Black Lives Matter

A Message to Our Beloved Community

Black Lives Matter.

Our community is in pain – suffering in a very public way at the hands of a nation that inflicts violence against Black Americans, usually without consequence. Breonna Taylor. George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Tony McDade. Trayvon Martin. Michael Brown. Eric Garner. Kendra James. Tamir Rice. Sandra Bland. Quanice Hayes. And many, many more, including those whose murders have gone unpublicized. This is unacceptable and should cause outrage and action in us all.

Black Health Matters.

As a health clinic, we have watched in horror (but without surprise) as the racial health disparities that impact our own Black patients play out in national headlines and breaking news stories about COVID-19 on a daily basis. More than four centuries of institutional and structural racism have left Black Americans vulnerable to COVID-19 through higher rates of diabetes and high blood pressure, higher unemployment, and less access to jobs that provide benefits like health insurance, paid sick leave, and the opportunity to work from home or physically distance on the job. The current pandemic is claiming Black lives at a rate three times higher than that of whites. This is unacceptable and should cause outrage and action in us all.

We are grateful for the outpouring of support for North by Northeast over the past week:  donations from supporters across the country (many of them new donors), texts and emails checking in to see how we’re doing collectively and as individuals, volunteers offering support in whatever way we need it, contributions of homemade masks, and much more.

Our patients and staff are strong and resilient. Intelligent, creative and resourceful. Kind and generous. We believe lasting change is possible, and we will move forward together. This will require courage, persistence, transparency and long-term focus. We want to live in a city – and a world – where Black people can be their authentic selves and are loved and respected. We are here to serve the community and we stand in solidarity with all those working toward racial justice. 

With love,

Sharetta Butcher, Community Care Director
Jill Ginsberg, MD, MPH, Medical Director
Suzy Jeffreys, Executive Director

…for the entire North by Northeast Community Health Center family