Black Medicine

What's Ray Saying?

Ray Christian

Blackhistory, Storyteller, Blackculture, History, Story, Storytelling, Arts, Slam, Africanamerican

5 • 625 Ratings

🗓️ 8 November 2023

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

To better understand the treatment of the ills, injuries and minds of Black Americans, Ray reflects on his first experience of going to the doctor.

What’s Ray Saying? is created, hosted, and written by Ray Christian and recorded in the great state of North Carolina. Mark Pagán is the senior producer. Jonathan Cabral is the associate producer. Story editing by Mark Pagán with development support from The Moth. Sound design by Rebecca Seidel. Original music comes from RJ Christian and Blue Dot Sessions.

To find out more about What Ray’s Saying? visit us on Facebook, Twitter, or at whatraysaying.com.

This series is supported by PRX, The Moth, and listeners like you.

Transcript

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0:00.0	A few months ago, I got a shot for the flu.
0:04.0	When I get flu shots every year, I've been getting them for about 40 years at this point.
0:10.0	40 years.
0:12.0	Ever since 1978, my first year in the Army when I was 17.
0:17.0	We're standing in this line in our white T's and boxers.
0:22.8	There were people on both sides of us with automatic injection machines.
0:27.3	We were all waiting to get about 10 injections each.
0:31.1	And while we were instructed to remain silent and move along quickly, there were still pauses
0:36.3	in the line, created by the sporadic rhythm of sounds,
0:40.3	made by those who jumped suddenly, shrieked or otherwise reacted with fear or pain to the injections.
0:46.3	The line had a couple hundred people.
0:49.3	A lot of black guys in the line were even more hesitant.
0:53.3	There were guys who hadn't even seen the doctor or gotten a shot in their whole life.
0:58.0	It was a range of experiences that were worse than mine.
1:02.0	They'd pause, make comments.
1:05.0	You could feel the reverberation of fear.
1:10.0	Enough black guys were hesitating that a white guy in the line was like,
1:14.6	why all the black dudes freaked out about getting shots?
1:18.6	Some guys were saying, because we don't trust you.
1:22.6	It got kind of sketchy until a drill sardin was like,
1:25.6	break that shit up.
1:32.3	I remember several times throughout the period I was in the army that black soldiers
	...

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