Do the Right Things

By Dr. Gloria Latimore-Peace

Presented by Omni-University

When American author and nutritionist, Adele Davis, observed that "Thousands upon thousands have studied disease, almost no one has studied health."[1], she was obviously unaware that, in addition to studying both health and disease , practicing a healthy life-style had been a way of life for the indigenous peoples of "America" including the Africans who "came before Columbus". [2] This holistic health tradition had been followed since the ancient era of ImHotep, the African  Founder of Medicine to whom Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine", took his oath. [3]

It is a travesty- but not a mystery- that the descendants of ImHotep  have become the majority of those who suffer most from every diagnosed disease especially those that are exacerbated by the COVID19 Virus. The  people who are most "at risk" during a pandemic or epidemic are known to be poor people and "people of color". However, because a substantial basis for distinguishing between these two groups is lacking, both  tend to reference the same people.   In clearer words, "At Risk" is the new Black.

It is essential ,at the outset, "to point out that "At Risk" is an acquired condition: Black people did not come into being as an "at risk" people, health- or otherwise. It is obvious that, had we originally been plagued by the kind of maladies that have been taking their tolls on us since the advent of the African Captive Trade, we would not have been its victims . It is inarguable that this "crime against humanity" was foisted on us  precisely because of the healthy condition of our African forebears, who were resilient enough to survive the "Middle Passage".

It was/is those experiences ,as well as the ancillary atrocities related to chattel slavery and the "new Jim Crow"[4], that create[d] our present "at-risk" condition. It is to this history of oppression that we owe the "underlying causes" that contribute to our vulnerability to all the ills of this society: medical, social, political, and economic. For these reasons, we must do all that we know and can learn to do to prevent the spread of COVID 19. Regardless of the choices that others make-- whether they are sheltering or partying; sanitizing or polluting; face-masking or face-touching; distancing or congregating; waiting or advocating; talking or walking the talk- it is our responsibility to do the right things, i.e., to do better because we know better. 

It is because of the the centuries-old epidemic of Racism, which is compounded by the COVID 19 Pandemic, that it should go without saying that: from whom much is taken much more is required. Formidable problems like these demand much more than a "pound of cure". Since the COVID 19 Pandemic and the Racism Epidemic  are equally life - threatening, drastic measures must be taken to remove these dual menaces to the survival of the "At Risk" community . 

The causes lying under the underlying causes must be unearthed and eradicated. Some of these have been previously identified in this and other H30 Art of Life Blogs and TV shows. Most, if not all, of these are related to the "high risk" factors that continue to plague us: Obesity; Hypertension; Type1 and Type2 Diabetes; weakened Immune Systems; Cancer, COPD; Chronic Kidney Disease; Sickle Cell Anemia, various Auto-immune Disorders and Heart conditions, et al. [5] Many, if not all, of these diseases are stress- and diet- related. [6]

An "At Risk" community  can neither afford to take additional risks nor to make ill-conceived dietary choices, such as: consuming dead meat; processed foods; artificially sweetened and junk "foods"; bovine by-products; and/or excessive salt, starches,etc. [7]

We are facing ominous challenges to our well-beingness. The difference between health and disease has been known to us from time immemorial. The ancient African tradition of Holistic health has been carried forward not only by our ANCESTORS Dr. Laila O. Africa, Dr. Roland J. Sidney and Dr. Alvenia Fulton but also by contemporaries such as, Queen Afua, Dr. Terry Mason  Dr. Elaine Ferguson, Dr. Shmuel Ben Israel  et al.  It's up to us to find the truth of heritage for [our]selves and pass it on..."[8]

It is incumbent upon the people who are deemed to be"At Risk", to take the lead toward preventing the risks to ourselves from becoming greater.  Our well-earned Civil Rights must be deployed to correct the un-Civil wrongs that continue to be committed against us. Ultimately, we must recognize that inalienable Human Rights are indispensable to Life, Liberty. and the Pursuit of happiness. Thus , exercising our Civil Rights must serve as a means to the ends of "freedom and justice for all". "Let us march on 'til victory is won!"[9]

Below, Please enjoy, "Holistic Health: DIY " an episode of "Omni-U Presents: The H3O/Art of Life" television show with Dr. Terry Mason.

Notes

1. Adele Davis (quoted in "The Sun Magazine".

2. Ivan Van Sertima, " They Came Before Columbus"

3. Jameson B. Hurry, " ImHotep: The Egyptian Father of Medicine"

4. Michelle Alexander, " The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness".

5. Elaine R. Ferguson, "Superhealing".

6. Ok cit, Ferguson

7. Laila O. Africa, " African Holistic Health".

8. Dr. Margaret T.G. Burroughs, " What Shall I Tell My Children...?"

9. James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson, " Lift Every Voice and Sing"