February 20, 2025 • 12 mins
The journey toward health empowerment is deeply personal, filled with challenges, triumphs, and necessary conversations. Through sharing stories of cancer survival, chronic health issues, and the essential support of community, this episode dives into understanding health disparities in Black communities and the tools available for taking control of our health.
• Personal stories of health challenges and survival
• The significance of family health history
• The impact of prostate cancer as a life-altering wake-up call
• Distinction between health and healthcare, and the need for awareness
• Importance of early detection and treatment options
• Breaking the stigma around mental health within the community
• The role of community support in fostering health education
• Encouragement to seek knowledge and take control of health decisions
Become a Supporter: Click here to become a supporter.
Comments are welcome: realhealthblackmen@gmail.com
Become a Sponsor, send us an email.
Rating: Leave a rating on your podcast listening site.
Follow on Instagram: realhealthblackmen
#blackmenshealth
#menshealth
#blackmen
#blackhealth
#prostatecancer
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Grantley Martelly (00:11):
This is the Real Health Black Men Podcast,
where we empower men to takecontrol of their health.
We provide vital informationand build community support.
Join us as we discusseverything from major health
challenges to mental wellness tophysical fitness.
So if you're ready to level upyour health and your life,
you're in the right place.
(00:31):
Let's get started.
I'm starting this new podcastcalled Real Health Black Men and
somebody asked why did you dothis?
Why is this important?
It's important because I wasn'tpaying attention.
(00:55):
I wasn't paying attention to myhealth, I wasn't paying
attention to the things that wasgoing on around me and my
family.
I was living my life.
Like most of you.
Most of us live.
We grow up, we have fun, we goto school and we go to college
or technical school.
We get jobs, we have a family,we try to keep up with church
and community activities andchildren and jobs and businesses
(01:17):
, and we just live in our lives.
Sometimes we continue to playsports or we go to the gym, but
many times we get sedentary toplay sports or go to the gym,
but many times we'd getsedentary.
So I wasn't paying attention tosome of the things that were
maybe going on in my body oreven in some of my family.
But then I began to developback problems later and I
realized that movement wasreally important and that I
(01:39):
wasn't really moving as much asI should and I wasn't exercising
as much as I should and Iwasn't exercising as much as I
should.
So I began to pay attention tothose things to try to regain
that control.
It's amazing how many thingsyou never thought about doing
until your back hurts or yourlegs don't work like they're
supposed to work, and then allof a sudden you begin to say, oh
(02:00):
, I better pay attention to that.
Same thing happens when you getcancer or diabetes or something
happens in the family, andthat's what happened to us.
You know, cancer and diabetesbegan to show up in my family my
sister and my mother, then myother sister and a brother and
(02:21):
one more sister, then my otherbrother and then my father even
eventually ended up dying ofpancreatic cancer and my third
oldest sister passed away at theage of 47, also from pancreatic
cancer.
Seven out of eight of usbrothers and sisters have had
(02:42):
some form of cancer in our lives, and two at least deal with
diabetes as well.
So now I began to pay attention.
What's going on.
Why are these things happening?
And then, in May of 2023, I wasdiagnosed with prostate cancer
and that was a wake-up call forme, because I never expected
(03:03):
that was going to happen.
I never thought about ithappening, even though I was
looking into why some of thesethings are happening in my
family.
I didn't think that I was goingto have to deal with this at
what I consider to be such ayoung age.
But I had the blessing ofhaving world-class medical
treatments, very capable doctors, access to the best medical
(03:26):
health care around, insurance tocover most of the costs, access
to physical therapy, access togood foods and first-class
hospitals, a world-class cancercenter.
So I was fortunate, I wasblessed to be able to come
through that, and I'm stillhaving to deal with the issues,
(03:48):
the post-operation issues thataffect you after you have cancer
.
Your body is wrecked by thisdisease and the treatments can
be just as tough.
But I'm doing good.
But some of the lingeringeffects are still there.
But some of the lingeringeffects are still there, and
even some of the mental issuesthat I was not prepared to deal
with how my mind changes, how mythought changes, how I looked
(04:11):
at the world differently.
So I was able to join a blackmen's support group that meets
around the country every twoweeks and that has been such a
help to me to dealing with someof the post effects of having to
be a cancer survivor and I'mglad that I can say that I'm a
cancer survivor.
(04:31):
So I started to pay moreattention and I started to do
some research as to why thesethings were happening, not just
to me but to other people, and Icame to realize that certain
chronic diseases are moreprevalent in communities of
blacks and people of Africandescent and even of Caribbean
descent than in the rest of thepopulation, and that built my
(04:53):
curiosity as to why that'shappening.
You know these include thingslike cancer, heart disease,
hypertension, glaucoma and anumber of other illnesses, and I
came to realize that there'sprobably social, environmental
and other concerns that arecausing these things to happen.
I came to realize that it wasmore than genetics, because
(05:16):
people of color, people ofAfrican descent and people of
Caribbean descent don't havegenetics much different from the
rest of the population.
We don't have different genesand different composition than
anyone else.
The genetics are pretty muchthe same and the research is
bearing that out, and things ofrace and ethnicity are not, and
(05:37):
I came to realize that it wasnot just a genetic issue,
because genetics of people ofcolor are not that much
different from the rest of thepopulation, and it didn't have
much to do with race, becauserace is a human construct and it
is not reflected in our genes.
So what were some of the social, economic and other
(05:59):
determinants that were goinginto causing these things to
happen?
And I came to realize thatthere was lots of research going
on and there were many peopleout there besides me who were
curious about this, who were alot smarter, a lot more
technical and who were doingsome really good research that I
wanted to share with otherpeople.
And as I told my story to otherpeople and to other friends, I
(06:22):
had more people coming andasking well, how did you deal
with this?
How did you deal with that?
Who did you go to Talking aboutdifferent aspects of
pre-diagnosis and diagnosis andpost-diagnosis and living life
after having had cancer.
And I realized that there was avoid in our community about the
(06:44):
knowledge that we need to haveto take control of our health
care and take control of ourhealth and health is different
than health care and we're goingto talk about that in our
episodes coming up.
What does it mean to be healthyand what does it mean to have
health care?
Two different things.
But I also came to realize thatsome of these illnesses can be
(07:05):
avoided or slowed down and manycan be treated successfully if
diagnosed early and if access tohigh quality medical treatment
and health care was available.
And if access to high qualitymedical treatment and health
care was available no-transcript.
(07:27):
I also realize that many in ourcommunity were not aware of
these factors and were also notaware that there are options
available to them and that everyday, new treatments are being
discovered that could save ourlives and extend our lives and
help us to live fully.
In spite of the fact that wemay find, or a family member may
(07:51):
find, that they're dealing witha serious illness.
We don't have to die fromthings that are curable if we
can detect them early and if wecan get good treatment.
I also came to realize thatmental health issues were
prevalent in our community, butwe're not openly talking about
it and it's frequently notspoken about and there's still
(08:12):
some shame about it.
I also came to realize thatit's more common than I thought.
So, with all the questioning,with all the learning, with all
the conversations that's beengoing on with people.
I decided to start this podcastto share that information, to
create a sort of a repositoryand a community and a place
(08:34):
where people can come and talkabout these things and can refer
each other.
You want to get the message outthat there's hope, that we can
live full lives, that, eventhough we may have a medical
situation, even though we mayface a challenge, there are
options and there are people outthere to help us, and there are
things that we may not evenknow about until we talk to each
(08:56):
other.
To build the strength of thecommunity, use the strength of
the community to help us dealwith the situations that we face
.
You want to increase awarenessand we want to improve knowledge
and to reduce stereotypes thatwe might have been brought up
with or we might have heardabout.
And yes, there have been somechallenges in the medical
(09:16):
community when it comes topeople of color, but there are
many people out there addressingthese and today is not like it
was in the past.
We still have a long way to go,but today there's hope and
there's treatments and there'ssupport and there's
opportunities for us to be ableto deal with these things in
(09:37):
honest and ethical ways.
So we want to encourage ourbrothers and sisters to take
control of our health ourphysical health and our mental
health and to become educated inthe options available to us
that can literally save ourlives and of our children and
our grandchildren.
We're going to hear stories ofmen who have are are about to
(10:01):
journey into looking at someserious illnesses and learning
how to manage these thingswithin the community, within the
structures that are availableto them, and some of them many
of us are thriving in spite ofhaving to face these challenges.
We'll also talk to medicalprofessionals on all aspects,
(10:26):
from doctors to surgeons, tooncologists, to sociologists,
psychologists, sex therapists,social workers, patient care
advisors, so that we get a fullpicture of everything that's out
there that's available to us.
So join us on Real Health BlackMen as we discuss these topics,
(10:47):
and we hope that by doing thiswe'll be able to possibly save a
life or to help people getknowledge so that they can start
seeing their doctors, they canfind out things early, they can
understand the numbers that aregiven to us so that we can know
what it is to be healthy andwhat it is to thrive, what it is
(11:09):
to be successful and when weface medical challenges, that we
know there are people out thereand there are resources out
there available to us.
By becoming knowledgeable andbetter equipped, we'll hopefully
be able to understand alsobetter how to modify our
lifestyle so that we can livefully and do all the things we
(11:31):
want to do.
So join us on Real Health BlackMen as we seek to equip you for
the long and happy life aheadof you.
Write us at realhealthblackmenat gmailcom.
Realhealthblackmen at gmailcom.
(11:52):
To support this podcast.
Go to buy me a coffeecom.
Forward slash real health blackmen.
Buy me a coffeecom real healthblack men.
And to become a corporatesponsor, send us an email.
This is the Real Health Black Men Podcast,
where we empower men to takecontrol of their health.
We provide vital informationand build community support.
Join us as we discusseverything from major health
challenges to mental wellness tophysical fitness.
So if you're ready to level upyour health and your life,
you're in the right place.
(00:31):
Let's get started.
I'm starting this new podcastcalled Real Health Black Men and
somebody asked why did you dothis?
Why is this important?
It's important because I wasn'tpaying attention.
(00:55):
I wasn't paying attention to myhealth, I wasn't paying
attention to the things that wasgoing on around me and my
family.
I was living my life.
Like most of you.
Most of us live.
We grow up, we have fun, we goto school and we go to college
or technical school.
We get jobs, we have a family,we try to keep up with church
and community activities andchildren and jobs and businesses
(01:17):
, and we just live in our lives.
Sometimes we continue to playsports or we go to the gym, but
many times we get sedentary toplay sports or go to the gym,
but many times we'd getsedentary.
So I wasn't paying attention tosome of the things that were
maybe going on in my body oreven in some of my family.
But then I began to developback problems later and I
realized that movement wasreally important and that I
(01:39):
wasn't really moving as much asI should and I wasn't exercising
as much as I should and Iwasn't exercising as much as I
should.
So I began to pay attention tothose things to try to regain
that control.
It's amazing how many thingsyou never thought about doing
until your back hurts or yourlegs don't work like they're
supposed to work, and then allof a sudden you begin to say, oh
(02:00):
, I better pay attention to that.
Same thing happens when you getcancer or diabetes or something
happens in the family, andthat's what happened to us.
You know, cancer and diabetesbegan to show up in my family my
sister and my mother, then myother sister and a brother and
(02:21):
one more sister, then my otherbrother and then my father even
eventually ended up dying ofpancreatic cancer and my third
oldest sister passed away at theage of 47, also from pancreatic
cancer.
Seven out of eight of usbrothers and sisters have had
(02:42):
some form of cancer in our lives, and two at least deal with
diabetes as well.
So now I began to pay attention.
What's going on.
Why are these things happening?
And then, in May of 2023, I wasdiagnosed with prostate cancer
and that was a wake-up call forme, because I never expected
(03:03):
that was going to happen.
I never thought about ithappening, even though I was
looking into why some of thesethings are happening in my
family.
I didn't think that I was goingto have to deal with this at
what I consider to be such ayoung age.
But I had the blessing ofhaving world-class medical
treatments, very capable doctors, access to the best medical
(03:26):
health care around, insurance tocover most of the costs, access
to physical therapy, access togood foods and first-class
hospitals, a world-class cancercenter.
So I was fortunate, I wasblessed to be able to come
through that, and I'm stillhaving to deal with the issues,
(03:48):
the post-operation issues thataffect you after you have cancer
.
Your body is wrecked by thisdisease and the treatments can
be just as tough.
But I'm doing good.
But some of the lingeringeffects are still there.
But some of the lingeringeffects are still there, and
even some of the mental issuesthat I was not prepared to deal
with how my mind changes, how mythought changes, how I looked
(04:11):
at the world differently.
So I was able to join a blackmen's support group that meets
around the country every twoweeks and that has been such a
help to me to dealing with someof the post effects of having to
be a cancer survivor and I'mglad that I can say that I'm a
cancer survivor.
(04:31):
So I started to pay moreattention and I started to do
some research as to why thesethings were happening, not just
to me but to other people, and Icame to realize that certain
chronic diseases are moreprevalent in communities of
blacks and people of Africandescent and even of Caribbean
descent than in the rest of thepopulation, and that built my
(04:53):
curiosity as to why that'shappening.
You know these include thingslike cancer, heart disease,
hypertension, glaucoma and anumber of other illnesses, and I
came to realize that there'sprobably social, environmental
and other concerns that arecausing these things to happen.
I came to realize that it wasmore than genetics, because
(05:16):
people of color, people ofAfrican descent and people of
Caribbean descent don't havegenetics much different from the
rest of the population.
We don't have different genesand different composition than
anyone else.
The genetics are pretty muchthe same and the research is
bearing that out, and things ofrace and ethnicity are not, and
(05:37):
I came to realize that it wasnot just a genetic issue,
because genetics of people ofcolor are not that much
different from the rest of thepopulation, and it didn't have
much to do with race, becauserace is a human construct and it
is not reflected in our genes.
So what were some of the social, economic and other
(05:59):
determinants that were goinginto causing these things to
happen?
And I came to realize thatthere was lots of research going
on and there were many peopleout there besides me who were
curious about this, who were alot smarter, a lot more
technical and who were doingsome really good research that I
wanted to share with otherpeople.
And as I told my story to otherpeople and to other friends, I
(06:22):
had more people coming andasking well, how did you deal
with this?
How did you deal with that?
Who did you go to Talking aboutdifferent aspects of
pre-diagnosis and diagnosis andpost-diagnosis and living life
after having had cancer.
And I realized that there was avoid in our community about the
(06:44):
knowledge that we need to haveto take control of our health
care and take control of ourhealth and health is different
than health care and we're goingto talk about that in our
episodes coming up.
What does it mean to be healthyand what does it mean to have
health care?
Two different things.
But I also came to realize thatsome of these illnesses can be
(07:05):
avoided or slowed down and manycan be treated successfully if
diagnosed early and if access tohigh quality medical treatment
and health care was available.
And if access to high qualitymedical treatment and health
care was available no-transcript.
(07:27):
I also realize that many in ourcommunity were not aware of
these factors and were also notaware that there are options
available to them and that everyday, new treatments are being
discovered that could save ourlives and extend our lives and
help us to live fully.
In spite of the fact that wemay find, or a family member may
(07:51):
find, that they're dealing witha serious illness.
We don't have to die fromthings that are curable if we
can detect them early and if wecan get good treatment.
I also came to realize thatmental health issues were
prevalent in our community, butwe're not openly talking about
it and it's frequently notspoken about and there's still
(08:12):
some shame about it.
I also came to realize thatit's more common than I thought.
So, with all the questioning,with all the learning, with all
the conversations that's beengoing on with people.
I decided to start this podcastto share that information, to
create a sort of a repositoryand a community and a place
(08:34):
where people can come and talkabout these things and can refer
each other.
You want to get the message outthat there's hope, that we can
live full lives, that, eventhough we may have a medical
situation, even though we mayface a challenge, there are
options and there are people outthere to help us, and there are
things that we may not evenknow about until we talk to each
(08:56):
other.
To build the strength of thecommunity, use the strength of
the community to help us dealwith the situations that we face
.
You want to increase awarenessand we want to improve knowledge
and to reduce stereotypes thatwe might have been brought up
with or we might have heardabout.
And yes, there have been somechallenges in the medical
(09:16):
community when it comes topeople of color, but there are
many people out there addressingthese and today is not like it
was in the past.
We still have a long way to go,but today there's hope and
there's treatments and there'ssupport and there's
opportunities for us to be ableto deal with these things in
(09:37):
honest and ethical ways.
So we want to encourage ourbrothers and sisters to take
control of our health ourphysical health and our mental
health and to become educated inthe options available to us
that can literally save ourlives and of our children and
our grandchildren.
We're going to hear stories ofmen who have are are about to
(10:01):
journey into looking at someserious illnesses and learning
how to manage these thingswithin the community, within the
structures that are availableto them, and some of them many
of us are thriving in spite ofhaving to face these challenges.
We'll also talk to medicalprofessionals on all aspects,
(10:26):
from doctors to surgeons, tooncologists, to sociologists,
psychologists, sex therapists,social workers, patient care
advisors, so that we get a fullpicture of everything that's out
there that's available to us.
So join us on Real Health BlackMen as we discuss these topics,
(10:47):
and we hope that by doing thiswe'll be able to possibly save a
life or to help people getknowledge so that they can start
seeing their doctors, they canfind out things early, they can
understand the numbers that aregiven to us so that we can know
what it is to be healthy andwhat it is to thrive, what it is
(11:09):
to be successful and when weface medical challenges, that we
know there are people out thereand there are resources out
there available to us.
By becoming knowledgeable andbetter equipped, we'll hopefully
be able to understand alsobetter how to modify our
lifestyle so that we can livefully and do all the things we
(11:31):
want to do.
So join us on Real Health BlackMen as we seek to equip you for
the long and happy life aheadof you.
Write us at realhealthblackmenat gmailcom.
Realhealthblackmen at gmailcom.
(11:52):
To support this podcast.
Go to buy me a coffeecom.
Forward slash real health blackmen.
Buy me a coffeecom real healthblack men.
And to become a corporatesponsor, send us an email.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.