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Black British Women on Health

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Colourful artwork made with paint and ink on textured watercolour paper. The artwork shows a Black woman in a blue hospital gown sat on a table in a hospital examination room, facing away from us. She is hunched forwards. Around her are is the deco of a hospital room, strip lighting, air conditioning vents and a small table with medical equipment laid out. To her left is are two large windows showing a different reality, one full of plants and the natural world, and a group of 3 people hugging in a gesture of support and understanding.
What Black women do when the NHS fails them. © Maïa Walcott for Wellcome Collection.

Health is wealth, as the saying goes. But for Black women, how can we prioritise our health and wellness as an asset? Our needs are often dismissed and overlooked as we navigate a healthcare system that was not built for us and still doesn’t function with us in mind. This system can also have a knock-on effect, fuelling harmful practices within our own communities too.

Presented by Black Ballad and edited by Jasmine Lee-Zogbessou presents a series of articles exploring both the physical and mental health consequences of this exclusion, lack of access and misogynoir. This series includes first-person essays from Cheryl Telfer, Mary W, Jaydee Seaforth, Sabrina-Maria Anderson and Jamila Pereira.