Combating Racism – Structural Racism and Health Inequalities

COVID-19 has shined a light on health disparities that have been in existence in our country for centuries. The startling and disproportionate death rate among Black Americans around the country from COVID-19 is a horrific reminder of the persistent inequities and the need for solutions to address them. THE ISSUES A recent Washington Post special report, based…

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Combating Racism – Eradicating Hate – Part 2

“People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.” ~ Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom Last week I wrote about the hatred that exists, and has existed, in this country for centuries – a hatred that has divided our country, devastated cities, left hundreds dead…

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Combating Racism – Eradicating Hate – Part 1

“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”                                                                                    ~ James Baldwin My original plan for last week’s newsletter, and then this week’s newsletter, was to focus on health disparities in our country and particularly the ways Black Americans have been inequitably impacted by the coronavirus. But…

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Combating Racism – Standing Up for Racial Inequality

Black Lives Matter protesters were met with police in riot gear on June 1, 2020. In my lifetime, which now spans seven decades, there have been three major events on American shores that have left me and the nation in shock and disbelief and changed public consciousness forever. These events are indelibly etched in our…

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Combating Racism – Let It Begin With Us

My dear friend, Jean, sent me this postcard, with words from the song written by Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller in 1955. The words “let it begin with me” resonated. Over this past year, I’ve been sensitized to racism in our country in a way I never was before. A long overdue awareness. When I…

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