Critical Condition: Health in Black America Screening and Panel Discussion

Join NOVA and WTTW at The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center for a screening of selected clips from Critical Condition paired with a panel discussion featuring filmmakers and experts from the film. The program will begin at 6PM and the screening and panel discussion will be followed by a catered reception.

Black Americans are nearly twice as likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease than White Americans, and their life expectancy is about five years shorter. In Critical Condition: Health in Black America, Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson investigates the dramatic health disparities in the US, even as scientists confirm that there are no meaningful genetic differences between races. From the deep history of pseudoscientific beliefs about race that still permeate modern medicine, to the latest research on how experiencing discrimination can directly damage the body’s DNA and biology, Critical Condition reveals the factors behind the health crisis facing Black Americans.

Our panel for the evening will include:

• Dr. David Ansell, MD, Senior Vice President, Community Health Equity, Rush University Medical Center
• Dr. Carl Lambert, MD, Associate Professor, Family Medicine, Rush University Medical Center
• Keith Brown, Executive Producer, Firelight Films
• Lynneisha Ray, Co-producer, Firelight Films, Moderator

Critical Condition: Health in Black America premiered Wednesday, April 30 on PBS. Stream the film online and via the PBS video app.

PARKING INFORMATION:

Discounted parking is available for DuSable Museum visitors and guests at The University of Chicago Medical Parking Garage ‘B’ located at 5631 South Cottage Grove Avenue.

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Major funding for Critical Condition: Health in Black America and When Machines Prescribe is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and The California Endowment. Additional funding is provided by the George D. Smith Fund, Inc., the PDB Foundation, and the Wilemal Fund.

Major funding for NOVA and this programming is provided by Carlisle Companies, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the NOVA Science Trust with support from Margaret and Will Hearst and the Hoveida Family Foundation, and PBS viewers.