In light of the recent calls for justice across this country and around the world, we, as dedicated health professionals and concerned community partners, stand in solidarity with CDC employees and call on CDC to declare racism a public health crisis in the United States and to take immediate, specific, and measurable actions in 7 key areas to address the systemic racism within the agency.
#ChangeisComing
Declare racism a public health crisis in the United States
Move from talk
to action:
implement policy changes that hold CDC leaders and colleagues accountable for measurable change
implement policy changes that hold CDC leaders and colleagues accountable for measurable change
Increase black representation
among senior leadership and diversify the talent pipeline for future leaders
among senior leadership and diversify the talent pipeline for future leaders
Make implicit bias training and cultural sensitivity education mandatory for all
CDC staff
Acknowledge and take immediate, direct action
to address CDC’s culture of exclusion & racial discrimination
to address CDC’s culture of exclusion & racial discrimination
Resolve pending EEO cases of racial discrimination
Dismantle the visible and invisible barriers
to career advancement for Black CDC employees
to career advancement for Black CDC employees
Show us you are listening. Act now
Racism has been an issue since the founding of this country, embedded in every system. Though public health professionals have long known that racism is tied to the health and well-being of the nation, not until the COVID-19 pandemic did many in the nation even begin to contemplate the link. At the same time, the overarching issues of race and discrimination in this country came to a fever pitch over the summer of 2020 with the murder of George Floyd. The colliding of these issues was the impetus for the February 17, 2021, Town Hall, Declaring Racism a Public Health Crisis.
The Friends of the 7 Acts of Change and other distinguished panelists discussed racism and its effect on public health, what their organizations are doing to address this issue, and what the community at large can do to support needed change.
Declaring Racism a Public Health Crisis
Moderators
Panelist
Moderators
- Mr. Carlton Duncan, Chair, Friends of the 7 Acts of Change
- Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, Physician, Past President, American Public Health Association
Panelist
- Dr. Regina Davis Moss, Associate Executive Director, Health Policy and Practice, American
Public Health Association - Dr. Aletha Maybank, Chief Health Equity Officer, GVP, American Medical Association
- Mr. Larry Johnson, District 3 Commissioner, Dekalb County Board of Commissioners “
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