[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 104 (Wednesday, July 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1614-E1616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE STRUGGLES OF DAMU SMITH
______
HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL
of new york
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to the attention and
consciousness of this body the important and significant battles of a
courageous warrior for justice, peace, and equality, Mr. Damu Smith.
Damu has been a constant and consistent champion of peace and continues
his fight for love and justice despite his struggle with cancer. I
applaud this simple man, this mighty activist, and this concerned
citizen of the world for his tireless struggle to make the world a
better place. I encourage him to continue his fight, knowing that
others are aware of his struggle and continue to need his leadership.
A passionate believer in peace and global peace movements, Damu has
fought to raise the awareness of the world community of the
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ugliness of apartheid in South America, the brutality of government
injustice and gun violence, the need for environmental awareness and
justice, and the international fights against racism, injustice, and
discrimination. He has advocated peace instead of nuclear arms. He has
sought reconciliation rather than violence. He has battled intolerance
in lieu of understanding.
A mere perusal of his life story would demonstrate to any of us that
Damu has been a consistent champion of peace and justice wherever
hatred and injustice reside. His humanitarianism knows few limits and
his sense of person responsibility is not bound by social expectations.
Damu, this champion of justice and peace, nonetheless is currently
waging a battle with cancer. I wish him well in his persistent fight
against the disease.
I hope the struggle of Damu Smith does not go unnoticed by my
colleagues in this body. I hope we see the challenges and struggles
that face our relentless pursuers of peace, justice, and equality. I
hope we take steps to prevent Damu's struggle from being repeated on
future generations of Americans. While he is a true fighter to the
core, Damu's struggle has not been easy. Yet he continues to persist in
his advocacy of peace and justice.
What is more disturbing about Damu's case is that there appears to be
both genetic and environmental causes behind his disease: A family
history and a location in ``Cancer Alley''--a small section of
Louisiana with a number of industrial plants and facilities and high
rates of cancer, lung conditions, and skin irritations. It would seem
that the Congress could do more to address whether there is a
correlation between these incidence and the industrial population of
the community.
I nonetheless praise the continued struggle of this fighter for
justice and warrior for peace. I submit the following article written
by Shantella Y. Sherman of the Afro-American highlighting Damu's
struggle and his fight. I thank Ms. Sherman for bringing this to the
Nation's attention.
Faith and Deliverance: Damu Smith Wages War on Cancer
Damu Smith's name bounces around rooms with the same quiet
reverence often reserved for more popularly known figures:
Nelson Mandela or Desmond Tutu. Sometimes, there's a knowing
smile or two. Smith is a kind of modern-day superstar among
activists: fierce, passionate, courageous, God-fearing. His
celebrity has reached far and beyond Washington, D.C., into
the far corners of the Earth. Where there is any semblance of
injustice, rest assured, Damu Smith is planning strategic
countermoves.
Smith's activism rallied civic consciousness against
apartheid in South Africa, gun violence, police brutality and
government injustice. He worked to effect peace and a freeze
on nuclear weapons, and advocated for environmental justice,
both in America and abroad. In fact, Smith was in Palestine,
heading up a delegation of protest against unfair treatment
suffered by Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli
government, when he collapsed, subsequently being diagnosed
with colon cancer.
As a result, Smith has always appeared larger than life,
particularly to this reporter, who met him more than 20 years
ago as a pre-teen. Interviewing Smith became a challenge that
15 years of reporting experience couldn't overcome. I was
nervous. I wasn't sure what to expect, so I stood outside his
apartment door for a solid five minutes, willing each knock
to become just a little more audible to him on the other
side. Finally, I entered at his behest, ``Come on in, the
door is open.''
Once I'd taken off my shoes and peered around the corner, I
was able to get a full glance at Damu. His eyes were bright,
his skin flawless and his smile brighter than ever. He
bustled around his apartment with a small contingent of
associates: his friend and doctor of more than 30 years,
Jewel L. Crawford; a friend from St. Louis; and others who
came and went in fluid motions.
There is a handwritten note attached to a hand-carved
mirror, one of the many African treasures decorating Damu's
home. Above a litany of daily affirmations, is written,
``With God All Things Are Possible.'' All along, Damu
answered questions and telephone calls, gave directions to
Dulles International Airport, passed out fresh juice and
(laughed).
Dr. Crawford answered my question and confusion without me
asking: ``Damu approached his disease the same as he does
everything in his life. He's a fighter, and he's getting
stronger because of his faith.''
Crawford would know. She was one of the first people Smith
spoke with following his hospital admission. While Crawford
says she cannot be certain of how cancer struck Smith, she is
certain he will beat it.
``Damu has a family predisposition to this type of cancer:
His paternal grandmother and his father both had it. It's
hard to put a definite on it, because even though Damu is a
vegetarian, never smoked [and] never drank, he was in one of
the most toxic areas on the planet for an extended period of
time. Being in Louisiana all that time could have been the
element that pushed him over into being affected,'' said
Crawford.
The area Crawford referred to is known as ``Cancer Alley,''
a small section of Convent, LA., where a smorgasbord of
industrial plant run-off brought on cancers, lung conditions
and skin irritations among residents. In the early 1990s,
Smith led an all-out campaign against the Japanese owners of
the Shintech plants, and lived with some of the area's
residents.
Smith himself agrees that living in a toxic environment
could be the culprit in the development of cancers, including
his own, but says the family factor should not be overlooked.
``The air we breathe, the water we drink, the foods we eat
and the homes in which we live are toxic. This is a very
toxic environment we live in this millennium. I live a
healthy lifestyle: I don't drink, don't smoke, never did an
illegal drug. I'm a vegetarian and I eat organic food. And
yet, I end up with colon cancer. Why? Could be a number of
things,'' he surmised.
``Could be the toxic environment, could be the fact that
within my family there's a genetic marker of colon cancer. My
father died of it. My grandmother, his mother, had it. She
didn't die from it, but she had it. So, according to
conventional medical doctors, I'm at greater risk because I
have this family marker,'' said Smith.
Though he says he should have seen a doctor regularly, like
most minorities, he didn't make it a top priority, especially
since he was so health-conscious.
``I should have been at the doctor every year getting
checked. I wasn't. I have to be honest with you, I used to
think about going to get a checkup and I'd say to myself, `I
don't want to find out anything bad. I just can't imagine
anything bad happening to me because I eat so well.' I used
to say that stuff. So, this is one of the things I want to be
a poster child for: getting screened and checked for colon
cancer,'' said Smith.
But how does a poster child maintain in the fight for his
life? According to Smith, with an unwavering conviction in
God.
``First of all, I have to have faith in God--in a higher
power, greater than us. And so, that's the most important
thing to me, having faith in God and knowing that he can
deliver me from this,'' said Smith.
``I was told by one of the doctors when I was initially
diagnosed at the end of March that people in my condition,
statistically, have only three to six months to live. And he
made it a point of saying to me twice during our
conversation, 'Don't hesitate about anything.' That was
Easter Sunday morning of this year. I had to really reflect
on that.''
Doctors also informed Smith that his liver was three-
quarters full of tumors--a condition that effectively made
the illness terminal. After going through what he called
``about 30 minutes of anguish and seeing my whole life race
in front of me like a video clip,'' Smith announced he was
fighting it.
``There are a lot of people out there, when they hear that,
allegedly, they have only three months, six months, a few
days or a few weeks to live, they plan their lives
accordingly. I plan to be here for several more years, and
I'm thinking in that direction,'' said Smith.
The reality of death is all the more gripping because he
lost a close friend to colon cancer around Christmas. Unlike
his friend, who went in for surgery and passed a few days
later without a moment to prepare, Smith said he is grateful
for the opportunity to fight for his life.
``Here I am. I've been alive three months since I was told,
and I'm feeling great right now. Those tumors are shrinking.
I'm sitting here with you now doing this interview and
drinking this organic kale and carrot juice, and I am
drinking it as much as possible because it heals the liver .
. . I'm taking chemotherapy, acupuncture, sound healing,
breathology, everything in the toolbox of healing. I'm
picking up and using on my body right now. And I'm keeping
God at the center of everything. So, I don't plan to lose.''
Smith is only human, and is clear about what his body is
going through. He says that having a clear understanding of
his body's day-to-day function and how to improve those
functions while his body is under attack is essential. Even
this though, he says, takes a back seat to faith.
``I'm also a very practical person. I understand that I
have a very serious disease occupying my body, but I'm
claiming victory! . . . I am expelling that disease from my
body by having faith in God and having faith in my family and
the community of angels who have descended upon me and who
surround me now,'' he said.
Still, others wonder why Smith would make such a personal
struggle public. The answer for Smith is an echoed sentiment
understood by everyone who encounters him. He wouldn't be
Damu Smith if he wasn't helping out the next man--even during
his own crisis.
``So many people hide what's wrong with them and stuff, and
he was open and went public with it so that he could possibly
help someone else,'' said Crawford. ``Even facing a life-
threatening situation, Damu is {still} organizing and trying
to touch someone else's life.''
``When I was lying in the bed at Providence Hospital once I
returned from Palestine in late March, I decided that I had
to, one, walk publicly in this journey of healing [and], two,
that I had to organize people to help me and organize people
to help others understand that they don't want to go through
what I was about to go through.
``There were literally hundreds of people who came to see
me at Providence Hospital,
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and some of my friends were getting upset, saying I needed my
rest. But I knew what I was doing. God knew what I was doing.
I needed to organize my friends and family first, and I told
them that we've got to fight this, because it's not just me.
People have to go get checked, and we need to organize around
this.''
Out of those bedside meetings, Smith was able to establish
the Spirit of Hope campaign, which seeks solutions to health
disparities among minority and poor Americans. The campaign
focuses on universal health care, education about the need
for screening measures, addressing astronomical health care
costs and promoting general well-being among minority and
poor people.
``The whole spectrum of wellness is what the Spirit of Hope
campaign is focusing on, and I wouldn't have it any other
way. It wouldn't be me if it didn't focus on something other
than me,'' said Smith.
Smith says that despite the cost and fear associated with
the procedure, it is imperative that people of color and
those living below the poverty line get regular checkups,
including colonoscopies.
``What are you going to fear most? [If] you want to live,
you cannot fear doing what you have to do to live.
Colonoscopies are expensive. They're between $700 to $900
dollars. And if you're not insured, that's a major problem.
For Black people, and people of color and poor people, that's
a major problem.
``It's very important we organize a campaign that insures
that everyone has access to effective, holistic,
comprehensive, prevention health care and access to treatment
facilities so they get what they need when they need it,'' he
argued.
Smith is also thinking about access for his l2-year-old
daughter Asha, who he lovingly refers to as ``Asha Boo-Boo''
and the ``crown jewel of his life.'' ``I don't want her to go
through this. I want her and all of her little friends to get
screened when the time is right. So, I have to work for them
too,'' said Smith.
As my time with Smith draws to a close, I begin to wonder
if maybe he hadn't been misdiagnosed. The wristband, which
resembles a hospital clasp, is in fact a tag from the Essence
Music Festival that he's simply neglected to remove. Damu
Smith is doing life Damu Smith-style: happy, brilliant and
winning the fight.
``This has been one of the happiest times in my life, in
the midst of this crisis. Now some people might say, `How is
that possible?' It's possible because I have seen the love
come to me in such wonderful ways. I cannot begin to describe
how profound, how rich and warm and beautiful the love has
been from my family and friends and God. I thank God for this
moment and for the chance to fight,'' said Smith.
____________________