The Male Quotient

09/03/2026

My latest for HuffPost.

This piece started as a tribute to Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old freshman who wanted to become a physician and never got the chance. His story stayed with me long after I first read it, the stolen potential, the specificity of what was lost at the hands of this country's immigration policies.

As I wrote, it also became a love letter to the Haitian physicians and healthcare workers I trained alongside as a medical student, and to every Haitian and Haitian American serving patients tirelessly, often in the communities that need them most. Their excellence deserves to be named too.

Rest in peace, Pierre Damas Bel. We speak your name. 🙏🏿

“The government treated my son like an animal,” Damas Bel’s father said, in a statement.

08/24/2026

Motivation Monday.

Comparison is the thief of joy, and the thief of momentum too. While you're busy measuring your pace against everyone else's, you're not running your own. Eyes forward. Stay in it.

Have a great week ahead. ✨

08/19/2026

Health is in our heritage.

Our ancestors ate from the ground. Greens, beans, yams, okra, all of it rich with flavor and quietly protecting the body.

The collard greens on your grandmother's stove carry several days' worth of vitamin K in a single sitting. Okra, a food that came here from West Africa, works on your blood sugar and your cholesterol at the same time. Much of what nutrition experts recommend today, more plants, more fiber, more color, describes the way our ancestors already ate.

We were ahead of it the whole time.

Two new episodes of The Male Quotient are out now. Episode 6, The Medicine You Already Have, introduces the six pillars of a longer life. Episode 7, The Medicine on Our Plate, is all about the food. Listen to both wherever you get your podcasts.

Black men's health, measured differently.

08/17/2026

Motivation Monday.

Your strongest weeks aren't your busiest, they're your most strategic. Pick what actually matters and put your energy there.

Have a great week ahead. ✨

08/10/2026

Motivation Monday.

Some weeks you'll feel motivated. Other weeks you'll have a case of the Mondays. Discipline can make all the difference.

Have a great week ahead. ✨

08/09/2026

Soul Sunday.

Rest, uninterrupted.

08/07/2026

Researchers randomly assigned Black men to either a Black doctor or a non-Black doctor. The healthcare services provided were free, regardless of which doctor the men were assigned.

The men with a Black doctor said yes to far more care: diabetes screenings up almost 50%, cholesterol screenings up over 70%.

Closing that trust gap could cut the Black-white heart disease death gap by nearly 20%.

Trust is medicine. New episode out now.

08/06/2026

A first doctor's visit is a tryout, and the doctor is the one being evaluated.

A few signs to watch for: does the doctor make eye contact or stay locked on the screen? Do they let a sentence finish, or talk over it? Does a question get a real answer, or a reason to feel small for asking?

The read is usually obvious. Respect feels different from being dismissed. Trust your instincts.

If the first doctor isn’t the right fit, try another one.

Episode 5 of The Male Quotient Podcast is out now. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

08/05/2026

Big news. I'm officially a contributing writer for HuffPost. 🙌🏿

My first piece just went live, and it starts with a moment a lot of us saw online: Eric Benét's viral hygiene PSA, and DJ Envy's on-air confession responding to it. Many people made jokes, but DJ Envy's confession also says a lot about how masculinity can shape hygiene and health choices.

I break down the connection, and what it actually takes to get more Black men screened early for the cancers that are shortening our lives.

Many thanks to George M Johnson for the 🔌 and for always being in my corner. Grateful. 🙏🏿

Read, leave a comment, and share, family.

A physician explains how an unspoken rule about masculinity is keeping men from screenings that could save them.

08/05/2026

Tuskegee ended in 1972. For forty years, the government studied Black men with syphilis and let it go untreated, even after a cure existed. Not ancient history. There are men listening to this whose fathers were alive for that.

The medical distrust our community carries into every doctor's office was passed down for good reason. It kept us safe.

This episode doesn't stay in the past. It moves toward what comes next.

Episode 5 of The Male Quotient Podcast is out now. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.