Black / African American Health and Anti-Racist Resources

Posted by Nisha Mody on June 5th, 2020 Posted in: Advocacy, NLM Products, Outreach, Public Health
Tags: african american, cultural competency, health disparities, mental health, racism

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In light of recent events including police brutality and ensuing protests, the staff at NNLM PSR stand with the Black and African American community. In this article, you will find resources related to African American mental health, anti-racist reading materials, cultural competency, NLM African American and race history, racism in science, and PubMed Central articles about police brutality and African American health. This list will be refreshed as we receive updates from our members and partners.

Please note that APHA’s upcoming Advancing Racial Equity Webinar Series begins on June 9, 2020.

We support this statement from the African American Medical Library Alliance:

We are hurting, frustrated and our emotions are raw.

The cumulative toll of microaggressions, institutional racism, police brutality, and state-sanctioned violence coupled with the emotional labor of navigating a predominantly white profession is exhausting. We are tired of not being seen, heard, included, or appreciated for the value that our unique voices, experiences and perspectives bring to the narrative.

We appreciate the sentiments of our fellow caucuses and colleagues throughout the Medical Library Association. Collectively, we share community with other marginalized members who live in dread that the color of their skin, race and ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, political beliefs, language, culture, nationality, age, ability status, and religion make them targets of violence and possibly death.

We are committed to using our collective voices in bringing about change in the profession and the Association.

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
______________________________
Kelsa Bartley, Chair
Michael S. Fitts, Chair-Elect
Shenita Peterson, Immediate Past Chair
Tara Douglas-Williams, AHIP, National Program Committee, Co-Chair 2021
Shannon Jones, AHIP, Caucus Mentor
Beverly Murphy, AHIP, FMLA, MLA Past President
Tamara Nelson, AHIP, MLA Information Services Domain Hub Chair
Aidy Weeks, AHIP, Virtual Engagement Committee

African American Mental Health Resources

1. Mental Health America: Black & African American Communities And Mental Health
2. HHS Office of Minority Health: Mental and Behavioral Health – African Americans
3. HHS Office of Minority Health: Minority Mental Health Awareness Month – July

Anti-Racist Reading Lists from our Members (books available electronically)

1. Los Angeles Public Library: Black Lives Matter – Essential Readings for Adults and Teens
2. San Francisco Public Library: Understanding Structural Racism
3. ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table: Black Lives Matter Comics Reading Lists

Cultural Humility

1. NNLM Webinar: Cultural Competency for the Information Professional
2. NNLM Webinar: Cultural Competencies and the Strategic Prevention Framework
3. NNLM Webinar: Perspectives in Cultural Competence and Cultural Humility
4. HHS: Think Cultural Health – Improving Cultural Competency for Behavioral Health Professionals
5. Cultural Humility: Essential Foundation for Clinical Researchers

NLM African American and Race History

1. Leonidas H. Berry and the Fight to Desegregate Medicine
2. For All the People: A Century of Citizen Action in Health Care Reform
3. Circulating Now from NLM – African American History

Racism and Science

1. COVID-19 and Health Inequities
2. NLM Special Lecture: Gender, Race, and Power in Science
3. Beginning June 9: APHA’s Advancing Racial Equity Webinar Series

PubMed Central Articles

1. Alang S, McAlpine D, McCreedy E, Hardeman R. Police Brutality and Black Health: Setting the Agenda for Public Health Scholars. Am J Public Health. 2017;107(5):662‐665. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303691
2. Bowleg L, Maria Del Río-González A, Mbaba M, Boone CA, Holt SL. Negative Police Encounters and Police Avoidance as Pathways to Depressive Symptoms Among US Black Men, 2015-2016. Am J Public Health. 2020;110(S1):S160‐S166. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2019.305460
3. Edwards F, Lee H, Esposito M. Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race-ethnicity, and sex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019;116(34):16793‐16798. doi:10.1073/pnas.1821204116
4. Hall JM, Fields B. “It’s Killing Us!” Narratives of Black Adults About Microaggression Experiences and Related Health Stress. Glob Qual Nurs Res. 2015;2:2333393615591569. Published 2015 Jul 9. doi:10.1177/2333393615591569
5. Schneider JA, Lancki N, Schumm P. At the intersection of criminal justice involvement and sexual orientation: Dynamic networks and health among a population-based sample of young Black men who have sex with men. Soc Networks. 2017;51:73‐87. doi:10.1016/j.socnet.2017.04.001