Black community to discuss health

By Johnna Walker
Daily Forty-Niner

The mental and physical health of the black community will be analyzed Wednesday at Cal State Long Beach.

Dr. Alvin Poussaint, a psychiatry professor at Harvard University, and journalist Amy Alexander will be the featured speakers at the lecture at 1 p.m. in the University Student Union. The two recently wrote a book on health care, titled "Lay My Burden Down: Unraveling Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis Among African-Americans."

"This lecture is the beginning of an ongoing series of forums to contribute meaningfully to the university mission of providing a quality multicultural education, " said Dr. Maulana Karenga, chairman of the black studies department.

The two of them bring a personal dimension to their discussion, as both lost their younger brothers to suicide, Karenga said. The authors' research on causes of suicide in the black community will also be carried over into the discussion.

Destructive behavior and historical and social factors that have influenced the black community's involvement with health care will also be addressed, according to Karenga.   Other contemporary issues such as HIV cases, racism and poverty are also included in the book and will be part of the discussion.

"Those issues like racism and poverty play a big role. They make people more aware if a lot of stuff that we go through," said Sarah Fadamitan, a CSULB business major.

A closer look at programs and policies within the national health care system and its effect on the black community will also be given at the lecture. Some solutions will be touched upon during the presentation, which will be followed by a book signing at 3 p.m.

The lecture is being co-sponsored by the department of social work, the department of black studies and bookstore Education 2000.

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