NEPHTC Honors Juneteenth

NEPHTC is celebrating Juneteenth on June 19, 2022. This is a day to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States, while also recognizing the impact that racism has had and continues to have on American institutions. Today, we reflect on how far we still have to go to achieve racial equity, while marking the progress we have made thus far. BUSPH Dean Sandro Galea says of the holiday:

“The original Juneteenth was a liberatory event, a moment when a measure of justice, long overdue, was done. The abolitionist movement that grew in strength during the Civil War was advanced by Americans of all colors, all political parties, all social classes. It was a courageous effort to end an historic injustice and a record of the lengths to which human beings will go on behalf of the marginalized and oppressed. Juneteenth is a reminder that, as large as the forces of injustice loom, they can always be matched by people of goodwill working together towards a better world.”

Sandro Galea’s full statement on Juneteenth is available here.

Additionally, registration is open for our two-part webinar series with the Maine Public Health Association on the effects of racism in public health. Part I, “The History and Contemporary Reality of Black Communities in Maine,” will be on June 29, and Part II, “Race as a Social Construct in Data and Practice,” will be on June 30. Please register for these webinars to learn about the history of slavery and racism in Maine, how this history continues to affect the world today, and how to uphold diversity and equity in research and policy.