Black Men Get Beyond Pursuits to Purposefulness

“Unfortunately, way too many Black boys are being raised and have been raised now as men with self-limiting, self-defeating, self-diseasing, and self-destructive sense of becoming and being a man. This narrow and self-sabotaging notion of manhood unfortunately results in way too many Black men being consumed with chasing money, pussy, clothes, jewelry, shoes, and vehicles; too many Black men ending up on alcohol and drugs; too many ending up in prisons, hospitals, homeless, or on the streets as bums. Indeed, too many Black men have been raised with wrong lowering ‘pursuits’ and not with a elevating higher sense of ‘purpose’.”- KenRaySun

Black Men Crying is 'Cleansing' And It Don't Make You 'Weak'

            “People can cry much easier than they can change.”             James Baldwin

Black men in America have to carry a heavy internal emotional distress burden.

Black men are on the bottom of almost every socioeconomic measure and first on others: on the bottom when it comes to employment and first when it comes to being murdered by the police; on the bottom when it comes to homelessness and first when it comes to being in prison.

Indeed, there's much psycho-socioeconomic hardships that Black men could cry about, however Black men have been socialized not to cry 'release', but to release through anger and violence and suppress through drugs and alcohol use; too many Black men 'mash-out' (escape) and too many 'crash-out' (self-destruct) instead of 'crying out'.

Yes, there are benefits of crying for both the body and mind by restoring emotional balance, dulling pain, and activating your para-sympathetic nervous system to help you self-soothe. Crying has benefits for the grieving process, Black men die are 'killed' the most in America; they carry so much sorrow, numbness, depression, and grief within.

Black men crying is an important safety valve, largely because keeping difficult stuffed feelings inside what psychologists' call 'repressive coping' is bad for our health. Studies have linked repressive coping with a weaker immune system, ulcers, hypertension, strokes, cardiovascular disease, as well as with mental health conditions like anxiety and mood disorders.

Yes, Black men releasing emotional tears have health benefits; emotional tears contain stress hormones and other toxins. Researchers have theorized that crying flushes this distress and toxicity out of our system.

“Crying doesn’t mean you’re weak. Sometimes it’s what you need to do to get strong again.” – J.W. Lynne

Black Male Unity is Necessary in Racist America

"When racist white police stop Black men driving their vehicles they don't see democrats or republicans, Christians or Muslims, they only see a Black man! When racist employers interact with Black men applying for jobs they don't see democrats or republicans, Christians or Muslims, they only see a Black man! Indeed, Black men we are not targets of racism because we're democrats or republicans, Christians or Muslims, we are repressed because we are Black men! Yes, as Black men we have a common experience, so let us Unite!" - Ken RaySun

Black Men 'Recreate' Ourselves

"Under the white institutional power structure as Black men we undergo 2 creation processes: first many times 'self-defeating', we are often ‘raised’ wrong and educated worse; second 'self-winning', we must ‘upraise’ ourselves through 'course correction' the ongoing inner struggle to have the best reasoning and actions." - KenRaySun

Little Durks Arrest: The FEDS Ongoing Criminalization War Waged Against Black Men

 by KenRaySun

When the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was founded one of its main priorities was to slander, undermine, and destroy Black men whether in sports or politics.

Some Black male athletes were targeted for so-called subversive activities, while some were targeted mainly because they were successful. Black male sports stars such as Jack Johnson, Jesse Owens, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos had FBI files.

Regarding heavy weight boxing champ Jack Johnson, the Department of Justice's Bureau of Investigation, which was the FBI before the FBI existed, used the ‘Mann Act’ to persecute Johnson. The Mann Act forbade the transport of women over state lines for "immoral purposes," and was often used to persecute Black men who engaged in relationships with white women.

In October 1919, a young J Edgar Hoover, director of the Bureau of Investigation’s general intelligence division, targeted Marcus Garvey for investigation and harassment because of his alleged association with radical elements that were agitating the Negro movement. Garvey was indicted on trumped up wire fraud charges, sentenced to prison, and deported.

Another prominent Black male intellectual activist during Garvey's period W.E.B. DuBois was targeted by the FBI. The FBI also targeted Black male writers like Langston Hughes and Richard Wright; targeted actors Paul Robeson and Harry Belafonte.

Throughout its history, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has viewed Black self-determination as a top national security threat! One of the most notorious and repressive programs to neutralize Black male leaders and organizations was “COINTELPRO”, designed to disrupt and neutralize through criminalization and assassinations.

Many prominent Black male leaders and their organizations such as Dr. King, Malcolm X, Fred Hampton, Mark Clark, and hundreds of others were targeted, repressed, and murdered by the COINTELPRO operations during the 1960’s and 70’s. In 2017 under then Black president Obama administration, the FBI had invented a new domestic terrorism program category it called the “Black Identity Extremism Movement” that targeted the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement.

COINTELPRO in the Hip-Hop Era

"The Houston police department, the IRS, the DEA and the FBI, all had James Prince and the rapper Scarface and really the whole 5th Ward of Houston, under surveillance, in their hearings. I’m sitting right there. They’re giving me paperwork. I’m actually able to see who the undercover agents were. They admit that they had close to 400 informants inside of the 5th Ward that were related to this investigation. So, I think eventually they arrested Scarface on some possession of marijuana charge. Does that really warrant 400 informants and FBI, DEA, the IRS?" - Cedric Muhammad

A 2004 Miami Herald story confirmed that a special unit within the New York City Police Department was created and devoted to place Black rappers under surveillances due to the defiance and rebelliousness of hip-hop culture and its potential to level-up; there were files on notable rappers like Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Cam'ron, Busta Rhymes, and many more.

Tupac Shakur, the famous rapper, was on the FBI’s file since he was a little boy, his family were Black Panther Party members and were targeted by NYPD Surveillance Unit and FBI COINTELPRO repression.

The FBI and the DEA targeted Black gangs like the Bloods, Crips, and others criminalizing them by the CIA saturating Black communities with ‘crack-cocaine’, the war on drugs resulting in Black male mass incarceration.

Yes, federal law enforcement continues to repress Black men through conspiracy charges and indictments we see it with Suge Knight, Young Thug, Puff Daddy, and now Little Durk. Yes, Black folks let us understand this too, the FEDS use employed Black male ‘agent provocateurs’ and ‘paid informants’ against Black male individuals, groups, and organizations they target.

An agent provocateur is a payroll FED person ‘infiltrator’ who infiltrates to entice criminal activities or falsely implicates those targeted in partaking in illegal acts to ‘ruin reputations or entice criminal prosecution against them’. 

Informants are non-employee individuals generally ‘insiders’ who supply information to the FEDS on a confidential basis and receive compensation for their information; they receive reduced criminal charges or sentencing for their support.

Let me make this clear the FEDS don’t care nothing about the Black victims of Puff’s perversion, he was useful to them running around talking about "vote or die”, now he’s expendable to the white power structure and will be dealt with 'prosecuted' like Bill Cosby; Puff’s billion dollars don’t mean nothing to them!

Yes, the FEDS don’t care nothing about the deaths of Pac, Biggie, Young Dolph, King Vonn, Pop Smoke, PMB Rock, Nipsey Hussle, Takeoff, etc., they’re just collateral damage in the FEDS ongoing low-intensity criminalization war waged against Black Men.

Political commentator Cedric Muhammad published a series of Rap COINTELPRO articles where he stated:

“In the case of the Notorious BIG, ATF, New York City and Los Angeles undercover police officers and, I believe, the FBI were all following his car at the very moment he was shot. Lil' Cease of Junior Mafia has publicly acknowledged that he was shown photographs of himself, Puffy, Biggie, the car, by the FBI after the murder took place and the FBI questioned him about certain individuals who were being photographed. So, Voleta Wallace asked the question best, "Why, if the FBI was following my son the night he was murdered, why don't they know who is responsible for the murder?"

Yeah, from my perspective the FEDS are the ‘invisible hand’ creating self-defeating and self-destructive chaos; manipulating, remote controlling, and criminalizing Black men who are ignorant and compromised.

Yeah, the FEDS is the fire that heats the big Black Pot of ‘Black Oppression Soup’ that Black males find themselves in; they also mix the ‘ingredients’ of drugs, guns, and informants in the soup; they cook the soup up real hot and ‘serves’ it up with indictments, RICO conspiracy charges, warrants, and long-term prison sentences.

Then the media serves us this FEDS cooked up Black male criminal soup spectacle 'drama' on the mainstream news and then Black YouTubers regurgitate it with their spin on it for us to gossip and give our countless opinions on; this is a sick and tired recipe for Black male disaster, when are we going to wake-up?

"In 2024 you have neo-slave mentality Black men who will argue with each other over who's the richest white man 'Warren Buffet' or 'Elon Musk'? Waste their precious time arguing over the wealth of billionaire white men while they're unemployed, poor, or barely making it financially, what insanity!" - KenRaySun

Whites Accept Black Male Athletes When They Serve Their Interests And Entertains Them

 "Whites want Black men to win Olympic medals for USA, but don't want them to win in the struggle for racial justice in America. Whites want Black male athletes in football to score touchdowns, those in basketball to dunk and hit 3 pointers, but care nothing about the racist marginalization of Black males in general. Whites can accept Black male athletes talking about sports, but they want them to stay totally 'QUIET', shut-up and dribble when it comes to discussing or exposing racism." - KenRaySun

To My Son on His Birthday: Message of Having Character is Significant

 by Kenny Anderson

"A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything." – Malcolm X on ‘Character’

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” - Dr. King on ‘Character’

Cinque my Son, today is your birthday, yes you made another year, a salutation of thankfulness!

Homicides is and has been the leading cause of death for Black males in your age range ‘15 to 44’ for more than half a century. Tragically, every year thousands of young adult Black males die prematurely before their birthdays.

When a conscious Black father has a Black son, we know he faces much greater perils than our daughters; his life is in much greater jeopardy in racist America. Therefore, as a conscious Black father I had to provide you with lessons ‘wisdom’ to navigate this perilous journey.

Son, unfortunately from a dominant one-dimensional ‘limited exterior perspective’ being a so-called successful Black man today is about being a professional, titles, athletic prowess, accomplishments, material possessions, financial assets, etc.

For me, son as a Black boy coming of age in the 1960’s and 70’s under the influential manhood energies of 2 giants ‘Dr. King and Malcolm X’, the emphasis of Black manhood was about having character that was the driving force of the Civil Rights Struggle and the Black Power Movement.

Character refers to a man's 'interior moral and ethical qualities'; it consists of beliefs and moral principles that will guide his actions in the best way. To name some, character is having honesty, integrity, accountability, and courageousness; it means standing for freedom, justice, and equality.

Son, my message to you on your birthday is about character! My oldest Brother, your deceased uncle left a stamp on me about character as a little boy when he returned home from the Viet Nam War, teaching me how to do the DAP, which your generation does by the superficial gesture of ‘bumping fists’.

In contrast, giving DAP origin is fist bumping for character development; it stands for ‘Dignity And Pride’. To carry yourself with ‘Dignity’ as a Black man means having self-worth, self-respect, and self-determination; having ‘Pride’ means being proud of the best in one’s Blackness ‘history and culture’.

Consistently giving DAP greetings is a character development reminder and reinforcer that's necessary to counter the current lack of character development; the common amorphous tendencies and rampant selfism amongst Black Millennials and Generation Z.

Son, for daily symbolic character development give yourself ‘DAP’, bump your own fist together to remind yourself to have ‘Dignity And Pride’; along with this at times raise your clenched fist to the sky to be lofty, inspired, and strong, especially during times of adversities.

Salute again to you Son on your Birthday, appreciate your special day, celebrate yourself, self-reflect, and Much Love!

BLACK MEN RETHINK to REEDUCATE!

"Over the past 5 decades research has shown that more Black men have died to domestic homicides than the total numbers of American troops killed in US wars during the same period. Moreover, studies show that during the same over 50-year period there’s been more Black males in the penal system than were enslaved at the height of slavery." - KenRaySun

"Over the many-many decades millions of Black men's minds have been destroyed by ‘mentacide’ a self-eliminating mindset due to racist education, self-hating propaganda, and corrupt survival education that has led to massive self-disease, self-destruction, and self-defeat. Black men we have a racial future preparation obligation to provide the best countering 'Reeducation' to Black boys and young adult males so they’ll have 'Renewal' thoughts, beliefs, and values that will 'Redirect' lead them to self-healing, self-reconstruction, and self-victory." - KenRaySun

"Re-think ! Re-orientate ! Re-educate ! Re-enforce ! Re-establish ! Re-group ! Re-evaluate ! Re-build ! Re-construct ! Re-analyze ! Re-write ! Re-structure ! Re-invent ! Re-find ! Re-locate !" - Bomani Uhuru Jihad

May is Mental Health Month

 Too Many Black Men Have ‘Titles Power Deception Disorder’ (TPDD)

“Power, properly understood, is the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political, or economic changes.” - Dr. King

Unfortunately, today most Black men don’t subscribe to Dr. King’s definition of power, it is massively misunderstood and is not just a misunderstanding of power, it is a massive Black disempowering mental health problem that I call ‘Titles Power Deception Disorder’ (TPDD).

Black men are the most ‘disempowered’ group in America, lacking the concrete power to control our lives; we’re on the bottom of just about every socioeconomic category.

From my perspective as Black men we can’t rely on the mainstream Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) to assess our unique mental health issues, we have to come up with our own relevant cultural-specific definitional diagnosis.

Titles Power Deception Disorder (TPDD)

Titles Power Deception Disorder (TPDD) is a Black male mental health problem where too many Black men believe having titles, and degrees alone give us as Black men power ‘control’ over our lives - a ‘mind projection delusion’.

Many religious ‘Christian’ Black men believe that having titles alone such as Bishop, Pastor, Minister, and Preacher gives them power; many religious ‘Muslim’ Black men believe that having titles alone such as Mufti, Grand-Sheikh, Sheikh, and Imam gives them power.

Too many Black men believe that having bachelors’, masters’, and PhDs’ degrees alone gives them power; too many Black males believe being elected officials (mayor, city councilman, county commissioner, etc.) gives them power; too many Black males in the streets believe titles such as original gangsters (double and triple OGs) and shot-callers gives them power.

Most Black men limitedly believe that having power is just what they think it is, with this conclusion they’re only psychologically fooling themselves; they don’t know what concrete socioeconomic power really is!

Marcus Garvey said to us that the ‘criteria’ for real concrete power in racist America and internationally is based on Political, Industrial, Scientific, and Military power. It is clear and obvious that the titles and degrees that Black men have don’t meet Garvey’s criteria for power.

Titles Power Deception Disorder (TPDD) is the main psychological mental health factor that prevents Black men from developing Political, Industrial, Scientific, and Military power. Black men’s belief that subjectively ‘deceptively’ having titles and degrees alone is power equating it with ‘objective’ concrete power is a cognitive unequal compensation disorder.

Titles Power Deception Disorder (TPDD) causes Black men to brag, boast, and beef; engage in jealousy and rivalry that’s divisive; causes too many Black men to self-righteously debate religion; arguing who’s the most gangsterous. TPDD causes too many Black men to ego-trip; tripping, falling, and failing to develop concrete power that provides and protects.

The result of having very little ‘insignificant’ concrete power Black men are the most marginalized, disorganized, attacked, removed, and murdered group in America. Hundreds of thousands of Black male gangbangers around the country delusionary believe in their minds that they have power ‘regulate’ their hoods, yet daily they are driven out of their neighborhoods by real white gentrification power.

Regarding a lack of organized self-defense power, at any time any white supremacist individuals or groups can ride through our communities and massacre us. Let us not forget the goofy white supremacist ‘Dylan Roof’ mass killed 9 Blacks in a church in Charleston (SC); another goofy white supremacist ‘Payton Gendron’ mass killed 10 Blacks in Buffalo (NY).

The most recent FBI data shows that of the more than 8,500 hate crimes reported nationwide between 2020 and 2022, Black people were four times more likely to be targeted than the overall U.S. non-Hispanic Black population. Black people were targeted in 52.3% of the offenses and Black men were targeted the most!

What Black men must understand that ‘Titles Power Deception Disorder’ is an internal psycho ‘power underminer’ that’s driven by insecurity, being disempowered and dependent in racist America. The treatment ‘correction’ for ‘TPDD’ is first self-honesty that we don’t have concrete power, then committing ourselves to struggle and develop concrete power.

Black men our failure to adequately address ‘Titles Power Deception Disorder’ will only perpetuate our powerlessness.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH 365

*Frances Cress Welsing Quotes on Black Men in America:

“The destruction of Black males now is indirect, so that the Black male victims themselves can be led to participate in and then be blamed for their own mass deaths.” - Frances Cress Welsing

“The chain of events begins with the denial of full-scale employment and advancement to Black males so that they cannot adequately support themselves, their wives and their children.” - Frances Cress Welsing

“We do not realize that the massive deaths of Black males constitute the genocide of Black people as it takes Black males to make Black babies and ensure future Black generations.” - Frances Cress Welsing

“The destruction of Black males for the purpose of white genetic survival is the reason behind the ever-increasing disparity between the number of Black females entering and graduating from high schools and institutions of higher education compared to the far lesser number of Black males.” - Frances Cress Welsing

“Most important, Black males must help one another to understand that they are being led by the dynamic of white supremacy to inflict extreme damage upon themselves, one another and ultimately the Black race. Black males must understand that contrary to what is said, the war being conducted in urban centers is not against drugs but against Black males for the purpose of white genetic survival.” – Frances Cress Welsing

My Thoughts on Cornelius Jones Senseless Murder

 by Kenny Anderson

“Damn another funeral, Lord knows, Lord knows, Lord knows.” – Tupac Skakur

"Working together, we can put an end to this cycle that creates deep pain in the hearts of our mothers, our fathers, and our people, who have lost loved ones to this senseless violence." - Stanley 'Tookie' Williams

As a Black male elder, I can recall back in the day a Black man killing another Black man because of being spat on, but a Black man being murdered by another Black man because he was told not to spit in the sink as in the case of Cornelius Jones tragic death is a descent into extreme lowliness.

My son knew Mr. Jones since elementary, he said ‘Corn’ as he was known was one of the coolest dudes he’s ever met; always just wanted to make jokes and keep people laughing.

Though I did not know Corn his death has touched me; this 33 year-old Yak-Town Black father had so much more to live for and accomplish; so much more to offer his children and community; his life was taken down by a reckless young Black man out here too ‘sensitive’ and ‘vicious’ driven by a twisted sense of being disrespected.

Distorted Sense of Respect and Thin-Skinned an Impetus for Murder

Unfortunately, too many young Black males like Corn’s murderer who felt some kind of way ‘slighted’ being told not to spit in the sink walk around with a simple and twisted retaliation definition of ‘respect’, as John Rich & Courtney Grey state:

“Respect, defined as receiving the deference that one deserves, is a central part of how young urban men make their way through the dangerous world in which they live. Anderson identified respect as a central component of the code of the street whereby urban young Black men protect themselves physically while also safeguarding their fragile personal identities. The code of the street dictates that when someone disrespects you, whether physically, emotionally, or materially, you must respond aggressively to regain your respect.”

Too many young Black males distorted sense of respect coupled with emotional impairment ’too sensitive’ often is a death producing cocktail. Indeed, as a community we have socialized and allowed way too many young Black males to be ‘caught-up in their feelings’, they have ‘emotional dysregulation’, the inability to control or regulate their negative emotional responses.

Being easily slighted and full of negative feelings too many young Black males like the killer of Corn are always in the ‘conflict-creating’ mode, that’s increased by their low frustration tolerance, unable to tolerate unpleasant feelings or stressful situations.

These emotional provocative young Black males view conflict-resolution as being a ‘punk’ or ‘sucker’; they don’t believe in resolving conflicts non-violently; they subscribe to conflict-extermination ‘murder’; any encounter with them has the potential to be deadly.

Black-on-Black Male Violence is a Public Health Problem

Since the 1980's, past 4 decades, massive Black-on-Black violence and homicides have been primarily viewed and addressed through the lenses of law enforcement: arresting, trying, sentencing, and incarcerating offenders on the assumption that this will deter future violent acts.

This limited law enforcement approach has failed to curb Black-on-Black male violence and homicides, this violence and homicides rages on; this limited police and legal approach has led to the mass incarceration of Black men.

In contrast, a public health approach to addressing Black-on-Black male violence and homicides is more interested in understanding the causes and determinants of violent behavior.

Violence becomes a public health problem when it has a significant negative impact on the public (communities, neighborhoods). Indeed, violence causes many more injuries than deaths in Black communities. For Black males ages 15-34 their health problems are unintentional injury, suicide, and homicide, not chronic diseases.

Though Black boys and men account for just six percent of the total population, they comprise more than half of all gun homicide victims. The disparities in Black and white homicide rates are particularly stark in large cities and counties.

Research suggests that roughly half of all gun homicides take place in just 127 cities, driving the elevated rates of homicides in these geographies. In the nation’s 20 largest counties, Black men ages 18 to 25 die from gun homicides at a rate nearly 19 times that of white residents.

This disparity means that while five out of every 100,000 young white people in these counties die from gun homicides, more than one in every 10,000 young Black people are killed in such incidents.

According to the National Violent Death Reporting System, violence is preventable; that supportive relationships can decrease violent behaviors and disrupt a 'cycle of violence'; that education on life skills and social-emotional development at an early age can also prevent violence.

Over the years many Black leaders, scholars, health professionals, and violent offenders have stated that what drives Black-on-Black male violence and homicides internally and what needs to be addressed and intervened is self-hatred, low-self-esteem, lack of self-worth, disrespect, and distrust.

During my over 40 years as a Black community leader and over 30 years as a social worker now retired, I committed my efforts to saving Black men and boys both professionally and in the community as a top priority.

As a Black male development specialist, I recommend to this generation of Black male mentors like Maurice Mahone ‘Coach Dollar’ and ‘Max Maine’ when engaging Black boys and young adults to stress the basic 5Rs:

*Rationality – Thinking before acting

*Respect – Value self and others

*Responsibility – Being accountable

*Resilience – Positively responding to setbacks

*Righteousness – Choosing the ‘right’ way

To the rest of the Black community (parents, grandparents, pastors, teachers, coaches, etc.) when engaging Black boys and young adults develop in them:

*Respect Clarification – that a sense of respect is beyond a low-level ‘get back’ of feeling slighted. That a higher sense of respect is listening to others thoughts and feelings even if you don't necessarily agree with them; valuing and giving them the same consideration you would expect for yourself.

*Emotional Management - is the ability to be aware of the range of your emotions both positive and negative and to deal constructively with those emotions in different situations; helps you manage situations that make you feel angry or sad, and better understand your emotions.

*Conflict-Resolution Skills - the ability to seek compromise and avoid aggressiveness and violence; to at least say ‘my bad’ when you’re wrong; a readiness to forgive and forget, and to move past the conflict without holding resentments or anger.

*I give my sincere condolences to Cornelius Jones family!

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Racial Oppression is Why Black Men Are Missing!

by KenRay SunYaRu

“To a great extent, the personality of the African-American today has been shaped by our desires to escape the memory of the slave experience, to deny its existence. We don’t want to talk about it. We don’t want to come to terms with it. We don’t want to re-experience it psychologically. And therefore, our lives become defined by eternal escape and avoidance of reality and of history and of knowledge of who we are and how we came to be who and what we are. And consequently, we cannot act upon the reality of our history and we therefore guide our behavior and define ourselves in terms of a fantasy as history, and a misinterpretation of reality.” – Dr. Amos Wilson

Having awareness of Black history through deep study as a Black man, I understand clearly that the force removal of Black men ‘intentional repression and causative premature medical mortalities’ has been and is an integral aspect of America’s institutional racism.

Regarding Black men on slave plantations, historians cite that Black men were constantly sold and relocated ‘removed’ from their families due to their high value. Historians also cite that Black male slaves were removed due to health-related deaths, citing that sixty-two percent of slave deaths occurred in the male population.

Indeed, Black male salve departures due to ‘sales and sicknesses’ left a prevalence of single mothers and children on plantations; male children were also frequently taken from slave mothers. When you look at the mass removal of Black men and boys from their families and communities today it’s no different from the days of our Ancestors enslavement.

Current research shows that in hundreds of predominantly Black neighborhoods in the U.S. there are only about three Black men for every five black women under age 65. This disproportionate gender imbalance reflects factors including mass incarceration and high mortality.

According to figures from the ‘Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Black males are imprisoned in state and federal facilities at six times the rate of white men, and about 25 times that of Black women. Regarding Black male youth ‘children’ research shows they are almost five times as likely as their white male peers to be held in juvenile facilities.

Many Blacks have been led to believe that the single biggest driver behind the absence of many Black men is mass incarceration, but this is not the case at all! According to Nina T. Harawa a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of California Los Angeles and the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, states that:

“A common, but misleading, narrative about the Black family is that it is broken - fractured by wayward and self-destructive Black men who have gone missing, either dead or in prison. This supposed breakdown of the Black family has been blamed for any number of ills, from high school dropout rates to entrenched poverty. The reality, however, is that while bullets, prison bars, and criminal injustice do pull too many men from the arms of their partners and children, Black men who “follow the rules,” hold a steady job, and advance from young adulthood into middle age will still face systemic threats to their health and wellbeing. Many chronic diseases hit Black men harder, younger, and more frequently than they do other groups. Homicide does not even crack the top eight causes of death for Black men in middle-age, but each year, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and diabetes collectively shave off nearly one and a half years of life for every 100 Black men under the age of 65 - more than twice their toll on White men.”

To Black women, many of you all raise the question where are the Black men at? Many of you all say they are in prison – dating or marrying white women. No! The main reason Black men are missing is because they are in the ‘cemetery’ due to dying prematurely ‘disproportionately’ from chronic diseases.

Studying our history as Black folks shows us clearly from past to present that the removal ‘absence’ of Black men from their families and communities has been due to the pathologies and deadliness of white racist oppression.

Black History Month: A Black Man's Oath

 

Black Men Are Dying More From Sleep Apnea

*Study finds racial disparities in sleep apnea mortality

By Ellen Goldbaum

A University of Buffalo (UB) study has found that over the past two decades, more Black men have been dying from obstructive sleep apnea than have white people or Black females. Their death from sleep apnea has continued to rise, in contrast to rates that have flattened for white people and Black females.

The study identifies for the first time this significant racial health disparity in mortality resulting from sleep apnea. It was published online in February in Sleep Medicine.

“Despite several epidemiologic studies focusing on the prevalence, risk factors and clinical presentations of sleep apnea, no study, to our knowledge, has evaluated the disparity of sleep apnea-related mortality among different racial groups,” says Yu-Che Lee, first author and a medical resident in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, who sees patients through the Catholic Health System. 

“We therefore brought up an idea to do the research discussing the difference of sleep apnea-related mortality and mortality trends from 1999 to 2019 between Black and white Americans.”

To conduct the study, the researchers examined sleep apnea-related mortality for the years 1999-2019 from the National Center for Health Statistics, provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sleep apnea is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder and has been associated with development of systemic hypertension, cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and abnormalities in glucose metabolism.

Lee and his colleagues found a steady increase in mortality from the years 1999 to 2008, but then the rates flattened for Black females and for white males and females. That flattening suggests that medical management and public health interventions have helped stabilize outcomes in these groups.

Black males were the only group that saw a continuous increase in mortality from sleep apnea for the 21 years of the study.

Truly Concerning

“Our study showed that Black men were the only demographic group to have a continuous sleep apnea mortality increase in the last 10 years, which is truly concerning,” Lee says.

A combination of factors, including compliance with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, likely contribute to this continuous increase in sleep apnea mortality among Black men, the researchers say.

“The literature suggests that compliance with CPAP is lower in patients who are Black, are of lower socioeconomic class and may have lower health literacy,” says M. Jeffery Mador, associate professor in the Department of Medicine in the Jacobs School and a study co-author, who sees patients through UBMD Internal Medicine.

“It is extremely likely that deaths occurred because the subjects were untreated or poorly compliant with therapy,” Mador continues. “CPAP therapy is highly effective and very few deaths, if any, would be expected if the subjects were adequately treated, followed and were able to use the therapy.”

He adds that clinicians may have opportunities to help. “We have noticed that there is room for improvement in terms of optimizing CPAP usage in our own patients who display the above factors,” he says.

Another striking finding in the study was what the researchers saw as “remarkable” geographic differences in mortality from sleep apnea. The highest age-adjusted mortality rates were seen in the Midwest for both genders in Black and white people, while the lowest mortality rates were seen among Black males in the West and Black females and white males and females in the Northeast.

Among states, the highest age-adjusted mortality rate from sleep apnea for Black people was recorded in Indiana, while Utah had the highest mortality rate for white people. New York had the lowest mortality rates for Black and white people.

An Underdiagnosed Problem

“Sleep apnea is relatively underdiagnosed in the general population, but this problem may be greater in Black patients,” Mador says.

“Even when diagnosed, successful treatment is lower in Black people than the general population,” he adds. “Untreated sleep apnea is associated with higher levels of hypertension, heart disease, stroke and diabetes, all of which are common in Black patients. Hopefully, increasing awareness and improving efficacy of treatment may lead to better health outcomes in this patient population.”

“This is the first study to demonstrate the disparities of sleep apnea-related mortality and different mortality trends between Black and white Americans,” Lee says. “These findings should give clinicians some insights into the problem to develop more tailored strategies and treatments to reduce racial disparities in outcomes from sleep apnea.”

Black Men Why Do Too Many Of Us Get Turned Against Each Other Through Crime And Violence?

 "Many of us turn to crime, stealing, gambling, prostitution. And some of us are used by the white overlords downtown to push dope in the Negro community among our own people. Unemployment and poverty have forced many of our people into a life of crime. But the real criminal is in the City Hall downtown, in the State House, and in the White House in Washington, D.C. The real criminal is the white liberal, the political hypocrite. And it is these legal crooks who pose as our friends, force us into a life of crime, and then use us to spread the white man’s evil vices in our community among our own people." - Malcolm X

Black Men Brief Thoughts on Discipline

I've learned that the words discipline, disciple, and discipleship have the same root meaning of being a student or a follower of some belief, philosophy, activity, method, etc.; of learning and ongoing follow-through; being devoted and determined.

I've also learned in life that we all engage in disciplines of different types and they are distinguished by what you prize, want to 'accomplish', and 'outcomes'.

Disciplines have direction 'forward or backward'; disciplines have qualities 'positive or negative'. For example, one person has a criminal discipline, while others have a writing, meditation, or exercising discipline.

Too often as Black men too many of us have socially acquired self-defeating, self-diseasing, and self-destructive disciplines. Too many Black men have a socialized 'oppression-maintaining' daily discipline of just gossiping, consuming, flossing, fronting, and entertaining; no discipline at all towards Black unity, healing, and self-determination.

Moreover, I've learned that one's discipline is driven by what one 'values'. We have to assess our disciplines: raising the questions are they truly 'important', beneficial, righteous, lasting, progressive, and worth the costs 'consequences'?

Yes, we have to keep in mind the relativity of disciplines and that they may require 'demand' change for new or added disciplines.

Black Men Let Us Stop Faking and Half-Baking

Black men too often we become 'fake artists' and 'busy body's' to ourselves, we believe saying something and engaging in insignificant things automatically means we really did something, thus too often we do a lot of talking and superficial actions not accomplishing much at all.

Action faking is the practice of confusing being busy with making actual progress towards an intended goal and often involves a lot of over-analyzing, planning, and stunting 'posturing', but very little meaningful and consistent actions.

Action faking involves participating in tasks that don't actually drive us towards accomplishments. Action faking is making yourself busy without making yourself accountable and productive; it is a self-deceptive form of procrastination. Too often New Year's resolutions become action-faking!

Black Men Running Our Lives Like A Good Business

"Black men way-way too many of us have run our lives like a bad business 'a lot of losses and very few profits'. Let us start taking care of personal good business, our lives profiting in the 'best' ways." - KenRaySun

"So what does it mean to run your life like a business? First and foremost, you should have a clear vision and mission for your personal life and how you want your relationships to be as well as a series of core values you aspire to live by. These assets alone can help you choose how and where to distribute your time, which in other words means it can serve as the deciding factor for what activities you choose to say yes and no to." - David Henzel