People in the medical field do a lot to serve their communities. Now, there's an opportunity for students at the Yale School of Public Health to do even more, and it all comes down to social justice.
It's all through a new program called "Activist in Residence." This program brings an activist to campus who is tackling social justice issues.
Angelo Pinto is the first activist to take on the part. Pinto is an attorney and political strategist who founded the social justice organization "Until Freedom," which is devoted to police accountability and criminal justice reform.
The new Yale program launched in February, and for a year, Pinto will be working with students, faculty and staff on issues related to public health activism.
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The goal is to address health inequities ultimately.
" You know, what's really interesting about this program is I'm excited that our first inaugural activism residence is an attorney because I think it speaks on this intersection that we have to have in being able to challenge systems that contribute to health disparities in the United States," Dr. Ijeoma Opara, assistant professor in the Department of social and behavioral sciences at Yale Shcool of Public Health said.
"So if we're going to be talking about systemic change, you know, and systematic change, we have to be able to understand the law and rules and policies that contribute to the oppression of people of color," Opara continued.
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Dr. Ijeoma Opara, the assistant professor who launched the program, said Pinto will give a seminar and guest lectures on the work that he's doing and bring in other activist speakers.
The purpose is to bridge the gap between academics and community activists and allow Yale School of Public Health students to hear from someone who isn't a traditional public health practitioner or professor.
"One of the things that Pinto brings, as the first in our inaugural activists and residents, is that he's going to be working with a small group of students to develop the US Health Justice Action Lab, where they're actually going to come together to think about different policies or different activist related products on projects that contribute to public health issues that they could work on within the year," Opara said.
This program was launched through the new U.S. Health Justice Concentration and Dr. Opara hopes to get enough funding to allow the program to continue for several years.
In February of 2023, another community partner will be brought in as the next activist in residence.
