The Bodies Keep Coming

Dispatches from a Black Trauma Surgeon on Racism, Violence, and How We Heal

By: Brian H. Williams

Narrated by: Brian H. Williams

Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Trauma surgeon Dr. Brian H. Williams has seen it all—gunshot wounds, stabbings, traumatic brain injuries—and ushers us into the trauma bay, where the wounds of a national emergency amass. As a Harvard-trained physician, he learned to keep his head down and his scalpel ready. As a Black man, he learned to swallow rage when patients told him to take out the trash.

Just days after the tragic police shootings of two Black men, he tried to save the lives of officers shot in the deadliest incident for US law enforcement since 9/11. Thrust into the spotlight in a nation that loves feel-good stories more than hard truths, he came to rethink everything he thought he knew about medicine, injustice, and what true healing looks like.

Now, in raw, intimate detail, he narrates not only the events of that night, but the grief and anger of a Black doctor on the front lines of trauma care. Working in the physician-writer tradition of Gawande and Tweedy, he diagnoses the roots of the violence that plagues us. He draws a through line between white supremacy, gun violence, and the bodies he tries to revive, training his surgeon's gaze on the structural ills manifesting themselves in his patients' bodies. What if racism is a feature of our healthcare system, not a bug? What if profiting from racial inequality is exactly what it's designed to do? Black and brown bodies will continue to be wracked by all types of violence, Williams argues, until we transform policy and law with compassion and care.

©2023 Brian H. Williams (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

Excellent story!

As a black physician, there are so many parallels in our stories. Even as a “member of the club,” I found his insight to be thought-provoking and spot on. I imagine it would be even more fascinating to those who may be eager to read/listen to an accurate portrayal of trauma care and how gun violence intersects with structural racism. I learned quite a bit myself with all of the historical references and policy foundational information. Highly recommend!

From the heart of a surgeon

This book helps the reader to gain a perspective of a professional black man and how racism effects us all. It’s an eye opener.

Important insights informed by personal experience

The Bodies Keep Coming by Dr. Brian Williams blends memoir and expert analysis as it explores issues of racism, gun violence, and healthcare inequity. By sharing his personal story as a trauma surgeon, Dr. Williams adds a lot of emotional weight to his indictment of the systems that perpetuate racial inequities.

Healing of a fellow physician

As an anesthesiologist of the same age as the author, I found so much healing in the author's courage, honesty, vulnerability, and empathy. The trauma bay and the OR can be both soul sucking and purposeful. Only those serving in the trenches with you, truly understand this experience. This book allowed me to heal in ways I could not have imagined but desperately needed. I feel less alone and more inspired to continue trying to figure out what I need to be doing to help patients. My next step is to figure out how the things that have happened "for me" prepared me for what I need to do next. Thank you Gayle King for interviewing the author. I otherwise would not have know about this life changing book.

Pain and Hope

I have a clear memory of "the press conference" because of the raw emotions Dr. Williams showed. That is evident again in this book. But the most striking part is the amount of study he's put into the nature, reasons, and solutions for the issues underlying race and gun violence. Just when I felt there was almost no hope for a better world, Dr. Williams showed that there is hope.

America we still have a problem!

What an amazing approach to what a trauma doctor/surgeon goes through as he treats gunshot victims in America. The statistics are well documented and overwhelmingly display the issues of racism, the problem the US has with guns and his issues with being a black surgeon in the middle of saving lives and the patients/victims of gun violence

Excellent

Excellently narrated and compelling book on the intersection of race and healthcare in America. He is honest in his reflections on being a black man and a trauma surgeon in a country where black men so heavily suffer from violence.

Environment really matters li

hearing what is really happening out there away from my neighborhood really is a Crisis. We must speak out against Gun Violence!

Life of a trauma surgeon

Well written book. The life and stress of a trauma surgeon are described. As years progress he starts to see the health care system as rigged to fail the indigent. He describes poor areas as being hospital deserts. The same areas were also known as food deserts. These 2 conditions cause the life expectancy of those living in these areas to be decades shorter than people living just a few miles away in more affluent areas. I found this book enlightening and sad that the lives of many people are affected by conditions outside of their control, while there are ultra rich people have more than they will ever need.

Honest and raw

This is something every person in healthcare should read! It’s honest and harsh, but also true and insightful.