Known for being the hometown of Michael Jackson, and its namesake steel mill Gary Works, Gary, Indiana, has made its mark on history. Yet lesser known to locals and the nation is the city's maternal mortality problem.
Black mothers in the United States are more than three times more likely to die during childbirth compared to white women. But in the state of Indiana, even white women are dying at a high enough rate for the state to rank third highest in maternal mortality in the country. Additionally, Gary’s fenceline community deals with environmental inequities that underlie this health issue: From the soil they grow food in, to the water they drink, to the air they breathe, the legacy of the steel mill’s pollution problem seeps into their livelihoods at every turn.
Still, the city’s proud residents remain unintimidated by their town’s many barriers. As Capital B’s first health and environment reporter in Gary, Indiana, Jenae Barnes will investigate the intersectional causes at the heart of this critical, yet underreported problem.
