Do No Harm: An Introduction

"If this was only an issue for people in south west Memphis, who are majority African American, it is very unlikely that it would have gained as much prominence as it has because at this point, things must impact white people in order for it to matter on a significant enough scale, unless it has to do with the lynching of black people. But we're talking about the living of black people, which is harder for folks to really grapple with because they then have to realize their own complicity or implicitly within systems and structures that benefit them and not others..." ~Justin J.  Join us on this episode of Do No Harm where we'll be talking about environmental injustice and its lasting impact on the health and lives of marginalized communities. Joined by our special guest, Justin J. Pearson, co-founder of Memphis Community Against the Pipeline (www.memphiscap.org) and environmental justice activist, we'll be talking about sacrifice zones, industrial farming, and the Byhalia connection pipeline. With climate change becoming an increasingly dire issue, we must address the direct effect environmental racism and injustice has on health inequity and the perpetuation of existing disparities. As always a full transcript of this episode and any related resources can be found on our website at www.donoharmhrk.wordpress.com.

The prison industrial complex and police state in the United States disproportionately inflicts violence against Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people. During this episode of Do No Harm, we discuss unjust health conditions incarcerated folks are subject to and how that contributes to stark health inequities; medical experimentation within prisons; and the racism embedded in medical technology surveillance practices. Join us as we make our way to outlining the importance of abolition in instituting health justice for our communities. Check out additional information on this topic as well as a transcript of this episode on our website: donoharm.hrk.wordpress.com.

What do BMI, diet-culture, and anti-fatness have in common? They’re all rooted in white supremacy. On this episode of Do No Harm, we’re joined by two guests: Safiya Osei and Sicily McLaughlin who share their personal experiences with anti-fatness and offer perspectives on the intersection of fatphobia, anti-Blackness, and health inequity. Join us as we discuss topics like the racist origins of diet science and desirability; the effect of anti fatness on the clinical encounter; and why food apartheids and class inequities must be dismantled to achieve health justice for all. Check out additional resources about this topic as well as a transcript for this episode on donoharmhrk.wordpress.com.

Next time you say race is a risk factor, don't. On this week's episode we'll be diving into topics such as race based correction factors in modern medicine, the move from eugenics to race based medicine, and racial disparities in the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientists have long known that race is not biological, yet, it is still used as a basis for so many medical procedures and diagnoses. This reliance on race as a risk factor, rather than racism, is a vestige from eugenics embedded within our medical system which perpetuates disparities and inequity among minoritized people; particularly black people. We encourage you to check out the additional resources about these topics on our website where you can also find the transcript for this episode: donoharmhrk.wordpress.com.

On this episode of Do No Harm, we discuss how the historic, systemic, and omnipresent misogynoir perpetuated by the US healthcare system and society at large leads to stark racial maternal and infant health inequities. We argue that Birth and Reproductive Justice cannot occur in medicalized and oppressive spaces and delve into how radical Black doulas are returning Black pregnancy and birthing to a site of community, healing, and love. Throughout this episode, we highlight what aspiring healthcare should be understanding and doing to create spaces and systems in which Black mothers and their children are seen, heard, and validated. Please visit the “podcast” page on our website (donoharmhrk.wordpress.com) to find a transcript for this episode. Check out the “resources” page for all of the studies, papers, and books we mentioned throughout this episode. 

On this week's episode of Do No Harm we'll be delving into the effects of white supremacy on health care and the ways it manifests as inequitable treatment and health disparities. Before going into more specific topics we wanted to give y'all a chance to understand where we're coming from and the lens that we'll be looking at health and medicine through throughout this podcast series. In this episode we touch on topics such as implicit bias, historical and contemporary lack of access/exclusion, and the current disparities seen with COVID-19 testing, treatment, and outcomes. All of the studies, papers, and books mentioned in this episode can be found on our "resources" page along with additional resources on the topic. If you are listening to this episode on a platform other than our website and would like access to a transcript please visit the "podcast" page on our website (donoharmhrk.wordpress.com) where transcripts for each episode can be found.

Hey y'all! Curious to know more about this platform or who we are? Check out this short introduction to Do No Harm and its creators! If you are listening to this podcast on a platform other than our site please head to donoharmhrk.wordpress.com for a full transcript of the episode.