Black History Month: Honoring Black Excellence and Resilience

Lucy Howell February 1, 2025

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Black History Month is celebrated every February to honor the profound contributions of Black Americans throughout history and raise awareness of the ongoing struggle for racial equality.

First recognized in 1926 as Negro History Week by Carter G. Woodson, this celebration was later expanded to a month in 1976 to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. This year’s theme focuses on fostering resilience and the strength of Black communities in overcoming systemic challenges.

Three Facts:
1. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s directly influenced societal changes, resulting in landmark legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
2. Black History Month provides a platform to address inequalities in health, education, wealth, and criminal justice, propelling movements such as Black Lives Matter.
3. It is not just celebrated in the U.S.; countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands also observe Black History Month.

Three Ways to Celebrate:
1. Host community events to discuss Black historical figures like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Dr. King, and their influence today.
2. Use multimedia platforms to promote books, films, and art that center Black creators.
3. Support Black-owned businesses or donate to organizations that prioritize racial equity.

Three Resources:

National Museum of African American History and Culture – Dive into rich educational programming.
History.com – Learn about figures and stories often omitted from mainstream curricula.
NAACP – Advocacy supporting the fight for justice and equity.

We here, at the Force for Health® Network, believe that learning about black history should be all year long, which is why we have created a specific community channel around this called Advance the Dream, part of our Reality Health Game series. We offer an online community with interactive community chats, access to our 360° Force for Health Academy, wellness tool, challenges and celebration platform honoring legacy makers, family heroes and community leaders making a difference.

Join the community, engage with us and let’s continue to Advance the Dream together.

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Lucy Howell

My Healthy Globe, Inc. is a technology based media group focused on customizing population health solutions for communities that care.

Educators: Help create the Force for Health

Transcription of video: Hi, this is Dr. Robert Gillio. Dr. Robert, the Force for Health. 22 years ago, I was at Ground Zero shortly after nine 11 as part of a team helping set up a clinic called the Ground Zero Clinic. We studied, 1800 police officers and eventually 60,000 people in a World Trade Center registry. We’re looking at health outcomes, but one of the things we learned is that we were not ready then as citizens, and we’re not ready now as citizens or first responders. A third of us, including our first responders, are overweight, outta shape and don’t have baseline health records. They’re not taking care of me so they can take care of all the rest of us, the we. So we created this Force for Health Network. It’s a free tool for anyone that wants to join. And one of the things that make, maybe will make you interested in this as a teacher is I wrote a book about it. I wrote it as a cathartic thing for my teenage kids after nine 11, is why was mom and dad at Ground zero when airplanes were falling out of the sky with that book, we have, we have a series of, of versions of it with lesson plans and worksheets, that are appropriate for middle school or high school kids. And I’m not trying to sell a book. I’m trying to sell a vision, a vision of students and teachers and parents that can be a forceful for themselves, take care of their family, take care of their neighbors, and even in a distant disaster, a community far away in the world. But the book is narrated with multiple chapters, and, pictures and lesson plans. It’s free online. I’ve, I’ve not even been selling the book, in a hard copy. Maybe we will if people want it, but the goal is speaking to teenagers. What did a group of volunteers do at nine 11 from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as they were asked to step up and maybe help with a telemedicine and screening operation, at ground zero. What, and I want to get people thinking we’ve just been through another disaster. Yeah, we’ve been through Katrina, and there’s a book about that in here. Also, in the lessons learned group, basics, lessons learned group, it’s free. Join, and have access to this. I want the learners and the teachers and the instructors to be thinking about what lessons they learned during covid. What lessons have they learned during the political strife we’ve had or the, war in Europe What lessons are we learning potentially about global warming and real news or false news, fake news or fake science, or, changes in attitudes about science. So the point I’m getting at is I’d like you to join me and Have your students learn about these things, and then if they wish, they can work on me. And we, with a whole series of tools for project-based learning and personal improvement, starting more primarily with STEM or vow around the body and how it works with things like our 360 anatomy models, that will have your students being able to do, dissections and other such tools on their handhelds. And by the way, everything they do in this program is part of something we’re calling the reality Health games. We’re creating a new way to compete, get points when you walk, when, so when you move, when you learn, when you do community service, and when you earn, things for other people. Say your local fire department or, or church or temple or mosque or community. So can we create health promoting citizens of the world I think so. Is nine 11 the time to start thinking about it Yes. Is there free tools for anyone in the world to use Yes. please go to the link, provided at the www the force for health.com and join. join as a basic member at no cost. If you wanna advance things further, there’s other things that w that have some minimal cost to it, for people to be much, much more involved. We all need to be health literate. We all need to care about ourselves and be a health literate, health promoting community servant. Isn’t that what it’s all about at nine 11 Isn’t that a good lesson learned Look out for each other. Be vigilant, but be ready to adapt, improvise, and overcome, and prevent the next thing from happening. Thanks for being a force for health. Recommend0 recommendationsPublished in Dr. Rob Perspectives, Force for Health® Network News

Dr_Rob September 11, 2023

Don’t remember 911? Let us help you use it to become a Force for Health

Transcription of video: Many of you that are watching this weren’t even born. When nine 11 happened, my kids were, they were in middle school and grade school when it occurred. Now they’re healthcare and community professionals serving, the companies or organizations they work for, but also their neighborhoods. They have learned a critical lesson in part from my involvement in nine 11. That is, you have to take care of yourself first and then be ready and willing to help care for others. It’s important that you, especially if you’re middle school, high school or college, and you really don’t have a memory of, what, what happened. We were a country that was enjoying a period of exuberance. There was no Berlin Wall. There was no war. There was peace. And we thought we were loved by everyone in the world when suddenly a disaster happened on that day, and we realized that we were isolated in a bubble of not enough information to really make good decisions about our policies in the world and or our defenses at home. I participated in a health clinic at Ground Zero as a volunteer. I participated, with my family in that event and in the aftermath thereof as we tried to figure out how to help, we weren’t smart enough to be first responders, but we were smart enough to help the first responders. We became second responders. We helped the first responders, and then when we were troubled, people helped us. They became third responders, family members that saw how stressed out we all were and helped support all of us. Everyone looked out for their neighbors and supported them. If they had lost a loved one on nine 11 or if their other loved one was being drafted into guilt to join or patriotic fever favor to join, the military and take on, whatever action our president suggested. I invite you to come with me. I wrote a book called Lessons Learned to Ground Zero. It’s free, it’s online, it’s on your phone app at the force for health.com. If you join, your teacher or college instructor will have lesson plans for you. I want you to see it through the eyes of volunteers, not the government, just a, just a, a country doctor, myself and a bunch of volunteers who put together a clinic to take care of those that were in trouble. And I want you to think about what lessons have you learned in the disaster of your lifetime Covid or maybe abuse or maybe a hurricane, a flood, dealing with political or emotional strife, worried about, relatives back in Ukraine or maybe after the earthquake in Morocco. What lessons have you learned What difference can you make to make the world a better place The lesson I learned is Everyone is different, but everyone has to be as healthy as possible and as mentally prepared as possible, as knowledgeable as possible. I call it health literacy so they can take care of themselves and others. I want you to join up and become a health advancing citizen of the world as a free force for health member. I’m looking forward to sharing my lessons learned from Ground Zero and also from Hurricane Katrina. And I’m looking forward to hearing your lessons learned in your lives. Let’s create a community that caress about advancing the health and health literacy of everyone. You’re gonna inherit this world and you are inheritingit very quickly. as my generation moves on, what I’m suggesting is we welcome people to this country, but never forget, that we also need to be prepared to help ourselves and maybe othersin the world so this doesn’t happen. Again. I’m Dr. Rob for the Force for Health. I’ll see you on the other side online. Recommend0 recommendationsPublished in Dr. Rob Perspectives, Force for Health Ambassadors, Force for Health® Network News

Dr_Rob September 11, 2023

911 Long Term Effects Explained

Transcript below: Hi, this is Dr. Robert Gilio. It’s 9 11 2023. It’s over 20 years since the attacks. I was there shortly thereafter with a group of volunteers, just ordinary people in extraordinary times, trying to do the best we could. We set up a clinic at Ground Zero with others and worked with the N Y P D and eventually we’re part of the team that helped create the World Trade Center Registry. Now funded, with significant funding for over 63,000 people that have documented exposures. You know, the bottom line from the attacks are that those that were there, have higher risks for prostate cancer at about 25% higher risk. Not that 25% have cancer, but are higher risk than the standard population. More than doubled the risk of thyroid cancer and 41% of the risk of leukemia. Nearly half the responders, have been complaining on and off of digestive conditions, and 16% have developed some type of a cancer. Another 16% of claimed mental health issues such as P T S D, depression or substance abuse, and many of those who had preexisting respiratory infections had those dramatically exacerbated with a few with lingering effects, that continue on. We’re tracking them after one disaster. You know, we have a lessons learned group inside the force route that’s free to learn about these issues, to get the anatomy, the physiology, to learn about some of the mental health issues, to learn what you can do to prevent yourself from being exposed. You have the street smarts, to survive a, a disaster. Be manmade or, natural. It is our vision that everyone can be a force for health. You can join for free. Read more, on this post in my, in my post inside of the basics, lessons learned group at the Force for Health at the link below and contribute. Share what you know and learn what you can, but most importantly, learn how to take care of yourselves so that you can help others, kind of like some of us did at that time. Now, some of us might need the help when a disaster happens near us. Thank you for considering being a force for health on nine 11. By the way, the book I wrote, it’s included for free, inside of this, lesson and you give points in it and become part of the Reality Health Games, kind of a fun health literacy competition. Take care, be safe, and thank you all, first and second responders at 911. Recommend0 recommendationsPublished in Dr. Rob Perspectives, Force for Health® Network News

Dr_Rob September 11, 2023

5 Essential Frameworks for Preventing Violent Child Death

The U.S. has a violent child death problem. Developing strategies to prevent violent child deaths death from firearms and traffic crashes is a demanding task that requires consideration of numerous upstream, interrelated, and tangential issues. To help safety advocates develop strategies to prevent violent child death, we compiled five frameworks to help: Understand and explain …
The post 5 Essential Frameworks for Preventing Violent Child Death appeared first on Salud America.

Salud America December 8, 2022

911 Respiratory Effects Explained

Transcript Below: Hi, my name’s Dr. Robert Gillio. I live in State College, Pennsylvania. Now, 22 years after 9 11, 22 years ago, I got a call and one thing led to another, and I ended up with a volunteer crew from Lancaster and around Pennsylvania that showed up at Ground Zero and helped set up a clinic monitoring patients with a telemedicine system that my daughter and I, developed. I later wrote a book about it called Lessons Learned at Ground Zero to try to explain it to my kids and to others. We put lesson plans with it, and that’s all included in something we call the Force for Health Network. I’m not here to sell a book. I’m not here to sell anything other than the following message. We are not yet prepared as a nation, as a people and as first responders to deal with other disasters, human or, human or, natural in nature. I want to review for you, one of the tools we’ve built inside of a place called the Lessons Learned Group, and for people that wanna learn about how to take care of themselves so they can be volunteers and take care of others, or if they wanna exchange stories or if they wanna learn what, how to prepare for other disasters, floods, hurricanes, street smarts for first aid, or after a shooting or after Fentanyl, or even just to train the brain and keep as bright and as knowledgeable as you can so that you can be a force for health for yourself and help others. The pores for Health Network has a tool called the 360 Human, and I’d like to just briefly review for you, some of the effects of the dust on nine 11 and the fumes as well. Let me share my screen with you and take you, right into our, right into our programand show you just what’s going on with things here. we can take and have explanations regarding the force for health with great links to a variety of, resources that are available on the web. The CDC, the NewYork City Health Department do a wonderful job. I’d like to review a couple things in greater detail and kind of go to full screen with some things. One, where did the dust affect, the rescue workers and those 61,000 patients that are now in the World Trade Registry That was built in part with our tools. They went everywhere to the ethmoid sinuses, the maxillary sinuses, the back of the throat, the nose, sore throats, stuffed nose, sinusitis with short-term effects here, longer term down into the lungs affecting a variety of things. For those that were smokers or asthmatics, things got much worse over time. the Upper respiratory cleared quicker with, washing things out, rinsing things out, nasal lavage and steroids. As we look further, I’ll show you how when you breathe, the air goes down into your, break, bronchial tubes, and it goes right through your mouth, down in those bronchial tubes, way down into the chest, into the lungs. Here you see it going into the right lung, but showing it going all the way to the tiniest things called bronchials, which go to the alveoli. This led to problems such as, bronchiolitis, small airway disease, asthma, and C O P D, and some people with horrible exposures ended up with pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis. You know, it also affected areas, not just at the lungs, but around the lungs. The pleura is the space here between the ribs and the lungs. And if you were to, let’s say, do a little, surgery and remove this and took a closer look, there’s a fine flashy, slimy, glistening film here on the lungs called the Pleura. And that’s where mesothelioma starts, if there was asbestos in the system. And then finally, you know the heart when you, the lungs take things in, the aerosols, the gases, they go into the lungs and eventually into the bloodstream to the right side of the heart, and then out to the rest of the body through the aorta and through the rest of these vessels. And the point I’m getting at here is once something’s in the bloodstream, it goes to the rest of the body. I’d like to invite you then to get the rest of these 360 models. There’s about a thousand of them that show all the diseases from nine 11. In fact, almost all diseases of humanity, many of the procedures and others, it’s only part of a curriculum that helps any citizen for free. Get started as a basic lessons learned member to help make their community stronger. But first, make sure you take care of yourself. Thank you for being a force for health. by the way, when you log in, take a look at the book. It’s one of the, it’s one of the things included in there online. I narrate it or you can choose to read it. I want you to be thinking next about what lessons you’ve learned from the disasters in your life. What can you share with others in the community We need each other. We’re in this together. All right Remember how it was after nine 11 It still needs to be that way. We’re in this together as humans, not just in America, but around the world with the disasters that are, potentially ahead of us a our next generation. Dr. Rob Gillio, the Force for Health, signing off today on September 11th, 2023. Recommend0 recommendationsPublished in Dr. Rob Perspectives, Force for Health®…

Dr_Rob September 11, 2023

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