What A Night
I received an invitation to “Night of Ideas” held at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, TX. The featured speaker was Dr. Peter Hotez, an “internationally- recognized physician scientist” as stated in the program. I’d seen him on national television and my heart soared. I may be a scientist groupie.
Health Justice was the theme of the evening.
The early presenters were the Texas Medical Center Orchestra (who were all in the field of medicine), a poet, and a French journalist.
We learned that music has healing properties and can help treat patients who are on the autism spectrum or who have Alzheimer’s. The string quartet played glorious music that lifted our spirits before the more serious messages which followed.
Toni Hickman, a young woman who had two strokes and was not supposed to walk or talk again, walked unsteadily up to the stage and recited a musical poem to us. She has won an Emmy award, and her hip-hop incantations have been included in two documentary films. She encouraged us not to judge people who are different than us, to look for ability rather than disability. The audience seemed moved as she sang, swaying as though at a religious service. The effect was powerful.
The French journalist, Prune Antoine, came to Texas to study the psychological health issues of motherhood. Her presentation highlighted the harsh judgements cast on maternal mental health challenges. She expressed disappointment with her study findings. We have potential progress in this field of study.
Sofia Heyl, MT-BC, is a board-certified music therapist. She provides musical therapies to individuals with mental health diagnoses. We enjoyed one of her therapy practices as she sang and played guitar involving the audience in an interactive exercise. Her music was soothing.
Then it was time for the star of the night. Dr. Hotez walked in, and the room crackled. Police protection was in the front and back of the room, as though he were a foreign king.
Danger was possible for a vaccine research specialist with three decades of study. Hotez has haters. He is gossiped about by conspiracy theorists in the media who paint him as a grifter who schemes against us. This man has devoted his professional life to fighting diseases. Often the people criticizing him are neither doctors nor scientists. They certainly do not have decades of worldwide experience with epidemics. This is where we are now.
Dr. Hotez spoke of Zika, Dengue, Malaria, Covid 19, Measles. Diseases are really having a ball right now. Polio is back in Afghanistan. Dr. Hotez wants to save lives and prevent pandemics. Pretty noble. But we must reach a level of 95% vaccinated to get herd immunity from diseases.
U.S. society is polarized. We currently have a U.S. health leader who is neither a medical doctor nor a scientist, and who casts shade on vaccines. The health picture is dire.
Dr. Hotez thinks globally. A diseased Africa will affect the whole planet. Viruses get around that way. We are connected as humanity.
He turns his head and smiles a wide childlike grin as he speaks. He charms us with his experience, and I’m spellbound by his accomplishments. Scientists have located an autism gene, but they suspect an environmental culprit joins the gene for results. The culprit is unknown. The U.S. currently wants to spend more money studying measles vaccines to see if there is a link to autism, though the scientific community already has evidence measles vaccines don’t cause it. Studying the environmental culprits has not gained traction with our current leadership.
Dr. Hotez ended the evening warning that we are facing the dilemma of science being seen as a problem instead of the solution. He never imagined that his life’s dedication would result in him requiring police protection from those who threaten him and his family.
As I think back over the evening, a timeless expression comes to mind: “Shoot the messenger.” The bearer of unwelcome news has always been the enemy.
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