I Choose Life Foundation (ICLF) had an opportunity to showcase an educational video produced in partnership with Jumo Health and Merck & Co. addressing the Black community and clinical trials at the 26th Annual REEL Black Men Film Showcase hosted by the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center (BHERC). The master of ceremony for this wonderful event was none other than Mr. William Allen Young, actor and director who has starred in over 100 television, stage, and film projects, including two Academy Award-nominated films, “A Soldier’s Story,” and “District 9,” and he is also known for his role as Frank Mitchell on UPN‘s “Moesha.”
The Directors Guild of America opened its doors to BHERC, and they did not disappoint, screening fourteen (14) short films to a full house of over six hundred attendees. BHERC spotlighted films created by Black male filmmakers. These films provided an opportunity for dialog with Black/African American male directors allowing them to showcase their skills, talent and vision through film; while giving the audience not only a chance to view and discuss their artistry and passion while at the same time provide an opportunity to address serious issues, and sacrifices also involved in creating, developing and producing independent films that resonate with the Black experience.
ICLF was honored to showcase its film addressing the importance of clinical trials in Black America which was great. Even better was to have one of the film’s participants, Mrs. Gloria Davis, present at the event and who participated in a clinical trial to treat multiple myeloma, which she credits the trial for saving her life. As we say in the Black community, “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day,” well Gloria is a true testimony of the power of prayer, faith and a lifesaving clinical trial.
Did you know that Black people account for just 5% of clinical trial participants in the United States, while White people make up the vast majority. As of January 2024, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) reported that 20,465 clinical trials were recruiting patients in the United States. According to the 2020 US census we (Black people) account for about 46,936,733 of the US population roughly 14.2%. I believe that number is higher by at least another million Black people, knowing that many of our people just didn’t answer that door when the census people showed up not knowing if they were bill collectors. But you know me, I digress.
What I do know is that of the 46,936,733 million Black people in this country and the over 20,465 clinical trials going on, we (Black people) are only 5% a little over 2 million of those involved in the development of life saving research. Say what you want to about what you think the white man is doing to us, the only thing I know for sure is that the greatest conspiracy isn’t what they are doing or might do to us, but that we are allowing them to overlook us in the research and development of life saving therapies.
Let’s keep it real, I’m not crazy nor am I on anybody’s payroll to promote drugs. I know all about the Tuskegee Study of Untreated, just for historic accuracy, no, they didn’t give those men Syphilis, what those sick bastards did was, they denied treatment to those men after knowing that they had a treatment for syphilis (i.e. penicillin) and the U.S. government let this go on from 1932 to 1972 before acknowledging what the United States Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did to nearly 400 Black/African American men in Tuskegee, Alabama.
Yes, I know about our dear sister Ms. Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized human cell line and one of the most important cell lines in medical research. I’m also aware that the family of Henrietta Lacks reached a settlement with a science and technology company that used the cells taken without Lacks’ or her family’s permission or consent since the 1950s to develop lifesaving products that they later sold for massive profits. This speaks volumes of the power and the importance of Black participation in research.
Henrietta’s cells, now known as HeLa cells had remarkable properties that allowed them to be endlessly reproduced, and they have since been used for a variety of scientific breakthroughs, including research about the human genome and the development of the polio and COVID-19 vaccines.
Which only says to me that as a people, we have within our own culture the power to not only heal ourselves, but we can play a major role in healing and repairing the world for future generations. Let’s not just save the lives of those outside of our culture, but bring some of the healing home.
For more information on clinical trial go to www.clinicaltrials.gov.
