Make God Great Again
What of Cobb Board of Public Health?
Of course, God has always been GREAT. We’ve just forgotten, thought of ourselves as greater. “Great,” not as in my favorite ice cream, deliciously sweet and good. But “great,” as in almighty, powerful, loving, just. The kind of great that inspires awe and reverence. Over the past few years, God has been doing a work on me, especially as it pertains to my advocacy work. The darkness enveloping America cannot be linked to a root cause of red or blue. It is indeed spiritual warfare, a battle of good vs evil. A year ago, he put it in my heart to start this column. My charge has been to listen for his voice, “show don’t tell,” and to report. The goal has been to learn how to do advocacy as a spiritual warrior, not as a health freedom fighter, a democrat, a republican, or as a patriot. Thankfully, his work continues. As a project, I’m far from finished.
As election season ramps up and people look to understand which “box” I fit in, I feel the pull of “Be still and know that I am God” even stronger. I feel the need to cast off any expectation of this world, either my expectations or those expected of me. The drive to be in The Word is increasing, almost as urgent as the drive to breathe. The past several weeks have had me in the minor prophets of the Old Testament.
Zechariah 8:15b-17 (NLT)
“So don’t be afraid. But this is what you must do: Tell the truth to each other. Render verdicts in your courts that are just and that lead to peace. Don’t scheme against each other. Stop your love of telling lies that you swear are the truth. I hate all these things, says the LORD.”
Amos 5:13-15 (The Message)
Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic. Decent people throw up their hands. Protest and rebuke are useless, a waste of breath. Seek good and not evil—and live! You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, being your best friend. Well, live like it, and maybe it will happen. Hate evil and love good, then work it out in the public square. Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will notice your remnant and be gracious.
Zephania 2:3 (NLT)
Seek the LORD, all who are humble,
and follow his commands.
Seek to do what is right
and to live humbly.
Perhaps even yet the LORD will protect you—
protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.
Zephania 3:9-13 (The Message)
“In the end I will turn things around for the people. I’ll give them a language undistorted, unpolluted, Words to address GOD in worship and, united, to serve me with their shoulders to the wheel. They’ll come from beyond the Ethiopian rivers, they’ll come praying—All my scattered, exiled people will come home with offerings for worship. You’ll no longer have to be ashamed of all those acts of rebellion. I’ll have gotten rid of your arrogant leaders. No more pious strutting on my holy hill! I’ll leave a core of people among you who are poor in spirit—What’s left of Israel that’s really Israel. They’ll make their home in GOD. This core holy people will not do wrong. They won’t lie, won’t use words to flatter or seduce. Content with who they are and where they are, unanxious, they’ll live at peace.
So, from these passages, I find direction in my efforts to continue to “occupy until His return.”
1) Continue to drop seeds of truth and pray that God moves to plant them in good soil that will bear fruit.
2) Where the people show up to protest, stay away.
3) Lament in the public square.
4) REST in the promises of God—he’s got it under control.
Nearly two weeks ago, I attended the quarterly meeting of the Cobb Board of Public Health. This Board is not elected, mostly appointed by virtue of position in the community (e.g. School Superintendent, Mayor, Chair of County Commissioners). As an entity, they have no accountability to the public. Twice over the past year, I have stood before the Cobb Board of Commissioners and asked that they pressure the State Public Health Department, (the entity that actually has jurisdiction over the County Boards in Georgia) to make contact information of each board member available to the public. Though we know who sits on the Board, we have no way to communicate with them. Even attending meetings, all I am allowed to do is observe. On March 28th, 2024, I went armed with enough printed copies of a letter that I composed that each member could receive a copy. When I left them with the Deputy Director of Cobb Public Health, I honestly expected they would be thrown in the trash. To my surprise, she did dispense them after the meeting had ended. At the time of this writing (4/8/24), I have received no responses. I’m waiting for God to direct my next steps in this matter. I share the letter below, perhaps God intends for you to step in somehow?
March 27, 2024
Dear Dr. Memark, Ms. Crossman, Mr. Quinones and members of the Cobb Board of Public Health:
I am writing to respectfully request your assistance in receiving and making public data that for some reason is not being disclosed.
Nearly one year ago, on April 11th, 2023, I stood before the Cobb Board of Commissioners and presented evidence that Cobb maybe experiencing an epidemic of sudden deaths. This lead to e-mail correspondence between myself and Ms. Crossman, Deputy Director Cobb & Douglas Public Health. On May 17, 2023, I received an e-mail from Ms. Crossman assuring me that several systems were in place to detect any unusual findings in death patterns. One of the systems referenced was the Georgia and Cobb Child Fatality Review Panels.
I started 2024 by researching the annual reports found at https://gbi.georgia.gov/CFR. Unable to locate the report for 2022, I reached out to Director Elizabeth Andrews by the phone number listed on the website on February 12, 2024. Receiving no reply, I reached out to Cobb County Director of Public Safety, Michael Register, and State Representative John Carson. They quickly put me in touch with Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Director of Public and Governmental Affairs, Nelly Miles. Mr. Miles forwarded my request for the 2022 Child Fatality Review Report to GBI Director of Medical Operations, Ashley Garrish, and I received the report by e-mail on February 27th, 2024, one month ago.
On February 28th, 2024, I sent the following e-mail to Director Garrish:
Hello Director Garrish:
I've had a chance to review the 2022 report that you sent. I was unable to find the overall child mortality, specifically as documented in the 2020 report on page 13 (below). I did find that the infant mortality rate in 2021 report is listed as 6.2 (2021 also didn't list the age 1-17 death rate). Are you able to provide the missing data that would continue this graph?
Thank you,
Kristie
This simple ask for data that has been routinely reported has been met with silence. On March 13th, 2024, I resent this same e-mail to Director Garrish, copying Directors Miles, Register, and Representative Carson asking for confirmation of receipt. It has been 2 weeks and I still have received no reply. I appeal to you, the Cobb Board of Public Health, to assist in receiving this data.
While I have your attention regarding this matter, I also wish to pose a few other questions that have me perplexed. I find it very curious that the infant death rate dropped so significantly during the last two years we have reported, 2020 and 2021. I wonder what was so different during the 2 primary years of the recent pandemic that allowed the rate to drop back to rates not seen since 2010? The 2021 CFR Panel Annual Report did make note of the drop:
The recent changes in infant and child deaths represent a discontinuity in the longer-term trends (last ten years). The number of infant deaths (and the mortality rate) have been decreasing since 2015, but the rate in 2020 was lowest in 10 years and represented the largest one-year change. A preliminary review of the literature does not reveal an explanation of the decrease in the infant mortality rate. The Georgia low birthweight and premature birth rates have not decreased over the past two years, and they are strong risk factors for infant mortality. (p.9)
I have attended a number of Cobb Board of Public Health meetings. I have heard the focus on infant and maternal health, especially for black and minority mothers and children. The 2021 report states on page 7 that “The decrease in number of infant deaths (2019 to 2020) reported last year continued into 2021 (772 deaths). The infant mortality rate (deaths per 100,000 births) had decreased to 6.3 in 2020 and continued to decrease slightly to 6.2 in 2021. Most of the reduction in infant deaths was due to the decrease (from 298 to 214) in the number of infants dying of medical causes at birth (within the first day of life.) On page 8, we read:
An examination of the race distributions showed that most of the “1 day” decrease was in the Black Non-Hispanic population. (Appendix, Table B.) The total decrease was 39.1% compared to 11.7% for the White Non-Hispanic infants. The decrease was consistent across major categories for cause of death.
I urgently direct the Board to seriously investigate this. Whatever contributed to an amazing and wonderful 39.1% drop in first day mortality of black babies in 2021 should sought to be replicated. The summary on page 31 of the 2021 report reads:
The infant mortality rate dropped by 10% from 2019 to 2020, and the rate remained at that low level (6.2 deaths per 1,000 births) in 2021. Most of that decrease was due to a drop in reported deaths in the first day of life for Black / African American newborns.
Thank you for your assistance, your time, and your dedication to the public health of the residents of Cobb County.
Kristie L. Miner