Voice of Consciousness

With a name like "Abigail Sewell", people are usually surprised to meet me -- black, queer, masculine-of-center woman. Intending to put my gender non-conforming self on blast, I showed up to my Emory photo shoot by Bryan Meltz this past Fall in full gear -- tie, sweater vest, fancy socks, bright colored button down, and oxfords. I was pleased a couple of weeks later when Bryan sent me pictures that revealed myself as strong, confident, and at ease. This is the face that I want to present to students: We are not all battle-weary. Instead, the battle to be and write authentic fuels me to look to myself as the source of my own safety net and creative muse. Basically, it starts with me. I was reminded of that when a student in a class I guest lectured in this past Fall came to me and asked: "I hope you don't mind, but...Where do you buy your clothes?" A bit startled, I fumbled a bit for an answer. Yet, as this fellow Black masculine-of-center, gender non-conformin...

There was a time I thought this paper would never be published. As the rejections piled on, I grew more emotionally detached from the paper. I also grew more frustrated: Where would this paper find a home? At least six anonymous peer reviewers said that this paper should not be published. I am guessing six, which reflects one from every journal to which I sent the paper, including the journal that finally accepted the paper. In due time, however, after seven years, five journal rejections, and countless revisions, a portion of my M.A. thesis -- "Race and Trust: The Case of Medicine" -- is finally published in Social Science Research  (SSR). The journal released the online first version of the article  --  Disaggregating Ethnoracial Disparities in Physician Trust  -- on Monday, July 13, 2015. I am unsure of when the printed article is set for publication. Aside from a few Facebook updates, I've been fairly quiet about this final leg of the peer-revi...