Andre Harris: My name is Andre Harris. We are in Houston, Texas where the men living with Sickle Cell town hall meeting is.
Well, my connection with Sickle Cell Disease is first that I am a Sickle Cell patient and also I am an advocate for Sickle Cell Disease. And so this is very important to me because I am a patient and a male so I identify with all of the areas that we’re talking about today.
Yes, so black men. Already dealing with a lot of stigmas, first being black and secondly being male. And if you add the disease of Sickle Cell disease are ready at a triple threat. And so there’s been a lot of things in our culture that has taught people. To hold certain prejudices against black men. And so I am elated that we’re here working with. This company to make sure that we address those stigmas and those attitudes. And that black men are not super predators. They’re not thugs and they’re not drug seekers.
So with the emergency room setting and a male Sickle Cell patient, they again have to face the issues with doctors and nurses and providers that may not be educated about their disease. So the prejudices that have been passed down for