The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Monthly Journal
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Letter from the Office
This month’s newsletter was going to provide an in-depth review of the social and health inequities the LGBTQIA+ community faces every day and emphasize the need for public health practitioners and researchers need to understand the widespread impact of discrimination.
But as the news of murders of both cis and trans Black community flooded various media channels, I was once again reminded of what society tells me my place--and all those who look and love like me--is in this world. With that in mind, I decided to pivot the focus of this newsletter to address the social and health inequities that come with being QTBIPOC: Queer & Trans Black, Indigenous People of Color.
Activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera are often trotted out during these times to acknowledge the intersectionality and history of the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights. But we must also remember how the systems they fought against treated them throughout their lives. Marsha P. Johnson’s death at age 46 was deemed a suicide while many believed that she was murdered, and Sylvia Rivera died homeless.
Over the past few weeks, we have been talking about our role as Public Health ambassadors and the work we have to do to build and promote a more equitable health care system and world for all. Time and again we’ve seen the particular cruelties suffered by those whose identities occupy more than one marginalized identity. To truly do the work, we must not only confront the roots of systemic oppression, but also understand the intersections of identities that further limit agency and power in our society.
Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the theory of Intersectionality to feminist theory stating, “Intersectionality is a lens through which you can see where power comes and collides, where it interlocks and intersects. It’s not simply that there’s a race problem here, a gender problem there, and a class or LBGTQ problem there. Many times that framework erases what happens to people who are subject to all of these things.”
We can no longer erase what happens!
Sincerely,
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The following resources feature Critical Race theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw. These are sources of ongoing insight on the inequities not only in health, but also in society at large. They are relevant in the current climate and beyond.
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This newsletter we highlight the research of Dr. Bianca D.M. Wilson, Black biracial lesbian femme. Dr. Wilson is a Rabbi Barbara Zacky Senior Scholar of Public Policy of the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law
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From Dr. Wilson:
In my work at the Williams Institute, I choose research topics that highlight the impacts of gender and sexuality-based oppression and racism through system involvement. Across our research on LGBT people in the child welfare system, criminalization system, and experiences with poverty, we consistently see that Black LGBT people are overrepresented. My goal is to continue interrogating the ways multiple forms of oppression independently and interactively create pathways in and barriers out of these systems.
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FSPH Spotlight
Each month, we’ll be spotlighting a member of our community who is doing the work to improve equity in public health.
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James Huynh, MA MPH
PhD student in the
Community Health Sciences
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“
Often, public health operates from a deficit model. I want to approach it from a strengths-based place and highlight how people are supporting each other on the ground, with the resources at hand.
”
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We’re spotlighting James Huynh, PhD in the Community Health Sciences Department at Fielding. Here, James shares a bit about how he came to find UCLA--and his calling.
It wasn’t until I got to college that I realized the societal implications of my identity. At Stanford, I majored in Human Biology. Many of the other students within my program were also first-gen and low income. At first, I didn’t realize why that was. But in my classes I began to learn the history and context behind that reality.
It was also during college that I came out as gay and queer. I use both very intentionally. To me, gay refers to sexual and romantic attraction. Queer captures a political identity and the radical notion of reimagining the world. I often reflect on the queer Black and trans leaders who played a key role in the Stonewall Riots with so much gratitude.
I went to college thinking I’d become a physician. But in going through those courses and engaging in social justice organizing, I realized that I didn’t want to just treat patients one-on-one and send them back out into a toxic environment. I wanted to get at the root causes of health disparities and their impact. That’s how I found public health.
I came to UCLA to complete master’s degrees not only in public health, but also in Asian American studies. I knew that public health frameworks, theories, and procedures wouldn’t be enough to address health equity.
The history of public health is rooted in racism: which bodies are clean, which people are inherently diseased, etc. As such, I was very much dedicated to maintaining and further developing my ethnic studies lens alongside my understanding of public health concepts, so that I could do my work in a way that is ethical, in a way that truly brings about change for marginalized communities.
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When I began my master’s programs, I thought I was taking my last educational step—that I would finish my coursework and accept a position serving the Asian American community in the non-profit or public sector. But my thesis for my Asian American studies program changed everything.
I ended up working with a group of queer Vietnamese people in Orange County, California—people like me. The group became not only the subject of my research but also a political and social home.
Working with them, I learned just how much I enjoyed connecting with community members--my calling was at the intersection of research and community organizing.
Having found myself in that work, I realized that I hadn’t reached the end of my academic career. I wanted to pursue a research career where I could center the voices of queer communities of color.
My research methodology is based in ethnography. Of course, ethnography in and of itself is problematic, inextricably linked to the white gaze of anthropologists who first developed the practice. But there are more recent generations of ethnographic scholars who see themselves as being a part of the communities in which they are working. We are committed to using our academic privilege to document and give voice to the community.
With that in mind, it’s important to note that I don’t come into any community as an expert. I say “document” with intention, too. The communities are already doing the work. I am there to write about it for a different audience, namely those in academia, and to demonstrate the resilience of our people.
Often, public health operates from a deficit model. I want to approach it from a strengths-based place and highlight how people are supporting each other on the ground, with the resources at hand. That’s why I’m pursuing a PhD.
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We’d love your suggestions on who you’d like to see featured in the newsletter, including professors, staff, classmates, alumni, and community members. We look forward to collaborating with you to share the great minds who are transforming public health locally and globally. Submit Spotlight submissions
here
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Exploring New Perspectives
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At a time when new ways of thinking must be adopted, it is imperative that we listen and learn from individuals doing the work in the community.
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The Body is Not An Apology
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The FSPH Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
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Our goal is to
foster a community of inclusion where historically and socially marginalized and underserved students feel represented, heard, and respected.
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