< 5 minute walk & talk: Uché Blackstock on how your neighborhood impacts your health

MANOUSH ZOMORODI, HOST:

Hey. It's Manoush. This is BODY ELECTRIC. Today I am walking and talking with Dr. Uche Blackstock.

And you have your sneakers on.

UCHE BLACKSTOCK: Yes (laughter).

ZOMORODI: I have my sneakers on.

So Uche is a mom and a doctor who lives in Brooklyn.

BLACKSTOCK: So we're here in Brooklyn. It's where I was born and raised.

ZOMORODI: She and her mom were the first Black mother-daughter ever to both graduate from Harvard Medical School.

BLACKSTOCK: ...I've practiced for many, many years. And so that was...

ZOMORODI: So decades ago, her mom moved back to this neighborhood to practice medicine. It's where she grew up. Uche grew up here, too, and she still lives here as well. The neighborhood has changed a lot, but so has our understanding of how our environment, our neighborhood, impacts our health. Uche says we know now it's not just about taking care of yourself, but also understanding how circumstances beyond your control may be hurting your health.

BLACKSTOCK: It's related to systemic factors. So...

ZOMORODI: That is what I wanted to talk about. This is the idea at the heart of her book "Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons With Racism In Medicine." And all of this - it all goes back to her own story. When Uche was 19 years old and in medical school, her mom got a terrible diagnosis and died at the age of 47.

BLACKSTOCK: I'm 46 now. I will be 47 in a few months. And she was so young. She was the last person I thought would get sick.

ZOMORODI: But it wasn't because she didn't take care of herself.

BLACKSTOCK: No, she took care of herself so well. She started running to de-stress in medical school. It was actually during a race in Central Park, a New York Roadrunners race, that we realized something was off with her. We were 18, you know, she was 46 at the time. And she said, I just feel so tired. And so a few months later, she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia. And one of the oncologists said, you know, it looks like you, when we look at your chromosomes, you were exposed to radiation. And I came to find out that many of the places where my mother lived growing up were Superfund sites where there was toxic dumping, and perhaps she could have been exposed to radiation at some point in her childhood.

ZOMORODI: So how do you - you know, obviously you work really hard. You have two little kids. But then how do you keep that in mind - your mother's medical history in mind - as you take care of yourself?

BLACKSTOCK: I know. It's so interesting because after my mother's diagnosis one night at college, I was on the phone with her, and I asked her, like, what are things I should know when I get older that you won't be able to tell me. And one of the things was, make sure to take care of yourself. And at the time, I didn't really grasp it. You know, I was 19. I'm like...

ZOMORODI: You were like, OK, yeah.

BLACKSTOCK: ...What is she talking about? OK, sure. But now at 46, as you know, with - holding all the roles that I hold, I think what my mom was saying was that you have to really put yourself first. And I think especially as a mother, as a woman, as a Black woman, that's something that we don't do enough. And so, yes, I try to work out. I try to do all the things that my mother told me to do. But I also recognize how systems work, how health care systems work, the criminal-legal system, educational system - all of that impacts our health.

ZOMORODI: A lot of what we're doing on this program is telling people to feel empowered themselves, to make change themselves. And a lot of what you're talking about are things that, you know, if you are stuck on a screen and your boss is measuring how much attention you're, you know, paying on...

BLACKSTOCK: Right.

ZOMORODI: ...That screen all day long, or you live somewhere where you can't just pop outside and go for a quick walk - there's so many other factors.

BLACKSTOCK: Indeed, like you said, you know, can someone go out for a walk? Can they run safely in their neighborhood? Is there a green space?

ZOMORODI: All right, well, it's enough to make you want to go lie down on the couch and not get up.

BLACKSTOCK: No (laughter).

ZOMORODI: So you tell me how - what do you try to do? You said you work out, but I read somewhere that you also take breaks in the middle of the day.

BLACKSTOCK: Oh, yeah. I go on so many walks.

ZOMORODI: You do?

BLACKSTOCK: Yeah. Yes. And so I love my neighborhood. I try to get in 10,000 steps a day.

ZOMORODI: That's - I mean, they say that that's an arbitrary number, but...

BLACKSTOCK: Right.

ZOMORODI: I don't know. I don't feel great if I don't hit it.

BLACKSTOCK: Same, same. I like to have - and how I am, I'm, like, kind of very goal-oriented. I love to check the box.

ZOMORODI: You're so Type A, yeah (laughter).

BLACKSTOCK: Yeah, I'm so Type A. So I'm like, yes, 10,000 steps.

ZOMORODI: I mean, what I see in you is there's like a - you have a radiance about you. Clearly you are someone who feels like delighted by life. And you're just making the most of it.

BLACKSTOCK: Yes. And I mean, even although my kids say, they say, Mama, we wish you weren't so busy. I hope you don't write another book (laughter).

ZOMORODI: Oh, we don't write another...

BLACKSTOCK: No, but you know what I say? I just tell them, look, I want to make a difference. I want to make the world better for them. And everything that I do is for us, for our community. And that when they get older, they'll understand. I don't feel guilty (laughter). I don't feel guilty.

ZOMORODI: Amen to that. All right. I think it's been five minutes. This was so fun. Thanks for the walk.

BLACKSTOCK: Agreed. Thank you, Manoush.

ZOMORODI: If you'd like to get more movement breaks into your life, please make sure you've got our quick start guide. You can go to npr.org/bodyelectric to sign up and get our newsletter to keep you motivated. You can find me on Instagram at @manoushz and tell me how it's going. I want to know. All right. See you next week.

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