Dear Carol Emmott Community,
I write to you at an extraordinarily difficult time, when so many are suffering tremendous loss and trauma. While our community spans the nation, there is much we can do together to address the challenges we face.
We are in the midst of a global public health crisis which has taken hundreds of thousands of lives and altered daily life for all of us in significant ways.
The effects of COVID-19 are far reaching, but the crisis is not felt equally among individuals and communities. Health outcomes differ profoundly based on neighborhood, race, socioeconomic status, access to healthcare, and employment. And, in the United States, the historical and present manifestations of racism, redlining, and discrimination mean that low income communities and communities of color are bearing a disproportionate burden of the economic struggle, illness, and death rates.
The current public health crisis coincides with other persistent, relentless threats to the Black community. These threats include the patterns of racism that are enacted in appallingly frequent and lethal violence against Black people and others from marginalized communities.
This is unacceptable. The pandemic cannot cause us to lose sight of these profound inequities; it should redouble our commitment to eradicate them.
Voices are raised this week across the country to call out these injustices, and to call for action toward a better future. Our mission- to transform health by accelerating the advancement and impact of women leaders and achieving gender equity and fully inclusive leadership and governance in our healthcare institutions- has never been more important.
The Carol Emmott Foundation stands against racism, and we will work together to address it. This is urgent work that must happen now.
We can gather, even at a distance, to mourn, to support one another, and to envision, plan, and act for the more just future we so urgently need. As a start, we will continue our weekly Virtual Care Gatherings for Fellow and Alumnae on Fridays. Our virtual door is open to all who want to participate.
I am reminded of a statement made by a former physician colleague: “Three millimeters deep, and we all look the same.” Social programming across the millennia has trained our eyes to see our differences rather than our beauty. We hear the emotions and words without seeing the peace or loneliness between those words. We will hate less, hurt less, and fear less when we see the beauty, hear the silence, and touch with love.
My deepest thanks to our staff and the Carol Emmott Fellows, Alumnae, Board, Sponsors, Champions, Leadership Council, Donors, and Volunteers whose hard work advances equity and justice. We will move forward, together.
Sincerely,
Anne McCune
CEO, The Carol Emmott Foundation
#georgefloyd #blacklivesmatter #justiceforgeorge