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VCU’s 2022 Common Book, The Organ Thieves, is about recent history in Richmond. The book creates a more accurate historical record of prolonged racist medical abuses that took place in Richmond, but organ transplantation and donation continue today under different circumstances.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Ambassadors are people with experience on all sides of organ transplantation and donation who spread awareness about transplantation, organ donation, policy proposals, and policy updates. In this program we will hear personal stories from a Christopher Woody, UNOS Ambassador, and common myths and facts from Bernadette Jay of UNOS.

The 2022 Virginia Commonwealth University Common Book is The Organ Thieves: The Shocking Story of the First Heart Transplant in the Segregated South, a “powerful story that examines institutional racism, mortality, medical ethics and the nature of justice for Black men living in the American South” (Kirkus Reviews). The award-winning book, written by Pulitzer-nominated journalist Chip Jones, tells the story of Bruce Tucker, a Black man who went to the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond in 1968 with a head injury only to later have his heart taken out and transplanted to the chest of a white businessman.

Contact Benjamin.himmelfarb@rva.gov about free copies of The Organ Thieves and accompanying resources to use to host your own book discussions!

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