Dr. Charles R. Rogers

02/12/2026

Some losses feel personal even when you never met the person.

Yesterday, the world lost James Van Der Beek. Six children lost their father. A wife lost her husband. And we lost a man who, in his final chapter, taught millions what truly matters.

I am a husband.

I am a father.

I am a follower of Christ.

And for more than 15 years, I have been ringing the alarm on early-onset .

That is why I founded the Colorectal Cancer Equity Foundation: to confront the inequities that cause people like James to be overlooked, dismissed, or diagnosed too late.

So this one hits differently.

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. It is also my birth month. My birthday falls just two days after James' birthday yet he shares the exact same date as my Aunt Joann’s. After multiple misdiagnoses at age 52, we lost her to colorectal cancer.

James was 48.

He shared on his birthday last year how cancer stripped away everything he used to define himself. He could not work the same. Could not lift his children the same. Could not show up the same.

And then he asked a question most of us spend our lives avoiding:

If I am none of the things I do, who am I?

His answer:

“I am worthy of God’s love simply because I exist. And if I’m worthy of God’s love, shouldn’t I also be worthy of my own?”

As a man who studies colorectal cancer.

As someone who has watched families bury fathers too soon.

As a dad who tucks his own child into bed at night.

That truth sits heavy.

Colorectal cancer is now the leading cancer killer for men and women under age 50.

Not heart disease.

Not accidents.

Colorectal Cancer.

A cancer that is often preventable, treatable, & beatable when caught early.

But prevention is arriving too late for too many.

We build our identities around what we produce, provide, and protect.

Then cancer comes and reminds us that our worth was never tied to output in the first place.

James left behind a message bigger than his acting career.

Call your parents.

Hug your kids.

Get screened.

Know your family history.

Advocate for yourself if something feels off.

As a husband, a father, a believer, and a colorectal cancer researcher, I will keep sounding the alarm.

Not for clicks.

Not for attention.

But so fewer families have to learn this lesson the hard way.

May we honor his life by choosing prevention, choosing presence, and choosing love while we still can.

Rest well.

📷 c/o James Van Der Beek 🙏🏾 💙

02/11/2026

02/09/2026

Some people do not just advance a field. They quietly change the lives of everyone who enters it.

More than 15 years ago, during my doctoral training, I first learned the name Dr. Barbara A. Israel. In the world of community-based participatory research (CBPR), she was already a legend. Her scholarship, leadership, and humanity helped define what it meant to do research with communities rather than on them. Over the course of her career, she dedicated herself to building and sustaining community–academic partnerships that addressed social determinants of health, health inequities, and quality of life with rigor, respect, and shared power.

In the summer of 2011, as a fellow in a health disparities immersion program at the University of Michigan, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Israel in person at the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center. As its founding director, she built the Center into a national model for CBPR after it was initially funded by the CDC in 1995. The Center brought together community-based organizations, health and human service agencies, and academic partners to produce research, interventions, and policy change grounded in lived experience. That summer helped clarify my own purpose and strengthened my commitment to advancing colorectal cancer equity through authentic community engagement.

From that point forward, whenever I was back in Michigan for training or invited talks, I made a point to connect with her to learn how to sharpen my CBPR skills. An added joy was occasionally running into her at the American Public Health Association annual meeting, where she was always generous with her time, wisdom, and encouragement. She showed so many of us what it looks like to lead with intellectual excellence and humility at the same time.

The time has come where she ran her race with integrity, courage, and grace. She leaves behind far more than publications or programs. She leaves a living legacy carried forward by students, scholars, and communities who learned from her how to center dignity, equity, and empathy in this work.

Rest well, Dr. Israel. Your work continues through all of us who now carry the baton forward. 🙏🏾 🏁

📷 University of Michigan School of Public Health |

02/05/2026

Last summer, my wife and I made a quiet but life-shaping decision.

In Summer 2025, we chose to relocate our family to Atlanta, Georgia by the end of the year—for our faith, for community, for diversity, for warmer weather, and for a better quality of life. It was a move rooted in alignment, not urgency.

When it came time to make that transition real, there was never a question about who I would call.

I reached out to Vin Carboni, CRP to once again lead our relocation, and from the very first conversation, I knew our family was in steady hands. Even with 8️⃣ inches of snow on the ground days before the move and Midwest temperatures that remind you exactly why you’re leaving, Vin and his phenomenal nationwide network at Atlas Van Lines delivered beyond expectation.

The white-glove care given to our personal belongings—and even to our SUV—meant my wife and I could focus on what mattered most: ensuring our three-year-old son experienced this transition with stability, calm, and care. New state. New home. New school. A big moment for a little human.

And then Georgia showed up!!! 🙏🏾

To those here who helped us unpack nearly 95% of our home in just two weeks—thank you!!!

To those who brought meals, sent encouragement, or made it easier for us to feed our family during those first busy days—thank you!!!

Those acts of kindness mattered more than you know.

All of it reminded me that smooth transitions don’t happen by accident. They happen through intentional relationships, trusted expertise, and people who genuinely care.

If you are planning a long-distance move across state lines—or even relocating within the same city and want peace of mind—Vin Carboni is your guy. Period.

I am continually grateful for our relationship, and his number and email will always stay saved in my phone. Android users, you’ll be just fine doing the same too. 🙃 📱

Some moves change your address.

Others change your life.

This one did both.

01/27/2026

As we witness the gutting of academic freedom, relentless attacks on marginalized communities, and a dangerous normalization of racial violence in America…one question keeps rising:

Where are the leaders?

Where are the voices that claim to stand for justice, but stay quiet when it matters most?

Where are the institutions that post MLK Day and Hispanic Heritage Month graphics, but don’t show up for Black and Brown people?

Where are the allies who say “I see you”—but vanish when we are bleeding?

The answer is uncomfortable. But necessary.

Silence is not neutrality. It’s agreement.

Yes, we must be wise with our words.

But discernment without trust becomes paranoia.

And discernment without action becomes complicity.

This is a time for righteous disruption—not just reflection.

Leadership isn't about writing statements.

It’s about standing when it’s inconvenient.

Speaking when it’s unpopular.

Showing up when it costs.

If you only advocate when it’s safe, you’re not advocating.

You’re managing your image.

To be clear: I’m not asking everyone to be loud.

But I am asking those with power, privilege, and platforms to stop hiding behind fear or comfort.

People are watching.

Especially the next generation.

🎯 The full reflection and challenge is now live on The Purpose Pause

📍[Link in bio or comments]

01/14/2026

Nearly two decades ago, I was introduced to the work of a Black scholar whose thinking changed how I understood public health.

At the time, “Health and Culture: Beyond the Western Paradigm” by Dr. Collins Airhihenbuwa was already ten years old, yet it challenged everything many of us had been taught. His PEN-3 cultural model helped show that health does not exist in a vacuum. It lives in culture, values, relationships, and community. That conceptual framework has since been used across countries to design programs that actually address health inequities.

More than ten years ago, I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Airhihenbuwa in person at one of my mentor’s homes in Minnesota. I remember sitting quietly, taking in the presence of a thinker who looked like me and whose work had already shaped generations. It mattered more than I could articulate at the time.

Fast forward to 2026. One of my first in-person business meals of the year was reconnecting with him in midtown Atlanta over soul food. We reflected on how his call to action from 30 years ago is even more urgent today.

With everything happening in the world, from climate change to political unrest, one thing is obvious: our health is deeply shaped by culture, community, and how we live together.

We talked about the responsibility that comes with living lives we love while staying committed to equity for those coming behind us. Progress is not accidental. It is built through intention, mentorship, and refusing to forget who is still being left out.

The newest volume of his book is especially timely. It is for anyone who teaches, practices, researches, or is simply trying to understand health in today’s fractured world. It helps us see that health does not start in hospitals, but in families, neighborhoods, beliefs, and everyday life, shaped both locally and globally.

If we want real change, we have to start by seeing clearly.

The book is available here: https://u-rise.org/

Grateful for mentors, for full-circle moments, and for work that reminds us why culture must always be at the center of health equity.

01/08/2026

📌 Your body remembers every season you refused to rest.

Yesterday's is one I needed to write—and you might need to read.

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions.
I believe in rest, recalibration, and rhythm.

Let’s talk:

Why “taking breaks” is a strategy, not a setback.

Why I’m calling them “New Resi-lies” this year (and every year).

And what I’m doing instead with my family, my time, and my purpose.

🕰️ Read now via my Substack

➡️ Link ihere & in my bio:
https://open.substack.com/pub/drcharlesrrogers/p/tuesdaythoughts-why-i-dont-believe?r=5y89ei&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

01/07/2026

Some stories never leave you.
And they shouldn’t.

In 2014, Twitter allowed me to connect personally with Ahmad “Real” Givens. Many remember him from I Love New York in 2007, alongside his brother Chance. I came to know him as a husband, a father, and an advocate who understood far too early what colorectal cancer was stealing from young men.

When Real was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in 2013, I was finishing my dissertation on colorectal cancer awareness among young Black men. Our paths crossed at a moment that felt anything but random. He was outspoken about the need to lower the screening age and take early-onset colorectal cancer seriously, now the leading cancer killer among men under 50. We had phone conversations about collaboration, about urgency, about changing the narrative.

Then the messages stopped.

The cancer spread to his liver, lungs, and brain, leaving him partially paralyzed. Real passed away in 2015 at just 33 years old.

He should be here today.
He should have just celebrated his 44th birthday this past Friday with his wife Racquel, his son Mahdi, and the people who loved him most.

His absence is not inevitable.
It is the cost of delayed action.

Early-onset colorectal cancer is rising. Young adults are still being told they are “too young” for symptoms to matter. And families continue to lose people who should have had decades ahead of them.

Real’s story is not just remembrance.
It is a warning.
And it is a call.

If you are under 50 and experiencing symptoms, push.

If you are a clinician, listen.

If you are a policymaker, act.

Lives depend on it.
And some losses should never be repeated.

Rest well brother. 🖤

📸 Soul TV

01/01/2026

New year. New city. Same purpose.

In Q4 of 2025, my family made a quiet but intentional move to Atlanta, Georgia as we prepared for the year ahead.

This decision wasn’t about chasing a trend or a job title. It was about alignment. We wanted to deepen our faith through in-person community under Dr. Dharius Morshun Daniels at Change Church, raise our son in a more diverse environment, enjoy warmer weather that supports our well-being, and stay connected to the world through a city that serves as a global Delta Air Lines hub for travel. Movement, exposure, and perspective matter to our family.

Atlanta offers all of that and more. It is a place rich with history, culture, Black excellence, innovation, and possibility. It feels like a city where faith, family, and impact can grow side by side.

As always, I remain open to opportunities to lead, collaborate, and build work that uplifts communities, honors family, and transforms lives. Geography may change, but purpose does not.

Here’s to 2026.
Rooted.
Aligned.
And moving forward with intention.

— Dr. Charles R. Rogers

12/23/2025

If everything you bought disappeared tonight… would your Christmas still mean something?

With 3 days left, may Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas gently—but unmistakably—re-focus us.

“It came without ribbons!
It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!”

And in the stillness, the Grinch realized something many of us forget in the rush:

“Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more.”

This year, I’ll be near palm trees on a beach, reflecting on these comments from the Grinch—but most importantly, surrounded by my family, giving thanks for the blessing of seeing another Christmas together.

Because presence is the real luxury.

Togetherness is the real gift.

And gratitude is what keeps us grounded when everything else fades.

We can enjoy the lights, the laughter, even the whimsy...but still be intentional about not taking the Christ out of Christmas.

Still remembering why we gather.

Still honoring the meaning beneath the celebration.

So as the countdown continues, pause and ask yourself:

What remains when the wrapping paper is gone?
Who’s standing with you when the music stops?

In my opinion, Christmas was never meant to be something you buy… it was always something you live.

12/21/2025

“They told her it was nothing. By the time they listened, it was Stage 4.”

Two days ago, I had my first colonoscopy.

In the fall of 2009, my Aunt Joann was misdiagnosed 5–7 times by two major health care systems in North Carolina at age 52. By the time the truth came out, it was Stage 4 colorectal cancer. That loss changed my life forever.

Since then, from Kenya to Japan to Jamaica and beyond, I’ve committed my career to increasing awareness of a cancer that is preventable, treatable, and beatable with screening.

Here’s the part that matters most right now:

During my colonoscopy, my provider found two small polyps. They were removed easily. Not cancerous. If I had waited years longer instead of going now at age 42, because of my family history, the outcome could have been very different. Because I went, I don’t need another colonoscopy for five years.

On this past Thursday, I posted:

“Colonoscopy prep is temporary. Colon cancer is not.”

What I’ve learned since then is just as important.

Many people don’t know they can advocate for how they prep.

I asked for the pill-based prep (Sutab). No pushback. No debate. It was sent straight to my pharmacy. Life happened, and I couldn’t pick it up in time, so I used Suprep instead.

Let me be very clear:

🌀 It was 12 ounces total, not a gallon

🌀 That’s 90.6% less liquid

🌀 Paired with Glacier Freeze Gatorade or even just water, it was very manageable

Fear, misinformation, and outdated stories keep people away from life-saving care. Advocacy changes that.

If you’ve been delaying, doubting, or afraid, please hear this: early action works.

If I had waited to get screened, the next time I told this story, I might not be here to finish it.

12/20/2025

The death of D’Angelo a few months ago shook something in me.

But what hurts more?

How familiar this pain is.

In this week’s , I reflect on the health crisis too many aren’t naming—Black men dying too soon—and why being alive and well has become an act of resistance.

🧠 Discernment.
🩺 Leadership.
🧬 Legacy.

We’re talking about all of it.

🟡 Read + share here: https://open.substack.com/pub/drcharlesrrogers/p/fatherhoodfriday-the-shadow-work?r=5y89ei&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true