August 21, 2020
Follow-up blog to the Aug. 18th conversation with Lauren and Whitney, Appointees to the Michigan Coronavirus Taskforce on Racial Disparities. Watch the recording here.
2020 has truly highlighted the need for accountability, transparency, and the restructuring of how local, state, and national entities from both the public and private sector address issues that impact everyday people. The uprising from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the ongoing historically embedded pandemic of structural racism have pushed new perspectives on public health, economic justice, and environmental justice; but also have pushed new voices to the forefront.
As a Millennial Black woman working in politics, the intersectionality of my existence has embedded a need for me to move the needle on bridging the gaps within diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts; furthermore, this likely led to my involvement as an appointee of the Michigan Community Action team of the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force and additional involvement as a public stakeholder in the state of Michigan advising state agencies and organizations on improvements to our well-being as Michigan residents. Breaking barriers and shattering socially constructed glass ceilings is a part of my passion; but what I want to encourage is for other Millennials to define their passion and evolve it into change agency to build long term power as an advocate for marginalized and secondarily marginalized voices.
Millennials truly have a benefit of understanding how to move equity and power to the forefront because of the cultural progressive shift that has taken place during our era of adolescence ; however, those voices are limited in advisory roles, director roles, and boards and commissions across local, state, and federal government. These roles equate to adding the framework of power in your voice and stance on issues that impact national and global communities. Through positions of power, expressions of power, faces of power, and spaces of power, individuals can shift how we view advocacy. According to a 2018 excerpt from the Journal on Health Affairs, “Addressing the social determinants of health alone will not support our nation’s efforts to reach our health potential. It is time for academics and intellectuals to expand our conceptual frameworks, research inquiry, and metrics. It is time to address power.”
Whether it’s racial disparities within a public health crisis, climate justice, water inequity, a digital divide, or a zoning issue, being an appointee on a task force, board, commission, or workgroup is not simply about holding a title; it is about recognizing the imbalance of equity in communities and using your voice to strategically and intentionally yield a better quality of life for others as well as yourself. I urge others, especially fellow young professionals, to bring your perspective to the table. We can’t move the needle if we are using the same thread of voices.
Written by Let’s Detroit Ambassador Lauren Bealore
