The Friendship Prayer

A Triangular Affair

Being a third wheel in a love triangle is no way to roll. It’s geometrically unbalanced and physically unsafe.

Ernie Davis: The Fast Track to History

Ernie Davis was one of the fastest and best running backs to ever play college football. Experiencing racial hatred on the field along the way, he led Syracuse to its first national championship in 1961. Davis was the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. He was also the first to be drafted first in an NFL draft. His career and life were cut short by Leukemia. Davis is remembered as a player who lived his life with dignity, grace and compassion. He took the fast track to into NFL history. Even though he never ran a yard in a professional game, the Cleveland Browns honored him by retiring his number. His story is told in the movie The Express: The Ernie Davis Story.

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Communication: On The Road To Love

On the path to relationships the importance of good communication cannot be over-stated.Whether we choose to go a new route with someone we have chemistry with or an old one with someone we have history with, learning to be a better communicator will guide us to happiness on the road to love......

House Family Memorial Tribute

Every person reading this blog has a relative who has died, who is dying or who will die unnecessarily from a dietary related illness. In many cases where our family members have died, many of the deaths were preventable. In many of the cases where our family members are dying now, many of the deaths are still preventable. In many of the future cases where our family members will die, many of the deaths will be preventable. It's unfortunate, but too many African Americans with and without dietary related illness, are feeding their mouth with one hand, while digging their grave with the other.

As you view this memorial tribute, I ask that you keep in mind just how much these illnesses have affected all of our lives. How much they have torn away at the fabric of our families, destroying the health of our parents and grandparents, of husbands and wives, of sisters and brothers and sons and daughters. This short tribute follows the long journey from the places where some of my relative's lives ended to the places they were laid to rest.

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George Washington Carver: From Slave to Scientist

George Washington Carver was born a slave in Missouri. A year after his birth, the emancipation proclamation ended slavery. At liberty to pursue a formal education, he enrolled at Iowa College. He was the first African American to do so. After receiving a Master of Science degree in bacterial botany, Carver went on to discover over 300 uses for the peanut and over 100 for sweet potatoes. One of his more timely discoveries was his development of the crop rotation method. In the early 1900's soil was being depleted by the continual planting of cotton and tobacco crops. Carver’s valuable technique prevented further depletion and helped the economic recovery of the South. During a time when the efforts toward farming by Black men was all physical, Carver’s used his intelligence as a scientist to prove that African Americans had something more to offer.

Hail to the First Black Cardiologist: Dr. Daniel H. Williams

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams was a doctor of firsts at a time when Blacks were second class citizens. Amid the lack of opportunity for Negroes in the mid to late 1800’s Dr. Williams was the first African American Cardiologist. In 1893 he completed the first successful open heart surgery in the United States. He founded Provident Hospital in Chicago, the first non-segregated hospital in the United States.  He also co-founded the National Medical Association for African American doctors. Dr. Williams’ legacy was noted by Stevie Wonder in the song “Black Man” on the Songs in the Key of Life Album. Hail to the First Black Cardiologist!

Vivien Thomas: A Janitor's Journey

Vivien Thomas was an Amazing African American. Wait till you hear what he accomplished. He had no medical training or college education. Skilled as a carpenter, initially he was hired to perform janitorial work. While working in a medical lab at Vanderbilt University, he was allowed to assist a doctor with research. There, Thomas worked towards finding a way to treat Blue Baby Syndrome, a life threatening disease affecting infants. In 1944 after developing and perfecting a life-saving surgical procedure, Thomas guided Dr. Alfred Blalock, the very doctor that hired him, through the successful completion of the groundbreaking surgery. Because of his contribution to the field of medicine he was given an honorary doctorate degree. As the Instructor of Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical School, he trained surgeons at one of the best medical programs in the country.Starting out as a janitor with only a high school diploma his journey was quite an accomplishment. His inspiring story is told in the HBO movie, Something the Lord Made.

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Health: The True Treasure Of Life

                                                                                                                                                                  

It's a gem, a gift from God. It exceeds the worth of any amount of wealth. It's more beautiful than any person and is far more popular. There is nothing that we can do that doesn't require some aspect of it. It allows us to navigate the course of our lives, visually through our sight, mentally through our thoughts and physically through our movement. It allows us to form relationships with the people we love, vocally through our speech, audibly through our hearing and emotionally through our hearts. It's because of our health that we are able to experience the essence of our being.  Health, the true treasure of life, value it.