Every woman has a story and every woman has a voice. Her story is made up of her experiences, her circumstances, and her environment. In understanding and telling her story a woman connects these experiences with the woman that she becomes and every part of her life. Her story impacts her relationships, identity, even her health. This is a story of the experiences of women of color in America and how her experiences impact her physical, mental, spiritual and social health. It is a story marred by adversity and trauma and redeemed by resilience, determination and perseverance. It is a story that must be told for it is in the telling of these stories that we gain power, freedom, justice, equity and healing.
Bio – worried about covid exposure, mother got covid, not going to church- I work so hard to provide a better life for my children – I definitely don’t want my daughter to experience what I experienced. With the election and race protests
Where does HERR story begin?
Experiencing good health its what we all want. Having good health means we can enjoy healthy relationships, work, travel and time with family and friends. But good health is not always that easy to come by for every one.
Good health actually depends on where you live, what you look like, and even your gender than it does what you eat or even how much you exercise.
As a result, not everyone has the same opportunity to be healthy
People with more education
People with more wealth and income
People that live in certain zip codes
This means as a group, be
Compared to the many other groups in America, women of color because they face multiple forms of discrimination are more likely to experience poor health. Because of the color of their skin, their education, income and even zip code
Women of color are more likely to get sicker faster.
Education income and zip code – are perhaps one of the biggest determinants of health
Socio economic conditions along with other factors impact health for women of color.Take a look at these health disparities – This is best seen in health disparities data and research.
In putting this altogether – African american women tend to live years less than white women. We even tend to get sicker more often
It Is important to understand how social factors like discrimination impact health.
Overall we know that women of color experience gender bias in health care, and are generally excluded from research – implicit bias. Many women want a woman of color as a dr. but black women account for less than 3% of US doctors
Researchers from georgetown explain that young girls of color are often seen as needing less protection and are excluded from school.
The pathway between education, wealth, income and community may be straightforward
However how does stress impact health?
For many public health researchers there is a strong case to consider an additional factor – stress answers lies in the amount of stress we experience
These conditions also influence your level of stress
Black women experience more stress
Stress being an advocate making a change in your community, being a trail blazer in your family and or being the “only one” for example the only woman
