beyond_stereotypes_in_black_and_white.jpgMore than 2.7 million children in America have a parent in prison. Among African-American children, one in nine (11.4 percent), have a parent in jail, with more fathers than mothers incarcerated. For children of incarcerated parents, studies have shown they are seven times more likely to go to prison themselves.

This Father’s Day is another stark reminder of the uphill battle they face, especially young African-American boys. Henrie Treadwell especially focuses on what she calls her “missing men” — the African American boys and men whose health and well-being are seriously threatened by virtually all social and policy systems — who are the topic of her new book, Beyond Stereotypes in Black and White: How Everyday Leaders Can Build Healthier

Opportunities for African American Boys and Men.

“The manifold costs of not insuring, employing, educating, and nurturing African American boys and men are clear,” says Treadwell, research professor in the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine.

“The health and well-being of African American boys and men is seriously threatened by virtually all social and policy systems,” said Treadwell, who has made it her life’s work in improving access to primary health care, prevention and other needed services.

“Meaningful improvement will only come when everyday people of every race and sector discover their own leadership attributes and act to reverse a stunning trend of elimination of hope and aspiration that has been the norm for generations of African American males.”

PIONEERING

Treadwell holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of South Carolina where she enrolled as the first African American after a civil rights lawsuit and was the first African American to graduate from the university since Reconstruction.

She was also the first African American woman to graduate from the university.

In addition Treadwell holds a master’s degree in Biology from Boston University, a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology, Atlanta University, and completed postdoctoral work at the Harvard University School of Public Health.

Treadwell has programmed, lectured and provided consultative services throughout the world in countries as diverse as Salzburg (The Salzburg Seminar), Vienna (The World Congress on Men’s Health), Haiti, Southern Africa (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, and Lesotho), the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and beyond.

BLACK CAUCUS AWARD

Treadwell’s major responsibilities include program oversight and management for Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved, a special informing policy initiative funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and which she established and operated for 16 years prior to joining the National Center for Primary Care.

She is also the recipient of the Congressional Black Caucus Award for Outstanding Advocacy Achievement.