Replace from SOPHE President Heidi Hancher-Rauch
February is a busy month. Between Coronary heart Month, Most cancers Prevention Month, and even Cat Well being Month (which I admit was new to me!), there’s lots to acknowledge. Nonetheless, essentially the most important theme for our group is Black Historical past Month.
Reflecting on our historical past—the triumphs and the “sins” alike—is the one strategy to perceive our current. After we whitewash the uncomfortable elements of our reality, we lose the flexibility to heal. The influence of our historical past is clear to anybody wanting with an open thoughts. Well being inequities—starvation in our kids, lack of prenatal care for ladies, and missed most cancers screenings for males—are the direct outcomes of previous selections which have actual well being implications at the moment.
It’s uncomfortable to take a seat with the historical past of abuse and oppression directed at Black and Native Individuals. However we can’t develop if we dismiss these details as “a very long time in the past.”
I inform my college students that being human means being a piece in progress. We received’t at all times have the solutions, and we’d say the incorrect factor, however the “attempting” is what issues. By being susceptible and really listening to those that have been oppressed, we take a step towards actual change and that change is what we have to transfer towards our shared aim of well being fairness.
To stay this out, I’ve spent the final month engaged in a 21-day anti-racism problem. It has been a profound expertise in understanding how our “historic” historical past governs our fashionable lives. I sit up for sharing extra of this work at future SOPHE occasions, however for now I invite you to affix me in studying by watching this lecture:The Historical past of Race in America.
Collectively, let’s study extra about our historical past with the intention to be higher sooner or later. The trail towards well being fairness should be constructed by these of us keen to put down the bricks.