A Must-Read about Health Inequity and Harm Reduction

Anyone who has needed a healthcare system in the past decade (myself included) knows that the American system is deeply broken. But while it’s bad enough for the general population, the problems of dismissal and dehumanization in clinics are far worse for black women, and this book exposes those gaps in care in devastating and clear terms.

One of the concepts in this book that struck me was that of “weathering.” Villarosa posits that racism itself—the burden of daily anxiety caused by microaggressions and overt racism, the myth that health is one’s personal responsibility and no one else’s, and the intersection of police brutality, criminalization of mental illness, and health inequities—all take a real and severe toll on women of color, impacting their health and making them more susceptible to poor health outcomes.

Villarosa also exposes all the ways institutions are putting us in this bad situation. Communities are developing their own harm reduction techniques, from needle exchanges to community health programs. However, they are ignored due to deep stigma and not being part of the mainstream healthcare system. This book is an easy read, and while it’s awful, it’s not all doom and gloom. There are concrete ways systems can begin to change quickly, and Villarosa offers feminists, people who care about community, and people who want to make a difference in the world of medicine a roadmap for making change.