Being healthy is pretty simple, but most people in the United States find it pretty hard. And for an African American, it’s over-the-top hard. Not only is the struggle of getting healthy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle embedded in the culture, but there are sometimes actual physical and financial obstacles to overall health.

Black Americans are less likely to receive mental health treatment than the overall population. But as needs soar this year, faith leaders are tapping health professionals to share coping skills churchgoers and the community can use immediately.

Before having the chance to speak with Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams, I’ll admit I was a little nervous myself. But here are five key points from our conversation that are solid reasons why you should consider taking the vaccine.

Young people are harnessing the power of poetry to raise awareness about Type 2 diabetes.

Old. Chronically ill. Black. People who fit this description are more likely to die from COVID-19 than any other group in the country. Yet, older Black Americans have received little attention as protesters proclaim that Black Lives Matter and experts churn out studies about the coronavirus.

When speaking out against the loss of black lives, it is tough to separate those who die at the hands of police from those who die in a pandemic that has laid bare the structural racism baked into the American health system.