Thread by @usnehal

Hello 👋 new followers. Feel free to introduce yourself.

Me: A top strength of mine is “input” Others in pics.

I tweet A LOT. I tweet long threads with links to articles, with highlighted screenshots, links to others’ tweets. I hold onto info & reference past yet “futuristic”

You have to know the past to understand patterns and see possibilities as well as navigate past barriers for the future.

If you like control or boundaries, run now as I promise you I will be 🤯 for you.

If you like creativity, expression, innovation, equity, ethics, welcome.

https://twitter.com/usnehal/status/1265425020551077888

I am going to constantly run around the world finding interesting concepts & facts, be passionate & outspoken on justice/equity, re-use old tweets to explore new facet in new thread.

I’ll shape shift & if you try to pin me down or box me in, you will be frustrated.

All me:

At heart I am an activist. My patients can’t speak or vote. When I was still a resident I helped overturn a policy change in SCHIP under mentorship of Dr. Feigin. I will disrupt status quo to advance equity and I will speak early and often on harm, even if means being “Cassandra”

I am staunchly feminist, educated/raised by strong, American & Pakistani women & recently #blackqueens

BUT no matter how tough we have it, we MUST be #ethical & canNOT play victim to evade #accountability

especially in #healthcare where the patient is always the most vulnerable

I come from a long line of public servants who navigated privilege with willingness to “fall on your sword” to protect the less empowered, challenging the white master in Colonial times (at risk of death). Look at #antiAsianhate: that risk remains. I navigate spaces similarly.

https://twitter.com/usnehal/status/1356611176856231942

“Model minority” & #impostersyndrome: not my shtick. I haven’t had it easy but I recognize light-skinned privilege in America (& the world)

so have educated myself
to not be “not racist”
but become actively #antiracist.
I get along fine w/ white men who appreciate frankness

I am
-Muslim
-a frequent visitor to the White House and government buildings
-work on refugee health
an activist
-lived in Pakistan & Saudi Arabia

I know I am under surveillance

Twitter invites cyberstalking too
#MedTwitter stalks too

C’est la vie 🤷🏻‍♀️

politico.com/magazine/story…

I have been stalked & threatened by the armed militia types as well as Taliban-esque types

I bother/am labeled a “threat” by
all the bullies
who use threats, violence, intimidation to gain control

When I need to leave this earth, I’ll go
In the meantime, am SUPER busy

https://twitter.com/usnehal/status/1316972347761590272

I was also “stalked” by multiple potential cancers - all now cleared after biopsies & surgeries - with my own body potentially trying to kill me, one possibly putting my light out within 3 months

I’ve learned to live with threat of disease or death with acceptance, not fear

Yes, I have many ADHD traits, no diagnosis after I got myself tested. They had no term for my brain 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yet again, I’m unique
A unicorn 🦄

I mean, why not?
Gotta keep my cyberstalkers going down a new rabbit hole LOL
I pity those who stalk/track me: 🤯

I lost my mom to #COVID19 ~1 month ago. Losing your mother forever changes you

I had no patience for drama/excuses to cover/justify harm before my Mom died ..more intensely so now

Her (WOC) death was unnecessary
= #healthcare #publichealth #leadership failure

Stop harming POC

Am still in acute grief at this point, using art, writing, friends, family, prayer, mentoring, sunshine, grief quilt project to manage thru. I have not yet started to unpack certain traumas

Deciding how to handle certain wrong things (report?)- If you harmed, I am coming for you

I still have to think about Daddy - stress on him and if his future care would suffer

so my hands are tied on reporting certain things as I normally might do for system improvement and for individual level accountability.

Many clinicians were awesome
A couple were NOT

https://twitter.com/thereidout/status/1376341854627713037

I get my ethics, values, backbone, written skills from my mom. She was an introvert to my extroversion. I wear her ring & bangles, mostly to remind myself she is gone so I don’t think to look for her or call her. Once your mom passes, there just are no safe spaces in the world.

Her death does anchor me. If there is no safe space in this world, the only place to find it is within me, where she lives as a memory and where I can still love her even if she is no longer in this world. She would want me to still climb every mountain.

Security is an illusion. Those who seek to achieve it via control live in constant fear/paranoia. What an awful way to live. If they only harmed themselves, would be bad enuf. We need to keep living courageously & pushing the boundaries of status quo to take care of marginalized.

One reason I defy labels: was raised withOUT self loathing most girls & minorities are taught by society. I enter/leave spaces on my own terms. I negotiate from a position my unique value. I do not rely on “female” passive aggressive, “victim” manipulation

“Killing Us Softly” describes how Western female ideal/marketing makes women hate selves & bodies (to point to starving selves to death), glorifying violence vs women, & punishes the strong female voice. Mislabeling women is a common tactic of control. Defining self is essential.

Run, FAR from (point out falsehood):
-talk about “control”
-spread fear/anxiety
-threaten
-manipulate your insecurity
-“lead” with a victim identity
-play victim when held accountable, -seek to be gatekeepers of access
-use words like “optics”
-hide/delete

Be a phenomenal 👩🏽

To be clear:
we MUST “believe women”
while recognizing:
-structures of inequity
-“Karen” vs WOC
-uniquely vulnerable role black women in America occupy
-the “strong black woman” persona
invokes both “mammy” & “threat”

America kills too many black women

scientificamerican.com/article/to-pre…

So that’s a mini tour of my values, brain, life. Am always trying to advance my understanding so will revisit topics. Whether it is case-based learning or b-school “define the persona”, when I find a public figure who is a good example of an issue, I reference often.

Am at @MIT to democratize data access & disrupt status quo. Yes, have a consulting practice. (Ppl who shame independent WOC look that up right away) Have 15 years as a practicing licensed clinician & medical affairs leadership. My @acgme compliant curricula are free - no paywall.

Yes, I am on a mission to prevent and reduce harm. “First do no harm” is core of being a physician. Harm to children of color, girls, neurodiverse, etc, is, unfortunately, embedded in the system by design and by who is in leadership. #education must be a safe space for growth.

https://twitter.com/usnehal/status/1378781132733489152

My past approach: service/free..

..after a tour of Medicaid budgets & #FQHC c-suite

..I’m getting wiser
“no margin, no mission”
also true
for serving the marginalized

We need wealthy, resourced WOC
to create & FUND *sustainable* impact
for GIRLS

dw.com/en/fatima-al-f…

This is one of my idea pitches. Did not practice it before (not smooth). Submitted *just* before deadline. Got feedback: what is your #businessmodel?

Hence @MITSloan & @MITSloanFellows Build team. Get funded. Launch. #socialenterprise #Entrepreneurship

My threads never have a natural end - just keep going & going. So I’ll end with a key @bcmhouston @TexasChildrens mentor who taught me I could do ANYTHING - we led #datadriven #advocacy to repeal bad #healthpolicy law in #Texas #SCHIP that harmed kids
alchetron.com/Ralph-Feigin

@threadreaderapp please unroll