We believe the mistreatment of Black and African Americans is unacceptable. We stand in grief, anger, and solidarity with all whose lives have been harmed or lost due to police brutality, of which Black and Brown communities are too often the victims. We support those exercising the right to peacefully protest in efforts to publicly condemn and demand an end to systemic racial injustices.
At Tracking California, we decry injustices in all aspects of life- including health, environment, education, and law enforcement- which are perpetuated by racism that is endemic to our nation's institutions. As a public health organization, we believe that all people should have the opportunity to achieve the highest level of health. Through our work, we seek to specifically address the issues of environmental justice and health equity. We strive for meaningful partnerships with communities impacted by environmental and health disparities to mobilize data and take action to improve health and reduce disparities.
During this critical time for our nation, Tracking California is committed to re-examining and improving how our work contributes to a more just and equitable society. As part of this, we commit to the following actions:
- Engaging in training on implicit bias and microaggressions as part of our ongoing efforts to identify and address racial bias in how we work together as a team and with our external partners;
- Re-assessing the racial diversity and representation within our advisory group to ensure that it is more reflective of California's population and the priorities of directly impacted communities;
- Including racial equity as one of the explicit criteria we use to assess and plan future projects;
- Investigating why critical health data are sometimes not available by race and ethnicity, and incorporating race and ethnicity data into our projects and analyses to shine a light on racial disparities;
- Supporting community-based organizations that draw attention to structural oppression and violence against Black communities.
In solidarity,
Catherine Carpenter, David Chang, Niani Coker, Paul English, Catalina Garzón-Galvis, Sophia Horiuchi, Justin Howell, Daniel Madrigal, Susan Paulukonis, Maxwell Richardson, Gina Solomon, Kelly Torres, Jhaqueline Valle Palominos, Alexa Wilkie, and Michelle Wong