A year ago, I sat in a hospital waiting room for hours into the night in Denver, only to leave after my intense stomach pains had lessened and my fears about an overwhelming medical bill set in. My frustrations increased as the time passed…Why can’t I just see a doctor? Who is even working here? […]
Taking the Power to DC to Build a Bigger ‘We!’
To win progressive change, including a healthcare system that puts people over profit, we need to build a bigger “we” — a broad and powerful base of people who will fight for democratic control and systems that work for all of us. Center for Health Progress staff and eight of our leaders recently joined 900+ […]
Taking the Power to DC to Build a Bigger ‘We!’
To win progressive change, including a healthcare system that puts people over profit, we need to build a bigger “we” — a broad and powerful base of people who will fight for democratic control and systems that work for all of us. Center for Health Progress staff and eight of our leaders recently joined 900+ […]
No Health Justice without Language Justice
Ever since I can remember, I have been providing English interpretation and translation for my parents, who are monolingual Spanish speakers. Without other options, my parents were forced to rely on me to help them communicate, not just at grocery stores or school functions, but also as they tried to navigate more serious things like doctors appointments. As young as age 10, I can remember specifically providing interpretation for my parents and younger siblings at our family clinic for our routine check-ups.
Growing up, and being the daughter of immigrants from Mexico, I always thought this was normal. I thought of it like a debt I needed to pay for the advantages of being a first generation U.S. American. But I also remember feeling very alone in my experience. I thought that only my parents struggled to communicate, and that made me think of my family as the problem.
Hierarchies of suffering divide us
Hundreds of years after the creation of whiteness in the United States, the 1%–elite whites who are accumulating mass amounts of wealth on our backs–are still banking on us not seeing our shared struggles. They are counting on me, as a white person, to continue to focus on the suffering of others instead of recognizing my own stake in this fight.