The Corner Booth

Sketch by Phoebe Tickner   Phyllisa Deroze remembers wondering, Do people of color with diabetes use insulin pumps or continuous glucose monitors? Based on Google search images, it seemed the answer was that only white people used these advanced diabetes tools. It was the same reaction she had after first searching for Black people checking their glucose with traditional fingersticks and taking insulin injections, too. That thought stuck with Deroze — a literature professor in Florida with multiple master's degrees and a PhD in English literature — during medical appointments in the early years following her initial type 2 diabetes (T2D) diagnosis. Even though she did know some people of color who were using insulin pumps and CGMs , she found herself wondering if doctors for the most part just assumed most people of color would not be suited for these devices the same way their white counterparts might be. Eight years later, in 2019, after years of struggling...

Despite a rosy spin by JDRF leadership that paints this national advocacy organization as becoming more “volunteer-powered” and synergized, the stark reality is that thanks to fallout from the continuing COVID-19 crisis, hundreds are losing their jobs and some critical research projects are being trimmed down or slashed entirely. This comes in a year marking the 50th birthday of JDRF, the world's most prominent organization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D). It clearly never expected the economic gut-punch it's gotten in 2020, prompting a massive restructuring that includes staff layoffs, chapter consolidation, research funding cuts, and a shift in advocacy messaging. But even more concerning is that all of this may just be the tip of the iceberg, as COVID-19 continues to devastate America’s economy. Especially hard hit are health charities and medical nonprofits like JDRF because this pandemic has exposed the fault lines within the system and how broken the fundraisin...