PDF Take Care of Them Like My Own: Faith, Fortitude, and a Surgeon's Fight for Health Justice

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Take
Care
of Them Like My Own Faith, Fortitude,
and
a
Surgeon's
Fight
for
Health
Justice
Description
The founder of the Black Doctors
Consortium
highlights
the
devastating racial injustices in our health care
system in this inspirational memoir and
empowering call to action.Dr. Ala Stanford knew
she wanted to be a doctor by the time she was
eight years old.
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But role models were few and far between in her
working-class North Philly neighborhood. Her
teachers were dismissive, and the realities of
racism, sexism, and poverty threatened to derail
her at every turn. Nevertheless, thanks to her
faith, family, and the sheer strength of her
will, today she is one of the vanishingly small
number of Black women surgeons in America8212an
an unrelenting force in the fight for health
justice. In Take Care of Them Like My Own, Dr.
Stanford shares an unflinching account of her
story, explaining how her experiences on both
sides of the scalpel have informed her
understanding of America8217sracial health gap,
an insidious and lethal form of inequality that
exacts a devastating toll on Black communities
across the country, affluent and underserved
alike. When Covid-19 arrived in her hometown of
Philadelphia, she knew it would
disproportionately affect the Black population.
As the city stood idly by, unwilling or unable to
protect its most vulnerable citizens, Dr.
Stanford took matters into her own hands. She
rented a van, made some calls, and began
administering tests in church parking lots. Soon,
she found herself at the helm of a powerful
grassroots campaign that successfully vaccinated
tens of thousands of Philadelphians. She and her
movement are living proof that by drawing on
faith, community, and inner strength, everyday
people can affect tremendous change. Part memoir,
part manifesto for health equality and justice,
Take Care of Them Like My Own offers urgent
lessons about the power of communities working
together to take care of one another and the
importance of fighting for a healthcare system
that truly fulfills its promise to all Americans.