A day in the life of a public health professional, podcaster, and human being. Roll with me to Gaylord Michigan for the 2026 Michigan Suicide Prevention Community Technical Assistance Conference.

“Social work isn’t a profession.” “

Public health isn’t a real field.”

“Your degree doesn’t matter.”

Every time society dismisses a field, it affects funding, pay, and the people doing the hardest work: social workers, public health professionals, educators, and caregivers who sustain our communities.

In this episode of Equity Matters, Dr. James Bell III explores the history and politics of professionalism, showing how traits like formal education, licensure, and hierarchy were historically built to exclude women, Black and Brown professionals, and working-class communities. We dive into the consequences of structural inequities, including undervalued labor, disposable workforces, and narratives shaped by outsiders rather than the people doing the work.

Listen & Subscribe to Equity Matters Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Follow us on Instagram

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on TikTok

Check out our Free Resources on Gumroad

Visit Dr. Bell’s Website

“Social work isn’t a profession.”

“Public health isn’t a real field.”

“Your degree doesn’t matter.”

These statements might sound like casual opinions, but they reveal something deeper about how society decides which professions deserve respect, funding, and power.

In this preview of the upcoming Equity Matters episode “Respeck on My Name (Work To Do)”, Dr. James Bell III explores the history and politics of professionalism and why fields like social work and public health are often dismissed even though they are essential to the health and stability of our communities.

This full episode will look at:

• The history of professional status in the United States
• How race, gender, and power shaped who gets to be called a “professional”
• Why care professions are often undervalued and underfunded
• The impact this has on the public health and social work workforce

Subscribe and stay tuned for the full conversation starting this Wednesday.

Somebody said n****. Someone has a neurological disorder. Who is to blame?

Can you hold two truths at once?

Listen & Subscribe to Equity Matters Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Follow us on Instagram

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on TikTok

Check out our Free Resources on Gumroad

Visit Dr. Bell’s Website

Dr. Bell has something to say.

Listen & Subscribe to Equity Matters Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Follow us on Instagram

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on TikTok

Check out our Free Resources on Gumroad

Visit Dr. Bell’s Website

What happens when silence becomes a survival skill and survival becomes a sickness?

In this episode of Equity Matters, we examine the crisis of Black men’s health in America, where strength is too often defined by endurance and silence. From heart disease and diabetes to colorectal cancer, Black men face some of the highest rates of preventable illness yet many avoid care altogether, shaped by fear, stigma, and a history of systemic neglect. We trace how cultural expectations, mistrust, and racial bias collide to create deadly outcomes — and how breaking the silence could be one of the most radical acts of care. This isn’t just about health. It’s about what happens when a society teaches men to carry pain quietly and calls it pride.

The Sound of Silence now streaming wherever you listen to podcasts.

Listen & Subscribe to Equity Matters Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Follow us on Instagram

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on TikTok

Check out our Free Resources on Gumroad

Visit Dr. Bell’s Website

Join the Equity Matters Circle

Strength shouldn’t mean silence.

Yet for too many Black men, staying quiet has become a matter of survival. The Sound of Silence (Boy’s Don’t Cry) explores what happens when care is delayed, pain is ignored, and the system treats endurance as enough. It’s time to talk about what silence is really costing us.

Listen Friday. Subscribe so you don’t miss it.

What happens when a nation built on the promise to “promote the general welfare” decides who’s actually worthy of that welfare?

In this episode of Equity Matters, we trace the racialized roots of America’s social safety net — from Mothers’ Pensions that rewarded white respectability to New Deal policies that excluded Black labor and follow how those early moral judgments still echo in today’s debates over WIC, SNAP, and the federal budget.

Listen & Subscribe to Equity Matters Podcast: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Follow us on Instagram

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on TikTok

Check out our Free Resources on Gumroad

Visit Dr. Bell’s Website