TSMD October Newsletter - Remembering Justice Ginsburg and Breonna Taylor
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman in United States history to serve as a Supreme Court justice, died in Washington D.C. on September 18th. She was 87 years old.
Her contributions to the rights of women in this country feel almost incalculable. 'Before Ruth,' American women could not obtain mortgages or checking accounts or business loans or credit cards without male co-signers. 'Before Ruth,' women could be fired for becoming pregnant. 'Before Ruth,' women needed their husband’s permission to obtain birth control. This is a fraction of what she has given us. We owe her so much.
At the end of September, Ruth Bader Ginsburg became the first woman to lie in state at the Capitol.
Another tremendous loss has also been on my mind—the loss of Breonna Taylor. Breonna was a healthcare professional like me. She was a 26-year-old Black woman working as an emergency room technician who hoped to become a nurse. On March 13th, Breonna was fatally shot in the middle of the night by officers of the Louisville Metro Police Department.
As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lay in repose at the Supreme Court Building, a grand jury in Kentucky returned no indictment against the officer who killed Breonna Taylor. No one is being held accountable for her death.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1993, the same year that Breonna Taylor was born. Two American women, both gone. One at the end of a long life. The other whose life was just beginning. One celebrated and revered. The other left entirely without justice. It is a gulf, a world of difference that feels difficult to hold.
I grieve for Ruth who opened door after door after door for women, who worked tirelessly for equality. I grieve for what the loss of her may mean for our country. And I grieve for Breonna whose life was robbed, who had so much ahead of her, who will never get the many, many years to make a difference that Ruth did.
What do we do with this grief? How do we honor their legacies? These are questions I’ve been asking myself. The thing I return to is that the word haloing each of their names is justice. We must continue to seek it. We must continue to say Breonna Taylor’s name. We must work toward justice as tirelessly as Ruth did.
May their memories be a revolution.
Spotlight on Dr. Onyeka Otugo MD, MPH
This month, I am so pleased to share a bit about the work of Dr. Onyeka Otugo.
Onyeka Otugo MD, MPH is a second-year Health Policy Research and Translation Fellow and attending at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
She is currently a Massachusetts Leadership and Advocacy Fellow and was recently selected as an Adrian Cheng Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she is a Master of Public Administration candidate.
Recently, she was featured in the New York Times in an article called, “For Doctors of Color, Microaggressions Are All Too Familiar,” in which she shares her experiences as a Black woman in medicine. Dr. Otugo is also the co-author of an article which appeared in USAToday in June: “ER doctors: We're no strangers to violence but we try to de-escalate without anyone dying,” detailing the importance of de-escalation strategies.
Her interests include health policy, intersectionality, racial health disparities, and access to care issues. In the wake of Breonna Taylor’s death, Dr. Otugo wrote about what it’s like to work in medicine, a field that historically disregards Black women’s lives. You can follow her on Twitter at @OnyekaOtugo.
Around the Web
As The Nation Chants Her Name, Breonna Taylor's Family Grieves A Life 'Robbed'
“Friends and family agree that Taylor was attracted to a career in health care because she cared about people. In a Facebook post, Taylor made as her uncle recovered from a stroke last year, she wrote:
Working in health care is so rewarding. It makes me feel so happy when I know I've made a difference in someone else's life. I'm so appreciative of all the staff that has helped my uncle throughout this difficult time and those that will continue to make a difference in his life.”
Tribute: The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg founded the ACLU Women’s Rights Project in 1972 and led its efforts until she was appointed to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1980. During the 1970s, Ginsburg and her staff achieved momentous legal victories in the area of women’s rights and helped lay the groundwork for future women’s rights advocacy.”
5 Ways the Health-Care System Can Stop Amplifying Racism
“The coronavirus pandemic didn’t create the health disparities among Americans, but it has exposed once again how stark the problem is. Black and Latino patients are two to three times as likely as white patients to be diagnosed with COVID-19, and more than four times as likely to be hospitalized for it. Black patients are more than twice as likely to die from the virus.”
Where To Find Me
This month, I am happy to be returning to FIX, FemInEM’s Idea Exchange.
On October 8th from 11 to 12:15, I’ll be hosting a workshop called Having Fun with Professional Speaking. And on October 9th, from 4:45 to 6:16, I’ll be on the panel called Alternate Careers & Side Hustles.
I'll be joining Northwest Seminars on October 12 through 15th for a Topics in Emergency Medicine Live Webinar with Drs. Camiron Pfennig-Bass, MD, MHPE, FACEP, FAAEM and Scott M. Sasser, MD, FACEP.
I am speaking at the virtual AAWEP Meeting on Monday, October 26th on “Speaking To Be Heard.”
At the end of the month, I’ll be presenting at the ACEP Scientific Assembly where I’ll be participating in two live discussions:
- Coffee House Chats: Working as a Female in the ED on October 27th with Drs. Susan Promes, Starr Knight, Diane Birnbaumer, Onyeka Otugo, and Frosso Adamakos.
- Building a Better Workplace: Creating Diversity & Inclusion in your ED on October 28th with Drs. Diane Birnbaumer, Nicole Franks, and Vonzella Bryant.
I’m also pleased to be presenting three recorded lectures:
- How To Say You're Sorry - Medical Error Survival Tactics
- Locums as a Career: Lucrative or Loco?
- Patient Satisfaction: Truths, Half-Truths & Utter Lies – A Debate for the Ages, Panel Presentation with Drs. Robert Strauss and Matthew Silver.
Will you be at any of these virtual events? Let me know!
What's Next?
The state of the world can feel overwhelming right now. It can be difficult to know what to do next. We can and must begin by voting.
Of course, it is crucial to vote in the upcoming general election. But if we believe that our systems are in need of radical reform, we must commit to voting in local elections, as well.
It is important to be clear about how voting works in this election year, one unlike any we’ve known before. Make a plan to vote. Discuss your plan with family and friends and encourage them to make voting plans, too.
A Thought To Carry With You
I’ll leave you for now with something Rabbi Hotlzblatt said in her eulogy for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a thought to hang onto in the coming weeks:
“Justice did not arrive like a lightning bolt,
but rather through dogged persistence,
all the days of her life.”
Sincerely,
Tracy