Why Black Mamas Matter: A meta-analysis on the impacts of racism on health

Abstract

This research analyzes the multi-faceted dimensions of structural violence against black women within the maternal health care system and within a wider socio-cultural lens. Acknowledging that racism and anti-blackness remains embedded within Western culture, society and institutions. The research aims to analyze associations between institutional racism and outcomes of health for Black individuals living in the Western world, with a specific focus on North America. By examining the impacts that racial discrimination, environmental racism, health disparities and multigenerational trauma have on specifically Black communities. I aim to study the mechanisms through which the stress of racial trauma can manifest itself physically, as well as the epigenetic and intergenerational impacts that anti-blackness has on the body.