#tw: medical racism

[wordsmith30]

Black Lightning 1×04: “Black Jesus”

It’s been a while since my last liveblog, but I am back on my DCTV show binge once again!

Let’s get into it!

So, to recap: the Reverend and Khalil were shot during the march, Anissa was seen flirting with Grace (despite the fact that she still has a girlfriend), and Jefferson believes that he needs to be doing better (he’s right). Lawanda’s death has really shaken him. Lala’s dead and we’re about to see the aftermath of the protest.

Jefferson finds a boy in the bathroom on Green Light, a very powerful street drug – so powerful that the kid rips a sink clean off the wall and flings it at Jefferson’s head. 

Jefferson is able to take him down, but he has to electrocute him. I was afraid he was going to kill him.

Shortly afterwards, Anissa finds two of her students trying to buy drugs from these guys on the corner. These boys just love to threaten people, don’t they? She makes a note of their location for later.

The nurses’ attitude towards Khalil’s condition is a perfect example of medical racism. And one of them has the nerve to say “What” when Jennifer tells them off. Isn’t it your job to help people and put them on a path to recovery?

We learn that Tobias only got in with Lady Eve and her people because he allegedly killed Black Lightning. Now that Black Lightning has returned to the stage, his reputation is in jeopardy. He now has to finish what he started.

I think Jefferson is being awfully unfair about the whole track situation. “I know you’ve been through a lot …” Yeah, she was kidnapped by The 100 gang and had her life threatened multiple times, even getting assaulted by a kid who shot fake blood at her! Give her a break! These are children, not soldiers.

Dinner with the Hendersons is quite eventful. Jefferson can barely contain his smug smile while Anissa praises Black Lightning’s efforts as a superhero. Little do they know, she’s talking about herself as much as she is him as she also wants to do more. And then poor Lynn is just trying to remind everyone how dangerous and frightening it is to engage in vigilantism (cough, cough). If only these children knew!

Anissa’s would-be heroism takes a dark turn when she goes after the two dealers from earlier in “disguise” and then has to call an ambulance. Whoops! 😅

Again, I love the realism on this show. Things never go exactly the way we plan them in our heads. You have to be careful.

Jefferson confronts his old buddy, Two-Bits, about the Green Light supply. When that doesn’t go anywhere, he tries Plan B. That bar clears out fast when Black Lightning shows up!

I just love the dynamic he has with the public. Black Lightning’s so cool, I gotta get a selfie with him before he knocks me out! 😂

You can tell Jennifer was hoping for a bigger reaction when she told Khalil she quit the track team. She did it for you, dummy!

The drug case with Jefferson’s student, Bernard, prompts the school board to claim final say on disciplinary actions. As if Jefferson doesn’t have enough to worry about. He knows their interests don’t lie in the students, but in their own reputation. Black teens are already overpoliced and criminalized, and held to unreasonable standards. They need people who will stand by them and fight for them, and allow them the space to make mistakes. Who will allow them the chance to grow from them.

Tobias calls in his younger sister, Tori, to help him take down Black Lightning.

Jefferson follows Two-Bits’ lead to the Green Light warehouse and tries out his new electric-vision goggles. Meanwhile, Anissa gets into a scrap with a bunch of guys harassing Grace. 

I ship it. 😁

And to think Jefferson was so close to finding her out. She was right next door!

Gambi manages to pull up footage from the attack, but he doesn’t get Anissa’s face. Still, he continues to leave Jefferson in the dark. I really don’t trust this man … (and how is it any safer for you to go and investigate?)

When Bernard’s father calls Jefferson – beaten and bloody, and looking for help – I was afraid Bernard had gone rogue and turned on his dad, just like what happened with Jefferson. Gambi did say one hit from Green Light would make people hooked. But it was The 100 gang.

Jefferson suits up to save Bernard and beat up some thugs! (Also, I’m sorry, but Cress’ stunt double is so distinguishable 😆).

Tori suggests a more indirect approach to nail Black Lightning. Tobias decides to become Khalil’s mysterious benefactor and poison his mind against the hero who supposedly landed him in the hospital.

Not good. Very not good!

[enoughbykelela]

My other post lost traction, but Brittany Delaney, a young Black single mother from Minnesota, is fighting for her life against cancer and lupus. Her first two rounds of treatment were unsuccessful and she has spent a lot of time in and out of the hospital, all while suffering from medical racism. Her need for support grows more dire with each day that passes. Her c@sh@pp is $survivinglupus30 and v3nm0 is Brittany-Delaney-3. Her gofundme is linked in the article, and you can also find more details about her situation. Please spread. Thank you!

[uncanny-tranny]

Medical racism isn't important to address just because it's mean to be racist to patients (I mean, it is mean), but because medical racism kills people. It contributes to systemic suffering of those deemed non-white, and the disinformation that spreads about non-white people.

[compassionatereminders]

mostly the thing that made me fall out with the system of psychiatry is just. how rigid it is and how unwilling to bend to the patient's individual needs, that if a treatment doesnt work its implied the patient didnt try hard enough to engage as opposed to....every single person is different and just because one treatment works for the majority of patients with that illness, the illness does not make all those people the same.

as well as that i also have issues with how people in the psych system trust their colleagues. i was psychologically abused by my psychiatrist for two years which consisted of him removing any medications, lying to me and discharging me for punishments. i tried to kill myself twice under him and his treatment of me caused that. he still works at the outpatients i attend bc who is going to believe a psychotic patient over a psychiatrist (which is another thing about the system that psychotic patients raising any concern is seen as delusion). and not only that but all his coworkers think hes a great guy. so how am i meant to get treatment for the damage he did to me when all of his colleagues are more inclined to try to protect their coworker than face the fact he is Abusive and Negligent to patients with personality disorders. How am I meant to get treatment for that trauma when all the system wants to do is protect itself first?

And that's not even bringing up how hard it is to be any kind of minority in psychiatric care. I've known Deaf people left on units without access to interpreters, essentially themselves from family, friends and anyone who speaks their fucking language, unable to defend themselves or even understand what doctors are telling them. As a trans person I have to go through my transition history every appointment. For what? and when transphobic legislation gets passed and I start thinking abt how i dont want to live in this world it is exhausting to phone a hotline knowing i will have to explain this whole thing to someone who doesnt know/care. and that black people are restrained, sectioned, diagnosed with schizophrenia and labelled aggressive at exceedingly high rates compared to white people. AND THEN the fact that Being a minority at all has negative effects on your mental health but psychiatry often seems to fucking treat mental illness like its exactly the same in everyone and will not sit down with minorities and hear them out on their struggles.

my like tldr is psychiatry is a system now and it refuses to engage with patients on an individual level it doesnt ask patients what they want and instead bases things off "reccommended treatments" which involve invasive interventions for certain diagnoses that patients dont get a choice in. and people are content to just have psych patients sectioned and isolated and they dont wanna think about the fact their human rights get taken away for indefinite amounts of time for WHAT?

it frustrates me endlessly. i dont want to be this ill but the system wont help.

Well said. I really hate how psych professionals will so often see a recommended treatment not working or making things worse and treat this as proof that the patient isn't trying hard enough instead of going "hey maybe this approach just isn't right for this person"

[genderkoolaid]

In my gender studies class today we were talking about immigration and asylum specifically in regards to trans women, and it was a very interesting topic, but when someone asked if we had any data or stories about the struggles trans men faced when seeking asylum, the teacher said no. This isn't the teacher's fault, I don't expect her to go out and personally collect data, but it's sad to me. We never talk about trans men or transmascs when talking about trans issues. The one time trans men were mentioned was the briefly say that they got periods, and that was just a sidenote.

This is not to say that trans women aren't important, it's important to hear about these issues, it's just something I noticed. idk

I don't know of any studies on immigrant transmascs (or abinary people for that matter), but I do know of some specific situations that may be relevant:

Yuen "Chin" Tzu is a diabetic Chinese trans man who was held in solitary confinement by ICE for 19 months and denied medical care; the article talks about imprisoned trans people are specifically targeted by solitary confinement.

A Ukrainian trans man talked about how he had to detransition while fleeing the country with his mother

Possibly less relevant but there is also Chriton Atuhwera, a trans man and Ugandan refugee who was killed in a refugee camp in a suspected hate crime and a Tunisian refugee who was stabbed to "make an example out of him"

I would send these to your teacher as things she can talk about alongside the information on trans women.

[svejarph]

jaina lee ortiz - s19 s6 gif pack

CLICK THE SOURCE LINK BELOW and you will find a $0 ko-fi shop link (or join my discord server to gain access to a payhip link) #421 245x150px gifs of Jaina Lee Ortiz as Andrea “Andy” Herrera in Station 19 Season 6 (2022-2023). Do what you want with these, just don’t repost/claim as your own, don’t use them to play Jaina or in any smut/smut-based blogs, and like/reblog if using. This is a commission that was made public by the commissioner. If you like what I’m doing, feel free to commission me (/commissionsinfo) or send me a kofi (/svejarph). Jaina was 36-37 during filming and is Puerto Rican.

tw: implied racism ; blood, car accident, cops, death, drinking, eating, flashing lights, flickering lights, fire, food, guns, injury, kissing, medical, natural disasters, police, shaky camera, shirtlessness, spiders, violence

[catboytenya]

i swear to fucking god black girls and women are some of the strongest fucking people in the world for dealing with the shit they deal with without cold clocking a bitch. let it be known that if a black girl or woman punched a doctor so hard she knocked him out i'd cheer her on.

[cervinae-canine]

im just gonna add my own two cents here, in the case of medic and demoman, the idea that either of them would be abusive, is an ableist rhetoric. for demoman, it's because there is already a heavily perpetuated stigma that alcoholics and people with addictions are inherently abusive or violent (it's also racism! you are literally putting the "violent black man" stereotype on him!)

as for medic, while he is definetly not canonically autistic or anything like that, he is definetly coded as neurodivergent or mentally ill so pushing the idea that he's a narcissistic abuser cleverly tricking everyone with his facade is um. bad!

I once wrote something about addicts and how them being stigmatized irl is so normal for many people, that even thinking about a fictional addict makes them hesitant.

(I think about the tags I wrote for him often. i was fucking cooking with this here)

Also absolutely, "the violent black man" stereotype is one of the probable reasons for him being depicted so terribly. Not the only reason I bet, there could be a shit-ton of factors including racism that mix together (ableism over addictions for example). But it doesn't help with how underutilized, oversexualized, domineering, aggressive and abusive he's been written as in some cases; and it fits with instances of how other black characters and POC in general are written in fandom spaces.

I recalled a mutual with antisocial personality disorder suggests that medic resemble some of the symptoms. And it honestly doesn't surprise me for medic to be written as an abuser, since that's the common consensus for how people view others with ASPD in real life. I'm diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, so I don't personally feel comfortable explaining ASPD since I'm not diagnosed with it. However I agree that he may not have been written with the word "neurotypical" in mind, so he resembles many types of nuerodivergency. And seeing him in particular get hcs of being abusive and manipulative to his partners...is a choice.

[zilodak]

Hey I was wondering if Maggie's injury/eyepatch was inspired by Anatoli Bugorski, the Soviet scientist who had a particle accelerator beam accidentally go through his head but survived? Their injuries are on the same side of the face, but Bugorski lost his hearing, not vision (tbh tho I'm kinda hoping...Maggie does in fact have some cool trick under there like, a fake eye made out of Uranium glass or smth). Anyway, I get hyped any time you post abt Sim Spring I can't wait for the comic!

She was inspired by him, yes! There will be instances in Sim Spring where I use real life incidents such as Bugorski's to explore how states and healthcare systems fail on people disabled or affected by nuclear incidents or inproper disposal of nuclear waste, and how often history forgets about them in a way (i hope) that respects victims in real life.

Bugorski is a better known case of a state completely failing to compensate and recognize victims of nuclear accidents. But there are many others such as him who don't get the publicity that he got because they are not considered "fascinating" enough, so many people lost to history, which i can only hope to shed some light upon. Downwinder towns, Indigenous people who were and are still being displaced, their rivers poisoned, their land irradiated, women (most notably WoC) working in plutonium production lines without any protective gear.

The very core of nuclear history centers around how states, governments and people in charge view human life as expendable for a greater imperial goal. And unfortunately, you cannot separate nuclear energy from its colonial and imperial roots.

If you read me rambling about this topic and want to know more about Anatoli Bugorski's incidents here are some links to get you started:

Kyle Hill

Wired Article

The article I quoted:

Toxic Workplaces, Nuclear Homes, and Irradiated Landscapes

[fatliberation]

would you be willing to share some of the survey results on this blog? not necessarily people's personal experiences, but just overall findings/conclusions/trends?

Yes - I received over 200 responses, so here are some of the (unfortunately) common experiences I found:

(Big TW for medical abuse here.)

Of course "LOSE WEIGHT!" was by far the most common one, in other countries too - even for things like sinus issues and migraines. in one instance a doctor even suggested weight loss to cure anxiety and depression... without any prescribing medication.

There were multiple reports of outright verbal abuse and public humiliation towards fat patients, including refusal to help a patient get up from falling

Misogyny, misogyny, misogyny. Women and AFAB individuals reported their symptoms being downplayed and receiving incredibly sexist and false information from male doctors

An AFAB person's fertility is valued more than their quality of life

There was a trend of doctors/psychiatrists claiming they can “cure” autism by selling vitamins

"You're too young to have pain / X problem" was VERY common

A lot of pain / breathing problems were blamed on anxiety, even when patients did not have an anxiety diagnosis

Doctors dismissing symptoms as the patient being drug seeking because of assumptions based on race

Quite a few participants shared with me that they were taken seriously ONLY after posing a threat to themselves

Gaslighting, saying that someone's past trauma never actually happened to them

And the number one thing I saw the most of - participants expressed that they no longer wish to seek medical care (to the point where their symptoms progress) because they are afraid of experiencing more trauma.

To the 200+ people who filled out the survey and shared their experiences with me: THANK YOU. I read every single entry. Some of them kept me up at night. You all deserve justice. I believe you. Keep fighting.

[thewomanwholaughed]

Songs I associate with Joker

Please see tags before clicking any links, those with a * mean triggers are involved in the video clips!

This is America - Childish Gambino *

Serotonin Killer - TIMMS *

Que Sera, Sera - Doris Day

No one knows my name - Nate Leath & Sarah Jarosz

Only you - The Platters

Coconut - Harry Nilsson

Applause - Lady Gaga *

Mercy - Jacob Banks

That's entertainment - Judy Garland

Carmen, ACT II: Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre - Bizet

The Finger Of Suspicion - Dickie Valentine & The Stargazers

Razzle Dazzle - Chicago (Musical version)

I can't Decide - Scissor Sisters

Joke's on you - Charlotte Lawrence *

Mein Herr - Cabaret (Musical version)

Circus - Britney Spears *

Tagged by || @sanguine-salvation & @ratwhsprs tyyy~ Tagging || @the-cobblepot-colony @clawsextended @frostise @cinnamunspice (For the Al'Ghul!), @peranarkia, @masquenoire and anyone else who wants to steal this please do!!!

[llycaons]

god mrs. breedlove's section...the medical racism/misogynoir of being treated like a literal animal when going to the hospital to give birth....and then since she grew up around animals, she knew that the doctor didn't know what he was talking about because of course even horses have pain too!

but then what interested me too was this bit about how much she loves putting the fisher's house in order to the neglect of her own family? I was going to say 'well I guess not all parts of the story always have to pertain to the protag' but actually mrs. breedlove's preference for her wealthy white employers' house and child really do tie into pecola's abuse and self-hatred, don't they?

[januscorner]

I know I said that I didn’t want to talk about my stay in the hospital but I have to mention how funny it was trying to explain BRCU to my friends. Like “she’s a queerphobic racist murderer who kidnapped a baby and married a terrorist, she’s also my amazing wife and I love her so much” and then the kid who tried to kill three people looks at you like you’re insane.

[ilhoonftw]

at least 105 kids died because of her and now she's given a platform??? what about the unaccounted deaths

i bet the hbo documentary will be just another propaganda piece for evangelicals

[sigynpenniman]

well this is gonna be a semi disturbing post but it’s in my head so. woe horrible medical knowledge be upon yee all I guess

[nephilimworld03]

There is this moment on "House Of The Dragon" on the first episode, where Queen Aemma, the mother of Rhaenyra and first wife of King Viserys, gives birth to the first son of Viserys, which is something they had tried many times for and all of the times after the birth of Rhaenyra had ended in miscarriages.

During the celebration for the birth of Viserys "first son and heir to the iron throne" Queen Aemma goes into labour.

Things don't go as planned.

Queen Aemma has some complications during the birth, the child might die if a choice isn't made.

A choice made by Viserys.

Aemma or Baelon?

Mother or son?

The woman or the child yet to be born?

And the choice of Viserys was the heir.

So they performed a terrible, very very gorey and very disturbing to watch procedure, closest thing the medieval times had to a C-section I guess.

Queen Aemma died.

And so did Baelon. Hours later.

The entire sequence was heartbreaking to watch, on all levels. You mourned alongside Princess Rhaenyra for losing her beloved mother. You felt mad at Daemon for the horrible celebration of Baelon's death and the vile things he said.

And then there's Viserys.

He lost his wife, he made a difficult choice for his reign, he sacrificed the woman he was married to to have a possibility of having a male heir. You could tell he mourned, you could tell he was devastated, but he, at the end of the day, made the decision.

Now, why am I saying all this?

The summary of all of the above is this:

House of The Dragon EP1 has a whole segment about how during the medieval setting that the story is set in, people were so opposed to the idea of a female heir to the throne that the King decided that the life of his own wife didn't matter as long as the male heir was born. In that process, when the pregnancy ended up being non-viable, the Queen was killed. To save a lost pregnancy. And she never has any say in it. Not even when she begged for the opposite of what was going on.

But at least that was in the medieval times.

Right?