A Guide to Good Health

Talking with Dr. Hilton M. Hudson About 

The Black Man’s Guide to Good Health 

By Brigette Settles Scott, MA


Closing the Gap, Men’s Health • September/October 2001


As a practicing cardiac surgeon and currently the clinical director of cardiothoracic surgery at Rockford Health Systems in Rockford, IL, Dr. Hilton M. Hudson, II knows first hand that 

there is a tremendous need for timely, accurate health information in 

the African American community. To help fill this information void, 

and to help eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health status and 

in access to health care, Dr. Hudson launched Hilton Publishing 

Company in 1997, with the hopes of bringing reliable information 

not only to African Americans, but to other underserved communities 

as well. 

The underlying goal of each publication is to empower individuals to make healthy lifestyle choices for themselves and their families. Along with the revised 2nd edition of The Black Man’s Guide to 

Good Health, Hilton Publishing currently has available books on heart 

disease and management of cancer. 

CTG: Why a book specifically for African American men on health? 

Dr. Hudson: African American men are disproportionately affected 

by nearly all diseases known to man. Cancer, heart disease, kidney 

disease, high blood pressure, and the like, plague our community. Yet, 

despite this horrible fact, African American men are less likely to be 

informed, and more likely to be ignorant about the necessary treatments and preventative measures that we can take among ourselves to 

make ourselves more healthy and to live longer healthier lives. 

We die sooner than any other men in America. As a matter of fact, 

there are underdeveloped nations that have statistics similar to the 

morbidity and mortality rates of African American men in this country. In other words, if you are an African American man, you will have 

about the same chance of living if you’re in an underdeveloped country as you have living in certain cities in the U.S. In my opinion, we 

have lost our sense of pride and self-love. Without it, we fall victim to 

diseases. We don’t take care of ourselves. This book is meant to help 

regain that pride and self-respect. 

CTG: As you know, there is tremendous diversity within the African 

American community. Who do you hope to reach with this book 

(e.g., specific age group, socioeconomic group, etc.)? 

Dr. Hudson: This book is developed for anybody who can read and 

has a since of pride in himself. I think African American people in 

general are more health conscious than the majority thinks we are. 

I also realize that we are lagging behind White America tremendously—in terms of going to health clubs, taking care of ourselves, 

and eating right—but we do care about our health. So, the book is 

primarily directed toward lower to upper middle class people. I think 

that if you’re extremely poor, and you can’t even afford the basic 

necessities, or if you’re homeless, then you’re not going to 

read this book. Similarly, I think if you’re doing extremely 

well you may not read it either. 

It’s my hope, if more African American people read this and other 

health books, it will become the “in” thing to do. So, even though this 

book may not appeal to the person down on his luck, out on the 

street, I feel that it is going to appeal to the great majority of African 

American men. If you can empower folks to take better care of themselves, then that knowledge will then be passed onto their loved ones— 

which in turn, will create an entire generation of folks concerned 

about their health. 

CTG: Traditionally, women are the gatekeepers for the family— 

especially as it pertains to health care. Do you feel the book’s title will 

encourage or discourage women from reading it? 

Dr. Hudson: We chose this title because we couldn’t think of another 

way to tell Black men that “you are important.” While it is our hope 

that the book will draw in African American men, we know through 

our research that African American readers are largely Black women. 

And out of concern and love for the men in their lives, and their 

families, we believe the title won’t keep them from reading it. 

CTG: In your opinion, what keeps men from going to the doctor? 

Dr. Hudson: Fear is the number one reason why people don’t go to 

the doctor—especially men. Men are trained and grow up feeling 

invincible, indestructible, strong, and often emotionless. It’s often 

viewed as a sign of weakness to even submit yourself to a diagnostic 

exam. For men, it’s the perception of not being in control, whereas 

women don’t have that particular problem. 

Secondly, a feeling of apathy prevents one from going to the 

doctor. You’re not going to take care of yourself if you don’t care about 

life anymore. Lastly, there’s a feeling of invincibility, that you’re going 

to live forever. We’ve been misinformed. This misinformation leads to 

fear, and that fear prevents us from going to the doctor. 

CTG: So, how do you deal with fear? 

Dr. Hudson: You deal with fear by educating people. It’s basically a 

lack of knowledge. We believe that by educating people about what 

really happens when you go to the doctor and telling them the good 

news—that you CAN live longer and have a healthier life—even if 

you do have high blood pressure or diabetes. The common misconception is that if you do have a certain disease, it was going to happen 

anyway, and that it was only a matter of time before it caught up with 

you. What we’re hoping to do with this and other books is to educate 

in a way that’s sensitive to the needs of our people—lessening the fear. 

CTG: How can we get men to the doctor? 

continue to page 2>>>> 

Office of Minority Health Resource Center 1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
A Guide to Good Health

Talking with Dr. Hilton M. Hudson About 

The Black Man’s Guide to Good Health 

By Brigette Settles Scott, MA


Closing the Gap, Men’s Health • September/October 2001


Dr. Hudson: Again, through education. Simply increase the awareness bar and demystify medicine. By dealing with the fear head-on, 

we create a sense of empowerment and pride, which then leads to a 

change in behavior. In some ways, the fear is warranted. White 

Americans did not have to deal with Tuskegee and the whole mistrust 

of the medical profession. 

CTG: Do you feel this book will serve as a springboard to encourage 

African American men to go the doctor? 

Dr. Hudson: I sure hope so, because right now, there are no resources 

available in America today that specifically talk to African American 

men about health issues in a culturally sensitive and responsible way. 

Moreover, there are no books written for the lay Black public on 

hypertension, despite the fact that it is the number one killer of our 

people today. These books are written by Black doctors, reviewed and 

edited by Black experts. 

CTG: Research has shown that African Americans—especially African American men—die at an earlier age, and from chronic diseases at 

a higher rate than most other racial/ethnic groups. What do you think 

can be done from both a public health perspective and on the community level to reduce this disparity? 

Dr. Hudson: Education is the key to eliminating the health disparity. 

If you educate people on what should and should not happen, then 

you empower them. You are more likely to get what you ask for, and 

what you need, if you are prepared with a baseline knowledge level. I 

hate to admit it, but as a physician, the people you treat best in the 

hospital are often those that you know you have to be accountable 

to—those that have done their homework. It’s not about providing a 

bunch of free clinics. It’s about holding people accountable. This isn’t 

the whole answer...but from a guy who practices medicine every day 

and who goes around the country listening and speaking with people, 

it’s the easiest way to be effective. 

CTG: In your opinion, what do you feel are the cultural beliefs or 

attitudes towards the prevention and treatment of disease that affect 

the overall health status of African American men? 

Dr. Hudson: We’ve bought into all the misconceptions about disease 

and about what’s going to happen to us if we get sick and have to see 

a doctor or go to the hospital. Distrust and mistrust of the medical 

field have paralyzed us. Although warranted—it’s a result of what’s 

happened to us—but we can’t continue to allow this to be an excuse. 

CTG: What’s next for Hilton Publishing? 

Dr. Hudson: Our next book titled, 8 Weeks to Better 

Health—Weight Loss for African American Women, is 

coming out this Fall. Written by Dr. Edmond Smith, it’s not a diet 

book. It’s about loving oneself, how to get in physical shape, how to 

eat better and how to take better control of one’s health. We’re putting 

this book through the test. We’ve had three major medical editors 

review this book, and we will be focus group testing it with consumers 

to see if we really are being as effective as we think we are. 

We are also doing a book on sickle cell anemia. Although there is 

a lot out there, this is a subject that we thought warranted revisiting. 

I will be writing another book similar to the one I wrote titled The 

Heart of the Matter on hypertension for African Americans. Along 

with my colleagues, Dr. James Reed, President of the International 

Society for Hypertension in Blacks and author of The Black Man’s 

Guide to Good Health, Dr.Waine Kong from the Association of Black 

Cardiologists, and others, we plan to cover this topic at length. Next 

year, we will be publishing a book on AIDS, written by Dr. Eric 

Goosby, former director of the White House Office of National AIDS 

Policy. This book will be for all minorities—not just African Americans—and will include information particularly relevant to Asians, 

Hispanics, and others because we know, the virus doesn’t distinguish 

by race. 

We’re developing a book on cultural competency for doctors and 

other front line health care professionals to try and teach them how to 

deal with cultural differences. This book is designed to not only teach 

what the cultural differences are, but how to apply them, how to 

make them real, and how to make them work in your practice. For 

example, how do you counsel a Latino who is also diabetic on his diet, 

when his diet is completely different? How do you tell a 70-year old 

hypertensive patient who has heart disease, and is used to eating fried 

plantains and refried beans, how to eat differently? Most books are 

based on the non-Asian, non-Latino, non-African American diet. There 

is a critical need for this information. 

CTG: What’s the most important message you want African American men (and women) who read this article to remember? What is 

their call to action? 

Dr. Hudson: Have some pride in oneself. Enough to believe in 

oneself, take care of oneself and to have confidence in oneself. That’s 

what we’re missing the most. I want people to pick up this book, not 

only because it’s going to help you live healthier, but for what takes 

you to that road of picking it up—pride. Lack of awareness and 

missing pride are killing us. So, what I want people to feel is empowerment, knowledge and a sense of pride. I’m convinced, they’re going 

to get more than just health information. 

For more information on other Hilton Publishing Company publications, write to: P.O. Box 737, Roscoe, IL 61073, call 815-885-1070 

or go to: http://www.hiltonpub.com

Office of Minority Health Resource Center 2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services