Are You REALLY Safe at the Doctor? Dr. Uché Blackstock Explains The Real Reason We Mistrust Hospitals

Dr. Uché Blackstock is a renowned emergency medicine physician and the founder of Advancing Health Equity, whose memoir Legacy tackles the deep-seated racial disparities within the U.S. healthcare system.

Jarvis DeBerry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and celebrated columnist known for his sharp, soulful insights into social justice and the Black experience in America.

In a powerful and deeply personal conversation at Baldwin & Co., Dr. Uché Blackstock and journalist Jarvis DeBerry tear the veil off America’s broken healthcare system—exposing not just systemic racism, but the emotional and physical toll it exacts on Black patients and Black health professionals alike. From being misdiagnosed with appendicitis as a Harvard med student, to watching her mother practice medicine with soul and cultural accountability, Dr. Blackstock shares how her journey to healing became an act of resistance. Together, they challenge the myth of “trust in the system,” flipping the script to ask: can a system built on exploitation ever be trusted at all? This isn’t just a talk—it’s a reckoning. And it’s a call for Black professionals to choose joy, rest, and self-preservation over martyrdom.

This episode is part of the ongoing conversations hosted by Baldwin & Co., a Black-owned bookstore, café, and cultural institution based in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co. exists at the intersection of literature, ideas, and community—creating space for rigorous dialogue, storytelling, and intellectual exchange.

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