192 Search results for "illness"

“Atonement” by Donnie Moreland
By Donnie Moreland Only on nights like this, could “sweet” be an adjective to describe the air. A prize, really. All those brothers, shoulder to shoulder on the Mall, and you can imagine how much funk can stew in a day. But a soft wind started everyone on their way back from where they began […]
We must fight for a Black liberation that exists outside of AntiBlack Systems
by Gloria Oladipo I watch the moment’s protests through bitter tears of joy. I hate that change is paved with the blood of Black sisters, brothers, and siblings. I hate how freedom never seems to be found when we’re alive. I hate cops. I hate oppression and injustice and anything that keeps Black and Brown […]
We are no good to the dead, and yet we believe the grieving owe us their tears
In my family, we have a tradition of cooking and sitting with the grieving, especially when they have no words. Especially when the tears have been ripped out and the well to produce more has disappeared. We honor the lives of the folks who’ve been lost, beaten, and violently shredded from this world by sitting […]
Comic: You’re not a nutrition expert, you’re just fatphobic and you should feel bad
This comic and essay depict/discuss disordered eating patterns, fatphobia, and gym addiction by JeCorey Holder
Black dissociation is a requirement of capitalism
CW: mention of body changes, dissociation and dysmorphia. by Imani As a Black person who has survived trauma and poverty, I assumed that I could handle anything, including what has been a physically debilitating matrix of illnesses. But in less than 8 months I started experiencing dissociation. I moved from a body I fought to learn […]
Our calls to action against anti-Black state violence cannot be ableist
by Tahirah Alexander Green Since the global COVID-19 health crisis began, my post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have intensified. With non-stop discussions of hospitals and medical care in the news, in our homes, at our jobs, my memory keeps reaching back towards every violent hospitalization I’ve ever experienced or witnessed. While my chronic illnesses are […]
American “heroism” in times of crisis highlights just how disposable we are to the state
by Donnie Moreland As a boy, I remember learning about firefighters. I found their work as spectacular as the graphic novels, and Saturday morning superheroes, which crowded my daydreams. There was no difference between the cape and their fire helmet. And there were enough Black men, dawning the garb and colors of the local fire […]
Accessing competent care is another hurdle Black folks shouldn’t have to navigate
Content Warning: Medical Violence My nana, Ella D. Martin, was a nurse from Greenwood, Louisiana who slept with medical books underneath her bed, and sometimes her pillow. And no matter the time of day, Nana would receive medical emergency calls from folks all over the world, well until she was 80. Though she worked in […]
How I use ancestor veneration to navigate my Mother’s Death
by Hess Love Sometimes I feel like a motherless child… a long way from home- Negro Spiritual Sunday is Mother’s Day. And the grief of losing my mother regularly brings me to my knees. I don’t imagine this day being any different. Sometimes my grief is a distant shore, sometimes the water of it wades […]
How nonprofits gaslight you into the same self-sacrificing work as capitalist corporations
by Taneasha White Nonprofit work is always seen as “God’s work.” Before they even know which organization I work with, chatty Uber and Lyft drivers immediately thank me for my service. There are things that are commonplace within nonprofits that aren’t expected in corporate settings. The idea of “ice breakers” before meetings, flex time, or […]
Is COVID-19 a crisis within a crisis for Black women?
by Maia Niguel Hoskin “Racism affects so many things before the patient even gets to the clinical encounter. Both implicit bias and structural racism affect how women are cared for in the healthcare system. The cards are stacked against them.”, said the Vice-Chair of Equity and Safety in Obstetrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, Allison Bryant […]
Reminders and affirmations to help you through quarantine
We are in the midst of a global disaster and it’s taking its toll on everyone in a multitude of ways. While it’s true that Black people have weathered the storms of global anti-Blackness, incremental genocide, and continued discrimination, we are not unaffected by the current crisis. It’s true that “back to normal” for us […]