Why Brittney Griner’s peril is felt by all Black women in America

By Natalie Johnson via https://www.msnbc.com/

OP/ED: The conditions that brought the U.S. basketball player to Russia in the first place, and perhaps what have kept her there for so long, reflect the vulnerability that often comes with being a Black woman

When tennis star Serena Williams gave birth to her daughter in 2017, she nearly died because doctors did not believe her when she cried out in pain. As it turns out, Williams, the world’s most famous athlete, was suffering from blood clots in her lungs. It would be hours before doctors agreed to do a CAT scan and rush to break up the clotting before it reached her heart. Despite all of her prestige and achievements, Williams was at the mercy of a medical system that is uniquely fatal for Black women.

The state of powerlessness Black women, including Serena Williams, are relegated to is a phenomenon sociologist and author Tressie McMillan Cottom discusses in her memoir “Thick: And Other…

Read More: Why Brittney Griner’s peril is felt by all Black women in America