lose
97.	make
98.	mean
99.	meet
100.	pay
101.	say
102.	seek
	IRREGULAR VERBS	Same Past/Past Participle	3 forms:  Part 2—chart 4
	Present	Present Participle	Past/Past Participle
103.	sell
104.	send
105.	shine
106.	shoot
107.	sit
108	sleep
109.	sling
110.	speed
111.	spend
112.	spill
113.	spin
114.	spit
115.	spoil*
116.	stand
117.	stick
118.	sting
119.	strike**
120.	string
121.	sweep
122.	swing
123.	teach
124.	tell
125.	think
126.	understand
127.	weep
128.	win
129.	wind
130.	wring

Note:  * = There are two spellings for the past and past participle of these words.

	IRREGULAR VERBS	Only 2 Forms—chart 5
	Present/Past/Past Participle	Present Participle
131.	bet	betting
132.	bid
133.	burst
134.	cast
135.	cost
136.	cut
137.	hit
138.	hurt
139.	fit
140.	let
141.	put
142.	quit
143.	read*
144.	rid
145.	set
146.	shed
147.	shut
148.	slit
149.	split
150.	spread
151.	thrust
152.	wet

Note:  The word, “read,” appears to have only two forms visually, so it’s listed in this chart. Actually, “read,” has three different sounds in its principal parts because read has a long “e” in the present and a short “e” in the past

	Very Irregular Verbs!	Same Present and Past Participle		3 Forms— chart 6
	Present	Present Participle	Past	Past Participle
153.	become	becoming	became	become
154.	come
155.	run

	Extremely Irregular Verb!!	Same Present and Past
	Present	Present Participle	Past	Past Participle
156.	beat

My Return to Slice of Life (SOL): The Welcome Dog Figurine–A Present from a Student, by J.D. Meyer

I am returning to Slice of Life (SOL) Tuesdays, for I ran across some old posts on my main Word Press site and became nostalgic–such fine feedback from other participants. I’m going to start with the tale of my dog figurine with a “Welcome” sign; the sign dangles from a chain in his mouth. A student gave me the coffee mug-sized doggie as a present, back when I was a full-time Developmental English instructor at Texas College (2001-06)–the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) of Tyler, TX.

I tutored Spanish for free–not part of my job description–chiefly because our Spanish instructor–Mr. Idrogo–was an adjunct, who taught a couple of nights per week while he taught Spanish full-time for one of Tyler’s two public high schools. We met a few times, and I found him to be likeable, and he approved of my tutoring efforts. I was the main translator for our classroom building’s custodian also; she was basically “Spanish Only.” I also developed a website through McGraw-Hill Pageout with a major Spanish section, but that company ended this program many years ago.

That dog sculpture is white with black spots and is sitting on his /her back legs with the front legs straight. Recently that “Welcome Dog” has been sitting on round table between my futon sofa and the TV. Right now, that doggie is on my desk-top computer desk and may stay there–less crowded furniture. Viewing that dog brings back great memories. I won a few formal teaching awards that normally ended up being a certificate pinned to the wall. Strathmore’s Who’s Who was an entry in a giant book. But that dog figurine from my student is really special. Here’s my current Spanish tutorial website, and it includes links to my main website at Academia.edu. https://spanishtutorialdotnet.wordpress.com/

When Diversity Faces Reprisal: Threats to Sustainability in Composition, by J.D. Meyer

I’m a fan of the sustainability in composition model shared by Derek Owens of St. John’s University and Mary Newell of the U.S. Military Academy. Discovering their research vindicated what I had already been doing in my Developmental English/Writing courses and the textbook that I wrote for the class. There is no doubt that my students enjoyed writing about their lives, and I found them to be interesting; some writings became edited student essays in my textbook. Likewise, the vast majority of model essays reflected my experiences and studies.

Yet there is little doubt that many administrators and instructors would oppose much of my work, finding it too wide open. Here is my favorite way to summarize my detractors’ arguments, “Once I share the titles of these two edited students’ essays, I’ve made enemies: My Favorite Job: Driving a Tank in the Bosnian Conflict and My Favorite Music: Chopped, Screwed Dirty South Rap.” Critiques include “too regional and idiosyncratic,” too left-wing, too right-wing, too pro-military, too counterculture, too Texas, and not White enough. A recent article from Business Insider showed Texas to be the least popular state in the nation with other states, confirming a suspicion by a neighbor made several years earlier. Yet one should note that the prompts themselves weren’t controversial in themselves.

However, I’ve seen two horribly repressive persuasive essay prompts from the local community college: “(1) Why did you choose this college, and which is your favorite campus—no criticism is allowed. (2) Persuasive Essay: No controversial topics, such as abortion or marijuana legalization.” In the first instance, we see a case of pure propaganda. The depressed acquaintance had to be urged not to drop the course. In the second instance, we see a situation in which permission should have been sought before writing. Moreover, each instructor provided only that one narrow prompt.

The most gruesome model essay that I’ve ever seen in a textbook was about assisted suicide for the sickly, referring to the suicides of an elderly theologian couple. It has become a fixture in many Developmental English textbooks, and I challenged this essay in my essay, “Disputing Assisted Suicide of the Sickly.” https://bohemiotx.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/disputing-suicide-advocacy-for-the-sickly-a-model-essay-in-developmental-english-textbooks-by-jd-meyer

My main guidelines for essays were as follows: (1) The topic should be sufficiently broad or narrow to complete in the required length of the essay (typical). (2) No essays about committing crimes. (3) No reliving of sexual conquests or blunders. It hadn’t occurred to me that assisted suicide would be viewed as viable by the American textbook industry.

A common prompt is the “worst” something (as well as favorite), whether it’s a restaurant, job, boss, or whatever. I warned against writing about the reliving the worst of its category because one could get depressed, mad, and not finish their essay. On the other hand, it may be tough to decide which was the best or favorite restaurant, job,or boss, and you’d waste time trying to decide honestly which was #1 or #2. So settle for telling me about something in your top one-fourth.

Two of my oldest essays would escape criticism, especially from the elderly MeTV crowd: “A Favorite TV Series—Secret Agent” and “A Favorite Movie—The Fountainhead.” These would offer a touch of post World War II history as well. A couple of edited student essays would be accepted, such as “A Favorite CD—Natalie and Nat Cole” (through the miracle of modern recording technology) and “Comparing Two Jobs: Burger King and Target Warehouse.” Hey, that first essay was about contemporary music, and it’s safe.

I don’t mind teaching for the standardized test, and my persuasive chapter offers “A Study Guide for the THEA: Impressions and Objective Analysis.” That’s the all-important exit exam for all three Developmental courses. However, my human interest biography of Bruce Dickinson, best-known as the Iron Maiden singer, would probably face opposition for his genre and the critic wouldn’t bother to discover Bruce can fly jets, fence, drive tanks, host music programs, write fiction, and more. Orthodox forces have a narrower definition of what’s truly human.

Perhaps we could devise some cynical essay self-censoring model to save something besides the grammar chapter. The ad hominem logical fallacy is criticizing the product because of its creator, regardless if the product happens to be good this time. Dr. Maulana Karenga, the developer of Kwanzaa, faces such abuse because he was somewhat violent and Communist as a young man before settling down and becoming a star professor. Many want to over-generalize in their criticism or rightly fear reprisal from administrators and being ignored by textbook adopters. Maybe we should learn to anticipate and sadly acquiesce to it.

On the bright side, composition is one of the biggest college textbook markets; maybe it’s the ultimate regional market also. Keep some essays in Texas or leave them as prompts. Dr. Richard Florida, Business and Creativity professor at the University of Toronto, found that heavy metal is most popular in Scandinavia. So maybe I should look for an anthology over there. Dr. Florida became famous for his 4 T’s model of creativity leading to economic growth: talent, technology, tolerance, and territorial assets.

Somebody suggested that I go towards the ESOL market after seeing an account of my talk, “Knowing Spanish can Reduce Stress.” Earlier, somebody pointed to Diversity classes for counselors and social workers. Much of my African-American Studies chapter should be reserved for HBCU’s. The very social injustice and even ecological crises lamented by Derek Owens could easily be supported by a conservative establishment bent on socializing students for the workforce. Maybe enforcing nationwide, generic topics would be a strategy. As previously noted, the prompts are rarely problematic, but the individual response can show plenty of variety.

To conclude, collaboration among authors may be the safest route of all. There could be packets for various regions. Maybe a Texan could get wild and check out what’s going in another heavily populated state, such as New York or California. The Psalmist wrote, “Without counsel, plans go wrong , but with many advisers, they succeed.” Collaboration was the hallmark of Apple Computers in the Steve Jobs era too. Ekaterina Walter provides applicable insight from the business world. Knowing and understanding your customers have never been this important. Building long-term relationships so you can retain customers sounds much like college retention. Ms. Walter’s colleague, Nagy Thomas, CEO of Sprinklr, urges businesses to “hear the voice of the customer…Personalized experiences are helpful resources for those in need.” Let’s provide Developmental English and College Composition textbooks that inform, entertain, and persuade to borrow an expression from John Langan, the godfather of Developmental Reading and Writing textbooks.

My Juneteenth/Dreamer story.

My Juneteenth/Dreamer story. My grandpa, Joe Leo Meyer (1874-1944), was a refugee from Alsace, France. He fled to Victoria, TX when he was only 16, and moved in with his uncle. Joe learned English when he got here; he spoke Alsatian, a language more like German than French. Eventually, Grandpa started the Dr. Pepper plant of Palestine, TX. Juneteenth was his biggest business day of the year. He helped his star employee (a Black guy) learn German. Grandpa used to tell my Dad, “C’mon Bobo, I gotta take Nolan to Willie-the-Butcher, so he can practice his German.”
I heard Nolan ended up getting a doctorate. Later in life, I did the research. Dr. Nolan Hamilton Anderson, MD got his degrees from Wiley College, University of Michigan, and Meharry University. Dr. Anderson returned home to Wiley, the HBCU of Marshall, TX, and taught there; he practiced medicine too He was honored by the NAACP and delivered future boxer, George Foreman. Nolan was one of the Great Debaters as a Wiley College student too! Wiley College defeated USC (University of Southern California) in 1935. http://artofthepossibleonline.blogspot.com/2008/08/capturing-real-great-debaters.html

Sequel to “The Trooper,” by Iron Maiden By J.D. Meyer

As she tromped through the field, a battlefield, where the lifeless and wounded warriors lay, the now-famous nurse—Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) —tried to help the living while other personnel carried away the dead. The time is the 1850’s; the war is the Russian-British Crimean War (1853-1856); the battle is the Battle of Balaclava in 1854. Alas, The Trooper himself was one of the slain. Ms. Nightingale burst into tears when she saw this soldier dead on the ground, for she heard of his legendary bravery from previous battles.
The Russian musket fire killed our Trooper and even his beloved horse. A couple of bugles lay on the ground amidst the fallen soldiers—no longer to summon the troops to battle. Florence Nightingale and the other nurses had to hurdle the lifeless bodies to reach the wounded—although often mortally wounded. Nurse Nightingale told another nurse, “Such carnage! I’m ready for peace, so we can return to dealing with colds and sprained ankles.” The other nurse agreed, ”Our calling is tough. But it’s really becoming modern science.”
The last round of fire in The Battle of Balaclava got The Trooper; he feared the end was near during this bloody battle. At first, it looked like either side could have claimed a pyrrhic victory. But the British blundered with a final cavalry charge, immortalized in Tennyson’s, “Charge of the Light Brigade,” that wiped out many British cavalry. Ottoman Turk losses were heavy too.
A few Turkish allies lay near The Trooper—some clinging to life. One Turk told Nurse Nightingale about The Trooper’s bravery. “The Trooper seemed like a man possessed. He kept charging toward the Russian lines, dodging many a bullet until the last one felled his horse, then him. We didn’t think he’d last as long as he did.” Nurse Nightingale wept.
No country had more to lose in the Crimean War than the Ottoman Empire—now known as modern Turkey, a smaller but stronger country. Long known as “The Sick Man of Europe,” the Ottoman Empire’s decline was well under way. World War I, some 60 years late, finished the Ottoman Empire’s demise—only to be reborn as the first secular Moslem country in history—Turkey—through the leadership of Attaturk in the 1920’s. Unfortunately, Turkey has experienced “democratic backsliding” under President Tayyip Erdogan in recent years.

Now we have Indonesia as the second predominantly Moslem secular country. It has a constitution that protects non-Moslems, and it’s even had the Confucian Church of Indonesia since the late 19th century through the efforts of Chinese immigrants. Indonesia is also the home of the Jaringan Islam Liberal, directed by Ulil Abshar-Abdallah.
Thanks to the noble Turk soldier and the Battle of Balaclava and Nurse Florence Nightingale, The Trooper is not forgotten and never was alone. Nurse Nightingale even sent a message by telegraph about the tale of The Trooper to her hospital administrator back home in England—just in case she didn’t make it back, but she did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMyMS-p9YW0 “The Trooper,” by Iron Maiden (with lyrics).

How To Make Sense of the Pandemic as a Ruist (Confucianist) ?

Bin Song

Hallo, my name is Bin Song. I am a Ru scholar, therapist, and college professor in the disciplines of philosophy, religion, and theology. This audio is written and recorded by me to help make sense of the cause of this pandemic in light of the spiritual practice of Ru meditation.

Before you start to listen to my words, I recommend you to do a short breathing practice to calm our heart and illuminate our mind. So, please position yourself well, sit, incline, or simply lie down. Using your belly muscles, be aware of the minor movements of your body, and then, focus upon your breath. Breathe in, deeply, slowly, and comfortably. Breathe out, feel the release, and feel the relax. And a short pause. Again, breathe in, breathe out. remember, no matter how bad the pandemic is, how frustrated you feel about your situation, there is always air and oxygen…

View original post 1,685 more words

My Illnesses & Pills: Strengthening the Immune System–One Way to Battle the COVID-19/Coronavirus Pandemic, by J. D. Meyer (2nd Edition)

Dang, I’ve been feeling good for four years! But I fit the stereotype of someone that ought to be “fixin’ to get sick”—lungs illness, namely COPD (since 2005) and asthma (since 1986). I got on the combination of SSDI, Medicare, and Medicaid by 2012. I’m writing this article about my illnesses and pills because medical professionals may find clues to finding a way to battle the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic. Dealing with the pandemic takes three routes in the medical community: building the immune system, finding antibodies, and discovering a vaccination. My article represents the way for educated laymen to contribute.

I take at least 15 pills per day (11 different pills)—a motley mix of prescription drugs, vitamins/minerals, and OTC drugs. I have more health issues than Asthma-COPD Overlap Syndrome (ACOS). Quitting cigarettes was important as was quitting snuff tobacco. Nowadays, I occasionally indulge with Smoky Mountain Herbal Snuff (Wintergreen Flavor). It’s made from corn husks and molasses; it’s made in Sandy Hook, CT.

Here are the rest of my diagnoses: Mixed hyperlipidemia E 78.2, Essential (primary) hypertension I10, atherosclerosis heart disease of native coronary artery without angina pectoris I25.10, and macular degeneration. Furthermore, I get monthly allergy shots for Bermuda and Johnson grass, and I have sleep apnea.

Now let’s check out my daily pills. Prescriptions: Daliresp, Montelukast, Dilacor (DILT), Omega 3 Acid Ethyl Esters (4, Take two twice daily), and Prednisone. Vitamins/Minerals: Magnesium, CoQ10, Vitamin D (2), Ocuvite (Vision Health). That last pill is a mix of Vitamins A, C, E and Zinc, Selenium, Copper, and Lutein. Over the Counter Medicine (OTC): Vitamin B-Complex with C (general health)& Loratadine (non-drowsy generic pill for allergies).

Here are the drugs that I inhale. Obviously, I have a rescue inhaler, and it’s Combivent (albuterol + ipratropium). I graduated from the albuterol inhalers a while back. But my nebulizer fluid is albuterol only. Then I take Advair twice daily, an anti-inflammatory.

Here are the occasional OTC drugs and vitamins/minerals: Sudafed (nasal congestion), Mucinex–aka. Guaifenesin (chest congestion/bronchitis). , Milk Thistle (liver health) and rarest of all—Turmeric Curcumin (anti-inflammation). Before I got health insurance, Mucinex and Sudafed were very frequent companions. I’ve become a member of the Chris Cuomo Fan Club and explained the joy of Mucinex on his website.

Let’s hope that my list of medicines and illnesses helps medical researchers during our pandemic crisis. I was invited to join the local Community Health Workers (CHW) coalition several years ago because of my explanation of lung health issues for the layman. I used to be a teacher–mostly Developmental English/Writing (college level), ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages)for all levels, and all-level/ most subjects substitute teacher.

Some of those drugs and whatnot represent a journey! Magnesium is a new friend. First I was put on statins and developed heart issues. Then I found CoQ10 and that helped. Then I had a phase of Red Yeast Rice–a more organic, mellow statin. Then I read a couple of journal articles against it and stumbled onto Magnesium. Magnesium is the super mineral. It’s good for excess fat, arthritis, COPD, and even more issues!

My most recent drug is prednisone—previously som’n just for acute attacks. I passed a recent chest X-ray, but my pulmonologist felt that I needed prednisone. After all, I’ve had a low moderate Forced Exhale Volume (FEV) for years. I may be 6’2” and 61 years old, but my FEV is comparable to a short elderly lady’s lungs, or just one lung, or a very short child’s lungs. Stop smoking, stay indoors, or wear a mask/bandanna when shopping.