3 and 4 Body of Soul

In reading chapters 3 and 4 of Body and Soul what caught my attention is what we also discussed in class in that the Panthers were taking action to fix problems they faced in the society. This is way different then the other books we read where like the Tuskegee experiments they did nothing about the experiments and continued to go along. The Panthers however, wanted change and realized to get that change they needed they themselves had to be that change. One item that needed change was clinics and their refusal to equally serve African Americans as the "mainstream medicine failed poor communities." (75) So if mainstream medicine and clinics would not help them, then they decided to make their own clinics and healthcare facilities. The building of these facilities was a "recourse to health inequality"(79) and showed that the Panthers were not taking anything lightly, that it was time for change and they were gonna be the source of it.
Just as change happened with unequal medical facilities so did change with sickle cell anemia which was in "the spring of 1972, a hallmark of its health policies." (116) Their initiative involved two phases: health education and genetic screening. Not only was the party focused on finding individuals with the genetic condition and making sure they received proper treatment and attention, but also on ensuring the public was educated on the condition. That was a big step to me because as we have mentioned in class African Americans were not smart enough to comprehend this language so there was never any bother in educating them. However, according to the Panthers that is completely false and they took the initiative to educate the public. Not only were steps taken in public health education but also in the science aspect with the new screening technique sickledex that was not invasive and was able to be done quickly and in greater quantities such as at their rallies.(139) In fact, it is still commonly used today. The panthers gave the public a trust aspect in medicine which was something they desperately needed as is seen in the section Trusted Experts on page 84 where the doctors and other medical staff was more alike to the African American patients and gave them a trust that has been lacking with medicine for a great amount of time.