Legacy

A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine

By: Uché Blackstock MD

Narrated by: Uché Blackstock MD

Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

ONE OF TIME’S 100 MOST INFLUENTUAL PEOPLE IN GLOBAL HEALTH

“This book is more than a memoir—it also serves as a call to action to create a more equitable healthcare system for patients of color, particularly Black women.”—Essence

One of NPR’s 11 Books to Look Forward to in 2024

One of Good Morning America’s 15 New Books to Read for the New Year

“Legacy is both a compelling memoir and an edifying analysis of the inequities in the way we deliver healthcare in America. Uché Blackstock is a force of nature.”—Abraham Verghese, MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Covenant of Water

“[An] extraordinary family story.”—Dr. Damon Tweedy, The New York Times Book Review

“This book should be required reading for all medical students.”—Gayle King, CBS Mornings

The rousing, captivating story of a Black physician, her career in medicine, and the deep inequities that still exist in the U.S. healthcare system

Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, it never occurred to Uché Blackstock and her twin sister, Oni, that they would be anything but physicians. In the 1980s, their mother headed an organization of Black women physicians, and for years the girls watched these fiercely intelligent women in white coats tend to their patients and neighbors, host community health fairs, cure ills, and save lives.

What Dr. Uché Blackstock did not understand as a child—or learn about at Harvard Medical School, where she and her sister had followed in their mother’s footsteps, making them the first Black mother-daughter legacies from the school—were the profound and long-standing systemic inequities that mean just 2 percent of all U.S. physicians today are Black women; the racist practices and policies that ensure Black Americans have far worse health outcomes than any other group in the country; and the flawed system that endangers the well-being of communities like theirs. As an ER physician, and later as a professor in academic medicine, Dr. Blackstock became profoundly aware of the systemic barriers that Black patients and physicians continue to face.

Legacy is a journey through the critical intersection of racism and healthcare. At once a searing indictment of our healthcare system, a generational family memoir, and a call to action, Legacy is Dr. Blackstock’s odyssey from child to medical student to practicing physician—to finally seizing her own power as a health equity advocate against the backdrop of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.

©2024 Uché Blackstock, MD (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Ultimately, Legacy’s greatest contribution is in bringing this extraordinary family story to light — as much a part of the American fabric as those of our default narratives of success.”—Dr. Damon Tweedy, The New York Times Book Review

“This book should be required reading for all medical students.”—Gayle King, CBS Mornings

“Uché Blackstock has gifted us with a brilliant and timely wake-up call of a memoir. In her capable hands, a light is shone upon the deep inequities of our medical system. But more than a lament, this book is a battle cry. And like Dr. Blackstock, so many of us will find through reading Legacy, that we are ready for the fight.”—Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming and Red at the Bone

Important read!

Dr. Blackstock delivers a moving and powerful memoir. Beautiful tribute to her mother, the original Dr. Blackstock, but also a critical work of research and anecdotes highlighting the glaring racial disparity in the American healthcare system. Should be required reading for all health care workers and medical students!

She is truly an inspiration

As a physician, I find this book very helpful for all doctors and patients who are interested in learning about the health of all patients.

loved the entire thing!

This is such a thoughtful book. From start to finish it is a learning experience and a truth telling exhibition. For many it may be the first time they learn about several public health implications. I'm greatful for Dr. Blackstone's vulnerability and call for accountability on all levels.

What an amazing book!

An eloquently written book. I believe this is a must read, for everyone from high school students to adults. As a Black woman I relate to so much in this book, and appreciate you for writing it. Thank you!

Compelling storytelling.

This book should be read by all pre med students. This author’s experiences are similar to many minorities in medicine, hearing this perspective may help a future doctor (one would hope). Great read.

Captivating and personal...

You know that feeling you get from the overwhelming amount and quality of history, culture and affirmation communicated through what appears as a simple nod to most other folks when you pass another person of color in white spaces. That's what I felt throughout the pages of this book. Thank-you Dr. Blackstock. Your journey is touching many more lives than I believe you realize.

Bravery in a racist health system

I loved the author's clarity and details of her experience in the US Healthcare system. Her journey is troubling and inspiring. I cried, I rejoiced and I pondered. I learned what so many are afraid to tell or admit. Do better America!

Too many tearful moments

Thanks so much for your sharing your story with us. I in my 3rd year of Residency hoping to transition into Nephrology fellowship and one day be in academic medicine. As I black female physician myself , I’m grateful for all you have shared. I’m have taken in so much! Hope to join in the fight for equality in healthcare for all.

A sobering testimony

A thoughtful perspective on the intersection of race, gender, and class. Certainly a must read for medical students. Manifested the importance of having awareness and sensitivity to all cultures and people.

Thank you for sharing

I enjoyed listening to Dr. Blackstock’s Journey and the challenges that she faced. Being a physician is difficult but being a physician of color and putting up with both implicit and explicit racism is a challenge frequently encountered on daily basis by many of my colleagues. Thank you for sharing your stop. I am a white passing Latino family doctor and have encountered this frequently. When referring, I’ve had patients ask me to be referred only to a doctor who is “American“ and have also had patients ask me about the religion of the specialists to whom I was referring them. Being that most of these patients are older, I know the time is coming when this population will cease to exist.