Listening to Black women saves Black lives

Abstract

I am one of two African American women who are endowed professors in the history of medicine in the USA. I am the only African American woman directing a traditional medical humanities programme in the USA. When I accepted my position in 2019 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I did not know I would step into a position that would make me a historical first. Since this time, I have become preoccupied with learning about Black women who are “firsts” within the annals of US histories of medicine. As a historian who writes about the medical experiences of 19th-century Black women and also about contemporary reproductive and birthing justice activists, I have found an unchanging practice that connects the past and present. In the USA, medical professionals and organisations have largely ignored Black women when they attempt to advocate for themselves. Unfortunately, numerous government agencies and universities publish studies that provide embarrassing statistics on the health outcomes for Black women. These reports continue to provide a narrative that stretches back decades. For example, the USA is one of the most dangerous high-income countries for Black women and birthing people to give birth, Black women die at higher rates of breast cancer and receive diagnosis and treatment later than white women, and Black women are over-represented among Americans without health insurance. Since the colonial period in the 18th century, women of African descent have been vocal about their medical mistreatment due to racism, sexism, and economic exploitation. Those in power, historically elite white men, mostly chose to ignore Black women's claims or blamed them for their poor health outcomes.