For as long as I can remember, people of the African diaspora have intrigued me. I have examined their lives, explored their culture, and read about their experiences- from their African origins to their global influence. People of the African diaspora are an anomaly, both to themselves and the rest of the world. They are oxymoronic in their existence- simple, yet complex; impoverished, yet rich; misunderstood, yet wise; strong, yet vulnerable; alienated, yet ever-present; cast down, but never destroyed. My interest in understanding people of the African diaspora has taken me to Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. I have engrossed myself in some of the most prolific and mystic authorities on the African experience, including W.E.B. Dubois, Frederick Douglass, James Cone, Angela Davis, Howard Thurman, King, X, Garvey, and others.
I am intrigued by the medical contribution of African diasporates like Charles Drew and Henrietta Lacks. The son of Richard and Nora Drew, Drew grew up in the Butler-Holmes subdivision- a settlement for formerly enslaved people in Arlington, Virginia. Drew was a member of the Howard University School of Medicine and a surgeon at the Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C. Drew was the first African American to serve as an examiner for the American Board of Surgery and the first to earn a medical doctorate from Columbia. The father of modern-day blood banks, Drew's research was revolutionary in collecting, storing, and transporting blood for medical use.
Henrietta Lacks was born on August 1, 1920, to Eliza and John Randall Pleasant. After her mother's death, Lack was raised by her grandfather in a log cabin that had been the slave quarters on a white ancestor's plantation. Diagnosed with cancer in 1951, her biopsied cell (HeLa), instead of dying, doubled every 24 hours. Today, her cells continue to regenerate and have been used to test the effects of radiation and poisons, to study the human genome, to learn more about how viruses work, and to play a crucial role in the development of polio and COVID-19 vaccines. Lacks passed away on October 4, 1951, at the age of 31; nonetheless, her cells continue to impact the medical community.
Equally intriguing are the achievements of Eli McCoy, a pioneer in mechanical engineering; the mathematical and astrological predictions of Benjamin Banneker; the investigative journalism of Ida B. Wells; the political acumen of Shirley Chisholm and Barack Obama; the activism of Fannie L. Hammer and Stacy Abrams; the musical genius of Nina Simone, Bill Withers, Sam Cooke, Billy Holiday, Beyonce Knowles-Carter and many others; the literary brilliance of Zora Hurston, Toni Morrison, etc.
The richness of the African culture is undeniably intriguing and transformative. One would think the author of this article is someone outside the African experience. Not so. I am Pauline Lloyd, a simple, complex, hubristic member of the African diaspora.
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