"They offered a rare window into the lives, struggles and aspirations of African Americans, and a way for me to feel connected to a community far beyond my immediate environment. Through Ebony, I was introduced to towering figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. Their courage, moral clarity and commitment to justice shaped how I thought leadership and service."
"King is rightly remembered for his leadership in the civil rights movement but far less attention is paid to his views on health and justice. He once observed, "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman." Years later, I came to fully understand the power of King's words. In medical school, I dreamed of becoming a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at a fancy hospital abroad."
A teenager in 1980s Kano, Nigeria, treasured used Ebony magazines that connected him to African American leaders and communities beyond his environment. Exposure to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall influenced views on leadership, service, and the moral dimensions of justice. A later medical education and mandatory National Youth Service in Abuja exposed failures in preventive care, with children arriving severely ill after reliance on local remedies. Those clinical experiences revealed systemic injustice in health services and shifted career priorities toward prevention and equitable access. Universal health coverage and prevention-focused, cost-effective responses are presented as essential to achieve health justice.
Read at www.npr.org
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