Track 13: Heavy is the HEALTH that Wears the Crown

Your Health is Your Crown

Two Black men embracing, symbolizing vulnerability and strength for Black Men’s Cancer and HIV Awareness.

When I look at this image, I see more than intimacy. I see survival. I see the quiet strength of men who have been told to endure but rarely told to heal. I see bodies that carry joy, pain, and legacy in the same frame.

For generations, Black men have carried the weight of silence when it comes to our health. Cancer and HIV continue to take our fathers, brothers, lovers, and friends at rates that should have ended long ago. Black men are still more likely to die from prostate cancer, more likely to develop colorectal cancer, and more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than any other group of men. Male breast cancer quietly exists in our community too, yet few of us ever hear that we can be at risk.

We grow up thinking health conversations belong to someone else. We think mammograms are for women, HIV testing is for someone living a different life, and checkups are for people with time to waste. But silence does not save us. It buries us. The truth is that early detection saves lives. Screenings, tests, and honest conversations can rewrite the story for generations of Black men who deserve to live long, healthy, joy-filled lives.

The Black Men’s Cancer and HIV Awareness Ribbon was created to speak that truth. It is a chocolate brown ribbon that mirrors the depth of our skin and our identity. A crown cutout sits on the left side to remind us that our health is our crown. When we protect our health, we protect our lineage. When we honor our bodies, we honor our communities. When we speak up, we shift what survival looks like for the next generation.

This ribbon is not about fear. It is about reverence. It is about choosing to exist fully and to care for the body that carries our legacy. It is about saying that Black men’s health matters, that our lives matter, that our wellness is worth protecting.

Get your screenings. Get your mammogram if your doctor recommends it. Get your prostate check. Get your colonoscopy. Get your HIV test. Get your bloodwork. Get your annual physical. Talk to your brothers. Talk to your Frat. Talk to your Husbands. Talk to your lover. Talk to your doctor.

Our health is sacred. Our bodies are worthy. Our lives are our legacy.

For Black men. For our health. For our future.

Our health is heavy, but it is holy. And the crown we wear is worth protecting.

Your health is your crown, and it is your job to protect that crown. We have one million other things like racism, white supremacy, and a dying economy to stand up against. Our bodies cannot continue to be another weapon used for our demise.

• What conversations are we still avoiding about Black men’s health?

#BlackMensCancerandHIVAwareness #BlackMensHealth #ProtectYourCrown #TheRebelGentUnplugged #KindredCreates #SingingSigma #HIVAwareness #CancerAwareness #YourHealthYourCrown

📸: Derek Chase @ThePhotoChase