The doctors on our team.

As the publisher of BLACK ENTERPRISE it's no secret that I take the training, advancement, and recognition of professionals of color, especially African American professionals, very personally. This is especially true when it comes to the medical profession. For nearly two decades I have conscientiously

My commitment to choosing African American healthcare professionals is a simple matter of practicing what I preach. I believe in African Americans supporting one another. When I was a child, black doctors were revered in the black community. If anything, my reverence for these professionals has only increased in the decades since then. Entrusting my health to other African Americans is simply the most profound way I know to show how deeply committed I am to my beliefs. That commitment, as you might expect, extends to my vision for BE, which is why the cover of this, our 31st anniversary issue, features our latest recognition of America's leading black doctors.

The doctors featured in this issue owe their success to a great and proud legacy of African Americans in the medical field, a legacy I was proud to celebrate during commencement speeches I delivered to the 2001 graduating classes of the Meharry and Charles Drew medical schools earlier this year. Black pioneers in medicine such as Drs. Drew (the creator of the first blood bank), Daniel Hale Williams (the first to successfully perform open-heart surgery), and Susan McKinney Steward (an innovator of homeopathic medicine) didn't just heal the sick; they challenged what was sick about our society. With every awesome medical breakthrough, they exposed the lies of white supremacy and black mediocrity, living out the truth that excellence knows no color. Outside of their medical triumphs, they were also important civic leaders and social activists. They recognized that there was no separating the public health crises that afflicted African Americans and the racism and discrimination that governed our lives, and that great medicine is about compassion as well as competence. These doctors are representative of thousands of black physicians across the country who see beyond the payments from their HMOs to the medical needs of their patients and their communities.

The nation's top black doctors also understand that to neglect our health runs contrary to every principle of wealth building and economic advancement we support. We can make more money. We can succeed in business in greater numbers. We can make those all-important inroads toward true social equality. But there's no use in any of that if we do not conquer the disparities in the quality of healthcare that threaten the well-being and stability of our communities.