Securing the Right To HealthCare and Well Being

I initially met Peter Stanford, MPH, PA-C at a State of the Black Union conference in Easton Maryland in September of 2006. He spoke on the topic , "Securing the Right to Health Care and Well Being", the topic he addressed on this week's Called2Action radio program.

We cited a number of statistics that shows Af-Am suffer from all kinds of illnesses more than their counterparts.

On this week's Called2Action program we discussed a few solutions --- exercising daily, eating fruits daily, stop smoking, encourage health agencies to capture statistics locally that shows racial and gender differences. For additional information read the chapter by the same name in the book, The Covenant, or email my brother at pmstanford@umes.edu.

Blacks Working In Predominantly White Work Environments

Jason Newton, formerly of CBS affiliate Channel 16 was my guest on April 22, 2007 Called2Action program. We had a good discussion on the subject matter. Jason was the news anchor on Channel 16. He did a super job in this capacity, but after a short stint he is no longer there. We talked about the challenges African American encounter while working in a White environment, in light of the fact that our cultures are different.

Jason was a gentleman in his approach to the subject matter, essentially he said, --- in my own words, --- money makes the world go 'round. We must be exceptional in what we do.

Towards a Better Understanding of Our Haitian Brothers and Sisters

Messrs. Habaki Payte, Fritz Jeudy, and Antoine LaGuerre, brothers that grew up in Haiti and now live in Salisbury, Maryland were my guest on Called2Action this week. We discussed Haiti's historical leadership role in liberating the oppressed. Haiti served as a model for the world. Today she pays a price for that. She is in economic distress; arguably the most improvished county in the Western Hemisphere. One caller felt that America is behind it. I asked the question of the role of self centered dictators of its past in this dismal economic straits.
Coming into this land of the free and the brave has brought with it many challenges and an integral part is the language barrier. We will continue the discussion in a few weeks. I am particularly interested in hearing more about this.

The Little Rock 9, Their Efforts and the Contemporary Impact

David Miller Sr., a member of the 101st Airborne Unit that was deployed by President Eisenhower to bring peace to a turbulent situation as 9 Black Student attempted to enter Central High School, was my guest this weekend (April 8, 2007). ARTICLE TO BE COMPLETED.

Are Coaches Exploiting Our Kids?

Adhim Deaveaux joined me from Mount Vernon, New York on our April 1, 2007 program. Below is a summary of our discussion.

Many coaches are more concerned with money than the welfare of our children. The attitude is to win at all cost. Coaches are more concerned with winning records than they are concerned about the welfare of their players. The stories of several functionally illiterate professional football players were discussed, i.e. Dexter Manley. A discussion pursued on how Dexter Manley and other players achieved their social status, while not being able to read. Our community cherishes the high scorer, though he/she may not be able to read. The dropout rate of several colleges was shared, i.e. Ohio State University has one of the highest dropout rates of any university in the nation. University of Maryland also has a high dropout rate. Solutions: We must “called out” coaches that are not tracking kids grades, and school behavior. Playing sports must be a means to an end. The end is to be properly educated. So what if you make 40 million dollars, but you cannot read nor write. Because this mis-educating begins at an early point in kids lives, parents must be involved in holding the schools (coaches accountable).

Continuing The Discussion on Building Wealth

We continue to tackle wealth building. Mark Townsend, a young brother that resides in Salisbury, Maryland joined me. We focused on 1) repairing credit and 2) homeownership. Many of our people still continue to struggle financially by limiting themselves financially. We stressed the importance of credit repair and talked about how to go about addressing this malady. Knowing your credit score is important. We also discussed steps to homeowership.