‘Hip-Hop Doc’ blends passions to reach students

Kam Williams

While some felt it would be just a passing fad, hip-hop has become an all-encompassing cultural trendsetter, contributing significantly to the elimination of some of our nation’s traditional divisions, such as color, religion, background and profession. Dr. Rani G. Whitfield, a board-certified family physician, is a pioneering participant in that regard.

A native of Baton Rouge, La., Whitfield earned a bachelor’s degree in his home state at Southern University before completing a sports medicine fellowship at Ohio State University and ultimately finishing up his family practice in Dayton, Ohio.

After moving back to Louisiana, Whitfield became active in the community, offering his services to local schools. As the team doctor at all-black Baton Rouge High School, he built a solid rapport with the students, who gave him the nickname of “Tha Hip-Hop Doc.”

Whitfield is now developing what he calls the “Hip-Hop Healthy Coalition,” which will merge his three favorite pastimes: music, medicine and sports. He recently took some time to speak with the Banner about hip-hop, contemporary urban youth culture and health care in his native Louisiana.

You’re known as “Tha Hip-Hop Doc.” How’d you get such a colorful nickname?

It was given to me by the kids at the local high school I work with here in Baton Rouge. While riding in my car to sporting events, I would play alternatives to their sometimes “hard on the ears” music, and they began to really enjoy my music. It became a challenge: I would play old school hip-hop that was clean but creative, like Run-DMC’s “King of Rock” or the Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” Sometimes they enjoyed it, sometimes they didn’t, but it would bring about discussion, dialogue and a rapport.

How were you able to develop that rapport with the “hip-hop generation?”

By being accessible to my students and having a true and sincere love of hip-hop music. Young people only respond when they feel that you are sincere and actually care about them. Even when I lecture at places away from my hometown, I think the young people can tell that I want to be there and I give my all to them.

Why do you care about the kids, when so many people easily dismiss youngsters who embrace the gangsta rap lifestyle and its seeming celebration of materialism, violence, misogyny and womanizing?

Well, it may sound corny, but the children are the future. I have a 19-month-old daughter, and I want her to grow up in a better world. In order to [make that possible], I have to understand this world and what’s going on around her. I will do whatever it takes to have a positive influence on young people. I also see the innocence, creativity and energy in young adults and the need for structure in their lives. The gangsta rap, materialism, violence, misogyny and womanizing is what is produced and played, so that’s what they are conditioned to listen to and learn. I feel as if it’s my responsibility to bring a more positive spin to hip-hop without jeopardizing its creativity and international appeal. If we continue to allow certain types of hip-hop music to define this generation, it will always be negative.

How bad is the AIDS crisis in Baton Rouge? Is it hitting the black community there worse than the rest of the country?

Baton Rouge has had the highest HIV/AIDS diagnosis rate in the state of Louisiana over the last five years … and suffers from the sixth-highest AIDS case rate in the nation. New Orleans has the seventh-highest rate. Hurricane Katrina placed a tremendous burden on the HIV/AIDS population throughout the New Orleans and Baton Rouge regions. Many HIV/AIDS residents — primarily African Americans — displaced by the storm have attempted to return home only to find the necessities of housing, employment and health care unstable and fragmented. Statistics can be skewed, and as a state we do a pretty good job when it comes to reporting.

There are also campaigns, like the one designed by Mayor-President [Melvin L.] “Kip” Holden, the first African American mayor-president in the history of Baton Rouge, to increase education and raise awareness about this dreaded disease. I serve on his HIV/AIDS task force, and one of our goals is to increase testing among African Americans. We African Americans are being hit hard in the state and the city, and something must be done immediately.

Why do you think the HIV infection rate is rising among blacks while declining among the rest of the U.S. population?

There seems to be a sense of denial in the African American community. We survived slavery, Jim Crow and the civil rights movement, and now we are faced with one of the most devastating diseases in the history of man. Although HIV is preventable if behaviors are changed and there is increased awareness, we — as a community, a nation — have decided to ignore this illness.

If someone is infected, [we assume that] they are gay, dirty, substance abusers or promiscuous. But what about the innocent child who is infected by his mother while resting in her womb? Or the unsuspecting wife whose husband has decided to have casual relationships with men and/or women and brings the virus into his own home?

Our inability to feel comfortable discussing HIV has led to the spread of this virus in all facets of our community. Church leaders, politicians and community leaders must stand up and speak out against HIV. Until we can discuss this disease comfortably at the dinner table, churches, barbershops and schools, the problem will continue.

Do you think that homophobia in black culture contributes to the problem by causing many gay men to hide their sexuality?

Definitely. Jobs, careers and family relationships are all at risk once sexuality comes into question. I have patients who are not only gay, but also HIV-positive, who have only told me about their status and sexuality. It’s a lonely and hard life for these men and women to live a lie on a day-to-day basis, but many hide to avoid criticism, ridicule and ostracism.

You say that many young people are in denial and don’t even want to get tested. What percentage of people transmitting the disease does so unknowingly?

There are 200,000 to 300,000 individuals in the U.S. estimated to be HIV-positive that don’t know and have not been tested. These are estimates only. This is scary when we already have approximately 1.2 million people in this country living with HIV/AIDS, and half of those are African American.

How does being diagnosed as HIV-positive usually change an individual?

Significantly. In my opinion, there is nothing positive about being HIV-positive. Some [HIV-positive people] have done really wonderful things in the communities to educate and increase awareness, but what I see most is depression, anxiety, suicide attempts, decreased levels of confidence and embarrassment.

How hard is it to see so many young patients pass away?

Very hard. Premature death from illness and injury is not uncommon in my life as a physician who practices in the substance abuse and prison systems. Death from things that are preventable such as heart disease, obesity, cigarette smoking and of course HIV/AIDS is unacceptable in today’s age of technology and information. Yet there continue to be huge disparities in health care, and younger people are dying from things that are preventable. This will be the first generation of young people that will have a decreased life expectancy due to poor decision-making and unhealthy lifestyles. I have a beautiful daughter and she deserves every chance possible to live and to live healthy. Death before 85…that’s absurd.

What approach to sex do you recommend to teenagers you counsel: abstinence or protection?

Both. You don’t live in America if you believe that young people are not having sex. I always encourage abstinence and monogamy with my young people, but I’m also realistic. I see the results of unprotected sex in this population — unwanted pregnancy, STDs, including HIV, and ultimately death.

What is your best piece of advice for those who are sexually active?

Get tested. Know the risk factors for HIV/AIDS and other STDs. Test together, and on a regular basis. Use protection: condoms, gels, and creams. Get educated about all STDs. Be open and honest about your sexual practices in the past. Be honest with your partner … the life you save may be your own, and theirs as well.

What interested you in medicine?

I’ve always enjoyed helping people, and I felt at a young age that medicine would afford me that opportunity. I never knew it would blossom into [being] “Tha Hip-Hop Doc,” which has the potential to help more than just one [person].

How hard was achieving that goal, being black in Baton Rouge?

As usual, being African American in any environment is challenging, particularly in the South, but I persevered. I was schooled at HBCUs [historically black colleges and universities] on the college and medical school level, and understood early on that to be considered good, you had to be better than the rest. I expected worse treatment, but my professionalism, punctuality, commitment to my patients and passion for medicine and people have made the transition into the “real world” doable.

Why do you think the educational system seems to be failing black youth, particularly boys, today?

Many fear young black youth, especially men. They have been labeled violent and uncaring. This is not true, but reaching them is not always easy. This is one of the reasons I use hip-hop to educate the youth. It’s not a game, and if I didn’t have a true love for hip-hop, I would find another avenue to attempt to bring these positive messages. Going into the community, being accessible and not being intimidated is only the start, however. We need to demand better schools, after-school programs, summer jobs and vocational training in high schools so that these young people have options. College is not for everyone, and some can’t afford to go. Give them options and provide community examples of those who have achieved. If it’s not realistic, you’ve lost the battle with this generation.

What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

Do what I did: find a mentor who is doing what you want to do and shadow that person. Start this process early. If you don’t like the career, ask this mentor whom he or she knows in the community, and get a personal referral. It’s all about networking. I have students working with me all the time. It’s my duty to serve and educate my community.