Leith Mullings is the Presidential Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Program in Medical Anthropology at the Graduate Center, City of University of New York. On Tuesday, October 21, 2003 at Gambrell Auditorium she spoke in regards to "The Sojourner Syndrome: Participatory research and women's health in Harlem, New York. .
Mullings was responsible for coordinating a group of scholars and community members together for a project that lasted many years, and provided evidence on many social contexts of reproduction. The research project was funded by the Centers for Disease and Control, and was produced as a guide for society to help better understand Black women's lives in the contexts of social, political, economic, and physical issues. The goal is to clearly display the challenge of how race, ethnicity, social class, and gender create tribulations that affect the health of the Black women. The study began in 1994 and was completed in 1997. The findings conclude that African-American women have a higher risk factor than white women for contracting several illnesses, developing chronic conditions, and dying, especially while pregnant. .
She began the lecture by emphasizing "the notion of race-. She argues that, "skin color (black) is the category of discrimination, not all the other various blends of ethnic races-. She believes that this racism produces negative outcomes like division in the human population, biological consequences and health consequences such as behavior and attitudes. .
Throughout her study she had three objectives.
1. Use ethnographic inquiry.
2. Involve the community.
3. Evaluate the community.
In order to meet the objectives she created a strategy that would guide her to her findings thus leading to a diagnosis of Harlem and black women.
Her methodology of the strategy.
I. Participant Observation.
-neighboring sites.
-workplace sites.
II. Longitudinal Case Studies .
-demographic characteristics.
