Chats for Change | Mount Sinai
Activities that spark conversations.
Winter/Spring 2023 (February – May) Chats for Change schedule.
This season we are excited to introduce new Chats for Change topics and facilitators. Starting in February, we are bringing back the “On the Fence” and “In the News” series. We will also delve into a variety of new topics ranging from resilience and faith, maternal mortality, Black and Jewish solidarity, data disaggregation, gender binary, social media’s impact on racism and many more!
In terms of new facilitators, we’ve partnered with the Office for Spirituality and the RBIxCAP Fellows to ensure we are supporting new voices and perspectives. You don’t want to miss any of these chats! Register today.
Chats for Change is built on the notion that in order to respond to racism and be anti-racist we must engage in dialogue, learning, and action.
If you’ve attended Chats for Change in the past or if you are curious about the experience, we invite you to join us as we continue to engage in dialogue, work towards a common understanding, and contribute our best thinking, knowing that other peoples’ reflections will help improve our thinking rather than undermine it. We are committed to engaging in dialogue in order to reveal our assumptions and biases for self-evaluation.
Check out the March lineup!
Chats for Change | Winter/Spring 2023
March 2023
Racism x Homelessness
In 2020, the homeless population in the United States was around 600,000. Isolated and ostracized by society, people experiencing homelessness suffer interpersonal and institutional violence, with a disproportionate number of people stemming from Black and brown communities. Join us as we discuss the implications of homelessness from a public health and racial justice lens and re-imagine an equity-focused approach.
Facilitator(s):Jay Johnson, CHES and Jenn Meyer, LMSW, MPH
March 7, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
In the News
Join us as we critically deconstruct a current newsworthy topic related to racism and bias. We will use the What? So What? Now What? critical reflection model to explore what happened, what we learned from the event or topic, how we can apply this learning to our day-to-day, and if there is follow-up needed. One week prior to the session, we will share the newsworthy topic onChangeNow.
Facilitator(s):Ashley Michelle Fowler and Leona Hess, PhD
March 14, 2023 | 12-1 pm |Join us on Zoom.
Black and Jewish Solidarity Through the Years
Throughout modern American history, the Black and Jewish communities have often supported one another through mutual activism. As threats to this ongoing partnership grow today, join us to discuss how these communities came together in a shared fight and what history teaches us about successful templates for future collaboration across communities, affinity groups, and faiths.
Facilitator(s):RBI x CAP Fellows Nasseef Quasim (MS2) and Daniella Nevid (MS2)
March 21, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
Play Your Role
People who belong to minority groups — not just racial and ethnic groups, but religious, sexual, and other minorities as well — routinely get cast in roles and are expected to speak on behalf of the group. Join us as we examine four common roles: The Exemplars (“credit-to-your race”), The Officials (knows where “the community” stands), The Iconoclasts (dispensers of unpopular “real talk”), and The Outcasts (“S/he/they ain’t with us”) and how they show up in our work and learning environment.
Facilitator(s):Michelle Sainté Willis and Leona Hess, PhD
March 28, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
April 2023
On the Fence: Critical Race Theory
Why has the term Critical Race Theory been such a political and social lightning rod? What does it really mean, and why has there been so much resistance to it? Is Critical Race Theory new and radical, or simply a term that describes something we’ve known all along? Join us as we try to navigate the space between curiosity and confrontation.
Facilitator(s):David Muller, MD and Jenn Meyer, LMSW, MPH
April 4, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
Systemic Racism and Maternal Mortality
Black Maternal Health Week is recognized each year from April 11-17 to bring attention and action in improving Black maternal health. Each year, nearly 700 women die during childbirth or shortly thereafter. Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women, regardless of income or education. Contributing factors include variation in healthcare, underlying conditions, systemic racism, and implicit bias. Join us to discuss the implications of racism and bias and how we can support this vulnerable population.
Facilitator(s):Alia Barnes, MPH, and Jenn Meyer, LMSW, MPH
April 11, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
White Supremacy Culture’s Impact on Organizing and Activism | What can we do?
Over the years of Chats for Change, we’ve investigated white supremacy culture at our institution and in ourselves. How does this culture impact our collective and individual ability to actively organize for justice within this institution? In this session, we will focus on what aspects of white supremacy culture may constrain collective organizing. In small groups, we want to hear what frameworks, strategies, and cultural shifts have allowed you and others to actively organize for change. Identifying barriers and sharing lessons is an inquisitive + empowering practice that we hope leads us closer to our dreams of a more just future.
For those who want to pre-contemplate, here are some characteristics of white supremacy we may discuss: worship of the written word, only one right way, paternalism, fear of open conflict, individualism, right to comfort.
Facilitator(s): RBI x CAP Fellows Paloma Orozco Scott (MS4) and Carina Seah (MD/PhD Candidate, 4th year student)
April 18, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
In the News
Join us as we critically deconstruct a current newsworthy topic related to racism and bias. We will use the What? So What? Now What? critical reflection model to explore what happened, what we learned from the event or topic, how we can apply this learning to our day-to-day, and if there is follow-up needed. One week prior to the session, we will share the newsworthy topic on ChangeNow.
Facilitator(s):Alia Barnes, MPH
April 25, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
May 2023
The Gender Binary & Race
The direct connection between Gender Binary and White Supremacy cannot be overstated. Even so, the racialized construction of gender often goes unaddressed. Where did the Gender Binary come from, and how has it varied between time and place? How is our understanding of gender influenced by race and racism? And what does it mean to create a more gender-inclusive world? Join us as we think beyond a binary built on Whiteness and expand our understanding of ways of being.
Facilitator(s):Emily Ellert, MPH and Jay Johnson, CHES
May 2, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
Equity or Equality?
“Equity” refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from equality: whereas equality means providing the same to all, equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and adjust imbalances. When it comes down to it, are we really making equitable decisions, or do we fall back on equality? Join us as we wrestle with identifying the difference between equity and equality when we are faced with real-world decisions in our work and learning environments.
Facilitator(s): Michelle Sainté Willis and Leona Hess, PhD
May 9, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
Disrupting the “Asian” Monolith: Why data disaggregation matters
Approximately 60% of the world’s population of 8 billion people live in the continent of Asia. Yet, in the United States, the term “Asian” has been routinely used by the medical field to categorize this highly diverse group of many different cultures into a monolith. What are the consequences of such a generalization, and who does it affect? How do such categorizations and data aggregations create disparities in health outcomes and medical school admissions within the AAPI community?
Facilitator(s):RBIxCAP Fellows Don Nguyen (MD/PhD Candidate, 6th-year student), Wayland Chiu (MS1) and Rachel Kasdin (MS1)
May 16, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
Social Media: A Tool for Racism and Anti-Racism
In recent years, popular social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter have been increasingly criticized for their role in enabling and amplifying old and new forms of racial abuse, hate speech, ideological extremism, white supremacy, and discrimination. With racist online discourse on the rise and many social media parent corporations reluctant to moderate socially harmful content under the guise of “free speech,” what are ways daily users can take a stand against racism and bias? Join us for a conversation on how social media can call out racism, combat hate speech, and promote bystander intervention to make the digital environment safer for us and younger generations while navigating the nuances that may arise.
Facilitator(s):RBIxCAP Fellows Jerrel Catlett (MD/PhD Candidate, 3rd-year student); Edward Sarfo (MS2), and Tracy Okine (MD/PhD Candidate, 2nd-year student)
May 23, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
In the News
Join us as we critically deconstruct a current newsworthy topic related to racism and bias. We will use the What? So What? Now What? critical reflection model to explore what happened, what we learned from the event or topic, how we can apply this learning to our day-to-day, and if there is follow-up needed. One week prior to the session, we will share the newsworthy topic onChangeNow
Facilitator(s):Jenn Meyer, LMSW, MPH, Jay Johnson
May 30, 2023 | 12-1 pm | Join us on Zoom.
These sessions are intended for the Mount Sinai Health System community of students, faculty, and staff. After registering for any of the sessions above you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting, including an option to add the invitation to your calendar.
If you are interested in participating in Chats for Change sessions that are open to the public, join us here.