Racial Equity

There was a time I liked to think of myself as a good person. Like most “good people” if you had asked me if I was racist I would have answered with a resounding “Of course not!” But I have come to learn it’s not that simple. Growing up as a mixed brown and white woman in a mostly white suburb I was used to being on the lookout for micro-aggressions and outright hostility. What evaded me was the idea that I could be continuing the cycle of racism. “I’m brown, so obviously I’m not racist” was a favorite refrain.

Public engagement isn’t always easy, but it’s a necessary part of making communities work for everyone. For the last 16 years, residents in Palm Beach County, Fla., have been using Everyday Democracy’s dialogue-to-change process to work on issues of race, early childhood education, and building strong neighborhoods.

We must find a place where we can acknowledge and uplift our differences. At the vigil New York, I saw acutely that the only way we can do this is by coming together, speaking with one another, listening to each other, and by holding space for our pain, grief, confusion, and pride.

The mass shooting at Pulse in Orlando has shaken the country and we are still grieving the lives that were lost. This tragedy has also had a disproportionate impact on LGBT people of color, who were targeted that night and who are too often the victims of hate crimes. This time, it was on a scale that the country couldn’t ignore.

One way to approach reproductive health inequality is the Sojourner Syndrome: an intersectional approach that examines how racism, classism and gender operate in the lives of Black women produce increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and infant mortality. Here is one woman's story and how we can approach this issue to make real change.