Black Health Matters Conference

This weekend I attended the Harvard Black Health Matters Conference and I really enjoyed it! The conference featured guest speakers from a variety of backgrounds in healthcare, including internationally recognized social scientist Dr. David Williams. By the end of the two-day event, I greatly expanded my understanding of the origins and implications of racial health disparities.

One session in particular that fascinated me was titled “Racism and Medicine: Reconciling the Past and Present” by Harvard student Udodiri Okwandu. During the session, Okwandu discussed racial pseudoscience developed in the 1800s that played a major role in perpetuating systemic oppression and white supremacy. While listening I also learned about the history of polygeny, a formerly accepted scientific theory based on the belief that each race originated from a different species of animal. The whole discussion was eye-opening for me!

I can’t wait to apply what I’ve learned during this conference to my practice as a future healthcare professional!