Last fall, I presented at Mayo Clinic Department of Psychiatry and Psychology Medical Grand Rounds. During this experience, I met and connected with Dr. Dionne Hart. Dr. Hart appreciated my presentation so much that she invited me to keynote the American Psychiatric Association's 4th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.
Dr. Hart and I have continued corresponding about the ways anti-Blackness affects us and the Black population at-large in America. She recently wrote a powerful article, You Won't Break My Soul: Black Women Physicians Need to Advocate for Themselves, exposing her own painful journey as a Black woman doctor faced with the challenges of anti-Blackness and misogynoir in America. After being inspired by Beyonce's hit song (from her Renaissance album), Dr. Hart titled the article "You Won’t My Soul: Black Women Physicians Need to Advocate for Themselves". The article appears in the American Psychiatric Association's Psychiatric News Journal (March 2024 issue, pages 18-19).
I would be remiss if I did not point out that Dr. Hart's story represents my story, and almost every other Black person I know and have met over the past two years. Anti-Blackness is deadly!
Thank you, Dr. Hart, for taking the time to share yourself and use your platform and currency to bring awareness and attention to our painful realities.
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