About the Author

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Josh McCormack

Digital Content Curator, Salud America! Josh McCormack joined Salud America! and its home base, the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health​ San Antonio, in February 2019. Graduating from Texas A&M University with a BA in English Literature, he has previously worked in journalism and publishing. Josh enjoys reading; some of his favorite authors include Stephen King, Omar El Akkad and J.R.R. Tolkien.​

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Articles by Josh McCormack

The Fight for a Clean Environment Continues Amid Coronavirus Pandemic


Fight Clean Environment Coronavirus Pandemic

For years, one disadvantaged community of color, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, have been fighting a battle for their land against big oil. The Dakota Access Pipeline is the center of that battle. The tribe urges—along with numerous environmental activists—for courts to halt its use. More than just an infringement on that territory, this issue raises numerous environmental concerns. Despite some wins against Energy Transfer LP, the pipeline’s operators, courts are still allowing for the pipeline to remain operational during the suit’s proceedings. Worse, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the country, scientists and researchers are discovering more about how harmful environmental exposures, such as noxious fumes from oil, can impact those infected by ...

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Latinos, Blacks 3 Times More Likely to Contract Coronavirus


Latinos Blacks 3 Times Contract Coronavirus

Recent data goes to proves alarming facts health experts and racial justice advocates warned of since the spread of COVID-19: Minority groups are experiencing the pandemic’s worst outcomes. Latinos, Blacks, and other communities of color are three times more likely to contract coronavirus than white Americans, according to a new report from the New York Times—obtained through a lawsuit against the centers of disease control. Worse, members of those groups are twice as likely to die. “Systemic racism doesn’t just evidence itself in the criminal justice system,” Quinton Lucas, the third Black mayor of Kansas City, told the Times. “It’s something that we’re seeing taking lives in not just urban America, but rural America, and all types of parts where, frankly, people ...

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Salud Talks Podcast Episode 34: “Addressing White Privilege”


STE34 White Privilege Webpic

The Black Lives Matter movement has sparked a conversation about race and prejudice in America. One of the key factors in that discussion is the privileges afforded to whites, and how those benefits harm communities of color. Dr. Rogelio Sáenz from the University of Texas at San Antonio joins Salud Talks to discuss this issue and what the members of that community can do to make a difference. Check out this discussion on the Salud Talks Podcast, Episode 34: "Addressing White Privilege"!  WHAT: A #SaludTalks discussion about white privilege and its impacts on communities of color Guest: Dr. Rogelio Sáenz, the Dean of the College of Public Policy and the Mark G. Yudof Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at San Antonio WHERE: Available wherever fine podcasts are ...

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Latinos Stand in Solidarity with ‘Black Lives Matter’


Black Lives Matter Solidarity Latinos Stand

Since the founding of this country, Latinos, African-Americans, and all people of color have experienced harm at the hands of an unjust system. With the death of George Floyd at the hands of those meant to protect and serve, millions have taken to the streets to protest systemic racism across the U.S. Latinos, who are experiencing a rising burden of hate crimes, discrimination, and anti-immigrant sentiment, have joined in the Black Lives Matter cause to advocate for change — not just in African-American neighborhoods, but in all communities of color. “It’s not just black people being murdered by police. Hispanics are dying, too,” Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR), told El Paso news station WWLP 22. “It’s not only one bad ...

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Mental Health, COVID-19, and Their Impacts on Latinos


Mental Health COVID-19 Impacts Latinos

The current novel coronavirus afflicts more than just the lungs. For Latinos and other people of color, COVID-19 has caused disproportionately higher rates of cases and death, job loss, and other inequitable impacts. These groups are also experiencing more mental health issues than in previous eras, according to Dr. Madeline Aviles-Hernandez, the Outpatient Services Director at the Gándara Center. “This crisis is making life much more difficult for [Latinos, African-Americans and other culturally diverse populations] we serve, including those in recovery and people who have yet to be treated for such problems as anxiety and depression,” Aviles-Hernandez said in a statement. “Minorities have been—and continue to be—less likely to receive mental health ...

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Data: COVID-19 Unemployment Highest among Latinos, Immigrants


hispanic woman job loss unemployment amid coroanvirus covid-19

The American economy has been in freefall since the outbreak of the current novel coronavirus — and Latinos face the most widespread unemployment. Job loss is impacting Latinos and immigrant communities at higher rates than their peers during the pandemic, according to recently published data from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The pandemic is not only forcing more Latinos out of work, but it will have long-lasting ripple effects across the nation, according to Dr. Rogelio Sáenz, a professor in the Department of Demography at the University of Texas at San Antonio. "Over the last several decades, Latinos have represented the engine propelling the U.S. economy," Sáenz writes in a National Association for Community Asset Builders blog post. "While people ...

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Salud Talks Podcast Episode 33: “Black Lives Matter”


Black Lives Matter webpic

People around the country are joining together and speaking out about systemic racism, police brutality, and the unhealthy culture that passive racism has cultivated in America. In fact, more people are supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement than ever before. In light of these events, we are aiming to have a different conversation for today’s episode: How everyday individuals can act to address these tragedies and the system of which they are a symptom. Check out this discussion on the Salud Talks Podcast, Episode 33: "Black Lives Matter"!  WHAT: A #SaludTalks discussion about the murders of Black Americans at the hands of systemic injustice. Co-Hosts: Tenoch Aztecatl, the Video Producer of Salud America!, and Josh McCormack, Digital Content Curator at Salud ...

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Jason Rosenfeld: Using Healthcare Messaging to Inform His Community about Coronavirus


Jason Rosenfeld in Africa Ethiopia spreading health awareness communication knowledge

Communication is a critical aspect of the human experience, and, for Dr. Jason Rosenfeld, it is the key to making any societal shift. From working with small communities in Africa to helping rural towns in the Rio Grande Valley, he has devoted his career to crafting the right phrase or infographic that can effect change. This work in healthcare communications has led to numerous victories over countless threats. With the spread of the current novel coronavirus, COVID-19, Rosenfeld, his colleagues, and a team of medical students at UT Health San Antonio are addressing this new danger by creating health messaging to help people understand what this illness is, how it spreads, how to stay safe, and other critical pandemic information. Rosenfeld, DrPH, MPH—an Assistant Professor of ...

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