From enslavement and Jim Crow to the 21st century, Dr. Uché Blackstock story interweaves family and institutional history.
Her mother, Dr. Dale Blackstock, a pioneering Black medical doctor in the 1980s and '90s, died of leukemia at age 47 but inspired both Uché and her twin sister, Oni Blackstock (28 February 2023 NY1 Spectrum News interview), to become doctors. All three graduated from Harvard Medical School, the first Black mother-daughter legacies (25 January 2024 Marketplace interview with Kai Ryssdal) to graduate from that institution.
As Uché Blackstock says about her book in a PBS News Weekend interview (28 January 2024),
"I would love to be able to . . . help connect the dots for people in terms of how did we arrive in 2024, to the place where we have these very horrific racial health inequalities? How can people do better . . ."
Her "call to action" at the end of the book offers a way forward and illuminates "how different groups of people even in their personal lives can help address this problem." Blackstock currently heads Advancing Health Equity.
If we don't know the history,
we can't solve the problem.
If your organization might be interested in finding out more about using history as a tool for solving today's challenges--big and small--check out ACTIVHISTorian.com's services today.