"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live" Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been an inspiration to countless individuals over the years. As a man his efforts lead to equality for African Americans in the United States in the culmination of the Civil Rights Movement. His legacy long after his passing continues to inspire people to follow their beliefs and challenge the impossible all around the world.

I myself was inspired by the works and teachings of Dr. King as a young boy growing up in the Bahamas. To the extent that I remember writing a 5th grade report about the life of Dr. King. For a ten year old reading about the civil rights movement, and the significance of what he and his followers went through while fighting for what they believed in empowered me to believe that any goals that I set for myself can be achieved despite the level of adversity set forth to deter. As a ten year old boy, although I had been raised in the Anglican Chruch and had been taught the teachings of Jesus Christ and his disciples, they always seemed more like stories rather than the factual accounts of what happened. However the story of Dr. King amazed me because by all accounts he was a man, a man who lived and died among the people but challenged everyone around him to do better in their lives and be a better person for themselves and for everyone around them. While reading about the pure hatred that black people experienced solely due to the color of their skin was surreal for a ten year old, when no ice cream after dinner was the extent of the injustice I routinely had to face. So for a ten year old boy living in the Bahamas the story of Dr. King was like the retelling of Jesus Christ with factual representation similar to the adversity that Jesus Christ faced in the bible for his beliefs and the message he sought to convey.  It gave me hope that being a good person and living a life of steadfast determination can have impact on the world.

For those of you who do not know, the population of the Bahamas is >90% of African descent. This was another reason why the story of Dr. King became such a staple in the foundation of my personal beliefs. When I read  the stories of the persecutions, lynchings and pure hatred black people in America were subjected to, it made me think that this could have been the Bahamas, this could have been my family and 40 years earlier this could have been me if that was where we lived. It gave me an appreciation that as human beings we do not control the fate that we are born into but we can shape our own destiny. There is no great story about the fight for civil rights in the Bahamas. Even dating back to the days of slavery, the Bahamas was known for less stringent slave laws and slaves were commonly known to marry into the families of their Master. Therefore, a history of equality between the races is at the basis of Bahamian heritage.  However as a ten year old boy living in the Bahamas in 1994, when I observed the apparent equality among the races in the Bahamas  I attributed this equality directly to the works of Dr. King. I figured the two must have been directly related. At the age of ten years old, the civil rights movement from thirty years earlier seemed like 3 lifetimes ago because for me it was. So in my mind the ability to get to this point of equality for all races  undoubtedly meant that Dr. King had succeeded  in his efforts and the fact that I had friends of all colors and races in my class was due in large part to his accomplishments. I did not comprehend that it was a little more complicated than that, and that the struggle of blacks in America was not exactly the struggles of blacks everywhere around the world and particularly the Bahamas. Furthermore I did not realize that even after everything that Dr. King had achieved the struggle was on going. But because of my logic, I grew up believing that I had a lot to thank Dr. King for, and in actuality I do, we all do.

Sunset in Bimini

It was not until many years later that I realized that Dr. King had an extensive relationship with the Islands of the Bahamas and the people who inhabited it. He was known to frequent the Bahamas often in particular the island of Bimini, one of the smallest islands in the Bahamas 50 miles off of the coast of Miami, Florida. He was said to have written his Nobel Prize acceptance speech in the Bahamas while vacationing with his family. The island of Bimini was also the last place he visited before his passing. It has been said that the island resonated with Dr. King, and he believed that the evidence of God's existence was validated by the creation of such a beautiful place. Little did he know just as the islands had mesmerized him personally, his life's work would forever impact a people he believed to be akin to, the inhabitants of the Bahamas.

Fast forward to 2002 and becoming an adult attending undergraduate education at an Historically Black University, Clark Atlanta University, in the heart of the establishment of the civil rights movement Atlanta, GA. I soon came to realize that the extent of the struggles that epitomized the fight for equality and the civil rights movement shaped the founding of the city of Atlanta and HBCUs like Morehouse College, Spellman College and Clark Atlanta University. We were further educated on the efforts of Civil Right leaders Like Dr. King, Malcolm X and Dr. Jesse Jackson and the substantial role they played in advocating for the education of black people as an essential right.

Atlanta City  Skyline

Going to school in Atlanta was a great experience for many reasons. From a historical standpoint ,I got to walk through the house that Dr. King grew up in with his siblings. That was amazing, because as a ten year old boy reading about Dr. King I never dreamed that I would one day walk through the halls of the house being vividly described in the books I was reading. Right next to our campus was Paschal's restaurant, an establishment known to serve as headquarters for Dr. King and other Civil rights leaders, where they planned 'The Movement'. I also had a chance to meet Rev. Joesph Lowery, one of the civil rights leader who vividly recounted what they went though and the atmosphere surrounding the significance of the impossible task they were undertaking. Just living in Atlanta was a history lesson in itself but in stark contrast to the history of Atlanta is to see what the civil rights movement has lead to. What the city of Atlanta has become instills a deep level of appreciation for everything that was sacrificed in the process by the many people willing to battle injustice in the form of bigotry.

Dr. Martin Luther King's Childhood home

The highlight of my experiences of living in the shadow of Dr. King, Atlanta, came in the highest form of flattery, when chosen to speak at a function memorializing Dr. King and his works. Every year the US Embassy in the Bahamas hosts a "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Essay Contest." The purpose of the essay contest is to encourage students around the Bahamas to explore the Life of Dr. King and reflect on how civil rights and diversity affect their lives today. Several participants who entered the competition were chosen to fly to Atlanta to experience the life, history and culture of Dr. King and his work during the civil rights movement which culminated in a dinner hosted by one of the daughters of Dr. King, Bernice King. It was at this dinner that I was afforded the opportunity to speak, as a Bahamian living/schooling in Atlanta  to the emerging youth of the Bahamas. In that moment I reflected on the circle of my life in concord with the teachings of Dr. King. It made me confront the reality that similar to the way that Dr. King served as a role model to me through his teachings and his vigor to pursue one's beliefs with steadfast determination, I too had become a role model for the youth of the Bahamas, by achieving my goals of attaining a PhD  in Molecular Biology. A goal I had never envisioned at the age of ten but is now a reality.

So for that I would like to say thank you Dr. King for helping me to believe in my dreams and helping me become what you had envisioned so many years ago.





Photo credit: Old Shoe Woman / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA, Photo credit: DrewMyers / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA, Photo credit: WilliamMarlow / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA, Photo credit: miamism / Foter.com / CC BY, Photo credit: crosscreations / Foter.com / CC BY-SA, Photo credit: Stuck in Customs / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA

I Have a confession to make...........

"I AM A COKE ADDICT"

Phew, glad I got that off of my chest but in all seriousness I have come to realize that I am addicted to the sweet sugary goodness of the always refreshing Coca-Cola. I was fine with that addiction until recently when I tried to quit, well temporarily. So I made an agreement with my sister to give up sodas for a month as a part of a New Year's Resolution. I figured it would be hard giving it up because I had become accustomed, like most of the billions of Coke drinkers around the world I like to have a refreshing soda with most of my meals, but I figured that I would manage after all its a New Year Resolution, it's suppose to be hard right?!

Well a week or so in and I AM REGRETTING IT BIG TIME. All of a sudden I start to feel withdrawal symptoms that I did not expect. Who expects to feel physical manifestation of a soft drink? Would this happen if you were addicted to cranberry or orange Juice?! Can you even be addicted to OJ? I started to realize that without my daily dose of coke I would find it increasingly hard to stay awake during the day or focus in meetings and presentations. My days seemed longer and longer, I started finding myself unable to stay up past 10pm and I began to crave the refreshing thirst of an ice cold coca-cola. And although I am sure we are all aware of the negative side effects of consuming sodas on a regular basis (e.g. high sugar intake, cavities associated and empty calories leading to weight gain) the devastating effects these sugary soft drinks can have on the physiology of your body can be quite astonishing considering the availability of these products to the world. They are sold in every corner of the world in every slum, hillside and mountain top. Therefore as a scientist, the apparent side effects from my coca-cola withdrawal peaked my curiosity and initiated my research into the science behind a Coke addiction something I never had a desire to purse until now.

So we all know about the "nutritional facts" about a can of coke.....basically there are none! No Vitamins no minerals, a lot of sodium and a lot of sugar. I'm a scientist and I measure grams of compounds all the time and trust me when I say 45g is a lot! We all know this and we all say the same thing, who cares! Its my body and I'll do what I want to. I guess we should start looking at soda drinkers like cigarette smokers. But aside from these "nutritional facts" another thing we don't realize is how this 12oz can of deliciousness is almost like shooting up a fix in your arm every time you take a swig. Trust me I should know, I've been addicted all my life! And right now as I go through withdrawal "I'm fiendin" for another fix every second of everyday.

Another ingredient that is not clearly labeled on the can is the amount of caffeine (ephedrine). A 12oz can of coke has 35mg of caffeine (58mg for a 20oz). That may not seem like a lot considering a 20oz Venti from Starbucks has 415mg of caffeine per serving but it adds up. And I confess to substituting coke as my caffeine intake considering that I don't drink coffee, I use it to stay awake late at night, to put pep in my step and to sometimes just calm my nerve....Ironic I know, considering caffeine increases your heart rate.  However, interestingly enough just as addictive to caffeine is the sugar itself.

So I wanted to highlight some of the ways these chemicals affect our bodies.

Caffeine
The physiological activity of caffeine blocks the activity of phosphodiesterase (PDE) a chemical that breaks down the chemical messenger of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) that is involved in signal transmission in neurons. Basically what this means is that Caffeine "AMPS UP" the electrical signal in your body and keeps it AMP'D! This is how caffeine allows you to stay awake longer or make you feel invigorated  an activity that is very similar to the activity of many nervous stimulants like cocaine/heroine. Its like taking a car battery and running your lawn mower with it. It will work fine and might even work better for a short while but eventually you will fry the system because its can't handle all that power (i.e. post-stimulant CRASH). When this becomes your regular routine you begin losing the ability to function without it. Hence, why I felt like I needed it once I decided to give up my daily coke and started going through withdrawal. My body was telling me that it did not know how to function without it.  Many prominent researchers believe that caffeine addiction is a mental disorder similar to heroin/cocaine addiction, with symptoms that can seem almost as intense. So do not take that can of coke/cup of coffee lightly as it may have more an affect on you than you realize!

Sugar
Additionally, sugar itself can be very addictive and may be the leading cause of obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease. We all know that sugar is suppose to rot your teeth, cause you to put on weight and too much of it is just bad for many health reasons. But did you know that sugar can have an effect on your brain function? Many scientists believe that sugar is just as addictive as cocaine and operates on a reward/pleasure system for your brain. Sugar triggers the brain to release dopamine, which is the chemical that controls pleasure in your brain. So every time your body gets a high dose of sugar, your brain climaxes a little and on a constant day by day basis your body becomes addicted. So addictive that when you can't get this pleasure fix it affects you mood/behavior and can make you a little grumpy....think about the snicker's commercial when the boy  turns into Joe Pesci at a party. But what snickers is not telling you is that the more you do this the more we can get you addicted to our candy! In today's food pyramid sugar is in everything from the breads we eat to the healthy yogurts we consume. The reason for this is that the food industry knows that there is big money on getting their customers hooked but also associating their product with a euphoric pleasure sense.

I'm not saying we all need to start living a caffeine free, sugar free lifestyle, and give up all the good things we love, in fact I will probably be back to drinking my coke after my coke free month (a.k.a. purgatory) is over. But I think we need to know what we are doing to our bodies and realize that the addiction is real, just like the crack addict, cigarette addict, alcoholic.....the COKE ADDICTION IS REAL! After all when you force feed the human population a constant supply of two of the most addictive substances known to man enslavement to the "CRAVE" is inevitable.

The good news is that after a month (well almost 3 weeks), I feel less inclined to need a coke in my life with every meal and substituting a coke a day for water has helped me feel healthier while undertaking my other New Year's resolution of exercising more. So cracking the habit (pun intended) is totally doable if you want it bad enough.

So I implore you, if you are a coke addict, a coffee addict  a Starbucks addict (because you know Starbucks isn't just regular coffee) try giving it up for a week maybe even a month and see how severe your side effects are because the severity of your side effects can tell you a lot about your addiction. And if you wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat dreaming of a cup of coffee then you might want to just think twice about judging that crack-ish looking homeless person wandering the streets, because you'll have a better idea of what they are going through.

Ok we are now 3 weeks into 2013, by now most people are giving up heir New Year's Resolution but we are going to keep this thing going. After adding another $3 dollars to the kitty this week that means we have a total of $6.00 saved. YEAH!!!! So in the spirit of a a new year in 2013 I am contemplating what major life changes can I make for the better? We already have begun building a savings kitty.......
So I have decided that with each weekly update into the saving kitty I am going to think of a major 2013 adjustment/resolution to make 2013 a year of change. My next major life improvement goal will be to try to get at least 6 hours sleep each night. As a self professed insomniac this is going to be a big one!!! Going to bed before midnight has never been an easy task for me and as a Creature of the night I feel like I am missing out on something by going to sleep at a decent hour, which is ironic because I hate waking up in the morning.....go figure! But all the major studies suggest a full night sleep is essential to good health, proper eating, overall emotional well being and a productive day. So as a scientist it would be ignorant of me to not heed the research findings. So on that note goodnight and hopefully tomorrow will be a productive day!