In the context of a contentious political season, it should not be surprising that much of what the Movement for Black Lives has been calling for has been framed as a polarizing, political agenda, when at much of its core, it is a public health agenda.

How should we train for the Health Olympics in future generations? It took us over sixty years to go from being one of the world's healthiest nations to today's dismal showing. There is no quick fix.

As it stands today, African-American women are roughly 40 percent more likely to die of breast cancer than white women. Even looking at mortality rates - which have decreased for all women in the U.S. since 1990 - the decreases began earlier and are greater for white women than for African-American women.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) represents a landmark action toward reducing health disparities in a long and ongoing struggle to ensure that everyone in this country has an equal opportunity to be healthy.