Our memo brings together information that reflects the current thinking on how to progress Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace. Each month it is bursting with highlights for reflection and inspiration. Let us continue to work together to help influence social change, to achieve a safer and fairer society.
*Please note that this memo reflects the feelings and thoughts of your Diversity Committee. It is not meant to capture all the feelings within our Department. We openly recognize all may not agree. We do hope these memos help educate all of us about diversity issues and in addition invoke thoughtful and courteous discussion and debate*
~ The Pediatrics Diversity Committee
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With the first addition of the Pediatric Diversity Memo for 2022 we would like to wish you, your family, and your loved ones the best in the New Year. We hope for a more peaceful year filled with love and happiness and time for self-reflection. Also, a time for you to enjoy family and friends and the beauty of nature.
January is Poverty in America Awareness Month. There are days in January for us to recognize the importance of world peace, to remember those with visual impairments and to commemorate the holocaust of World War II. This is where six million of our Jewish friends lost their lives because of who they were.
January is also the host for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day which commemorates the birthday of this great minister, philosopher and leader of the American Civil Rights Movement. He was born in Atlanta Georgia on Jan 15, 1929. His birth is celebrated the third Monday of January, recognized as a federal holiday since 1971. Dr. King’s beliefs and actions taught us much about nonviolence and civil disobedience. His teaching still rings true today. Some quotes that you may find helpful in our current troubled times include:
- “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.”
- "The time is always right to do what is right."
- “A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.”
- "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
- "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
- “We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”
- “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”
- “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re on the same boat now.”
- “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
- “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
- “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
- “Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”
Have a wonderful year. Listen to your heart and to Dr. King. Stand up for what you believe is right. Use your voice. Do not be deterred.
Your Pediatric Diversity Committee
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UPCOMING DIVERSITY TOWN HALL |
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**The townhalls will resume in February 2022**
Date: Thursday, February 3, 2022
Time: 12:00p virtually
Meeting ID: 980 2055 2152 - Passcode: 076660
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As the National Institutes of Health put it in their biography of Dr. Elders, she "grew up in a rural, segregated, poverty-stricken pocket of Arkansas." Although she was a biology and chemistry whiz in high school, she faced significant barriers in pursuing those areas. But after seeing a talk by Edith Irby Jones, MD, the first African American to graduate from the University of Arkansas Medical School, she was inspired to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor.
After graduating from college, she spent three years in the Army and was trained as a physical therapist. Elders went on to earn her medical degree at the University of Arkansas Medical School in 1960.
Her research focused on adolescent health issues, especially sexual development and diabetes. And, in 1987, then-Governor Bill Clinton appointed her to lead the Arkansas Health Department. Under her guidance, the state saw vast improvements in screenings for childhood illnesses and vaccinations. Then, in 1993, President Clinton appointed her to be Surgeon General — the second woman and first African American to hold the position — where she was an outspoken advocate for health care reform and sex education.
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The Basic Facts About Children in Poverty - January 12, 2021
Nearly 11 million children are living in poverty in America. Here is how the crisis reached this point—and what steps must be taken to solve it.
Introduction and summary
In America, nearly 11 million children are poor. That’s 1 in 7 kids, who make up almost one-third of all people living in poverty in this country. This number should be unimaginable in one of the world’s wealthiest countries, and yet child poverty has remained stubbornly high for decades Across the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is made up of 37 countries including Denmark, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the United States is consistently ranked as one of the worst in child poverty rates. Click here to read more.
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By Ibram X. Kendi
The National Book Award winning history of how racist ideas were created, spread, and deeply rooted in American society. Some Americans insist that we're living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America--it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues, racist ideas have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit.
In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti-black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. He uses the life stories of five major American intellectuals to drive this history: Puritan minister Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and legendary activist Angela Davis.
As Kendi shows, racist ideas did not arise from ignorance or hatred. They were created to justify and rationalize deeply entrenched discriminatory policies and the nation's racial inequities.
In shedding light on this history, Stamped from the Beginning offers us the tools we need to expose racist thinking. In the process, he gives us reason to hope.
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January 14, 2022 @ 2:00pm
Hyde Hall, University Room; Chapel Hill, NC
William Sturkey, associate professor in the History Department, and Danita Mason-Hogans, civil rights activist and historian, will discuss the history of race and memory at UNC-Chapel Hill from 1789 to the present, exploring the basic elements of Chapel Hill’s racial history … Continued
January 16, 2022 @ 6:00pm
The University/Community MLK Memorial Banquet features a keynote speaker, entertainment, the presentation of the MLK/Edith Wiggins High School Senior Scholarship, and the Bridge Builders and Citizenship Awards. This year’s speaker will be Elmira Mangum, Ph.D. In 2014, Dr. Mangum became the first woman … Continue $30
January 19, 2022 @ 6:30 pm
Great Hall, Student Union
The MLK Lecture and Awards Ceremony has featured such speakers as journalist Soledad O’Brien, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former NAACP President/activist Benjamin Jealous, professor/author/radio host Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, social activist/author/co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter Patrisse Cullors, and many more since its … Continued
January 28, 2022 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00pm
Virtual
The UNC Association for Women Faculty will host a "Women in Leadership Speaker Series" featuring Tanya Moore, Associate Vice Chancellor in University Communications. Tanya graduated from UNC as an undergrad in 2001 and has been working at Carolina ever since! Join … Continued
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Reoccuring Events/Resources:
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Underrepresented in Medicine Community List
The purpose of the Underrepresented in Medicine Community List is to allow students, staff, residents, and faculty of underrepresented identities that are affiliated with the UNC School of Medicine to find community, mentorship, and representation. Such identities include those belonging to non-dominant religions, races or ethnicities, and sexualities or gender identities.
This community is open and accessible to anyone with a UNC Onyen and password, including current staff, faculty, students, residents, and fellows.
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January Dates to Note
Other important dates can be found on the
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January 1 - New Year's Day
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January 4 - National Braille Day
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January 7 – Christmas (Eastern Orthodox)
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January 17 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
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Dates to Note is a compilation intended to include, but is not all-inclusive, notable information from the internet, Diversity Best Practices, 2021 Diversity Holiday Calendar, and other sources). |
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Stuart Gold, MD - Committee Chair |
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Alessandra Angelino, MD
Benny Joyner, MD
Christel Wekon-kemeni, MD
Christian Lawrence, MD
Denita Moore
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Gretter Benitez, MD
Jennifer Gutierrez-Wu, MD
Jennifer McElroy
Kenya McNeal-Trice, MD
Martha Perry, MD
Jen Fuchs, MD
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Nikki Ferrin, MD
Nina Jain, MD
Robin Howard
Steven Weinberg, MD
Zachary Pettigrew, MD
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