The logic is that if the African American women of 30 or 40 years ago were dying very young it would be understood, but many of those women gave birth to five or more children and worked under intense labor conditions and are alive today, while women who have just begun to live are dying so fast. Elderly African American women are often amazed by the large number of younger women developing fibroid tumors, cervical cancer, breast cancer, and that are having difficulties either becoming pregnant or during pregnancy. I believe that this results in many African American women doing physical harm to themselves via excess exercise and dieting to extremes, on the one hand, and over eating on the other. It is all too common for many Sisters to eat a meal consisting of rice, three or more servings of meat, another serving of pasta, such as macaroni, only one serving of a vegetable, a sugar-filled beverage, and a generous dessert. It may be safe to say that many of our Sisters are, literally, eating themselves to death.
Many factors contribute to poor health conditions among African American women.
While African American women should utilize every element of the medical community, their health ultimately lies in their own hands. Also, good health should be viewed as mandatory in African American communities. Self discipline is an obvious must if African American women are to actually take charge of obtaining and maintaining good health. Poor health among Black women is a part of the conspiracy to destroy Black women, but African American women will not be vanquished. They will move from a place of dying strangely to living healthy.