Hello all, I am writing this blog from the Denver Airport! I left D.C. this morning with a heavy heart, working with Rodham on social justice and health equity while being in the center of the Black Lives Matter movement at the same time as coronavirus and all the health disparities that follow this pandemic was truly an amazing education and experience. Although I will continue to work with the Rodham Institute in the following weeks, I will definitely miss being in D.C. in person, where the amazing work of the team is being done.
This week, Loic and I continued our planning for the Student Bootcamp that will start next week and continue on for four weeks. As I stated in previous blogs, Dr. Akselrod will be our central speaker, however we are excited to be accepting other spotlight speakers into the program for brief lectures. I created a timeline for each day with the layout of student engagement activities and speaker times. I was able to leave a 15-minute slot at the end of each day for physical activity, whether it be strength training with Loic’s football coach or stand up comedy with Kayla (another lovely intern).
Yesterday I met with Dr. Gigi, Ms. Kristina, and the other Rodham interns. Dr. Gigi is an inspiring role model to me. She is one of the most well-spoken, informed, kind, and intelligent women I have ever met. She said something that has stuck with me my entire time in D.C. She said that as a country, we are going through two pandemics simultaneously. Coronavirus and racism. The definition of pandemic is a disease that is prevalent through an entire country or the world. Racism, although documented since the colonial era, is also a pandemic right alongside COVID-19. Her words resonated with me as I walked down the Black Lives Matter central point in downtown D.C. where numerous signs and photos have been put along the sidewalk, on the Lafayette Park fence, and the walls all along the street. As you walk down the sidewalk here, you can and turn around and see the White House through a fence. There are police everywhere. Here are a few photos I took, along with a sign I saw stating “Racism is a pandemic too”.
I will be continuing to help run the Bootcamp for the next four weeks to engage students on topics of equity and social justice, as well as continue meeting and learning from the amazing women in charge. Additionally, I will continue to blog even though they may not all be as long! I am so lucky to have traveled to Washington D.C. and cannot thank Ms. Holbrooke, the Pinhead organization, and of course the Rodham Institute along with everyone else who helped send me on this amazing internship. See you next week!
There are no comments published yet.