Racism K*lls: Dr. Chris Pernell on Health, Vaccines, and Guarding Joy

Dr. Chris Pernell joins the class for a conversation that is equal parts urgent and tender. As a public health physician, strategist, and NAACP Fellow, Dr. Pernell breaks down the Black maternal health crisis with unflinching clarity: racism kills. She unpacks how the medical industrial complex fails Black mothers, offers practical advocacy tools for birthing people and their loved ones, and navigates the dangerous terrain of vaccine misinformation in the current political climate.

But this conversation doesn't stop at systems—it goes to the soul. Dr. Pernell shares the lessons her parents taught her: a mother with "a PhD in love" who taught her how to protect her core, and a father who was "a fighter's fighter" who cultivated in her "a sense of self that racism can't touch." This is about survival, yes—but it's also about joy, freedom, and the ancestral wisdom that keeps us fighting.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why Black women are 3-4 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications—and what we can do about it
• The difference between misinformation and disinformation (and why it matters)
• Practical advocacy advice: "What else might this be?"
• How the current administration's attack on vaccines threatens public health for generations
• Guarding joy in the midst of systemic battles
• The legacy of love and resistance that fuels the fight for health equity

RESOURCES SHARED:

• American Academy of Pediatrics: https://www.aap.org
• Yale School of Public Health
• Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
• Commonwealth Fund
• The Political Determinants of Health by Daniel Dawes
• NAACP Center for Health Equity: https://naacp.org

FOLLOW DR. CHRIS PERNELL:

• Instagram: @thegooddoctormd
• LinkedIn: Dr. Chris T. Pernell
• NAACP.org

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