Friday, July 15, 2022
By ohtadmin | on July 14, 2022
In other words, Black health matters. The disparities and inequalities of health and healthcare among Black Americans and people of color, as well as the underlying racism and biases that are well known in these communities that have led to this disparity, is well known and is well documented, and it requires though the continued drum beat, the continued knowledge that something must be done to create the environment, the knowledge that will empower our community to seek the change that it must to improve the healthcare and self care of black people and people of color in all areas and under all circumstances.
With everything else that we must pay attention to, special attention has to be paid to healthcare and the health disparities and inequities that we find in the black community on an ongoing basis. It is the bedrock of a community development and a community progress; this public concern and outrage, and in some cases unrest, has to be channeled in a way that the community, the black community in particular, and the nation of the United States pay attention and provide the kind of resources to solve this very critical problem.
This is why Carib News in this week’s issue is taking that on again, as we do in every issue, where we address health concerns, but there is a concentrated effort in this issue to bring to bear the attention that will help to prevent the tragedy that has impacted our community and to lead to some way of enabling wellness for everyone, to bring inspiration to everyone to live their best lives and to inspire everyone to work towards everyday goals of physical and mental health in our community. 
It is no secret that black Americans and people of color experience difficult and uneven access to healthcare, that in fact there are tremendous gaps in insurance coverage and in all of our communities there exists a lower quality of care. There are less medical research studies done in black communities and when these trials are conducted, in many instances, it’s not in the interest of the community but others.
The very establishment in our community of food, healthy food and health care, the social determinant of health is lacking, and the result is of course food insecurity and poor health outcomes.
We have to start the black health and wellness practice through education, and that education should start in the public school and go through the entire length of the school system in the country. For too long, the plight of black people has been believed to be the result of inferiority, when the need is essential education and a commitment to the comprehensive wellbeing of black Americans. 
Education is essential to undo the centuries of misinformation, of scientific racism and the continued ingrained health racism.  Apart from education, of course, there has to be a strong commitment to provide within the community, the kind of healthcare that is first class, the kind of healthcare that is sensitive to the needs of people of color, and the kind of healthcare that is in fact conducted by medical professionals who are people of color, so that the inequities of the past can be looked at and dealt with in a comprehensive way, rather than a patchwork solution.
Medical professionals from the same background of the community are critical and provide the kinds of sensitivity that will help to remove the racial misinformation and misconduct that is so prevalent in our communities. A comprehensive wellness program is needed that addresses the entire healthcare needs of the individual and the community, and it revolves around what the body needs to feel good. Some factors such as overall wellness include, of course, exercise, diet, stress management, all these elements can greatly impact the mental and physical health of an individual and community and has to be addressed in any program that we look at with respect to health and wellness care. 
We welcome the growing awareness that exists around the health and wellness of our community, the groups that are now organized around those issues, and individuals who have dedicated themselves to it;  we now must appeal to elected officials, institutions, corporate America and foundations, to come together and provide the resources and the atmosphere, and understanding how important this is to black and brown people, but also how important it is to the general wellbeing of the society.
No society can be half sick and half-healthy and expect to survive. And so health and wellness is critical for the national health of the country.
We must continue to be engaged in this important work of our health and wellness, the important work of existential survival and important work of our future; to be able to live a fuller, healthier, and more productive life we have to deal with the issue of health and wellness as it is in our community today and find a comprehensive and very timely solution.
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