More to ponder during Black History Month
My fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. is known for being the ‘pretty boys’ at campuses around the world. We were the first nationally incorporated black Greek fraternity and we achieved in every field of human endeavor as our motto says. The first gynecologist in South Carolina that was of African-American descent is my fraternity brother Dr. Richard Richardson who is a graduate of the only public HBCU in SC-South Carolina State University and our oldest medical college-Medical University of South Carolina.
All of my father Calvin Cooper’s brothers and sisters were conceived at home through the grace of God. If there was not a gynecologist helping my mother I may have not been born. My mother Dr. Patricia Sanders-Cooper had to have surgery to guarantee my birth. African-American women lose the most pregnancies compared to any other race.
African-Americans die from cervical cancer more quickly than any other race. African-Americans endure more abortions and miscarriages than any other race. African-Americans experience the worse women’s health issues and there needs to be more information brought to all people–especially blacks about solid gold female human wellness.
Dr. Leroy Robinson is the first African-American gynecologist to graduate from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine-he finalized his degree in 1990. Dr. Amanda Copeland Phillips is the first female African-American gynecologist from the USC School of Medicine-she ended her time at USC in 1999.
Today about 85 percent of gynecological residents are women compared with about 20 percent in 1990. Women are usually the duxes of their schools in the present-day. So, they probably understand this world and how we humans relate better than men. Correspondingly, we should not have a bunch of ‘John Thomases’ being female doctors (!) there should be more misses taking care of themselves for the most part.
Jordan Thomas Cooper is a 2015 graduate of the University of South Carolina with a degree in History and a 2010 graduate of the RealEstate School of Success in Irmo. He is the first African-American to serve in both the governor and lieutenant governor’s office as an aide and first to serve in the Inspector General’s Office in S.C. (Haley) He is also the first person to serve in the top three offices in the gubernatorial line of succession in South Carolina (Haley, Bauer, McConnell). He says research shows he is the second black presidential campaign speechwriter in American history and the first for a GOP presidential campaign (Bush 2015). He also played football for Coach Steve Spurrier.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.