Members of the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network (WAATPN) and Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention & Poverty Network (WTPPN) spent the day in Madison recently, joining others from across the state and nation to participate in the 2024 Black Advocacy Day at the Capitol. Organized by Black Legislative Action Coalition WI, the day featured a keynote address by Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba of Jackson, MS, workshops, panel discussions, meetings with legislators and community leaders and a dinner reception with Gov. Tony Evers.
“It was a powerful and fruitful day of learning, raising our voices and celebrating Black Advocacy Day in Madison and It spoke loud and clear to me that Black History is to be celebrated everyday,” said Pastor Teresa Thomas-Boyd, a WAATPN Menthol Community Organizer.
The delegation from Milwaukee spoke that day about how menthol tobacco continues to harm the Black community, as an estimated 45,000 African Americans die each year from smoking and many more suffer from heart disease, cancer and stroke.
“It was a pivotal opportunity to share the negative impact of tobacco use on our body, and talk about how certain groups, including African Americans, have been targeted for years by the tobacco industry,” said WTPPN member Kelly Coleman.
In 2022, the FDA proposed the rule to remove menthol cigarettes from the market. Nearly finalized, the proposal met a roadblock after tobacco industry-funded narratives were spread about the ban being harmful to the community. This, despite research studies estimating that removing menthol from the market would save 654,000 lives, including more than 255,000 Black lives, within 40 years. The proposed rule would also lead more than 17,200 Wisconsinites to quit smoking, according to CDC estimates. WAATPN and WTPPN members thanked Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus for sending a letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to take action by removing menthol from the market. Members of the caucus, and other legislators, including Gov. Evers thanked the networks for their tobacco prevention efforts.
“We believe this action is long overdue, as all other flavors except menthol were removed from cigarettes in 2009, much to the detriment of Black health,” read part of the letter. “We urge you, President Biden, and your Administration, to move forward with plans to remove menthol from the market, an action that will save more than 650,000 lives, including more than 240,000 Black lives.”