Throughout the month of February and in celebration of Black History Month, we are excited to feature—via the Macy Notes blog—the stories, experiences, and voices of learners who are underrepresented in the health professions. Spanning medicine and nursing, and representing various points in the continuum of education, these contributors share their reflections on how the accomplishments and contributions of African Americans in the health professions have affected their own personal and professional lives—and how they will carry this legacy forward. This year’s Black History Month theme is “African Americans and the Arts,” and so it is most fitting that we are able to share these thoughtful and powerful written reflections with the Macy community.
By Kayla Karvonen MD, MAS
Neonatology Fellow
University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital
and
Kristine Karvonen, MD, MS
Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist
Seattle Children’s Hospital
We are
honored to celebrate our family history of Black excellence. Despite weathering
slavery, poverty, segregation, racism, and discrimination, our family tree
survives, grows, and thrives. Here, we reflect on our roots.
Our ancestors were enslaved people living in rural Virginia. Our late grandmother, Blanche “Gloria” Golden Washington, was born into poverty and harbored a profound love for school. She graduated at the top of her class and became the first in her family to attend college, a truly remarkable accomplishment for her time. She served as a lifetime educator: as a teacher, principal, and school board member. She married her high school sweetheart, our late grandfather Boyd Wesley Washington, who served in the military and worked three jobs to support his family. They raised our aunt, Delores Elaine Washington, and our dad, Boyd Vindell Washington, in a home where the expectation was that you pursue education, find success, and serve your community. Our aunt, a pharmacist, paved the way as the first healthcare professional in the family. Our dad followed as an emergency medicine physician, army veteran, government official, and healthcare technology innovator. He married Kimberly Riley Washington, whose upbringing paralleled his in both challenges and accomplishments. Her parents, Isaac Kenneth Riley and Idessa Isabell Riley, shared similar hardships while instilling a strong emphasis on education, which was imperative on her journey to become an internal medicine and geriatrics physician.
Now, as twin sisters, we continue our family’s legacy through service to our community as a pediatric hematologist/oncologist and a neonatologist, and as health equity researchers. Our younger sisters follow our family tradition, yet walk their own paths, as a medical student and a software engineer. We honor our ancestors this month, and every month, as a living history of Black excellence.
