BLACK WOMEN and the lack of care we receive we get tired of being called the angry black woman just

I remember when I first heard the CDC declared state of emergency that Black women are dying 4 times more likely than their counterparts Black women’s bodies have been abused by the medical profession for hundreds of years. I distantly remember reading about J. Marion Sims who is considered the “father of modern gynecology.” Sims was a surgeon from Alabama who performed a series of experimental procedures on enslaved Black women in the mid-1800s.  None of these women were consenting to these procedures and were often operated on without the use of anesthesia, or numbing agents. The inhuman treatment of these women perpetuated the belief that because of the color of our skin, Black women and Black people are biologically more adverse to pain than white people. This myth has stuck with us for generations. A lot of invisible factors that come into play Doctors already think they’re better than you steeped in the culture of supremacy Black women aren’t getting the care they’re needing and adequate support There are visible Cultural barriers As a doula We protect women and navigate the process Protect birth, mothers, and babies I think it’s time that we change the narrative on how black women are viewed and cared for in this country we have the highest mortality rate and it’s the highest amongst black WOMEN we are fighting for our lives here on all spectrums Women throughout history have been mistreated and abused, but to ignore the specific battles the Black woman and femmes experience within, and outside of the medical institutions of the United States, is to erase the history of pain and disrespect Black women’s bodies experience every day. It’s not just the physical pain of Black women and femmes that is completely overlooked, but our emotional distress is continuously ignored and belittled. To quote Malcolm X, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.” I have a target on my back from the moment I wake up, to the moment I go to sleep. We are consistently viewed as loud, angry, and abrasive. All these adjectives used only when we express ourselves or try and defend ourselves. Everything about my body is seen as a political statement. My hair, my clothes, the tone of my skin, my curves; I am always hyper-aware of my Blackness and femininity. We are suffering internally and externally. Visible and non visible pain harvesting in our wombs. Generationally we carry on these traumas. When you’re a Black women or femme in the ER looking for relief from intense chronic pain, the first thing any doctor thinks is that you are on the hunt for pills. Pain is real and the medical system is broken Prejudice is more pervasive than what is generally perceived, and Black women deserve to been seen and heard. We spend more time trying to convince our doctors to provide us with care than we do actually receiving it. The abuse Black women and femmes continue to face in this country is abhorrent.  But with white supremacy being woven into the very fabric of our country, I honestly see the erasure of Black women and femmes’ pain getting much worse before it ever gets better. I promise you I feel pain and I can’t wait for a world where I don’t have to prove that statement of being true.