WEEK 4: PUBLIC HEALTH

TODAY'S CHALLENGE:
RACISM AND TOXIC STRESS


Welcome to the final week of the 21 Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge! People of color suffer worse health outcomes than their white counterparts, for virtually every health indicator - even when controlling for income and other factors.

Learn why these disparities aren't about race, but racism. Today we are talking about the impact of toxic stress caused by daily exposure to discrimination on the health of people of color.
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


WE CHALLENGE YOU TO TAKE...

Watch this TED Talk about the relationship between high levels of discrimination and a broad range of negative health outcomes, including obesity, high blood pressure, breast cancer, heart disease, and early death.
Listen to this podcast about the effect of frequent racist encounters on the health outcomes of people of color. The article also features a case study on how a large scale I.C.E. raid in Iowa impacted the health of pregnant Latinx women across the state.
Read this article discussing how mental burdens of bias, trauma, and family hardship lead to unequal life outcomes for girls and women of color.
PUBLIC HEALTH
WEEKLY ACTION ALERT

LEVEL 1 : Talk to your company/organization's Human Resources department about their parental leave policy and other systems in place to support new parents.

LEVEL 2 : Write a letter to your local elected officials urging them to declare racism a public health crisis.

LEVEL 3 : Join Your Neighbor's Hood Podcast and Volunteer Hampton Roads in an effort to build relationships and continue the conversation around race by hosting Just Dinner .

JOIN THE  21 DAY CHALLENGE FACEBOOK GROUP   FOR CONVERSATIONS WITH FELLOW PARTICIPANTS