“2020: Celebrating 15 Year in Public Health Consulting!”
What did you do between the dash?
There are only a few things more exciting for me than the date “August 18” for it marks the day that I made my debut into the world as a wide-eyed, peach-fuzz baby with a mouth perfectly created to “give voice to vulnerable people”. Since 2005, “August 18” has served as a double day of celebration for me as it also marks the founding of Messages of Empowerment Productions, LLC. This past August 18, 2019, as I celebrated both milestones in New York City, I came across the New York Times Magazine’s publication of the “1619 Project”. I was particularly proud that a black woman, Nikole Hannah-Jones, was the creative thought leader for this important body of work to ”write” what is wrong with American history on slavery. As I immersed myself in the featured 10 essays and photos reflecting upon the arrival of slaves in America as August 1619, and our subsequent contributions to America, as well as our struggles for equality, it prompted me to ask myself the following questions:
“What Did you Do between the Dash?”
In answering this questions, it dawned on me that between the dash of 1999 and 2019, I had dedicated my entire professional life to a body of work I call “Advancing Black Feminism in Public Health”. Inspired by the 1619 Project, I decided to document my contributions in applying black feminism in public health as an under-utilized thought leadership paradigm for shaping how we interpret, analyze, research, evaluate, intervene, and advocate for black women and girls’ health and related threats. I hope my work between the dash of 1999 - 2019 inspires your own commitment to address health inequities from your standpoint.