Full Description
Historical, sociological, and ecological analyses reveal that the health of a people is broadly determined by the strength, resilience, and vitality of their culture. The destructive effects of oppression and exploitation on health linger and are difficult to transcend when systemic attacks on the institutional stability of a people persist. Normative cultural destabilization produces added and abnormal challenges to the health status of African Americans. The pursuit of health becomes both a goal and a tool of liberation. Better health builds and releases mental, physical, and spiritual energy that can be directed toward achieving empowerment and development. The process of self-consciously pursuing better health attacks the fundamental mechanisms of cultural exploitation and oppression by serving to dismantle colonial-like relationships of dependency.
Contents
Introduction
Emancipation of the Roots of Health
Race and Culture Contact and the Equilibrium of Health
Antebellum Life and Health
The Challenges of Post-Slavery Rural and Urban Life
Folk, Popular, and Alternative Health Practices
An Extended Look at Alternative African-American Health Practices
Racism, the Medical-Industrial Complex, and Post Industrialism
Contemporary Challenges to Health: Toward a Wholistic Theory
Strategies for Change: Community Action and Public Policy
Selected Bibliography
Index
