Health
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‘Racist Bone’ Disease: The Diagnosis, Treatment and Causes of Skeletal Racism
For centuries, some of America’s most distinguished public figures have averted criticism of prejudice and bigotry by conducting amateur psychological exams on themselves and declaring to the world that they “don’t have a racist bone in their body.” The list of people who have proclaimed themselves to be racism bone-free includes President Donald Trump, former…
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Taraji P. Henson’s Groundbreaking Mental Health Summit Is Sure to Make an Impact on Black America’s Quiet Crisis
What Taraji P. Henson has been able to do with her first Boris L. Henson Foundation benefit and conference last weekend was nothing short of a revelation—and right on time. The Empire star and Oscar-nominated actress is a native Washingtonian and Howard University graduate. So, it was only fitting that her inaugural foundational event, named…
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She’s Not Your Superwoman: Miko Branch of Miss Jessie’s Pays Homage to Her Sister Titi on Her 50th Birthday
With over 46 million Americans experiencing mental illness in any given year, it is something which directly or indirectly affects us all. Yet, black women, in particular, often suffer in silence because of shame, stigma or frankly, lack of resources or time to take care of themselves. That black woman muttering to herself on a…
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Study Finds Folks in Chicago’s Affluent Streeterville Live to Almost the Century Mark, While Blacks in Impoverished Englewood Don’t Live Long Enough to Collect Social Security
It’s just nine miles between Chicago’s predominantly white and wealthy Streeterville neighborhood and the predominantly black and poor Englewood in the city’s South Side, but the gulf of difference in life expectancies between the two represents the largest such gap in the nation. A New York University School of Medicine study has found the average…
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Affordable Care Act Reduces Racial Disparities in Cancer Treatment: Report
It turns out the Affordable Care Act may have acted to make care affordable and accessible to black folks. According to new research, the law has been linked to a reduction in racial disparities in the care of cancer patients and to earlier diagnoses and treatment for ovarian cancer, according to the Washington Post. The…
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Fear, Medication and Black Mental Health: A Physician’s View From the Front Lines
Since becoming a primary care physician over 20 years ago, I made the conscious choice to cement my career treating black and minority patients, primarily in underserved and indigent communities. This career arc spans from rural clinics treating migrant farm workers to predominately black, inner-city hospitals. And while the reports of the overmedication of America…
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Transgender Patients Could be Stripped of Healthcare Protections by the Trump Administration
Over the course of his two-and-half-year tenure, our alleged President Donald Trump has either enacted or enforced policies that make no secret as to where he stands on transgender and LGBTQ issues. Barely a month after taking office, his administration rescinded guidelines that protected transgender students under federal Title IX law. In 2017, the Department…
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Taraji P. Henson to Testify Before Congressional Committee on Black Youth Suicide
On the day that her “Can We Talk” Mental Health Conference weekend (June 7-9) is set to kick off in Washington, D.C., actress Taraji P. Henson will testify before the newly formed Congressional Black Caucus Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide. Henson, who has proven herself a fierce mental health advocate, will address the group at…
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Kamala Harris Reintroduces Bill Addressing the Black Maternal Healthcare Crisis
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris reintroduced the Maternal Care Access and Reducing Emergencies (Maternal CARE) Act on Wednesday, her 2018 bill that seeks to address the ongoing black maternal health crisis. “Black mothers across the country are facing a health crisis that is driven in part by implicit bias in our health care system. We must…