With the new coronavirus, COVID-19, engulfing the world, Gwyneth Paltrow decided to go to a health expert when she was asked to be on the cover of SHAPE magazine’s July/August cover.
Rather than focusing on her own life, Paltrow interviewed Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, the first surgeon general of California, about the state of health today. Their conversation happened in April — before George Floyd's death in police custody led to mass protests over racial injustice across the country, and before it was fully clear that black Americans were dying at disproportionately higher rates from COVID-19 — but the disparities in health care for black Americans was the first topic of conversation.
Burke Harris started her medical practice in a disenfranchised part of San Francisco.
“You can’t grow up black in America and not feel outraged by the terrible health disparities that are still going on every day,” she told Paltrow. “We’re talking about differences in people living or dying, kids having the opportunity to grow up and be healthy. That was the reason why I wanted to go and work in a really underserved neighborhood.”
To read more of Julie Mazziotta's article, please click here.
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