A quote card with a light tie dye background. "No disease, especially tubrculosis, should be about capital. - Dr. Edward Robitzek in The Black Angels by Maris Smilios"
Wealth has a large impact on quality of care, or even if one gets care, as individuals like Dr. Robitzek saw in his personal and professional life. How does income impact a person’s experience with TB, both today and in the past? #TBReaders
THE BLACK ANGELS: CHAPTER 6 Discussion Question. What role can empowered nurses play in a patient's care when they are allowed to share their expertise and observations? TBFIGHTERS.ORG/BOOK-CLUB
A recurring theme we see in The Black Angels is nurses, especially black nurses, not being allowed to speak their minds, even when it was in the best interest of their patients. #TBReaders
"Soon she learned which diseases ran rampant...: pneumonia and heart disease, caused by poverty that led to poor nutrition; and venereal disease... which struck Harlemites at twice the rate they struck white people. Tuberculosis was everywhere... killing Black residents at almost triple the rate of whites." -The Black Angels, Maria Smilios
Chapter 4 of The Black Angels accounts how poverty and overcrowding led to higher rates of disease and death in the Black neighborhoods of Harlem. How are these the result of human choices and human-built systems? #TBReaders
Have you missed any of our live streamed discussions with #Tuberculosis doctors, experts, and authors? All past TB Ed Talks and #TBReaders streams are available to watch any time on our Youtube channel!
🎙️TB Ed Talks: youtube.com/playlist?lis...
📚TBReaders: youtube.com/playlist?lis...
THE BLACK ANGELS: INTRO. Discussion Question. How can we ensure heroic deeds accomplished by members of marginalized communities are remembered today? tbfighters.org/book-club/
The beginning of The Black Angels introduces us to the story and accomplishments of the African American nurses at Sea View Hospital on Staten Island. For decades, much of their story was preserved by word of mouth, not archived or written about. #TBReaders
The process of finding a TB treatment regimen that works can be a difficult ordeal. Masla's poem Letter From My Left Arm was a "way of accounting [her] efforts to death." Watch the whole #TBReaders livestream here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xx1...
#Tuberculosis #Poetry
A tiny skeleton with a bloody handkerchief in one hand climbing on top of Everything Is Tuberculosis. Text on the image reads "Everything? Still!?"
#TBReaders Book Club had an amazing time reading The Underdream by Aiyana Masla. Want to be a part of our next read? Join our Book Club discord server here: tbfighter.link/tbrea...
Shoutout to AngienessNotFound for the picture!
THE BLACK ANGELS By Maria Smilios "New York City, 1929. A sanatorium, a deadly disease, and a dire nursing shortage. This remarkable true story follows the Black southern nurses who risked their lives working under appalling conditions, helping find the cure for TB and playing a major role in desegregating the NYC hospital system. Learn the erased history of these extraordinary women and celebrate their legacy." Reading period from Nov 1st - Jan 31st
Our next book club read is the most requested title since we started #TBReaders ! Get hyped for Maria Smilios' The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis. Order it now or request it at your local library: tbfighters.org/book-...
ICYMI: on Tuesday, #TBReaders sat down with author, artist, and #Tuberculosis survivor Aiyana Masla and talked with her about her new poetry collection, The Underdream! Listen to her reflections on the isolation of chronic illness, the beauty of slowing down, and more:
Author Aiyana Masla next to her book of poetry The Underdream. "TBREADERS Q&A WITH AIYANA MASLA OCTOBER 21ST, 4PM ET/1PM PT"
Our live Q&A with Aiyana Masla is almost here! Join us Tuesday at 4 pm ET/1 pm PT to get YOUR questions about The Underdream answered by the poet herself! Don't forget to vote for your favorite questions in the #TBReaders discord!
Learn more here: tbfighters.org/book-...
#TBSky #Poetry
Greywater (excerpt) is it strange to thank this sickness? Repatterned, returned, renewed & therefore, a life. -The Underdream, Aiyana Masla
Poems like “Greywater” describe difficult parts of illness, but end with a sense of gratitude. How do you try to nurture gratitude without denying difficult emotions? #TBReaders
Author Aiyana Masla next to her book of poetry The Underdream. "TBREADERS Q&A WITH AIYANA MASLA OCTOBER 21ST, 4PM ET/1PM PT"
In two weeks, #TBReaders will host a live Q&A with author, artist, and TB survivor Aiyana Masla about The Underdream. Her poetry collection expertly paints the despair of chronic illness with a tiny thread of joy woven through.
Learn more here: tbfighters.org/book-...
#TBSky #Poetry
"Clinic (excerpt) Hushed careful voices, the metal sound of the scale, whisper - mutter (the way people talk when they only half-want you not to hear), voices clip board stiff, & tense, she's still too thin -- while outside, June. Robust, pulsing. -The Underdream, Aiyana Masla"
In poems like "Clinic", Masla gives readers a sensory description of her experience in medical offices. What thoughts or feelings does The Underdream evoke putting the reader in her shoes? #TBReaders
Why are community health workers (CHWs) with experience in the community they're serving so important? @pih.org understands the wisdom that CHWs bring to the table. Watch the whole #TBReaders interview with Dr. Joia Muhkerjee here: www.youtube.com/live/vx7LlCc...
#GlobalHealth #HealthEquity
"Introducing TBReaders Next Book: The Underdream." The cover of The Underdream by Aiyana Masla. "A reckoning with what it means to slow down — these poems inquire into the necessity of doing so; for our bodies and for the earth. Written while healing from active pulmonary Tuberculosis, The Underdream is at once intimate with death, while also raw with desire to keep living in these temporary bodies, alive, alive, alive." TBReaders Book Club logo. tbfighters.org/book-club
Our next #TBReaders reading period has begun! Get ready to dive into The Underdream by Aiyana Masla, a striking collection of poems written while she was recovering from pulmonary #Tuberculosis . Order it now or request it at your local library! tbfighters.org/book-...
"Tuberculosis is such the model disease of poverty." ICYMI: our #TBReaders Q&A with Dr. Joia Muhkerjee was both illuminating and inspiring! Watch the whole thing here: www.youtube.com/live/vx7LlCc...
An image of Dr. Joia Mukherjee. Text reads "LIVE Q&A MON SEPT 15TH AT 1PM WITH DR. JOIA MUKHERJEE" TBReaders logo and the cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Our live Q&A with Dr. Mukherjee is almost here! Join us Monday for a discussion of Mountains Beyond Mountains with one of the people there in the early days of @PIH.org #TBReaders
"Mountains Beyond Mountains Chapter 25 Discussion Question. How does a focus on equity as the only acceptable goal influence Partners In Health and the work they do?" Cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. TBReaders Book Club logo. tbfighters.org/book-club
In Chapter 25 of Mountains Beyond Mountains, we see @PIH.org move mountains to help someone's child. #TBReaders
"Mountains Beyond Mountains Chapter 23 Discussion Question. Farmer’s ultimate approach in Peru was to treat patients without legal permission, and then to gain legal permission later. This strategy has some flaws. Do you think it was the most effective option? What can be done to improve situations like this?" Cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. TBReaders Book Club logo. tbfighters.org/book-club
In Mountains Beyond Mountains Chapter 23, PIH set out to help people with multidrug-resistant #Tuberculosis in Peru, but they did not anticipate the pushback from the government and other major decision makers in global health. #TBReaders
A quote card with dark blue mountains in the background. The TBReaders logo is in the bottom left and cover of the book Mountains Beyond Mountains is in the bottom right corner. Text over top reads "Change the world? Of course they could. He really believed this, and he really believed that 'a small group of committed individuals' could do it. He liked to say of PIH, 'People think we're unrealistic. They don't know we're crazy.'-Mountains Beyond Mountains"
"A small group of committed individuals" really can change the world. Paul Farmer knew it when he was fighting impossible odds in the early days of @PIH.org and we see it now as we fight injustice in its many forms. You just have to be a little crazy. #TBReaders
"Introducing TBReaders Next Book: The Underdream." The cover of The Underdream by Aiyana Masla. "A reckoning with what it means to slow down — these poems inquire into the necessity of doing so; for our bodies and for the earth. Written while healing from active pulmonary Tuberculosis, The Underdream is at once intimate with death, while also raw with desire to keep living in these temporary bodies, alive, alive, alive." TBReaders Book Club logo. tbfighters.org/book-club
On 9/18, #TBReaders is starting The Underdream by Aiyana Masla, a brilliantly poignant collection of poems written while Masla was recovering from #Tuberculosis . Order it at www.aiyanamasla.com/... or request it at your local library! tbfighters.org/book-...
An image of Dr. Joia Mukherjee with the text "Join Us For A Live Q&A With Dr. Joia Mukherjee MONDAY SEPTEMBER 15 1PM ET"
Dr. Mukherjee is @PIH.org's Chief Medical Officer since 2000, a renowned global health professor, and was a close friend and collaborator with Dr. Paul Farmer. You might also recognize her as a regular guest on the Project for Awesome! Submit your questions now on the #TBReaders Discord
"Mountains Beyond Mountains: Chapter 19 Discussion Question. Why is utilitarianism dangerous when it comes to discussions about health care? When can it be helpful?" Cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. TBReaders Book Club logo. tbfighters.org/book-club
While resources are always limited, artificial constraints and refusal to recognize the cause behind those limitations often stand in the way of life-saving care. In Chapters 18 and 19, we witness health-care providers struggle to care for as many people as possible. #TBReaders
"Mountains Beyond Mountains: Chapter 17 Discussion Question. What risks did Farmer take as he tried to establish an MDR treatment program in Peru? Would you have taken the same risks given the same choices?" Cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. TBReaders Book Club logo. tbfighters.org/book-club
In Chapter 17 of Mountains Beyond Mountains, we glimpse the lengths Dr. Farmer would go to for @PIH.org's mission of providing a preferential option for the poor. #TBReaders
"Mountains Beyond Mountains: Chapter 16 Discussion Question. What challenges can advocates, doctors, and patients face while persuading politicians with complex motivations and constraints? How can we be more persuasive or effective?" Cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. TBReaders Book Club logo. tbfighters.org/book-club
Changing the minds of key decision makers is a challenge we often face as #TBFighters and global health advocates. In Chapter 16 of Mountains Beyond Mountains, @PIH.org confronts resistance from health authorities as they start treating people with drug-resistant TB. #TBReaders
"Mountains Beyond Mountains: Chapter 10 Discussion Question. How did the close-knit relationships between the early members of PIH influence their work and impact?" Cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. TBReaders Book Club logo. tbfighters.org/book-club
In chapter 10 of Mountains Beyond Mountains, the circle of collaborators expands and @PIH.org is officially founded as a public charity, along with its sister org Zanmi Lasante. #TBReaders
A light blue background with outlines of mountain ranges. "The fact that any sort of religious faith was so disdained at Harvard and so important to the poor-not just in Haiti but elsewhere, too-made me even more convinced that faith must be something good. " - Paul Farmer
There are many times in Mountains Beyond Mountains that we see well-meaning medical professionals ignore the things that are important to their patients. Why is it important for medical professionals and other “outsiders” to honor the importance people assign to their own lives? #TBReaders
"Mountains Beyond Mountains: Chapter 8 Discussion Question. What responsibility do we have to solve inequality around the world? Without taking guilt for what we cannot control, what can we change that we do control?" Cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. TBReaders Book Club logo. tbfighters.org/book-club
Most of us quietly and unconsciously benefit from inequality. While easy to accept as just how it's always been, it's essential to rebel against a status quo that doesn't recognize every human as equal, which we see Paul Farmer do in CH8 of Mountains Beyond Mountains. #TBReaders
"Mountains Beyond Mountains: Chapter 4 Discussion Question. What does this teach us about the reasons people stop taking their medicine?" Cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. TBReaders Book Club logo. tbfighters.org/book-club
Sometimes, blame for failed TB treatments is placed on patients not taking their meds. Dr. Farmer tried something new; he gave everyone free medicine, but also gave some food, money for childcare and transportation, and home visits from his staff. Everyone in the second group was cured. #TBReaders
"Mountains Beyond Mountains: Chapter 3 Discussion Question. How is suffering explained in your culture, and does that explanation ever contribute to suffering?" Cover of Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. TBReaders Book Club logo. tbfighters.org/book-club"
“Sorcery is, at bottom, the Haitians’ way of explaining suffering, but the allegations themselves can cause suffering.” - MBM
Most cultures have ways of making meaning for things they can't control. In this chapter, we see a mother blame one son for the death of his brother. #TBReaders
