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  • A Note from the Editor
  • Virginia M. Brennan

Black History Month, 2011

One hundred and fifty years ago, "[i]n 1861, as the United States stood at the brink of Civil War, people of African descent, both enslaved and free persons, waited with a watchful eye. They understood that a war between the North and the South might bring about jubilee—the destruction of slavery and universal freedom. When the Confederacy fired upon Fort Sumter and war ensued, President Abraham Lincoln maintained that the paramount cause was to preserve the Union, not end slavery. Frederick Douglass, the most prominent black leader, opined that regardless of intentions, the war would bring an end to slavery, America's 'peculiar institution.'

"Over the course of the war, the four million people of African descent in the United States proved Douglass right. Free and enslaved blacks rallied around the Union flag in the cause of freedom. From the cotton and tobacco fields of the South to the small towns and big cities of the North, nearly 200,000 joined the Grand Army of the Republic and took up arms to destroy the Confederacy. They served as recruiters, soldiers, nurses, and spies, and endured unequal treatment, massacres, and riots as they pursued their quest for freedom and equality. Their record of service speaks for itself, and Americans have never fully realized how their efforts saved the Union.

"In honor of the efforts of people of African descent to destroy slavery and inaugurate universal freedom in the United States, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History has selected 'African Americans and the Civil War' as the 2011 National Black History Theme. We urge all Americans to study and reflect on the value of their contributions to the nation."

from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History website

Each February, JHCPU is proud to publish its Black History Month issue. While the public health and health policy articles we publish ineluctably cleave to the present-day, it still seems fitting to pause with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History to note the 150-year anniversary of the onset of the U.S. Civil War and the resulting abolition of the institution of legal slavery in the United States. We hope that the work in these pages contributes to the ascending spiral of African American life in the U.S. that began so long ago.

Opening with Jim Withers's powerful ACU Column recounting the story of providers in Pittsburgh walking the extra mile to care for people who are homeless, this issue continues with two Literature Reviews. The first, by Ndumele and colleagues, covers research published between 1993 and 2009 on focus group research among Black and [End Page vii] Hispanic populations in the U.S.; it contributes to ongoing efforts to understand differences in research participation between members of minority groups and others. The second, by Felder and colleagues, covers research regarding the effectiveness of pharmaceutical assistance programs, specifically with respect to their contributions towards glycemic and lipid control. The rest of the issue falls into four parts:

Part 1: Faith, Altruism, and the Family

Part 2: Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities

Part 3: Clinical Care

Part 4: Health Policy

The issue closes with several Letters to the Editor.

Part 1: Faith, Altruism, and the Family. The core cultural values of faith, altruism, and the family constitute the topics of the first part of this Black History Month issue. The Commentary by Asomugha and colleagues advocates the establishment of a national faith-based health research network to help systematize and evaluate the valuable work that many churches and other religious organizations do on behalf of the health of the underserved. Carreon and colleagues studied the American Dental Education Association's survey of dental school seniors with an eye towards which respondents showed evidence of altruism in their professional plans. As others have found for medical students and physicians, Carreon and colleagues found that the most significant predictors of greater altruism were membership in a racial/ethnic minority group and/or a personal history of low socioeconomic status. The work underscores again the importance of...

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