Crystal

When Pat Baker from the Connecticut Health Foundation asked me to help one of their grantees, Crystal Emery, I approached it as I do every other tough case. Crystal has a very serious chronic illness, but really, that doesn't matter. Crystal is way more than a client. Crystal is a miracle.

Crystal runs a nonprofit called URU The Right to Be. Its mission is to combat racism in many ways, one of the most important being film-making. Their film, the Deadliest Disease in America, is a pointed tale of racism in health care. Watch the trailer here, and don't miss it if it is being shown near you. Here's the current tour. Hopefully it will be extended because this is something everyone needs to see.

Based on my experience, the discrimination in health care delivery is more about class than about race. White Medicaid recipients are treated like dirt, just like their Black counterparts. But Crystal's voice is so powerful. Just listen to it and take it in. Jennifer