Black History Month is a time to celebrate Black life, learn and educate others about Black history, and honor Black elders and activists by contributing to the fight for racial justice. The IWS team has compiled some of the resources that we sat with this month.

• Structural Racism In Historical And Modern US Health Care Policy. This article examines how policy decisions made between 1875 and 1968 allowed local governments and private employers to provide racially inequitable access to health care and health insurance; the authors then discuss structural racism’s modern-day impact in the areas of health care coverage, finance, and quality.
• Anti-Racism Daily Emails. These daily emails provide education and actions to dismantle white supremacy. The month of February featured a daily “28 Days of Black History” series that focused on individuals and pieces of culture central to Black history and the fight for racial justice. 
• Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital. This book provides a comprehensive history of race and democracy in Washington, D.C., over multiple centuries, up to the present-day impacts of gentrification in the District.
• Movement for Black Lives’ Reparations Now Toolkit. In addition to stating a clear vision for reparations and chronicling the movement’s history in the U.S. and abroad, this toolkit features engaging activities that we can all use to teach our friends, families, and communities about reparations and Black liberation.  

Congratulations to Elizabeth Lower-Basch for her nomination to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Equity Commission! This 15-member independent commission will evaluate USDA programs and services, as well as identify how the agency can reduce barriers to access for people who have historically been excluded. The USDA will use the Equity Commission’s findings to make needed programmatic and institutional changes that reflect the values of equity and inclusion. The work of the Equity Commission will empower the USDA to objectively confront the hard reality of past discrimination and its lingering harm, advising the agency as it builds back better and hopes to serve its customers more fairly and equitably.

Say hello to Amira Iwuala, the IWS team’s 2022 Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow! Amira is a native of Roxbury, Massachusetts, where her lived experience shaped her passion for dismantling systems that perpetuate white supremacy and impact economic liberty and justice for communities of color with low incomes. She attended Northeastern University where she received her bachelor’s degree in health sciences with a minor in global health and a master’s degree in public health. Amira will support our team in the Community-Driven Policy and Practice (CDPP) work, where CLASP’s IWS and youth teams are partnering with the Community Partnership Group (CPG) and youth activists to define “economic justice” from the perspective of those with lived experiences of poverty and exploring the policies that must be advanced to achieve it. She will also assist with documenting the process and lessons learned to develop training and technical assistance modules for peer organizations.