Have you ever heard of weathering?
It’s the term coined by Dr. Arline Geronimus to describe the physical toll that chronic exposure to systemic racism takes on Black women’s health to include accelerating aging, increasing illness, and worsening outcomes like maternal mortality. It’s not just stress; it’s the wear and tear from navigating a world that too often devalues and disregards Black lives. The poem featured in this piece was inspired by this very phenomenon and is a reflection of what it means to carry both strength and survival in a body constantly under pressure.
It’s the term coined by Dr. Arline Geronimus to describe the physical toll that chronic exposure to systemic racism takes on Black women’s health to include accelerating aging, increasing illness, and worsening outcomes like maternal mortality. It’s not just stress; it’s the wear and tear from navigating a world that too often devalues and disregards Black lives. The poem featured in this piece was inspired by this very phenomenon and is a reflection of what it means to carry both strength and survival in a body constantly under pressure.