The "I Choose Love Campaign" Is A Call To Action Movement
In 2018 a group of women came together in Atlanta to talk about issues affecting communities of color. Both Lisa Noël Babbage and her mother LaNell Babbage-Torres are executive producers of this video.1
Read Lisa's Story Lisa's story 2 is linked to her mother's story. Both stories honor God and raise the banner for a free conversation in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
When I was growing up, my mother (LaNell Babbage-Torres) 3 used to drive us to affluent neighborhoods to look at the mansions. And she would say, "You can live there one day." And at the end of that day we would drive back to the ghetto and stand in line for government cheese or go hungry, and deal with the lights being out trying to do homework with no school supplies while sirens went off all night long. We wore "hand-me-down" clothes that had already been handed down from someone else's family. But that Saturday drive to the nice neighborhoods kept hope alive for the coming week until we could do it again, temporarily escaping the oppressiveness of poverty.
If you don't have an opportunity to catch hope, you're dead. Oddly enough, I never felt like I could attain that, but I knew someone could. I knew that it was a possibility. When you find no possibility for yourself or someone else, then it's a hopeless situation. But if there is a possibility out there for somebody to attain wealth, it made me recognize that America is a great place; even though I never thought I could attain anything. I never thought there would be a Black President. I never thought many of the things that we've seen come to pass, ever would become a reality. But I knew somebody who could do something and that was enough to hold onto.
Like her mother (LaNell Babbage-Torres), Lisa Noël Babbage is boldly Pro-Life and choosing to love.
2016 Democratic National Committee Platform
"When Democratic policies and platforms say '… America is and has always been great — but not because it has been perfect. What makes America great is our unerring belief that we can make it better. We can and we will build a more just economy, a more equal society, and a more perfect union — because we are stronger together,' one cannot help but wonder if they have considered the devastating effect their policies would have on the country that was made great by hard work and capitalism, not mass "reforms" that put every person at the same low level." 4 — Lisa Noël Babbage
2016 Republican National Committee Platform
"Although the Republicans took a completely different approach in drafting their 2016 platform than their counterpart did, they did follow an example the American public is familiar with. They began the outline of their plan for the government, to be the framework for the offices they are able to win, with a Preamble. Just as the constitutional writers did when they founded this nation, they used an introduction called the Preamble to form the structure by which their plan would unfold." 5 — Lisa Noël Babbage
FLASHBACK: 2010 Restoring Honor Rally
Lori and Walter first met Lisa Noël Babbage's mother (LaNell Babbage-Torres) at Glenn Beck's Saturday, August 28th, 2010 "Restoring Honor" rally on the steps of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In this picture above, from left to right, you'll see Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr., Catherine Davis, Day Gardner, Alveda King (speaking), Pastor Stephen Edward Broden, Walter and Lori Hoye and "Doc" Holiday, DDS (Alveda King's Dentist). Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country attended the rally.
Today, LaNell Babbage-Torres, Lori and Walter are still working together. Now LaNell's daughter, Lisa Noël Babbage has been handed the torch.
The Black Health Care Coalition Concerned about the exorbitant cost of medications in Black Communities 6
For decades, the healthcare industry has been a pawn in a dangerous and unethical game of "pay-to-play". It's the dirty little secret behind the outrageous cost of medications and the shortages of many drugs and medical supplies. Decades ago, Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs)7 and Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs) were introduced to streamline purchasing of drugs and medical supplies for hospitals and insurance companies.
The Black Health Care Coalition was organized to specifically address the prohibitive cost of medications to those in need. For example, prevailing statistics suggest Black American Adults are 50% to 100% more likely to have diabetes than White Americans. The Black American population also has higher co-morbid risk factors of hypertension and cardiovascular disease than the White American population. Today, insulin can cost from $350.00 to $500.00 dollars a month. The actual cost of these insulins should be around $40.00 to $100.00 dollars a month.
So, where does all this extra money go? To the drug companies? No. It goes to a group of greedy middlemen, who are allowed to engage in nothing less than legal racketeering. And one of the big reasons why is the Safe Harbor Act of 19878 which allows for the collection of "rebates" (or in the words of many, "kickbacks") for putting medications on formularies and different tier levels.
Here's the good news! The Black Health Care Coalition, a group of caring doctors, policy makers and community leaders have identified the simple solution that will save billions of dollars for Americans suffering from astronomical drug prices and drug shortages. And here it is! Repeal TheSafe Harbor Act of 19879. Together, we're working hard to eliminate any and all "gray areas" in the law that would allow mean and mercenary medical market middlemen to take kickbacks from drug and medical supply companies. 10
Dear friends, Lori and I need to reach one-hundred (100) new donors giving twenty ($20.00) a month before the end of this year.Please Help Us! This newsletter highlights the uncompromising work of the Issues4Life Foundation. As you can see, this type of outreach has no precedent and is unparalleled in its ability to address the heart of the matter, strengthen Black leadership's stand against abortion on demand and answers the questions surrounding the bioethical issues that impact our humanity. Lori and I really need your help. The Pro-Life movement cannot conduct her business as usual and wait until 2020 to reach out to Black America. We've got to go to work now and in ways that reflect and resolve the ever increasing difficulty of our task. This is why we need your help. Please consider, that a generous donation at this time will go a long way. If the Lord puts it on your heart to financially support our work, CLICK HERE to give.
References:
01. I Choose Love, "Freedom is an American Trademark." website (https://bit.ly/2yFPdSU).
02. Lisa Noël Babbage's Story is taken from the "I Choose Love" website (https://bit.ly/2yiJHGp).
03. LaNell Babbage's Story is Lisa Noël Babbage's mother. LaNell's story, like Lisa's story, is taken from the "I Choose Love" website (https://bit.ly/2NG5NYc).
04. 2016 Democratic National Committee Platform, by Lisa Noël Babbage, Sunday, October 7th, 2018 (https://bit.ly/2pUuTta).
05. 2016 Republican National Committee Platform, by Lisa Noël Babbage, Sunday, October 7th, 2018 (https://bit.ly/2NBhCPD).
06. NoMiddlemen.Org, Physicians For Reform, Members of our network of supporting organization are devoted to: (1) Reducing the cost of drugs, medical devices and the overall cost of medicine. And (2) Putting patients and doctors back at the center of American healthcare. (https://bit.ly/2mqkhR2).
07. Group Purchasing Organizations: Gaming the System by Marilyn M. Singleton, M.D., J.D., is an anesthesiologist in Redondo Beach, California, and serves as president-elect of AAPS. (https://bit.ly/2p8NxNx).
08. The Antikickback Statute or the Medicare and Medicaid Patient Protection Act of 1987, provides for criminal penalties for certain acts impacting Medicare and state health care (e.g., Medicaid) reimbursable services. However, at the same time, this statute contains certain exceptions, which allow conduct that would otherwise violate the statute, such as certain discounts given by suppliers to cost-reporting providers. (https://bit.ly/2OkrjmC).
09. Here, the Antikickback Statute or the Medicare and Medicaid Patient Protection Act of 1987, permits the Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to promulgate regulations which identify other practices which do not violate the Antikickback Statute. In this latter case, the Secretary of DHHS has promulgated approximately numerous "safe harbors", found at 42 C.F.R. §1001.952, which, if the requirements are met, insulate individuals and entities from prosecution under the Antikickback Statute for conduct which would otherwise violate the Antikickback Statute.
10. Antikickback Statute, op. cit., p. 2.
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"When Democratic policies and platforms say '… America is and has always been great — but not because it has been perfect. What makes America great is our unerring belief that we can make it better. We can and we will build a more just economy, a more equal society, and a more perfect union — because we are stronger together,' one cannot help but wonder if they have considered the devastating effect their policies would have on the country that was made great by hard work and capitalism, not mass "reforms" that put every person at the same low level." 4 — Lisa Noël Babbage
