Black Legacy is a coalition committed to health equity. We are focusing on education reform for real changes that will result in multi-generational health and wellness.

1. Education: A Public Health Imperative Every person should have an opportunity for a healthy, prosperous life. “ I, for one, believe that if you give people a thorough understanding of what confronts them and the basic causes that produce it, they’ll create their own program, and when people create a program, you get action.” Malcolm X

2. Education: A Public Health Imperative “ Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane .” Martin Luther King Jr.

3. Who is Black Legacy We are a group of community members and supporting organizations that came together in 2010 to address the vast health disparities experienced by the Black community in Worcester.

4. What we Found Disparities refer to a statistical measure. Disparities exist when we see some groups of people experiencing sickness, disease, illness, and death at a higher rate than another group. We found many health disparities…

6. What We Found This information shows that there are broad disparities being experienced by our Black community in the city of Worcester. We are getting sick more often, more severely, and with greater severity including death than our White counter parts. We knew we needed to act now.

8. So, why are we talking about education??? We did extensive research to find out why these disparities exist & what are the most effective ways to eliminate them. What we found is what we built all of our work on. We learned that education is a primary social determinant of health.

9. The Importance of Social Determinants of Health Our communities create systems that can support healthy development, or the development of illness. The better the quality of schools, hospitals, health insurance, public safety, transportation, housing and other such systems… the better health and wellness people can typically experience. For this reason, these systems are often referred to as “social determinants of health” because they can greatly determine our health. Simple…

10. Social Determinants Are Not Quite That Simple Because these determinants of health intersect with each other, many face multiple exclusions such as being simultaneously under/unemployed, homeless, in a poor performing school, in neighborhoods the city fails to invest in which contribute to health inequality. This makes health an uphill battle for some groups. Access to these social systems may be limited because of poverty, under/unemployment, homelessness, distance, racism, discrimination or other related reasons.

11. All Social Determinants of Health Are Not Equal We all know that eating right, having health insurance, and getting to the doctor are important for us to do to improve our health. However, research shows that there are other things MORE important to our chances for overall health and wellness. A better predictor than what we eat, what type of insurance we have, and if we have a doctor. For this reason, things like nutrition, access to health care, housing & neighborhood are called secondary social determinants of health.

12. Nutrition Access to Health Services Housing & Neighborhood Social Safety Net SECONDARY DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH All Social Determinants of Health Are Not Equal For this reason, things like nutrition, access to health care, housing & neighborhood are called secondary social determinants of health.

13. Nutrition Access to Health Services Housing & Neighborhood Social Safety Net SECONDARY DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH Socio Economic Status All Social Determinants of Health Are Not Equal So we asked, what is the best way to predict if a person will have the opportunities to access these secondary determinants. The research said what we all know… it’s our Income / Socio-economic status determines what type of access we have.

14. Nutrition Access to Health Services Housing & Neighborhood Social Safety Net SECONDARY DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH Socio Economic Status EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT PRIMARY DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH All Social Determinants of Health Are Not Equal … and systems that determine our income are called Primary Social Determinants of Health. If people have equal access to PRIMARY determinants, that corrects for disparities in socio-economic status which corrects for disparities in the access and quality of secondary determinants.

15. Nutrition Access to Health Services Housing & Neighborhood Social Safety Net SECONDARY DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH Socio Economic Status EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT PRIMARY DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH All Social Determinants of Health Are Not Equal But that’s not everything. The thing that predicts our ability to access our educational system and employment opportunities is Inclusion … or the lack of it, which is Exclusion.

16. Nutrition Access to Health Services Housing & Neighborhood Social Safety Net SECONDARY DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH Socio Economic Status EDUCATION EMPLOYMENT PRIMARY DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH Social Inclusion or Exclusion Prevention Institute, Restructuring Government and Addressing Social Determinants of Health All Social Determinants of Health Are Not Equal

17. EDUCATION PRIMARY DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH Social Inclusion or Exclusion Prevention Institute, Restructuring Government and Addressing Social Determinants of Health Improving Education through Inclusion Black Legacy has decided to focus on education reform by inviting the Black Community, and supporters equity for all to raise their voices and demand changes in policies and practices that are limiting the access and benefits of Worcester’s school systems. Simply put, we are asking you to speak, show up, and shape the education system that is boxing some of it’s children out of opportunities. It’s literally a matter of life and death.

18. “ Liberate the minds of men and ultimately you liberate the bodies of men .” ~ Marcus Garvey

20. What Needs to Change? These things will only change if we ask for them to change, we help them figure out how to make the changes happen, and we stick around to make sure the changes are implemented correctly and are effective. That’s why we need you to sign-on. Join Black Legacy Now