Episode Transcript
With us heading into November. We tend to see this time of year as a time for giving thanks, which is great. But also we tend to see this time of year for ramping up a lot of politics. We tend to see that our TV screens are now filled with political commercials. We're now watching debates not only for the, um, policies that we think these uh, candidates are going to bring forth, but also for the enter.
So much so that sometimes we get so disillusioned with the importance of elections, with the importance of voting, and especially for community of color for a lot of time, who were not allowed to vote freely as much as they wanted to. So sometimes people still wonder, does voting still matter? And obviously that's a crazy question to ask if you're very passionate about voting.
but for some other people, they don't really understand why should my single vote matter compare to the 400 mil people that live within the United States? Well, today on coloring health policy, we're going to talk more about voting and why it's so important for your health that actually the American Medical Association this past summer said that voting itself is a social determinant of.
So what does that mean and how can we break it down? Well, stay tuned and I'm super excited that you're here for another episode of Coloring Health Policy.
Hey everyone. Thank you so much for turn tuning in to another episode of Coloring Health Policy. Today I have with me Jasmine Eaton, who is an amazing new policy health policy person that does a lot on voting. So, um, today our episode is literally gonna focus on voting. Um, so I'm gonna start off with some really fun questions.
So, um, I wanted to know like, what is your first experience with voting like in your community or who taught you about. Well, uh, first thank you so much. I know we've already kind of been able to chat about how excited I am about this, but I just wanted to reiterate that and appreciate you having me on and appreciate the work that you put into this podcast.
It's really important. Um, so. The first experience I've had with voting, my, my family, um, is very, um, very serious about civic engagement. And so I recall, you know, when I was younger, going to the polls with my parents and my grandparents and aunts and uncles and everyone, you know, kind of at where was living out that commitment to civic engagement.
So it was not a new concept for me. Once I got. To registering, but I remember. When I went to college, actually, um, I went to join, um, or you know, start to apply to join my sorority, Delta Sigma, the sorority Incorporated. And I was at Spelman College and I remember one of the girls who was in the, um, Chapter and I, you know, was like, I wasn't in the chapter yet, so I was like, Oh my gosh.
You know, I was like looking up to every single one of them and, um, you know, just wanted to know what, what I could do to like, you know, stand out and, and, you know, um, kind of befriend them if I could. And I remember one of them, you know, asked me, you know, like, Are you registered to vote? You know, like, that's really important.
And I was like, Oh my gosh. Like, I know. Yeah. It's like, because I just turned, you know, um, 18, I actually went to college at 17, so I recognized like all of a sudden I was like, Wow, this is my time. But it, until she said that, I hadn't really realized it, and I. I feel like that's cool because it shows kind of the, um, importance of that to, to her in, in my interest in being, you know, a part of that organization.
And so I remember like reaching out to my dad, like dad, like I gotta get all my stuff together. Cause I was in Atlanta at Spellman College and my family was up in New York and so I was like, you know, I need my birth certificate, I need whatever else I need so that I can register. I was like, ready to go.
So , um, I ended up getting registered. And this was the 2014, so I guess, yeah, this would've been the 2016 election because I started college in 2013, so that was quite a, Yeah. And uh, It was exciting though, until it wasn't right. Like if the the energy was crazy, you know, because we were like, we gotta get, you know, we gotta rally behind our folk, you know, so that we can avoid whatever craziness would come of it.
Which, you know, eventually we saw, um, what happened. But, um, I remember being on campus, the energy there was like a lock in where we like watched the election. Um, and so there was a lot of energy around, around it. And I think being at an H B C U. Seeing the, um, segment, um, around the election was also very formative for me and kind of thinking about the importance of voting and my participation in it.
So, um, yes, that would, that would be my first experience with voting personally. I love it. That's like really dope. And I think one thing that you focused on repeatedly is that you kept saying that voting is important. And I think, um, I know it's gonna be a loaded question, um, and that's what's gonna lead us in our conversation.
Um, but why is voting important? Why should people be voting, especially those who will consider themselves of color within the United States? Why should we. I mean, it's, it's an important question and it's a really tough question because it's hard to speak to all of the reasons that, the real reasons that people, you know, question the importance of it, right?
And so you don't wanna sound tone deaf, but you also, um, you know, I know you and I both see it as important and I try to kind of capture why in this respo in the response that I give, cuz I've been asked this question a lot, especially in the work I've been doing lately. I think it's important because we have an opportunity to use our voices and.
I know at least the kind of person that I am and the kind of people that we are as a, as a, as black and brown people, we have not always been served by the system, but we take opportunities, right? Like if an opportunity presents itself to, you know, you know, get what we. We, our tradition is to go for it.
For it. Right. You know, we, it's not like we were always allowed on the front of the bus, but we went through the back and sat in the front, right? Like we, you know, we were not always, you know, I mean just to use this as an example, allowed to vote, right? But we spoke up and spoke out. Um, We weren't always allowed to buy homes.
Right. But we persisted. We weren't always allowed, you know, to be in schools. Right. But, you know, we went with the police escort like you, we take opportunities and um, you know, it's not to say that the system works and you know, works perfectly, but I think it's important because it's an opportunity to try, um, and you know, when we think about why, you know, our ancestors and why black people, even when we weren't allowed to vote, try, I think it's because we know that we have a, our, our tradition is to hold the country and the institution accountable for what it said it was gonna do.
which is to give everybody a chance, right? And to give everyone an opportunity to pursue life, liberty, whatever, right? And even though it has not served us, we hold, we hold the system accountable. So that's why I think it's important. Absolutely. Absolutely. I, I hundred 10% agree with you and I think, um, a lot of people, when they think about voting, we think about it in the terms.
Socially how it impacts us. However, we never think about how it impacts us in terms of our health. Um, and I think now in medicine we're starting to realize how much we need to be more politically engaged as, you know, providers, um, not just physicians, but nurses, um, PAs, whoever's touching the healthcare system because it's affecting the outcome of our.
Um, one book that you know, um, I'll definitely make sure that people can get access to is looking at Dr. Um, Daniel, um, Dodds, who's at a Morehouse School of Medicine, talking about the political, um, determinants of health. And he literally hones in on. Voting because he's realizing, and this is something that we should have like been talking about forever, talking about how voting, um, leads to, you know, increased investment in communities, housing leads to, um, better, um, Groceries or combating food deserts.
Basically, the factor of voting or being politically engaged are the upper tier of the social determinants of health that impact what we're seeing on the levels that we're impacted in as healthcare provider. So I was just going to focus on that, like, you know, I, you brought this amazing policy, um, and I'll give you room to talk about it that says, voting is a social determinant of health.
And why should physicians, why should people in healthcare start looking at voting as important? Not just for them to vote, but also keeping in mind the communities that they're impacting. Absolutely. So I was like, I'm sorry. I was like just jumping in, ready to go because this is such an important point.
Um, and I think that the relationship between voting and health is so, um, there, there's gravity to it because we've, as a society, um, linked the ability to access healthcare to the extent to which. Federal government supports public access because it's so, um, healthcare in our, in our society is so steeped in capitalism and so steeped in this notion that you have to earn your, uh, privilege to have healthcare, which is.
I think we could have a whole nother episode on that, but Yeah. But , I'm not gonna Yeah. Go down that road right now. But what I'm trying to get at is we have to advocate for the, um, the, the advocacy of the government to say, Hey, we wanna make sure that everybody has the right to lead their healthiest.
Many other countries have been able to get with it and understand that healthcare is a human right. I think I feel very strongly about that and I think as someone who is going, I'm a, you know, fourth year medical student as someone who's going into medicine. And who I guess will be paid, you know, from the healthcare system.
I am saying healthcare should be accessible to everyone. And I think the more that physicians, medical students, nps, PAs, anyone in the healthcare system can be vocal about that, the more we can get, you know, support for expanded access. So, That's kind of, I guess my, my soapbox right there. But I would, I would say the linkage between voting and health, um, and the way that we see it now is that if you have folks who are in the gov, in the federal government at whatever level, local, you know, you know, or up to federal, if we have people saying, All right.
We recognize that your healthcare generally will be linked to your job as a citizen. If you don't have a job or if you have job instability or insecurity or whatever, you need somebody to have your back. and we wanna make sure that that can happen. Now under the Obama administration, there was lots of energy as and as we know, I mean, I could list the policies, like there was a lot of energy that was put behind that very notion that we need to be sure that we have the people's back who are forgotten by society and Medicaid in, in many ways, you know?
On your representatives being able to advocate for that funding because the funding, Medicaid funding is available and there's a lot of federal dollars that are that, that have been put towards Medicaid expansion. And in the research that I did to on, you know, this resolution, I was really kind of ex really, um, for the first time really understanding how the money really is there.
Like the federal government has put aside that money. But your representatives are the ones who are actually asking for it or not. And if your, if your representatives are not asking for it, you don't get it. Right? Like, I'm just really trying to like put it in plain and it's very sad because a lot of the rationale behind not getting Medicaid funding is this idea that, you know, essentially we wanna perpetuate classism.
We don't want people to be able to access the funds that are available because the federal government shouldn't be doing that, which I think is a load of. But to get to the point of why we need voting, why voting and healthcare are so linked is because we need people to advocate for everyone to access healthcare.
Um, and unfortunately that system, you know, is what we depend on. I know as in as part of my medical training, I work a lot at Grady Hospital, which is a county hospital here in Atlanta, and I see the importance of. In right in my face, you know, I mean, no one's gonna be turned away. Um, but that's not where it is ev, That's not how it is everywhere.
And the hospital system itself has an a tremendous burden on it to try to make this work for so many people when a lot of the funding is so barricaded away in our federal government that it becomes really difficult to access. So I. The, the, there's so many layers between the link between voting and healthcare, and there's so much, there's so much to the importance of it.
But if I had to highlight a few points of, you know, why I think it's, it's so linked and so important for us to, you know, communicate that, especially to patients it are, you know, for the reasons I stated. So it's a big question. No, I, and honestly, I love it because it, it's gonna flow right into this, um, next exercise that I wanna bring forward.
Um, so I wanna focus on where you at you are, which is, um, you're in Georgia, in Atlanta. Um, and I wanna talk specifically about Georgia because we've seen the impact of what happens when you collectively organized, when you collectively get people together, especially people of color. To vote. That was the outcome that we saw in Georgia with the election of senators, you know, Rael Warnock and John Aof.
And I want, like, I want to go, you know, into that. How was that being down there in that moment and seeing that organization with voting and things like that? I mean, it was, it is incredible. It's ongoing, right? Because we are coming up on, you know, another election, the midterm. Fast approaching. So it's an ongoing momentum, which is good to see.
Um, initially, I, I will, I'll be honest with you, , I was like, Man, that would be crazy if we got a off and war knock. You know? I was like, that would be crazy. Cause you know, I mean, I've been down, I've been down here in Georgia for, Almost 10 years now, you know, And I was, I've been to Ebeneezer, you know, I know, I knew, um, Warren Kns name and I, I mean Asa um, his wife is actually an o g Yn, um, at Emory.
And I worked with her and I, because, you know, through knowing her and hearing his name before he, you know, he was even elected. I was like researching him and I was like, Oh, this guy is, you know, he's, he's really a good, he's a good advocate for us. And so I was like, both of them would be, And sure enough people came how, I mean, folks, I remember like going to some festival folks in the street, you know, at, you know, really.
Lobbying, honestly, you know, there, there are, you know, peers and, and saying, Hey, like this is what they stand for, passing out flyers, you know? And I think that that energy I hadn't really ever seen around, you know, um, an election, especially not a primary election. Right. I thought that that was really amazing.
Um, and so, Now when we, um, are, as we're approaching the, um, the midterm elections and when, as you know, we're thinking about Stacy Abrams coming into the forefront and what that rematch will look like. Um, the first match was not a fair one and I'm, I'm very vocal about that. Um, but I think that the energy that has been building the momentum is very, um, Powerful.
So I'm looking forward to seeing what will come of it, and I'm really, really hoping that we, um, continue that and that people can make their voices heard, like the outcome. I want it, we need it to be fair and square. We need it to be exactly how you know, it was Id, you know, the ideals of how it was designed.
We want it to run that way because the people are ready and they're making that. Absolutely. Um, and I think honestly, Georgia is the greatest example right now of the power of voting and how it can. Lower income communities. So I don't know if you heard yet, um, but um, both of these senators were able to, again, going back to your point about the importance of your representatives and talking more about the power of Medicaid, which helps to fund our hospital systems, but the creation of GA aid, which is like.
Georgia's versions of Medicaid, um, was just funded with $300 million because of having those senators, imagine if they were not, you know, voted and imagine if they did not get in, Um, Grady as well as, is it Augusta's University Hospital System? I believe that, that, yeah. They also are involved in Yeah.
Public. Yeah. And those communities take care of a large number of, um, community of color, you know, not just black, but people who live in Georgia that are low income and in needing and needing of help and allowing us to address a lot of the preventive medicine issues that they're needed in Georgia. And I'm hoping people can see that as a way for the importance of voting and especially as we go into these midterm elections.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I would say that. It's really remarkable and I had, I had heard, I was excited. For some reason, a hun, it was a hundred million, right? Three. A hundred million. Okay. I, I mean that, that's a huge deal. It's a huge deal. I think that, you know, when I see have being a medical student in one of those hospital systems and seeing day in and day out, the demand on the system, um, because truly the system is broken.
So the demand is, is really, um, is tremendous. And, and I wonder, you know, how long we'll be able to kind. Throw money at these issues, right? Without a reworking of that system. And, and I, I really, the part of the reason why it's important not to get, get too complacent or satisfied is because we need people who will continuously advocate for not only increasing funding, which don't get me wrong, is important, but actually looking at the system and really questioning it and, and trying to restructure it.
I, I love to tell this story and I think it's appropriate here, and I, I really, I wish that it was talked about more, but Medicaid, um, And, and the medic Medicare, right? Like these, these kind of systems, The implementation of these systems was really designed to make sure that you know, people who, who need help and who would not otherwise be looked out for are looked out for, but it also.
This classist kind of thought process that some people deserve to have that privilege of like, Okay, I'm going to just have healthcare no matter what. And then there are other people who we have to kind of like look out for cuz no one else has their back. Right. And I believe it was, um, the initial implementation of Medicare.
Right. I don't, I don't believe it was Medicaid, but really? Yeah, the federal government back way, way back. I believe it was in, it wasn't really way back, but the um, 1965. Right. So you're You with me? Help me. Help me. Set this up, girl. Help me. Oh, I got it. I got it. , When it was initially implemented, 1965, the federal government actually told, because hospitals were not trying to desegregate the federal government told the hospitals, Yeah, if you do not desegregate, you're not getting Medicare.
And it's crazy to me that not only did hospitals not desegregate, , but the, the federal government was like, Look, you have like 10 more days to desegregate. When it got down to the wire, they created like this government group of like regular citizen spies to like go in the hospital system nationwide and look and see which hospitals were truly desegregated and which ones weren't, and they would go and report back and these people were getting shot at.
Spit that, you know, it was crazy. And the way that it worked, the way that the, the hospital systems of the nation were desegregated was because the federal government was like holding this, this, this money in their face. I think that that's really important to think about because the system. The way it's structured right now, it's not like a as, it's not a matter of goodwill.
Like, oh, the hospitals just wanna look out for people and there's like this whole idealist like, you know, Oh well, we just care so much. No, it's because people's arms are being forced and it's because the system does not see everyone as created equal and as dessert, everyone. They don't see everyone as deserving of care.
And I think that that's really important to always remember. It allows us to hold the system accountable to improve and to change, not just to stay the way it is and continue to be funded and throw, you know, throwing money at, but to really, truly change. Um, and I feel very strongly about that when every, when anyone is like, Oh, well, you know, it's like we do this because it's good.
It's like, No, we do this because people have been forced to do it over generations and not everyone always wanted to do it. And it's still that way in many ways, honestly. And we have to improve. No, absolutely. And I'm so excited you touched on that story cuz that is a story that I, I love to start out with, with people who, who wanna know more about health policy is talking about.
Um, and even if though it was hard to do, it's actually one of the greatest forms in our country of how we were able to desegregate a system, even though that system is. Still racist, still deals with, um, white supremacy, still dealing with anti-blackness. It is actually the greatest form of desegregation in our country because when you go into a hospital system, most people don't realize, therefore black wards and white wards.
Most people don't think about it. Um, and specifically why I know them the year, which in 1965, it's because, um, literally that summer my mother was born and one thing that my grandmother said, and this stuck with. Kind of like, kind of spurred my interest in health policy was like it was the first time that I saw my child next to a white child.
Like they never remember cuz Separation within wards. Yeah. You were Blackboard and you whiteboard. My grandmother had never seen a, a white child before. Um, and what did it look like at an infant? So, um, being able to see that, even from my personal story, it shows you the impact of the segregation had on systems.
You don't even know what a, you know, white child looked like unless you were in like, obviously domestic work and working within white homes. So, and exactly. And, uh, this is, this is a, this is a great conversation because one, people don't realize how recent it was too. Like the, the, we are the first generation out of that.
Like literally, you know what I'm saying? That was the first time she saw, you know, that that desegregation manifest. It was still very much super new, right? So it's not even like we can say that that generation was like removed from that. They were in the thick of it. We are literally the first generation, you know, to really live in this.
Space where, Okay, this is a normalized, you know, quote unquote thing. I think also, you know, when we talk about Medicaid, right? And, and then, you know, I, I think it's, even though what we're talking about is the history of Medicare, The same idea that, you know, we are using funding to kind of force the system to remain in it, in the remain in many ways, segregated, remain, and, and in many ways classes, but just kind of trying to do our best with it.
It, it's okay and it works, but we have to imagine better. We have to figure out what, what it looks like. And I think a lot of it. Has to do with it, making sure that our physician and healthcare workforce is diverse. Because until we're in the seat of the people who are practicing medicine and making change, and I'm very interested, as you know, in my career and incorporating policy for this reason, we need to be on that side too, right?
And be able to adjust the sail on this boat of where we're going. Um, I think it, it gives me hope to have conversations like these and to connect with other, you know, black and brown folks who are, um, trainees or who are physicians and who are interested in being involved in this work. So, um, cuz we have a long way to go,
Totally. So I wanna take another turn in our conversation and I wanna talk. The impact of voter suppression, um, you know, um, our Civil Rights Voting Act. Um, and, and why have those things have faced such resistance as well as our, um, gerrymandering and what is the health impact of gerrymandering that we're now seeing?
Super important questions. Um, so. , let, let me, let me frame it this way. When I was at the American Medical Association's annual meeting, And went up to the mic to, at the reference committee to speak to this resolution and give my, you know, you know how it goes, right? You do your best, give your points, let them know this is important.
Y'all really needed to do this. And I was, so, I turned around and remember seeing the folks lined up behind me at the mic where, you know, where people speak, um, in support of, of these resolutions. , but then I turned around again and saw that con mic, and there were several people there too, and I was like, Wow.
I guess in my naivety, I was like, and, and I guess maybe it wasn't naive, maybe I was just really believing in this thing, right. But I was like, I wonder what the heck they're gonna say. Right? Like you just. You don't really see the connection between voting and health, you know, really. And so I waited patiently to hear what they had to say and a lot of what they said really focused and honed in on gerrymandering.
And so let me just kind of, for the folks who are listening to this, who are, you know, not really familiar with these terms, which I think is super fair, um, just to break it. Gerrymandering is the idea that if you have, if, if, if you ever watch the news, especially around election seasons and they have like that big touch screen map.
There's the, there you see the little shapes in the squares that represent different areas. Districts, um, that you know, are either red or blue. It depends on what the majority of the people in that space want. So really, when they count votes, it's not like they're counting each individual one necessarily.
That's more so when they just, they calculate the popular vote. But when they're just counting votes to determine who's gonna win, it really is the whole, you know, it. The number of votes that they get in the county, whatever majority that is, they say that everyone in the county then has a consensus, which is not real.
Like that's not true, but that's how it works. Right? So there are really, there's kinda like red districts and blue districts, and the idea of gerrymandering is that they manipulate the. Math and the representation of the folks in those districts, especially really rural ones where they can kind of play with lines and drawing those lines and say, Okay, well now actually this district is red or this district is blue and you know, we are gonna say that the consensus here is that they're going one way or another.
When really that may not have been the case if you had just drawn the district. So every 10 years there's a process called redistricting, and it's an, actually, it's a good thing to do because the population dynamics of different areas change. So that's something, it's a practice that happens about every 10 years, and that's not what we talk about when we discuss gerrymandering.
When we talk about gerrymandering, it's the actual partisan political manipulation of drawing those lines. And it happens all the. all the time. There are people who you can look up, are representatives now who are actively involved in gerrymandering. Um, and you know, the people who were lined up at the mic were like, Well, no, you guys don't understand gerrymandering.
Gerrymandering is just, you know, drawing the line so that you're representing the people who are, who stay there. And they were basically trying to, um, Equate gerrymandering and redistricting, which is not, it's, it's not true, but that's a lot of the argument that they use saying, Well, gerrymandering isn't, isn't a thing.
It's just kind of like this made up scary folklore that people have so that people kind of, so it seeds mistrust in the system. So that was one of the things we had to address. Now, the relationship between gerrymandering, , Um, voting and health is really important because remember back earlier in the podcast when I was talking about Medicaid and your representatives actually using the money that's available, that process and, and you know, the, the acquisition of funding for Medicaid is.
Is determined in, in, in large part by the extent to which your area represents your desires and your thoughts. And when folks gerrymandering or are involved in gerrymandering, your voice is not heard. And many, I think there's 12 states that are left right, that have chosen not to expand Medicaid despite the fact that most of the people in those states want.
That, that that funding, and that's a, in large part due to gerrymandering because people's voices are being essentially muted by this process. And so I think that that's one of the, and I know I, I really drew that lo, you know, drew that o out long, but I really wanted to kind of, you know, illustrate that.
Cause I don't think a lot of people understand it. Um, it's really just modifying public opinion in a very manipulative way. . Um, I think I've talked too, too long on that. I really wanted to do that out , but, um, Yeah, no, go ahead. . No, I, I think it's important for us to break down, um, what happens when we don't act against gerrymandering, when we don't make sure that we're addressing those issues.
And again, it goes back to that point you were saying, our representatives, therefore, advocate for the funding. They should be advocating for our citizens. And we're therefore not putting the right representatives in there who would do the right thing. And I, and I, and I don't think people will make that connection, especially in medicine cuz we're like thinking about the person in front of us.
We're thinking about their needs right now. We're like, well, why can't they get this done? And not seeing the broader implications of the system around them and how that plays. A hundred percent. Yeah, and I mean, the idea is for, so through the Affordable Care Act, the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, in 2010, it said that, you know, we want to expand the number of people with health insurance and we have funding for that.
But in 2012, the Supreme Court was like, Okay, we, we wanna do that, but we gotta make it optional for all the states, right? The Supreme Court has clearly, has been wilding for a long time, and so they are, you know, we're essentially saying, you know, it's got, it's gonna fall on the people. And even though ideally, right?
When we think about, okay, how do we wanna democracy to work in theory that kind of makes sense and people can get behind. But that completely ignores the fact that Sy there is systemic racism, systemic classism, systemic homophobia, systemic ageism. Like there are so many things that make it's voice is counted equally right?
And so we sometimes do, and then oftentimes miss opportunities to create infrastructure around making sure everyone's voice is heard and protect. And that's why it was really important in the voting as a social determinant of health resolution that gerrymandering was included and spoken up about. And the fact that the AMA now has policy stating that gerrymandering, you know, is negatively impacts patients ability to access.
You know, quality, you know, health insurance, oftentimes public is be, you know, and it's, it's important that the AMA now has a, has a statement on that and has a stance on it, cuz we won't go down this road. But the AMA has not always spoken up for a lot of the things that, you know, really do. You know, unfortunately, disenfranchised folks, um, and this is a, a, I think a step in the right direction.
I think that all comes with educating people, the connections. I think a lot of the issues that we have, especially within the United States, and this is probably also globally, is that we tend to live in our silos. And because we live in our silos, we don't see the interconnection that we all have. And I, I think you can definitely not take a, take a tangent, see this with climate change, because we live in our silos, we don't understand.
The pollution I put over here in United States can affect the people in Europe, can affect the people in Africa, can affect the people you know. In Asia, we never think like that because we think about ourselves, which again is another issue of being an American and our individualism, but. 100% I, Yes, I am over here.
Like, absolutely. You know, it's a, it's, and I think also to add to that, there's not always a recognition of the fact that some folks don't have the privilege of necessarily being siloed because everyone's siloed behavior has a collective impact on their lives. Right. And when we think about folks who have been historically and, and who are, you know, currently, you know, um, Disenfranchised, you know, whether it's through resources, whether it's through environmental injustice and a way, you know, you know, you're not to environmental, um, uh, climate change, right?
It's like sometimes, you know, these communities are the ones who bear the brunt of everyone's, you know, selective blindness and our systemic, you know, Commitment to maintaining these, um, these, um, kind of segments of society that are, you know, privileged or, um, supreme and those that are inferior and disenfranchised.
So, um, a hundred percent totally agree with you. Yeah. Um, so I know we just spent a whole bunch of time, you know, talking about things and how it impacts health. To the regular person who's listening to this podcast doesn't know health, and they're still wavering on whether their vote matters when they do it, because I mean, they're like, Well, I'm just one of, you know, 400 million people that live in the us.
Why did my single vote matter? Why should I take my time on election day? Especially for midterm elections with a lot of people don't view as important, um, to take the day to come and vote in making sure that they're involved civically. Why should they do. Yeah. And I guess this gets back to the first really hard question you asked, right?
Like, why ? And I think that, um, you know, it's hard to speak to everyone's, um, you know, doubts on this because they're very valid. I guess I would say, you know, when we think about our political, um, kind of house, right? If you were, if you would follow this analogy, the foundation, you know, of our, of our, you know, political system in the United States.
Was designed to be the people, the individual, right? It's the democracy kind of construct that depends on every single person participating and making their voices heard, even if there's still work to do. Because there is, like, we were just, we just talked about all the things that we still need to work on, but if we don't have everyone.
Participating only. Some parts of our foundation are strong and other parts are completely, you know, um, there, there are a lot of gaps, right? And that means that to build upon this foundation, we can only build upon some parts of it, and only some segments of society will get the benefits of that, and other parts will continue to, to see the devastation of being forgotten.
and, and, you know, um, mistreated and, um, you know, siloed away from those who we deem, you know, worthy of access to resources. So I think. It's tough. Um, it's hard because not only are we asking people to participate, we're asking people to be subject to a lot of the voter disenfranchisement, the active voter, um, disenfranchisement That does happen.
I literally voted it when I, when I in college, I used to live in Bankhead. So for those of you who are, you know, familiar with Atlanta, um, they. Yeah, there's a lot of gentrification going on right now. So I went up back over there the other day. I was like, Wow, there's like a Publix over here. I used to have to get on the highway to go to the grocery store, right?
But I used, I remember voting there in college, and I was literally standing in line for five hours, literally as a college. And it was just because of where I lived. It wasn't because of, you know, anything else. And there were tons of folks with me. It was hot. We had umbrellas, you know, at back then we could get, you know, water handouts and stuff.
And now that's not even legal. Right? But, but what I'm trying to say is it's really difficult to say, Well, you should just vote when there's so much working against folks. But it's so important that we, you. Follow our, our, you know, ancestors leads, our for father and for mothers leads. And just try and take the opportunity to make our foundation strong and to, uh, you know, make our voices heard in our communities and, and not, um, you know, not give up because it's, it, it really is easy to, um, this system is not designed for.
And it was not applicable to us from its inception, but we have opportunity now to make our, you know, make our voices hurt. So I feel like I'm kind of repeating myself, but I, I really believe, you know, strongly that I think that we can, um, you know, make serious change and make serious waves. Um, you know, when we, when we all kind of show up, Like, I think you are hitting on the important points that I want people to get across in this, um, episode.
So actually we're getting close to the end of our time, but there's some things, a couple like closing questions I wanna ask you. If I'm someone in healthcare or if I'm someone adjacent to healthcare and everyone's adjacent to healthcare, um, What are some things in the future that we should be doing in order to make sure that we understand the link between voting and healthcare and the impacts of it?
Well, first thing, um, as folks who are, who are in healthcare, I think step one is educate yourself on the history of the discriminatory practices that I've been, you know, Honestly, integral to the delivery of healthcare in our system. Educate yourself on, you know, if, if you, if you were listening to this and you did not know about how Medicare was implemented, go about, go on and read that.
Get a, get a good idea of that. Um, if you are a healthcare worker in Atlanta, and you did not know why Grady was an H shape, because there was a white ward on one side and a black word on one side, and people went, just go ahead and read about that. educate yourself because I think it's really, this work is hard and you know, black folks, brown folks who are in this work have tremendous stamina and a lot of that comes from our knowledge of how things have been so messed up for so long.
And that is motivating. It is. It is. It's tiring and it's tough. And you know, sometimes you need to take a break, but it is motivating. And so I think if you wanna be in this work, you gotta know what your motivat. So that's one. I think additionally, you know, it's important to, you know, vote your conscience too, and vote, be active in, you know, the political process because, you know, our voices are, you know, really, really, Im.
Important in society. Honestly, I think that people don't, um, when you're, you know, in the day in and day out of, of med healthcare work and, and you know, are so tired and working your crazy shifts and it's really hard to remember that we really can make a profound impact, um, on policy as well. And so speaking up in using our boat as.
And then the last thing I would say is figure out the way that works for you to ask patients about their voting practices, see if they have voted, if they're registered to vote. There are a lot of good tools out there. I, um, am an intern for an organization called Vod r and I work with them a lot on policy and, um, you know, strategy work to kind of connect with different hospital systems.
And so another thing that you can do is, To your hospital administration and leadership to implement some of these tools so that you, you know, have a way to easily, quickly see, you know, where your patients are in terms of their at, you know, voting, um, participation. So I think that those are kind of three things, um, that I would suggest, um, for, you know, folks in, in this healthcare space.
Um, and you know, I think that there's a lot more work to do, but if I had to , if I had to outline it, those would be my top. . Awesome. So I wanna give you a minute to like tell us more about the work that you're planning on bringing up forward. Some other ideas. What are things that we should expect coming from you, like health policy.
Well, I right now, it's been an amazing summer. So, you know, the voting as a social determinant of health resolution passed through the AMA this June. Since then, there have been a lot of, um, you know, opportunities that I've been able to take advantage of to share the message. You know, explain to people why this is important.
Um, you know, we're working, and I mentioned VDR as well. Um, working with some organizations to increase, you know, the, uh, re or not increase, but really solidify the relationship between non-profit organizations and, you know, representative organizations like the ama, um, or the nma, or aap or acog. You know, really getting folks on board.
In a, um, organized way. Um, and I think, you know, moving forward, for me, I wanna keep advocating for the things that matter to our communities. Whether that's through, you know, my work in the clinic or through my PhD work. Um, I'm in the, um, MD PhD program. My PhD work is on maternal health disparities, specifically looking at black women's maternal health disparities.
Um, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm just trying to do my. and hopefully, um, what you'll see, you know, coming out of my work is that I'm continuing to advocate for, for folks who feel like they've been forgotten and feel like they don't have a way to, um, you know, access the equality or the equity, right? That, that we all should be able to, to see happen and see make manifest in our society.
So I, I can't tell you exactly, you know, what's in store. Um, I know that I'm doing my best to. Be a medical student and be in this policy space. But I will tell you that you know, as long as this work is being done, I'm gonna try to do my best to be in the midst of it. Awesome. So we're glad that you are doing that work.
We're glad that you're one of the voices at the table cuz we wanna make sure that we're always at the table. We wanna make sure that we're always in the room because when we're in the room, that's where policy is made and we want to make sure that we're not the meet on the table, but we are actually having the seat at the table.
Um, so Jasmine Eaton, thank you so much for coming on to Color Health Policy. Um, this was a dope conversation. I was very much engaged, like, oh wow. It's going. Um, so I'm hoping that the listeners also got that vibe from you as well. So thank you so much and thank you fa I can't wait to talk to you again, um, online or offline.
I appreciate you having me and I hope that everyone listening to this feels, um, you know, feels, feels the fire feels motivated and excited about joining this work. So we can always use more soldiers. definitely.
