In the midst of the coronavirus’ devastation and the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, America was confronting a reckoning on race, and Dr. Uché Blackstock emerged as an authority on how racism was affecting health outcomes. COVID-19 was disproportionately burdening Black communities across the country, and the data shocked some Americans. Black people […]
Health
Posted inHealth, Mental Health
Amid Trauma, Black Americans Are Choosing to Heal
This story contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. CHICAGO — As they sat on the two chairs in Courtney G. Smith’s living room, they bounced between laughter and deep thought. For at least an hour, they contemplated how past traumas […]
Posted inHealth, Reproductive Health
A Miscarriage, a Grand Jury, and the Policing of Black Women’s Bodies
The case of a Black woman in Ohio who’s been charged after a miscarriage confirms reproductive activists’ fears in a post-Roe era: that women’s pregnancies, especially Black women, would be criminalized. Brittany Watts miscarried 22 weeks into her pregnancy in September. The 33-year-old woman went to her doctor, who told her she would miscarry — and […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity
What’s Behind Black Women’s High Risk For Strokes
Dawn Turnage had been dizzy and exhausted all week. Her vision was blurry, but she wrote it off. Maybe she needed new glasses, she thought. Or, maybe a day off of work. Either way, she kept it moving. Then, one day after work, she woke up on the bathroom floor after chugging Pepsi to muster […]
Posted inHealth
‘They Were Just Exploiting Us’: The Void Big Tobacco Left in These Black Families
As the massive garage door lifted to reveal the inside of the small warehouse where Minou Jones’ mother worked, the bulk packs of menthol cigarettes began to glisten. Here, where the gold containers were stacked sky-high in downtown Detroit, was the heart of Big Tobacco’s money making operation. They’d market menthols, which were scientifically concocted […]
Posted inHealth, Partner Content
The Cosmetic Industry’s Toxic Toll on Black Women
Dereliction of Beauty: First in a series from Inside Climate News on how lax regulation of beauty care products victimizes women of color. ICN is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. For Jeanette Toomer, the hours she used to spend to ensure that […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity
STI Rates Are Rising. What Should You Know?
Recent upticks in the rates of sexually transmitted infections continue to expose deep racial disparities in the American maternal health care system, from syphilis and HIV to gonorrhea. It’s been well-documented that Black Americans are disproportionately affected by STIs. This is due in large part to systemic barriers to quality health care, such as having […]
Posted inHealth
How Gun Violence Is Frustrating Public Health Advocates
Gun-related emergency room visits and deaths among Black children soared during the pandemic — and experts and activists say that while the recent data isn’t necessarily surprising, it’s frustrating. There are potential solutions, but they say elected officials and institutions aren’t putting enough resources into preventative measures. “We had communities that were already on fire, […]
Posted inHealth, Maternal Health, Partner Content
‘She Made Me Feel Seen and Heard.’ Black Doulas Offer Birth Support and Care to Improve Health of Moms and Babies.
This story was reported and published by MindSite News, a nonprofit news site that reports on mental health. Sign up for the MindSite News Daily newsletter here. Jacquesta Michel’s baby shower was supposed to be themed around her favorite Disney movie, The Lion King. Then her blood pressure spiked. Instead of dancing and eating Simba […]
Posted inHealth
A Game-Changing Cure for Sickle Cell May Be Coming
Black physicians are excited about a groundbreaking gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease that a federal advisory panel deemed safe enough for clinical use this week — but they also worry about access. “It offers a lot of potential,” Dr. Oyebimpe Adesina, a hematologist at the University of California Davis, told Capital B Tuesday. “But […]