Alison Mariella Désir Is Still Coming to Terms With Her Power

There are so many aspects of health that disproportionately affect the Black community, and yet less than six percent of US doctors are Black — a deficit that only further harms public health. Many of the Black folks who work in healthcare have dedicated their careers to combatting inequities. That’s why, this Black History Month, PS is crowning our Black Health Heroes: physicians, sexologists, doulas, and more who are advocating for the Black community in their respective fields. Meet them all here. When she was young, Alison Mariella Désir‘s father had a nickname for her: powdered feet, which “describes somebody who’s so active, you never see them, just the footprints of where they’ve been in powder.” The nickname is still fitting. Désir is the ultimate multihyphenate, with a résumé that looks like a grocery list of job titles — author, founder, activist, television host, adviser. But, as Désir says, her work only seems disparate. It’s all rooted in the desire to spread the message of the power of movement. That goal is personal. Désir grew up thinking that distance running was “reserved for white folks,” until training for a marathon saved her life. Newly passionate about the connection between mental...