My Brothers, as Men we are taught to be Warriors, Providers,Conquers and to Sacrifice. But when have we been taught to maintain our temple? We have been taught to hit the gym and make sure our outside are at their prime. But when have we been taught to keep our inner sanctuary as clean its stone exterior? For me, Never. I was taught like many of you that if anything happened, to “Walk It Off” or “You’ll Be Alright”. I recall spraining a finger playing football, and continuing playing with the opposite hand and breaking my ankle and having to walk without aid, up a giant flight of steps and then to the nurses office. But the time for that is over. Ill be alright is no longer an acceptable answer to many of the quarrels that happen within our bodies. We have no choice but to start taking care of ourselves, and sorry to break the news to you but Gram Grams gumbo will not fight Cancer by any means.

Black men lead American cases as the most diagnosed and most Cancer related deaths. This is unacceptable! We must do better if not for us. For our future Queens as well as future princes and princesses. This fallacy of the indestructible black man has to stop! Not now, but RIGHT NOW!

Here is a little story from my life, my dad is a Pastor of his own church as well as works a full time job, so needless to say he is pretty busy. One thing about my dad is he always visited the doctors office regularly. So flashback about nine months ago he goes to doctor for a routine check up, and he is referred to a specialist. Eh no big deal. So time goes by, the appointment for the specialist is never made, life goes on. Now fast forward to early March, dizzy spells set in, fatigue, but you know he is a very active 54 year old man so that does not come without it side affects. So he goes to the doctor and is immediately reserved a spot in a hospital because he has just been diagnosed with Leukemia. Boom. Just like that. Whole world changed. Now he was fortunate enough that they found a match for a blood marrow transplant is a local hospital, which for men of color is not always an easy task.

So back to my original point MEN we can no longer afford, to let our Pride stop us from seeking help. The price has gotten to high. We can no longer afford to say ‘Ill be alright. We can no longer afford, self-diagnosis. Why? Because WE can no longer afford to lose our black men. With every life battle loss, we lose a preacher, a teacher, a father, a mentor, a brother, a husband. If we are to be soldiers, then we must take every precaution to stay on this earth as long as we can. If you have insurance, USE IT. I know some of us dont, but then it is your responsibility to find free clinics to make sure your fire is not extinguished before it can heat the heart of another.

My Brothers, WE must love ourselves how God has love us in order to reach each and every personal mountaintop that we may have.

Hotep.