A great deal of controversy has surrounded both the tenure and resignation of former Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders. Now, for the first time, Dr. Elders shares both the travails and triumphs of her life in an autobiography which is not only a political memoir chock full of insider information, but also a chronicle of the triumphant rise of a great-granddaughter of slaves and impoverished child of sharecroppers to the highest medical position in the Unites States. of photos.

A group of vivid, first-person stories of medical students who don't "fit the mold" and have had challenges completing conventional medical training.

While Louis W. Sullivan was a student at Morehouse College, Morehouse president Benjamin Mays said something to the student body that stuck with him for the rest of his life. "The tragedy of life is not failing to reach our goals," Mays said. "It is not having goals to reach." In Breaking Ground, Sullivan recounts his extraordinary life beginning with his childhood in Jim Crow south Georgia and continuing through his trailblazing endeavors training to become a physician in an almost entirely white environment in the Northeast, founding and then leading the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, and serving as secretary of Health and Human Services in President George H. W. Bush's administration. Throughout this extraordinary life Sullivan has passionately championed both improved health care and increased access to medical professions for the poor and people of color. At five years old, Louis Sullivan declared to his mother that he wanted to be a doctor. Given the harsh segregation in Blakely, Georgia, and its lack of adequate schools for African Americans at the time, his parents sent Louis and his brother, Walter, to Savannah and later Atlanta, where greater educational opportunities existed for blacks. After attending Booker T. Washington High School and Morehouse College, Sullivan went to medical school at Boston University--he was the sole African American student in his class. He eventually became the chief of hematology there until Hugh Gloster, the president of Morehouse College, presented him with an opportunity he couldn't refuse: Would Sullivan be the founding dean of Morehouse's new medical school? He agreed and went on to create a state-of-the-art institution dedicated to helping poor and minority students become doctors. During this period he established long-lasting relationships with George H. W. and Barbara Bush that would eventually result in his becoming the secretary of Health and Human Services in 1989. Sullivan details his experiences in Washington dealing with the burgeoning AIDS crisis, PETA activists, and antismoking efforts, along with his efforts to push through comprehensive health care reform decades before the Affordable Care Act. Along the way his interactions with a cast of politicos, including Thurgood Marshall, Jack Kemp, Clarence Thomas, Jesse Helms, and the Bushes, capture vividly a particular moment in recent history. Sullivan's life--from Morehouse to the White House and his ongoing work with medical students in South Africa--is the embodiment of the hopes and progress that the civil rights movement fought to achieve. His story should inspire future generations--of all backgrounds--to aspire to great things. A Sarah Mills Hodge Fund Publication

From sharecropper's daughter to Surgeon General of the United States of America.

Health and Healing for African-Americans is the first A-to-Z guide for African-Americans that brings you straightforward advice from more than 150 African-American health experts. You'll find over 1,000 practical solutions to help you prevent and treat a wide range of health problems. From America's leading Black doctors, learn how to: reduce your risks for high blood pressure and heart disease, handle diabetes without drugs, learn when sex is safe and when it's not, treat sickle cell disease, protect yourself and your family from the threat of violence in your community, and eat right and keep your weight under control. Plus special health-care information for women and men: sisters - take charge of fibroids, cut your breast cancer risk, and plan a healthy pregnancy; brothers - protect yourself from prostate cancer and keep stress from harming your heart. You will also find advice and inspiration from African-Americans who took health care into their own hands - and triumphed. Actor Levar Burton and his wife, Stephanie, explain how they overcame infertility to have the family of their dreams. Theatrical producer and former dancer Harold Perkins describes how he beat heart disease and saved his career. Victoria Johnson, one of the nation's top physical trainers, reveals how she became fit and healthy after struggling with bulimia and a weight problem.

Romantic relationships play an important role in our everyday lives. When diabetes enters the picture, it can complicate and strain even the most loving and open relationships. If you have diabetes, you may be looking for guidance on this sensitive subject - Roszler and Rice's Sex and Diabetes is here to give help and advice where you need it. Don't let diabetes hinder the romance; Sex and Diabetes can help you discover how to rekindle the intimacy with your partner.