Shaping the Narrative: Documenting Stories of Racism and Resistance for U.S. Community Health Centers

This project will document, analyze, and disseminate 1) narrative stories on historic and current lived experiences of structural racism, and 2) strategies community health center (CHC) clinicians and staff employ in tackling racism. In partnership with the two largest CHC policy organizations in the U.S. with expertise in advocacy for the care of African Americans (the Community Health Center Association of Mississippi and the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers), the project team will develop and embed a qualitative data collection tool on their website, OurHealthStories.org, to solicit narratives from CHC clinicians, staff, and patients. Additionally, they will interview four key civil rights activists and/or their descendants. A sample of CHC staff and patients (prioritizing CHCs in Massachusetts and Mississippi) who fill out the survey will be interviewed to further document their experiences with anti-Black/African American structural racism during delivering or receiving care, and advocacy steps taken to address these experiences. Anonymously contributed stories also will be analyzed for recurring themes using qualitative analysis. Data will be collected on participants’ role (CHC leaders, clinician, care team, patient advocate), and geography/state of residence (Massachusetts, Mississippi, national) to allow data to be stratified and reported in segments.