Does being a ‘superwoman’ protect African American women’s health?

Amani M. Allen, a BCSM affiliate and Associate Professor of Epidemiology, recently led a team to explore whether different facets of the “strong black woman” trope ultimately protect women from the negative health impacts of racial discrimination — or create further harm. The study, published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, found some protective and some detrimental aspects of the “superwoman schema,” where black women often suppress their emotions and present themselves as strong to prepare for the racial discrimination they face on a daily basis. The study is featured in this Berkeley News article.

The Border Hacker: How a Migrant Hacker Utilized His Computer Skills to Come Back Home

This episode of the podcast Snap Judgment, produced by BCSM-affiliated graduate student Levi Vonk, features an interview with an undocumented Afro-Latino computer hacker named Axel, who details his experiences trying to make his way back to the U.S from Guatemala through Mexico after being deported and separated from his family. Using only an old computer, Axel maps out a trail through treacherous, unfamiliar terrains that would lead him to catch up to a Central American migrant caravan, meet Levi, and eventually, arrive at the southern Border.