The Black Women Mobilizers campaign is run by students who are psychology majors enrolled at Clark Atlanta University and student affiliates of the Clark Atlanta University Psychology Department. The campaign was launched in Spring 2021 and is continuously developed by individuals enrolled in the department’s Special Topics in Social Justice course.

Our collective considers health a human right and we believe that healthcare should be affordable, accessible, and individualized. For the sake of Black women’s health, health policy must be expanded to incorporate cultural competence and eliminate cultural and racial biases. We seek to mobilize the public to demand equitable healthcare for Black women.

In the United States, Black women do not receive equitable care within either medical or mental health systems. Due to social disparities, Black women seeking mental health treatment are less likely to be offered evidence-based medication, therapy, or psychotherapy. Black women are also at heightened risk of illness but are less likely to receive adequate or appropriate care.  Black women experience a maternal mortality rate 2 to 3 times higher than white women. Black women also experience 31% of breast cancer mortality rates, it is even statistically proven that doctors believe that Black women have a higher pain tolerance which results in them not given enough medication. Further disparities include lack of access to helpful mental health and medical resources and effective treatment. These are the issues we want to tackle and improve for Black women's mental and medical health in America. No one should be excluded from access to effective mental health and medical treatment from competent providers regardless of income.  The biases that are created due to systemic oppression that lead to ineffective assessment, treatment, and misdiagnosis must be addressed in the area of psychology and medicine.  Everyone deserves to be healthy, mentally and medically, and Black women need our attention.

Our demands are to: (1) Ensure that Black women have access to physicians and medical facilities that prioritize their specific needs and wellbeing by providing assessment, diagnosis, and treatment that is free from biases.  (2) Ensure that Black women have access to physicians and medical facilities that prioritize their specific needs and wellbeing by providing assessment, diagnosis, and treatment that is free from bias and reflects cultural sensitivity and awareness of environmental issues that lead to distress. (3) We are asking that APA accredited doctoral and master’s degree programs in psychology infuse multiculturalism throughout the curriculum and require separate multicultural courses with emphasis on Black women prior to the APA accredited internship or post-doctoral fellowship. (4) We are asking that the Council for Graduate Medical Education and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education recognize that race is a social construct and that relying too heavily on this construct can inhibit physicians from providing high quality medical treatment and to understand how to recognize and eliminate personal and historical biases that prevent Black women from receiving effective treatment prior to residency and during residency programs.

We’re addressing our demands to the American Psychology Association, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. These are large national organizations that have the power to make necessary changes at academic institutions and within training programs.  We believe it is necessary to address these issues before practitioners become licensed professionals.

If you are truly interested in supporting our movement and becoming a MOBILIZER, get active and make a difference by signing our petition below!