Academic Medicine Open Forum

"Our world is suffering from metastatic cancer. Stage 4."

Ibram X. Kendi - 2016 National Book Award winner, founder of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, and one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2020 - boldly proclaims his diagnosis in his bestselling book How to Be an Antiracist.

The cancer he refers to is a metaphor for racism and the racist policies he says have spread to almost every part of the body politic.

But for Kendi, who has become a leading voice on systemic racism in America, cancer is more than a metaphor; it's a personal reality. In 2013, his wife, a pediatrician, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer at age 34. And less than five years later, Kendi himself was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic colon cancer at age 35.

The link between racism and health has been laid bare this year as Kendi and his team at Boston University have tracked the racial breakdown behind COVID-19 data, revealing that Black people and people of color are infected and die at disproportionately high rates.

But is there a cure for racism?

Kendi will have a candid discussion with AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, about how entrenched programs and policies have stood in the way of justice and equity at the AAMC's annual meeting,  Learn Serve Lead 2020: The Virtual Experience, on Monday, Nov. 16.

Kendi spoke with AAMCNews about his thoughts on how systemic racism and health care are connected and what academic medical institutions can do to change the prognosis.

 

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Stephanie Weiner
Director, Digital Strategy & Engagement
Association of American Medical Colleges
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An additional resource for those who are interested: in a previous post @Chris Tucker shared two sets of discussion questions for Kendi's book How to Be an Antiracist that may be helpful in prompting thoughtful conversations at your institutions. Find those materials here.

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Nicole Buckley
Communications Strategist
Association of American Medical Colleges
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-20-2020 15:32
From: Stephanie Weiner
Subject: Is there a "cure" for racism? Celebrated anti-racist activist and author Ibram X. Kendi says yes, there is.

"Our world is suffering from metastatic cancer. Stage 4."

Ibram X. Kendi - 2016 National Book Award winner, founder of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, and one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2020 - boldly proclaims his diagnosis in his bestselling book How to Be an Antiracist.

The cancer he refers to is a metaphor for racism and the racist policies he says have spread to almost every part of the body politic.

But for Kendi, who has become a leading voice on systemic racism in America, cancer is more than a metaphor; it's a personal reality. In 2013, his wife, a pediatrician, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer at age 34. And less than five years later, Kendi himself was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic colon cancer at age 35.

The link between racism and health has been laid bare this year as Kendi and his team at Boston University have tracked the racial breakdown behind COVID-19 data, revealing that Black people and people of color are infected and die at disproportionately high rates.

But is there a cure for racism?

Kendi will have a candid discussion with AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, about how entrenched programs and policies have stood in the way of justice and equity at the AAMC's annual meeting,  Learn Serve Lead 2020: The Virtual Experience, on Monday, Nov. 16.

Kendi spoke with AAMCNews about his thoughts on how systemic racism and health care are connected and what academic medical institutions can do to change the prognosis.

 

------------------------------
Stephanie Weiner
Director, Digital Strategy & Engagement
Association of American Medical Colleges
------------------------------