While differences in health outcomes between men and women emerged in the last century, the differences in health outcomes between groups distinguished by race, ethnicity, and other socially related factors have persisted for more than a century; as long as we have had data in the United States and across the globe. Improvements in population health and achieving health equity require an accelerated development of an area of specialization that can explicate how and why inequities among men exist, and present evidence that informs efforts to improve the health of men and reduce inequities among them. This chapter describes the phenomenon of "diseases of despair" and how it relates to men’s health disparities. It discusses how it differs from other disparity populations. It explains why discussions of men’s health disparities should inherently take an intersectionality lens and describes health disparities faced by African American men in particular.