Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler: The Grit & Resilience We All Need to Succeed

I recently signed up for ’28 Days of Black History’, a daily 5 min. email series. It started as a personal way to honor and celebrate Black History month, but it’s turned into a more interesting journey as I’m drawn to the stories themselves.

For example, Friday’s email focused on Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first Black woman to earn a medical degree in the US. She gave medical care to women and Black communities regardless of their ability to pay.

But the fact that cried out for attention - Dr. Crumpler earned her medical degree in 1864, one year before the end of the Civil War. Can you imagine the amazing grit, resiliency, focus, and courage she possessed? 💥

We talk about the determination required to get through our own career challenges, but the roadblocks, doubt, criticism, and yes, the prejudice, that Dr. Crumpler faced must have been formidable. Next-level stuff, that. 💯

The newsletter reports that today only 5% of active physicians are Black. I don’t know why that statistic shocks me, but it does.

I highly recommend the ’28 Days of Black History’. Sign up @ 28daysofblackhistory.com and you receive a daily email about important and often less well-known black history subjects.

Thank you to Nicole Cardoza, Camile Bethune-Brown, and Shanae Burch for the stories and the resources.

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