Minority Health Partners

09/08/2026

I’m bringing this conversation back for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month because it is still worth hearing.

I sat down in the barbershop with a man who has faced prostate cancer twice and asked him to talk honestly about what the experience was like, what he learned, and what he wants other men to understand.

For Black men especially, this conversation matters. We face a significantly higher risk of both developing and dying from prostate cancer.

Sometimes the most powerful health education does not come from a lecture. It comes from hearing somebody who has actually lived through it.

Watch the conversation, share it with a brother, father, uncle, friend, or anybody who needs to hear it.

Full interview on YouTube.

09/05/2026

Some history is different when you hear it from the people who actually lived it.

In this extended version of my visit to the former Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis, I had the chance to talk with residents of the building today who were actually born there when it was still a hospital.

They remembered growing up in St. Louis, what the hospital meant to the Black community, the fight to keep it open, its eventual closing, and the anger and unrest that surrounded that decision.

Homer G. Phillips was more than a building. For generations of Black families in St. Louis, it was part of their healthcare, their community, and their history.

This version is about nine minutes, but I wanted to share the conversations that could not fit into the shorter video.

Sometimes preserving history means letting people tell it in their own words.

If you remember Homer G. Phillips, or someone in your family was born, trained, worked, or received care there, I would especially love to hear your story.

09/03/2026

I’m willing to bet a lot of people have never heard this.

Older Black Americans are about twice as likely as older White Americans to have Alzheimer’s or another dementia.

And when you look at both race and gender, Black women carry the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

That deserves a much bigger conversation.

Not because I want us afraid of getting older, but because awareness changes what families pay attention to. It can mean talking about memory changes sooner, taking brain and heart health seriously, supporting caregivers, participating in research, and making sure Black families are represented when new treatments are developed.

Alzheimer’s has become personal for a lot of our families.

Has dementia touched yours?

💜 If you’re comfortable sharing, tell me in the comments.

09/03/2026

I’m willing to bet a lot of people have never heard this.

Older Black Americans are about twice as likely as older White Americans to have Alzheimer’s or another dementia.

And when you look at both race and gender, Black women carry the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

That deserves a much bigger conversation.

Not because I want us afraid of getting older, but because awareness changes what families pay attention to. It can mean talking about memory changes sooner, taking brain and heart health seriously, supporting caregivers, participating in research, and making sure Black families are represented when new treatments are developed.

Alzheimer’s has become personal for a lot of our families.

Has dementia touched yours?

💜 If you’re comfortable sharing, tell me in the comments.

09/03/2026

The FDA has approved a new pill for certain patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

In a large study, people taking Rasonque had a median survival of about 13 months, compared with about 7 months for people receiving standard chemotherapy.

That does NOT mean everybody taking the drug lived twice as long. Median survival is the midpoint of what happened across the group.

And with a cancer this difficult to treat, six additional months can mean another birthday, another holiday, and more time with family.

This isn’t a cure, and it isn’t for every person with pancreatic cancer. But for some patients who have already been through treatment, there is now another option.

09/01/2026

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and there’s a number Black men need to know.

We’re nearly 70% more likely than White men to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and about twice as likely to die from it.

That doesn’t mean panic. It means know your risk and know when to have the conversation.

For Black men, the American Cancer Society recommends starting the conversation about prostate cancer screening around age 45.

A PSA test is simply a blood test, and an elevated PSA does not automatically mean cancer. But it can give your doctor a reason to look more closely.

If you’re a Black man in your 40s and nobody has ever talked to you about prostate cancer screening, bring it up at your next appointment.

08/31/2026

I was leaving the gym today thinking about how much negative news we take in every single day. After a while, some of it starts to sit with you.

So for Mental Health Monday, I have two questions:

What’s one issue in the Black community that really gets to you — something where you find yourself thinking, “Somebody has to do something about this”?

And is there something you can do, even if it’s small?

For me, one answer became Minority Health Partners. I couldn’t fix the healthcare system, but I could help people understand it a little better.

Now I want to hear from you.

What issue weighs on you, and what could we actually do about it?

08/30/2026

08/28/2026

Older Black Americans are about twice as likely as older White Americans to have Alzheimer’s or another dementia.

My first question is simple: why?

Researchers are still trying to understand the answer. Some have been looking at heart health, access to care, chronic stress, neighborhood conditions and what people experience over a lifetime.

Now, some NIH-funded studies specifically trying to answer those questions have been terminated.

That’s what caught my attention. If one population is carrying a much heavier burden from a disease, studying that population specifically isn’t a weakness in the research. Sometimes that’s exactly how you figure out what’s going on.

This also connects directly to work I’m doing with Kappa Alpha Psi and the Alzheimer’s Association. We have a Divine Nine kickoff coming up in St. Louis in September and the Walk to End Alzheimer’s on October 31.

You do NOT have to be Greek to support us. If you’re in St. Louis and want the details, reach out.

08/26/2026

Something that stood out to me after Dolly Parton died is how many Black folks were genuinely mourning her.

And if you only knew Dolly as a country music icon, you might not immediately understand why.

But when you look at her life, it starts to make sense. Her connection to Whitney Houston, her literacy work through the Imagination Library, her support for healthcare and research, and the way she seemed to carry real respect for everyday people all crossed a lot of cultural lines.

So this video is just a small reflection on why Dolly meant something to so many people far outside of country music.