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This article explores the consequences of class exploitation, racial discrimination, and gender subordination-as expressed in environmental racism, employment insecurity, and problematic housing conditions-on the health and well-being of working-class and middle-stratum women in Harlem. It argues that an intersectional approach, examining the simultaneous interaction of race, class, and gender, tells us more about racial disparities than do explanatory paradigms of biological race or lifestyle choices. African American women address difficult conditions through the development of women-centered support groups, as well as other forms of resistance. The Sojourner Syndrome, an interpretive framework that speaks to the historical dialectic of oppression, resilience, and resistance, is proposed as an approach to understanding infant mortality and other health issues.
KEYWORDS: African Americans, gender, health disparities, intersectionality, infant mortality
Sejourner Truth was born into slavery in the area of Ulster County, New York, in the late 1790s. Sold away from her parents and her one remaining sibling at the age of nine, she was enslaved for almost thirty years in extremely difficult conditions before being liberated by the New York State Emancipation Act of 1827. During slavery, she was sexually abused and physically assaulted. Some of her children were sold into bondage. In 1843 she assumed the name Sojourner Truth and began to travel across the country as an abolitionist itinerant preacher, promoting the idea of Black freedom to inspire northern Whites to oppose the legality of slavery. She also worked closely with leading abolitionists and became involved in the early women's rights movement. Her personal story of suffering and her courageous determination to overcome adversity awed and inspired thousands of people. Her name became identified with the strength and resilience of African American women who, like her, have faced numerous obstacles to personal and collective advancement.
The story of Sojourner Truth has become an important symbol of both the constraints and activism characterizing the lives of African American women. It conveys a message about the interaction of race, class, and gender, as well as the dialectic of oppression, resilience, and resistance. Named for Sojourner Truth, the Sojourner Syndrome offers an interpretive framework designed to provide a broader understanding of why African American women and men die younger and, as compared to Whites, have higher rates of morbidity and...