Sixth Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Speaker Series: Dr. Uché Blackstock
Dr. Uché Blackstock’s story begins in her mother’s Brooklyn clinic, where medicine meant listening, accountability and a fierce belief that every neighbor deserved the best care. Guided by her mother, Dr. Dale Gloria Blackstock, Uché learned that healing is both scientific and deeply human. Years later, she and her twin sister, Dr. Oni Blackstock, walked the halls of Harvard Medical School, becoming the first Black mother‑daughter legacy graduates in the school’s history.
After more than 17 years as a Harvard‑educated emergency physician, Dr. Blackstock founded Advancing Health Equity, a consulting firm that helps leaders and organizations redesign health systems so everyone can thrive. Through strategic advising, audits and assessments, and culture transformation, she guides partners from good intentions to measurable outcomes.
Dr. Blackstock is the New York Times bestselling author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons With Racism in Medicine, a memoir that connects her family’s story to the history of American medicine and offers a vision for a more just and humane future of care. Her insights have appeared on MSNBC, NPR and “PBS NewsHour,” and in The Washington Post, Scientific American, Essence and STAT News. She was named to the 2024 inaugural Time100 Health list and recognized by Fortune among “13 Innovators Shaping the Future of Health.”
A sought‑after keynote speaker, Dr. Blackstock has addressed audiences at the United Nations, Aspen Ideas: Health and leading institutions across the country. Her talks blend data with lived experience—stories from emergency rooms and community clinics, moments of courage and connection, and lessons on how trust, dignity and accountability can transform care.
This free, public event will also be livestreamed for those not able to attend in-person.
Sponsored by Cultural Affairs, Student Activities, Student Senate and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.
If you require an accommodation to participate in this event, please contact the Center for Access and Assistive Technology at caat@hvcc.edu, (518) 629-7154 or TDD/TTY (518) 629-7596. Please be aware that advance notice is requested as some accommodations may require time for the college to arrange.