05/31/2023
May Newsletter with Raashmi Krishnasamy
Newsletter sent May 31, 2023, written by Raashmi Krishnasamy.
Dear Friend and Fellow Social Mission Ally,
My name is Raashmi Krishnasamy and I’m a first generation South Indian American. I’ve been invited to be the Guest Editor for the May Social Mission Alliance Newsletter. This month, I’d like to focus on the theme of community. Community – the very fabric of humanity.
Let me tell you a little bit about my community: a close knit, South Indian community in Pittsburgh. My story starts with four year old me and my immigrant parents moving to Pittsburgh during the early 2000s tech boom. Similar to other immigrant families, we came here in search of a better life. Though I left the Steel City after college, my parents stayed there for the better part of 20 years. Why? Because of the strength and love of the community. These are the people with whom we celebrate Pongal, Diwali, and Navarathri. These are also the people we called upon when times were particularly tough. Like others across the country, I see my community as my pillar of strength.
Although this was my personal community experience it does not necessarily mean that this South Indian experience is generalizable to all members of the AAHNPI Community. For example, as a South Asian American, my history carries privileges that my counterparts in the AAHNPI community may not. I believe that there lies the tragic flaw in our understanding and collection of race and ethnicity data – we carry the false assumption that folks from the same continent have the same experiences. Grouping us in a large category of AAHNPI overlooks not only the diversity of our experiences, but also the barriers faced by some and not others. This leads to assumptions about who is overrepresented and who is underrepresented; it allows for worsening representation and deepened inequities by creating heterogeneous groups that are too large and imprecise to really address underrepresented and minority communities. As health care professionals and social mission advocates, it is imperative that we consider this in our efforts to advance health equity.
This newsletter captures how we, as members of the Social Mission Alliance, are taking steps to celebrate the nuances of our diverse health workforce.
AAHNPI Data
To celebrate the diversity of our health workforce, the Social Mission Alliance is taking initiative to disaggregate AAHNPI data.
Starting with the next version of the Health Workforce Diversity Tracker (to be released next month), we will be adding AAPI as a racial and ethnic group to our tool. In future iterations, we plan to collect more stratified and disaggregated data because the AAHNPI community is not a monolith.
Celebrating Social Mission Champions
Executive Director Toyese Oyeyemi and SMA member Candice Chen joined Vital Voices, a podcast by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. Listen or read the transcript as they discuss social mission and the importance of highlighting community champions.
Resource of Interest
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Learn more about the history and nuance of racial categories: Asian Americans and the anti-racist equity agenda: Contradictions and common ground | Economic Policy Institute
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The Freedom Community Clinic, based in Oakland, CA and “led by Womxn and Gender Non-Confirming People of Color,” is offering the Freedom School for Healing and Justice. The Freedom School is free for community members, and aims to “cultivate the next generation of Black, Brown, and immigrant community healers in Oakland, CA.”
Featured Read
Costa Ricans Live Longer Than We do. What’s the Secret? by Atul Gawande
“People who have studied Costa Rica […] have identified what seems to be a key factor in its success: the country has made public health—measures to improve the health of the population as a whole—central to the delivery of medical care.”
In this article, Atul Gawande describes what happens when you put public health and community at the forefront of the health system. Read or listen to the story
"Where are you from?"
In under 10 minutes, “Where are you from?”: Recentering Anti-Racism Work in South Asian American Identity Formation provides information on casteism, systems of oppression, and how folks can be allies regardless of where they fall on the spectrum of racial identity.
Watch the recording from 4:28 – 14:00.
Communities are our north star – they remind us of our “why.” Advancing social mission means that we are striving to ensure that we, as health care professionals, are providing the healthcare that all communities need. In order to effectively do this, it’s imperative that we celebrate the diversity and understand the nuances of our racial and ethnic communities. So, my fellow readers and social mission advocates, I leave you with some reflection questions and resources. I urge you to consider:
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How can you contribute to better data collection that disaggregates race/ethnicity data?
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If you are a member of a community that has historically benefited from the structures that exist (like myself), how can you contribute to racial solidarity across communities?
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Which community voices can I do a better job of elevating?
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How does my professional work – research, teaching, organizing, or advocacy – center community voices? If it doesn’t, how can I begin to center community voices?
I look forward to creating a more equitable future for all of our communities.
In Solidarity,
Raashmi Krishnasamy, MPH
