The Office of Public Lectures presents: Unpacking Legacy: From the Personal to the Systemic with Dr. Uch茅 Blackstock

October 9, 2025 6:30 pm

Town Hall Seattle, Livestream (Hybrid)

Headshot of Uch茅 Blackstock Uch茅 Blackstock

In this powerful and deeply personal talk, Dr. Uch茅 Blackstock explores the legacies that have shaped her journey鈥攂oth personal and institutional. She reflects on following in her mother鈥檚 footsteps to medical school, a path that made Dr. Blackstock and her twin sister the first Black mother-daughter legacy at the institution.

She also confronts a broader, systemic legacy鈥攖he entrenched racism woven into every aspect of the medical field. From disparities in medical education to the safety and well-being of BIPOC practitioners, Dr. Blackstock sheds light on the urgent need for change within healthcare institutions.

In person talk is sold out.

About the speaker

Uch茅 Blackstock

Founder and Chief Advisory of Advancing Health Equity; Emergency Physician; Author

Dr. Uch茅 Blackstock is an emergency physician with over 17 years of experience and a second-generation Harvard graduate. She is the founder of Advancing Health Equity, an organization dedicated to dismantling racism in healthcare, and an MSNBC medical contributor. She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine.

A respected thought leader on bias and racism in healthcare, Dr. Blackstock has been described by Forbes as 鈥渁 growing voice鈥 addressing unconscious bias and structural racism in medical institutions. She regularly speaks to organizations across industries about the intersection of medicine, health equity, and systemic racism.

In Legacy, Dr. Blackstock uses her personal journey to highlight broader issues of racial injustice in medicine, offering a powerful call to action for health equity. She traces her path from childhood to medical school, from practicing physician to health equity advocate, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Inspired by her mother, who led an organization of Black women physicians in the 1980s, Dr. Blackstock and her twin sister, Oni, followed in her footsteps, attending Harvard Medical School and becoming the institution鈥檚 first Black mother-daughter legacies. With only 6% of physicians in the U.S. being Black鈥攁nd just 3% being Black women鈥攖he Blackstock sisters made history.

Dr. Blackstock has spoken widely about the direct impact physician diversity has on patient care, particularly in Black communities. As one stark example, The New York Times cited a study showing that 鈥渢he richest Black mothers and their babies are twice as likely to die as the richest white mothers and their babies.鈥

A prolific writer, Dr. Blackstock鈥檚 Op-Eds have been featured in The Chicago Tribune, Scientific American, The Washington Post, and STAT News. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she amplified messages about racial health inequities on CNN, NPR Morning Edition, The Brian Lehrer Show, and The New York Times, while also appearing on PBS NewsHour, Essence, and panels at Afropunk and Essence Fest.

Dr. Blackstock previously served as an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and as faculty director for recruitment, retention, and inclusion in the Office of Diversity Affairs at NYU School of Medicine. She holds both her undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University.

Event Accessibility

The University is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education, and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodations, contact the UW Disability Services Office at least 10 days in advance at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu.