Legacy

Reviews

Named one of the Top 13 Innovators Shaping The Future of Health by Fortune magazine

Praise for Legacy

“Ultimately, Legacy’s greatest contribution is in bringing this extraordinary family story to light — as much a part of the American fabric as those of our default narratives of success.”
—Dr. Damon Tweedy, The New York Times Book Review

“This book should be required reading for all medical students.”
—Gayle King, CBS Mornings

“This book is more than a memoir—it also serves as a call to action to create a more equitable healthcare system for patients of color, particularly Black women.”
—Essence

“At once a memoir and an examination of the racism that plagues both patients and physicians.”
—The New York Post

“An incisive analysis of why Black people in the United States are disproportionately sick and die early. . . . a searing indictment.”
—Naa Oyo A. Kwate, Los Angeles Review of Books

“Blackstock effortlessly weaves her personal story of triumph with contrasting, searing data on how we’ve arrived at this healthcare crisis. . . . While this book is a rousing personal story and an equally rousing cry for change, at its heart is is a beautiful ode to Blackstock’s mother and her continuing legacy.”
—Juhie Bhatia, Ms. magazine

“Readers concerned about their well-being will be glad they read this book. Biography fans will love it for different reasons. Either way, getting what you want out of Legacy is easy, and you’ll feel quite well about it.”
—Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Washington Informer

“Physician and healthcare consultant Blackstock skillfully blends biography and advocacy in this passionate debut memoir. . . . Inspiring. . . . A sobering and knowledgeable study of medical discrimination from someone with a lifetime of experience.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred & boxed review)

“Uché Blackstock has made something abundantly clear: If you want to understand a society, look at its hospitals. Dr. Blackstock, one of the most insightful and impactful public voices in medicine, shares her remarkable personal story and her profound insight regarding race, gender, and health inequality. We meet a person who is vulnerable, human, and brilliant. However, this book is so much more than a compelling memoir. These are marching orders. Armed with concrete steps for addressing inequality, readers will be inspired to become better stewards of our communities and society. Simply put, Legacy makes room for us to freedom dream anew.”
—Imani Perry, National Book Award-winning author of South to America

“Uché Blackstock has gifted us with a brilliant and timely wake-up call of a memoir. In her capable hands, a light is shone upon the deep inequities of our medical system. But more than a lament, this book is a battle cry. And like Dr. Blackstock, so many of us will find through reading Legacy, that we are ready for the fight.”
—Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming and Red at the Bone

“Dr. Uché Blackstock’s Legacy offers a blistering indictment of American health care. With the deep knowledge of a physician who has trained and practiced in a system riddled with inequality and the personal perspective of a patient harmed by it, she points out the longstanding inequity inherent in an institution resistant to transformation. Most of all, Legacy is a love letter to Dr. Blackstock’s mother, a physician, who like her twin daughters both believed in the promise of the American medical system and was betrayed by it.” 
—Linda Villarosa, author of Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation

“Legacy is both a compelling memoir and an edifying analysis of the inequities in the way we deliver healthcare in America. Uché Blackstock is a force of nature.”
—Abraham Verghese, MD, New York Times-bestselling author of The Covenant of Water and Cutting for Stone

“Legacy is an illuminating and stirring journey of a book. The illuminating: the devastating cycle of racism in our healthcare system. The stirring: the inimitable family and career of Dr. Uché Blackstock and her quest to dismantle medical racism.”
—Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist

“Legacy weaves a beautiful story that feels like a warm, handmade quilt. Each memory of her family took me deeper into understanding Uché’s brave commitment to the health and thriving of Black people. A story that feels like the faith of a mustard seed. Reading it gave me hope. I felt tucked in safely knowing a doctor like her exists in our health care system.”
—Tricia Hersey, New York Times bestselling-author of Rest is Resistance and founder of The Nap Ministry

“This powerful book is both mesmerizing memoir and groundbreaking gift. I will remember Dr. Blackstock's story and teachings for a long time. Highly recommend for all.”
—Dolly Chugh, Professor at New York University Stern School of Business and author of The Person You Mean to Be and A More Just Future

“Uché Blackstock writes courageously about how antiBlack racism plagues the U.S. healthcare system at every level. This is not a story about abstract systems and institutions but about how individuals—professors, physicians, policy makers and more—are complicit in maintaining the deadly status quo. Legacy is a deeply personal reckoning with our collective inheritance and an invitation for each of us to demand better of ourselves and our society.”
—Ruha Benjamin, author of Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want

“A timely and persuasive memoir.”
—Kirkus Reviews Expand reviews