This story is a collaboration between MindSite News, Capital B, The 19th, and The Nation, and was edited by MindSite News. Photos by Kuwilileni Hauwanga On April Fool’s Day last year, Philadelphia federal worker Darlene Tart-Scott arrived at work only to find out she had been laid off. Minutes later, she was on a train […]
Health
Posted inFederal Overhaul, Mental Health, Politics & Policy, The Workplace
A ‘Gut Punch’: Black Women Fired by DOGE Work to Overcome Shame and Self-Blame
This story is a collaboration between MindSite News, Capital B, The 19th, and The Nation, and was edited by MindSite News. Photographs by Kuwilileni Hauwanga When Sharon Davis opened her email at 5 a.m. on April 1, 2025, she learned that she had been fired from the Food and Drug Administration after 24 years of […]
Posted inFederal Overhaul, Mental Health, Politics & Policy, The Workplace
The Unseen Toll: Depression, Anxiety Plague Black Women a Year After DOGE Layoffs
Part 1 of a three-part series, FIRED: The DOGE Layoffs Hit Black Women Hard, a collaboration between MindSite News, Capital B, The 19th, and The Nation, edited by MindSite News. Photographs by Kuwilileni Hauwanga Darnese Foster remembers the day she learned she was fired from her federal government job. “I was off that Friday, which […]
Posted inHealth, Partner Content, Reproductive Health
In a Texas Prison, This Black Woman Turned Scraps of Paper Into a Menopause Lifeline
This story was originally reported by Candice Norwood of The 19th. For most of Kwaneta Harris’ life, menopause was not something she heard people talk about. She didn’t learn about much beyond hot flashes, night sweats and irregular periods in her nursing school training, or at any point during her decade-long career in the medical […]
Posted inHealth
Young Black Men and Boys Are Quietly Taking On a Caregiving Crisis Few People See
At 23, Omarion Calloway can’t remember life without caring for others. Before he was a teenager he was cooking for his family and navigating adults’ health care needs. By age 10, he was bathing his grandmother and managing her oxygen tubes. A few years later, instead of playing outside, he remembers his “little hands” helping […]
Posted inMaternal Health, Partner Content, Reproductive Health
Family of Pregnant Woman Who Died After She Couldn’t Get An Abortion in Texas Sues
This story was originally reported by Shefali Luthra of The 19th. Meet Shefali and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy. The family of a woman who died after she could not get an abortion in Texas is suing doctors and state officials including Attorney General Ken Paxton. It is the first […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Health, Politics & Policy
In LA, Some Black Residents May Soon Receive Environmental Reparations
As a child in the 1950s and ’60s, Regina Martin became so used to the oil pumpjacks near her home that she assumed every child lived beside them. Everyone was made “sick to [their] tummy” by the sulfurous, rotten-egg smell that never seemed to leave, she thought. Only until she was grown did she begin […]
Posted inHBCUs, Higher Education, Mental Health
HBCUs Are Building New Support Systems for Black Male Students
This story was produced with support from the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program. COLUMBIA, South Carolina – Before heading to Howard University in fall 2021, Christopher Davis was determined to be the first Black man in his family to graduate from college. Not even a pandemic or financial insecurity could keep him from his […]
Posted inCulture, LGBTQ, Mental Health
As Lil Nas X Spotlights Black Queer Men’s Mental Health, Advocates Push for Healing
This story discusses suicide, self-harm, and mental health crises. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, help is available. Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or use the chat feature at 988lifeline.org to connect with trained counselors. ARLINGTON, Virginia — Raised in a religious community […]
Posted inBlack Farmers, Health, Politics & Policy
After Cyclospora Outbreak, Local Black Farms See Rise in Support
This summer, it has felt like the flow of Black folks and families arriving at Deep Roots CPS Farm in Charlotte, North Carolina, has never let up, said Cherie Jzar, the farm’s managing director. They’re in search of something that has become harder to find in the grocery aisle: certainty. They’re asking about lettuce — […]
