Introducing the For Us All Campaign


My name is Makeen Yasar (he/him/his), and I am a second year medical student at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. I am a first generation medical student, a political educator, a former youth organizer, the son of a social worker and an electrician—I am proud to claim these things. But today, as co-chair of the Social Mission Alliance Advocacy Coalition, I am proud to announce the launch of SMA’s For Us All Campaign, and I am calling on you to join us in taking part.
I first joined SMA in 2022 as part of their Student Assembly, meeting with other learners across the U.S. who were passionate about advancing health equity within the health professions. Prior to the assembly, I was working in youth organizing campaigns and at the time was doing DEI work at a medical school. I was searching for others passionate about uplifting equity and social justice in the health professions, knowing firsthand how (unfortunately) these things weren’t always synonymous in our field.
At the assembly, I met students advancing work in a plethora of ways—leading the work in developing community-involved anti-racist curriculum, coordinating pathways programs to diversify the health professions for underrepresented students, organizing alongside community members against institutional gentrification, advocating for workers rights within medical centers, innovating work in street medicine harm reduction, supporting FQHCs, doing policy work for worker diversification and universal healthcare—the list goes on. At a time when I was navigating dissonance in where I was and what I was doing with my career, I was completely inspired by my peers. I had found my community when I needed it most.
From there I continued to become deeply involved with SMA. Whether as a student intern or a Health Justice Fellow, I engaged with alliance members in workshops and collective dreaming of what it could mean to create a field truly committed to health justice.
During this time, incidences of disparaging media and legal campaigns were at an all-time high. One such incident that raised alarms was when conservative groups advocated to remove DEI from medical education through congressional proposals. It was then at the 2024 SMA conference where a conference-wide town hall was held to discuss the political climate around these attacks. It was then that the impacts on learners, educators, administrators and activists, became clear.
“They shut down the DEI office at our school”
“They’ve started getting rid of scholarships meant for students of color”
“My classmates were targeted by conservative news outlets for work they were doing in their curriculum”
But this town hall wasn’t about hopelessness or despair. Rather, it was about clarity. It was about recognizing the reality of our current moment in order to help one another determine where we should go next. And if you were there, you would know that the feeling in that room was electrifying. The sentiment was clear that we needed to reinvigorate our work and stand firm in what we know. That was the moment when the idea for the For Us All campaign was born.
Using the decades of collective wisdom and experience amassed by alliance members, we can challenge narratives pushed by those who seek to maintain the status quo—where healthcare and health professional education prioritize the needs of a privileged few over the needs of everyone who makes our society great. We can tangibly demonstrate that the future is upon us in pockets across the country, where health justice is being realized for many oppressed groups historically excluded from healthcare and health professional training. We believe that through highlighting these victories as our north star, we can set a new standard for health professional training that will ensure a world where there is equal health for us all.
Please read more on our website about the For Us All campaign, our guiding pillars, and sign up for our webinar next month to learn about how to get involved.