Commentary: African American Scientists and Inventors
by Black Kos Editor, Sephius1
Benjamin Solomon "Ben" Carson, Sr., M.D., (born September 18, 1951) is an American neurosurgeon and the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States by President George W. Bush in 2008.
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Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan and was raised by his single mother, Sonya Carson. He struggled academically throughout elementary school, but started to excel in middle school and throughout high school. After graduating with honors from his high school, he attended Yale University, where he earned a degree in Psychology. He chose to go to Yale because in College Bowl, an old TV channel, he saw Yale compete against and defeat many other colleges in knowledge, including Harvard. Ben wanted to participate in College Bowl, but the channel was stopped. From Yale, he attended University of Michigan Medical School, where his interest shifted from psychology to neurosurgery. When he was young, he was in the bottom of the class. His mom fervently encouraged him to read so that he could gradually gain knowledge. "Ben" was not allowed to watch TV, and had to read two books a week and write papers about them, which his mother pretended to carefully read, even though she was illiterate at the time.
Carson's excellent eye-hand coordination and three-dimensional reasoning skills made him a gifted surgeon [1]. After medical school he became a neurosurgery resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. After starting off as an adult neurosurgeon Carson became more interested in pediatrics; the investment of operating on children satisfied him more than the investment on operating on adults. With children he believed that “what you see is what you get,”[2] when they’re in pain they clearly show it with a frown on their face or when they are happy they show it by smiling brightly. He realized that the investment from spending enormous amount of time on operating on children resulted in adding fifty to sixty years to their life compared to the investment from spending the same amount of time on operating on adults and those patients dying less than ten years due to other complications. Realizing this, he switched into the pediatric department and since then has been the head of pediatric neurosurgeon department and successfully completed many operations [3]. At age 33, he became the hospital's youngest major division director, as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery. Carson's other surgical innovations have included the first intrauterine procedure to relieve pressure on the brain of a hydrocephalic fetal twin, and a hemispherectomy, in which a young girl suffering from uncontrollable seizures had one half of her brain removed.
In 1987, Carson made medical history by being the first surgeon in the world to successfully separate siamese twins (the Binder twins) conjoined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). Operations to separate twins joined in this way had always failed, resulting in the death of one or both of the infants. Carson agreed to undertake the operation. The 70-member surgical team, led by Carson, worked for 22 hours. At the end, the twins were successfully separated and can now survive independently.
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Ben Carson has received numerous honors and many awards over the years, including over 61 honorary doctorate degrees. He was also a member of the American Academy of Achievement, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, the Yale Corporation (the governing body of Yale University), and many other prestigious organizations. He sits on many boards including the Board of Directors of Kellogg Company, Costco Wholesale Corporation, and America's Promise. He was also the president and co-founder of the Carson Scholars Fund, which recognizes young people of all backgrounds for exceptional academic and humanitarian accomplishments.....Read More
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News by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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This is an interesting cross cultural discussion. Huffington Post: Black, Latino or Both? 'Black And Latino' Tackles Taboos Of Race And Ethnicity
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Racial identity in America is nothing if not complicated. Black and Latino, a new original Web documentary by mun2, explores it through the stories of some of America's most prominent Afro-Latino celebrities. each of whom has had to come to his or her own conclusions about how to self-identify, and why.
The makers of the film talked to actors Laz Alonso, Tatyana Ali, Gina Torres and Judy Reyes; musicians Christina Milian and Kat DeLuna; and journalist Soledad O'Brien, among many others.
Their experiences in the public eye reveal the tension that can exist between one's personal experience with identity and a nation that is still grappling with the nuances of national origin, color and ethnicity.
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Bill Duke, co-director of Dark Girls, a new documentary focusing on colorism, recently spoke to The Root DC about the struggles of dark-skinned women. The Root DC: Bill Duke Talks About His New Film, 'Dark Girls'
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Bill Duke, co-director of Dark Girls, a new documentary focusing on colorism, recently spoke to The Root DC about the struggles of dark-skinned women. Duke said that the message of the film -- in which women from many different cities, backgrounds and ages talk about growing up with dark skin -- is one that transcends race.
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Ethiopia's government has been accused of forcing tens of thousands of people off their land so it can be leased to foreign investors. BBC: Ethiopia forces thousands off land - Human Rights Watch
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US-based Human Rights Watch says people are being forcibly relocated to new villages that lack adequate food, farmland and facilities. Ethiopia has already leased out more than 3.6 million hectares (8.8m acres) of land - an area the size of The Netherlands - HRW says.
Addis Ababa rejects HRW's allegations.
"I can tell you that it is baseless - on both grounds - on both the land grab issue and resettlement of the people," Ethiopian Information Minister Bereket Simon told the BBC World Service.
"No-one is forced [to leave their homes]. This is an absolute lie. The people around Gambella are inhabiting the place in a very scattered manner."
"It is true that we are providing access to land on a lease basis for 25 years for local and foreign developers. We have about three million hectares of land which is not inhabited by anybody."
HRW says it has evidence that some 70,000 indigenous people in the western Gambella region were relocated against their will to new villages that "lack adequate food, farmland, healthcare and educational facilities".
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday that low-skilled Haitian workers can now apply for jobs in the United States. Miami Herald:
Haiti workers can now apply for US guest worker visas
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Low-skilled workers in an earthquake-ravaged Haiti are now eligible to work in the United States under a federal guest worker program approved by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Haiti is among five new countries that were added to list of countries whose nationals are eligible to apply for the H-2A and H-2B visa programs, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Wednesday. Prior to the decision, 53 countries were eligible. In addition to Haiti, the program has been extended to Iceland, Montenegro, Spain and Switzerland.
Haitian advocates, including U.S. lawmakers and immigration supporters, have long lobbied for the U.S. government to allow Haitian nationals to participate in the visa programs. Under both, U.S. companies can now temporarily import low-wage laborers. H-2A visas are given to agricultural workers, while H-2B typically are given to those in industries with short, seasonal spikes such as hotels, construction and food service.
“This is great news for the people of Haiti who are rebuilding their lives while their homeland recovers from the devastating earthquake that struck their nation two years ago last week,’’ U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami. “It’s a win-win for thousands of Haitian families who remain displaced and the businesses here that employ them.”
Haitian President Michel Martelly also thanked the United States for its decision.
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It's sad that it has to come to this. After years of complaints in African-American circles about the lack of attention paid to missing black women in this country, a U.S. cable network dedicated to black programming begins a revolutionary series this week.
ABC News: Getting More People to Care About Missing Black Women
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After years of complaints in African-American circles about the lack of attention paid to missing black women in this country, a U.S. cable network dedicated to black programming begins a revolutionary series this week.
The program, called “Find Our Missing,” is scheduled to begin airing tonight on TV One, a black cable network available in 56 million homes.
The network is working with the Black and Missing Foundation, a group of black professionals who keep track of missing black Americans — cases that are often ignored or unreported. The sheer number of faces that peer back from its website is startling. Most of the missing are from New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland and Florida.
According to FBI figures, nearly 40 percent of all missing persons are people of color, but critics say that the most media attention is reserved for white women.
Craig Henry, executive in charge of production at TV One, says the presumption in this country is that “black people live in impoverished conditions, so there’s not the same sense of outrage” when black Americans disappear.
Stacey English, left, and Phoenix Coldon {Blackandmissing.com}
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The Front Porch is now open! Pull up a chair!
