This month’s Equity Resource is a book recommendation from Nicole Blackwood, wife of Tangletown Neighborhood Association board member and Equity Committee member, Jim Blackwood:
“I worked for 12 years at a Senior Center and clinic in West Philadelphia, serving as a nurse practitioner providing primary care to frail, low-income elderly individuals. The population of the clinic was greater than 90% African American. While working there, I joined a book club that focused primarily on African American literature. I believed that immersing myself in this literature would help me better understand the patients I was caring for. Among all the books I read during this time, the one that stood out the most and was the most helpful both personally and professionally was Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns. This detailed book focuses on the Great Migration of African Americans from the Deep South to northern cities.
Reading The Warmth of Other Suns opened a whole new line of questions that I would ask all of my patients, starting with, ‘Where were you born?’ and ‘When did you make the decision to move up to Philadelphia?’ These inquiries allowed me to connect with my patients on a deeper, more personal level and understand the historical context of their lives. The stories of bravery, resilience, and hope that Wilkerson so vividly describes have stayed with me to this day, profoundly influencing how I approach patient care.”
