Dr. Ernest W. Kinchen, Jr., is a pioneering African American Board-Certified General Surgeon, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, past member of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, the Musser-Burch Medical Society and the Alton Ochsner Surgical Society, who has dedicated over fifty years to medicine, breaking racial barriers and serving his community with unwavering commitment. From his humble beginnings, whose mother had prayed for a servant, resting on the back of his grandmother’s resilience, to his distinguished career at Lafayette General and Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Centers, he has been a mentor, a philanthropist, and an advocate for justice.
Founder of the Living Legends Program and Pride Plaza, one of the first multi-specialty medical clinics by African Americans in the Deep South, Dr. Kinchen’s legacy extends far beyond the operating room. His mission has always been to uplift and inspire, ensuring that future generations have access to education, opportunity, and a strong sense of self-worth.
His resilience and determination are deeply rooted in his spiritual upbringing, which stressed personal sacrifice and responsibility to the entire community.
“For any organization to survive, it must have something of which it is proud, something that serves as a common fiber, and something around which it finds purpose and pleasure in rallying around,” summarizes Dr. Kinchen’s beliefs. His beliefs resonate in his every endeavor, whether in the medical field, civil rights activism, or mentoring young professionals. In “The Time to Overcome is Now”, he powerfully states, “We will overcome when we stop just wishing for but start working toward what were once thought impossible dreams.”
A trailblazer, a healer, and a leader, Dr. Kinchen continues to shape the lives of those he serves-not only through medicine but also through a lifelong commitment to justice, community upliftment, and the belief that success must be shared to be truly meaningful.
Right Dr Kinchen eventually was included as the best dressed in his city
Dr. Ernest W. Kinchen, Jr. – Upbringing
In addition to his very religious mother having prayed for a servant, Dr. Kinchen credits his grandmother- who had lifted herself to enormous respect as a cook and whom you could hear on a daily basis giving thanks to GOD by singing her favorite hymn, “Lord I thank you, thank you, thank you,”– as the person without whom his success would not have been possible. He speaks of her with immense pride, love, and quasi-filial affection, marveling at how she, as the only person in their family, had overcome by lifting herself by her own bootstraps. “Because of her excellence and fortitude, she provided the pathway for my father to become a mortician that enabled him to meet the perfect mate for life’s journey, my mother.”
Inspiration to Serve
Dr. Kinchen is adamant that his indefatigable passion for public service and wholly altruistic dedication to helping others come directly from his mother. He firmly believes that none of his achievements would have been possible “had his mother not prayed for a servant.” “Her prayers have given me the fortitude to continue to march towards justice, breaking down barriers, and saving lives and livelihoods because God lives in my heart and inspires me through every trial with which I am confronted.” That a servant lives in his heart, he shares with heartfelt conviction. “Because of my mother’s powerful prayers, there would be no deviation from that mission for which I was destined to be a servant until my dying day. My mother was also charged with keeping me alive from the devastating asthma that I was a victim of in childhood, always showing me love and reassuring me that I would make it to the next breath, that I could do all things through God, who strengthens us.”
Dr. Kinchen’s selfless service and resilience philosophy extend beyond his personal journey- it forms the foundation of his broader mission. In his essay, “The Time to Overcome is Now”, he calls for collective action, urging his community to uplift one another: “To overcome, we must be committed to caring for each other and sharing- to keeping our family unit intact not only as the foundation of ultimate love by which to attain excellence but through which we sustain excellence through our children.”
For Dr. Kinchen, serving others is not a choice, but a duty. His mother’s faith continues to inspire his work in medicine, mentorship, and advocacy, ensuring that his legacy is not just about his own success but about creating pathways that will enable others to excel.
Right Happiness in progress
On His Creole Heritage and Identity
Reflecting on how living in a creole culture influenced his outlook, Dr. Kinchen responds to what he perceives to be the nebulousness of the term and the way it is used (and misused) today. “To me, understanding the definition of Creole is key because Creole can mean any proud people who wish to spread love and strengthen our communities, and are welcoming of differences.” Dr. Kinchen chooses to be identified as Black and Proud, which he articulates with impeccable logic. So, when someone says Are you Creole, his answer is that being a servant makes him acceptable to everyone. However, his wife had a different experience growing up in New Orleans, where the term Creole was divisive. It was destructive of the unity that African Americans needed in the New Orleans community. It was skin color, hair texture, and at times language that created more distractions than unification.
Decision to go into Medicine
Although Kinchen was ecstatic as a child about the idea of becoming a farmer so that he would have a never-ending supply of sweet potatoes that he loved so dearly, it was his own suffering with Asthma and the suffering that he witnessed in others that he felt was a mandate to alleviate the suffering of mankind while being the servant that his mother had prayed for as a physician.
Medical Career
Knowing of the struggles that so many of us are overwhelmed by, Kinchen initially believed that he could make society healthier by being the instrument by which sound minds were achieved. However, the near burnout that he experienced from exhaustive efforts to cure the patients on his Psychiatry rotation in medical school, although he excelled and received the Award in Neuropsychiatry, the challenge did not provide the sense of cure or the bliss he desired. Thus, he became more interested in becoming a cardiologist, which he felt would be most gratifying, in that everything begins with the heart. However, to no one’s belief, Kinchen was able to integrate the Charity Hospital System of Louisiana by being selected as a Rotating Intern on the Tulane Service of Charity Hospital on graduating from Howard University College of Medicine in 1965- an experience that would give him exposure to a multiplicity of disciplines. Subsequently, he became the first African American to join the Tulane Service of Internal Medicine, which was the path to his intention of becoming a Cardiologist. However, during his rotation through Thoracic Surgery as an intern, a powerfully intimidating Chief of Thoracic Surgery from Mississippi came at him with love rather than hate, with a life preserver rather than a noose. He made his idea of becoming a Cardiologist seem imprudent, quite foolish, when he expressed his belief that, “as a Cardiologist, I would return to my hometown and not even have the privileges to read my own EKGs. Astonishingly, Dr. Creech, Chief of the Department of Surgery at Tulane, had heard of my interest in surgery and invited me into his Surgical Residency Program, one of the most sought-after Residencies in the world, making me the first African American in his program”.
The rest is history, as Dr. Kinchen has gone on to become a Board-Certified General Surgeon and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. As a reward for being the first African American in its program, the Tulane Department of Surgery has named its Rotating Senior Clerkship in Dr. Kinchen’s honor.
Having had such comprehensive training in the Charity Hospital System at Tulane, Dr. Kinchen was explicitly prepared and felt his obligation to do general practice when he returned home in that there had not been an African American Physician in his city for five years.
Right Always immaculate in his appearance
Encountering Racism
Throughout his career, Dr. Kinchen faced systemic racism and discrimination, yet he refused to let these barriers define him. He was determined to demand respect, break down barriers, and pave the way for future Black physicians in a medical field that often sought to exclude them.
“We had doctors who would attempt to limit my freedoms and privileges, but I would not let them.” He recalls a particular egregious effort that occurred when he scheduled a procedure to perform a dialysis access for a patient with renal failure. Despite his qualifications, the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery attempted to have his case cancelled by going to the Hospital Administration and telling them, “We can’t have that boy doing this procedure in this hospital.” Having had competent training, Dr. Kinchen was not going to let anyone cancel his procedure, and after vigorously subduing that effort, he proceeded to successfully perform the scheduled access graft.
“However, my overall success exasperated the racists. Therefore, because they could not deny me any operating privileges, they went on to aggressively strive to destroy my reputation by what they thought was an opportunity to charge me with malpractice. Everyone knows that when a legitimate malpractice case is filed, it does not matter how remote the possibility of involvement is; the plaintiff’s attorney will charge everyone: the cook, the hospital, the janitor, etc. However, although I was a hero, having rescued another surgeon from a complication, a crisis from which the patient had an unremarkable recovery because of my input, I was the only one sued. That targeted action against me made it clear that theirs was an overt attack of racism. The racists were able to elicit an African American Doctor to side with them on the Medical Review Panel that voted unanimously that I was guilty of malpractice”. That attack proved to be very embarrassing for the members of that panel in that Dr. Kinchen, with the expertise of his good friend, Attorney Robert Shelton, boldly took them to court and won a resounding victory with the court voting 12-0 that Dr. Kinchen was innocent. This was the first time in history that a court had unanimously reversed the unanimous verdict of a Medical Review Panel. This was a powerful vindication of Dr. Kinchen’s clinical conduct and his courage and persistence in the face of prejudice. Dr. Kinchen had again prevailed.
His experience of racism extended beyond the hospital walls; it was a societal reality that many African Americans faced daily. This understanding fueled his lifelong commitment to fighting injustice and mentoring those who might otherwise be held back by the same forces he had faced and conquered.
A Message for Future Surgeons
With over five decades of experience in medicine, Dr. Kinchen is uniquely positioned to offer wisdom to the next generation of surgeons. His journey has been one of perseverance, overcoming both professional and racial barriers. He believes the key to success lies in adequate preparation, dedication to service, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. “Adequately prepare, enjoy your mission and your chosen goals, love service, and understand that it’s a challenging kind of life that is very rewarding with good outcomes,” he advises young medical professionals.
However, his guidance extends beyond technical skill, he emphasizes the importance of character, resilience, and ethical responsibility. His experiences with racism in the medical field have shaped his belief that Black professionals must be more assertive, more disciplined, and more prepared than their peers to succeed. He states, “We will overcome when we develop our brain power to take advantage of such an intimidating, unused resource. We must use our brains as well as our hearts to enable us to have the mental toughness, the nerves of steel, that will enable our bodies to step outside of what might be conceived as limitations, outside of what might be conceived as shackles, to higher and higher levels of accomplishment.”
Trailblazer
Dr. Kinchen urges young Black doctors to pursue their careers with a sense of mission, understanding that their success is not just personal but has a more significant societal impact. He encourages them to break down barriers, not just for themselves, but for those who will come after them. For him, medicine is more than a profession- it is a lifelong commitment to service and justice. His story is a testament to what can be achieved through hard work, faith, and an unyielding determination to make a difference.
In addition to being a physician who has lovingly cared for patients from near and far for more than a half century, Dr. Kinchen has also been a bona fide trailblazer wherever the need arose-Leading the Dillard University Student Protest March, the first of its kind in the deep south, against racism and injustice on March 8, 1960, the first Dillard University Rhodes Scholar Candidate, the first African American graduate of the Tulane Department of Surgery’s Residency Program in 1971, the first African American doctor with privileges at Lafayette General and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitals, the first African American to serve on the board of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, his initiation of the movement to have a more appropriate street designated in Dr. King’s honor and, as mentioned above, the founder of Pride Plaza Multispecialty Medical Clinics and of our Living Legends Program that was designed to breakdown stereotypes and to inspire our students to reach their greatest possible potential by efforts to become as great as the Legends that they had an opportunity to share time with while concomitantly being provided a half million dollars in scholarship money to pursue their education.
Despite his prodigious list of accomplishments, Dr. Kinchen remains incredibly self-deprecating. When asked about the innovations he was responsible for, his response is imbued with an endearing humility noting that what he has done does not compare to the trailblazing of the Nate Turners in our history, the Harriet Tubmans, the Frederick Dougleses, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. All of whom inspired him that with sacrifice and vision progress is possible and that their revolutionary attacks on injustice were not in vain.
The Road to Overcoming
A redoubtable community stalwart who cares deeply about the lives of those around him, Dr. Kinchen has been heavily involved for decades in ameliorating the life chances of the less fortunate, on several occasions having students who have been unjustly thrown out of school reinstated, while constantly striving to empower and uplift them. His philosophy is that we must lift while climbing. He adds, “My dream has always been for all people, especially African Americans, to love, respect, empathize, and support each other, not to behave selfishly, as though there are limited resources, but instead, to give back and share their abundance- to live as God would have us do.”
Kinchen is even more explicit about the deep seated reasons underpinning much African American behavior and has fought to instill togetherness. “With African Americans being guilty of self-hate, and on many occasions envy, our efforts must be to feel proud of, happy for, and protective of each other while striving to prove worthy of every confidence with which we are entrusted.”
He continues, aflame with passion for the righteousness of the cause he has espoused for over fifty years, “I believe that we must join forces, organize, build bridges, and find strength through unity. For any organization to survive, it must have something of which it is proud, something that serves as a standard fiber, and something around which it finds purpose and pleasure in rallying around.”
Therefore, when he served as the first president of the local society of the National Medical Association, he made it their business to capitalize on that philosophy.
“It was my mission to provide cohesiveness, enthusiasm, pride, and a program by which we could express our appreciation to our community by making a contribution that would enliven all of us to reach our greatest possible potential. My purpose was to create a magnanimity of spirit that would embrace, inspire, and motivate our youth while simultaneously enhancing our image as a people. Our Living Legends Program, bringing in people like the first African American Astronaut to walk in space, was so impactful that it was not only praised by our School Board, which bused in students to the auditorium for those occasions, but it was also awarded Society of the Year by our National Association.”
Dr. Kinchen has long believed that progress comes from unity and collective success, particularly within the Black medical community. However, “When we got here, there had been a history of Black doctors demeaning and talking badly about each other instead of joining forces and being supportive…With that history, my mission has always been and will always be to bring people together- to unify us as a people. We will never have the attitude that there is not enough for all of us” .
With that mindset, he recruited and brought several doctors into his own practice and provided benefits comparable to those that could not be exceeded by any other opportunity, while simultaneously giving Pride a greater presence.
Pride Plaza was more than just a medical facility! It symbolized what could be accomplished through unity. It provided medical care and a model for Black excellence, resilience, and collaboration. By establishing a space where Black physicians could thrive, mentor, and uplift one another, Dr. Kinchen helped break down the barriers of isolation and marginalization that many Black doctors faced in the South. Pride Plaza is a testament to his belief that success should be shared and that collective progress is far more potent than individual achievements. He is most proud of the fact that, under the care of Black Physicians, Black patients were finally receiving the benefits of expert physical examinations that they, for the most part, had not been privileged to.
Right Congratulations from Dr LaSalle D Leffall Jr the first African American to be president of the most prestigious American College of Surgeons and the physician to whom Dr Kinchen gives credit for all that he has achieved in medicine
Directory of Black Doctors
Dr. Kinchen, as the state president of the National Medical Association, aimed to create a united family of Black Physicians, a network, throughout the entire state of Louisiana, by compiling an all-inclusive directory of every Black Physician in the state with their specialties and contact information so that continuity of care could be provided that would meet the needs of our patients in every specialty. Nevertheless, with an impassioned rhetoric, Dr. Kinchen, like Dr. King, prays that one day all injustice and discrimination will be washed away, such that America will have the moral decency to treat everyone with respect and reverence for life that will enable leveling of the playing field. Until then, we must vigorously and continuously push the hands of the moral universe toward justice.
Honors and Awards
Because of Dr. Kinchen’s excellence and invaluable trailblazing and efforts to enrich the health and quality of all of our lives, in 2012, he was honored as a Living Legend by the Joseph Henry Tyler, Jr. Chapter of the National Medical Association- the only local physician to receive such an honor. In 2019, he received the Louisiana CLI & Limb Salvage Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2021, state Senator Gerald Boudreaux honored Dr. Kinchen’s “distinguished medical career and his service to Louisiana Citizens” by Resolution No. 110 that elaborates on many of Dr. Kinchen’s accomplishments and contributions. Not to be outdone, in 2022, Dr Kinchen received the renowned Civil Rights Activist and Freedom Rider David Dennis’s lifetime achievement award from his alma mater, Dillard University. It is accurate to say that Dr. Kinchen has been honored by every major organization in his city.
Family
Kinchen has been married for over sixty years to Barbara Antoine, a former Miss Dillard University and Summa Cum Laude, with whom he has two sons, both of whom finished first in their class at Tulane University, who are now doctors, and a daughter who finished with honours from Spellman College. They have also been blessed with four exceptionally talented grandchildren.
Balancing Work and Family
Kinchen has always sought to balance his professional life with his major hobbies, medicine, and a happy home life- a gift to his undoubted success. He readily acknowledges the tremendous input of his incredible wife, who runs their house to perfection and “makes certain that I am as healthy as possible by providing the most healthy diet and making certain that I give proper attention to exercise.”
Three Wishes
When it comes to the proverbial three wishes, he would like were he granted them, a desire for the future focusing exclusively on justice, is perhaps an unusual choice for a man of medicine until one remembers his fully functioning moral compass. With a moving magnanimity, he then avows, “Justice for all would be the dream that I would want to realize and to live a part of.” In an effort to bring about that justice, Dr Kinchen’s fervent believe is that the AT MY VERY BEST movement that he initiated is the tool by which every link in our chain will be infrangible, no one would feel taken advantage of, unfounded paranoia, disrespect and hatred would no longer exist, all society will be at its fullest productive capacity and therefore, a wish and a dream of justice for all would be fulfilled.
Conclusion
For over half a century, Dr. Ernest W. Kinchen Jr. has been more than a surgeon; he has been a trailblazer, a mentor, and a force for change. His extraordinary career is defined not just by the thousands of lives he has saved but also by the countless individuals he has uplifted through his unwavering commitment to justice, mentorship, and community empowerment.
Despite the many obstacles he has faced, systemic racism, professional barriers, and societal challenges, he has never wavered in his mission. His resilience, faith, and dedication to service have shaped a legacy far beyond medicine. Through initiatives like Pride Plaza and the Living Legends Program, he has ensured that future generations of Black professionals will have the support, education, and encouragement they need to succeed.
Dr. Kinchen has long believed that true success is not just about personal achievement but also about creating opportunities for others. His vision of unity, empowerment, and perseverance has inspired generations, and his work continues to transform lives.
“As a doctor, I have always believed that healing goes beyond the body; it extends to the heart, the mind, and the spirit,” he reflects. “We must be determined to have the strength to love because only then are we at our very best. Life is too short not to live spreading love.”
Through his lifelong dedication to healing, both in medicine and in society, Dr. Kinchen has not only transformed his community but has left behind an enduring legacy of compassion, excellence, and justice. His impact will continue to be felt for generations to come.