My Final reflections...
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#BlackEpiMatters
1/n
One of the central tenants of #CriticalRaceTheory is counter-storytelling which 'is used to challenge dominant narratives about a problem'...
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#BlackEpiMatters
2/n
Many of the 'counter stories' I have gleaned over the years come from my time with communities. From Jackson, Mississippi to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I have gained the most insights from 'ordinary folks' far wiser than myself...
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#BlackEpiMatters
3/n
Last year, while teaching and conducting research with collaborators at the National School of Public Health, I found myself among an amazing group of Black Women activists on the front lines of anti-racist work in Rio...
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#BlackEpiMatters
4/n
The convener of the meeting was a Black, queer woman by the name of #MarielleFranco-- a fierce human rights advocate and local politician who was committed to speaking truth to power and advocating for the dignity of #BlackLives...
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5/n
She did this despite the dominant narrative in Brazil that denies the existence of racism. Even in the face of statistics like this: Every 23 Minutes, a Black Youth is Killed in Brazil...
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#BlackEpiMatters
6/n
She was also someone who inspired young Black Women to 'Move Power Structures' and 'Occupy Every Space'- messages that resonated with a foreign, Southern-Born Social Epidemiologist from the United States...
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#BlackEpiMatters
7/n
The night was life-giving and awe-inspiring to say the least. It was a reminder that despite the systems and structures that seek to destroy us, there is an amazing POWER that exists in collective #resistance...
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#BlackEpiMatters
8/n
I wish the story ended there. Tragically it does not. Just an hour after leaving the event, I received news that #MarielleFranco was killed in a politically motivated assassination. She was 38 years old...
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#BlackEpiMatters
9/n
On the night of March 14, the research became real. And the pain and the anger made it crystal clear for me that we are hopelessly wasting time if our research doesn't lead to ACTION...
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#BlackEpiMatters
10/n
racialhealthequity.org/blog/2019/3/14…
This Saturday, which marks 500 days since that horrific night, would have been Marielle's 40th birthday and I am recommitting myself to doing scholarship that matters.
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#BlackEpiMatters
11/n
The times in which we live call for something different. I hope our generation of scholars rises to the occasion. Indeed our collective lives depend on it.
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#BlackLivesMatter
#BlackEpiMatters
12/n
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