Understanding Community Response to Vaccines: An Anti-Racist Approach

Join the SF Human Rights Commission for an engaging conversation in a two-part series:

Part 2: Understanding Community Response to Vaccines: An Anti-Racist Approach
Thursday, January 21, 2021
6pm-7:30pm
Please RSVP here.

Save The Date: The San Francisco Human Rights Commission continues its original programming with two exciting learning opportunities in the new year!

To understand our present and prepare for the future, we need to look to the past. From cholera, to the 1918 Influenza, to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, waves of disease and illness often trigger a social pandemic of hatred, racism and xenophobia, while exacting its heaviest toll on traditionally vulnerable communities. COVID-19 is no different. Almost one year into our disaster response, Black, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander, and American Indian communities still overwhelmingly bear the brunt of the pandemic.

History and research also show us that a brutal history of medical experimentation, racial discrimination in health care environments, implicit bias in medical decision-making makes it that much more difficult for communities of color to seek out and receive appropriate care.

To ignore history is to repeat it. Looking forward, as we engage in our community with the first wave of vaccinations, we need to empower and listen to those doubly impacted by stigma and disease. As the community saying goes “nothing for us, without us.”

In this two-part series we ask – what can we learn from the racial history of pandemics? What will equitable access to vaccination and a just recovery look like? How can we center community leadership in this process?

For collaboration & sponsorship opportunities, please contact: hrc-roundtable@sfgov.org