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In the one year since the COVID-19 pandemic hit our shores, there is
much that we've learned, there is much that we've been challenged by,
and there is much to look forward to. It's been a time of collective
trauma –– and yet, our spirit and resilience fighting for racial justice
continues to shine bright.
Last week we reached the grim 500,000 death toll from COVID-19 –– an
astounding and devastating number of the amount of life lost due to the
pandemic. At the same time, we've begun to finally see a sharp downward
trend in the number of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.
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This positive development coincides with the continued rollout of the
Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, a process which has had its own challenges
amidst the changing of presidential administrations and severe weather
across the US
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.
In this second year of fighting coronavirus, we also know what we knew
over a year ago
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–– that the disproportionate impacts
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of COVID-19 would hit BIPOC communities the hardest
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. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has corroborated
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that Black, Latinx, and Indigenous folks are four times as likely to be
hospitalized because of COVID-19. These numbers represent how dire the
situation continues to be. Though receiving immunization from the
vaccines promises some relief, we're already seeing inequities in the
vaccine's rollout
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. In addition to a national vaccine shortage, the last presidential
administration's damaging pandemic response
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, and the emergence of new coronavirus variants
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, it's clear the situation calls for centering racial equity to address
disparities.
Conversations around vaccination in communities of color, specifically
Black communities, is rooted in a cruel legacy of racism and
experimentation. At a recent CNN town hall, President Biden acknowledged
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this painful history for Black Americans and pledged racial equity would
be a priority for the administration's coronavirus efforts. Data shows
more than half of Black Americans have a distrust towards the vaccine
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, which underscores the need for this Administration to make good on
their commitment
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to centering a racially equitable response.
Race Forward is part of a collaborative of nine leading racial equity
anchor organizations who last month called on the Biden Administration
to establish a White House Office on Racial Equity and Inclusion
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. We're now reiterating the pressing urgency of that call. Race Forward
President Glenn Harris
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and APIAHF CEO Juliet Choi
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recently We Need a Cabinet Seat for Racial Equity."
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In the piece, they discuss how the creation of an office solely focused
on the task of advancing racial equity at the federal level would allow
the Biden administration to truly "prioritize the resources and
infrastructure needed to make an equitable, and just America a reality."
Since last March, Race Forward has maintained that the best science
supports a racial equity approach, and that a racial equity approach
advances the fight against the coronavirus –– and now that we're finally
beginning to turn the page, we'll continue meeting the moment together.
Visit Race Forward's website
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for all our latest updates and projects, ask a friend to subscribe to
our newsletter
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, follow us on Facebook
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, Twitter
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, and Instagram
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, read Colorlines
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for continuing race explicit coverage of the pandemic, take a look at
our Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE)
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work, and listen to and subscribe to Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
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.
Check out our latest below!
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Careers at Race Forward and more
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Apply to these open positions!
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Race Forward is hiring a Movement Capacity Building Director
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, to provide leadership in our work with racial justice movements led by
BIPOC communities that are working to harness self-determination, power,
and the resources needed to transform our systems and institutions.
To join us in catalyzing communities, government, and other institutions
to dismantle structural racism, take a look at more of Race Forward's
open positions
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. You can also check out the career pages of some of our allied
organizations below:
Careers at Race Forward
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Jobs at Unidos US
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Employment at Demos
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Careers at the Othering & Belonging Institute
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Jobs at the NAACP
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or the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
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Employment at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
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March Events: BRE Training and a #RaceAnd Webinar
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Register: After the Inauguration: Mobilizing for Racial Justice
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Next week, on March 3rd, join us for Part Three of our #RaceAnd the
Movement Forward series After the Inauguration: Mobilizing for Racial
Justice
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. At this timely virtual event we'll discuss the Biden Administration's
first month in office, and analyze the steps taken so far in crafting
federal policy to address urgent racial justice priorities. Register and
join us
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as we convene to elevate and center innovative community strategies led
by BIPOC communities –– strategizing together to achieve a just
multiracial democracy.
Though a new presidential administration has been sworn in, we must
continue to be vigilant and address the systemic racism that affects our
communities, past and present. Our Building Racial Equity (BRE)
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series are interactive trainings
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for those inspired to challenge and change institutional racial
inequities. If you've already completed our initial BRE training, we
encourage you to register for Organizing Racial Equity: Shifting Power
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. This second training strengthens participants' collective analysis of
power while providing useful tools and framework to shift power within
groups, institutions and other formations seeking to advance racial
justice in this time. Register for one of our upcoming BRE or ORE
trainings today!
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Staff Picks
During these trying times, it's important to share the small things that
keep us going. In this edition, we hear from our GARE West Regional
Manager, Roberto Montoya
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.
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"I want to recommend The James Baldwin Soundtrack on Spotify,
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a work-in-progress playlist curated by the Clandestino Institut. In his
beautiful book Sonny's Blues, James Baldwin wrote: "All I know about
music is that not many people ever really hear it. And even then, on the
rare occasions when something opens within, and the music enters, what
we mainly hear, or hear corroborated, are personal, private, vanishing
evocations." This playlist includes songs by artists mentioned
throughout Baldwin's literary works –– may we open ourselves to the
music and the teachings of James Baldwin también!"
Credit: Spotify
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What are you listening to, watching, reading and learning? Tell us on
Twitter
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or Facebook
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.
In solidarity,
Team Race Forward
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Copyright © Race Forward, 145 East 57th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10022, USA
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