Hi, everyone!!
I wanted to share this little memo I wrote for a group that I am helping to start within my grad school cohort.
We are all in the Community Health Promotion program and at some point have expressed frustration with the systems in which we live, work, and play.
We are mad that marginalized communities continue to be f*cked over, especially in seemingly discrete ways in liberal Minneapolis/St. Paul.
We learn in our classes about how these systems exacerbate inequalities and inequity in health outcomes but we don't dive deeper into how ultimately change these systems.
Because of this, we started this informal media/book/learning club called Liberation in Action where we plan to meet monthly to educate each other on these inequities and learn from the people who currently do the work to change them.
I added the memo below to give context to people who missed the first meeting but also as a declaration for why we do what we do and really why I care so much.
I felt like sharing and so, as always, let me know your thoughts.
Welcome!
I thought it would be cheesy to come up with a mission statement together. But in our first meeting, we developed ideas of what we want this to be.
In our MPH classes, we only scratch the surface of the role that structural inequality plays in public health. The purpose of this group is to dive deeper and educate each other on the issues that are so important to so many people.
This is to bring real-life meaning to the Lilla Watson quote, “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
As public health professionals, it is important for us to understand that we are not saving anyone. We are here to do the work with the communities because we recognize what is inherently wrong with our systems is all of our problems and that none of us are free until all of us are free.
But this goes deeper than cultural humility and career readiness. This is because we recognize that there isn’t a destination where we have learned it all and are officially ready to do the work. You may think none of this impacts you but yet you wake up every day and ask, “Am I going to be okay with all of this?”
And we’re hopefully all here because the answer is hell no.
I also want to acknowledge how important, at least to me, community is. Audre Lorde said, “Without community, there is no liberation”. I believe this. What is freedom without each other?
I am here for collective growth, healing, and liberation and, maybe, that’s what will change the world.
Martha
Cover image: From NY Times article of tenants of the Corcoran Five apartment buildings in Minneapolis that bought the buildings, celebrating their collective ownership
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