Dana James is the founder of Black Iowa News, which publishes an email newsletter on Meta’s Bulletin platform. James, a former Des Moines Register reporter, also publishes a monthly column in Little Village Mag Des Moines, "The Fractured State of Iowa Nice." She is vice president of the Iowa Association of Black Journalists. She writes the column New Black Iowa on Substack as a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative and is a member of the national Black News Link.
Cough syrup. Dishwashing liquid. Salt. That’s what the Suprep bowel prep kit I drank tasted like – not that I really know what dishwashing liquid tastes like – as I prepared for my colonoscopy. When my doctor first suggested some years ago that I have a colonoscopy to screen for colorectal cancer, I told her about a […]
When my dad, Lawrence, had cataract surgery in 1994, my sister and I took the day off work. The white supervisor at the bank where I toiled frowned at my request for time off. It was a routine surgery for older people and not worthy of my level of concern, she explained. I pushed back […]
