Sharing best practices, resources and news curated through a health equity lens for learning and action.
Research and Data
“Stolen Breaths,” The New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
“Racial Profiling Is a Public Health and Health Disparities Issue,” Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 2020
“Police Brutality and Mistrust in Medical Institutions,” Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 2020
“Public Health Addresses Police Violence: A Beginning,” American Journal of Public Health, 2020
“Negative Police Encounters and Police Avoidance as Pathways to Depressive Symptoms Among US Black Men, 2015–2016,” American Journal of Public Health, 2020
“COVID-19 Outbreaks at Correctional Facilities Demand a Health Equity Approach to Criminal Justice Reform," Journal of Urban Health, 2020
“The Traumatic Impact of Racism and Discrimination on Young People and How to Talk About It,” chapter excerpted from Reaching Teens: Strength-Based, Trauma-Sensitive, Resilience-Building Communication Strategies Rooted in Positive Youth Development, 2nd Edition, American Academy of Pediatrics, 2020
“Criminal Justice System Involvement and Measures of Health among New York City Residents, 2017,” NYC Health Department, 2019
“Addressing Law Enforcement Violence as a Public Health Issue,” American Public Health Association, 2018
“In Focus: Reducing Racial Disparities in Health Care by Confronting Racism,” The Commonwealth Fund, 2018
“Police killings and their spillover effects on the mental health of black Americans: a population-based, quasi-experimental study,” The Lancet, 2018
“Police Violence, Use of Force Policies, and Public Health,” American Journal of Law & Medicine, 2017
“Civil Unrest in the Context of Chronic Community Violence: Impact on Maternal Depressive Symptoms,” American Journal of Public Health, 2017
“Community Violence as a Population Health Issue: Proceedings of a Workshop,” National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017
“A Research Agenda for Racial Equity: Applications of the Ferguson Commission Report to Public Health,” American Journal of Public Health, 2016
“The Science of Justice: Race, Arrests, and Police Use of Force,” Center for Policing Equity, 2016
“Black Lives Matter: A Commentary on Racism and Public Health,” American Journal of Public Health, 2015
“#BlackLivesMatter — A Challenge to the Medical and Public Health Communities,” New England Journal of Medicine, 2015
“Why Police Kill Black Males with Impunity: Applying Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP) to Address the Determinants of Policing Behaviors and “Justifiable” Homicides in the USA,” Journal of Urban Health, 2015
“Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color,” Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, 1994
Resources
Resources to Challenge Policing and Incarceration as Part of a COVID-19 Response, Human Impact Partners, May 2020
Key Public Health Resources for Anti-Racism Action: A Curated List, National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (Canada), 2018
Webinar Series: The Impact of Racism on the Health and Well-Being of the Nation, American Public Health Association, 2015
Fact Sheet: Links Between Violence and Health Equity, Prevention Institute, 2011
Racism and Health, American Public Health Association
Race, Racism and Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Violence, Safety and Community Peace, Racial Equity Tools
Current Projects, Center for the Study of Racism, Social Justice & Health
Anti-Racist Resources from Greater Good, The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley
Anti-Racism, National Health Care for the Homeless Council
Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism (a town hall for kids and families), Sesame Street
26 Ways to Be in the Struggle Beyond the Streets, Beyond the Streets
Books about Race/ism and Medicine, compiled by #MedTwitterBookClub
Confronting Prejudice: How to Protect Yourself and Help Others, Pepperdine University
News & Perspectives
August & September 2020
“The Relentlessness of Black Grief,” The Atlantic, September 27, 2020
“Medicine for the Greater Good: one hospital’s way of supporting its nearby communities of color,” STAT, September 24, 2020
“How we define ‘need’ for place-based policy reveals where poverty and race intersect,” Brookings, September 22, 2020
“To Prepare for the Next Pandemic, Health Care Needs to Tackle Racism,” United Hospital Fund, September 21, 2020
“How Racism Intersects with Public Health and COVID,” Smithsonian Magazine, September 15, 2020
“Toward a Cure: Cities Declare Racism a Public Health Crisis,” Colorlines, September 2, 2020
“Black Life in Two Pandemics: Histories of Violence,” National Museum of American History, August 25, 2020
“Mental-health leaders: We must end pandemic of racism | Commentary,” Orlando Sentinel, August 18, 2020
July 2020
“Covid’s Color Line — Infectious Disease, Inequity, and Racial Justice,” New England Journal of Medicine, July 30, 2020
“Milwaukee Said It First: Racism is a Public Health Crisis,” The New York Times, July 18, 2020
“A Conversation About Imagining a World Without Police,” Slate, July 17, 2020
“Labeling Racism a Health Crisis Sparks Calls for Accountability,” Bloomberg Law, July 16, 2020
“Berkeley moves toward removing police from traffic stops,” ABC News, July 15, 2020
“Make Black lives matter by investing in Black communities—Part I,” American Federation of Teachers, July 13, 2020
“Racism in care leads to health disparities, doctors and other experts say as they push for change,” The Washington Post, July 11, 2020
“NYC turns its attention to medical racism,” City & State New York, July 10, 2020
“What It Means When You Wear a Mask—and When You Refuse To,” The Nation, July 9, 2020
“Pandemic, Protests Cause Racism to Resonate as a Public Health Issue,” U.S. News and World Report, July 8, 2020
“"Our system is not built to serve everyone equally": Doctors push for an end to racial discrimination in health care,” CBS News, July 6, 2020
“Virus, Floyd death merge in brutal blow to Black well-being,” Associated Press, July 5, 2020
“On Racism: A New Standard For Publishing On Racial Health Inequities,” Health Affairs Blog, July 2, 2020
June 2020
“Academic Medicine and Black Lives Matter: Time for Deep Listening,” JAMA, June 30, 2020
“Black Americans experience deadly stress as a pandemic and violent racism collide, experts say,” NBC News, June 29, 2020
“Truth and Reparations: A Cultural Shift is Needed to Eradicate Manifestations of Violence Against Blacks,” Milwaukee Independent, June 25, 2020
“No more Band-Aid solutions — 4 Black healthcare leaders on why it's time to treat racism like the systemic disease it is,” Becker's Hospital Review, June 25, 2020
“What is racial trauma? How Black therapists are helping patients cope,” Today, June 24, 2020
“Officials Seek To Shift Resources Away From Policing To Address Black ‘Public Health Crisis’,” California Healthline, June 24, 2020
“Policing Has Failed: For Real Public Safety, We Need A Million Community-Driven Experiments,” Essence, June 23, 2020
“The Chronic Stress of Being Black in the U.S. Makes People More Vulnerable to COVID-19 and Other Diseases,” Yes! Magazine, June 23, 2020
“Systemic Racism Is Social Dynamite,” The Nation, June 19, 2020
“‘I can’t breathe’: Health inequity and state-sanctioned violence,” The Hospitalist, June 18, 2020
“Police killings have 'exacted a trauma' on Black community, top CDC official says,” Yahoo! News, June 18, 2020
“Virus, racism pose more mental health risks for black Americans,” Roll Call, June 17, 2020
“How the Cash Bail System Endangers the Health of Black Americans," The Commonwealth Fund, June 17, 2020
“Why Police Brutality Is a Public Health Issue,” Self, June 17, 2020
“Covid-19 and police abuses have exposed an ugly truth about America: racism kills,” The Guardian, June 12, 2020
“COVID-19 Pandemic, Unemployment, and Civil Unrest: Underlying Deep Racial and Socioeconomic Divides,” JAMA, June 12, 2020
“Mayor Walsh declares racism a public health crisis in Boston, will seek to transfer 20% of police overtime budget to social services,” The Boston Globe, June 11, 2020
“Will George Floyd’s Death Actually Change How Cities and States Are Run?,” Route Fifty, June 11, 2020
“Question: How Does Racism Affect the Immune System?,” The National Interest, June 10, 2020
“We are protesting during a pandemic: local authorities should act like it,” The Hill, June 10, 2020
“Beyond Lip Service: Taking A Genuine Approach To Tackling COVID-19 (And All) Black-White Health Disparities In The United States,” Health Affairs Blog, June 9, 2020
“A Crisis Within a Crisis: How COVID Fueled the Protests,” Governing, June 8, 2020
“‘We’re losing our kids’: Black youth suicide rate rising far faster than for whites; coronavirus, police violence deepen trauma,” USA Today, June 7, 2020
“‘Pandemic Within a Pandemic’: Coronavirus and Police Brutality Roil Black Communities,” The New York Times, June 7, 2020
“The nexus between coronavirus and protests: The virus ‘was the kindling, and the police brutality lit the fire.’,” The Washington Post, June 7, 2020
“American Medical Association: Doctors To Work To End Police Brutality, Racism In Healthcare,” Forbes, June 7, 2020
“How to address racism like the public health crisis it is,” Quartz, June 6, 2020
“On the Minds of Black Lives Matter Protesters: A Racist Health System,” Vox, June 5, 2020
“Racism is a deadly virus, too: A public health defense of these mass protests,” New York Daily News, June 5, 2020
“Why George Floyd's death, COVID-19 inequality sparked protests: 'We're witnessing history',” Democrat & Chronicle, June 5, 2020
“Racism is killing black people. It’s sickening them, too.,” The Washington Post, June 4, 2020
“‘Which death do they choose?’: Many Black men fear wearing a mask more than the coronavirus,” STAT, June 3, 2020
“Doctors can’t treat COVID-19 effectively without recognizing the social justice aspects of health,” The Conversation, June 2, 2020
“Cause of death: COVID-19, police violence or racism?,” Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2020
“2 public health crises have collided in the protests over George Floyd’s death,” Vox, June 1, 2020
“Racial Trauma Is a Public Health Emergency,” Psychology Today, June 1, 2020
“Racism is a public health issue and 'police brutality must stop,' medical groups say,” CNN, June 1, 2020
“Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David on the Launch of Pride Month and Anti-Racism,” Human Rights Campaign, June 1, 2020
May 2020
“Black people are at the center of two public health crises in the US: Covid-19 and police brutality,” Quartz, May 31, 2020
“Police brutality must stop,” American Medical Association, May 29, 2020
“Race, Justice, and COVID-19,” Boston University School of Public Health, May 29, 2020
“Marijuana enforcement is still driving racist policing,” New York Daily News, May 29, 2020