Who is Shalon Irving?
Shalon Irving is what her mother Wanda Irving would describe as a “modern day renaissance woman.” Shalon Irving held many noble titles; she was a lieutenant commander in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps as well as a John Hopkins alumna who earned a dual doctorate in sociology and gerontology. More importantly, she held the title of being a mother to her daughter, Soleil. Ms. Irving passed away in 2017 just three weeks after giving birth to her daughter and after several hospital visits and complications. Her story is important because she is one of many African American women who have passed away due to a lack of care, negligence and/or misdiagnosis amongst other things when concerning pregnancy or childbirth.
Before passing away due to high blood pressure Shalon Irving was sent home multiple times after she voiced concerns about high blood pressure and feeling pain. Her mother has been an advocate and now guardian to her granddaughter that Shalon took her pregnancy very seriously and took every precaution. Her mother also voiced how she wished that race was not a precursor that determines how one is treated and cared for within the healthcare system because her daughters death could have been avoided.
The Larger Issue:
Shalon Irving’s story is situated with a larger issue and that is the healthcare system and how it consistently fails and dismisses women, particularly those who are women of color. Evidence has proven that African American women are three to five more times more likely to pass away due to pregnancy complications or childbirth related causes. Medical discrimination in the United States has been a serious issue for people of color for a long time; it is factually proven that blacks and other marginalized groups in the U.S. experience worse health outcomes and more premature death than non- Hispanic white women. It is was also important to add Shalon Irving’s credentials and education level as well as evidence to show that she voiced her pain and efforts to take her pregnancy serious.
All of these things are important because people will often use socioeconomic status, education and anything else that they can to discredit and dismiss women of color and their experiences. Not to say that a woman’s education level, statues and different titles should equate the level of care that she should receive, but Shalon’s story has proven that none of those things matter. None of those things matter because all women of color no matter who they are have voiced and expressed a lack in care when it comes to pregnancy and childbirth. For example, Serena Williams she is well renowned and she too expressed complications and a lack in proper care and treatment after she gave birth. History has proven that black women are supposed to be stronger and are supposed to be able tolerate more pain and though we are strong we too are people who deserve the same humanity as white women.
Class readings:
Several of our class readings tie into Shalon’s story and many other black women who lost their lives when it comes to childbirth related issues. One important reading that I immediately thought of was Kimberle Crenshaw and her term intersectionality. Black women are situated between many intersections and the world often tries to situate us (them) through their own lens. On one hand we are women who have the ability to form and create life and on another hand we, are black women and this is the part of our identity that people want us to negate or is the part of our identity that people use to silence or oppress us. Just as many women of color Shalon Irving was silenced and sent home even though she she expressed her concerns and needs.
bell hook’s description of the black women and how they are seen by society is also valid to this and similar stories. Ms. Hooks describes black women as “surrogate men.” This dates back to slavery and how black women were valuable because they could perform the same tasks as a man, but could also produce babies thus creating more profit. This is seen today especially through stores such as this black women are not seen as feminine or as vulnerable as their white counterparts. Instead they are perceived as “tolerate,” “angry,” and “dramatic.” Asian- American feminist Maxine Kingston also writes about silencing and how traumatic and harmful it can be to women of color and how it affects their identity and also their families. No one is voiceless and neither was Shalon Irving nor the other black women who have lost their life, everyone has a voice it is dependent upon who cares and takes the time to listen that matters.
What Actions Can We Take?
Elizabeth Warren has just proposed a plan that will reward hospitals and their staff if they are able to reduce the number of black women who pass away due to pregnancy and childbirth related complications. A plan such as this is necessary and needed but I do believe that people and hospitals should not be rewarded for doing their job which is to save and aid lives. Proper care when concerning black bodies should not be surround around an incentive or a bonus, which again is not to negate the necessity of the plan. The plan seems to be positioned to serve and reward the doctors more so than to fix the actual issue which is to save black women who are at greater risk to lose their lives. Another way to fix this issue is to pass more policies that protect black women and that will hold those who silence them accountable for their lives. More black caregivers and physicians could also help to curb this problem and this could definitely happen due to the amount of successful graduates and people of color who constantly work to help their own. Senator Kamala Harris has also voiced a plan to create and fund implicit bias training for health care providers. Addressing the systemic and different forms of structural racism that our society operates within would help to dismantle the oppression's and inequalities that women of color face.
-Flanagan