Dr. J. Marion Sims is hailed as the Father of Modern Gynecology. But his reputation was built through inhumane experiments on enslaved young women. We talk with “creative extremist” Michelle Browder, who exposes the truth about Sims, the racism of the medical profession, and using art as a form of reparations.

SHOW NOTES

Guest: Michelle Browder

Michelle is a dynamic artist and activist based in Montgomery, Alabama. Her work exposes our true history, empowers youth, and honors those who have been ignored. For her groundbreaking “Mothers of Gynecology” sculptures, Michelle was a USA Today 2022 Women of the Year selection.

Highlights of episode:

[0:37] Adam & Tony on anti-Black racism in the U.S. medical profession

[6:47] Michelle on Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey

[11:01] Michelle on Sims’s experiments 

[14:30] Michelle on her creative process for the “Mothers of Gynecology”

[25:46] Michelle on exposing Alabama’s injustices against Native Americans

[29:53] Michelle on racism in the medical profession and need for a reckoning

[42:46] Tony & Adam on Michelle’s upcoming Mothers of Gynecology Health & Wellness Center


Michelle’s Homepage

Donate to Michelle’s work

"Mothers of Gynecology” 

• Photos and story from NPR
• Short Video with Michelle
• Here’s the old painting of Sims that triggered Michelle’s artistic journey.
• Here’s Michelle’s new mural of Sims with Anarcha, Lucy and Betsey!

Michelle’s recommended reading on racism and Black people’s health:

• Post Tramatic Slave Syndrome (Joy DeGruy)
• Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans From Colonial Times to the Present (Harriett Washington)
• Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology (Deidre Cooper Owens)
• Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of the Nation (Linda Villarosa)

Contact Tony & Adam

Transcript of this episode

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