Hip Hop Doctor Battles Heart Disease With Music

Via: http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.8612/title.hip-hop-doctor-battles-heart-disease-with-music

Physician Rani Whitfield has found a unique way of merging Hip Hop and medicine to bring about heart disease and obesity awareness to the African American community.

"I started to notice there was an affinity towards Hip Hop music," Whitfield, who splits his time between seeing patients and producing rap songs in the studio, said to CNN. "I was hoping maybe I could get involved in the culture and have some positive influence on it."

Positive influence is definitely needed in an era when heart disease is the number one killer of African Americans. According to the U.S. Department of Health, African American adults are 40% more likely to have high blood pressure than the average American. This puts them at higher risk for stroke, heart failure, and heart disease.

Although many of the reasons for these disparities involve factors such as genetics, socioeconomic standing, and access to affordable health care, environment actually plays a huge role in one's ability to avoid heart disease. In low-income neighborhoods, access to healthy food, quality health care, simple walking routes, or the gym tends to be limited.

This is why Dr. Whitfield, who is nowadays referred to as the "Hip Hop Doc," believes that traditional messages of heart disease prevention aren't working. In his most popular song, Walk the Walk, which is aimed at younger generation minorities, the doc teams up with New Orleans rapper Dee-1, rhyming:

"A stroke's no joke and heart disease comes with ease/ Hypertension smokin’ and diabetes/ So watch your cholesterol like you watchin' 106/ If you eat healthy there will be less for me to fix."

"It's not just African Americans I'm speaking to," he explained. "It's white, black, Hispanic, Asian; I'm speaking to many groups with the urban concept, the urban message." Whitfield hopes that in uniting Hip Hop and health education, he will be able to get across an important message, using language that minority youth will be willing to listen to.

"It's going to take young African American, Hispanic and Asian doctors to go out to talk to their communities to convince them," Whitfield ended.

What I'm listenin' to

This dude isn't too shabby. Peep this song with Yung Buck, who kills it as usual.

Punk of the Day: Alan Keyes

This idiotic distraught and downright unfortunate result of a sperm and egg pairing is the reason why the right is suffering. These absolutely radical views on Obama have yet to prove themselves effective for the case of their creators. It does seem effective in giving Obama momentum. So congrats Alan Keyes, you've lost in every race you've attempted to run in. Likewise you have lost your mind - if one ever existed, punk!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

What Song Made You Fall in Love with Hip-Hop?

A lot of people succumb to, when describing rap, saying the almost cliche "Hip-Hop is Dead." Although Nas' controversial album titled this commercialized and standardized this term there is no doubt that it existed before. Now a days, people are quick to chuck the term out there to oversimplify the state of Hip-Hop culture.

People don't realize however, that when they say, Hip-Hop is dead, they kill themselves. Especially so called rappers that further taint Hip-Hops dying perception. One thing they don't realize is that when you say that you're dying, you feel like you're doing. Ask those who deal with ageism. Sociologist call it the labeling theory but when you look in a certain direction when you're driving, it's hard to keep going straight.

This is where YOU come in. Hip-Hop lives in us. And we are VERY VERY alive. Welcome to the "Vital Signs" campaign - a campaign driven by those who live, breathe and eat Hip-Hop as a culture.

Do you want to prove that Hip-Hop is alive and kicking. Upload the song that made you fall in love with Hip-Hop using the widget below or by visiting drop.io/vitalsigns:

drop.io: simple private sharing

You're songs will be compiled and released on the "Vital Signs" album releasing in April. Hurry this historic opportunity ends soon.

thePhantom*-
http://ping.fm/1D5gt/vitalsigns

Thank you LAWD JESUS!

This dude is my new hero:

http://ping.fm/yQxq7?se=yahoorefer&feature=player_embedded

Barack Obama Elementary School

I thought this was very nice:

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Students got their wish Wednesday as their school was officially renamed Barack Obama Elementary School.

School officials believe it's the first in the nation to be renamed for the 44th president, and they said the idea to change the name of Ludlum Elementary School came from the children themselves.

The students wrote essays and held mock debates during the campaign, and paid close attention when Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain met in their final presidential debate at Hofstra University, about a mile from their school on Long Island.

"It really sends a message to children that when they get involved they can make a difference," said acting school Superintendent Joseph Laria.

Just weeks after the election, the school board unanimously passed a resolution making the change, and when the president was inaugurated last month all 460 students were given navy blue sweatshirts emblazoned with "Barack Obama Elementary School _ Yes We Can."

The school's enrollment is 62 percent Hispanic and 36 percent black.

Nine-year-old Emily Philbert, who dreams of becoming a doctor, says her classmates felt it was important to honor Obama "because now we finally have our first African-American president. Since I'm an African-American girl myself, that's a huge honor."

From:http://ping.fm/JjUK6

If I see another "Love" show on VH1...

I'm really going to kill myself. Sitting here on the computer, Katie tells me, "hey baby you're going to love this show!" She knows my aversion for these fake reality shows. But THIS time, a line has been crossed. I see that RAY J - yes the sub-famed, sub-par singer (Brandy's brother) - has a show called "For the Love of Ray J". Shoot me now. View if you must: http://ping.fm/C1OHY