VERY IMPORTANT BREAKING NEWS

28th Commemoration of the Presidential Apology Virtual Meeting
This meeting will be held on April 15, 2025.
All descendants and donors are invited to attend.

Click HERE to REGISTER to attend the meeting via ZOOM.

Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation 11th Annual Business Virtual Meeting
This meeting will be held on April 14, 2025.
All descendants and donors are invited to attend.

Click HERE to view the AGENDA for the meeting.
Click HERE on April 14, at the time for your time zone, to attend the meeting via ZOOM.

15th ANNUAL DAY OF HEALING
Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation’s (VFOFLF) 15th Annual Day of Healing convenes the families of the 625 men used as subjects in US Public Health Service Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male in Tuskegee and Macon County Alabama. The Annual Day of Healing offers family members a forum to:

receive inspiration from key religious, political, and health leaders to promote community healing.
learn from other groups and individuals describing similar experiences of historical public health trauma.
explore ways to fully incorporate restorative justice in public health as a means to transform the legacy of the USPHS Syphilis Study from tragedy to triumph.

Click HERE for more details.
Click HERE to REGISTER to attend the meeting via ZOOM.

NIH COMMEMORATION, DEDICATION, AND CELEBRATION CEREMONY
September 19, 2024

Thursday, September 19, 2024 the 50th Anniversary of the 1974 National Research Act was commemorated; the dedication of a bronze plaque in honor of 625 African American men unethically treated in the United States Public Health Service Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male; and the partnership of the National Institute of Health (NIH) and Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation (VFOFLF). This unprecedented event was held in the National Library of Medicine on the campus of the National Institute of Health Campus. Advancing Trust, Transparency and Health Equity in Biomedical Research was the theme for the event.

Lillie Head said that the day’s event showcased Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation’s partnership with the National Institutes of Health, demonstrated a bold and sincere step forward to provide opportunities that will create, implement and fund purposeful and beneficial health programs. We will work together to demonstrate a strong relationship that will reveal trustworthiness within a system that has for centuries nurtured health inequities and allowed social injustices to the African American communities and to those most marginalized to continue.

Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation Board of Directors members attending were:
President, Lillie Head
Secretary, Joyce Christian
Treasurer, Janie Holmes
Former Acting Treasurer, Clemmon Julkes
Finance Committee Chair, Carmen Thornton

National Institute of Health (NIH) officials speaking were:
NIH Director, Monica M. Bertagnolli, M.D.
NIH Principal Deputy Director, Dr. Larry Tabak
NIH Division Director for Clinical and Healthcare Research Policy, Dr. Adam Berger
NIH Associate Director for Science Policy, Dr. Lyric Jorgenson
Acting Director of the National Library of Medicine, Dr. Steve Sherry
Health and Human Service Department Assistant Secretary for Health, Admiral Rachel Levine, was unable to attend and sent recorded remarks.

Special Guests attending were:
Former Director National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care at Tuskegee University, Dr. Rueben Warren
President Milbank Memorial Fund, Mr. Christopher Koller
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Communication, Mrs. Hilary Polk
Centers for Disease Control Foundation, Mrs. Helene Erenberg
Son Leotis Tyson, wife Shirley, and Wilbert E. and Mark F. Head, Carmen Thornton; grandchildren of Freddie Lee Tyson
Mr. Marlin and Mrs. Cindy Mosby from Somerville, TN

National Research Act of 1974 was due to the public outrage to the Untreated Study of Untreated Syphilis Study of the Negro male at Tuskegee and Macon County, Alabama. The National Research Act of 1974 law was created to protect participants in biomedical research today.

Dr. Adam Berger stated, “Moving forward, what will remain constant is our commitment to transparency. In keeping with this, we made Untreated Syphilis Study documents publicly available and we’re placing this monument plaque on the NIH campus to shine a light on the injustices of the past so that they are never repeated. This plaque will honor the memory of the 625 African American men who put their trust in the medical establishment and were treated so unethically in return.”

In Admiral Levine’s recorded speech she apologized on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Service Department for the atrocities caused the United States Public Health Service Study of Untreated Syphilis at Tuskegee and Macon County.

The event was well attended on a beautiful Thursday morning in Bethesda, MD.

Click HERE to watch a video of the dedication ceremony.

VOICES TODAY FOR CHANGE TOMORROW SCHOLARSHIP FUND
The CDC Foundation, in partnership with Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation, recently announced the launch of the Voices Today for Change Tomorrow Scholarship Fund, a program designed to honor the legacy of the men involved in the United States Public Health Service Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male in Tuskegee and Macon County, Alabama, 1932-1972.

This scholarship fund is an intentional commitment to move future generations forward, allowing them to honor the life experiences of their ancestors while pursuing innovative solutions across their chosen fields of study. The fund will provide annual merit scholarships to descendants of the study participants and offer administrative support to the Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation.

The CDC Foundation is aiming to raise $5 million to build an endowed scholarship fund to support future generations of study descendants. With your support, we can reach this goal and make a significant impact on the lives of the descendants of the study participants.

Click HERE to visit the CDC Foundation’s website and view a video regarding the story.

Click HERE to DONATE.

ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS
The Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation 2025 Academic Scholarship Applications are offered to descendants of the 625 African American men unethically treated in the United States Public Health Service Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male in Tuskegee and Macon County, Alabama, 1932-1972.

Voices For Our Fathers Scholarships remember these men's sacrifices and honors their legacies.

Click HERE to go directly to the SCHOLARSHIPS page.

All applicants must complete all sections as directed and submit the Application by a date to be announced by the end of 2024.

Contact Bishop Deirdre Parker Jackson, Dr. Kimberly Buford or Mrs. Lillie Head for further information or questions.

Important News

Bianca Alcena, the daughter of Bishop Deirdre Parker Jackson and Reynolds Alcena, is an Eminent Scholar at Tuskegee University majoring in Psychology with a minor in Bioethics. She was just accepted into Harvard University’s Medical School (Bioethics). She is a past recipient of a Voices For Our Fathers scholarship and a Community Service scholarship. The Community Service scholarship was established by the foundation—through the leadership of President Lille Tyson Head, in honor of Bianca’s grandmother, Joyce Pollard Parker Williams, who was the first treasurer for Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation until her passing in 2020.

In her personal statement to Harvard University, Bianca wrote, “Harvard University is where I desire to give my great-grandfathers, Vertis Pollard and Andrew Swint, the voice that they were not afforded. I genuinely believe that with an education at Harvard, I will experience a transformative intellectual journey that will help ensure the voices of all dehumanized exploited victims are heard and their inalienable rights restored through ethical research in my pursuit of becoming a Licensed Professional Counselor and bio-ethicist”. Bianca’s statement is reflective of the unethical United States Public Health Service Study of Syphilis in the Negro Male in Tuskegee and Macon County, Alabama, 1932-1972. She is a former recipient of a Voices For Our Fathers Legacy Foundation scholarship and is active with the foundation. She says she plans to use her education in ethical research and academic achievements to give a voice to all victims of unethical treatment in research and healthcare.

OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
Click HERE to view the Digitized Document Collection from USPHS Study of Untreated Syphilis at Tuskegee and Macon County are now publicly available through National Library of Medicine.

NEWSLETTERS
Click HERE to go directly to our NEWSLETTERS page.

2024 ANNUAL DAY OF HEALING
Click HERE to go directly to the YouTube Video.

27th NATIONAL APOLOGY COMMEMORATION
Click HERE to go directly to the YouTube Video.