This year, the UAB Heersink School of Medicine Office for Diversity and Inclusion and UAB Health System Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, hosted its first annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Event.


This two-part virtual seminar focused on exploring The Intersection of Social Justice and Health Care.

Panel 

First, the morning session attendees were given a warm welcome by Shyla Fields of the Black Employee Resource Group. Afterward, Shyla handed the session over to Dawn Bulgarella, CFO and president for UAB Health System, who remarked on the importance of diverse perspectives at UAB.

Just before beginning the panel, Jennifer Newsome introduced the moderator (Andre Lessears, Chief Diversity Officer for UAB Health Systems) and three panelists (Dr. Brandi Shah, Verlon Salley, and Dr. Samantha Hill).

During this round table, each panelist spoke to different aspects of social justice and health care—from providing practical examples to discussing the recentering of human values and more.

Watch the full recording below.

Keynote Speaker

To begin the second part of the commemoration event, Dr. Anupam Agarwal, Executive Vice Dean at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine, welcomed guests back to the afternoon session.

After Dr. Agarwal’s comments, the Miles College Choir—initially scheduled to perform live but unable to due to COVID—played a pre-recorded selection of "Sit Down Servant," an old spiritual that was popular during the Civil Rights Movement.

Following the choir, Dr. Mona Fouad, Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, UAB Heersink School of Medicine, introduced the day’s keynote speaker, Lenice Emanuel, MLA, Executive Director at the Alabama Institute for Social Justice.

During the keynote, Lenice Emanuel shared her and her family’s history advocating for social justice and enlightened listeners to many of the issues that exist in underserved communities throughout Alabama.

Watch the full lecture below. 

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