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Blog archive

May 2025

April 2025

March 2025

About Senior Solutions
03/28/2025

Building a Bridge With Journey House, A Home Base for Former Foster Youth
03/28/2025

Come for the Knitting, Stay for the Conversation... and the Cookies
03/28/2025

Creating Safe and Smart Spaces with Home Technology
03/28/2025

Finding Joy in My Role on The Pasadena Village Board
03/28/2025

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!
03/28/2025

Managing Anxiety
03/28/2025

Message from Our President: Keeping Pasadena Village Strong Together
03/28/2025

My Favorite Easter Gift
03/28/2025

The Hidden History of Black Women in WWII
03/28/2025

Urinary Tract Infection – Watch Out!
03/28/2025

Volunteer Coordinator and Blade-Runner
03/28/2025

Continuing Commitment to Combating Racism
03/26/2025

Goodbye and Keep Cold by Robert Frost
03/13/2025

What The Living Do by Marie Howe
03/13/2025

Racism is Not Genetic
03/11/2025

Bill Gould, The First
03/07/2025

THIS IS A CHAPTER, NOT MY WHOLE STORY
03/07/2025

Dramatic Flair: Villagers Share their Digital Art
03/03/2025

Empowering Senior LGBTQ+ Caregivers
03/03/2025

A Life Never Anticipated
03/02/2025

Eaton Fire Changes Life
03/02/2025

February 2025

Commemorating Black History Month 2025
02/28/2025

Transportation at the Pasadena Village
02/28/2025

A Look at Proposition 19
02/27/2025

Behind the Scenes: Understanding the Pasadena Village Board and Its Role
02/27/2025

Beyond and Within the Village: The Power of One
02/27/2025

Celebrating Black Voices
02/27/2025

Creatively Supporting Our Village Community
02/27/2025

Decluttering: More Than The Name Implies
02/27/2025

Hidden Gems of Forest Lawn Museum
02/27/2025

LA River Walk
02/27/2025

Message from the President
02/27/2025

Phoenix Rising
02/27/2025

1619 Conversations with West African Art
02/25/2025

The Party Line
02/24/2025

Bluebird by Charles Bukowski
02/17/2025

Dreams by Langston Hughes
02/17/2025

Haiku - Four by Fritzie
02/17/2025

Haikus - Nine by Virginia
02/17/2025

Wind and Fire
02/17/2025

Partnerships Amplify Relief Efforts
02/07/2025

Another Community Giving Back
02/05/2025

Diary of Disaster Response
02/05/2025

Eaton Fire: A Community United in Loss and Recovery
02/05/2025

Healing Powers of Creative Energy
02/05/2025

Living the Mission
02/05/2025

Message from the President: Honoring Black History Month
02/05/2025

Surviving and Thriving: Elder Health Considerations After the Fires
02/05/2025

Treasure Hunting in The Ashes
02/05/2025

Villager's Stories
02/05/2025

A Beginning of Healing
02/03/2025

Hectic Evacuation From Eaton Canyon Fire
02/02/2025

Hurricanes and Fires are Different Monsters
02/02/2025

January 2025

Melba Swafford Guest Speaker, Vital Signs

By Blog Master
Posted: 03/08/2021
Tags:

Notes thanks to Sharon Jarrett.

The group discussed an article from the Los Angeles Times about a recent decision by the LA Police Commission to reinstate an African American Police Officer who was terminated from the department in 1900 after he was accused of an assault.  The case went to court and the officer was exonerated but never returned to the force.  The incident was brought to the attention of Chief Michael Moore who took the matter to the Commission for review.  The historical facts were noted, he was reinstated and an apology issued.
 
A brief discussion followed about repairing past actions in the current time.  It was noted that at a recent Pasadena City Council meeting about the General Plan for city development, Council Member Kennedy asked the Mayor to include historical information in decision making documents. Council Member Kennedy noted the harm caused by the 710 easement and requested the impact on the African American and Japanese American communities be noted in written documents as determinations were made about the property.
 
It was noted that the Glendale and Brand Libraries produced a multi episode series on racial inequity in the city called "Reckoning". it is available on the library web site.  Also recommended was a Netflix series "Amend:The Fight for America".
 
The participants were reminded that there is a reference list of articles on the Group's blog. 
 
The next meeting will be on March 19th at Noon. 

Dr. Melba Swafford will discuss her book, "Vital Signs Are Stable".

 

Here is a brief synopsis and biography:

Young Negro girls born into the poverty of 1940's Smokey City weren't supposed to attain success in any endeavor. When you're born into a world stunted by the isolating forces of racial and socioeconomic oppression, what's possible is supposed to be limited. In Vital Signs are Stable, Ruth guides us through her improbable journey, forged in the harsh realities of the Jim Crow South, but triumphant as she applies grit and determination in her rise into the rarefied air of academic medicine. The journey is a breathtaking story of Ruth's triumph over the seemingly insurmountable challenges life placed in her way.
 

Dr. Melba Swafford, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Baylor College of Medicine (retired) is a native of Memphis, Tennessee. She received her BA and MD degrees from Howard University in Washington, D.C. where she also completed her anesthesiology residency. She completed a fellowship in Cardiovascular Anesthesiology at Baylor College of Medicine after which she joined the Baylor College of Medicine faculty at the Fondren Brown Cardiovascular Unit of The Methodist Hospital.



Dr. Swafford's book, "Vital Signs Are Stable", is available on Amazon.

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