Tyrese L. Coleman: The Racist History of Gynecology and Navigating Care as a Black Woman

“In my mind, it's just like any other situation where black women are invisible, and yet we are vital to the story and vital to the outcome. We’re the central part of the story, yet we have no voice in the telling of that story.” In this episode of Blackfishing the IUD, we get the pleasure of talking with author, Tyrese L. Coleman, whose 2018 debut collection of stories and essays, How To Sit, was nominated for a 2019 PEN Open Book Award. Amidst childcare, Coleman shares with us the complex and shocking history of Marion Sims, the father of modern gynecology, who developed the foundations of what is now standard practice by operating and experimenting on the bodies of enslaved Black women—the known names of whom are Lucy, Anarcha, and Betsy. Through her critical and profound written work, Coleman confronts the racism, sexism, trauma, and active resilience at the core of this history, while articulating how it still affects Black women, like herself, receiving medical care. She and host, Caren Beilin, discuss the disbelief, ridicule, and even outright contempt with which the medical profession views women’s (and especially Black women’s) health, as well as the power of giving voice to these experiences. “It was important to me to give Lucy a voice, because I have often felt voiceless in situations with medical professionals.”