Racism Makes Us Sick: The Backstory
Germantown community activist Susan Guggenheim was so inspired by the “race” speech by and subsequent historic election of President Barack Obama in 2008, that she formed the Facebook group Living in Germantown: All Together, to continue the conversation about race with her neighbors.
Her enthusiam slowly turned into disillusionment when she began to encounter resistance from LIG members around this sensitive issue. In response, she formed a second Facebook group, Living in Germantown: A More Perfect Union, to delve deeper into the impacts of institutional racism, particularly as the nation was being confronted by multiple cases of police brutality, along with challenges and rollbacks to civil rights legislation at all levels of government.
Multiple discussions with members in this new group convinced Guggenheim that talking about racism wasn’t enough, that it was necessary for her to do something actionable and impactful. She invited members of the LIG group, to collaborate with her, and Tieshka Smith, Germantown photographer and community advocate, stepped up. Smith had just completed a Souls of Black Folks residency at the Painted Bride Art Center in May of 2015. The residency culminated in a photography series entitled Private Pain, Silent Struggle, which explored how people of color drew upon inner resources to cope with mounting institutional racism and discrimination. Smith recognized Guggenheim’s call as a perfect opportunity to continue to explore these themes in her work as a social documentary photographer.
Together, they conceived the Racism Makes Us Sick project, which intends to highlight, through photography, personal stories, and community protest/performance art, the devastating socioeconomic effects of discrimination and racism on the health and well being of people from all walks of life. A growing body of research suggests that the stress experienced by those who are targets of racial bias, racism and discrimination can be linked to the exacerbation of chronic illness such as depression, high blood pressure (hypertension), arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Another line of research suggests that the health of those who engage in racist behaviors/actions can also be adversely affected.
Later this year, in mid-October, Guggenheim and Smith (in partnership with a local Germantown venue to be named, grassroots funders, and subjects from the 19144 zip code who will agree to be photographed and interviewed) will stage a community protest (that will compel doctors, policy makers, researchers and community leaders to weigh in on this topic) along with a photo exhibit. The intent is to jumpstart community conversations leading to action and increased cross collaboration between community members, academics, elected officials, business people and health care practitioners.
We invite you to join us in this journey of discovery and what we consider to be groundbreaking work.
Susan Guggenheim and Tieshka Smith
