(Milwaukee WI) – On Sunday, June 23, “Nasty Newport” will be laid to rest as part of a symbolic ceremony at Mason Temple Church of God in Christ, 6098 N. 35th St., in Milwaukee. The Menthol Funeral is part of a nationwide movement to raise awareness about the harms of menthol tobacco and remember the lives of the estimated 45,000 African Americans who die each year from tobacco-related illnesses. Also participating in the event is Reid’s New Golden Gate Funeral Home, 5665 N. Teutonia Ave. The mock funeral was organized by Mason Temple COGIC and a member of the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network. Special guests that day will include Carol McGruder, founder and co-chair of the African American Tobacco Leadership Council.
Menthol funerals, which have been held in Detroit, Buffalo, Washington D.C., and elsewhere, are modeled after traditional funerals, with symbolic speeches from faith leaders and others who have been impacted by tobacco and by laying to rest a product that is the primary cause of tobacco-related illness and death in the Black community—menthol cigarettes.
The event comes two months after a delay by the federal government in removing menthol and other flavored tobacco from the market, as was proposed by the FDA. According to the FDA, the changes would have made smoking less appealing to young adults and youth and make it easier for people to quit smoking. Estimates of the potential impact that removing menthol cigarettes from the market included: A 15 percent reduction in smoking within 40 years of removing menthol cigarettes from the market, and the prevention of between 324,000 to 654,000 smoking attributable deaths overall (92,000 to 238,000 among African Americans) over that same time period.
Menthol, the only flavor allowed in cigarettes, makes smoking easier to start and harder to quit. The product has been historically targeted to Black and other communities. Nine in 10 Black smokers in Wisconsin use menthols, according to a report by the UW-Milwaukee Center for Urban Population and Health. Wisconsin has the second worst tobacco disparity between Blacks and whites in the nation, behind Oregon.
In addition to the Menthol Funeral, residents can also learn more about the impact of menthol and the troubling history between the tobacco industry and Black America by visiting the national Same Game Different Smokers Exhibition at Washington Park Branch Library, 2121 N. Sherman Blvd., from now through June 29th.
The funeral, which will be held at 4 p.m., will be followed by a repast at 5 p.m. For free help to quit smoking call 1-800-QUIT-NOW.