There has always been “The Other America” as Martin Luther King Jr. stated in a 1968 speech during the civil rights movement. He spoke about the intolerable conditions that Black people face daily from poverty to substandard education and housing. Deep structural and systemic racism have plagued our country for far too long, resulting in inequities that we begin to see within the first two years of life. This seminar will cover the importance of the first 1000 days of life, the intricate connection of this vulnerable time period to the rest of life, the urgent need for confronting social justice and racial equity issues, and how institutional racism has affected our public health systems and responses. If society is to achieve what has been held as the aspirational premise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, confronting these historical issues is imperative.

Featuring Brenda Blasingame, Program Manager, Pritzker Children’s Initiative. Moderated by Maureen Allwood, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY; Adjunct Associate Professor in Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, and Trauma-Free NYC Steering Committee member, Columbia University.