577 - Congressman Elijah E. Cummings: A Force for Health
Public Health On Call
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
4.6 • 644 Ratings
🗓️ 22 February 2023
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings joins Dr. Josh Sharfstein to talk about her late husband, the Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, who represented Baltimore for more than 35 years in the Maryland General Assembly and in Congress. Dr. Rockeymoore Cummings explains the origins of the Congressman's successful efforts to expand access to dental care, reduce prescription drug prices, and tackle addiction. She also tells some amazing behind the scenes stories, including the moment when Congressman Cummings met with President Trump.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, |
| 0:05.9 | where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges. |
| 0:16.3 | If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to Public Health Question at jh.edu. |
| 0:23.8 | That's Public Health Question at jh.edu for future podcast episodes. |
| 0:32.9 | This is Josh Sharfstein. Today, a special podcast about a special person, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, |
| 0:40.4 | who served in public office in the Maryland General Assembly and the U.S. Congress for more than 35 years, |
| 0:46.5 | and who died in 2019. I speak with his widow, Dr. Maya Rockymore Cummings, |
| 0:52.1 | about the origins of the congressman's relentless and successful advocacy and leadership for health. |
| 0:58.4 | A brief note, this podcast includes unfiltered stories of racism. |
| 1:03.6 | Let's listen. |
| 1:05.7 | Dr. Maya, Rocky Moore Cummings, it is so great to talk to you about your late husband, the Honorable Elijah Cummings, who represented Baltimore in Congress for more than two decades. |
| 1:18.4 | I had the amazing honor of working with him when I was a health commissioner of Baltimore and just seeing how many health issues he was involved with |
| 1:28.6 | and how deeply he cared about those issues. But, you know, I never got to ask him why. And so I want |
| 1:35.7 | to start with you on that. Like, why was health so important to Congressman Cummings? |
| 1:41.1 | Well, Dr. Josh Scharstein, let me just say thank you for having me on. Elijah was this |
| 1:46.3 | great honor to work with you, and he held you in the highest regard in esteem. And so, you know, |
| 1:52.7 | it's, I think it's fortuitous that we're discussing this today. Elijah grew up in, you know, |
| 1:59.8 | a family that comes from the Jim Crow South. |
| 2:03.4 | Of course, Maryland is the Jim Crow South, but they came from South Carolina. |
| 2:07.6 | And one of his earliest memories was his father telling the story of his father's death and how it went down. And he never forgot it. It's something he recounted |
| 2:20.6 | time and time again. And the story goes like this. Elijah's father was a little boy and his father |
| 2:28.1 | was a preacher. And he preached one day and, you know, basically fell down in the pulpit. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.