Juneteenth is observed by many as the formal end to the American institution of slavery. However, remains of this shameful legacy are still burrowed deeply into our healthcare system, impacting everyone’s ability to live freely in good health. Thus, while Juneteenth is a time of joyful celebration, it is also a perfect opportunity to reflect on how we can free ourselves from the limits of healthcare injustice once and for all.
Juneteenth: A Brief History
💡 Did you know that the Civil War didn’t end with the Emancipation Proclamation?
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared that “all slaves held in states in rebellion against the United States would be forever free”. You would imagine that such a sweeping call for social, political, and economic reform would spread across the U.S. like wildfire, but a number of structural (and very deliberate) lags in communication meant that many African Americans remained illegally enslaved – sometimes for years – until news of their freedom reached their plantations and towns. Word of freedom finally reached the shores of Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, and it is this date (“Juneteenth”) that many African Americans consider to be the true demise of the American institution of slavery.
But the movement towards Black Liberation did not – does not – end with Juneteenth. The systems that delayed and withheld news of freedom for 2.5 years in the 19th century strongly resemble today’s health information systems, whose embedded biases, barriers, and complexities continue to affect the quality and length of life for the most disadvantaged communities. Yes, Juneteenth is a call for celebration, but more importantly, it’s a call for us to actively work towards a world in which everyone is free to be healthy in mind, body, and spirit.
There is Freedom in Good Health.
In a society where the health concerns of Black, Brown, low-income, immigrant, non-male, queer, and other marginalized communities are routinely minimized or altogether ignored, countless people continue to hold their breaths, straining to exhale against voices and systems that hold equitable healthcare access just beyond their grasp. Like freedom itself, access to appropriately timely health diagnoses, treatment, and maintenance support has historically been treated as a luxury reserved for the most (racially and economically) privileged – not as a basic human right. The result of this treatment has echoed loudly across generations, from highly unethical (but state-sanctioned and federally sponsored) clinical trials, to the ongoing impacts of housing injustice (like redlining) on maternal and child health, to modern-day pandemic response and my own 7-year journey towards receiving a polycystic ovary syndrome diagnosis.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are all stunted in the face of healthcare discrimination, which restricts people from building healthy families, achieving economic stability, and taking part in the rich social and cultural lives of their communities. While Juneteenth is grounded in a spirit of joy and hope, it is our responsibility each day of the year to build an America (and world) that is free both in name AND in practice – not just as an homage to the Black Freedom Fighters of the past and present, but as a fight for our lives in the present and future.
❗️📢 ACTION ALERT: Living Up to Our Responsibilities
This Nerdy Girl holds fast to the philosophy that “no one can do everything, but everyone can do something”! I hope that from the recommendations below, you are able to identify your “something(s)” and, little by little, begin folding a health justice mindset into your daily life and practice.
Family and Friends: Make a genuine effort to make space for, validate, and respond with empathy to the health concerns of the most marginalized members of your Beloved Community. Fortunately, a listening ear costs $0.00, but to the extent that you can, work to build systems of mutual aid, organized information sharing, and policy advocacy that reduce the “intimidation factor” of healthcare access. Even small gestures like offering transportation to health appointments or sharing food as a form of medicine are acts of freedom-dreaming in a society where “loving thy neighbor” across all levels and layers is becoming less visible.
Educators: From schoolteachers and college professors to community health workers, those called to educate play enormous roles in shaping our health culture. If you come across young people in your daily work, I encourage you to be mindful about how your words and actions shape their self-image, approach to critical thinking (especially in the face of uncertainty), and comfort with advocating for themselves and others. The demands placed on you by your profession cannot be ignored, but freedom-dreaming in your classroom can take many forms – from encouraging your students to speak positively about their bodies, to fairly enforcing your disciplinary standards, to empowering students to ask questions when they’re confused so that they can approach future interactions with healthcare providers with equal curiosity and confidence.
Clinicians: Even with restrictions on your time and bandwidth, it’s crucial that you take the time to reflect on how your own life’s journey shapes your practice. What stories (and histories) do you carry with you as you interact with patients? What steps are you willing to take to free yourself from biases and assumptions about who is “worthy” of compassionate care? When confronted with someone’s illness, can you look beyond a person’s individual health behaviors to diagnose the more structural root causes? And can you communicate these root causes to patients and their loved ones with clarity and understanding? Finally, are you willing to bring the relative safety and prestige of your platform to the front lines of the fight for freedom, even in the face of inequities that loom so much larger than yourself? The more open and consistent we are in asking these sorts of questions, the closer we move towards reclaiming a sense of community within and beyond the healthcare field.
Policymakers: It would make sense for “freedom in good health” to be a bipartisan vision. But since it’s not, it’s more important than ever for decision makers at all levels to invest in the prevention and management of the many diseases (both chronic and infectious) fueled by the daily realities of institutional racism. Advocates everywhere are busy doing the work of dismantling these institutions at the grassroots level each day – and there are ways for everyone, regardless of profession, to support them – but those whose hands directly touch health-related bills as they travel through the legislative process MUST stop resting on their laurels. Policymakers have just as much of an obligation to the Beloved Community as family and friends, and the trust that their constituents place in them should provoke difficult-yet-necessary conversations about how to reshape society in a way that gives everyone a genuine chance at good health (and by extension, true freedom).
🫡 Nerdy Girl Pledges: You can be sure that Those Nerdy Girls are committed to walking our talk, so we’d also like to share some of the active freedom-dreaming we’ll be doing in our personal and professional lives to root ourselves in the legacy of Juneteenth:
I pledge to create inclusive, empathetic and accessible science education that empowers all students — especially those in rural and historically excluded communities. Through my work, I aim to build an appreciation for science by connecting it to students’ real lives and lived experiences. – Nerdy Girl Liz. Wife, Mom, Scientist, & Educator.
At home, we immerse ourselves in the literature, poetry, art, history, music, and overall joyful and life-enriching excellence of our Black neighbors, leaders, visionaries, and cultural icons. In my clinic work, I raise awareness about the disproportionately higher rates of poor perinatal health outcomes for Black parents, teach parents to look for signs and symptoms of preeclampsia, and offer in-home, inclusive breast/chestfeeding support to families who do not have equal access to lactation care.
At TNG, we commit to being intentional about amplifying Black voices in science and health communication spaces. We will grow our health equity team, and we will continue to seek a deeper understanding of how we can improve and expand our efforts at highlighting disparities in healthcare delivery and in STEM education and professions. – Nerdy Girl MK. Parent, friend, spouse, poet, nurse practitioner, lactation consultant, science communicator, and overall mischief- maker.
I pledge to highlight health disparities by asking why they exist, openly sharing the facts in writing and conversation, and seeking out and listening to people most impacted. And I pledge to avoid thinking that because I’m only one person, “I can’t do anything” or discounting how much helping or supporting even one person matters. – Nerdy Girl Daphne. Pharmacist and Writer.
I pledge to continue to learn about health disparities and their causes and impacts, and share this in my writing and other work. I also pledge to allow for conversations about health disparities to happen, even if this feels difficult and scary sometimes, especially when calling it out. – Nerdy Girl Sandy. Science Communicator, Clinician, almost-Epidemiologist, and Neighbor.
I pledge to amplify the voices of Black patients and their communities, listen in pursuit of understanding, actively question whose best interests were included in the development of “best practice”, hold myself and my peers to a standard of true antiracism, and tap into ancestral wisdom to innovate within the field of health promotion. And as a Black woman myself, I pledge to trust my own judgment when it comes to my health, instill a healthy body image in the many Black girls in my life, and take the occasional rest without permission or guilt. – Nerdy Girl Kenzie (That’s me! 🙋🏾♀️). PhD student, health and science educator, sister (by blood and by bond), daughter, friend.
Did any of this resonate with you? Share your visions of health freedom in the comments, and let’s have a conversation rooted in fierce accountability and hope.
In solidarity and with love ✊🏽🧡,
Those Nerdy Girls
