Last weekend, Closing the Gap in Health Care, Inc. and Project
Export of The Medical University Of South Carolina and South
Carolina State University sponsored Barbershop Talk -“How
to Improve Your Love Life” at Wesley United Methodist
Church in Johns Island, South Carolina. The pastor, Rev. Robin
Dease, set the tone of the men-only session and immediately
captured the brothers’ attention with her opening remarks
entitled “Don’t be the Carpenter of Your Own Coffin.”
The Reverend was very straight forward with her remarks that
she was tired of seeing young black men die because they did
not take care of their bodies. She also mentioned she was tired
of burying African American brothers whose deaths were caused
by poor life style and violent behavior. Rev. Dease closed with
the statement that God does not call us early; in too many instances
we are the “Carpenters of our Own Coffin.”
The other session speakers were Sabra Slaughter, PhD. who gave
his personal testimonial of how he came to discover his illness
and Rev. Robert Hooper who gave a very entertaining and enlightening
lecture on how to improve your relationship with your significant
other. My remarks addressed the myths and fears African American
men have about medicine – the kind of talk that goes on
in the barbershop – and the medical aspects of how to
improve your love life through awareness and treatment of health
issues such as diabetes, hypertension, prostate cancer, lack
of exercise, and violence. The three-hour “talk”
was filled with many questions and lots of laughter, but the
real star for the evening was Rev. Dease. Her comments were
powerful and as you can see from the title of this week’s
message, she certainly got my attention.
Thank you to Rev Dease, Dr. Slaughter, and Rev. Hooper and all
who attended. Remember, practice good health care and “Don’t
be the Carpenter of Your Own Coffin.”
I am Dr. Thaddeus John Bell --- Closing the Gap in Health Care.
