Stony The Road We Trod — Lifestyle Therapeutix

“Stony the road we trod, bitter the chast’ning rod

Felt in the days when hope unborn had died”

Each year as we acknowledge/celebrate Black History Month, my heart is pained at how much we as a people have been through. It’s been unbelievably hard…… And, the winds are foretelling a resurgence of something we thought was gone. Seems like only the laws have changed….,but definitely not the hearts.

That angst we’re feeling…….it’s affecting all of us.

Seems like the more we try the worse it feels.

And, I’m convinced that a large majority of the health conditions that are disproportionately higher among us are tied to that angst. It’s really hard to be well, when you’re constantly under attack and your spirit is breaking/broken.

My mind went to the recent loss of Dexter King. Sixty-two is young. He made a lot of really great health choices. I remember running into him in Atlanta at Whole Foods or Sevananda many years ago. Truth is, he and his family are survivors of a government complicit murder of their father/husband Martin Luther King, Jr., that they had to live out in front of the world. And, they continued to live and fight for his dream of equality in a country that fought them at every step. That has to take a toll on your body and spirit.

I’ve also been thinking about the recent suicide of Dr. Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey, PhD. I looked up some of her social media posts and discovered an amazing Black woman who poured into her people and was proud to be back at the HBCU that had poured into her. She reminded me of my own professors during my journey at my HBCU. Her dissertation was on the hardships that Black women face as they ascend the professional academic ladder. And, yet, she experienced exactly what she researched and it became too much for her to bear personally. Gone at 49.

And, that young man in Texas. The one with the loc’d hair, Darryl George. He is 18 years old and hasn’t been in his regular school class since August 31, 2023. Last week, a judge ordered that a trial be held to determine whether he can continue being punished for refusing to change his hair which is protected by a new state law. Superintendent Greg Poole said in an ad placed in the Houston Chronicle that “being an American requires conformity.” To whom, I would ask….to whom?

And, please don’t forget the increase in number of unnecessary deaths among black women giving birth in medical centers that don’t listen to their pleas and the pleas of their loved ones when they KNOW something is not right!! Even when you have money and great insurance. Thank God Serena didn’t take no for an answer. But, why do we have to always fight?

Seems like the progress is not what we thought it was going to actually be…..

“Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet

Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?”

According to a May 2023 article by Medical News Today on the health effects of racism,

“Research suggests that the stress that develops due to experiencing or witnessing racism can have long-lasting effects, increasing the risk of chronic disease and mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression in both children and adults.”

Yeah, so all the hypertension and and cardiovascular disease and diabetes and depression/anxiety and obesity and inflammation and drug use and poor sleep and cortisol dysregulation that BIPOC people experience ain’t just about how we eat and move. Our souls/spirits are woe out and we’re just trying to survive!!

Maybe, it’s time for us to do the work of healing our own wounded souls.

How, you may ask?

Come to Black Jesus. The one who created the world we read about in Genesis…..in that soil on the continent of Africa. That setting alone changes the whole dynamic about who we are. IJS.

Spend a lot more time with mental health professionals that can address our woundings and empower us. That means that our religious traditions may need an overhaul. Ain’t nothing wrong with claiming God’s promises for healing and believing Him to do what He said. But, we all seem to overlook the times when Jesus was on earth that he listened to the hearts of those who needed those miracles……Woman at the Well, Nicodemus by Night, Zaccheus, The Man at the Pool of Bethsaida, and The Men who Set Up The Woman in Adultery. He was touched with the feeling of their infirmities. He wanted their souls to be set free. He freed those who received it and empowered them. And, then he sent them back to their people….in their communities….to offer healing to them.

“God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,

Thou who has brought us thus far on the way

Thou who hast by thy might, let us into the light

Keep us forever in the path, we pray.”

He wants the same for us today. He sees us down here struggling. He wants us to prosper and be in health. He will do just what He said.

Happy Black History Month.

I’m Still Shoutin’ Ova Here.

Donna

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