Black women's bodies have long been the subjects of medical abuse, and it's still shaping their experiences today.
Henrietta Lacks
A poor tobacco farmer, Lacks, died from an aggressive cervical cancer. Doctors at Johns Hopkins harvested her cancer cells without her consent or her family's knowledge. When Lacks' cells unexpectedly doubled while others in the lab died, they were used to develop the Apolio vaccine, hemophilia treatments, herpes, influenza, leukemia, HIV/AIDS therapies, and in vitro fertilization. Lacks' family never saw a cent from the billions of dollars her cells helped generate.
Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsy
Genocology, as we know it, was invented during slavery by J. Marion Sims, who conducted unethical, unmedicated, and sadistic experiments on enslaved women, like Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsy. Sims' work contributed to the belief that Black women don't experience the pain the same as others, although he had them strapped firmly to the operating tables.
Fannie Lou Hamer
What should've been a straightforward fibroid removal turned dangerous when doctors performed a hysterectomy on Hamer, rendering her infertile without her permission. The "Mississippi appendectomy" was a slang term for the needless and involuntary hysterectomies performed on Black women to intentionally prevent them from having children.
Let this history be a cautionary tale of what's possible in a medical industry built on inflicting pain on Black women's bodies. Advocate for yourself and your loved ones.