On the new episode of NCHE PRESENTS: Leaders Pursuing Health Equity in America podcast (audio), Dr. J. Goosby Smith joins the podcast to discuss her work pursuing racial healing at Citadel University and in her new position as the inaugural vice president for community belonging and chief diversity officer at Pepperdine University.
Host Dr. Gail C. Christopher, Executive Director at National Collaborative for Health Equity (NCHE), talked with Dr. Goosby Smith about the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation™ (TRHT™) movements she spurred at Citadel and Pepperdine. Dr. Christopher was the chief architect of TRHT as a vice president and senior advisor at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
“Some of the things that we were able to accomplish at the Citadel while we were there…was to start the conversation about racial healing because of the history of slavery in Charleston and the historic role that the Citadel played in that,” Dr. Goosby Smith said, adding, “Just starting the conversation was a great thing.”
Further, Dr. Goosby Smith built a relationship with the Social Justice Racial Equity Collaborative at Sophia Institute, a center for learning offering innovative programs focused on personal and societal transformation. With the institute, they worked with the City of Charleston on racial healing and other TRHT pillars critical to building trust and racial progress, such as narrative change, separation, the law, and the economy.
“And so (when the pillars) are done well, they will create a stronger community,” she said. “The goal for me at Pepperdine is to work with our community to break down silos and barriers so that people can see each other, hear each other, and realize that they all have equal value. As we look at our TRHT work here, we seek the truth together. We’re trying to engage in racial healing, and we’re trying to change those narratives that we have about ourselves and the work.”
Dr. Christopher exclaimed, “That is so powerful… You’re doing such wonderful work, and you continue to do that work.”
Dr. Goosby Smith responded, “You gave us a methodology, you gave us a framework, but you left us free to imagine what could be and imagine what the vision can be and how to implement it.” She said both institutions also engaged in healing circles, a foundational component of Dr. Christopher’s racial healing approach. Dr. Goosby Smith noted that in February, she facilitated a virtual coast-to-coast healing circle on the National Day of Racial Healing, which the Kellogg Foundation launched in 2017.
“What we’re doing is trying to connect people,” Dr. Goosby Smith said, adding that in our cities, “we’ve divided ourselves into so many different pockets, different parts of town, different professions, different socioeconomic areas, different educational levels. And I think we’re at a time right now in a society where there’s maximum division and maximum fear among people, but there’s also an opportunity because there’s a maximum need for authentic connection.”
Dr. Christopher agreed, saying, “We’re all on this journey together. This is our collective journey and this experiment that we’re in, this thing called self-governance in America, it’s learning, it’s evolving… (there are possibilities) for the realization, the actualization of our potential as human beings and as a nation, but more importantly as a society and as a world.”
Enjoy their complete enlightening conversation HERE.
Statement by Dr. Gail C. Christopher, Executive Director, National Collaborative for Health Equity
DESTRUCTIVE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION DECISION WON’T STOP EQUAL RIGHTS PROGRESS
The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to end affirmative action in higher education is much more than just a bad ruling; this is an embarrassment on a global scale.
It’s based on the misguided notion that the Constitution, and even our society today, is colorblind. That’s so far from the truth. In reality, what we have is a judicial authority that is in denial, denial of racism, denial of facts, denial of the consequences of this decision, denial of the harm to the people affected, and denial of the hierarchy of human value that this nation was built upon and still reigns supreme in too many minds and institutions today.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts concluded that the approach used by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina violated the 14 Amendment and “cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause.” That is duplicitous – that clause was designed to remedy the harm caused by denying rights and protection to people of color over centuries. For this Court to use it to deny educational opportunities to people of color in the 21st century is hypocrisy at best and cruel at worst. Their decision lacks empathy and compassion for millions.
Our Constitution was conceived in an environment of racial hierarchy. It was dedicated to the proposition that some people were not human. Blacks could be enslaved and had no human rights. During the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention, the infamous Three-fifths Compromise relegated enslaved people to be counted as 3-5ths of Whites in a state’s population.
That created an inequitable and unfair American society. Harvard Professor Roland G. Fryer, Jr. has quantified the consequences. Relative to Whites, Blacks earn 24% less, live five fewer years, and are six times more likely to be incarcerated on a given day. Hispanics make 25% less than Whites and are three times more likely to be incarcerated. At the end of the 1990s, there were one-third more Black men under the corrections system’s jurisdiction than those enrolled in colleges or universities.
Despite improvement by Blacks and Hispanics, there remain stark differences in access to quality education and opportunity that education affords. In a recent paper for the National Collaborative for Health Equity (NCHE) , Susan Eaton, Director of the Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy at the Heller School for Social Policy at Brandeis University, cited the racial disparity in poverty nationwide. About 24% of Native Americans, 20% of Blacks, and 17% of Latinos live in high-poverty neighborhoods compared to just 4 % of Whites. Disparities in schools are even more extreme, with 74% of Black and Latinos, 70% of Native Americans, and just 32% of Whites attending schools where at least half of the students qualify for free and reduced lunches.
Clearly, American society remains far from a colorblind state where equity and equality are spread across all communities, rich and poor, Black, White, and Brown. It’s astounding that the Supreme Court chose to ignore centuries of racism that has created a society where Blacks, Native Americans, and other people of color are forced to confront bias daily in their everyday life, at school, at work, at play, and in their communities.
But there is hope for America. This Supreme Court is not a reflection of the people. This Court represents the opinions of a minority of our population. That has been demonstrated by the political uprising after the Court’s rejection of a woman’s right to her own reproductive decisions. We may see a similar reaction to this Court decision limiting access to the nation’s top educational institutions to people qualified to attend but have faced discrimination because of their skin color every day since birth. NCHE has conducted research, which will soon be released, demonstrating that the American people want to put racism and political divisiveness behind us and move forward to create equitable communities.
America made tremendous progress after the murder of George Floyd. A watershed of honesty and sincerity opened up to address the realities of police brutality and the legacy of denial of humanity. Anytime there is a moment creating a seismic wave in society, one representing a transformation from the norm, there will be resistance. In this case, the opposition has a high level of authority and power, but it contradicts the minds and hearts of the majority of America.
The march towards an equitable society will continue.
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Download Full Press Release (PDF): Here
NEW EPISODE OF NCHE PRESENTS: LEADERS PURSUING HEALTH EQUITY IN AMERICA: LEARN HOW AINKA JACKSON HELPS BRING RACIAL HEALING TO SELMA
On the new NCHE PRESENTS: Leaders Pursuing Health Equity in America podcast (audio), Ainka Jackson, founding Executive Director of the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation, is committed to eliminating “the cancer that is racism” and facilitating economic justice, she tells host Dr. Gail C. Christopher on the new episode of the NCHE PRESENTS: Leaders Pursuing Health Equity in America podcast.
The center was founded in 2014, Jackson says, “to address different forms of violence, whether that be economic violence, whether that be racial violence or whether that be physical violence.” She adds, “It’s insane that this place where nonviolence overcame violence was the eighth most dangerous place in the country in 2016. And we believe that broken relationships led to broken economies, leading to broken communities, all in need of healing.”
But the center’s work has made a difference. “We work with communities to heal relationships, to heal the economy and heal communities, not to fix, but to heal,” she says, noting that their formula includes addressing the root causes of issues. Fueled by their community work and efforts of their partners, murders in Selma declined by nearly 40% in 2022 after an increase of 56% from 2016 to 2021.
“The work is so impressive,” responds Dr. Christopher, the Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity (NCHE). “When we think of Selma, we imagine the (1965 Selma to Montgomery March), we imagine that original work back there in the Civil Rights era. And for you to give us this data today, it’s just heart-wrenching. I’m excited to hear about some of the success that you had and some of the ways that you know you’re succeeding.”
The center implemented a violence intervention program in communities, which is bolstered by the HOPE data collection initiative run by NCHE. Jackson describes their comprehensive program, which addresses both victims and perpetrators, while targeting the inequities endured by everyone in the community.
“It’s rooted in nonviolence, which is unique for violence intervention programs,” Jackson says. “A lot of them aren’t, but given our history of nonviolence in this city, we thought that was important to help produce a cultural shift. Our street outreach workers come from the communities in which they serve, which is essential. They are trusted leaders, trusted community members, trusted vessels to intervene, to actually go to the scenes when there is violence, but also to be in the communities day-to-day, connecting people with employment and educational opportunities, ensuring that people have what they need; but getting to the root causes of why there is violence and building the Beloved Community. The last component is victim services. We are one of few models that actually serve potential perpetrators and victims. When getting to the root causes, we understand that all of these people are impacted by the root causes. Our victim services – our survivor services programs: whether it’s helping to plan a funeral of a loved one, helping to find resources, doing victim compensation, or doing restorative justice, are making sure that healing (is taking place). Making sure that those families have what they need is an essential part of this work. It’s the hard part of this work, particularly when there are so few mental health resources in a rural area. But our team is making it happen.”
Further, Jackson cites the racial healing that is drawing people together. “We had a White evangelical Trump supporter that recruited more people to our racial equity training locally than anybody else,” she says. “We are very intentional about rooting our work in love. And let me be clear, love is action… love is justice.”
Dr. Christopher applauds her work, saying, “That is so powerful. So many things you said just landed…in terms of the realities of your community. At the same time resilience and your capacity to do the hard work of connecting people at a heart level – so few people are willing to to be patient and to extend that grace. I’m just so happy to lift your story and to have people hear it. This matters, it makes a difference.”
To hear more of their enlightening conversation, tune in HERE
NEW EPISODE OF NCHE PRESENTS: LEADERS PURSUING HEALTH EQUITY IN AMERICA: LEARN HOW AUTHENTIC ENGAGEMENTS IMPACT RACIST BELIEFS & BEHAVIOR
On the new NCHE PRESENTS: Leaders Pursuing Health Equity in America podcast (audio), Angela Waters Austin, executive director of One Love Global Inc., demonstrates the power of authentic engagements to address racism, telling host Dr. Gail Christopher about healing circles and discussions that generated positive results and changed beliefs. She also says the COVID-19 pandemic forced community organizations to adopt creative approaches.
Throughout a reflective conversation, Dr. Christopher and Austin discuss the challenges and successes of their work that aims to heal racial wounds of the past and create paths forward that can transform American society. A chief objective is eliminating racism and uprooting the false belief in a hierarchy of human value, an antiquated notion that the human family can be divided and ranked based on skin color, physical characteristics, and ascribed traits.
In their talk, Austin recites authentic stories from her work at One Love Global, a non-profit working to transform communities so Black children experience justice, peace, healing, opportunity, and abundance.
Our communities are creating new narratives about the present and the past that raise expectations for equity, fairness and justice. This approach is building trust, relationships and healing across the divides, across racial and class lines. And in so doing, we are expanding the circle of engagement. We are building a critical mass and ultimately a majority, and super majority, of people who will unite behind the TRHT movement and transform our country.
In the NCHE podcasts, we will lift up leaders, who are finding innovative ways to generate healing and build the bridge to tomorrow. We will talk to leaders addressing the entrenched legacy of separation and segregation. We will strategize with those tackling the racist policies and legal structures that continue to impede progress. And we will hear from leaders working to create economic opportunities that can stabilize families Join our host, NCHE Executive Director Dr. Gail Christopher, on this journey. Tune in to NCHE PRESENTS: Leaders Pursuing Health Equity in America.
Reimagining Our Public Health Systems: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s National Commission to Transform Public Health Data Systems
This roundtable will address the many areas of alignment between the 3 groups, how the recommendations are really positioned action, why equity needs to be at the center of modernization, and how we are going to measure progress going forward.
The recommendations of this commission engage multiple sectors, including the federal level, the state level, and the local level of government, the health care system, the public health system, the business community, the nonprofit sector, and the academic and educational community.
View Roundtable Here.
Moderator:
Karen DeSalvo
Participants:
Alonzo L. Plough
Brian Castrucci
Gail C. Christopher
Herminia Palacio
NCHE MARKS 7TH ANNUAL NATIONAL DAY OF RACIAL HEALING WITH LAUNCH OF A PODCAST SERIES & RELEASE OF SCHOLARLY PAPERS ON RACIAL EQUITY
VIDEO PODCAST
ROUNDTABLE
WASHINGTON – Celebrating the 7th annual National Day of Racial Healing, the National Collaborative for Health Equity (NCHE) today released an inspiring roundtable discussion with NCHE Senior Scholars on striving for racial equity and announced the launch of their new podcast series, NCHE PRESENTS: Leaders Pursuing Health Equity In America.
The roundtable, which is moderated by NCHE Executive Director Dr. Gail C. Christopher, is a component of NCHE’s partnership with publisher Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., and its Health Equity journal. Mary Ann Liebert is the official publishing partner of NCHE. The Health Equity journal will publish the roundtable, as well as comprehensive papers written by NCHE Senior Scholars – five distinguished academic and social justice leaders who provide insights and expertise on various aspects of racial equity and social justice.
“We are at an unprecedented moment in the history of the health of our nation,” said Dr. Christopher. “We are moving forward from the worst public health crisis America has ever experienced. So many have suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic. But we remain hopeful that the era of racial reckoning in response to the brutal murder of George Floyd will yield positive results that help eliminate racism and facilitate racial healing.”
It was seven years ago today that the National Day of Racial Healing was launched by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation as part of a comprehensive framework that calls for acknowledgement of the pain caused by racism and provides concrete methods of healing the wounds of the past and moving forward towards racial equity in our communities.
“While divisiveness grabs the headlines, there is a strong undercurrent and momentum for racial healing and progress towards what Dr. King called ‘the beloved community,’ “Dr. Christopher said. “Over the last seven years the National Day of Racial Healing has expanded
into hundreds of communities. People of all races and ethnicities celebrate efforts to eradicate racism, end health inequity and value the humanity of all people.”
The inaugural group of NCHE Senior Scholars are Charmaine Royal, PhD, MS, Robert O. Keohane Professor of African & African American Studies, Biology, Global Health, and Family Medicine & Community Health at Duke University; Lisa Sockabasin, MS, a Citizen of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkomikum and co-CEO of Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness; Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD, LFAPA, a Social Psychiatrist and Professor of Urban Policy and Health at The New School; Alan Jenkins, JD, MA, Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School; and Algernon Austin, PhD, Director for Race and Economic Justice at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
The next issue of Health Equity, which will be published on January 20, 2023, will include articles by the NCHE Senior Scholars. Their work aligns with the pillars of a framework that engages communities, organizations, and individuals from multiple sectors across the United States in racial healing and addressing present-day inequities linked to historic and contemporary beliefs in a hierarchy of human value.
In her paper, Royal examines narrative change and concludes there must be “a shift in our approach” if America is to truly address the systemic racism embedded in our society. Focused on racial healing and relationships, Sockabasin writes eloquently about the state of our society and how to get it back on track. With a special interest in the relationship between the collapse of communities and decline in health, Fullilove examines separation through history and its impact on health. Jenkins recounts the turbulent relationship between law and equity in our nation and discusses the elements that can lead to major progress through law, and recommends specific steps that different actors can take to move an equity and opportunity agenda forward. Austin writes that racist ideas and practices help to structure American society by being in dialogue with the economy of the society.
“The roundtable discussion and the accompanying articles contribute to our healing journey. The National Day of Racial Healing is the appropriate time for them to be consumed as people celebrate our progress towards a fair and just society for all,” said Dr. Christopher, who led the creation of the National Day of Racial Healing while serving as a vice president and senior advisor at the Kellogg Foundation.
As a component of its National Day of Racial Healing celebration, NCHE also launches its podcast series. Hosted by Dr. Christopher, the premier episode is an engaging conversation with Dr. Kaiwipuni Punihei Lipe. She is an extraordinary leader who discusses the culture of native Hawaiians, the challenges they face and a special bond with their homeland.
The conversation is consistent with the National Day of Racial Healing’s overarching theme, as Dr. Christopher and Dr. Lipe discuss the power of healing and the “connectiveness” between all people on earth. Both the podcast and the work of the NCHE Senior Scholars underscore the value of healing that is the prevalent message on this day.
“America is beginning the real work of seeding and growing the capacity to value the humanity of all people,” Dr. Christopher said. “This will require understanding the need to see ourselves in one another, to develop automatic responses of empathy and compassion needed to build bridges of trust that are required for carrying the weight of the truth of our nation’s past. The National Day of Racial Healing is a key contributor to building that trust.”
Download Full Press Release (PDF): Here
January 4, 2022
Contact:
Michael K. Frisby
[email protected]/202-625-4328
Statement by Dr. Gail C. Christopher, Executive Director, National Collaborative for Health Equity
Unlocking Our Fifth Freedom
President Joe Biden recently signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act. This landmark United States federal law passed by the 117th U.S. Congress repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), requires the U.S. federal government and all U.S. states and territories to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial civil marriages in the U.S., and protects religious liberty.
While we must all applaud this amazing bi-partisan breakthrough, we should all be appalled that such a law was needed in this democratic nation, in this the 21st-century. Why is there a need to protect a fundamental human right and freedom for adults to love and marry interracially or to a person of the same gender? I think the answer is because America is a nation and a democracy that is yet becoming. We are, in the global context, still a young nation learning how to be a multiracial, multi-ethnic, diverse, self-governing democracy. We still have a lot of work to do.
Congressional and presidential leadership are a vital part of this important work. I am reminded of the leadership of President Franklin D Roosevelt, who galvanized and lifted the consciousness of the American people by reminding them of the meaning of democracy in a time when the Great Depression was limiting hope. In his 1941 State of the Union address, President Roosevelt articulated four freedoms – the freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom to be free from want and freedom from fear.
It was another iteration of our founding principles, every person’s right to life, to liberty, and to the pursuit of happiness. But here we are in 2022, still needing to codify into law a fifth freedom – a freedom to love. I believe this is our most important freedom. And although it was not articulated by then President Roosevelt or by the founding fathers, freedom to love is the required element in a lasting democracy. By signing this legislation, President Biden affirmed this truth.
It is also meaningful that this freedom became law during the same week that the White House hosted a summit of leaders from 49 African countries. During this summit, President Biden spoke directly about what he described as America’s original sin of slavery: “We remember the stolen men and women and children were brought to our shores in chains…My nation’s original sin was that period.” There is a clear relationship and through line from this original sin and the present day need for the landmark Respect for Marriage Act. Denial of a person’s freedom to love and marry is a denial of a person’s humanity. The institution of enslavement of Africans and the decimation of Native American people could only have been justified by denying our humanity.
It is time for America to begin the real work of seeding and growing a democracy capable of valuing the humanity of all people. This requires developing the skills and the capacities to begin to see ourselves in one another, to develop automatic responses of empathy and compassion needed to build bridges of trust that are required for carrying the weight of the truth of our nation’s inhumane and horrific past acts. While laudable, the Respect for Marriage Act is like a tourniquet applied to the bleeding limb of a wounded soldier; it will only be lifesaving if the body receives the care it needs immediately. For America, that care is the will to move forward, to heal and repair the vestiges of past wrongs, and create and sustain equitable communities.
The immediate care that our national body politic requires is an investment to create and support a new cultural infrastructure, a psychological emotional infrastructure of love and caring that is strong enough to withstand and repel the attacks of false narratives and hate, driven by nefarious motives for power and control. The good news is that communities and college campuses are doing this work all across America. Philanthropy is supporting their efforts. But the original sin was committed by this federal government and enforced for centuries by all branches of our government. America’s national, state, and local governments organized and institutionalized lovelessness throughout history. People were lynched and brutalized, families were destroyed, women were raped and children were taken. All this was done in the name of a belief in a false hierarchy of human value. A unified and robust correction is long overdue.
Congressional efforts are currently underway through H.Con.Res.19 – Urging the establishment of a United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation and H.R.40 – Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act, introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Both H.Con.Res.19 and H.R.40 have significant co-sponsorships –168 and 196, respectively in the 117th Congress. In this time of increasing and expanding polarization, congressional and presidential leadership are critically needed to further these efforts to assure the viability of our democracy by building our capacity to love one another equally as human beings.
For America, freedom to love is the beginning of our transformation.
On the premier episode of our podcast, NCHE PRESENTS: Leaders Pursuing Health Equity in America, host Dr. Gail C. Christopher talks with guest Dr. Kaiwipuni Punihei Lipe about the culture of native Hawaiians and their connectiveness with their homeland.
Tune in to learn more about the incredible spirit of native Hawaiians, the challenges they face to stay connected to their homelands and the connectiveness they believe links all things on earth.
“In all places in the world, I believe that at one time or another there were principles that connected us to each other and a place for us in our stories,” says Dr. Lipe. “We know that we are born from this land, that the land, the sky, the sea, the birds, the plants, the animals they’re all part of our family. It’s a lens or a framework that invites us always to be thinking of the ways we are connected, even when we’re not biologically related. And so that is a core principle that we are trying to teach anyone who is in our presence.”
Citing spiritual strength and resiliency of their culture, Dr. Lipe notes that many Hawaiians struggle “in so many ways, all very connected to the loss of our lands.” She adds that “more than half of native Hawaiians live outside of Hawaii. We cannot afford to live on our own homelands.”
Find out more about Dr. Lipe’s thoughts on Hawaiian culture and “connectiveness” on Earth on the premier episode of the NCHE PRESENTS: Leaders Pursuing Health Equity in America podcast. https://youtu.be/E-N-hcyW4Mw
Dr. Gail Christopher, NCHE’s ED, and her daughter Heather McGhee spoke to students, administrators, staff, and faculty about racial healing, hope, and the “solidarity dividend”. The event was tied with UNIV 101: Let’s Talk About Race, a university-wide course that was piloted last year. They both answered questions about grassroots advocacy and organizing.