What White Privilege and Black Oppression Looks Like In Medical Healthcare.
I sat across from a white male General Practitioner (GP) and told him I thought I was going through menopause.
My body was changing.
My mind wasn’t right.
I knew something was off.
I told him I was depressed.
I was suicidal.
I was having panic attacks.
I was anxious.
I was forgetting.
He didn’t ask me any questions.
Didn’t investigate.
Didn’t listen.
Didn’t care.
No concern.
Instead, he cut me off mid-sentence and quipped:
“𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞!”
He then handed me a prescription for antidepressants — and sent me on my way.
That’s what white privilege looks like in medical healthcare.
Not having to know the symptoms of perimenopause.
Not having to care how it affects Black women differently.
Not having to consider that maybe the patient in front of you knows her body better than you do.
White privilege shows up as dismissal. Disbelief. Defaulting to “𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦.”
And when it intersects with being a Black woman?
It becomes oppressive. It becomes dangerous.
I walked out of that appointment feeling erased — not just medically, but 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐥𝐲.
I almost ended up sectioned in a psychiatric ward.
BUT GOD.
I used that moment.
Instead of making me bitter, it made me better.
Instead of making me shrink, it made me rise.
Instead of holding onto my pain, I turned it into purpose.
And now I speak, advocate, and teach organisations how to support ALL women — with evidence, empathy, and equity.
Because this story isn’t rare. It’s 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞.
This story isn’t just mine. It’s the story of many Black women.
And in 2025, it’s time to end it.
Black women deserve more.
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