Sublime

I learned the hallmarks of abusers when I was nine. Because of severe asthma and allergies, I also learned early on that even the best-intentioned doctors embark on treatment plans that can be uncomfortable. But it would be years before I realized how cleverly patterns of abuse could masquerade as sincerity, or how kindly they might be packaged.

limited—and presented risk to my mental health and self-esteem.

she had noticed that the kids there were being diagnosed as having attention problems at a staggering rate—dramatically higher than in wealthier neighborhoods—and

indignities

Too often this story of inequity and disadvantage in health gets dismissed as “only” affecting the poor, or being one of class, not race. It is indisputable that poverty creates emotional disruption, inequality, and fear. Health-care facilities in lower-income communities are often underfunded and left to waste away. The poorest communities lack ac

Sonya envisions radical healing divorced from the ableist, capitalist White supremacy of traditional “self-help.

Disempowerment,” Michael told me, “is at the heart12 of poor health”—physical, mental, and emotional.