Meet Octavia

Why Me? Why This Work?

First, I would like to thank Sierra King for coming up with the name Say Study.

The Say Study grew partly from my healthcare experiences and the healthcare experiences of the Black women around me. Several years ago, I was taking a medication that, unbeknownst to me, was causing an allergic reaction., unbeknownst to me, The first sign was a red rash on my collarbone and right arm; as someone who gardens, I thought that it might be poison ivy, although I had not been directly exposed. I went to the doctor and told them what I thought it was, and they immediately made a yucky face and backed up to the door. After that, I pretty much can’t remember much about what happened during the rest of the appointment, but I did see how warm the doctor was with another patient who walked by the open door to my exam room.

Several days later, I started to have symptoms of anaphylaxis, and another provider figured out that it was the medication causing my symptoms and the rash. My story reflects what many black women have to do to get the care we need; we research and come prepared to our appointments, we continue to look to other providers when we can’t get the care that we need, and take the differential treatment that we receive in stride so that we won’t be faulted as the cause of own our health issues. Since this incident, I have continued to hear Black women’s stories of dehumanization and suffering in the healthcare system. These stories are corroborated by the astounding health disparities that Black women experience.

Through my coursework, I became aware of the silences in the archive, historical works, and research regarding Black women's experiences. As a result, my research focuses on experiences of (anti)Blackness at the level of the healthcare encounter. I am interested in using a Black Feminist and Womanist lens to understand how history, colonialism, slavery, racial hierarchy, gender, class, and the professionalization of medicine inform the sociohistoric ritual of providing care. I am also interested in using phenomenology to understand the lived experience of (anti)Blackness and how it operates differently based on intersectional social identities.

My educational and professional background:

I obtained my BS in Psychology Pre-Medicine from Xavier University of Louisiana and an MPH from Georgia State University School of Public Health.

For twelve years, I worked at the American Cancer Society, where I launched several health equity initiatives to address breast, lung, and colorectal cancer disparities in Black, Latinx, and American Indian and Alaska Native communities.