Saving Our Legacy, African Americans for Smoke-Free Safe Places
Who we are and what we do
Who we are and what we do
Sign Our Petition for smoke-free transit!
The SOL Project is a health education program. We improve health in the African American and other communities. We are funded by the state of California, from Proposition 99, the Tobacco Tax Initiative.
We educate the community about tobacco use prevention and give out stop smoking information at events and health fairs. We work together with the community to reduce diseases caused by tobacco use and tobacco smoke.
Our office is in Sacramento, but we serve Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties.
Our staff has over 30 years of health education experience combined. Kimberly Bankston-Lee is the Project Director. She has manage health education programs for 8 years and has provided health education for 15 years. Twlia Laster is the Project Manager. She has implemented health education programs for 16 years.
How we do it and why
The SOL Project works with communities to improve the health of African Americans and others by supporting outdoor smoke-free areas.
Most people try smoking out of curiosity, to look more mature or to fit in. What keeps people smoking is the addiction to nicotine, which is found in cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, cigars, bidis, blunts and other tobacco. Nicotine changes how a person’s brain works. It releases a chemical called dopamine, which is the body’s own “feel good” drug. Once a person smokes, they get excited because of dopamine and want to repeat that feeling. They have to keep smoking to keep the feeling. Over time, they have to smoke more and more, but get less and less of that feeling.The tobacco industry, aka “Big Tobacco”, is very good at keeping people addicted by:
¨Spending billions of dollars to make tobacco products more addictive.
¨ Adding menthol to cigarettes, which hides throat pain, making smoking easier.
¨ Slick advertising aimed at the African American lifestyle.
¨ Buying silence of African American organizations or lawmakers by giving donations or sponsorships.
Smoking is bad for both the person using tobacco and those around him or her. Many people think outdoor tobacco smoke is annoying and not harmful, but...
Tobacco kills over 45,000 African American adults each year.
Nearly 2 out of every 6 African American teens and adults currently smoke.*
¨ Tobacco smoke is a deadly poison.
¨ There is no safe level of contact.
¨ Tobacco smoke causes asthma, lung cancer and heart attack. (African Americans have these diseases more than other groups of people.)
¨ There is no safe level of contact.
¨ Tobacco smoke causes asthma, lung cancer and heart attack. (African Americans have these diseases more than other groups of people.)
Sign Our Petition for smoke-free transit!
The SOL Project
420 I Street, Suite 5
Sacramento, CA 95814
(888) 774-SOUL(7685)
*Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties, California Health Interview Survey, 2007.
