(Bloomberg) — Chidiebere Ibe, the medical student and illustrator whose image of a Black pregnant woman and fetus recently went viral on Twitter, is now selling the image as a non-fungible token, or NFT.
The cost? Ten Ethereum, the currency of the platform by the same name, or roughly $38,000. The NFT will be available on crypto startup OpenSea.
“Some of the proceeds from the sale would be used to finance the initiatives I have been working on to give back to community, in measures of training, mentorship and empowerment in my niche,” Ibe said in an Instagram post announcing the sale. “With this listing, I have joined the community of young creatives and digital natives that have democratized access to arts by listing their works as NFTs.”
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A post shared by Chidiebere Ibe (@ebereillustrate)
OpenSea didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ibe, who has an undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Uyo in Nigeria, plans to attend Kyiv Medical University in Ukraine beginning in January. He began making medical illustrations featuring Black people about a year ago, he told NBC News. A user praised his work on Twitter on Dec. 2, saying she had “literally never seen a black foetus illustrated, ever.” It has been retweeted more than 50,000 times and liked 330,000 times. Ibe was surprised by the reaction.
“I was just sticking up for what I believe in, advocating for equality in health through medical illustrations,” he said. “I made a deliberate action to constantly advocate that there be inclusion of Black people in medical literature.”
A study found that only 4.5% of images in medical textbooks showcase dark skin tones, which the Association of Medical Illustrators diversity committee chair Ni-ka Ford told NBC News was linked to health care’s “roots in systemic racism.” The lack of inclusion can lead to further inequities in medicine for Black people in particular.
Investors in July valued OpenSea at $1.5 billion. The company says it offers more than 80 million NFTs to more than 700,000 users.
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