Your weekend long reads🗞️

Good morning, friends of the Short List! We hope your weekend is off to a happy and healthy start.

Speaking of health, we invite you to explore the Paste BN Network project "Birthing while Black," which examines the dangers of being Black and pregnant. 

Here's a sobering statistic: Black women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. But even Black women with relatively uncomplicated pregnancies say they experience overt racism by medical professionals. Kyana Brathwaite, a registered nurse from Havertown, Pennsylvania, said she got no empathy from her doctor when she was pregnant. "She treated me as if I was a piece of cattle," she said. The women interviewed said they were ignored, dismissed, and not given the same respect as their white counterparts. Here are their stories:

• Without an 'ounce of empathy': Their stories show the dangers of being Black and pregnant 
• 'If Amber was white, Amber would be here': A father's message after his son's mother's death
• Speaking out against racism: After a bad birth experience, Black moms become advocates

Can't get enough of the long reads? Here's the best of the rest.