The Toxins Around Us Threaten Our Fertility. Black Families Face an Outsize Risk

Everyone experiences a moment that shapes who they are – a moment when childhood innocence is lost, and the burdens and traumas of the world become clearer.

For me, that moment occurred in elementary school when my friend discovered a gun in Denning Park in Englewood, New Jersey. For days, I worried about what might be lurking behind the trees and in the shadows. This anxiety lingered through high school; I even wrote in my local newspaper that “I couldn’t remember anything more frightening for a young girl in elementary school”.

Looking back at the violence-obsessed, fear-driven 90s, I thought dangerous people and violent weapons were the biggest threat to my body. It turns out that an invisible villain may have been the real danger.