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Race and Health Outcomes, Grievers is a dystopian novel by adrienne maree…
Race and Health Outcomes
Future Possibilities
There is a physical and emotional toll that results from living in the face of racism, hate, oppression, and capitalism.
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The Past that Defines Us
The Auto industry in Detroit exploited the labor of Black residents with low pay and unsafe working conditions.
Henry Ford's racism and antisemitism encouraged the use and abuse of minorities throughout the auto industry.
The expansion of car manufacturing and highways led to a constriction in interest and funding for public transportation, leaving the working class without transportation options for accessing employment, healthcare, and healthy food.
As a result of the national recession and the collapse of the auto industry, the population of Detroit shrank and all major grocery store chains left the city.
The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network was founded to combat the racism and capitalism that control Detroit's food supply.
The goals of the DBCFSN are: Education, Food Access, and Collective Buying. They sought to develop a city wide food policy. DBCFN seeks to build community through agriculture to increase the health and well being of the residents.
Empty lots as a result of demolished homes and buildings have opened the opportunity for urban agriculture in Detroit.
The DBCFN seeks to create urban farms that are run by and benefit the local residents who are most in need of healthy food and nutritional education., commonly known as D-Town farms.
D=Town farms utilized culturally significant ingredients, such as collard greens, okra, black eyed peas, and other plants that African ancestors carried through the Middle Passage.
In a capitalist land grab, investor John Hantz was able to purchase large amounts of urban lots for a large scale, for-profit urban farm company.
Redlining restricted the areas in which Black people could live and own homes. Racism and capitalism have caused generational entrapment within the restricted areas.
In an effort to improve the health of the Black community, the Black Panther Party provided free breakfasts to children suffering from poverty and hunger.
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Current Statistics, problems, and programs
The novel August Snow, by Stephen Mack Jones, is set in a racially and economically divided Detroit. Lack of resources and transportation options control access to food and healthcare. Gentrification threatens the local food availability. Young people who feel they have no options are especially at risk.
August Snow demonstrates effective ways that money can be spent to improve the living conditions, mental health, and long term prognosis of those that society has left behind.
Drawing on the Past Toward a Food Sovereign Future 
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"Racism is part of every aspect of American society; it affects who is favored, and the distribution of funding often perpetuates inequities." -Malik Yakini, co-founder and executive director of The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network
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Black Americans are suffering and dying of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer at much higher rates than white Americans.
The topics of roadblocks to healthcare access and lack of scientific research to benefit Black Americans are discussed in Grievers.
Ten Percent of Black Americans carry the gene for sickle cell anemia. Yet research is severely underfunded for this deadly condition compared to most other illnesses.
The life expectancy of Black Americans is lower than all other Americans. The Covid-19 pandemic has increased this crisis.
An increase in African American Doctors would greatly improve the health outcomes of Black Americans.
Beautiful Wasteland, by Rebecca J Kinney, explores the stories and myths about Detroit and its residents. She seeks to clarify the true obstacles that the forgotten residents face, and the ways that they are excluded from the economic comeback of Detroit.
After all other major chains had left the city, Whole Foods opened a store in Downtown Detroit. While the company and city claimed to be conquering racism and elitism with the store opening, the location and prices ensured the store's customers would be primarily white and wealthy.
Shapeshifters explores the current struggle of Black girls and young women who are facing the intersectional oppression of racism, sexism, ageism, and poverty.
Within the setting of a homeless shelter in Detroit, the experiences and needs of Black girls is explored and explained.
The girls are not the problem, the way they are treated and oppressed is the crisis. Shapeshifting refers to the way that terms are shifted when addressing education, training and social services for young Black women. The system often attempts to shape Black girls into manageable members of society instead of meeting their unique needs to allow them to thrive.
This leads to mental health issues that are not addressed because of access and stigma. Affordable, appropriate healthcare is also difficult to access, particularly for LGBTQ+ Black Girls.
Grievers is a dystopian novel by adrienne maree brown that is set in Detroit in the near future. It explores the grief experienced by Black people and activists in a world dominated by racism and capitalism.
Grievers discusses the emotional toll of activism, as many victims of a mysterious deadly illness were activists, all of them were Black. "What was this disease that only seemed to detroy the will to live?"
Grievers demonstrates the importance of survival skills- gardening, storing healthy food, etc- as taught by the DBCFSN