Trump's Pope Leo XIV rant and Jesus meme made me finally sign up to donate plasma
Approximately 1% of the African American community donates blood annually, and diabetes may make some think they're ineligible
Writer’s note: The following post has also been published on I Do See Color.
On August 15, 2026: This post has been updated to share my experience at a plasma donation facility. It was NOTHING like I expected it to be. Paid subscribers, please scroll to the bottom of this post for additional content. On August 23, 2026, I also visited a Red Cross facility. Check out my experience there too.
When a relative and I were strolling around at the Taste of Chicago years ago — and major artists like Stevie Wonder still performed for free and there was a huge annual Fourth of July fireworks show — I noticed her wiping her eyes. She looked from booth to booth and finally sat down at a nearby table. I had absolutely no clue what had gone wrong.
Through tears, she said she “can’t eat anything” at the annual food festival. I was still only a few years into vegetarianism so “anything” was a bit of a stretch. What she really meant was she couldn’t eat the greasy, fatty, sugary food she was used to devouring at family functions, in her own home and at outdoor events.
I tried to cheer her up by pointing out I only had a handful of booths where I could eat and was using all of my Taste of Chicago tickets at these veggie-friendly restaurants. I told her we could always leave and go to one of the zillion restaurants in downtown Chicago to widen the options.
She paused and said, “It’s not just that. I can’t even donate blood if I wanted to. Nobody wants diabetic blood.”
I blinked. I had no idea how to respond. Even though approximately 1% of the African-American community donates blood annually and I never saw her dutifully adding “donate blood” to her Google calendar, it is a whole different feeling when you choose not to donate blood versus not being able to donate blood if you want to.
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Can you donate blood if you have diabetes or use insulin?
In most situations, according to the Red Cross, the type of medication you take to manage your diabetes or insulin resistance won’t disqualify you from donating blood. Whether you take insulin injections like Apidra or Humalog, an injected diabetes medication like Ozempic or Mounjaro, or oral medications like metformin, you may still be eligible to donate if your diabetes or insulin resistance is currently under control.
Can diabetics donate plasma or platelets?
Plasma Source confirms that diabetes doesn’t automatically disqualify you from donating plasma or platelets. However, there are specific eligibility criteria that you must meet, including:
well-managed and stable diabetes
no recent changes in medication or treatment
blood sugar levels within a healthy range
Can Black people with hypertension (high blood pressure) give blood or plasma?
At the time the Taste of Chicago conversation happened, I didn’t have high blood pressure and hadn’t donated since then. I now pondered whether I was a risky donator. According to the Red Cross, I’m not. In fact, hypertension is very common among Red Cross blood, platelet and plasma donors, with approximately 20% of donors showing signs of possible hypertension. However, donors with blood pressure greater than 180/100 mmHg on the day of donation, which indicates an urgent medical issue that should be quickly addressed by a health care provider, are unable to give. I’ve never had a BP higher than 180 luckily.
Why should more Black people donate blood or plasma?
I don’t know how many times I’ve donated blood. My guess is at least five times but not more than 10. One in three Black donors is a match for patients with sickle cell disease. Although I don’t personally know (celebrities excluded) anyone who has sickle cell, patients with sickle cell often require closely matched blood from donors of the same race or ethnicity to prevent severe complications, making Black donors a big deal.
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How did Trump make me donate plasma for the first time?
I’m not particularly religious. I label myself as agnostic, not atheist — I’m not 100% sold on either side. But the past two Sundays of this maniacal physically adult male making horrendous comments about innocent people in Iran and snarky comments about Allah, ridiculing Chicago native Pope Leo XIV (a White Sox fan) and posting himself as Jesus pissed me off.
And the lie about him claiming the Liberal Media doesn’t know his meme was of him as a doctor, and absolutely no proof of a medical degree, wasn’t much better. I am going to go out on a limb and assume the Red Cross wanted to be left out of his stupid “doctor” antics too. Trump already has beef with Chicago’s own former President Barack Obama (salute to Hawaii too) and Governor J.B. Pritzker, and now he is adding Pope Leo XIV to his tirades.
The slightly religious side of me immediately thought, “Motherf#@ker, you’re doing too much. Leave Jesus outta this.”
Initially, I just planned on posting Nene Leakes “Why am I in it?” about Jesus after Trump claimed his meme was of a doctor near a Red Cross worker. But when I went to the Red Cross Bluesky account, this post caught my attention.
I ended up on the Red Cross site and wondered when was the last time I donated blood. The Taste of Chicago memory popped into my head, and I went down the rabbit hole of what the Red Cross needs.
I’m definitely not giving him credit for making me sign up to donate plasma, but his blatant lying made me want to do something useful that could actually help, not harm, more people. For the first time, I signed up to give plasma.
Paid subscribers on AIC-PACK or I Do See Color, find out what my experience was like this week. It will be published on both Substack platforms on Wednesday, April 15.
Interested in donating plasma? Earn up to $800+. Click here for details.
Interested in donating blood to the Red Cross? Earn a $15 e-gift card with a donation by April 30. Click here for details.