These inspiring, Chicago-based Black twin sisters are making a difference…and making history.
Black News is reporting that Brandi and Brittani Jackson are making history as first-generation twin doctors in their family. Inspired by the Black doctors that they saw growing up, the Jackson twins said that they wanted to make a difference in the world of medicine as a result.
“It’s hard to envision yourself as something you don’t see. But as I got further into medicine, I realized that maybe I could be a visual reminder to someone who looks like me, that they can be anything. At least that’s my hope,” Dr. Brittani Jackson said to the Chicago Crusader.
Though the twin sisters are both doctors, they didn’t follow the same path to success. The Jackson sisters were both salutatorians of Twinsburg High School in Ohio — and the only Black students in their class — but while Dr. Brandi Jackson studied medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Brittani Jackson studied medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Although they’re both doctors at the University of Illinois, Dr. Brandi Jackson is a doctor in the psychiatry department, while Dr. Brittani Jackson is a doctor of family medicine. They’ve also launched a website that aims to help other Black doctors, like them, get into the field of medicine but who may not have the resources or the connections to do so.
“For us, it’s not enough to say, ‘we made it.’ We want to help others do it too,” Brandi said. “It’s our way of giving back to the hundreds of people who have helped us on our journey through medicine. We want to pay it forward. We’re hoping to change the face of medicine, together.”
The twin sisters are so inspiring that they’ve even been featured on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” as well.
You can check out their appearance on the show below.
