HELEN Journal Salutes DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING
By Rick Rader, MD, FAAIDD, FAADM, Editor-in-chief, Helen Journal
The immortal words by Dr. Martin Luther King serve as the core values for HELEN, The Journal of Human Exceptionality. Virtually, every article in HELEN, every personality profile, and every program we promote has its roots in the inequality of healthcare for marginalized populations, especially those with disabilities. Our suggestion is to download the quote and glue it, paste it, nail it, cement it, and plaster it in your cubicle, your clinic, your classroom, your locker, your boardroom, and your bulletin board. It should serve, as it does for us at HELEN, to be the ultimate reminder of "things to do."
The background of the "quote" is provided by Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP):
Dr. Martin Luther King on healthcare injustice:
PNHP (Physicians for a National Health Program) note: The Associated Press wire story below, dated March 26, 1966, contains the first known published reference to Dr. King’s famous quotation regarding injustice in health care, namely, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.”
According to this AP account, Dr. King’s remarks were made at a Chicago press conference held on March 25, 1966, in connection with the annual meeting of the Medical Committee for Human Rights. The AP story, which carries no byline, was published the next day in newspapers around the country.
PNHP’s Dr. Quentin Young, who was present at the press conference in his capacity as a leader of MCHR, has frequently attested to the accuracy of the quotation, but until recently he and other PNHP staff were unaware of any published accounts of the proceedings that corroborated his memory.
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.”
A slightly different version of Dr. King’s remarks was published in a Cleveland newspaper, the Call and Post, about three weeks later, on April 16, 1966. In that account, produced by the NPI news service, Dr. King is quoted as saying, “Of all forms of discrimination and inequalities, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.” It’s reasonable to assume that the AP story, published the day after the press conference, is the more accurate of the two.
Rick Rader, MD, FAAIDD, FAADM, Editor-in-chief, Helen Journal