YWCA

This month we're exploring how our healthcare system can perpetuate inequity. Below we've compiled a reading list written entirely by Black women focusing on the intersection of race, gender, and health in a variety of circumstances, including living with a disability, working as a Black doctor, and navigating the mental health system.

Our healthcare system is a maze for most, let alone folks who are furthest from privilege and opportunity. Studies show that for Black women especially face challenges receiving respect and care from medical professionals. That’s why peer-support and advocacy programs like YWCA’s BABES Network can be so crucial.

For Pride month, we’re sharing the words and stories of Black trans womxn. In light of ongoing murders of and attacks on Black trans women and folx, it is crucial that we not only say the names of those we’ve lost, but also support the Black trans womxn in the present by elevating their voices and advocating for their safety.

Night after night for the past week, we have witnessed thousands of people filling the streets in cities across the United States to demand justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and other victims of state-sanctioned violence and systemic racism.

All last year, YWCA brought a traveling tapestry to community events, inviting supporters to add the names of women who inspire them. Many of the strips of cloth added to the tapestry weren’t the names of historical figures and famous trailblazers, but of mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, suggesting that the promise of an equitable future starts right in the home.

With the COVID-19 crisis disrupting life and highlighting inequities, many people are wondering how they can help support work like YWCA’s at this time. Given the current “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” mandate, we brainstormed a few ways you can stay connected with YWCA’s mission and support our essential work from where you are.