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“Systems Change pursued without Deep Equity is, in our experience, dangerous and can cause harm, and in fact leaves some of the critical elements of systems unchanged. And “equity” pursued without “Systems Change” is not “deep” nor comprehensive at the level of effectiveness currently needed.
“Systems Change pursued without Deep Equity is, in our experience, dangerous and can cause harm, and in fact leaves some of the critical elements of systems unchanged. And “equity” pursued without “Systems Change” is not “deep” nor comprehensive at the level of effectiveness currently needed.
Both need each other. The challenge in effectively combining these domains of practice is that often many systems change actors—particularly those with access to publishing, funding, and other critical resources to achieve depth and scale—do not seem to understand nor are they embedding Deep Equity into their work. Or when “equity” is addressed, it is piecemeal, seems an afterthought, and/or is shallow. Actors pursuing and advancing critically needed systems change efforts often bring limited awareness to address or adequately embed equity. This is the wound we must heal.”
Both need each other. The challenge in effectively combining these domains of practice is that often many systems change actors—particularly those with access to publishing, funding, and other critical resources to achieve depth and scale—do not seem to understand nor are they embedding Deep Equity into their work. Or when “equity” is addressed, it is piecemeal, seems an afterthought, and/or is shallow. Actors pursuing and advancing critically needed systems change efforts often bring limited awareness to address or adequately embed equity. This is the wound we must heal.”
No matter what we look like, how long we’ve been somewhere, or what’s in our wallets, we all want to live in the best place for our families. In Colorado, the Violence and Injury Prevention – Mental Health Promotion (VIP-MHP) Branch in the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) recognizes that racism is a public health crisis. Black, Brown, and Indigenous lives matter. Achieving a Colorado that is free from injury and violence is not possible without abolishing systemic racism and white supremacy. We are committed to addressing injustice in Colorado. Our work will continue until all Coloradans have the opportunity to lead healthy lives, in a way that celebrates intersectional identities including race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, education level, age, language, religion, ability, and geographic location. Collectively we all can work to achieve this goal by improving racial justice and other forms of equity through all of our programs and practices.
Addressing Systems Change and Deep Equity will need to occur across all risk and protective factors which are at all levels of the social-ecological model (SEM). It may also need to occur through coalition development to ensure that multiple perspectives are represented and crucial conversations occur about the need for change and developing solutions that address harm, accountability, repair, and unity. The goal is to address health disparities related to the risk and protective factors through a partnership with those impacted by the disparities.
The PRAXIS Project has helped to highlight, “Building community power, including base building and community organizing, however, remain largely untapped and represent an area of great opportunity for advancing racial and health equity. With this healing- and culture-centered approach, base building community organizer-led work is at the forefront of transforming health inequity through the pursuit of health justice and racial equity.”
You may ask: Why are we focused and specific about Black, Brown, and Indigenous racism when there are other forms of racism and other oppressions that impact health equity as well? To answer this, let’s first take a look at what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in A Testimony of Hope:
“The black revolution is much more than a struggle for the rights of Negroes. It is forcing America to face all its interrelated flaws--racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism. It is exposing evils that are rooted deeply in the whole structure of our society. It reveals systemic rather than superficial flaws and suggests that radical reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced.”
“The black revolution is much more than a struggle for the rights of Negroes. It is forcing America to face all its interrelated flaws--racism, poverty, militarism, and materialism. It is exposing evils that are rooted deeply in the whole structure of our society. It reveals systemic rather than superficial flaws and suggests that radical reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced.”
-- Martin Luther King Jr.
-- Martin Luther King Jr.
Prevention science calls for us to move further upstream to address the risk and protective factors that impact violence, injury, and mental health issues.
In the quotation above, Dr. King connects multiple forms of oppression and focuses on the need to address oppression at the systemic level. Even while calling attention to Black, Brown, and Indigenous lives and health disparities, we are still able to address the same systems, policies, and practices that impact other forms of oppression. We are highlighting Black, Brown, and Indigenous lives because of the ongoing police violence against Black, Brown, and Indigenous people in the U.S. and to recognize that Black, Brown, and Indigenous racism has not been fully addressed for hundreds of years. Additionally, Colorado-specific HKCS data has shown health disparities along racial demographics and other identities such as LGBT youth. In 2021, HKCS released a data brief that outlined racism as a risk factor, not race. The CDPHE Office of Health Equity also has datasets that show where disparities exist in data.
Resources
Resources
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued “A Practitioner’s Guide for Advancing Health Equity: Community Strategies for Preventing Chronic Disease,” which emphasizes the importance of policy, systems, and environmental improvement strategies to reduce health disparities at the community and societal-level, stating that “such interventions have great potential to prevent and reduce health inequities, affect a large portion of a population, and can also be leveraged to address root causes, ensuring the greatest possible health impact is achieved over time” (p. 3). This resource can assist your community in integrating Deep Equity into your work and provides a collection of health equity considerations for several policy, systems, and environmental strategies, many of which are also included as part of the Menu of Systems Change strategies provided on this webpage.
- King, M. L., & Washington, J. M. (1986). A testament of hope: the essential writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. Harper & Row.
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