SLU Institute for Healing Justice and Equity Launches ‘Critical Futures’ Podcast

ST. LOUIS — The Institute for Healing Justice and Equity (IHJE) at Saint Louis University has launched "Critical Futures," a new podcast about imagining alternative futures.

The first episode "Reimagining Community Partnerships" explores anti-racist health policies and structural racism in the health care system and was produced with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), as part of the work of the Anti-Racism Consortium.

“How do we dismantle these systems? What are we building in its wake to move forward so that we can stop having these conversations? Will that happen in our lifetime? I'm not sure. But I know that we must keep creating the conditions to get closer and closer to it,” Amber Johnson, Ph.D., professor of communication and co-founder and executive director of the IHJE at SLU.

IHJE created the Anti-Racism Consortium as part of a grant it received from RWJF. Johnson and Ruqaiijah Yearby, J.D., professor of law at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a faculty affiliate of the IHJE, are co-principal investigators for the grant.

The podcast takes high-level theory, research findings and policy work that can eliminate disparities and build alternative futures accessible to organizers, future scholars, practitioners, community organizations and members invested in change-making. It is part of an ongoing monthly series moderated by founding co-directors of the IHJE at SLU.

The IHJE is a multidisciplinary group of faculty, staff, and partners working together to eradicate inequality caused by systemic oppression. Through research, training, community engagement and public policy development, the IHJE focuses on building equitable communities by assessing and promoting best practices that foster healing from social injustice, trauma and oppression.

"Critical Futures" is an interview-based podcast featuring members of the Anti-Racism Consortium, a panel of content experts, community advocates and organizations.

Each consortium member has a history of working to develop and advocate for anti-racist health policy, addressing the root causes of health inequities, and developing programs and interventions that address multiple levels of medical and structural racism in the health care system. Each consortium member represents a different geographic region, sector, and expertise area. 

The episode "Reimagining Community Partnerships” is hosted by Kira Banks, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at SLU and director of healing justice at the IHJE. Banks talks to consortium member Faybra Jabulani, lead racial equity capacity catalyst at Forward Through Ferguson, along with her community partner Michelle Barbeau, community governance board member of the St. Louis Regional Racial Healing + Justice Fund.

Barbeau and Jabulani discuss disparities in Black maternal health they encountered during their pregnancies and other pressing issues Black individuals encounter in the emergency health care system, and tips to empower community members.

"I had a near-death experience during this pandemic while giving birth to my Black child. My degrees, joint income with my spouse and living in a safe, middle-class neighborhood didn't protect me from that experience," Jabulani said. "We have to stop denying that race and racism isn't a huge indicator when it comes to people's life outcomes."

This episode was produced as part of the work of the Anti-Racism Consortium. Support for the Consortium was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation. "Critical Futures" is available for download on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google, and Amazon.

About Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 13,500 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University’s diverse community of scholars is SLU’s service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place.

About the IHJE

Founded at Saint Louis University, the Institute for Healing Justice & Equity (IHJE) aims to eliminate disparities caused by systemic oppression and to improve individual and community health and well-being through systems change and deep community partnership. IHJE not only has a long-standing commitment to equity and content expertise in anti-racist theory and the impact of racism, but also it is dedicated to systems change that leads to effective equity initiatives and ethical community engagement. 

About the Anti-Racism Consortium 

The Anti-Racism Consortium consists of a panel of content experts, community advocates, and organizations called the Anti-Racism Consortium. Each consortium member has a history of working to develop and advocate for anti-racist health policy, address the root causes of health inequities, and develop programs and interventions that address multiple levels of medical racism, structural racism in the health care system. Each consortium member represents a different geographic region, sector, and expertise area.