School Co-sponsors Event to Further the Work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
For the past 25 years, the University of Michigan has chosen to celebrate the national holiday, Martin Luther King Junior Day, by canceling classes and in their place, hosting keynotes, lectures, roundtables, discussions, and other events that “continue and remember the work and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” Also, “in addition to events that focus on historical authenticity and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, programs highlight historical and contemporary issues of race, class, social justice, diversity, and societal change."
As part of this year’s symposium, the Health Science Committee – consisting of the U-M Schools of Nursing, Public Health, Dentistry, Medicine, Social Work, College of Pharmacy and the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers – is sponsoring a lecture focusing on a critical piece of the history of healthcare in the United States. Entitled, “Healing the Wounds: The Health Disparities Legacy of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement,” the lecture will be given by Dr. Sherman A. James (Susan B. King Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, Duke University). A public policy expert, Dr. James currently focuses his research on the “social determinants of racial and ethnic health inequalities and community-based and public policy interventions designed to minimize, and ultimately eliminate, these inequalities” (Dr. James’ faculty profile). Building on both the core focus of Dr. James’ own work as well as the key themes of the MLK symposium, the lecture is contextualized in the following summary:
From 1965-1980, the US Black population experienced an unprecedented reduction in both infant mortality and deaths from cardiovascular disease. Blacks in the South, especially the rural South, experienced the greatest gains in health relative to baseline rates. In this presentation, Dr. James, a social epidemiologist, will summarize the scientific evidence bearing upon this dramatic, and rapid, improvement in the health of Black Southerners; provide some potential explanations for the sheer speed of these improvements; and, by way of conclusion, discuss what lessons this transformative period in recent American history hold for current efforts to reduce US racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health and healthcare.
Dr. Patricia Coleman-Burns, an assistant professor and special advisor to the dean on diversity at the U-M School of Nursing, has been working with the Health Sciences Committee for almost 20 years and has seen the evolution of the Committee’s MLK Symposium events. She says, “the early years focused on racial and ethnic populations underrepresented in the health professions and experiencing disparate health outcomes. Over the years the focus has not significantly changed but has shifted to more broadly cover all health disparities including racial and ethnic populations.” According to Dr. Coleman-Burns, the event this year asks multiple critical questions relating to healthcare delivery in the United States: “Who are ‘we the people?’ The few? The wealthy who can afford healthcare and who live longer with a higher quality of life? … Since Dr. King’s ‘I have a dream speech’ in 1963, have the advances and prosperities of American society reached those who during the civil rights era were left out, who were denied equal rights? … Essentially, do we truly think of healthcare as a right for all people?”
With healthcare and health delivery system reform a hot button issue, 
these are the timely questions that face the nation, but perhaps particularly the questions that face professional healthcare providers. Given the growing need for policy advocates and researchers in the field, Dr. Coleman-Burns says the event is intended to raise awareness of issues in health disparities, social justice, and the social determinants of health, but also to foster student interest in providing and innovating culturally competent care.
The School of Nursing strongly encourages its students, faculty, and staff to take advantage of this unique opportunity. The lecture will take place on January 17 at 11:45 a.m. in the Dow Auditorium (Second Floor, Towsley Center, University of Michigan Hospital, 1515 East Medical Center Drive) and will be followed by a question and answer session.
In addition to the health sciences lecture, units and groups from all over campus have organized events for the MLK Symposium so there are a variety of activities to participate in on January 17.
