By Gloria Grady, BA
During the opening session of APHA, something clicked in my brain. I realized that stories of people coming together to make a change for the common good inspire me more than anything else in life. I also realized that nothing makes me angrier than racism, sexism, and many of the other “isms” that still haunt our society like a plague, literally making us sick.
I’ve known for a while that these things get under my skin like nothing else, but I have been afraid to do anything about it. Instead, I came up with lots of ways I could indirectly help the situation—not necessarily a bad thing, but not where my heart truly lies. I realized during the opening session that every fiber of my being wants to pull up the rotten roots that our society has grown out of. But is that even possible? And am I someone who could be a part of that?
For most of my life my heart has said yes, while my brain has given a defiant no. No, it’s not possible to change the very fabric of our society, a society based on greed and inequalities, so it’s much better to just find a job that will at least make you feel like you are doing something, while the ship continues to sink. But I think my heart is catching up to my brain. My brain cannot ignore my heart’s fire anymore.
So how do I fit that into public health? I’m not sure yet, but I know I am in the right place. Racism is a public health issue, and to be a part of bringing it down would be incredible. And the first step is convincing myself that it is possible. Maybe not in my lifetime or my children’s lifetime, but somehow, some way, it will happen.
Gloria Grady is a first-year MPH student and MCHLT Scholar, concentrating in Maternal and Child Health.
