Wanda Durant, known as “Mama Durant,” is not only Kevin Durant’s mom but she is also a motivational speaker. About a year and a half ago, she was diagnosed with fibroids even though she had been experiencing symptoms for many years and also suffers from Graves’ disease. 

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“I’ve heard of many tales over the years with other different illnesses how Black women are treated when it comes to health care, and there’s a disparity between other races and health care,” Durant said. “It’s really important that we all rally together to bring awareness to the issues that we face as Black women.” 

Because she was frustrated no one diagnosed her earlier, she teamed up with the Black Women’s Health Imperative. According to its website, it is “the first nonprofit organization created by Black women to help protect and advance the health and wellness of Black women and girls.” 

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“With the Black Women’s Health Imperative, they have a lot of the information that’s needed for individuals to consider what the possibilities are,” she said. “We need to bring the issues that Black women face to the forefront of medical research.” 

What Durant wants to see when it comes to health care for Black women is awareness. 

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“The advocacy is necessary for all of us in the medical field to know that these things are important to us as Black women and that we need to be aware of what’s going on with our bodies, and to be a part of the intentional research.” 

Check out more from BNC’s Black Women’s Health Initiative here.