CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Purple flags, representing the nearly 300 Mecklenburg County residents who died of opioid overdose in 2023, fluttered in the humid breeze last August in recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day on the city’s predominantly Black west side. As recently as five years ago, the event might have attracted an overwhelmingly white crowd. […]
Health
Posted inHealth, Money
What’s in Your Braids? Toxic Chemicals Found in Synthetic Hair.
Have you ever experienced a rash or skin irritation after using synthetic hair for braids? Was your scalp itchy to the point where you had to wash your hair or take out your style? Researchers might have unlocked the answer as to why this reaction could be happening. When scientists at Consumer Reports tested synthetic […]
Posted inClimate Change, Environmental Justice, Health, Money, Public Safety
Generational Black Homes in LA Reduced to Ash Amid Growing Wildfires
Support Black-Led, Nonprofit News Capital B is an independent news organization uncovering important stories — like this one — about how Black people experience America today. But we can’t tell these stories without your help. If you support our mission, please consider becoming a member by making a tax-deductible donation. Sixty-two years burned to ashes for […]
Posted inHealth, Rural Issues
Healing a Dark Past: The Long Road to Reopening Hospitals in the Rural South
Bridging Access: Across rural America, communities of color may be facing barriers to health care, but they’re also laying the groundwork for a more equitable future. Whether it’s hospitals reopening, a community’s holistic approach to maternal care, or the grassroots work to bring comprehensive services to immigrants, these stories offer a road map. This story […]
Posted inClimate Change, Environmental Justice, Health
Climate Change Is Deepening HIV Inequities for Black Americans
As Hurricane Ida’s fierce winds ripped panels off of rooftops across New Orleans in September 2021, health workers and HIV activists braced for the aftermath. With power cut and roads blocked by debris, prescription refills and patients would be lost and forgotten in the storm’s chaotic wake across the South. And with record-breaking hurricanes like […]
Posted inMaternal Health, Politics & Policy, Reproductive Health
Post Election, Black Women Strategize to Ensure Reproductive Rights for All
Nearly 90% of Black women in America voted for Vice President Kamala Harris to be the first among them to ascend to the highest office in the nation. And while her loss is hard for her supporters to accept, many of them say the patchwork collection of laws that is emerging after this month’s election […]
Posted inMaternal Health, Partner Content, Politics & Policy, Reproductive Health
A Third Woman Died Under Texas’ Abortion Ban
This story was originally published by ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. Wrapping his wife in a blanket as she mourned the loss of her pregnancy at 11 weeks, Hope Ngumezi wondered why no obstetrician was coming to see her. […]
Posted inMental Health, Politics & Policy
Strategies for Black Americans to Nurture Mental Health After the Election
As Black, immigrant, pregnant, and low-income people brace for the possible worst outcomes of a second Trump administration, many, maybe even you, are grappling with a flood of emotions – fear, anger, sadness, and a deep sense of grief. With the news cycle churning with reports of the potential for an administration that perpetuates anti-Black […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Education, Environmental Justice, LGBTQ, Politics & Policy, Reproductive Health
What Trump’s Second Term Could Look Like for Black Americans
The dread many Black Americans feel about Donald Trump’s triumph in the 2024 presidential election isn’t misplaced: He organized his reelection campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris around revenge — around how he and his allies can inflict the greatest amount of suffering on vulnerable groups and on those he considers enemies. Making things worse, […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Health, Maternal Health
Toxic Air and a Maternal Mortality Crisis in America’s Steel Town
This series was produced as part of the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship. Kimmie Gordon sat in her car, watching the sky darken as she waited for her 15-year-old son, Kaleb, to finish football practice. It is one of five sports her teenager plays despite living with chronic asthma. Over an hour stretched on, but […]
