“It’s a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of all the time taking a look at one’s self by the eyes of others.” – W.E.B. Du Bois
Sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois’ theories on double-consciousness or “twoness” — the duality skilled by Individuals of Shade (POC) navigating disparate realities in the identical world — has lengthy rung true for Ebony Barrett-Kennedy.
And now, Barrett-Kennedy, a Black girl, a single mom and a long-time proponent of social justice, will apply what she has discovered from Du Bois in her new function at Indiana College Well being: DEI advisor for the West Central Area (WCR), a first-of-its-kind place that makes good on IU Well being’s dedication to range, fairness and inclusion. Primarily based in Lafayette, Barrett-Kennedy is spearheading the cost to undertake new insurance policies, initiatives and attitudes round race, gender, tradition and identification inside IU Well being.
Barrett-Kennedy involves the function with a lifetime of expertise. Her dad and mom offered her with alternatives to study from a few of historical past’s most sensible minds. As a toddler, she met Maya Angelou. She attended lectures and, alongside along with her brothers, fought to have Martin Luther King Jr. Day acknowledged in her faculty.
As an grownup, Barrett-Kennedy confronted discrimination in her pursuit of training and profession, because of being a single mom and a girl of shade. She persevered, working her approach up by academia and finally into the nonprofit world. “I used to be in a position to see what I can do in sure areas,” she mentioned, “and the right way to use my voice in several areas. And all through my skilled profession, I’ve all the time appeared for alternatives to have the ability to do this.”
Now, Barrett-Kennedy has moved into healthcare, the place she is a passionate advocate for range, fairness and inclusion within the office. When she got here to the WCR, she seen that whereas many DEI conversations had been initiated, most had been left unfinished. The problem? Full-time staff making an attempt to do as a lot as they had been in a position to, along with their common job duties. “A part of my function is to take what they’ve began,” she mentioned, “and to make it somewhat extra systematic, and to make it much more intentional. And to actually take into consideration how we weave a few of these issues into our day by day actions.”
It isn’t a straightforward street. “How will we really take the work of inclusion and equity-building and weave it into each single factor that we do?” she requested. “Each single interplay that our group members have, and the interactions that our sufferers have?”
To begin, Barrett-Kennedy is engaged on constructing neighborhood, each inside IU Well being WCR and the encompassing space. Her objective is to create a stronger infrastructure throughout the system that fosters range and inclusion, and builds belief between IU Well being and its sufferers. And the methods she’s proposing aren’t strictly round race. They’re designed to make all sufferers really feel protected, no matter gender, sexual orientation, cultural background or socioeconomic elements.
Barrett-Kennedy can be engaged on packages, funded partly by IU Well being Basis, to offer translators and different language help techniques to sufferers who converse little or no English. Language, which is a part of the social determinants of well being, generally is a barrier to many sufferers in looking for and receiving the care they want. However it received’t be potential, she says, with out philanthropic help. “We may actually use some assist from donors that care about this work, and care about entry to well being care.”
You’ll be able to assist help packages like this if you make a present to the Racial Fairness in Healthcare Fund. Make your donation on our giving web page, and choose “IU Well being Statewide” as the situation, and direct your reward to the “Statewide Racial Fairness in Healthcare Fund.”
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