rafi-dangelo:

Serena Williams – RICH, ICONIC, WORLD-RENOWNED SERENA WILLIAMS – almost died after giving birth because the nurse thought her super-detailed request to combat her history of blood clots was the result of a confused woman on pain medication. (https://www.vogue.com/article/serena-williams-vogue-cover-interview-february-2018)

You could say that doctors and nurses get requests from patients all the time who think they know what they’re talking about. You could say conversations about Serena being a Black woman so her advice wasn’t taken seriously are just race baiting.

But you could also note that Black women are 243% more likely to die from pregnancy or after-childbirth related issues (https://www.npr.org/2017/12/07/568948782/black-mothers-keep-dying-after-giving-birth-shalon-irvings-story-explains-why) and that nurses throughout the industry have personal accounts of Black women not being taken seriously by white doctors (https://twitter.com/grimalkinrn/status/951170130989408256).

So if Serena Williams can almost die after giving birth because nobody was listening to her, what do you think happens when the average Black woman says “something’s not right here” and requests help?