City of Rochester
News Release
(Tuesday, Mar. 8,
2022) – Mayor Malik D. Evans today joined the Black Agenda Group to remind
members of the Rochester community to sign the “Racism is a Public Health
Crisis” pledge and to introduce the organization’s new Implementation Tool.
The Implementation
Tool lists the organizational practices identified in the “Racism is a
Public Health Crisis Declaration.” The Black Agenda Group prompts organizations
to identify an Executive Sponsor, a responsible staff person and an experienced,
internal cross-functional team to complete this tool and to implement the
selected practices.
“The issue of racial health disparities has been a
conversation for too long,” said Mayor Evans. “How can we create safe, stable
neighborhoods if 40% of our population is underserved and unable to rely on a
health system created to keep them healthy? We can’t.”
“The first step to solving a crisis is to identify it,”
stated the City Council President Miguel Melendez. “We’ve identified it. Now,
we raise awareness, and take action.”
“For too long, historical exclusive systems of access for
some and not for others have plagued our city and country with the results of
poverty, violence, bad health and poor quality education,” said Hanif
Abdul-Wahid of the Black Agenda Group. “It has left too many black, brown and
underserved communities to suffer and struggle. Now is the time to work on
eradicating exclusive systems to more inclusive systems.”
The Black Agenda Group launched the “Racism is a Public
Health Crisis” campaign in May of 2020 to take the issue of racial health
disparities from a conversation to a push for action. History shows that people
of color face unfair disadvantages in many aspects of life, including the
reception of adequate health care.
The Black Agenda Group works to implement the collective
interests of Rochester’s Black community in order to establish and maintain a
comprehensive systemic framework (Black Agenda) that will be adopted to drive,
influence, and endorse policies and practices in the areas of education, health
and wellness, and economic development.
Visit The Black
Agenda Group website to learn more and to sign the “Racism
is a Public Health Crisis” pledge.
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