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• REED: What Happened To The Billions Due Blacks From Tobacco Settlement?  

Black neighborhoods continue to be shortchanged billions of dollars from the tobacco settlement. The question now is: How long will local and elected Black leaders allow this injustice against our communities to continue? Although much of the Master Agreement Settlement (MSA) monies gained from the tobacco industry were based on factual reports of African Americans having higher incidences of smoking and greater needs for group-specific health provisions, Black-oriented groups and programs are not in the loop. . .

Not enough of MSA monies are coming to our neighborhoods. The issue of how tobacco settlement funds should, and can, be helping us is one we should be pursuing with vigor at every level of our communities. Local leaders should contact groups, such as the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network - naatpn.org (919.233.7733) and South Carolina African American Tobacco Control Network - scaatcn.org (843.871.9439), which are dedicated to facilitating development and implementation of comprehensive and culturally competent tobacco prevention and control initiatives to benefit African American communities.

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