Demonstrations are flaring up across the country to protest the deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police. Theyre also calling attention to broader inequalities. One of those areas -- health disparities -- kills Black Americans in massive numbers.

Side Effects Public Media's Lauren Bavis spoke with Ogbonnaya Omenka, a professor of public health and health disparities at Butler University, about protesting during a pandemic.

Health care providers say they marching against systemic racism in health care, and health disparities -- calling it a public health crisis.

The protest, White Coats For Black Lives, was organized to address health disparities and racism in medicine.

New research from the Polis Center at IUPUI digs into why black residents in Marion County are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The reasons are based on systemic racism, historic inequities and social factors.

In Marion County, black residents make up about 30 percent of the population. And early data shows they are almost twice as likely to be hospitalized or die from the virus, compared to white residents.

People who live in polluted areas are more likely to have the underlying heart and lung conditions that put them at a greater risk from COVID-19.

Health leaders, advocates and policymakers from around the state attended the Health Equity Summit in Indianapolis.