Life After Prostate Cancer SeriesSurvivor Tony Neal: “I still have more work to do. I have a life to live.”

Story by Walter Pritchard/Photos by Tony Neal

Tony Neal is on a journey that takes him to the splendor and majesty of many of the cities and countries around the world, into the ugly depths of racial and social injustices, and into the surreal discoveries of prostate cancer in his body.

Both inside and outside, Neal, 62, is on a mission to make it all make sense.

From European and Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Spain, Italy, and the nations in Africa to the cities and communities in the United States, Neal has had a goodwill presence to bring about positive attitude changes in the heart and minds of people abroad and at home 

For more than 20 years, Neal has been President/CEO of Educational Equity Consultants (EEC) and Executive Director of the Center for Educational Equity.

EEC works to create a safe environment for people of color and whites to heal from the hurts of racism.  EEC builds the capacity of individuals, schools, and other organizations to address racism in ways that enable ALL people to reclaim their inherent intelligence and nobility. EEC also includes the Leadership & Racism Program (LRP) that explores how personal attitudes about race and racism might be limiting students’ capability to achieve.  

“My travels around at home and abroad allows me to critically examine how the oppression of racism, classism and sexism impact systems and institutions in other cultures and engage in meaningful conversations to dismantle these systems of injustice,” he said

The “seeds” to reorder injustices were planted in him by his family.

Neal grew up in the little town of Bryan-College Station, Texas in the mid-sixties when segregation was the norm.  His grandfather, Oliver Wayne Sadberry, Sr., “who was a prominent man in the town” lead the fight for equity and equality on many fronts - housing, job opportunities, health care, and education.

“He was a great example and set the trajectory for many in my family,” Neal said. “In essence, this is where the seeds to fight for justice was planted.”

Neal added that those seeds were also nourished by his father who is in a number of Missouri hall of fames and his aunt, Dr. Halcyon Sadberry, a retired veterinarian, who led efforts to integrate the old Woolworth stores when she as a student at Texas Southern University.

Moreover, with the success of his business for two decades, underneath it all was the diagnosis just over a year ago that changed his perspective on life.

During one of his annual physicals, Neal learned that his PSA level had significantly increased, zooming to as high as eight (under 4 is considered normal). He visited a urologist and prostate cancer was confirmed in June 2022. His prostatectomy followed two months later on August 1^st. The urologist, Dr. Arnold Bullock, recommended that he reach out to The Empowerment Network for support.

“It hit me pretty hard. My mother, Conchita Crenshaw, died of lung cancer in 2011; my father, Edward Crenshaw, died of Alzheimer’s five years later. But this was me this time. It was a little different. Scary at first. You think about death, you see life in a different way.

After the shock and trauma of the prostate cancer diagnosis, was caught at the beginning and wasn’t advanced, Neal took a deep inventory of the “incredible bank of resources” available to help him navigate this startling, life changing journey. 

“Many others in places that I have visited around the world don’t have such access such as good insurance, quality hospitals, great doctors, money for medicines, family that can take off and travel from great distances to support me,” he said. “My journey gives new meaning to the good ole’ Baptist song that we use to sing, “Every day is a day of Thanksgiving.

“I am blessed, I give thanks to Lord and savior, I give thanks to my family for their support,” he continued.   “I still have more work to do, I have a life to live.”

On the business side, since 2001, Educational Equity Consultants has worked with approximately 3,000 district leaders and school faculties through the Leadership & Racism Program. Neal leads a team that includes a senior partner and co-owner as well as a host of senior associates. His organization’s client list includes the major secondary school districts in Missouri and Illinois, and school districts in California, New York, Pennsylvania, and other states.

He has also served as Director of Southern Illinois University East St. Louis Charter High School for 11 years. During his tenure, the charter school was recognized as a Distinguished School by the Illinois State Charter School Board. In addition to his current full-time position, Tony is an adjunct professor at Webster University, where he teaches in the Media Communications department. He has served as faculty and trainer for numerous Dismantling Racism Institutes of the National Conference for Community and Justice and has trained for the Anti-Defamation League’s, A World of Difference, and for the Coro Midwestern Leadership Center.

For more about Neal’s accolades, awards, and achievements, visit http://eec4justice.com/

Tony Neal’s world travels include the West African nation of Ghana, which played a major part in the slave to the United States.

Many forms of evidence link Ghana to slavery. Most famously, the European trading posts along the coastline testify to Ghana's connections with the trans-Atlantic slave trade, through which an estimated 12 million Africans were forcefully relocated to the Americas. The slave trade happened during the 15th century to the 18^th century and survived through the early 19^th century.