“I just know I need to leave the job,” Bruna (whose name has been changed to protect privacy) said through the Zoom screen as she finished telling our group about the increased demands, stagnant wages, and disrespect she was experiencing from her employer. “I was just diagnosed with high blood pressure—I never had this before! If I stay, this job will just keep harming my health,” she concluded. One by one, we went around our circle, providing her with similar experiences and words of encouragement and appreciation for sharing her story. One group member agreed to help her compose a ...

We can see structural determinants of health all around us, like when we see factories and truck routes constructed in low-income minority neighborhoods. We also see structural determinants when

Criminalizing survival Rachel stayed. She stayed to survive, and for that the criminal legal system labeled her a “frequent flyer.” When she called 911, she was lucky if she got a couple hours reprieve from her long-time partner’s life-threatening abuse before he returned home. He would often return home bragging about the arresting officer making a pit stop for him at a nearby ATM to make his bond—a common ...

Injury and drowning from worsening storm surges and flooding. Smoke inhalation and burns from wildfires. More severe and frequent heat stroke and heat-related illness. Spread of infectious diseases. Worsening anxiety and depression. These are just a few of the ways in which climate change impacts human health. ...

Part 1 of this blog post discussed some of the empty promises in the United States to make #BlackLivesMatter, as well as the types of policy changes needed to move beyond surface-level action. Today, we’ll focus on what specifically cities, companies, and other institutions can do. What can our cities do to dismantle structural racism? There has been a fair amount of coverage ...

As we seek justice for the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and the long list of Black victims of police violence; as we grapple with the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 in Hispanic, Black, and Indigenous communities; and as we acknowledge the tremendous toll of