Too Busy for Himself
Darryl Fears of the Washington Post does a brilliant job of personalizing an important, disturbing trend in "His Last, Best Cause." Fears explores why African-American men suffer in disproportionate numbers from cancer, lung disease, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, AIDS and other illnesses. He humanizes the grim statistics through the story of Damu Smith, a warm-hearted community activist who was so busy helping others that he didn't take care of his own health. Fears' writing is compelling throughout the story as this description shows:
His hair had a soft sheen, having been freshly oiled and woven into small, braidlike twists by his beautician at the funeral home the night before. His unblemished skin was the brown of a honey graham cracker.
My thanks to Medill student Celeste Kennel-Shank for sharing this story.