Diary of a Tired Black Man: The Movie

A friend of mine, a self-proclaimed tired black man, gave me a copy of a movie to review that is really making some noise. First-time filmmaker Tim Alexander created Diary of a Tired Black Man , a hybrid of documentary and drama as a forum to address what he has termed "Angry Black Woman Syndrome". The film analyzes the breakdown in relationships between black men and women. Alexander hopes to provoke dialog in order to bring healing into the community. An on-line forum has developed in response to the movie, and recently reached the million member mark. The movie has screened in several cities across the US and should be in theaters this Fall.

Why is this important to health? Good Relationships = Good Health for Men. Alexander says that men are looking for respect, kindness, gentleness and peace of mind in relationships.

Maybe everyone would give black men a break if they kept these facts in mind. According to the Men's Health Network:

• Men don't live as long as women do. By age 100, women outnumber men 8:1
• Men are employed in high-risk occupations (mining, fire-fighting, fishing, logging, construction)
• Men are less likely to have health care coverage
• Because of disparities in health care coverage of black males, they have a 60 % higher risk for developing prostate cancer than white males, and dying from the disease.
  
• Black men have a 1 in 30 risk of being a homicide victim as opposed to white females whose risk is 1 in 495
• 55 % of black men earn less than $40,000 year, while only 23% of white males fall into that income category
• Twice as many men die of cancer and heart disease than women
  
• Black females have a life expectancy of 76 years, black males: 69 years.

Black men have good reason to be tired. We are overdue in giving them what they ask for - respect, kindness, a raise and some peace of mind.

Labels: Black men, health disparities, life expectancy

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