what is minority health?

prevention and wellness for the soul

What is minority health? Prevention and wellness for the soul, I decided when I was asked to be guest editor of the summer edition of She Shines. It is keeping the mind and body uncluttered so that your inner spirit can roam. It isn't always feeling badly, shamefully, or ugly, and it also isn't always trying to look thin, beautiful, or perfect.

Minority health can also be considered the alarming statistics and disturbing trends that are new or stubbornly persistent. Take research that shows White women have the highest rates of breast cancer, yet African-American women are most likely to die from it. Or data compiled by the Rhode Island Department of Health showing Native Americans have the highest percentage of infants with low birth weight.

Like She Shines and YWCA Northern Rhode Island, I have been devoted to both parts of minority health: investigating and attacking the root causes of disparities and discrimination; and celebrating the things and people that nourish our hungry souls. From a human rights-driven diabetes specialist, to the first board-certified Navajo female surgeon, the many contributors and I do it again here, in the summer edition of She Shines. The personal stories they impart in their words are just as easy to swallow as their advice. Join us, readers, in celebrating those who are making a difference and fighting for justice in the realm of health and medicine.

- Reza Corinne Clifton

Reza Corinne Clifton is a freelance journalist with six years of experience via radio, print, and the internet. Her articles have been published locally as well as nationally in places like www.Blackenterprise.com and Urban Influence Magazine. She is an online publisher of the website, www.RezaRitesRi.com, which earned her a 2007 Metcalf award for Diversity in the Media. In radio, she has production and on-air experience in music and news programming from WRIU, WRNI, WBRU, and The Coast (93.3). For more information, email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

photo courtesy of Clifton