Janell Hobson Writes in Ms. on What Black Women’s Histories can Teach about Pandemics 

Janell Hobson's Ms. magazine article looks at such historical and modern day pandemic fighters as (l. to r.) Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau, Harriet Tubman and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett.

ALBANY N.Y. (April 28, 2020) — In a new article published last week in Ms. magazine, Professor Janell Hobson, chair of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, looks at current and past pandemic and illuminates underreported racial and gender realities of today and of history.

One, she writes in “What Black Women’s Histories can Teach Us about Pandemics,” is that women as a demographic have been particularly overburdened by this pandemic, as they have with all others. Two, that there are women today in leadership positions around the globe that have proven to be “more than capable and even exemplars.”

Janell Hobson

And three, that there are black women in history that have played a part in lessening the ravages of illness. She notes black women healers, such as New Orleans Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau, who healed many during a yellow fever epidemic in the 19th century with her knowledge of medicinal herbs, and Harriet Tubman of Underground Railway fame, who as a nurse used her knowledge of medicinal herbs to cure Union soldiers of life-threatening dysentery.

She also contemplates how history may view Kizzmekia Corbett, the lead scientist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases working on a vaccine for COVID-19.

An expert in multiracial and transnational feminist issues, and a frequent contributor to Ms., Hobson had the ingredients for her latest article close at hand. “This information is based on my general research on black women's histories, specifically doing work on Harriet Tubman,” she said. “I wanted to address how these specific histories could speak to the present moment.”

The reaction to the piece, which can be read in full here, has been positive, with Hobson’s editor at Ms. reporting it was the 7th most read article on the magazine’s website last week with nearly 2,000 views.

For more news, subscribe to UAlbany's RSS headline feeds