Staff Perspective: Grief, Proximity, and Social Determinants of Health
Like many of us who are tasked with writing blogs, we sign up without a second thought, not realizing how quickly the time seems to pass. But, as we sit in front of a blank screen, pondering what information to share with the world or what value-add our expertise will bring, the deadline creeps upon us seemingly in an instant. Unfortunately for me, this was yet again the case. When I finally sat down to compose my blog, putting ideas to paper, I received a call that rocked me to the core. In that moment, I contemplated whether to share the recent agonizing grief of our family with the world, until I quickly realized that the city of Chicago and its multiple channels of communication (Facebook, live streaming, and local news channels) had already done just that.
So, as many of us clinicians often preach, but find it much more difficult to practice, I figured, why not use this month’s blog to highlight the importance of storytelling as a healing tool, while simultaneously sharing about a phenomenal man, who was murdered for no other reason than opportunity and proximity. Since June is also Men’s Health Month, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the statistics telling a frightening story about the life expectancy of men being six years less than women, and how the environment plays a role in their longevity (Office of Minority Health, 2024). Heartbreakingly, in the case of my uncle, proximity was the factor that ultimately took his life.
Background
According to the 2022 Chicago Health Atlas, the average life expectancy for a Black Male in Chicago was 73.1 years and by this account, my uncle had already beat the odds, as he was 73 years old when he was killed. Speaking of beating the odds, Larry, which was his first name, was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. Joining the Marine Corps after high school and serving in combat in Vietnam. He would return to Chicago after the conflict, which he said was a War, because conflict wasn’t a strong enough word to describe some of the atrocities he’d experienced. He would then go on to serve in the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and after eight years as a CPD Officer, he became the first African-American Bomb Technician in the city. All of this to say, that he was no stranger to danger. After 30 years of fighting crime, dismantling bombs, training new Explosive Ordinance Technicians (in both the Army and CPD), and serving on FBI task forces, he decided to turn in his badge. Well, sort of, but, if you knew my Uncle Larry, you’d soon realize that retirement was nowhere in his near future. So, he did what any committed, loyal, citizen would do. He continued serving the public as a Transportation Security Agent (TSA), training new TSA agents on how to properly detect explosives at both Chicago Midway and Chicago O’Hare International Airports. In fact, if you passed through either of these airports in the past decade or so, and saw the bomb sniffing dog, it is very likely, that you’d met my uncle. He would probably be the only one with a smile that lit up the entire airport.
Social Determinants of Health
In our line of work, we emphasize the importance of recognizing the whole person or intersectionality. In this case, Uncle Larry touched on so many different categories, including being a Marine, veteran, Black, male, public servant, high socio-economic status, college educated, Minister, mentor, husband, father, etc. Yet, he still chose to live within the confines of a community that most had abandoned as soon as they had the opportunity. Not my Uncle Larry, he was Westside Chicago through and through and loved his neighborhood; despite any challenges that arose within his community.
Social Determinants of Health or SDOH is a concept that highlights non-medical factors that impact health outcomes (CDC, 2024). Within SDOH, Neighborhood and Built Environment focuses on creating neighborhoods that promote health and safety; with the first objective of reducing the rate of minors and young adults who commit violent crimes. Sadly, the young men who ended Uncle Larry’s life on June 20th, 2024, ranged in age from 16 to 22 years old. While some may question his choice to stay in the neighborhood, as a collective community, we understand what he was trying to do. There is a common acknowledgement that it takes multiple approaches to solve human problems. While we as clinicians make our contributions to society’s ills by conducting training, writing, researching, or providing mental health services, there are so many, like my Uncle Larry, who are boots on the ground, day in and day out, attempting to implement those real-world solutions. Sometimes at the ultimate cost, being their life.
Reflection
So, as you work in your yards in the upcoming days and weeks, remember my Uncle Larry, who was doing nothing other than wrapping up his morning of yardwork. My aunt had just gone in the house to shower and change, as their next errands consisted of purchasing new flowers and buying snacks for the youth church meeting. As he was getting ready to pay the young man who was assisting them, he noticed some young men running towards them with guns with the intention to commit robbery. Being the selfless man he was, he pushed the young man out of the way and drew fire. Unfortunately, he was outnumbered and was hit multiple times in the chest. Now, consider my aunt, who after 44 years of marriage, ran outside to find her husband bleeding out on the ground with a neighbor performing CPR, while they frantically awaited help. Next, ponder on why Social Determinants of Health Matter, the importance of proximity, and building or rebuilding safe communities where people have lived and built social connections for their entire lives. Then, take some time to understand that no one deserves to die because of proximity, and that beating the odds at age 73 is still tragic. Recognize that Grief, Proximity, and Social Determinants of Health may have seemed completely unrelated before reading this blog. However, I hope that you can acknowledge how we are all interconnected, and I pray that proximity never rears its ugly head and ties into your grief. Finally, know that writing this blog was extremely therapeutic. Sometimes, the best therapy really is just getting the story out there. Storytelling is a healing tool.
In Honor of My Uncle Larry
“There are monsters among us, it’s true. But there are heroes too.” -Amie Kaufman
The opinions in CDP Staff Perspective blogs are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Science or the Department of Defense.
Katrice Byrd, DSW, LCSW is a Military Social Worker with the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP). She is co-chair of the North Carolina National Association of Social Worker’s Legislative Committee and is passionate about serving the village through research, policy, and programmatic changes.
References:
Center for Disease Control. (2024.) Social determinants of health. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/about/priorities/why-is-addressing-sdoh-important.html.
Chicago Health Atlas (2022). Life Expectancy: Black Male Non-Hispanic [Bar Chart]. https://chicagohealthatlas.org https://chicagohealthatlas.org/indicators/VRLE?topic=life-expectancy&tab=chart
Heroes. (2024). Retrieved from https://quotefancy.com/quote/2843016/Amie-Kaufman-There-are-monsters-among-us-it-s-true-But-there-are-heroes-too.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2024). Neighborhood and built environment. Retrieved from https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/neighborhood-and-built-environment.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2024). Men’s Health Month 2024. Retrieved from https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/mens-health-month-2024.
Like many of us who are tasked with writing blogs, we sign up without a second thought, not realizing how quickly the time seems to pass. But, as we sit in front of a blank screen, pondering what information to share with the world or what value-add our expertise will bring, the deadline creeps upon us seemingly in an instant. Unfortunately for me, this was yet again the case. When I finally sat down to compose my blog, putting ideas to paper, I received a call that rocked me to the core. In that moment, I contemplated whether to share the recent agonizing grief of our family with the world, until I quickly realized that the city of Chicago and its multiple channels of communication (Facebook, live streaming, and local news channels) had already done just that.
So, as many of us clinicians often preach, but find it much more difficult to practice, I figured, why not use this month’s blog to highlight the importance of storytelling as a healing tool, while simultaneously sharing about a phenomenal man, who was murdered for no other reason than opportunity and proximity. Since June is also Men’s Health Month, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the statistics telling a frightening story about the life expectancy of men being six years less than women, and how the environment plays a role in their longevity (Office of Minority Health, 2024). Heartbreakingly, in the case of my uncle, proximity was the factor that ultimately took his life.
Background
According to the 2022 Chicago Health Atlas, the average life expectancy for a Black Male in Chicago was 73.1 years and by this account, my uncle had already beat the odds, as he was 73 years old when he was killed. Speaking of beating the odds, Larry, which was his first name, was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. Joining the Marine Corps after high school and serving in combat in Vietnam. He would return to Chicago after the conflict, which he said was a War, because conflict wasn’t a strong enough word to describe some of the atrocities he’d experienced. He would then go on to serve in the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and after eight years as a CPD Officer, he became the first African-American Bomb Technician in the city. All of this to say, that he was no stranger to danger. After 30 years of fighting crime, dismantling bombs, training new Explosive Ordinance Technicians (in both the Army and CPD), and serving on FBI task forces, he decided to turn in his badge. Well, sort of, but, if you knew my Uncle Larry, you’d soon realize that retirement was nowhere in his near future. So, he did what any committed, loyal, citizen would do. He continued serving the public as a Transportation Security Agent (TSA), training new TSA agents on how to properly detect explosives at both Chicago Midway and Chicago O’Hare International Airports. In fact, if you passed through either of these airports in the past decade or so, and saw the bomb sniffing dog, it is very likely, that you’d met my uncle. He would probably be the only one with a smile that lit up the entire airport.
Social Determinants of Health
In our line of work, we emphasize the importance of recognizing the whole person or intersectionality. In this case, Uncle Larry touched on so many different categories, including being a Marine, veteran, Black, male, public servant, high socio-economic status, college educated, Minister, mentor, husband, father, etc. Yet, he still chose to live within the confines of a community that most had abandoned as soon as they had the opportunity. Not my Uncle Larry, he was Westside Chicago through and through and loved his neighborhood; despite any challenges that arose within his community.
Social Determinants of Health or SDOH is a concept that highlights non-medical factors that impact health outcomes (CDC, 2024). Within SDOH, Neighborhood and Built Environment focuses on creating neighborhoods that promote health and safety; with the first objective of reducing the rate of minors and young adults who commit violent crimes. Sadly, the young men who ended Uncle Larry’s life on June 20th, 2024, ranged in age from 16 to 22 years old. While some may question his choice to stay in the neighborhood, as a collective community, we understand what he was trying to do. There is a common acknowledgement that it takes multiple approaches to solve human problems. While we as clinicians make our contributions to society’s ills by conducting training, writing, researching, or providing mental health services, there are so many, like my Uncle Larry, who are boots on the ground, day in and day out, attempting to implement those real-world solutions. Sometimes at the ultimate cost, being their life.
Reflection
So, as you work in your yards in the upcoming days and weeks, remember my Uncle Larry, who was doing nothing other than wrapping up his morning of yardwork. My aunt had just gone in the house to shower and change, as their next errands consisted of purchasing new flowers and buying snacks for the youth church meeting. As he was getting ready to pay the young man who was assisting them, he noticed some young men running towards them with guns with the intention to commit robbery. Being the selfless man he was, he pushed the young man out of the way and drew fire. Unfortunately, he was outnumbered and was hit multiple times in the chest. Now, consider my aunt, who after 44 years of marriage, ran outside to find her husband bleeding out on the ground with a neighbor performing CPR, while they frantically awaited help. Next, ponder on why Social Determinants of Health Matter, the importance of proximity, and building or rebuilding safe communities where people have lived and built social connections for their entire lives. Then, take some time to understand that no one deserves to die because of proximity, and that beating the odds at age 73 is still tragic. Recognize that Grief, Proximity, and Social Determinants of Health may have seemed completely unrelated before reading this blog. However, I hope that you can acknowledge how we are all interconnected, and I pray that proximity never rears its ugly head and ties into your grief. Finally, know that writing this blog was extremely therapeutic. Sometimes, the best therapy really is just getting the story out there. Storytelling is a healing tool.
In Honor of My Uncle Larry
“There are monsters among us, it’s true. But there are heroes too.” -Amie Kaufman
The opinions in CDP Staff Perspective blogs are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Science or the Department of Defense.
Katrice Byrd, DSW, LCSW is a Military Social Worker with the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP). She is co-chair of the North Carolina National Association of Social Worker’s Legislative Committee and is passionate about serving the village through research, policy, and programmatic changes.
References:
Center for Disease Control. (2024.) Social determinants of health. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/about/priorities/why-is-addressing-sdoh-important.html.
Chicago Health Atlas (2022). Life Expectancy: Black Male Non-Hispanic [Bar Chart]. https://chicagohealthatlas.org https://chicagohealthatlas.org/indicators/VRLE?topic=life-expectancy&tab=chart
Heroes. (2024). Retrieved from https://quotefancy.com/quote/2843016/Amie-Kaufman-There-are-monsters-among-us-it-s-true-But-there-are-heroes-too.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2024). Neighborhood and built environment. Retrieved from https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/neighborhood-and-built-environment.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2024). Men’s Health Month 2024. Retrieved from https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/mens-health-month-2024.
Comments
jerrihaaven replied on Permalink
Incomprehensible Grief
I am absolutely gutted at reading the account of the murder of your sweet uncle.. And I am livid that this keeps happening. May I please suggest reaching out to Gionno Caldwell. He is a Fox news political analyst, whose baby teenage brother was murdered in a dirve by shooting in Chicago two years ago. Three days ago he launched the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety and is looking for people to support his mission to restoring law and order. https://caldwellinstitute.org/ My condolences to you and your entire family.