Introduction
Together with Partners for Advancing Health Equity (P4HE), the Alabama State University, and Transforming Academia for Equity we gathered with an amazing group of people for the 2025 P4HE Summit with an eye toward collaboration earlier this month in Montgomery, Alabama. From beginning to end, there were clear themes of partnership, community, transformation, and inspiration as avenues toward equity and justice.
From Principles to Power: Ways of Knowing at the Summit
In addition to our other contributions to the Summit, we were pleased to host the breakout session From Principles to Power: Advancing the Ways of Knowing Action Agenda. This workshop, co-facilitated by the wonderful Rodolfo Rodríguez and jaboa lake, brought together both those steeped in and those new to the Ways of Knowing Initiative. Bringing together people with varying degrees of awareness and experience with the Ways of Knowing Initiative led to rich conversations and innovative ideas. We are grateful to those who attended, our facilitators, and our partners for sharing their insights and contributing to the action agenda. We continue to seek contributions, particularly around the milestones, for the agenda. Only together can we advance toward a more equitable knowledge system that centers the lived experiences and insights of those communities that have been placed and kept on the margins for far too long.
Healing through History
Michelle Bowder, founder of I AM MORE THAN and visionary artist that created the Mothers of Gynecology, succeeded in connecting healing and racial justice to history. She convinced me, through the example of her work on the Mothers of Gynecology, of the need to face and incorporate even that history we most want to forget or leave unacknowledged. The true story of the history of modern gynecological practice in the U.S. begins with the “Father of Gynecology,” Dr. J. Marion Sims, and his cruel and unfeeling experimentation on three enslaved women, Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey. In facing this history, recognizing its truth, and juxtaposing it with what patients experience today, we may see both the progress that has been made and what steps still need to take place to advance towards racial and Indigenous health equity and justice.
There is a lesson in this for all of us, we must own up to the past and the truths it holds, from the individual to national levels. We cannot sweep painful and dark truths under the rug if we hope to achieve equity and justice.
Connecting to People & Place
The host city of Montgomery, Alabama provided a welcoming place to learn about and acknowledge the history of slavery and the continued individual and structural racism and colonialism experienced by those in our country today. Summit participants were provided with the time and access to explore The Legacy Sites. These incredible spaces allow visitors to learn about the history and continued impacts of colonization and slavery through artwork, multimedia displays, personal stories, poetry, and much more. Beyond connecting with the place and its history, we were provided the opportunity to connect with the people of Montgomery, as well as grantees, partners, colleagues, and friends (both old and new).
Such connections are necessary for the work we do, particularly in light of the times. Now, more than ever, we should look to each other for support, guidance, respite, and purpose.
Conclusions
Summit organizers did exactly what they set out to do, provide the space and time to collaborate, unite, and inspire as we develop and implement “Collaborative Strategies for a Better Future.” We must face our history and an increasingly uncertain future together if we are to make any progress, or at least maintain some semblance of the progress made thus far, toward racial and Indigenous health equity and justice. We look forward to working with our current partners and making new ones.