On July 23, 2014 on a very temperate day, during the month of Ramadhan, I met with Dr. Stephen Thomas at the University of Maryland. Dr. Thomas is the head of the Department of Health Services Administration Professor and Director at the Center for Health Equity School of Public Health, and he works with a skilled and dedicated staff to coordinate a number of dynamic health oriented programs, including“in-reach”, and outreach projects.
Dr. Thomas is a native of Columbus, Ohio and he is one of six siblings (three boys, and three girls) all of whom are educated and professional individuals. He arises from humble beginnings; he related the detailed story to us. His parents were working class people, indigenous African-Americans that settled with their families years before in Ohio. They came out of North Carolina, as part of the “Great Migration” from the south, like others during the first decades after the post-slavery period, and on into the mid-20th Century. He alluded to his mother’s maiden name: “Cradle”, perhaps arising from her ancestral family’s plantation occupation of making cradles, and this was how many African-American people similarly obtained their names during that infamous period, based on occupation or their slave master’s name .
These are Dr. Thomas’s roots, akin to the story of so many others that share in that treacherous history... In connection with that reflection he mentioned a book “Warmth of Other Suns," authored by Isabel Wilkerson that describes the greatest continental migration in the history of the nation, of African-Americans leaving the South for places North, Northeast, and Northwest, and then settling in places like Ohio, Chicago, Michigan, and New York etc. The book chronicles that migration with interviews, which attest to the fact that many had no realization that their movement was considered a “Great Migration".
He also mentioned the fact that in this regional area (and across the nation), Native-Americans have always had a spiritual / ancestral connection to the land, and this must never be overlooked. There are gradual outreach efforts to this part of our broader community, and it is vital.
Native-Americans (People of the First Nations) suffer from a plethora of health-related illnesses beginning with the drastic impact of the European Incursion; centuries later that continued impact translates into hyper-tension, diabetes, alcoholism, FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome),other substance abuses, mal-nutrition, respiratory ailments, mental illness, suicide, economic displacement, socio-political exploitation, poor housing conditions, struggling under-funded education systems, unemployment, inadequate access to health care services etc., and overt racism.
The Continuum of Destiny
Dr. Thomas explained that his mother was a nurse, working the night shift from 11:00pm - 7:00am, and still managed to provide a community-family dinner everyday, for his siblings and him. His family spent quality time then, and also shared aspirations, and learned lasting family values. The memory of his mother was the image of a hard-working woman, dressed in her nurse’s uniform, hat, and polished white shoes for work in the area hospital. Retrospectively, he said, “...how did my parents get six kids, educated through college (two Ph.D.’s, one Masters Degree, and two Bachelor Degrees,), nobody in prison, nobody dead..., and I marvel at it!” “They made common pay; they were not extraordinary, like someone handed something to them... In fact, they were the descendants of slaves.” His parents met as young people at the then Hampton Institute, which later became Hampton University, VA; his father was a WWII veteran, like other veterans took advantage of the G.I. Bill, worked hard to make ends meet, in order to raise a family.
As his siblings and he matured, he first took interest in becoming a doctor, and began working in the local hospital as a respiratory therapist, with support, encouragement , and help from his mother. In those days, it was generally a nurse’s job. Since this was an emerging field during the late 60's and early 70‘s, he was trained and certified in that field. Later he continued a professional course into the Public Health Field, which was also a broad and developing area of social health at the time. He earned a Doctorate in the health field, and distinctly he is the only one of his siblings that holds such credentials.
A Change of Direction, with a Focus on Inspiration
As Dr. Thomas’s personal account unfolded, I began to realize directly how his professional life began to take shape. Many of the things he shared resonated with me, because we are precisely from the same generation, and experienced similar things growing up. Perhaps it was because at one time, I also worked in the public health field, for a combined number of years. Dr. Thomas carefully observed the health condition of the people he served through health care therapy, he said “I was providing care for people with chronic obstructive lung disease [a basically generic term in those days, for any number of respiratory diseases].........” This profession evolved quickly due to an imminent need correlated to those individuals that took up smoking in the 40‘s, 50‘s and 60‘s “...three pack-a-day; you know, those people wound up coming to the hospital... there were like so many, the nurses couldn't handle it, so they started training people on the job to be Respiratory Therapists, and I was one of the first trained like this, and became certified," Dr. Thomas expressed. He realized the horrible damage that the tobacco industry was causing to people’s health. “I wasn’t against America, just against products that were sold to, and killing our people!” he said, “...I could protest against that...!”
Dr. Thomas was on the front lines of this health pandemic; direct involvement and deep thought prompted the question in his mind, "...Technology had improved... , but I asked myself, ‘Do I have to be at the end of the line...? No matter what we do, if we save them, they only have two or three years, that’s it...!” By destiny, Dr. Thomas said he “bumped” into Public Health, and didn’t even know what that was; the rest unfolds as part of his life’s work and history. “...I realized I wanted to be up there, on the top of the cliff, not at the bottom where they threw people into the river...!”
So, this became a motivating factor in Dr. Thomas’s professional pursuit: Health education as a preventative source, for the less fortunate, for the many people that comprised the diaspora of the less solvent, displaced, and other diverse groups not able to obtain accessible health care.
In short, he had a desire to change the perspective of the “health picture”. During the earlier years of his career, it was that very unfortunate health picture of those dying from respiratory diseases that influenced and changed Dr. Thomas’s understanding. He reevaluated where he could make the most impact. Some patients he cared for, lingered on for a few more years, while others died summarily in a short period, repercussions of their dreaded condition- The majority of the time the cause was from cigarette smoking! His immediate focus, including the inspiration to do something about it created his ongoing pro-active approach to public health, education, and well-being.
Fast Forward: From Grassroots to the 21st Century Health, and Beyond
I was impressed by Dr. Thomas’s sojourn; as a direct result of the Civil Rights Era, Vietnam War, and political anti-war activism his orientation had effectively changed, and he began looking at health-related problems in the lower-class communities, and health problems prevalent among soldiers returning from the war. It was a unique, and exceptional time. His focus was on Preventative Medicine; in 1976 an opportunity arose where he was able to travel to Mainland China, with a delegation of twenty-five others, and he was the only African-American in the group. He interacted with people, and learned about Traditional Chinese, or Barefoot Medicine. To say the least, this was quite a rewarding, eye opening, and mind expanding experience! It was the first time he’d ever been out of the United States, and it also made a cultural impact on him when for the first time he met Africans that as he put it “...spoke French...!” They were also visiting in that cultural exchange program. All-in-all, it was a turning point in Dr. Thomas’s life...
Pursuant to that trip, he attended Ohio State University, in undergraduate studies and earned a
B.S. Degree in Community Health. On scholarship, he attended Illinois State University, and earned his Masters Degree in Public Health. Thereafter in 1985, with further practical experience and eduction he was able to earn a Ph.D, from South Illinois University Carbondale, in “Black and Minorities Health”. He drew upon the famous “Tuskegee Syphilis Study / Experiment”, as the trajectory for his research and study. In the 80‘s the *AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) epidemic loomed large, with its dark cloud; Dr. Thomas stated that this was a signal that given behavior had to change, in response to communities where the preponderance of this devastating [primarily] sexually transmitted disease occurred. The hallmark of his profession is how to reach people in communities in an ethical, respectful, and humane fashion. There was the challenge of dealing with trust issues, and abuse in the communities.
It was paramount for Dr. Thomas to implement theory into practice: How to reach minority communities through redefining the health approach, health perspective, and best ways to facilitate services for the people living in those areas. In other words, “...these communities must no longer be defined by diseases, but by well-being,” he indicated. In 2010 he and his team, embarked on a successful partnership with the Pittsburgh, PA School System that focused on community-based health, and school aged students. It is called Healthy People 2010-2020 and it services 2,000 students. This is an established program centered on cohort approach partnership with urban schools.
Parallel to that success, an on-going in-reach program was created where health professionals traveled to the centers of activity, by working through the barber shops that have traditionally served as a meeting hub, or place for community members. Here, conversations are held, community events, and business shared, and vital information can be obtained, along with establishing health links that community members can really benefit from. The acronym for this health organization was aptly called H.A.I.R. [ Health Advocates In-Reach].
Dr. Thomas’s prime view or philosophy of the urban center is that it is like a “walled city”. Within this containment structure are centers of activity, which reflect various groups of people, their interaction, and inherent needs. The task of providing accessible health care rests on working to improve those relationships in those centers, and by opening out the diversity of the areas, and regions there. “We must remain open to change...,” he said.
Spiritual Presence and Humility
Our exceptionally wonderful talk was drawing to a close. Even though my interview with Dr. Thomas was just about complete, his work continues. Another project that recently emerged is a partnership between the University of Maryland’s Center for Health Equity School of Public Health and Dar-us-Salaam / Al-Huda School, in College Park, MD. I believe that Dr. Thomas would undoubtedly agree that at the root of health care is the innate core of spiritual well-being. This center core is the reason why personal and social health care comprises components of great human sensitivity. Dr. Thomas was quite clear that there was an inextricable connection between the spiritual side of life and the necessary care, or needs of all people, no matter where they dwelt on the earth. Undoubtedly, his personal travels, experience, and research affirmed that for him.
So, this is where Dr. Thomas also introduced the idea of health and Food Culture, the way people ate, obtained their nutrition, or the lack thereof. It is another area that addresses the diversity of human beings, culture, their relationship with food-stuffs, and their ability to be healthy as related to what they eat. In brief, I shared a bit of my understanding about that, concerning the dirge of agricultural development in some parts of the world, the presence of food deserts in pockets of our nation’s communities, the impact of GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms: that especially include foods here and on the global market), and the continued food habits that people practice because of poor food choices, or none!
We spoke of the reclamation efforts of the communities that are planting their own food, and also the high-jacking of their ability to do so, by some more affluent groups, because of a lack of immediate resources. Even this movement is in danger of the trendy affluent, up-scale individuals that want to access and control the growing in abandoned community lots, and consumption of whole foods, in places like South Central L.A., California, Detroit, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, New York, New York, Washington, DC, and other places. Dr. Thomas made it clear that this fact illustrated both positive and negative aspects of such movements. It also illustrated the disparity between the organized corporate food industry, distribution for profit through privatization vs localized independent growers that offer affordable healthy foods to common folk. This is on an international level, but we were not here to talk politics.
Finally, Healthy Al-Huda 2020 is a positive ambitious project that generated pro-activity through the sharing of cultural foods consumed by the diverse groups of Muslim people within the Dar-us-Salaam and Al-Huda School Community. The aim was to produce a quality cookbook that will represent the foods, recipes, individual, and communal story experiences about food preparation, how it is utilized, and enjoyed for good health.
Dr. Thomas was able to join forces with Sr. Norah Aljohani, who will be completing her doctoral studies soon, at the university. She helped coordinate the partnership and ensuing activities with Principal Br. Haroon Baqai, Assisant Principal Br. Abdul Qaadir Abdul-Khaaliq, Assistant Principal Aisha Elahi, and some of their staff members. It was an excellent opportunity that generated a meeting between Al-Huda’s Administration, and a team of volunteers that accepted the task. A schedule of meetings was created, a time table, class projects, community involvement, and successful inter-related school-wide health fair held. Thus far, all of the efforts were successful, and we anxiously await the finished product (Al-Huda Cookbook) as a manifest fruit, of our collective labor. Presently, the cookbook is being edited, collated, and undergoing finalized design, with enhanced nutritional information included.
Another part of the project aims at tracking some of the health improvements of the school’s students, and general community as the dietary habits improve, more quality foods and preparation are provided, general health awareness increased, and food service qualifications are obtained. This includes environmental health as well. Dr. Thomas is an advocate for and supporter of the AFHCA (Affordable Health Care Act), which many know as “Obama-Care”, and its numerous provisons that aim at helping to improve health care in the nation.
At last, there was mention of the Mid-Maryland Mission of Mercy, which is a joint endeavor with Catholic Charities /Archdiocese of Washington, and the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity / School of Public Health. It is an actual mission to provide a two day free dental clinic to people that need the care, have little or no insurance to cover the costs, or who will benefit from the immediate attention of dental examination. Dental screening, X-rays, cleaning, filling, and extractions will be provided, along with follow-up recommendations for conclusive care. This affair will serve hundreds of people within the region. Earlier in the year, a successful clinic was convened in Southern Maryland. Volunteers will assist with attendants to the Mission of Mercy, which was held September 5-6, 2014, at the UM ComCast Center. For further information, contact: www.midmdmom.org
It was a rewarding afternoon, and Dr. Thomas’s words rang true when he correlated his work with the idea that another part of the objective was to give people the ability to obtain the “low hanging fruit” (meaning accessible, quality health care, and health education etc.). “Subhana Allah!” I said, and referred him to one of the ayats revealed in Qur’an, which states that the people of Jannah (Paradise) will have access to the delectable low hanging fruit, granted to them from various fruit trees, as they desire. Certainly, it was a fitting way to end a very healthful meeting, with a humble handshake, and positive thought that we’d see each other again!