Black lesions of the skin

Benign melanocytic lesions include lentigo, ephelid (freckle), pigmented nevus, sacral spot, blue nevus, and combined nevus and blue nevus. Malignant melanocytic lesions are melanomas, which arise from melanocytes at the epidermodermal junction, or, rarely, from blue nevi. They usually originate in brown plaques known as lentigo maligna, in pigmented nevi, or in normal skin. Melanoma is diagnosed clinically in less than 50 per cent of instances. Biopsy is therefore of great importance, since practically all melanoma can be cured by adequate early resection.     

Melanocytes: the new Black

Melanocytes, pigment-producing cells residing primarily in the hair follicle, epidermis and eye, are responsible for skin hair and eye pigmentation. Pigmentation is achieved by the highly regulated manufacture of the pigment melanin in specialised organelles, melanosomes that are transported along dendritic processes before being transferred to growing hair, or keratinocytes where melanin protects from UV-induced DNA damage. Because loss of melanocytes gives a clear pigmentation phenotype yet is non-lethal, over 130 genes implicated in the development or function of this cell type have been identified to date, and in humans the loss of melanocytes or their ability to produce pigment, or transport or transfer melanosomes is associated with several diseases such as vitiligo, albinism and Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. Importantly, the effective combination of genetics, cell and molecular biology possible with this cell type is attracting an increasing number of researchers focussed on understanding how cells coordinate survival, proliferation, differentiation and stem cell maintenance.     

Pedagogy of the Black academic

I am just starting my career as a cancer biologist, but I have always been a Black man in America. This means that I have always inhabited a world that generally disregarded my existence in some form or another. It is June 17th, 2020 and protests have been happening for weeks since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The current state of America may be uneasy for some, but for many Americans, the looming threat of exclusion and violence has been an unwelcome companion since birth. This letter is not about a single person, but the Black academic’s experience of race inside and outside of the academy during a time of social upheaval. I have trained in a variety of institutions, big and small, and all the while acutely aware of the impact of my Blackness on my science. The intent of the following is to provoke the reader to reflect on how we as a nation can move toward radically positive change and not incremental adjustments to the status quo. The views expressed are my own and are the result of years of personal experience observing the anti-Black standard in America.

About the AuthorI am currently a cancer biologist at the University of Minnesota Medical School. My lab works to eliminate cancer health disparities in African Heritage communities and investigates the roles of lipids in modifying the immune response in tumors. This is what I do, but not all of who I am. I am also the eldest child of a mother, who managed to convince me that she had eyes in the back of her head (thank you, Mom; it kept me honest). I am a big brother, a husband, and a father. I also consider myself a fortunate Black man in America. I grew up in places where many of my friends did not live to adulthood. If they managed to survive past adolescence, it was usually their dreams that died prematurely. I was lucky to have survived and to continue chasing my dream of becoming a scientist. I never considered myself the fastest, strongest, or even smartest kid growing up, but I was the most determined. Determined, despite the lack of access to role models in science that looked like me or shared my life experience. Now my mission is to increase the number of dreams achieved and impact as many young minds as my time on this planet permits.As a Black scientist, I sometimes have to remind myself that I have never been immune to racism. Because as you spend thousands of hours delving into the microscopic world, the macroworld starts to fade into the background like white noise. And if you get good at it, you almost forget about the strange looks, the excessive questioning, or even the obligatory “tailing” in stores, on campus, or at home. But it is strange to realize how much you have grown accustomed to discrimination and the fact that you unconsciously prepare for it daily, before it ever shows its ugly head, like a prize fighter training months before a fight.This past month, amid the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the rest of the world has decided to say police are bad, and oh, by the way, Black lives matter too—as if the oppression of Black bodies was new, or as though the recent string of names added to the ever-growing list of innocent Black Americans killed by authorities is an atypical occurrence. Well sadly it is not, and it never has been in this country or any other place with colonial origins. That is the truth, and there is no other way to state it. America is a country built on and driven by racist ideology.So, as a Black American in an “essential” worker role (I am now working on COVID–19-related research), I have physically been at work daily during the pandemic, as the spirit of solidarity sweeps the globe. As much as I want to say this is progress, I find myself asking “why now, and not then?” Why didn’t this happen when Trayvon Martin was murdered; why didn’t this happen when Rodney King was beaten (Alvarez and Buckley, 2013; Mullen and Skitka, 2006)? Is it a sign of the end times, or is it just that racism/White supremacy has finally run its course?I have a theory about why we are now seeing a mass movement against discrimination and police brutality (a.k.a. state-sanctioned murder). My theory states that had it not been for COVID-19 and the nationwide shutdown of normal life, none of this protesting would even be feasible. Why do you ask? The simple answer is that some people with the financial means can normally find ways to distract themselves with various activities, some noble and some … not so much, whereas other folks are less able to disconnect from the drudgery of hand-to-mouth living. Leave it to a global health crisis to reprioritize everyone’s entire life in one fell swoop. Suddenly, people who had vacation plans are stuck at home, whereas people who were just making ends meet are now unable to make those ends meet anymore. The haves and the have-nots are now both in an altered reality. Does this make them equal now? No, but it does allow people to see who their real friends, allies, and enemies are. I suspect that it’s the pulling back of the curtain that has made many people ready to fight, not to mention it is also very likely that many folks, after experiencing weeks of cabin fever, just needed some way to let off all that pent-up energy.Before COVID-19 became a full-time concern, tensions in the United States were already high as the recent killings of unarmed Black Americans (Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery) had gone viral and cries for justice echoed from coast to coast (Lovan, 2020). Once the reality of the pandemic set in and shelter-in-place orders were issued nationally, the situation became a powder keg waiting for just the right moment. That moment happened in North Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. With the release of the video showing the killing of George Floyd, the entire country and much of the world had a reason to go on a “righteous rampage” that has seemed to get the results some thought impossible to achieve. It cannot be overstated how critical social media has been in displaying the oppression of Black Americans at the hands of authorities to the entire world.Now, several months into the protests, the possibility of a “new’’ new normal has people dreaming of singing Kumbaya in technicolor. Yet, as one of the few Black faculty on my campus, I still feel like people are watching me, but for a different reason now. As various reforms are broadcast across the university, the random wellness “check-ins” start creeping in, and the requests for feedback on “new initiatives’’ seem to be like a new flavor of spam in my inbox.Now, I do appreciate the fact that people are starting to notice the oppressive nature of not being White in today’s world (in particular being Black in America), but I have been doing this for a while now, and I am not sure if hashtagged initiatives are healthy for anyone. Plus, it’s kind of creepy watching all of these people jump on the social justice bandwagon, when they weren’t here 4 mo ago or 4 years ago. For many Black academics, it is not about being involved with something when it’s trending; it’s about being “about that life” when it is inconvenient as hell. Again, I do appreciate the fact that more people are willing to fight oppression, racism, and White supremacy (even if only digitally), but you will have to forgive me if I do not trust you just yet. I mean, you are just checking in during what could be the last leg of a marathon, and we’ve been running this whole damn time!Here is a short answer to every wellness check-in email that many of the Black academics I know have received in the last 2 mo: “we were never okay in the first place, but thanks for FINALLY asking!” We don’t need any more bias training, hashtags, or email check-ins. It was a nice start, but it too has become a part of the status quo. The work now and always has been the eradication of underrepresentation, hurtful socialization, and ridiculously skewed power dynamics, not just the awareness of the fact. I don’t have all the answers, but if real change is desired, I think we can first start by teaching history accurately to EVERYONE, no more whitewashing the reality of America’s story and ignoring the contributions of Black academics (and Black Americans in general). Second, stop being silent when you see or hear racism at work or home. If you do nothing when racism shows up, you ARE a racist! Third, the privileged class must relinquish their “privilege” once and for all. That means the powers that were inherited based on historical (and present day) theft and oppression have to dissipate, with the ultimate goal of power sharing. The country club atmosphere of academia and the “fit culture” must erode in favor of true meritocracy. The best person for the job and not “the person who won’t make me uncomfortable by making me see my own deeply held prejudices and fears.”Honestly, Black academics SHOULD not be charged with the task of fixing broken systems, along with protecting themselves and mentees, while working toward tenure. But if we (Black academics) are not driving the car, progress will likely go the wrong way again (getting rid of Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima does not correct the underlying pathology). Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed speaks to this in saying, “the violence of the oppressors prevents the oppressed from being fully human, the response of the latter to this violence is grounded in the desire to pursue the right to be human … the oppressed, fighting to be human, take away the oppressors’ power to dominate and suppress, they restore to the oppressors the humanity they had lost in the exercise of oppression.” (Friere, 1972, p. 56). This means that if we (Black academics) want to be treated as humans and as scholars, we must show you what that humanity looks like FIRST. Now the question is, are you willing to learn or are you going to co-opt this moment, this movement to make it into something that fits your preconceived notion of the acceptable levels of Blackness in the academy?     

Black Catholicism and Black Lives Matter: the process towards joining a movement

This ethnographic study examines how Black Catholics identify with and respond to the Black Lives Matter movement. The study follows several national Black Catholic gatherings since the death of Mike Brown. Using an adaptation of Scott Hunt, Robert D. Benford, and David Snow's social movement frame analysis, I explore how Black Catholics define and construct the ongoing political issues within the Black Lives Matter movement. I discuss the conditions which contribute to Black Catholic’s participation, or lack thereof, in this social movement through the processes of diagnostic framing, prognostic framing, and motivational framing. I position the larger Black Catholic belief system within frame analysis, examine the relevance of the frames with the Black Catholic community, and analyse the frames’ timing with the Black Lives Matter cycle of protest. This research has implications for intragroup meaning making as Black Catholics start the process towards identifying with the Black Lives Matter social movement.     

Black algae

Many species of cyanophytes, especially those growing on tiles and walls exposed to air and sunlight, appear black due to the presence of pigments in the mucilaginous cell-walls. Such pigments may serve a protective role against adverse effects of ultraviolet light but, overlying the ordinary intracellular blue-green pigments, they make the algal clumps look black. Among the most familiar of such algae are species of Gloeocapsa, which by discolouring pale surfaces of public or private premises can constitute a nuisance responsible for a considerable loss of financial value.     

Black Periodic and Black Bauer Methods for Tissue Polysaccharides

m-Aminophenol gives a more rapid and more complete blockage of the Schiff reaction of aldehydes produced in tissue by oxidation with periodic or chromic acid than does aniline. Moreover, the phenol thus attached to aldehyde sites in tissue can then be azo coupled with alkaline solutions of fresh or stabilized diazonium salts. When so used at pH 8, fast black K, C.I. 37190, shows glycogen, mucins, basement membranes, muscle stroma, fungus cell walls, etc. stained black, on a somewhat grayish pink to red background.     

Black Periodic and Black Bauer Methods for Tissue Polysaccharides

m-Aminophenol gives a more rapid and more complete blockage of the Schiff reaction of aldehydes produced in tissue by oxidation with periodic or chromic acid than does aniline. Moreover, the phenol thus attached to aldehyde sites in tissue can then be azo coupled with alkaline solutions of fresh or stabilized diazonium salts. When so used at pH 8, fast black K, C.I. 37190, shows glycogen, mucins, basement membranes, muscle stroma, fungus cell walls, etc. stained black, on a somewhat grayish pink to red background.     

Black scientists matter

Most people agree that ethnic minorities are generally under‐represented in science. But is there anything that can be done to correct this injustice and who should do it? Subject Categories: S&S: Economics & Business, S&S: History & Philosophy of Science

The mid‐year eruption of anger and grief over the ill‐treatment of Black Americans by police has focussed attention on the injustices of racial inequality. Although the movement was sparked by an horrific murder, it made us all aware of countless instances of discrimination, abuse and ignorance affecting almost every country on earth, and targeting a huge range of ethnic and other minorities, not just African‐Americans. Unfortunately, the world of science is no exception.The under‐representation of minorities in the higher echelons of academia and at all levels of the scientific career ladder is well attested, both by statistics and by our everyday experience. This is not just a legacy of slavery and colonization. The underlying causes lie very deep in our social structures. And despite the supposed role of universities as bastions of free thought, they have also entrenched the privileges of elites and abetted the suppression of their perceived enemies. In Nazi Germany, the universities were amongst the first institutions to purge their Jewish employees and burn "degenerate" literature. In the American South, many colleges supported or enshrined the exclusion of African‐Americans long after the Civil War, with Black physicians forced to train in separate, much less well‐equipped medical facilities. Even in multi‐ethnic New Zealand, Māori and Pacific Islanders still make up only a tiny proportion of senior academics, despite representing more than 20% of the population. But institutional racism cannot be addressed solely by non‐discrimination clauses in university hiring procedures.I recently watched an item on a French TV channel, based around a documentary film about the lives of disadvantaged youths in the Paris suburbs, most of them Black (Comme un Loup, 2017). One of the protagonists had been discouraged from academic studies in high school and was instead counselled to opt for vocational training. His advisors may have been motivated by a desire to help the student achieve a satisfying career rather than face a lifetime of rejection, but their advice was nevertheless cowardly and disrespectful. However, the student, confident in his abilities, and determined to surmount his invisible prison walls, ignored their advice. He finally achieved excellent graduation scores and qualified for university. Unfortunately, his achievement contrasts with the experiences of the majority of his peers, including many from working‐class backgrounds irrespective of ethnicity, who are steered away from even this basic opportunity, let alone the possibility to join the ranks of professional scholars and researchers.In the name of fairness and upholding basic human rights, all of us scientists and educators, whatever our own ethnicity, nationality, gender or physical ability, should strive in all our professional activity to redress the balance and promote genuinely equal treatment of everyone, including aspiring Black scientists, of course. To do so we must take due account of all of the social pressures that may impair the careers of our students and colleagues because of the colour of their skin, their socio‐economic status, peer‐pressure, gender or any other irrelevant denominators. We obviously cannot undo the history of our societies or correct all of its injustices on our own. But the practitioners of science, the common property of humanity, have a special responsibility to be inclusive. Minority scientists also have a unique role here as pioneers, ambassadors and mentors (Hinton et al, 2020).This is not just a matter of respect and of righting historical injustices. It is also about mobilizing all of the human talent that we can, to improve our understanding of the universe at a time when humanity is facing multiple existential threats.There are many small steps that we can take individually, to empower minority scientists and those from disadvantaged families.For example, schools outreach and recruitment of interns can be targeted on ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged communities. Those running fellowship or grant programmes in Europe and Asia could follow the example of NIH and NSF and apportion some of the funding specifically to support students, postdocs or young faculty from minority backgrounds. Those of us working in relatively mono‐cultural settings, such as Finland where I am currently located, can contribute by making strenuous efforts at recruiting internationally, thus helping to create role models for currently marginalized groups in the local environment. It is obviously to the good for host communities to learn that some of the dark‐skinned faces amongst them are not refugees fleeing from some war‐ravaged land, but are highly trained scientific experts (whilst some, of course, could be both, deserving of our respect on both counts). Just giving pride of place to minority postdocs to represent the lab at international meetings can also make an impact.Positive discrimination (affirmative action) seems to many just to replace one set of unfair practices with another. But a moment''s thought and actual evidence teaches the opposite. To quote one well‐documented example from the UK, with its highly stratified education system, the performance of those recruited to universities from elite schools is actually lower than that of those with the same grades, who are recruited from the broader state‐education sector (Crawford, 2014). In other words, in order to defeat injustice it is not sufficient simply to "not add to the injustice": active steps to reverse it are also needed. Although a raw quota system is too blunt an instrument and in many jurisdictions may be considered illegal or unconstitutional, a properly targeted system of redress seems, to me, essential.In preparing this op‐ed, I asked several colleagues for their comments. One of them pointed out that this was a plea for equality for Black scientists, but from a white PI addressing other white PIs. Thus, in some ways it embodies the problem, not the solution. Scientists with a minority background should assert their rights, not wait for others in a privileged position to grant them. Whilst I understand this argument, I nevertheless feel that striving for equality is not the preserve of those who are denied it. It is an obligation upon all of us, regardless of our skin colour, socio‐economic status or any other position in the academic or social hierarchy. If all humans are not treated fairly, we are collectively at fault and bear the damaging consequences.Moreover, skin colour, and the specific case of being Black in a still largely white society, is not the only injustice that needs correction in the world of science, just one of the most obvious.     

Multiple Black Identities

Book reviewed in this article:
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, DC . Portia James, curator.     

Microbial Communities in the Surface Mucopolysaccharide Layer and the Black Band Microbial Mat of Black Band-Diseased Siderastrea siderea

Microbial community profiles and species composition associated with two black band-diseased colonies of the coral Siderastrea siderea were studied by 16S rRNA-targeted gene cloning, sequencing, and amplicon-length heterogeneity PCR (LH-PCR). Bacterial communities associated with the surface mucopolysaccharide layer (SML) of apparently healthy tissues of the infected colonies, together with samples of the black band disease (BBD) infections, were analyzed using the same techniques for comparison. Gene sequences, ranging from 424 to 1,537 bp, were retrieved from all positive clones (n = 43 to 48) in each of the four clone libraries generated and used for comparative sequence analysis. In addition to LH-PCR community profiling, all of the clone sequences were aligned with LH-PCR primer sequences, and the theoretical lengths of the amplicons were determined. Results revealed that the community profiles were significantly different between BBD and SML samples. The SML samples were dominated by γ-proteobacteria (53 to 64%), followed by β-proteobacteria (18 to 21%) and α-proteobacteria (5 to 11%). In contrast, both BBD clone libraries were dominated by α-proteobacteria (58 to 87%), followed by verrucomicrobia (2 to 10%) and 0 to 6% each of δ-proteobacteria, bacteroidetes, firmicutes, and cyanobacteria. Alphaproteobacterial sequence types related to the bacteria associated with toxin-producing dinoflagellates were observed in BBD clone libraries but were not found in the SML libraries. Similarly, sequences affiliated with the family Desulfobacteraceae and toxin-producing cyanobacteria, both believed to be involved in BBD pathogenesis, were found only in BBD libraries. These data provide evidence for an association of numerous toxin-producing heterotrophic microorganisms with BBD of corals.