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10/21/2026

A few days ago I posted a clip of D.L. Hughley talking about whether men are actually happy.

I expected people to relate to it.

I did NOT expect the response we got.

Thousands of people watched it, but what stayed with me were the comments from men saying some version of the same thing:

Nobody really asks us.

As long as we’re working, providing, taking care of our families, handling problems and doing what people expect us to do, everybody assumes we’re okay.

Then I watched this conversation between Ryan Clark and BigXthaPlug on The Pivot.

Ryan asks him a simple question:

“How are you doing?”

And when BigX really starts answering, the conversation goes somewhere much deeper. He talks about being alone, spending money trying to feel something, crying in the shower, getting high, therapy and trying to find peace even while experiencing success most people dream about.

I’m not diagnosing him. I’m listening to what this man said about his own life.

And after watching this and then reading what so many men wrote under the D.L. Hughley video, I think there is a much larger conversation sitting right in front of us.

A lot of men know what it feels like to be needed.

That does not necessarily mean they feel cared for.

So I hope D.L. Hughley keeps having these conversations. I hope Ryan Clark and The Pivot keep asking men questions like this. And I hope people like Dr. Jay Barnett and organizations like Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi continue creating spaces where men can have these conversations without feeling like they have to perform strength every second of the day.

And if there is anything Minority Health Partners can do to help facilitate, amplify or create more of these conversations, I’m willing to help.

I don’t have the reach some of these men and organizations have. But I have a platform, I have a community that is clearly responding to this, and I believe this conversation is worth continuing.

So let me ask again.

Men, how are you doing?

Not work. Not the kids. Not the bills. Not what everybody else needs from you.

How are YOU doing?

For real.

Original conversation: The Pivot Podcast

10/19/2026

D.L. Hughley said something that really hit me because I knew exactly what he meant.

A lot of men spend years working, providing, handling responsibilities and making sure everybody else is okay.

But how often do we stop and ask ourselves a different question:

Am I actually happy?

I know I’ve felt this.

You can be responsible. Successful. Taking care of your family. Doing everything you’re supposed to do.

And still never really stop to think about how you feel about your own life.

So fellas, I want to hear from you.

Have you ever felt like so much of your value was tied to what you could provide, accomplish or do for everybody else that you barely thought about your own happiness?

And ladies, send this to a man you care about and ask him.

Not “Are you okay?”

Ask him, “Are you happy?”

I’m really curious what we can learn from each other on this one.

10/16/2026

More than 100 years after most of America’s Black medical schools disappeared, another one is being built.

Xavier University of Louisiana and Ochsner Health have received preliminary accreditation for the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, which means they can begin recruiting their first medical school class for 2027.

When that class arrives, Xavier will become the fifth historically Black MD-granting medical school in the country.

And there’s a much bigger history behind why that matters.

Around the time of the 1910 Flexner Report, seven Black medical schools were still operating. Only Howard and Meharry ultimately remained.

Today, Black Americans make up roughly 14% of the U.S. population but only around 5% of physicians.

So this isn’t just another university adding another program.

It’s part of rebuilding a physician pipeline that was dramatically narrowed more than a century ago.

And in Louisiana, where most parishes are designated health professional shortage areas, adding more physicians has the potential to benefit communities far beyond Xavier’s campus.

More doctors. More opportunity. More access to care.

That benefits all of us.

10/14/2026

Sometimes celebrity health stories remind us how little fame, money or success can protect any of us from getting sick.

T-Boz is still recovering from another sickle cell crisis.

Nivea recently shared that her chronic myeloid leukemia is in remission after undergoing treatment that included participation in a clinical trial.

And Jackson Jordan, the 27-year-old son of Charrisse Jackson-Jordan, was diagnosed with colon cancer after noticing blood in his stool and changes in his bowel habits. He admitted that fear played a role in putting off getting checked.

Different lives. Different diagnoses. But a lot of what they experienced is incredibly human.

Living with a chronic condition. Being afraid of what a doctor might tell you. Trying to understand treatment options. Watching someone you love go through something you never expected.

That’s why we keep having these conversations.

Sometimes hearing somebody else’s story teaches us something, gets us to ask a question, or reminds us to pay attention to something we’ve been ignoring.

We’re all learning together.

Breast cancer awareness has to go deeper than pink ribbons.One of the hardest truths in American health care is that Bla...
10/13/2026

Breast cancer awareness has to go deeper than pink ribbons.

One of the hardest truths in American health care is that Black women face worse breast cancer outcomes, even when overall incidence is not higher. That means this is not just about awareness. It is also about access, trust, quality of care, early detection, follow-up, and being taken seriously when something feels wrong.

That is why these conversations matter.

If you have been putting off a screening, if you have noticed a change, or if breast cancer runs in your family, let this be your reminder to pay attention and follow up.

And if you love somebody going through this, support matters too.

We are all learning together.

10/13/2026

Since today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I wanted to talk about something I don’t think most of us were ever taught.

You’ve probably heard someone say Native Americans get “free healthcare.”

But that leaves out a huge part of the story.

The Indian Health Service grew out of the relationship between Tribal Nations and the federal government, including treaties, federal laws and responsibilities the United States took on generations ago.

So this wasn’t simply the government deciding to give somebody a free benefit.

And even with that responsibility, major health gaps remain. In 2024, life expectancy for non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native people was 71.1 years, compared with 78.9 years for non-Hispanic White Americans.

That’s nearly eight years.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day gives us a chance to learn some of the history, but also to understand how that history can still show up in healthcare today.

I didn’t know all of this either.

We’re all learning together.

Sources: Indian Health Service; CDC/NCHS

10/09/2026

I’ve been reading the comments under my posts about Nolan Wells, and at some point the conversation became about something much bigger than what happened that night.

It became about how quickly we stop seeing people as human beings when race, grief and disagreement enter the conversation.

You can believe Nolan drowned.

You can believe the young men with him were unfairly accused.

You can believe his family still deserves answers.

Those thoughts do not cancel each other out.

Investigation is not accusation. Transparency is not prosecution.

And justice does not always mean somebody has to go to jail.

Sometimes justice is finding answers. Sometimes it is clearing people who were wrongly suspected. Sometimes it is helping a family find enough peace to move forward. And sometimes it is learning something that keeps another family from experiencing the same tragedy.

What I cannot understand is how quickly disagreement turns into “you people,” 13/63, crime statistics and sweeping judgments about Black people as a group.

That is not healthy disagreement.

We can ask hard questions without abandoning evidence.

We can defend innocent people without abandoning empathy.

And we can disagree without abandoning each other’s humanity.

10/07/2026

If you grew up in the 80s and 90s like I did, Freddie Jackson was probably part of the soundtrack.

Saturday morning cleaning. Riding in the car with your mom. Family gatherings. Somewhere along the way, you were going to hear “You Are My Lady,” “Rock Me Tonight,” or another Freddie Jackson classic.

Freddie Jackson died this week at 70 years old.

His family has not announced a cause of death, and I want to be very clear that I am not suggesting kidney disease caused his death.

But in 2024, Freddie publicly shared that he had kidney disease and chose to use his platform to encourage other people to pay attention to their kidney health.

That message matters.

About 22% of Black adults in the U.S. have chronic kidney disease, compared with about 13% of White adults. And most adults living with chronic kidney disease do not know they have it.

Kidney disease can progress quietly.

So while we celebrate Freddie Jackson’s music and the memories attached to it, maybe we should also listen to something he wanted us to hear while he was still here.

Know your blood pressure. Know your diabetes risk. And ask about your kidney function, especially if you are at increased risk.

Rest in peace, Freddie Jackson.

10/05/2026

Can you love becoming a mother and still struggle with what motherhood and aging have changed about you?

Dr. Melissa Valle recently got emotional during a conversation with her husband, Marc Lamont Hill, while talking about having a child in her 40s, aging, beauty, and how differently she sees herself now.

One line especially caught people’s attention:

“I feel like I gave up my beauty.”

A lot of people immediately responded by telling her she’s still beautiful.

And she is.

But I think that misses part of what she was trying to express.

Sometimes someone else telling you that you look good doesn’t change what you feel when you look in the mirror and don’t completely recognize yourself.

Motherhood can bring enormous joy while also changing your body, your time, your freedom, your identity, and the way you experience yourself as a woman.

Those feelings can exist together.

Acknowledging what changed doesn’t mean you regret becoming a mother.

Mothers, I’m curious: did motherhood or aging ever change the way you saw yourself? And did you feel like you were allowed to talk about that honestly?

10/03/2026

I went to Oakland looking for Black Panther history and kept finding another story that many of us were never taught.

Healthcare.

Free clinics. Sickle-cell testing. Free breakfast programs. Ambulance services. Education, food and other programs built around helping communities survive.

I visited some of the places connected to that history, including St. Augustine’s, 1048 Peralta Street, the Black Panther Party Museum, the West Oakland Mural Project and the Huey P. Newton memorial.

This is the under-three-minute version, which meant leaving a LOT out.

If this catches your attention, the full 9:44 extended film is already here on our page and goes much deeper into the history, documents and places I found in Oakland.

And once again, thank you to the Oakland residents who shared local knowledge with me, Jilchristina Vest and the West Oakland Mural Project / Museum @ The Mural, and the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation and Black Panther Party Museum for helping preserve this history.

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