As part of our Health & Wellness series, YUP is proud to publish Dr. Michelle Gourdine’s Reclaiming Our Health: A Guide to African American Wellness. Drawing from cultural perspective, she approaches the issue of why, according to the Federal Office of Minority Health, African Americans are “affected by serious diseases and health conditions at far greater rates than other Americans”, and gives fresh insight into how African Americans’ health choices are influenced by beliefs and values. From her years of experience as a physician, she offers guidance and strategies for how African Americans can approach the health care system, armed with the knowledge that certain conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes affect African Americans in greater percentages than other ethnic groups. You can check out the full interview with Gourdine that has just run in the Philadelphia Daily News.