-
The Mental and Physical Load of Racial Trauma
Read More: The Mental and Physical Load of Racial TraumaApril is National Minority Mental Health Month. A woman of color begins suffering from depression after hearing jokes about her ethnicity on a regular basis at work. Another woman feels anxious when she drives too close to a police cruiser. Yet another woman stops taking her regular walks outside, fearful that her race might make…
-
The Cost of Racial Bias in OB-GYN Care
Read More: The Cost of Racial Bias in OB-GYN CareWhat does racial bias look like in gynecological and uterine health? A comprehensive review that examined multiple areas of reproductive health found racial and ethnic disparities that led to worse outcomes for women of color. The statistics tell the story. Maternal mortality rates are higher for Black women and American Indian/ Alaska Native women, who…
-
Breast cancer, Breast cancer policy, Breast health, Medical tests, Preventive care, Racial disparities, Racism
Biopsies Confirm a Breast Cancer Diagnosis After an Abnormal Mammogram – but Structural Racism May Lead to Lengthy Delays
Read More: Biopsies Confirm a Breast Cancer Diagnosis After an Abnormal Mammogram – but Structural Racism May Lead to Lengthy DelaysBy Marissa Lawson, University of Washington and Christoph Lee, University of Washington While mammograms are often the first step to detecting breast cancer, patients need additional tests after an abnormal screening result. Further imaging can determine if a finding is truly suspicious for cancer, and sometimes a biopsy is required to confirm a diagnosis. But…
-
When Stigma Kills
Read More: When Stigma KillsJuly is National Minority Mental Health Awareness month. On Feb. 14, 1995, Fonda Bryant was prepared to die. She planned to take her life that day, and made one final call to her Aunt Spanky, a relative three years older who felt more like a sister than an aunt. Bryant told her she could have…
-
Black Women Have Many Risks to Their Mental Health. For Me, Juneteenth Is a Day of Healing.
Read More: Black Women Have Many Risks to Their Mental Health. For Me, Juneteenth Is a Day of Healing.The temperature climbed past 80 degrees as my children and I followed the marked route between historic dwellings in a suburban downtown district just minutes from our home. Their breath grew labored, their pace slowed in the early afternoon heat, and they were thankful for the breaks each time we stopped to listen to a…
-
Access, Access to health care, cancer, Gender, Health disparities, Lgbtq, Medical tests, Prevention, Preventive health, Racial disparities, Racism
Race, Gender and the Ways These Identities Intersect Matter in Cancer Outcomes
Read More: Race, Gender and the Ways These Identities Intersect Matter in Cancer OutcomesBy Timothy Pawlik, The Ohio State University; Elizabeth Palmer, The Ohio State University, and Samilia Obeng-Gyasi, The Ohio State University The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Belonging to one or more groups with long-standing social and economic disadvantages increases the risk of cancer diagnoses and death, according…
-
15 minutes with, Access, Access to health care, Expert perspectives, Health disparities, Racial disparities, Racism
15 Minutes With: Dr. Neel Shah Talks to HealthyWomen About Racism in Healthcare
Read More: 15 Minutes With: Dr. Neel Shah Talks to HealthyWomen About Racism in HealthcareDr. Neel Shah is chief medical officer of Maven Clinic, the world’s largest virtual clinic for women’s and family health, assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School and the founder of Costs of Care. Shah is featured in “The Color of Care,” an original documentary from Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo productions…
-
Transgender People of Color Face Unique Challenges as Gender Discrimination and Racism Intersect
Read More: Transgender People of Color Face Unique Challenges as Gender Discrimination and Racism IntersectBy Gabriel Lockett, University of Florida; Jules Sostre, University of Florida, and Roberto L. Abreu, University of Florida Throughout history, transgender people of color have had a place of honor in many indigenous cultures around the world. This changed in many places, however, as European colonizers began forcing indigenous people to follow white social norms.…
-
Access, Endometriosis, Health disparities, Health insurance, Racial disparities, Racism, Real women real stories, Women’s rights
I Was Bleeding to Death on the Bathroom Floor — While the Medics Insisted I Couldn’t Afford the Ambulance Ride
Read More: I Was Bleeding to Death on the Bathroom Floor — While the Medics Insisted I Couldn’t Afford the Ambulance RideAs told to Erica Rimlinger One evening during my senior year of college in Texas, I was hanging out at my boyfriend’s apartment when a vicious, blinding pain seized my abdomen. It was like I’d been shot, but the pain wasn’t localized: it was everywhere in my torso. I started bleeding like I had my…
-
Access, Access to health care, Gender, Gender diversity, Health care, Health disparities, Health insurance, Lgbtq, Preventive care, Racial disparities, Racism, Transgender
What’s Sexual Orientation Got to Do With It? LGTBQ People Face Discrimination in Healthcare
Read More: What’s Sexual Orientation Got to Do With It? LGTBQ People Face Discrimination in HealthcareMarch 21 to March 25 is National LGBTQ Health Awareness Week. At age 28, Laura Silverstein tripped while running, dislocating her pinky finger trying to break her fall. Now 52, Silverstein said her experience at the emergency room that day still gives her “the heebie jeebies.” The doctor probed Silverstein about her birth control method,…
-
Skin Lightening Creams Are Dangerous — And Harm Women
Read More: Skin Lightening Creams Are Dangerous — And Harm Women“Don’t play outside. You’ll get too dark.” “No one will marry you if you have dark skin.” “Men only want fair-skinned women.” These are words that my cousins and I would hear as our mothers slathered us in creams that promised to lighten our skin. These are words that women of color around the globe…
-
Why Addressing Racism Against Black Women in Health Care Is Key to Ending the US HIV Epidemic
Read More: Why Addressing Racism Against Black Women in Health Care Is Key to Ending the US HIV EpidemicBy Nabila El-Bassel, Columbia University Forty years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Black women continue to bear the highest burden of HIV among women. Although Black women represent only 13% of the female population, they accounted for over half of HIV diagnoses among all females in the U.S. in 2018, according to data from the U.S.…
-
Access, Health care, Health insurance, Policy, Pregnancy, Premature birth, Prevention, Preventive health, Racial disparities, Racism
Racism a Strong Factor in Black Women’s High Rate of Premature Births, Study Finds
Read More: Racism a Strong Factor in Black Women’s High Rate of Premature Births, Study FindsBy Anna Maria Barry-Jester, Kaiser Health News The tipping point for Dr. Paula Braveman came when a longtime patient of hers at a community clinic in San Francisco’s Mission District slipped past the front desk and knocked on her office door to say goodbye. He wouldn’t be coming to the clinic anymore, he told her,…
-
Americans Are in a Mental Health Crisis – Especially African Americans. Can Churches Help?
Read More: Americans Are in a Mental Health Crisis – Especially African Americans. Can Churches Help?By Brad R. Fulton, Indiana University Centuries of systemic racism and everyday discrimination in the U.S. have left a major mental health burden on African American communities, and the past few years have dealt especially heavy blows. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that Black Americans are twice as likely to…
-
American Muslims Are at High Risk of Suicide – 20 Years Post-9/11, the Links Between Islamophobia and Suicide Remain Unexplored
Read More: American Muslims Are at High Risk of Suicide – 20 Years Post-9/11, the Links Between Islamophobia and Suicide Remain UnexploredBy Amelia Noor-Oshiro, Johns Hopkins University This year, 9/11 holds a dual significance for Americans across the country. It not only marks the 20th anniversary of the tragic events and lives lost since Sept. 11, 2001, but also National Suicide Prevention Awareness Week. For American Muslims who are both victims of increased rates of Islamophobic…
-
Pandemic Unveils Growing Suicide Crisis for Communities of Color
Read More: Pandemic Unveils Growing Suicide Crisis for Communities of ColorBy Aneri Pattani, Kaiser Health News This story is a collaboration between KHN and “Science Friday.” Listen to the conversation between KHN national correspondent Aneri Pattani and John Dankosky, Science Friday’s director of news and radio projects. Rafiah Maxie has been a licensed clinical social worker in the Chicago area for a decade. Throughout that…
-
Racism at the OB-GYN: Bias Can be Deadly
Read More: Racism at the OB-GYN: Bias Can be DeadlyNo pajamas. No slippers. No hair bonnets. For some, the sign at a Columbus, Georgia, OB-GYN office could have been little more than a generic “no shirt, no shoes, no service” notice often spotted at public establishments. But Leslie Mac, a digital strategist, organizer and activist, saw something more insidious. “This was a clear example…
-
COVID-19, Labor, Postpartum, Pregnancy, Pregnancy & parenting, Premature birth, Racial disparities, Racism
Born Too Soon
Read More: Born Too SoonAs if finding out she was expecting in the midst of a global pandemic weren’t news enough, Merrick Smith said her surprise turned to shock last year when she later learned that she was carrying twins, due on Christmas Day. Her pregnancy started off pretty normal, and working from home, as many resorted to during…
-
How Sarah Baartman’s Hips Went From a Symbol of Exploitation to a Source of Empowerment for Black Women
Read More: How Sarah Baartman’s Hips Went From a Symbol of Exploitation to a Source of Empowerment for Black WomenBy Rokeshia Renné Ashley, Florida International University In “BLACK EFFECT,” a track from Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s 2018 collaborative album “EVERYTHING IS LOVE,” Beyoncé describes a quintessential Black female form: Stunt with your curls, your lips, Sarah Baartman hips Gotta hop into my jeans like I hop into my whip, yeah The celebration of Sarah Baartman’s…
-
US Has a Long History of Violence Against Asian Women
Read More: US Has a Long History of Violence Against Asian WomenBy Karen Leong, Arizona State University and Karen Kuo, Arizona State University Asian American women understand that the alleged murderer of eight people in Atlanta was acting in keeping with a culture filled with racialized and sexualized views of Asian women. Of the people murdered, four women were of Korean descent and two of Chinese…
-
One Year on, Muslim Women Reflect on Wearing the Niqab in a Mask-wearing World
Read More: One Year on, Muslim Women Reflect on Wearing the Niqab in a Mask-wearing WorldBy Anna Piela, Northwestern University One year into the pandemic, protective face masks have come to signify different things for different groups of people. To some it’s an issue of protest, while for some others it’s a statement of social responsibility. Some people have even turned it into a style statement and are willing to…
-
Namaste Noir: Yoga Co-Op Seeks to Diversify Yoga to Heal Racialized Trauma
Read More: Namaste Noir: Yoga Co-Op Seeks to Diversify Yoga to Heal Racialized TraumaBy Chandra Thomas Whitfield, KHN DENVER — Beverly Grant spent years juggling many roles before yoga helped her restore her balance. When not doting over her three children, she hosted her public affairs talk radio show, attended community meetings or handed out cups of juice at her roving Mo’ Betta Green MarketPlace farmers market, which…
