Black populations have been at a disproportionately higher risk of experiencing negative health outcomes since well before the pandemic. In honor and celebration of Black History Month, we dive into the stories of 5 Black changemakers who pursued health equity to reduce social disparities and achieve a high standard of care for all people.
Mary Francis Hill Coley (1900 -1966)
Coley was a Black midwife and activist who grew up with little means and an informal education. After marrying and settling down, she pursued training from a midwifery program and later became an influential advocate for community health. During this time, black midwives typically aided and guided black mothers through pregnancy while white, and typically upper class mothers, were tended to by male physicians. Coley addressed these common health inequities by delivering more than 3,000 babies in underserved communities. Following this, a documentary about her titled “All my Babies,” was released and used as an instructional training program as well a preview into the horrible living conditions of her patients.
Years after Coley’s passing, she was nominated for Georgia Women’s Hall of Fame by Lamisha Steele, who was quoted saying, “I try to do things that make a difference, just like Mary Coley did…She is a basis for what we all should aspire to be.”
Leonidas Harris Berry, MD (1902 - 1995)
Berry served as the first Black physician to join the Michael Reece Hospital staff in Chicago, the first Black intern at Cook County Hospital, one of the first Black doctors to be admitted to the American Medical Association and later became president of the National Medical Association. Dr. Berry dedicated much of his time to serving Black communities in Illinois and Alabama who often faced barriers in accessing healthcare. Berry tackled this head on by helping to organize the “Flying Black Medics”, a group that would fly from Chicago to southern Illinois and deliver medical care and education to remote communities.
Berry went on to write an autobiography titled “I Wouldn’t Take Nothin’ for My Journey,” and quotes it is “to put into perspective, not only the prejudices and obstacles against minorities, but to objectively and intelligently analyze and explain them and to illustrate how they can be overcome."
Dr. Edith Irby Jones (1927- 2019)
After experiencing the loss of her older sister to typhoid fever in the early 1930s, Dr. Jones believed it was the direct result of substandard care. Since her family was not of well means, she noticed the doctor spent more time tending to other patients. Because of this, Dr. Jones went on to spend half a century seeking out and specifically treating lower income patients in order to minimize health disparities. Prior to this, she was the first Black student to be admitted to the University of Arkansas Medical School and was also the first woman elected president of the National Medical Association.
“We give little when we give only our material possessions. It is when we give of ourselves that we truly give.” — Dr. Edith Irby Jones
Regina Marcia Benjamin, MD, MBA (1956 – Present)
Prior to becoming the 18th Surgeon General of the United States, Regina Benjamin reportedly accepted a basket of fish as payment from one of her patients. Benjamin was a dedicated physician who spent a majority of her medical career serving poor families in a shrimping village off the golf coast of Alabama. She frequently advocated for a higher standard of medical care and even offered education and help to clinicians and patients in rural areas through the University of South Alabama. Among many other esteemed titles and accolades, she received the Nelson Mandela award for Health and Human Rights in 1998. After taking office as Surgeon General in 2009, she prioritized ensuring “no one [fell] through the cracks,” and focused on preventative health models.
“I hope I am making a difference in my community by providing a clinic where patients can come and receive health care with dignity.” — Regina Benjamin
Dr. Ted Love (Unknown - Present)
Love’s interest in health equity peaked when he began medical school and often witnessed Black patients with sickle cell disease being overlooked by healthcare workers. He reports that he often felt he was a “small unimportant part of a big machine.” He changed this, however, when he went to work as president and CEO of Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT) in 2014. With sickle cell disease affecting approximately 100,000 individuals, whom are primarily part of minority communities, he and his company constantly work to advance health equity and one day cure the disease.
“Every disparity—from their skin color to where they live—that you can imagine has impacted these patients. It’s been incredibly rewarding to work on this problem.” — Dr. Ted Love
Creating a world where all individuals are given the opportunity for accessible, equitable health care has been the goal of changemakers for hundreds of years. Building on this work is pivotal in creating high quality care for all people.
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