Medical/Health Humanities Group Research Fellowship
Medical/Health Humanities Members
- Marqua Harris, Health, MPH
- Dr. Reanae McNeal, Ph.D
- Vanessa Oliphant, M.S.
Re-Envisioning Community Engaged Healing for Black Women
Abstract
Due to the current backlash of anti-Black gendered oppression and the severe health disparities and inequities, the need to attend to Black women’s health and healing is urgent. The objective of our timely research is to call for the creation of sacred spaces for Black women to engage in embodied communal healing. We are inspired by Black feminists’ bell hooks’ “Healing is an act of communion” (215) and Audre Lorde’s “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare” (130). Our research mends together health and healing narratives. We apply and braid together the fields of Black Psychology, Public Health, Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies, and Africana Studies. Utilizing research methods from an interdisciplinary approach, we apply the following: Black womanist/feminist frameworks, historical archival analysis, Indigenous African wisdom systems, and Afro Indigenous wisdom systems from Turtle Island. Drawing on cultural concepts such as “Black Girl Magic” as medicinal approaches to reinforce resiliency in Black women to triumphantly reclaim their radical healing, we address social injustices, colonization, stereotypes, hypervisibility/invisibility, isolation, and (dis)ease. Connecting historical to present-day medical/mental health encounters, we also underscore inhumane treatment based on anti-Black misogyny in the forms of racist-sexist pseudoscience, medical treatment, and research experiments on Black women’s bodies. Our research offers the following results: (1) ways that radical healing can be done to repair the impact of social injustices and colonization; (2) ways intergenerational gendered stories contribute to radical healing; and (3) ways health and healing narratives assist in growing resiliency in communities. The project’s contribution to our field(s) include addressing real-world problems via Black women’s health/healing through transdisciplinary research.
Plans for Academic Year 2023-2024
During the academic year of 2023-2024, we intend to continue in our endeavors on Black women’s health/healing. Our next steps will be making final revisions and seeking publication for a paper we presented at The 9th World Conference on Women’s Studies: Gender Justice and the Power of Feminisms in Bangkok, Thailand. We also will have the privilege to collaborate with Dr. Wingate, a premiere scholar in psychology, and her Black Equity and Mental Health Lab at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Wingate and our research cohort will be collaborating on a paper addressing Black women at predominately white universities (PWI). During the course of the year our research cohort will also be presenting a Black Women and Health Justice Panel at Oklahoma State University through the Africana Studies program as well as submitting to conferences, applying for grants, and creating community resources that underscore a positive long-term impact on the health/healing of Black women.
Anticipated Deliverables
During the beginning of Fall 2023 our research cohort will have an opportunity to meet again to consider estimated dates and finalize decisions on publications, conferences, and otherwise. However, as of now, we have the following that we anticipate for some deliverables: (1) at least two publications: one on Black women’s community-engaged healing and Black women at PWIs; (2) Black Women and Health Justice Panel; (3) Conference presentations; (4) Creation of Community Health Resources; and (5) Apply for a grant. We see these deliverables as only the beginning of other deliverables as we continue into a productive future of research on Black women’s wellness.
Awards Received
We received the Superlative Presentation award for our virtual research presentation on “Re-envisioning Community Engaged Healing for Black Women” at the 9th World Conference on Women’s Studies 2023 in Bangkok Thailand.
Presentation Awards - WCWs 2023
For the highly competitive OSU App Competition, our Black Women Sister Care App Idea, based on our community engaged research on Black women and health justice, placed in the top twelve App Ideas and was awarded first place for App Ideas in the Social category (Apps that address social, cultural, and environmental issues).