Henrietta Lacks: The Most Influential Person in Medicine

Thanks to social media, Black History Month has become more engaging and has uncovered stories that you probably never learned in grade school. Just last week one of my connections shared the following story about Henrietta Lacks on their timeline.  

*The following appeared on Facebook and edited for clarity

Lacks was a Black tobacco farmer from southern Virginia who was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She died in 1951 at the age of  31. 

Holistic Care vs Conventional Medicine

(Kelarius Finex)

The holistic health profession is on the rise. Many Americans are seeking out holistic and spiritual healers as an alternative to cure their ailments without subjecting their bodies to possible side effects from prescription drugs and going under the knife on the operating table. But how do you know when it's time to seek conventional medical care vs holistic care?

In the ninth episode of Better Said Than Written, I had an opportunity to sit down with Holistic Health Practitioner, Kelarius Finex*, to discuss the benefits of holistic care and knowing when to seek medical treatment. 

Click the blue play button to take a listen …




Podcast Details:

25 to Life: Take 3

William Brawner, the main character in the documentary 25 to Life, built up the courage to share his HIV status on a local radio program after keeping it hidden for 25 years. The documentary showed how friends, family members and female sex partners felt betrayed. 

William Brawner & his wife

To Brawner’s benefit, he has a solid support system from some dear friends and family members, which includes his mother, as well as his loving and supportive wife, who is not infected with the virus. 

Some people who are HIV positive are not as fortunate as Brawner, especially when it comes to a place to lay their heads in a home of their own. 

25 to Life: Take 2

The documentary 25 to Life, which made my list of ‘Films of Color’ to see, tackles the importance of keeping the conversation of HIV and AIDS on the table. 

There are still misconceptions surrounding HIV/AIDS. People young and old seem to believe that there is a cure for the virus and that it is a Gay man’s disease. Society forgot that the virus can be contracted through unprotected sex, intravenous needles, and in William Brawner’s case - who is the star of 25 to Life -  a blood transfusion, which he received back in the 1980s.

Surprisingly the film wasn’t just about Brawner dealing with life after revealing his HIV status to friends, family and casual sex partners after 25 years of keeping his diagnosis a secret. At some point of the movie the HIV story was overshadowed by several issues that plagues Black American culture. Fatherless sons, how to be a man, promiscuity and denial were the main topics that stuck out to me. 

25 to Life: Part 1

In the recent post of 'Films of Color', I mentioned a few films that were created, directed, and produced by people of color. 25 to Life is one of the films that made the list. The documentary about this young man who built up the courage to stop hiding his status of of being HIV positive has stuck with me ever since I walked out of that theater. (Movie trailer and a word from the producer below)