This story published in collaboration with Vox, part of a series on reparations. In 1972, two social workers set Debra Blackmon’s sterilization in motion. The primary diagnosis in her medical records read: mental retardation severe. Soon, Blackmon would undergo a total abdominal hysterectomy, a procedure, sanctioned by the local government, to remove her uterus and […]
health disparities
Posted inHealth, Health Equity
Are New Medical Treatments Safe and Effective for Black Americans?
As the triple threat of COVID-19, RSV, and influenza surges this winter, and new treatments and vaccinations are being developed and administered across the country, attention around the importance of clinical trial participation has resurfaced. Who are these treatments safe and effective for? Black participation in clinical research historically has been and remains lower than […]
Posted inCOVID-19, Health
Holiday Travel Is Risky This Year. Here’s How to Stay Safe During the ‘Tripledemic.’
Winter viruses have been surging in recent weeks, in the midst of the year’s busiest travel season. As families prepare to crowd onto planes and gather at holiday dinner tables, overcrowded emergency rooms from Philadelphia to Los Angeles are grappling with hours-long wait times and record-high patient admissions. The rush has been largely fueled by […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity, Partner Content
Racial Disparities in Lung Cancer Start With Research
During a routine visit to the Good Samaritan Clinic in Morganton, North Carolina, in 2018, Herbert Buff casually mentioned that he sometimes had trouble breathing. He was 55 years old and a decades-long smoker. So the doctor recommended that Buff schedule time on a 35-foot-long bus operated by the Levine Cancer Institute that would roll […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity
Clinicians Dismiss Black Women’s Pain. The Consequences Are Dire.
This story contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The bottle of vodka sat unopened. It was the largest one Cheryl McJoy could find. If she drank it, she thought, maybe the stabbing sensations in her body would stop. “I […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity
Black Americans Are Disproportionately Affected By Monkeypox. U.S. Officials Failed To Mention It.
The Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency on Thursday, but during the 40-minute media call for that announcement, federal officials never mentioned the virus’s disproportionate impact on Black Americans. It’s an absence that harks back to the first weeks of the coronavirus when, in the spring of 2020, Black people were dying at […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
The Wrap Up: How The Last Round of U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Affect Black People
The U.S. Supreme Court’s most momentous session in recent history ended June 30, leaving many Americans — particularly Black and brown people — in a state of shock and dismay. The panel of nine justices handed down life-altering rulings that transformed the landscape on reproductive rights, restricted government action on climate change and limited recourse […]
Posted inHealth
STD Rates Are on the Rise. Are Black Communities More Open To Talking About Them?
Most people refused to talk to Shirlene Lightsey Manuel when she first appeared on their church steps a couple of years ago. The pastors, first ladies and deaconesses didn’t want to talk about HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. They would tell her the disease wasn’t a problem in their congregations. But statistics […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity
What the National Shortage of Baby Formula Means for Black Families
As worried parents across the country scramble to secure formula for their babies amid a nationwide shortage, Black parents, who are less likely to breastfeed, might be bearing the weight of the panic disproportionately. In recent weeks, stores across the country have been scrambling to keep up with demand for baby formula, pushing some retailers […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
Concentration of Oil and Gas Drilling in Black Neighborhoods Is Deliberate, Study Suggests
For decades, state governments and private companies have asserted that oil production sites were chosen solely by natural factors: where oil was most abundant, easiest to drill, and cheapest to procure. But a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley identifies more pernicious motivations, suggesting that social factors — namely race — […]