Stella Safo, MD MPH
@AmmahStarr
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HIV primary care physician, NYC | Passionate about healthcare redesign, equity and civic engagement | Founder Just Equity For Health @just_equity | she/her
Brooklyn, NY
Joined January 2010
The fangirl in me has lost her entire mind!! When our president for life, THE @BarackObama retweets you, what do you do? . Y’all are lucky I have to go finish my afternoon clinic session otherwise I’d be acting all the way a fool. Thank you Mr President. You made my day! 💙🌊👊🏿
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Crimo apprehended alive. I JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW THE POLICE MANAGE TO TAKE MASS SHOOTERS ALIVE BUT CANT LET BLACK FOLKS SURVIVE A TRAFFIC STOP WITHOUT 90 BULLETS FIRED. Like how? How does this work???.
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The FIRST THING Dems need to do is confirm all the federal judges. Not one seat better be left unfilled. Not-a-one.
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Half the people I encounter are living like Covid doesn’t exist. The other half is perpetually practicing risk mitigation like it’s their job. The cognitive dissonance is wild. Wild.
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I will say this and then be done. When I went into labor I looked at my pediatrician mom and my white partner and told them to use ALLLLLL their privilege to make sure I made it out alive. Why? Because even as a Harvard-trained MD with an exceptional OB team in a. .
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The video is so bad they fired and charged the cops involved. It’s so bad they’re preparing for rioting. It’s so bad the police chief has a message out saying she understands the outrage. Now imagine if there wasn’t a video.
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Whatever happens this week, VP Kamala Harris has run an impeccable campaign. She hasn’t slept in over 104 days since entering the race. She’s done it all - talked to everyone, gone everywhere, tried her hardest. She’s given us a chance. It’s our turn now.
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You still wearing your mask when no one else is? You getting looks and whispers? .Please know you’re not alone. We ‘covid-nerds’ are all over the world trying equally hard to dodge illness. Keep going.
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Gianna Floyd still goes to bed tonight without her father. None of this will undo that reality.
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Your child gets killed by the police. You finally get charges brought against the murderer. And at the sentencing the judge cries FOR THE MURDERER?! . There is no sense in this. It’s just not right. The way Black peoples lives are devalued is sickening.
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No, not all of us have had covid. No, not all of us are resigned to getting it. No, not all of us are expecting a 'mild' disease course if we do get covid. Please, leave space for different expectations and experiences in this current stage of the pandemic.
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Are you still wearing cloth masks? Yes? Ok. Please take some time this weekend and buy yourself some surgical masks. And order some KN95s. But do not keep wearing your cloth masks w this latest surge. Omicron is unforgiving. Please up your mask game asap.
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Voted for the next prez of these United States. Mini-me was on it and kept yelling KAMALA HARRIS! . Get out and vote early if you can y’all.
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Anyone else wonder how quickly a new pandemic will wipe out the human race? Because we have truly shown our species to be deeply self destructive. We won’t wear simple masks to stem a deadly virus. What happens when the next contagion comes along??.
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This obit— of man who murdered his entire family—is one of the craziest things I’ve seen. My goodness.
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top NYC hospital, I feared for my life as a Black birthing mom. The stats worked against me. If I were younger and without a chronic med condition, you can be sure I'd have chosen home birth to deliver on MY terms.
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At Chicago O’Hare and just got told I can’t enter a restaurant bc I had a mask on. With Covid at its highest rate in months. Make it make sense.
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Get up. Make some tea. Check the covid numbers. Ensure Zellensky is still alive. Commence day. We are truly living in wild times.
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My day began with having to block one of the Mt Sinai deans, a person who has accused me of blood libel for calling what I’m witnessing in Gaza a genocide. She’s claimed I want to witness the ‘genocide of the Jews’ bc I’ve said I don’t believe the US should fund the slaughter….
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Please return her back to her family, TODAY. We are praying for the Jacksons.
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Look, if this country does not care to protect Black people, fine. But let us make the choices that we can to keep ourselves safe. Don't then turn around and steal our very babies, which is something that harkens back to the days of chattel slavery.
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But honestly, we don't even need to go back that far. This country has been using the foster care industrial complex to punish Black families for generations. It has to stop. We have to demand better. Please keep an eye on what's happening to baby Mila Jackson.
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Three years ago we clapped and cheered for our healthcare heroes as they literally risked their lives during a pandemic. Now nurses are forced to strike to seek fair compensation and safer patient-staff ratios. The whiplash is a lot.
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Me, an immunocompromised doctor who takes care of HIV patients and loves it, am thinking seriously about how many more years (?months, ?weeks, who even knows) I can safely practice medicine. We shouldn’t have to make these choices. 1/.
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There is no cocktail, appetizer, colleague convo or any other incentive to make these work holiday parties worth the risk of getting COVID. Skip them. Watch trash tv instead. Just mind your business bc omicron is in these streets.
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PLEASE DON’T DO THIS. Don’t do this yall. Do not do this. Don’t start this mess tonight. Repeat after me- we, the Democrats, will take every single win. We will leave nothing on the table. We fight and we fight hard. Victory must be complete. Say it until you believe it.
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New COVID variants going around and people are still on here arguing against mask use because ‘masks don’t work perfectly’. There are many things that don’t work perfectly all the time (ex. flight safety tools) that we still use because it helps us most of the time.
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If we believe covid to be so harmless we cannot be bothered to wear masks indoors, what is the point of requiring travelers from China to test negative?. To avoid new variants? To decrease burden of disease?. Doesn't make sense if we don't invest in widespread prevention efforts.
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No one is asking anyone to shut anything down. We are just saying take basic measures to allow those who want to be safe to be safe. Masks on public transport, masks in crowded spaces. We know this works. We know it. The reluctance to do the basics is baffling.
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For those who have to use mass transit and want to stay safe- I recommend high grade masks (KF94, KN95, N95) and consider adding eye protection w a face shield or goggles. Reasoning here is unmasked ppl have covid so gear up the way we do in clinical settings. Godspeed.
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This ‘COVID standard time’ clock will make you laugh/cry.
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Early years of the HIV pandemic framed HIV/AIDS as a ‘gay man disease.’ Women, and especially Black and brown heterosexual women, suffered from this narrow framing. Even now, the rates of pre exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among high risk women are lower than they should be. 1/.
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Now’s a good time to remind people that Africa isn’t a monolith. Please name the countries you mean when you talk about folx from the African continent. Thank you.
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I want 2021 to be the year where Black people hurt less.
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The world is a sad place these days but I am so lucky to have the best gift a girl could ask for. Welcome to the world, little one. 💕
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There are many reasons to be wearing a mask right now. If flu, RSV and covid are not enough, concerns about possible MERS coming back from the Qatar games should do it.
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Cases are going up and people are really using the breath in their bodies to argue against masks. Why??? Does it hurt you to have people try to keep themselves safe? Heading into year three of the pandemic and no, we don’t all want to get covid. Why is that so problematic??.
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This country is so racist it had all of us doubting that a guilty verdict would be reached despite all of us watching the same murder video.
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been off twitter bc my entire fam got covid and i've been too sick, angry and despondent to engage on here responsibly. my baby made it 161 days of being alive bf she got sick. couldn't even get her to 6 months. just fkng sad. please let's elect some sane ppl come tues. pls.
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It shouldn’t take witnessed brutality for us to get justice. For every George Floyd, there are thousands we just didn’t see or hear about. For every Tyre Nichols, there are horrors that went undocumented. We cannot reform this system of policing. We must try a different way.
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‘Just get COVID’ they said. ‘You’ll be fine after 5 days,’ they insisted. 🙄🙄. Two weeks in and minime is still testing positive. No childcare. Tanked productivity. Sick baby. Why we have allowed this to run rampant, I will never understand.
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Do not tag Dr Gounder to your conspiracy theories on her husband’s passing, especially the antivax ones. If there is anyone who will get to the bottom of this, it’s Céline. I know no one more tenacious. I ask God for forgiveness for the cussing out you get if I see this shit.
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@kamsendoo I adore this! You’re making me look at my belly fat differently tonight! 😂Thank you for your endless positivity.
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This has made me so angry I had to put the article down several times while reading it. In short, the state of Texas has kidnapped this Black couple’s child bc they chose to do a homebirth. Call Dallas CPS 8007207777 to demand the return of this child.
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As a healthcare worker, what happens when we go to work and get covid multiple times? Who will take care of you when your clinicians are out sick, or worse, permanently retired due to complications of long covid?. It’s ‘you do you’ until you can’t get access to healthcare.
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I stand with Professor @UjuAnya. You may not have liked the way she framed her sentiments about the Queen’s passing, but please point out where she lied. Is the British empire not responsible for a number of untold horrors in our recent history, as are many colonizing nations??.
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Really proud of my moms for reopening her peds practice in a low income neighborhood in NYC so kids can get newborn visits and vaccines. Docs in private practice are a dying breed, esp those taking mostly Medicaid. Thanks for helping take care of this population dear one
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This ‘you do you’ pandemic policy against the backdrop of unrelenting capitalism is really going to screw us all in the end. What a whole mess.
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What an awesome day! If you’ve never done it (like me), sign up to be a poll worker if you can- it’s pretty inspiring. Voting this year is a whole different experience. People are out here in Brooklyn voting w passion. Thank you Bk for lifting my spirits. 💙
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@IjeomaOparaPHD @Yale WHEN I TELL YOU THIS MADE MY WHOLE WEEK!!! thank you for what you do Ijeoma.
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My greatest accomplishment to date is being pregnant at the same time as Rihanna🤪. But for real for real, super psyched to be on this journey. 💙💖
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I actually guffawed reading this. And there are ppl in the replies believing the foolery. Racism really does make you gullible
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If you’re blocking Dr. Oni Blackstock @oni_blackstock for gently telling you about yourself, you’re living your life poorly. Because the wisdom, knowledge and grace she drops is unparalleled. @CNN, @washingtonpost, @NPR - please consider other voices than Lea*a W*n. Please.
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A few years ago Dr Oni Blackstock made the case on tw for why we should always call it the US Public Health Syphilis Study at Tuskegee and not just the Tuskegee Syphilis Study- to remember who is to blame for what happened to those Black men and their families.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Tuskegee syphilis study. Tomorrow, I will be joined by colleagues & #PublicHealth leaders as we honor the 623 African American men, their suffering & sacrifice, and our commitment to ethical research and practice.
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Please read this twice, fellow docs. Terms like ‘non-complaint’ and ‘against medical advice’ pigeonhole already marginalized patients and can literally contribute to adverse outcomes. We need to do better.
My sis was denied TWICE from the heart transplant list due to “noncompliance.” A 27 yr old BW w/2 kids. The noncompliance? Not always liking hospital food, missing meds b/c NURSES didn’t wake her up, & panic attacks seen as “aggressive.” She died 2 months after the last denial.
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I get that we all want to get back to ‘normal’. But some of us can’t afford more health complications. To tell me to ‘TAKE OFF MY MASK’ even before I sit down, is wrong for a restaurant to do. Esp one in the airport. I just hope we can practice tolerance in our public policies.
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my mask off for a few moments. The focus is risk mitigation. Anyways just highlighting this bc many of us have chronic diseases or are immune compromised. We can’t afford to get covid over and over. Establishments should respect ppl masking to try to protect their health.
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of babies. I’ve watched her go after colleagues and trainees and it’s not right. I operate in these online spaces with clear boundaries and will not be harassed. We as doctors owe the public and each other decorum and respect as we state our views. I was getting neither.
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I’m freakin dreaming. This is a dream. The way she said ‘DocTER Biden’ and ‘Madame Vice President’. AMANDA GORMAN is the dessert to this great day.
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Panel call tonight. Moderator goes around and calls folks out as dr so and so and dr so and so. Gets to me and calls me Stella. Just Stella. Another example of how small microaggresions wear at black female docs all the time, every single day. Bc bias takes no breaks.
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Subway car NYC, 2022: People unmasked and coughing into each other’s faces and nary a soul seems concerned. Out here like it’s 2019 and we’ve learned nothing from this pandemic.
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Healthcare worker turnover right now is unlike anything I've seen or read about before. People hired within the year are resigning. Some who joined within the last 6 months are already leaving. Are there better options out there? Is the NY market an outlier? It's just wild.
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@AndrewMakeTweet I love this as yet another reminder that ordinary citizens are the key to saving America.
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I say this here bc I know their framing in spaces will continue to malign my character. With differential power dynamics — a dean against a Black women doc— I want to state that I did not feel safe or comfortable occupying online spaces w them and took steps to protect myself.
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Doing my first ever polling shift and I can’t lie- it’s curing my cynicism. It’s hard not to get emotional about how excited people are to vote. I’m so inspired by every single person on this line.
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This is disrespectful. On so many levels.
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I have 3 degrees from Harvard- I walk into a job and am made program manager by a boss who tells me that ‘titles don’t matter.’.My male colleague, man w a PhD, comes in as Chief Technology Officer. Ladies, titles matter. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. #BlackintheIvory.
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It’s always my health first for me. Because I know I’m replaceable. The medical industry treats us all like we are replaceable. So yea I’ll choose my health and wellness first second and third before I let clinical care damage me.
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My moms got her makeup done for a wedding and I am shooketh. LOOK AT THIS MOTHER OF 4 GROWN ASS ADULTS OUT HERE LOOKING LIKE A WHOLE SNACK. Yassss momssssss!.She knows she’s fly too, just serving full face.
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The oath is to first do no harm. Not ‘disregard your own safety even if it means possible death.’.
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How life in NYC will be looking for me, a privileged Black doc at high risk for COVID complications: .-no indoor dining .-N95 on subways.-masked short indoor gatherings (mainly w extended fam) .-main risk will be pt care only. Make a plan for yourselves y’all. We are on our own.
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Got a drink at the bar down the way- no issues. For those who are wondering- I mask most of my time in the airport and make a few exceptions. Our flight is delayed so gonna grab a drink to calm my nerves. Yes that requires me to take.
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Honesty this is why NYers are so pissed. For weeks, he shut down our public library system, telling us there were no funds. He and his police dept are shooting people over fare evasion. All the while, he’s stealing from NYers. Absolutely shameful.
What is important to highlight is that Eric Adams was stealing MILLIONS of public dollars, getting kickbacks & conspiring with foreign governments while cutting funding for New Yorkers and telling us to blame the migrants. A liar, a thief, a bigot & a hypocrite.
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The perfection required of women is unreal. — Be excellent. Be likable. Don’t speak up. Make everyone comfortable. And on and on. If women could just be their unfiltered selves in this world, could share their talents freely, imagine the world we could build?.
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Looking at this pandemic mess, I still can’t believe we are the same humans who sent people to the moon. Like I KNOW we can get it together against a virus. Come on my people.
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We all know who will suffer when this goes into effect. Poor, Black, Indigenous, brown women. The way we discard those we should be protecting and uplifting. Shameful.
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And how many Black, woman docs are doing what I do? Do we really want to lose expertise and diversity because we can’t keep folks safe as they provide clinical care??.
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Me when I realized @BarackObama spent a millisecond of his day to recognize the work so many people have inspired me to do this year to help get out the vote. Legit don’t think I’ve been this excited about something since graduating from med school. I’d like to thank. jk jk
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Again, we shouldn’t have to make these choices. Because I will choose me. And it’s patients who ultimately lose when we drive docs out.
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@RaquelNPhoto @fbi @capitolterror - please see the folks in this pic who attacked a woman. Should be charge with a hate crime.
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You know what industry will soon have better masking policies than hospitals - the movie industry. The movie industry will do a better job masking, testing, and ventilating than health facilities. I swear I never thought I’d see this day.
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Every person who has a compromised immune system is watching how we talk about Colin Powell and the value of the lives of those with major medical conditions. Hope they see the takes about how far we’ll go to keep them safe and not the ones suggesting their deaths are inevitable.
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The love letter I wanna write to @staceyabrams may make my partner think I’m leaving him. When I tell you how much I adore this woman. Make her the Secretary of everything. Absolutely everything.
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My ‘no-covid’ why is both for my health and the health of this little one. Everyone who takes covid seriously has my deepest appreciation. Mini-me says hands up to you all! . What’s your ‘no covid why’?
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Whoever wins, I will never be ok w how close this race is. That we couldn’t outright reject the blatant racism and our nastiness of Trump says all I ever need to know about this country. Ever.
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It's not lost on any of us that the most qualified supreme court nominee-- a Black woman-- was only appointed with 3 Republicans voting yes. It won't mess up our deep pride and celebration, but it does not go unnoticed.
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The state continues to lynch Black people, release the videos for us to watch, and then expect folks to move on. Meanwhile we’re passing laws to prevent teaching Black AMERICAN history. We’re throwing MORE money to policy. We’re manufacturing boogeymen in CRT and wokeness.
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This is the same profession that is always quick to tell people— especially those from minoritized backgrounds—that they are unprofessional. But we can call a whole Black woman a freak of nature. In public. As a dept chair. He apologized and Imma legit let it rest. But damn.
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Actually I’m not done. I know Columbia has had endless antiracism trainings in the last few years. All the elite schools have. And yet here we are. DEI without action will not save us. Not when ppl hold ingrained racist beliefs. Action is it all day. 1/.
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I am all for keeping us safe. But testing for covid from one country, when we can't even be bothered to encourage people to mask and vaccinate seems almost silly. Like we've peed in the proverbial pool til it's bright yellow but now we don't want anyone else to pee in it.
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Just did a radio segment on Covid vaccine hesitancy and the ?s I got made me sad. Ppl are really going to take their chances w getting Covid bc they DO NOT trust a thing coming from government or industry. Capitalism, systemic racism and disinformation are killing us.
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This officer, A BLACK MAN FACING A RAGING WHITE SUPREMACIST MOB, saved the lives of countless lawmakers by diverting the crowd away from the senate entrance. If he doesn’t get early retirement, the Medal of Honor, and all the free meals in the world, there is no justice.
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And there are docs who will open their mouths to say ‘but medicine must be apolitical’. If you don’t speak up now as we watch people stripped of basic rights, you are choosing violence for your patients. It’s truly that simple.
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No one says live under a rock, but can’t we practice basic mitigation strategies so we can ALL comfortably spend time in public spaces? Doesn’t seem like much to ask of a compassionate society.
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We can’t fail w this framing of monkeypox. To review:.Monkeypox is a contact based disease- spread through skin to skin, fluids, and soiled materials (eg bedsheets, towels). It is spreading *like an STI* rn but is not an STI. MSM have higher rates rn, but that will likely…2/.
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I know I work for minime and her hours are unrelenting, but I’m gonna ask her to let me start my shift at 7:30 instead of 6am. I already know she’ll laugh in my face but I’m feeling bold.
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@ZilkoKathleen @ElieNYC I cannot imagine this horror. No person should suffer this kind of death and no parent should have to see this.
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