Racism as a Public Health Crisis
Every year in April, YWCAs across the country work to increase awareness and call their communities to action in our collective efforts to eliminate racism and empower womxn. This year YWCA USA has chosen the theme Racism as a Public Health Crisis. We recognize the disparate impact racism has on the health outcomes of Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities everywhere and are taking action to eliminate racism in our community.
There are many ways to take a stand against racism. We invite you and your organization to add to what you are already doing to make our community better for Black, Brown and Indigenous people and join our 2021 Stand Against Racism campaign, leading up to and during the campaign timeframe of Thursday April 22 thru Sunday April 25. Some ways you can get involved are:
1) Host a Stand Against Racism pledge event at your organization and commit to making changes, large and small to eliminate racism wherever it shows up. We are here to help you plan your pledge event. Email our mission impact coordinator, Rebecca Schwarz, for details at rschwarz@ywcalax.org.
2) Participate in our social media awareness effort by participating in our 2021 Pledge Video project. It’s simple. Take a 20 sec video of yourself reading or reciting part of the pledge. Segments will be put together to create a video montage of the pledge to share on social media and other platforms. Email Madison Clark, who is interning with YWCA La Crosse, to coordinate and receive a media release form at clark.madison@uwlax.edu.
3) Like, Follow and Share our 2021 Stand Against Racism social media campaign on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/
4) You are also invited to share an “action update” about what your organization is currently doing to eliminate racial and gender based disparities in our community in our social media campaign. Email our mission impact coordinator, Rebecca Schwarz, for details and our “action update” media template at rschwarz@ywcalax.org