12 GoodLifeFamilyMag.com SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2017 Very Inspiring Parent AWARD From Persistence to Patients BY KARYN BRODSKY ACCOMPLISHED PHYSICIAN PROVES THAT BRAINS TRIUMPH OVER BIGOTRY How would it feel to be incredibly intelligent and dedicated, yet delegitimized by peers as a young person, simply because of the color of one’s skin? Just ask Dr. Kwabena Blankson. Dr. Blankson, lovingly referred to as “Dr. Bobo,” is now an accomplished and highly sought after Dallas pediatrician specializing in adolescent medicine, but he’s had plenty of obstacles to overcome along the way. His parents came from Ghana, West Africa, and he was the first in his family born in the U.S. “I’m very proud of my parents; they’re brave and smart people,” he says. “They came to the U.S. in the late 1970s with their smarts and a suitcase.” Blankson’s mother was a physician and though already a pediatrician in Ghana, was awarded a scholarship to Columbia University in New York for American pediatric training. She arrived alone in New York City, and a year and a half later when their papers came through, Blankson’s father and five-year-old older brother arrived in the U.S. Not long after that, Dr. Blankson was born. Upon completion of his mother’s training, the family moved to Minnesota, where she earned a master’s degree in public health and his father did his medical residency. The next move took them to Birmingham, Alabama, where Dr. Blankson spent his childhood and considers home. Along the way, he saw how hard his parents worked in spite of the discrimination they faced as immigrant doctors. Blankson says growing up in Alabama in the 1980s was “interesting.” The weather was kinder than frigid Minnesota, and they had family friends who lived nearby. Race relations, however, made Alabama challenging. Dr. Blankson and his brother faced many difficulties growing up in one of the only black families in the neighborhood, including living in the only house vandalized every Halloween. Their neighborhood lacked good public schools, so his parents paid for private school across town. Blankson and his brother were some of the only black students in the school. “I still remember how we felt when my older brother got into Harvard University and a classmate announced that the only reason for his acceptance was affirmative action—which wasn’t true,” he says. Through it all, their parents taught them to rely on faith and education. “Despite discrimination and racism, they said we’d always have our intellect and our heart,” he explains. “They said, ‘study and show you have a brain, and you’ll be successful.’” Dr. Blankson and his brother heeded this advice. “Being the children of immigrants was unique and society didn’t know what to do with us. We looked different and spoke differently, as our parents had been taught proper British English in British colonial Below Left:“Being the children of immigrants was unique and society didn’t know what to do with us, "says Blankson, pictured in Ghana,“But no one can take away your intellect or your unique sense of self.” Below Right: Blankson joined the ROTC and received a scholarship to attend Harvard. After graduation, he became a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, attended medical school atYale University and then went into active duty for 10 years working at troop medical clinics helping soldiers and their families.