life or well-being. Many women report feeling less than or even "half of a woman" due to the pressures that society puts on the importance of fertility and health when it comes to typically feminine ideals. These kinds of social barriers interfere with women's ability to perform various other activities in life and fully work toward their aspirations. Socioeconomic class and race Race is also allegedly implicated in chronic illness, although there may be many other factors involved. Racial minorities are 1.5-2 times more likely to have most chronic diseases than white individuals. Non-Hispanic blacks are 40% more likely to have high blood pressure that non-Hispanic whites, diagnosed diabetes is 77% higher among non-Hispanic blacks, and American Indians and Alaska Natives are 60% more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic whites. Some of this prevalence has been suggested to be in part from environmental racism. Flint, Michigan, for example, had high levels of lead poisoning in their drinkable water after waste was dumped into low-value housing areas. There are also higher rates of asthma in children who live in lower income areas due to an abundance of pollutants being released on a much larger scale in these areas. Advocacy and research organizations In Europe, the European Chronic Disease Alliance was formed in 2011, which represents over 100,000 healthcare workers. In the United States, there are a number of nonprofits focused on chronic conditions, including entities focused on specific diseases such as the American Diabetes Association, Alzheimer's Association, or Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. There are also broader groups focused on advocacy or research into chronic illness in general, such as The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, Partnership to FIght Chronic Disease, the Chronic Disease Coalition which arose in Oregon in 2015, and the Chronic Policy Care Alliance. Narratives Final Negotiations: A Story of Love, Loss, and Chronic Illness by Carolyn Ellis Beyond Words: Illness and the Limits of Expression by Kathlyn Conway Ordinary Life: A Memoir of Illness by Kathlyn Conway The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness, and Ethics by Arthur W. Frank Tender Points by Amy Berkowitz Illness as Metaphor by Susan Sontag Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag Bodies in Protest: Environmental Illness and the Struggle Over Medical Knowledge by Steve Kroll-Smith and H. Hugh Floyd Inside Chronic Pain: An Intimate and Critical Account by Louis Heshusius and Scott M. Fishman The Nearness of Others: Searching for