A Year of Service, A Lifetime of Perspective
As I recently completed my Global Health Corps fellowship, I feel the need to reflect on the things that I learned throughout this transformative year in my life. From managing a small non-profit program to giving speeches at the United Nations, the fellowship provided me with amazing opportunities. I met some wonderful individuals along the way. My fellowship class featured some of the brightest young leaders from all over the world. They challenged my thinking and forced me to deepen my understanding of global health issues. Our class is fearless, passionate, and relentless in the pursuit for social justice. I experienced so much during this fellowship but there are three main concepts that I am sure will stick with me for the rest of my life.
Respecting Perspective
Bringing together young leaders from different corners of the world can create very interesting situations. Each fellow had an opinion about how the world should function. Having the opportunity to listen to their opinions helped me grow. Engaging in deep, intellectual, and sometimes controversial conversations with people from different cultures can be extremely humbling. It allowed me to realize that the world is made up of people with a wide variety of thoughts and lifestyles. I took this concept for granted before this fellowship began — I was set in my ways when it came to how I thought the world should function. My experience as a fellow taught me the true meaning of perspective.
My unique background, privileges, disadvantages, and social conditioning all created a lens through which I view the world. I must remind myself daily that no one else shares my exact lens.
I am a single, black male from Portsmouth, Virginia. I am a college graduate and the son of two Nigerian immigrants. My unique background, privileges, disadvantages, and social conditioning all created a lens through which I view the world. I must remind myself daily that no one else shares my exact lens. Similarities and differences between these lenses are what create the cultures of the world, and it is imperative that I respect that at all times. Being an American does not mean that my perspective should be valued over another person’s, as my African brothers from GHC often explained to me. They talked about their frustrations with Westerners and how some of us come across as pompous and elite without even knowing it. They voiced their concerns about Western agendas being forced on them in their respective countries. We must remember to value the opinions and perspectives of others as we value our own.
Racism in Global Health
Racism is overt, structural, and current. It is deeply ingrained and tightly woven into the most vital systems in our society, including health systems and more broadly, the field of global health. Racism, white supremacy, and neo-colonialism are the largest issues facing the global health landscape in the world today. If you ever meet someone in social justice who doesn’t feel this way, it is likely that they have not been told the whole story. I engaged in so many conversations during my fellowship year with individuals who did not see racism as an issue in global health or in society. Some of these people sit in high level positions at “high impact” organizations, which is a very scary reality.
Tragedies like the Flint water crisis in Michigan demonstrate how racism affects the health and livelihood of minorities. Residents of Flint, who are majority African American, had their water supply switched to the Flint River without appropriate control measures taking place. A large number of black men, women and children were poisoned due to the racism, greed, and negligence of a few parties.
The Flint water crisis is a microcosm of the larger global crisis of racism in global health. There are thousands of examples worldwide of minorities being discriminated against in global health. This discrimination — which often gets disguised and lost amidst senseless politics — includes lack of drug access, unequal housing opportunities, and environmental racism. It baffles me that some individuals continue to discredit the role racism plays in the health of our world, but I have learned to respect diverse opinions and views and engage in difficult dialogue when needed.
The Way Forward
As a 25 year-old-man who has only been working in public health for three years, I am but a child in regards to wisdom in this field, but it does not take a wise man to recognize injustice. From my first day of volunteering at Planned Parenthood of Southeast Hampton Roads, I recognized injustice in global health. Many international NGOs set out to provide services to under-served communities by advocating for improved medical treatment and access to housing. While most of the organizations that provide these services are recognized and praised for their efforts, few of them specialize in the true meaning of social justice.
True social justice is the only way we will see an end to global poverty, HIV/AIDS, and environmental decline. True social justice is the only way forward.
Social justice is more than providing a poor kid in Brazil with antiretrovirals. Social justice is much more than distributing food and hygiene packs to homeless populations in Washington, D.C. Social justice is being 100% committed to addressing the root causes of these issues. Social justice is being bold enough to speak out against the racist regimes of the world. It involves being courageous enough to disrupt corrupt industries that destroy our planet’s landscape and atmosphere. Social justice means recognizing that the Black and brown people of the world need reparations to be paid to them for the atrocities of the past (and present). It means the retreat of neocolonial powers in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and South America. True social justice is the only way we will see an end to global poverty, HIV/AIDS, and environmental decline. True social justice is the only way forward.
The Global Health Corps fellowship provided me with the opportunity of a lifetime. The fellowship advanced my thinking and awakened an inner social justice warrior in me. I truly believe that my fellowship class has the potential to recognize meaningful social justice and ignite lasting change.
