BPA Blog

BPA Blog

Blogging from the Motherland--First Day--Dr. Napoleon B. Higgins Jr.

Blogging from JFK

Well we are about to board the plane headed to Cairo, Egypt. We have good number going with us. At last count we are expecting about 30 people to travel with BPA.

I am truly excited to go. For me and many others this is our first trip to the home land. As many African Americans, we do not know where in Africa we originate from, but we have constant reminders that we are of African descent.

It is good to see the smiling faces and congenial meetings. Many I don't see often, but it is good to see everyone doing well.

I will attempt to keep you all abreast of the trip for those who were unable to go. I do know that Dr. Patricia "Nana" Newton has planned a reception after we land in Cairo. I can't wait to see the pyramids and reflect to a time when the state of Africans and their place in the world was much different.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of the Fort Hood shooting. I have a few friends that I hope are doing well. We too must remember our own mental health as well as the mental health of our colleagues. It shows that by no means are we immune to the illnesses that we treat.

Stay mentally well.

Blogging from the Motherland--Second Day--Dr. Napoleon B. Higgins Jr.

I have just arrived in Egypt. We were fortunate to descend to the airport and fly over the pyramids. I noticed from the plane that the desert, the pyramids and all the buildings are just about the same color. I also noticed how vast the city of Cairo is. I was told there are 15 million people living here.
4
For such a large city I haven't figured out why I haven't seen a traffic light.
4
The hotel is beautiful. It has a European modern decor. The dollar is 5.5 to 1 with the Egyptian pound.
4
We are headed to the pyramid light show and then to dinner. Everyone is dressed nice and looks great. I will let you know how it went.

Blogging from the Motherland--Third Day--Dr. Napoleon B. Higgins Jr.

Last night we had a wonderful time. We ate at Dr. Nasir losa's house who is the Secretary of Mental Health for the country of Egypt. It was a late night and we arose early this morning.
4
Today we visited the pyramids and the Sphinx during the day. The pyramids were huge!!! The Sphinx is large, grand and beautiful. This was a true testament to majesty, power, mathematics and science. You can’ t discredit the obvious. I did have issue with the guide’s history of Egypt. I think she could have shared more regarding Egypt being the stimulus, base and precursor to modern medicine and science.
4
Today we just finished seeing the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in downtown Cairo. It was nice to see beautiful black faces etched in wood, limestone, marble, granite and gold. Masterful artwork indeed. There is no denying the ethnic features of the faces, locks and Afros. To my sisters: Nefertiti had locks, hips, thick legs and thighs. She is known as the "most beautiful and beloved one." Don't believe otherwise.
4
Lunch was nice. The food also tasted familiar to soul food. Well, our soul food does originate here. I even had hot sauce on my fried fish.
4
I’m headed to Aswan, Nubia--Black Egypt. I will keep you posted.

Blogging from the Motherland--Fourth Day--Dr. Napoleon B. Higgins Jr.

I've been told that I keep referring to just myself on the blog and wanted to include the others. We are on Elephantine Island. It is one of the oldest Nubian villages. We have donated a large sum of money to the village elders, mayor and council.
4
I was told that President Obama's great grandfather is from a Nubian village. Maybe we should refer to him as Pharaoh. As soon as people figure out you are American they say “Obama!”
4
If you ever wonder where we get our singing and dancing fromjust come to Africa. We stood for a picture with the native Nubians and villager began playing his drum (jumbau) and we sang Obama repeatedly. I guess it is a part of our common language.

Blogging from the Motherland--Fifth Day--Dr. Napoleon B. Higgins Jr.

All continues to go well. We are having a great time. Last evening we ate and retired by poolside to an evening of merriment and name that tune with Tim DJ’ing from his iPod.
4
Today we did lectures all day. The talks have been excellent and informative. Two thumps up to the program committee (Otis Anderson and myself) under Michelle Clark’s leadership.  Expect a special edition news letter soon.  I have heard new ideas and cutting edge research all day. Many of us are truly doing good work.
4
We are headed to the market. It is all about bargaining.  We just left Isis temple. It is hard to believe that I am actually standing in the temple with the columns you see on the pictures.

Blogging from the Motherland--Sixth Day--Dr. Napoleon B. Higgins Jr.

We continue to have a great time in Egypt. We visited the temples of Ramses II and Isis. Both were beautiful. We traveled through the Sahara desert to get there. This evening we had our banquet dinner where we thanked Dr. Newton for putting the travel package together, Dr. Michelle Clark for chairing the Program committee and the Board for all of its work.
4
When visiting the temples in Abu Simbel we noticed the further we traveled into Nubia the darker the skin tone of the people there. We were welcomed in Nubia and the people referred to us as "cousins." They were genuinely glad to see us. We saw individuals from around the world, but very few of African descent and even fewer Americans. I have seen evidence of others making claim to Egypt and Nubia as their ancestral history. I do not find that odd at all. I do find it odd that we as African Americans do not seem to do this or visit our Nubian cousins. They obvious look forward to us being here. They are excited to see us. As soon as they realize you are an American African (that's their view and not my own), they say "Obama" with a smile. They do consider him one of their own since his grandfather lived only a few miles from Abu Simbel and the temple of Ramses II and Isis.
4
We are going to have a few hours of merriment by the poolside and retire for the evening or rather early morning.

Is it time for a Black APA President?

Our country and the world recently celebrated the election of the United States first Black President. It truly exemplifies the hopes and promise of the United States of America. The rise of President Obama is a story that could only happen in America. As we look at this trailblazing and unprecedented story, it makes me reflect and take a close look at the American Psychiatric Association.

Many members of the APA are fully aware that there has never been a president of the APA who is of African descent. For the full perspective, click here.

Haiti Earthquake

Many of us are witnessing the devastation to the island of Haiti at this time. I've been fortunate to have visited Port au prince and done mission work in Haiti. It is a place of natural beauty and people. At the same time it is extremely poor. Many persons in Haiti are living on the edge of existence even before the earthquake and it is fact that this country is incapable of an adequate response. I say this knowing that the people of Haiti are extremely resilient and are doing all that is humanly possible. Even with their efforts, they will need an unprecedented amount of help.

Due to my love for that country and how I was highly impressed with the people and the depth of their need; as president I am asking BPA to in some way to help. There is an immediate need for emergency help. This country does not have the resources to do this. There will be a large need for medical and mental health disaster recovery.

If any of our members are Haitian I ask that you contact the BPA via our email BPA4info@aol.com.

We would like to coordinate with other groups to make sure our efforts are a success.

Expect more information on how the BPA can help shortly.

Haiti Blog--Dr. Rahn Bailey

We arrived on Thursday the 28th into Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. There was great concern over the needed private security required to enter Haiti. Another group ahead of ours had reportedly been stopped, etc. Once that was addressed, we ended up with a Haitian police car with four armed policemen with semiautomatic rifles. Thus, we entered after this was arranged. This was my first real awareness of the true gravity of the situation. As things deteriorated, sometimes the worse comes out. There is a story that after the earthquake, all of the country's prisoners had to be released. This has led to some of the fear present leading to the enhanced security issue. Since here, we have seen United Nations Security forces walking through the streets consistently. This has certainly helped bring a sense of stability to the environment on the ground.

Please read the whole entry by clicking here.