Dr. Joycelyn Elders Salute

Before I became a Nutritional Consultant, I was on the path of becoming a School Nurse. Before that I wanted to be Pediatric Nurse and before junior year of high school, I wanted to be a Pediatrician. I started wanting to be in a pediatrician at age 6 after I realized ballet dancers don’t make a lot of money and to learn to play the organ, I had to learn how to play the piano (yeah the mind of a child). No one ever deterred my dream of being a doctor. I even had a black female pediatrician. She was encouraging then. She is still encouraging. So, I knew it could be done. So, you know when Joycelyn Elders was appointed Surgeon General during the Clinton Administration, I was ecstatic. The first black woman became Surgeon General and I hung on every word she said.

Minnie Joycelyn Elders was born Minnie Lee Jones on August 13, 1933 in Arkansas. She changed her middle name to Joycelyn in college. She earned a B.S. in Biology from Philander Smith College in 1952. The following year she joined the US Army and trained as a physical therapist. She obtained her M.D. degree in 1960 from the University of Arkansas Medical School. After completing an internship at the University of Minnesota Hospital and a residency in pediatrics at the University of Arkansas Medical Center, Elders earned a M.S. degree in Biochemistry in 1967. Elders has received a National Institutes of Health career development award, also serving as assistant professor in pediatrics at the University of Arkansas Medical Center from 1967. She was promoted to associate professor in 1971 and professor in 1976. She received board certification as a pediatric endocrinologist in 1978, becoming the first person in the state of Arkansas to do so.

Bill Clinton was the Governor of Arkansas when Elders was appointed as Director of the Arkansas Department of Health. While in this position there was a tenfold increase in early childhood screenings & doubled the rates of vaccinations received.  In 1992, she was elected President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers.

In 1993 Governor Clinton became the President of America and he appointed Joycelyn Elders to the position of Surgeon General. She became the 1st African- American to hold the position and she was the 2nd woman since Antonia Novello. As surgeon general, Elders quickly established a reputation for controversy. Like many of the surgeons general before her, she was an outspoken advocate of a variety of health-related causes.

She argued for an exploration of the possibility of drug legalization (suggested that legalizing drugs might help reduce crime and that the idea should be studied) and backed the distribution of contraceptives in schools. In 1994, she was invited to speak at a United Nations conference on AIDS. She was asked whether it would be appropriate to promote masturbation as a means of preventing young people from engaging in riskier forms of sexual activity, and she replied, "I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught."

This remark caused great controversy and resulted in Elders losing the support of the White House. Elders was dismissed of her post in December 1994. A collection of her professional papers are held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.

Since leaving office, Elders has received a D.Sc. degree from Bates College in 2002. She has returned to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as professor of pediatrics, and is currently professor emerita at UAMS. She has appeared on TV in "Penn and Teller: Bullshit!" during the episode on abstinence, where she says that she voiced her opinion against abstinence-only programs and discussed her opinions on teenage sex education, masturbation and contraceptives. I

n 2010 with David Chanoff, she wrote "Joycelyn Elders, M.D.: From Sharecropper's Daughter to Surgeon General of the United States of America". She was interviewed in the 2013 documentary "How to Lose Your Virginity" on her opinions regarding comprehensive sex education versus abstinence-only sex education. She is also active on the lecture circuit speak against teen pregnancy.

Also since Elders leaving office, 2 states have legalized sales, 7 states have legal medical sales, 6 states have decriminalized the sale and 6 other states have medical sales and decriminalization laws in marijuana distribution. I felt with her being slated controversial for suggesting legalizing drugs, that information should be included. Oh and in 2013 reports say the rate of births to teen mothers dropped by 25% from 41.5 per 1,000 teens between the ages of 15 to 19 in 2007 to a record low of 31.1 births per 1,000 teens in 2011. Glad she still active on the lecture tour.

Well despite being ousted from a prestigious job, this former future doctor salutes Dr. Joycleyn Elders the 1st Black Surgeon General. This job is amid many controversies, her opinions was just part of the job. 

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms