The Greatest:
- Institutional Risks to the Survival
of Black Americans
- Professionals Who Provide Risky
Assistance
- How to find the truth & minimize your risks
- Why Examine Black Life Now
- What to Do Now
Gone are the days when you can trust companies (employers as
well as manufacturers), institutions (schools, hospitals) and the government to do what's
right.
As a matter of fact, AAtherapists.com after taking a close
look at some of the complaints of our people, feel that there is NO institution that we
know of that you can trust.
You will need to open your mind and pay close attention to the recommendations and
intentions of the organizations on which you are dependent. Be resourceful. Ask questions
and gather information from independent sources and make decisions based on as much
information as you can find. Look at opposing opinions and find what seems like the truth
for yourself.
Even Some Professionals Provide Risky Advice
Unfortunately, it seems that there is no profession, including doctors, ministers, lawyers and teachers, that you can trust blindly. The loss of morals in the quest for money has pretty much corrupted our society. People will often tell us anything now if they think it will be to their advantage.
We are constantly hearing
stories about abuses of patient, parent and student confidences by those we've been
brought up to trust. It's not that you must be paranoid (don't be afraid of being called
that), you must be aware.
Minimize Your Risks
Our job
as AAtherapists is to help you find the truth, not to determine it for you. We
want to expose you to as much information as we can. Direct you towards it. Let you make
up your mind. Let you look further and see where your questions about life,
relationships, your world, take you. See where the answers lead you. And know that God
will help you make good decisions as you begin to change things in your life.
Why Examine Our Lives Now?
Why do we each need to pay attention? We are at the point that our survival depends on it. Perhaps it's a coincidence that Black Americans have not changed their poor health status, rate of imprisonment or wealth status in 100 years. How could it simply be a coincidence that?:
- Black males have the highest rate of prostate cancer of any group
- Black females have the highest death rate from breast cancer
- Black women lead all other segments of the population in HIV infection rates. (We are 125X more likely to be infected than white women & live half as long from it.)
- Our children, who we know are incredibly bright, fail in education with an illiteracy rate of over 50%
- Have a record number of children diagnosed with ADD/hyperactivity
- We have the highest rate of hypertension
- Have more males unemployed now than 16 years ago
- We have the highest divorce rate
- We're second only to Native Americans in diabetes and probably also in death from alcoholism.
- Have epidemic levels of depression and Post Traumatic Stress much of which is the result of chronic exposure to racism.
What To Do Now
Whether it's intentional or not, following the American way of life means death for us, unless we wake up, seek information and make informed choices, even about everyday things. For example, do you know what's in that hamburger you feed your kids at the local fast food place? Why not? We must use our native intelligence, common sense and cautious intuition to:
- Follow a path of enlightened parenting
- Take care of ourselves, really!
- Make careful food selections
- Seek out trustworthy healthcare providers
- Find proven education providers.
Nearly every aspect of our social culture promotes work, health, educational and self-esteem "truths" that are not valid for us black folks. When something doesn't work for you, there is a reason. It's not that you're incompetent.