Black Health Self-Advocacy Guide Ebook

by Kenny Anderson

According to 2023 'Harris Poll' data, more than 70% of American adults feel the U.S. health care system is failing to meet their needs in at least one way.

The same healthcare system that most Americans are dissatisfied with, Blacks have to deal with the health system's long-standing structural racism.

Black men as a group we are probably the most marginalized and dissatisfied when it comes to the U.S. healthcare system failing us; our dissatisfaction has led to many of us being disconnected from the healthcare system. 

Black men we are more likely than other segments of the population to have undiagnosed or poorly managed chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes, cancers, heart disease) and to delay seeking medical care.

Due to the specific challenges that Blacks face in dealing with racism in the U.S. healthcare system, along with facing disproportionate chronic disease facilitating socioeconomic determinants deprivation, health self-advocacy for us is necessary!

My new eBook, "Black Health Self-Advocacy Guide" equips readers with the practical ‘user friendly’ knowledge and tools necessary to become informed, proactive advocates for their own health and to improve health in their communities.

Indeed, as Black men we must be the primary self-advocates for our own health, yes healthcare begins with us! We must address racial health disparities; studies show that Blacks suffer super-disproportionately from chronic diseases compared to Whites.

Black Health Self-Advocacy (BHSA) is necessary because governments on all levels (federal, state, county, local) and the private healthcare system have failed for decades to effectively reduce racial health disparities; failed to improve Blacks deplorable health status.

Black Health Self-Advocacy is driven by the belief that change ‘health equity’ in the general healthcare system and specific health improvement in our own communities will come primarily as a result of ‘strong advocacy’ and ‘self-capabilities’.

*Click on link below to purchase:

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Black Men Study Your Father!

Black men in studying our fathers we study ourselves! Due to genetics, fatherly upbringing, distorted Black male socialization, and the imposing chronic stress influence of white supremacy in many ways we are reincarnations of our fathers mentally, emotionally, physically, behaviorally, and socially – indeed often the apple does not fall far from the tree.

Often our fathers didn’t study their fathers, didn’t learn lessons like many of us haven’t. Many of us have carried on unquestioned limited and unhealthy traditions from our fathers. Yes, know the factors that killed our fathers. Black men studying our fathers is an act of loving them that offers both great insight and can save our lives.

Black Men To Gain Control Over Our Lives Critical Thinking Is A Must!

“The first one, which was critical and came before anything else, was knowledge of self. This was the freedom to be able to think for oneself.” – Malcolm X

“In choosing not to be a beast, I discovered my humanity. I became autodidactic, self-educated - a critical thinker.” – Stanley Tookie Williams

Black Men We Must Overcome Our Weaknesses

 “Black men our internal weaknesses and character flaws are factors in our ‘failures’, our weaknesses are not permanent and do not have to define who we are. If we honestly admit to our weaknesses; confront, criticize, and correct them they can be made 'right' into strengths. Yes, our strengths grows out of our weaknesses; we can’t fight the racism in this country and improve the messed up ‘unjust’ things in the world if our internal state is in a weak mess.” - CNK 

Black Men Our Sense of Over Self-Importance is 'Ego-Tripping'

 by KenRaySun

Becoming ‘wiser’ as a Black man over the years I had to confront my ‘ego’ sense of over self-importance.

 
I remember decades ago having a mature ‘grown man’ self-reflection scenario moment of 'humility' where my mind said to me peep this: you’re married with several children under 5 years old and you die. 

The wife you had will remarry and your children will eventually call her new husband ‘daddy’.

Let’s say he moved in the house you invested in and the cars you left’ - he’ll sleep and have sex in your bed and drive your vehicles. If he’s the same size as you he can wear all of the nice coats, clothes, suits, and shoes you left.

I realized coming out of that self-reflection moment I can be ‘replaced’ by death or divorce; and what you think you 'own' you ultimately don't!

 
I can also lose material things because of being fired or laid-off. I remember when I was a teenager a wise street Brother told me don’t ever say you’re out of work ‘unemployed’, because he said it’s always plenty of 'self-improvement' work to be done on yourself; he also told me to learn to live with self-worth from the 'inside out'.

 
Yes, out of that self-reflection moment I had a mindset ‘Black manhood priority’ self-development focus; a purposeful dedication shift of inner work of conscious raising, character development, cultural reclamation, and self-determination.

Black Men Are We Afraid To Pick Up The Self-Leadership Crown And Place It On Our Heads That Our Forefathers Already Paid For Through Their Tears, Sweat, Sacrifices, And Blood? The Honorable Marcus Garvey Boldly Wore The Plumed Crown Of Self-Determination For Us To See And Duplicate

 "So few of us can understand what it takes to make a man—the man who will never say die; the man who will never give up; the man who will never depend upon others to do for him what he ought to do for himself.; the man who will not blame God, who will not blame Nature, who will not blame Fate for his condition; but the man who will go out and make conditions to suit himself." - Marcus Garvey 

On Black Manhood

"Black men in our daily survival in racist America are we overcoming our fears or succumbing to our fears? Are we fighting for our 'Manhood', or are we in the fratricide, flight, or freeze mode?" - CNK

How Can We Be ‘HIM’ When ‘The’ Man Still Dominates Us?

“I'm really him, nigga” – Dame Dolla

“A random white man approaches a Black man who says don’t step to me, don’t you know I’m ‘HIM’, the white man responds no you’re just a ‘nigga' and fires a fatal gunshot.” - CNK

The term ‘HIM’ has been popularly used by Black Rappers; to be ‘HIM’ is to be a dominant figure. The term ‘HIM’ has spread to the sports world describing dominant athletes like Lebron James and Steph Curry.

Coach Deion Sanders ‘Prime Time’ the current head football coach at the University of Colorado has highlighted ‘HIM’ referring to his two-way phenomenal football player Travis Hunter.

For me as an ‘old-head’ when I hear ‘HIM’ it’s another term to express an older positive acknowledging phrase ‘YOU THE MAN’ that Black men would say to respect or praise each other. ‘YOU THE MAN’ was in contrast to saying ‘The Man’ which was a derogatory term for figures of oppressive authority ‘white male supremacy’. Being ‘HIM’ has become a more popular term especially among young Black males, more popular than saying ‘You THE MAN’.

Regarding the term ‘HIM’, I raise the question to us Black men are we really dominant ‘HIM’? Yes, Black men when it becomes to being stylish and trend-setting we are HIM! On the football and track fields we are HIM! On the basketball court and entertainment stages we are HIM! Preaching inside Black churches we are HIM! However Black men we are not HIM in our communities that are dominated economically by non-Black men – no they are ‘HIM’!

Overall Black men we can’t be ‘HIM’ when massive numbers of us are poor, unemployed, homeless, incarcerated, sickly, addicted to alcohol and drugs. Indeed, Black men we can’t really be ‘HIM’ when we don’t have the ‘power’ to control our lives – to be self-determined. We can self-deceptively say we’re ‘HIM’ but ‘The Man’ still controls us!

Oakland County Sheriff Kills Pontiac Black Man ‘Jaquan Fletcher’

When is the Sheriff’s Body Camera Footage Going to be Released? Will It Be Accurate?

“A hundred years ago the American white men used to put on a white sheet and use a bloodhound against Negroes. Today they have taken off the white sheet and put on police uniforms and traded in the bloodhounds for police dogs, and they're still doing the same thing.” – Malcolm X

“There isn’t really much dictating how law enforcement should edit their video if at all before publishing.” - Law Professor Gary Gibson

On August 18th a Pontiac Black man ‘Jacquan Fletcher’ was killed by an Oakland County Sheriff. The following is the official summary report provided by the Sheriff’s Department to the mainstream media outlets:

“The deputies say they approached the car on either side and attempted to make contact with the driver but were unsuccessful. Investigators say that's when the deputy on the driver's side opened the unlocked door to wake up the driver and saw a gun next to him. The deputy removed the gun and placed it on the roof of the car, telling the driver to place his hands behind his back. The deputies say the driver refused. That's when the deputy on the passenger side opened the door to help and watch the driver. Officials say the deputy partially entered the car to assist as the suspect was resisting and not following directions. The driver then put the car into gear and took off crashing into the patrol car, a curb and then a street sign. Sheriff Mike Bouchard says this all happened as the deputy on the passenger side was hanging out of the car.”

What we do know from this official version is Mr. Fletcher was asleep and did not have a gun in his hand. We also know the Sheriff on the passenger side fatally shot Fletcher. What was the Sheriff doing on the driver’s side? Did he try to stop Mr. Fletcher from the starting the vehicle? Did he try to grab the steering wheel. Could either Sheriff have first tried to pepper spray or taser Fletcher instead of using deadly force? From my perspective there were other options but the preferred method in dealing with a Black man is ‘shoot first’.

What we also know from the Sherrif’s official version is Mr. Fletcher is an ex-felon with a criminal background and currently on parole; this is the ‘criminalizing character assassination’ addition that’s used against Black men to justify their deaths. We know Mr. Fletcher is Black, he’s a 32-year-old father of five children that he loved. What we don’t know is any information on the Sheriff’s background who shot and killed Ferguson; is the Sherrif who killed him white? You see this is the double-standard of personal information exposure ‘unprotected vs. protected’.

Waiting on Sheriff Body Camera Footage

This post is written today September 5, 2023, Sheriff Bouchard told the media there was body camera footage of the incident, which they are working to review. Fletcher was killed by the Oakland Sheriff on August 18th which is 18 days ago almost 3 weeks. So when is the Sheriff’s body camera footage going to be released to the public?

As Black folks here in Pontiac and elsewhere around the country, can we really rely on police body cameras being ‘accurate’. As a community leader I’ve been involved locally along with Quincy Stewart in struggling against police racism specifically and against police harassment, brutality, and deadly use of force in general.

Based on over 30 years of struggling for police accountability along with extensive research I found that rarely is the footage of a police officer’s body camera that captures a fatal shooting is released to the public in a timely manner. Furthermore, I’ve questioned the accuracy of police body camera footage, according to California Western School of Law Professor Gary Gibson we cannot rely on this footage accuracy due to editing, he stated:

“There isn’t really much dictating how law enforcement should edit their video, if at all, before publishing. There’s some bare minimum laws; the departments can get away with just about whatever they choose to do as long as they’re acting within those bare minimum laws. The short answer is police can edit a video in any way they choose and not release sections they believe would compromise the investigation until a certain period of time has passed. When the time comes for a department to release video, law enforcement can put as many layers of voiceover and graphics as they want on body-worn camera footage as long as they aren’t manipulating the public’s view of what really happened. It’s perfectly permissible for the department to do that [edit footage]. Every individual community is going to have individual policies and procedures. For how law enforcement interprets this really depends on which agency you look to. The laws surrounding releasing or editing bodycam footage are ‘bare minimum’.”

Indeed, I don’t trust the accuracy of police camera footage, nor have I ever trusted that police want to provide real ‘transparency’, in fact the federal government does not want major police reform that includes transparency; federal legislators refuse to pass the ‘George Floyd Justice in Policing Act’ (GFJPA); national police organization are against GFJPA too.

Many government officials are against GFJPA because at the core of the Act are measures designed to remove barriers to holding law enforcement officers accountable for police brutality. These include addressing qualified immunity ‘the judge-made doctrine’ that has been interpreted by courts in ways that have created near-impunity for police officers engaged in unconstitutional policing.

GFJPA would be an amendment to the federal statute that would strengthen the ability of the Department of Justice to bring criminal civil rights actions against officers; along with a national database of sustained findings of serious police misconduct and a process for decertifying problem officers.

Black men what should be crystal clear is that the majority ‘mainly’ white politicians and police don’t want police transparency or reform; police want to continue to harass, brutalize, and kill Black men with impunity. Black men we have to accept that the racist killing of Black men is an intrinsic aspect of police culture in America.

Most importantly Black men we have to accept the ongoing responsibility of struggling against ‘totally unacceptable’ racist policing. Black men police killed Jacquan Fletcher and thousands more yesterday, it can be me or you killed by them tomorrow.

Black Men Must Answer The Questions Of Life

 Black men whether we realize it or not Life ‘living’ imposes questions on us: Why am I here? Who am I? Where am I? How am I? What am I doing? Answering ‘Life Questions’ is called ‘Responsibility’.

Black Boys Don't Get A Pass in Racist America

“There’s a false assumption that Black boys are valued and get a pass when they are small but this is not true; they are targeted in a racist manner just like adult Black men. Studies show as early as preschool Black boys are disproportionately expelled. From K – 12 Black boys are disproportionately placed in special education, overly prescribed psychotropic medications, suspended more from school, have more negative encounters with the police including death, and are super ‘overly’ placed in the juvenile justice system.” - CNK

“Black boys raised in America, even in the wealthiest families and living in some of the most well-to-do neighborhoods, still earn less in adulthood than white boys with similar backgrounds, according to a sweeping new study that traced the lives of millions of children. White boys who grow up rich are likely to remain that way. Black boys raised at the top, however, are more likely to become poor than to stay wealthy in their own adult households. Most white boys raised in wealthy families will stay rich or upper middle class as adults, but black boys raised in similarly rich households will not. “One of the most popular liberal post-racial ideas is the idea that the fundamental problem is class and not race, and clearly this study explodes that idea. But for whatever reason, we’re unwilling to stare racism in the face" said Ibram Kendi, a professor and director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University - EMILY BADGER, CLAIRE CAIN MILLER, ADAM PEARCE and KEVIN QUEALY

Black Men Claim Your Own Lives Instead of Other Peoples Property

There was a Rap Tune "OPP" by the group Naughty by Nature, OPP stood for "Other Peoples' Property". Unfortunately too many young adult Black males in gangs and clicks are claiming other peoples property; claiming public housing projects, apartment complexes, and streets that they don't own; killing, dying, and going to prison for 'Other Peoples' Property. What's unfortunate too is that Black communities have not taught so many young adult Black males to positively claim their own lives.

Black Men Face Many More Health Hurdles An Expert Discusses Why

By Steve Petrow 

Social epidemiologist Roland Thorpe Jr. is on a double mission: to improve the health and extend the life expectancy of Black men, and to do the same for himself since both of his grandfathers died prematurely from heart disease.

An expert in minority aging and men’s health, Thorpe is the principal investigator of the Black Men’s Health Project - a partnership of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Michigan State University created to call attention to the health crisis of Black men.

“Black men are hidden in plain sight,” Thorpe says. “I mean, we have the worst health profile. We have premature mortality, which means we die before the overwhelming majority of men do. We’re often in the media either being attacked by the police, or enduring other experiences from structural racism. There’s very little support that’s been given. The evidence is all in front of us, but there seems to be no particular people calling it out or moving to drive toward solutions.”

“Black men are hidden in plain sight,” social epidemiologist Roland Thorpe Jr. says. “I mean, we have the worst health profile. We have premature mortality, which means we die before the overwhelming majority of men do.” (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)

For instance, he says, when it comes to heart disease, Black men are 30 percent more likely to die than White men; for stroke, it’s 60 percent. And they are 75 percent less likely to have health insurance than White men. But numbers don’t tell the full story. Thorpe recently sat down with The Washington Post for an interview. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: You’ve spoken openly and personally about the fact that both of your grandfathers died of heart disease in their 60s. What’s the message embedded there?

A: A majority of Black men don’t get preventive care. They should establish a [relationship with] a primary care physician. Neither of my grandfathers were engaged in the health-care system. At the time they were coming through, they were pretty familiar with the public health service syphilis study at Tuskegee, and so I could probably understand why they didn’t go to doctors. [That notorious study was conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service starting in the 1930s and involved hundreds of Black men who were not informed about their disease and never offered any treatment, even after penicillin had become the drug of choice for syphilis in the early 1940s. After revelations about it, the study was canceled in 1972.]

Q: That study is infamous. Are things better now?

A: I think we’ve come a long way since then because there’s been some improvement within the health-care system in engaging Black men, like listening to them when they say they have concerns, and then engaging them in some shared decision-making about their health and health care. But we still have a ways to go.

Q: Are you referring to the still significant discrepancy between the average life expectancy for a Black man versus a White man?

A: Do I think we’ve gotten better and improved? I don’t think so. Prior to covid, we’ve extended life for Black men, absolutely. But on the flip side, [life expectancy for] everybody else is extended also. That means the gap hasn’t narrowed. Since covid, life expectancy for everyone has decreased with Black people experiencing a reduction twice as large as Whites.

Q: What other challenges do Black men face when it comes to their health?

A: A large part of that discrepancy is based on structural racism that Black men experience across all levels of socioeconomic status. Stress is one of the prominent pathways by which structural racism affects health. These accumulations of stress impact different physiologic systems that then lead to earlier onset of chronic conditions like hypertension and heart disease, which then contribute to our life expectancy being much shorter than White men.

Q: Police violence is also considered an aspect of structural racism. You’ve suggested previously that the police killings of Black men impact the health and well-being of other Black men.

A: Police brutality also contributes to the problem, and that’s linked to structural racism. I’m thinking about Rodney King and the most prominent one recently was George Floyd. There have been others, as well. Just to see another Black man die on TV, that’s very traumatic, and many [White] people don’t think of the trauma that Black men have endured, to have to even watch that. Black men have one of the most horrific health profiles, and we have few resources available to us to improve that, like dealing with that trauma.

Q: Do you mean witnessing these murders on TV increases Black men’s stress, leading to other health issues? Or that it increases Black people’s distrust of institutions in general, including medical institutions?

A: Both.

Q: How do you hope that the Black Men’s Health Project will help?

A: Our goal is to create awareness of Black men’s health, and the social and historical issues that Black men have faced that could possibly impact their health. One of the key things for us is to create a Black men’s health survey, to create a cohort to better understand their health trajectory. There is currently no study that focuses uniquely on the specific needs of Black men.

Q: When it comes to mental health issues, what disparities exist by race?

A: There are disparities by race, as it relates to mental health. But the disparity is a little trickier because Black men still fare worse because there’s [more of] a stigma associated with Black men saying they have mental problems. Typically, when Black men do go to the health-care system, and they try to express themselves, they feel like they’re not heard by their health-care providers.

Q: What can Black men, and those who love them, do now to try to improve their health?

A: If they don’t have a primary care physician, go establish one. That’s my number one thing, and then to understand what your basic numbers are. What is your blood pressure? What is your weight? What is your height? What is your hemoglobin A1C? What are your cholesterol levels? Understanding these numbers is very important. Then engage in preventive care practices. Get your PSA checked [a marker for prostate cancer]. When Black men do get diagnosed with prostate cancer, they are at more progressed stages than White men. That limits our treatment options. If we’d been in the preventive care system, some of this would’ve been picked up earlier, and we would have had an opportunity to have additional treatment options. As you might imagine, the chances of survival are higher. And know your family history. Is there a family history of diabetes, prostate cancer, breast cancer or hypertension? Knowing that information is very helpful and sharing it with your physician helps them, too.

Q: Let me get personal for a moment. How has your family history again, both of your grandfathers died of heart disease impacted how you take care of yourself?

A: My father also passed six years ago of uncontrolled hypertension that led to a stroke. I don’t want to be in that same situation. I have a primary care physician and I go to my appointments. I also have a dentist, podiatrist, audiologist, and optometrist. I share my family history with all of them. Those three men dying has really had an impression on me and me engaging in the health-care system. If my fingernail hurts a lot, I’ll go to the doctor.

***********************

*Black men have the highest mortality rate from cardiovascular disease at 245 per 100,000. Moreover Black men have the highest cancer death rate at 227.3 per 100,000.

Black Men Stop The Mean Mugging Glare And Start Greeting

"Black men we must be mindful when approaching and dealing with each other that we've been socialized to 'distrust' each other and we must 'self-check' this tendency." - CNK

“We Black men have a hard enough time in our own struggle for justice, and already have enough enemies as it is, to make the drastic mistake of attacking each other and adding more weight to an already unbearable load.” - Malcolm X

Older Black Men Dying Disproportionately After Surgery

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death." - Dr. King

"For decades millions of Black folks don’t trust the health care system in America, with good reason cause its racist! Too many Black folks go in the hospital and die after they get out.” - CNK

Health studies for decades have repeatedly shown that Black patients’ experiences with the U.S. health care system are worse than those of white patients at almost every stage, from infancy to geriatric care.

I remember as a child I would often hear older Blacks say that too many folks they knew had went in the hospital to have surgery then released and died within weeks; what they said was over 50 years ago, it was true then and its true now.

So it’s not surprising that Black patients have higher rates of post-surgical deaths across a wide range of surgical procedures. Moreover, the past several decades research has shown that Black patients in the United States tend to fare worse than their white counterparts do after undergoing major surgical procedures.

Studies have found 20–50 percent higher rates of mortality among Black patients, compared to white patients. A paper published in Pediatrics found that after surgery, Black children had greater odds than white children of developing complications such as sepsis, unplanned reintubation or reoperation, and severe bleeding. Black children also had a nearly 3.5 times higher chance of dying within 30 days of surgery.

Regarding Black males, Black men have a higher death rate within 30 days of surgery compared with any other subgroup of race and sex according to a study of adults in the United States published in The BMJ. This inequality in death rate was mainly observed for elective, or planned, surgeries, where the death rate for Black men was 50% higher than that of White men.

Happy Black Fathers Day

“Every day when a Black man wakes up he faces violent attacks or character assassination by white supremacy, by other non-Blacks, and by many Black men and women. So I salute Black men who under these daily relentless, stressful, and demoralizing attacks can still be responsible and good fathers.” - CNK

Black Men Let Us Stop Attacking Each Other!

 “We Black men have a hard enough time in our own struggle for justice, and already have enough enemies as it is, to make the drastic mistake of attacking each other and adding more weight to an already unbearable load.” - Malcolm X

Ebook: "Stanley Tookie Williams Redemption Basic Tenets"

My ebook "Stanley Tookie Williams Redemption Basic Tenets" is dedicated to the memory and redemption Legacy of Stanley ‘Tookie’ Williams. 

To transform himself Tookie engaged in a redemption process through self-discipline struggle to redeem himself from a Crips legacy of Black-on-Black self-hatred, self-defeat, self-destruction, fratricide, and community destruction.

By some accounts some 15,000 Black males in South Central Los Angeles have were murdered over a 30-year period (1970–2000) in gang warfare between the Crips and the Bloods.

Tookie also created the ‘Internet Project for Street Peace’ to reduce gang violence; he authored nine anti-gang books instructing youth how not to follow in his footsteps. In 2001 Tookie was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times and the Nobel Prize in literature four times; he is the only man in history to be nominated while imprisoned.

It is my belief that Tookie initially was wrongfully convicted ‘racist injustice’ and then intentionally executed in prison because of his self-transformation redemption and Black consciousness that made him a threat due to his positive transforming influence on all Black gangs.

The combination of a contempt and fearful attitude toward young, Black male gang members has resulted in families, communities, churches, schools, human service agencies, and municipalities neglecting their psycho-socioeconomic issues; wrongfully blaming them for all the woes in Black communities creating an 'us against them' scenario.

This disgust and phobia leads to stereotyping, scapegoating, ignoring, neglecting, and writing-off Black male gang members as Stanley Tookie Williams stated:

“The Black community generally was blind to its defiant youth creating increasingly aggressive street gangs. Mislabeled by some as a lost generation, we were instead forgotten prodigies who disappeared, children buried alive in a sandbox. We did what was necessary to exhume ourselves. Though we must share the blame, we were products of a culture that bastardized us.”

As a Black community whether we like it or not Black gangs ‘street organizations’ are integral parts of our communities consisting of Black male youth and young adults of our communities. They are influential albeit destructively, they should not be isolated but embraced; dialogued with and challenged; provided guidance and effective ‘relevant’ counseling.

*Click the link below to order ebook:

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Black Men's Love More Important Than Dollars

May is Mental Health Month: Black Men Check Your Thoughts Out

"As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"It is the presence of human consciousness that brings meaning into the world. And through our consciousness, we create the world we live in. In other words, the kind of world you exist in reflects the kind of consciousness that you have. And notice if you change your consciousness or change your values and orientation, you enter into a different world. You interact with different people. Social situations that you might not have even recognized until you entered into a new level of consciousness. For instance, you see people who become addicted to crack or something, entering into a whole world and social system that before they became addicted, they hardly noticed. They picked up new friends, new relations and whole new ways of acting. New purposes in life. They lost old friends, broke with old families. In other words, the addictive consciousness brought into the world a new foreground and put other things into the background. Therefore, man’s consciousness is a creative act, and the kind of consciousness you have will determine the kind of world you create. Consequently, when you look at the world we live in as African people, we must recognize to a great extent it is not a world of our own creation. It is a world that has been created by the kind of consciousness we have permitted to be instilled in us as a people." - Dr. Amos Wilson

Black Male Rappers Rapping About Killing Each Other is Normal and Super-Profitable

"Currently the Hip-Hop industry highly based primarily on Black male rappers homicidal 'fratricidal' lyrics which contributes $10 billion to the U.S. economy. Three white male led companies (Warner Records, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music Group) control around 90% of the depiction of Hip Hop." - CNK

"As beneficiary of more than five hundred years of slavery, I was left only scattered remnants of a broken culture. Exposed to a multitude of ambiguous, mostly negative influences, I would pass through my young life with cultural neglect and a profound identity crisis. Though I knew I was Black, I had no real perspective on being Black. I had absorbed the common negative Black stereotypes that eventually made me despise my Blackness. My cultural awareness was zero. I needed a complete Black history course and a thorough de-programming. I had been duped into believing that all Black people were inhuman and inferior, that we had made no contribution to the forward thrust of civilization. Negative Black stereotypes were broadcast or implied by the news media, magazines, institutions, televisions, newspapers, books, and every other medium you can think of. Not to mention the countless delusional Blacks I met who believed the myth of Black inferiority. Their contempt for their own Blackness was so dynamic; they had subconsciously stepped outside themselves to assimilate with any cultural group other than their own. Their dys-education was complete. The more I was indoctrinated by lies about my Blackness, the more I grew to detest myself." - Stanley Tookie Williams

Black Men Why Are We So Preoccupied With Black Male Professional Athletes?

"I recall reading that a Black male high-school baller had a 0.03 percent chance of making it into the NBA - I heard it was more like 0.001". - Charle Mudede

"Sports are among the few spaces in our society where Black males receive adoration and support, as opposed to stigma and exclusion." - Joseph Cooper

"Parents of Black male youth rated the pursuit of professional sports opportunity as 26% more important than White parents for their boys." - Project Play Survey

"With the massive numbers of Black men who are sick and dying prematurely from chronic diseases why are so many Blacks boys super-disproportionately pushed to pursue professional sports where their chances are extremely low and not careers in health care where their chances are higher and most needed?" - CNK

Black Male Repression Aint Anti-Democratic it’s White Supremacy the Ideology American Democracy is Founded On!

by Kenny Anderson

Recently when Tennessee Black male House Democrats Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were expelled by the racist Republican super-majority they said it was an anti-democratic expelling act.

I differ with them, I would describe their expulsion as 'BLACK MALE PERSECUTION' that's always been the repressive case under American democracy. Their white female protesting House member was not expelled by anti-democracy, democracy worked for her, but not y’all!

Black folks let us remember not forgetting that during Reconstruction the period immediately after slavery there were hundreds of Black male state legislatures in office throughout the South but they were expelled through racist Klan intimidation and violence.

I also differ with both Justins regarding the Republicans actions being anti-democratic that implies America as whole is a democracy. From my perspective based on historical facts America has always been a white supremacy 'Anti-Democratic Democracy' regarding Black folks as Malcolm X stated:

“And when I speak, I don't speak as a Democrat or a Republican, nor an American. I speak as a victim of America's so-called democracy. You and I have never seen democracy - all we've seen is hypocrisy. When we open our eyes today and look around America, we see America not through the eyes of someone who has enjoyed the fruits of Americanism. We see America through the eyes of someone who has been the victim of Americanism. We don't see any American dream. We've experienced only the American nightmare.”

American anti-democracy established in 1776 was founded on Black enslavement. Under the U.S. constitution Blacks were 'dehumanized' defined as 'chattel'. Of the first 18 U.S. presidents overseeing democracy 12 of them owned slaves.

From the beginning of democracy slavery lasted until 1865 a period of 89 years that extended and institutionalized the pre-democracy enslavement of Blacks since 1619 a period of 157 years that totals 246 years of Black enslavement.

Black folks if we add another 100 years that it took for Blacks to gain Civil Rights (1965) that's 346 years. Under American institutional racist 'Anti-Democratic Democracy' since 1776 we've only had so-called democracy and civil rights (1965) for 58 years.

Yes, we’ve only had voting rights and civil rights 14% of the time since being forced in this country 404 years ago. Yes, Black male repression existed in America before democracy, when democracy was established, and still continues under democracy to this day.

Yes, I support Justin Jones and Justin Pearson outspokenness and resistance exposing Black male political repression something millions of more Black men should be doing across the board.

Stanley Wilson Cause of Death Police Brutality

Another Black man Stanley Wilson Jr. death was due to the hands of police brutally beating him.

Pictures of Wilson Jr.’s body revealed the former NFL cornerback had abrasions on his head appearing to show he was either kicked or stomped by police. Other photos showed markings on his wrist that seemingly revealed he was in handcuffs at the time of the attack.

Stanley Wilson ex-NFL football player beaten to death by police.

Indeed, for any Black man in America young or old at anytime encountering the police can be a death sentence. For Black male survivors of racist police violence they are left with emotional distressing wounds of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

According to William A. Smith, a professor of ethnic studies and chair of the education, culture and society department at the University of Utah, has done extensive research on how trauma affects marginalized groups, especially Black people.

Smith coined the term “racial battle fatigue” to describe how continued acts of aggression or discrimination can lead to anxiety, stress and even health issues, he said:

“It’s a systemic race-related repetitive stress injury; it’s not a post-traumatic stress disorder or injury because we’re not in a post-racist society. It’s something we have to deal with every day.”

Rufus Tony Spann, a licensed professional counselor says "trauma doesn’t leave you," "So a lot of times we may say PTSD thinking that it’s post-trauma, but for many people, it could be continuous trauma," he said. "And a continuous trauma is that I experienced an actual event that either has shocked me, it has changed my thought process or instilled fear in me."

Not only does racist police violence produce continuing traumatic impact on Black men specifically, it also impacts on Black folks in general. A 2018 study found that Black people experienced days of poor mental health over a three-month period after a police killing of an unarmed Black person in their state.

Black Men: Some Thoughts on Black Distracted Love

 by Kenny Anderson

It is no secret that for decades now Black male/female relationships have been troubling and failing. From my perspective much of this trouble and failure is primarily due to unidentified and unaddressed negative undermining mental-emotional issues.

Instead of making a serious commitment to address these internal negative mental-emotional issues first way too many Black men and women get involved in relationships as a 'distraction' to escape necessary self-correction and self-improvement.

Too often in distraction relationship Black men and women don't ask themselves the following questions:

*Am I in this relationship because I'm afraid of being alone?

*Am I in this relationship because selfishly I want to be with someone at all costs?

*Am I in this relationship so I can be the focus of 'attention'.

*Am I in this relationship because there's a void in my life or something in me I'm avoiding to deal with?

*Am I bringing negative emotional energy baggage into the relationship?

*Am I seeking a relationship for someone else to make me happy?

Indeed, these self-questions are unhealthy reasons to be in a relationship and will surely cause problems!

The more you need to avoid dealing with your own inner problems the more you need to be distracted 'focus on the other person' and this will lead to relationship problems: Your partner may become possessive constantly wanting 'expecting' to see you; calling or texting you all the time; demanding your attention, response, and time.

If you can't 'deliver' meet their attention requirements this will become stressful; and this will lead to them being suspicious, disappointed, and dissatisfied; ending the relationship on to the next diversion person.

From my perspective love begins with 'self-love' that comes as a result of self-knowledge and self-healing, without this prerequisite mental-emotional awareness and curing process then looking for love 'being in a relationship' with someone else is too often driven by distraction.

America's Longest War is Against the Black Men Who Live in This Country

America's longest military conflict was not the 20 year war against Afghanistan 'The Taliban', indeed America's longest running war is the over 400 year old domestic racist war against Black men!