By Samarah Jones
I had an opportunity recently to sit with the co-founder of WhereItzAt Magazine, Chris Williams, to talk about his health journey and recently launched initiatives to help Black men prioritize their mental and physical health and explore the reasons why the work he started with his nonprofit is so important to underserved communities.
As he tells it, for the majority of his life, Chris was generally healthy. He played sports growing up in Jamaica, mainly soccer, ran almost daily with his father, Clive Williams and had daily chores that kept him busy and out of trouble. Upon migrating to the United States over 30 years ago with his parents and sister, he continued to live a normal, healthy life and said, “I could have never imagined that I would be hospitalized for anything, much less experience a life-threatening health event.”
It was October 1, 2015 and Chris was working in Midtown Manhattan at a boutique executive search firm. His workday started out pretty normal. He commuted into the city from New Jersey, bought breakfast and sat at this desk to eat, while he read emails and prepared for a busy day. His daily activities outside of work included exercise; walking, running and weightlifting, and his eating habits were fairly healthy. As he read through emails, he stated that “I started having sharp chest pains, that felt like heartburn, so bought some tums and drank lots of water, while monitoring the pain to see if it would pass.”
Unfortunately for Chris the pain only got worse, which led him to call his doctor and discuss his symptoms. He was told to come into the office immediately to be evaluated. Chris explained that while traveling to his doctor’s office, he could feel his legs getting heavy, he had a pain in his left arm and was having some difficulty breathing, “it felt like someone was sitting on my chest, he said. One look at him and Chris’ doctor called 911 to have him rushed to the hospital.
After a few tests, including an EKG and a chest X-ray proved inconclusive, the doctors at the hospital decided to do blood tests focused on his cardiac enzyme levels. Once those results came in, Chris was rushed for an emergency procedure, as it was determined he had a 98% blockage in one of his coronary arteries and required angioplasty. “I still hear the doctor telling me how lucky I was, and I can still recall stories of other men, who had similar experiences, but were sent home and later died, because doctors failed to dig deeper to discover the problem.”
Fast forward to 2021 and Chris’ life got a little more interesting, as he puts it, when he was diagnosed with stage III appendiceal cancer (cancer of the appendix), followed by a second heart attack, another stent placement, cardiac rehab, colon resection surgery, a third cardiac incident, a serious blood infection and 9 months of chemotherapy. As I am writing this story, I am still wondering how he managed to navigate all of this and maintain such a positive outlook.
Throughout our interview, Chris maintained that his attitude towards life was extremely important to his recovery. “I dedicated time to living purposefully and enjoying myself, even though I had to undergo chemotherapy every other week and felt sick frequently. I believed then and now, that a positive outlook, with a focus on my mental health and wellness was critical to my recovery.”
“Another thing that kept me focused and was very important to my recovery was the discovery of my purpose. I realized then, that I needed to do my part to help change the way Black men dealt with or failed to deal with their mental and physical health. I decided to launch my nonprofit to encourage Black men to begin engaging in conversations about their health, particularly when something in their body doesn’t feel right and to provide access to resources, such as screenings, medical and holistic practitioners and fitness activities for all levels.”
Chris launched Heart, Body & Soul, Inc. (HBS) a Brooklyn-based 501(c)(3) in 2022 and hosted his first event, The Black Man’s Health Festival, in June of 2022 at Restoration Plaza in Brooklyn. The Black Man’s Health Festival, HBS’s signature event, is focused on promoting holistic well-being among Black men. Through interactive workshops, virtual discussions, health screenings, and pop-up events, HBS offers a platform for medical professionals, holistic practitioners, and community leaders to engage directly with Black men and empower them to prioritize their health.
Now in its third year, this year’s festival, took place on Saturday, June 8 at Weeksville Heritage Center, and featured engaging activities, including the Soca Run Festival Warm-Up, followed by yoga and breath work with Urban Asanas, a wellness lounge created by Life Wellness Center, panel discussions curated by The Wall Street Alphas (a NYC based Graduate Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.), music by DJ Frei Speech, DJ Proper Edakit, and DJ Gringo, healthy delights courtesy of Aunts et Uncles and refreshing healthy beverages provided by Brooklyn Tea. Attendees got the chance to engage with organizations like Men At Work Healing, have screenings done with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical, met primary care physicians through MediRootz, signed up for affordable health insurance through MetroPlusHealth and experienced the Self Care Lounge, which included haircuts by Platinum Cuts, loc retwists by Thando “The King of Locs” Kafele and dry manicures with hand massages by Eloria Michelle.
HBS is honored to be a recipient of the Nike Black Community Commitment Grant and extends their gratitude to Nike and other community partners for their unwavering support:
- Nike
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- CCNY – MSK Partnership For Cancer Research, Research Education & Community Outreach
- Soca Run Festival
- WhereItzAt Magazine
- Brooklyn Tea
- Urban Asanas
- MediRootz
- Life Wellness Center
- Wall Street Alphas
- Men At Work Healing
- Aunts et Uncles
- Platinum Cuts, Inc.
- Prostate Health Matters
- AfroPink
- BK Reader
- Weill Cornell Meyer Cancer Center
- MetroPlusHealth
- Thando Kafele, Loctician
For more information on future events and how to support Heart, Body & Soul visit www.iamhbs.org or email hello@iamhbs.org.
