The Ubuntu Center: Addressing Racism, Global Movements, and Population Health Equity To Transform Public Health
Racism is a public health issue, and many global social movements strive for equity in population health among all communities.
Aligned with the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health’s commitment to social justice and health as a human right, the The Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements, and Population Health Equity works to unite diverse partners with the common goal of transforming the health of communities locally, nationally, and globally by generating and translating evidence and accelerating antiracism solutions.
The center brings together a vibrant mix of activists, environmentalists, researchers, and community residents—especially those historically excluded within academic institutions—whose range of perspectives, expertise, and experience will mobilize our strengths and capacities.
The Ubuntu Center's aim in this regard is to provide the platform and organizational infrastructure to advance collective anti-racism scholarship, training, and action.
Visit The Ubuntu Center's website to learn more about current activities and meet the Ubuntu Movement Fellows.
The Ubuntu Center was made possible through the generosity of Dana and David Dornsife. Learn more about the Dornsife gift to our school.
The Ubuntu Center's Public Health Mission and Vision
"Racism is one of [the] leading challenges facing public health in the 21st century. Garnering the resources, tools, scholarship, and practices to dismantle its impact on the health of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color is critical.” - Irene Headen, PhD, MS, Assistant Professor and Ubuntu Strategic Council Member
The Ubuntu Center's mission is to unite diverse partners to generate and translate evidence, accelerate antiracism solutions, and transform the health of communities locally, nationally, and globally.
The Ubuntu Center envisions a just future, free from systems of oppression, full of new possibilities through bold, collective action, and an equitable world in which all individuals and communities are healthy and thrive.
To advance its mission the Center focuses on four areas:
- Advancing transdisciplinary antiracism population health research, training, and scholarship
- Bridging relationships to build critical consciousness and power for health equity and racial justice
- Expanding collective action for population health equity aligned with the principles and practices of community organizing and social movements
- Strengthening capacity and sustainability to maximize our impact
Visit The Ubuntu Center's website to learn more.
The Ubuntu Center Highlights
A Lancet featured spotlight, Research Focus: The Ubuntu Center, written by Talha Burki, looked back on the Center's first year, and members of the team also co-authored an invited comment for a Lancet special issue on advancing racial and ethnic equity in science, medicine, and global health.
Hear from the team about The Ubuntu Center's collective achievements and plans:
Latest Research News from the Ubuntu Center
June 12, 2024 - The Ubuntu Center co-hosted speaker Dr. Zinzi Bailey, a social epidemiologist who provided insights on the topic, “Structural Racism and Health: Where to Go From Here?"
May 29, 2024 - A study lead by Jaquelyn Jahn, PhD, found that New Jersey’s 2017 cash bail reform law — which eliminated financial barriers to avoiding pretrial detention — successfully reduced the state’s jail population without increasing gun violence.
February 29, 2024 - A new RWJF grant awarded to the Ubuntu Center puts the needs, ideas, and voices of the community at the forefront to address deep-rooted structural racism within the healthcare industry and advance equity and justice in healthcare systems.
February 15, 2023 - A recent study in the journal of the American Public Health Association looked at proactive policing and preterm birth rates in New Orleans.
January 30, 2023 - A special edition of the American Journal of Public Health featured papers by multiple researchers at the Dornsife School of Public Health on structural racism and practices that need changing.
January 24, 2023 - Researchers from The Ubuntu Center at Dornsife recently traveled abroad for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) and the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (ABRASCO) 13th National Congress.
December 13, 2022 - In the latest Lancet publication, researchers from The Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements and Population Health Equity authored a special commentary and were featured in a profile piece.
FAQs on Racism, Global Movements and Population Health Equity
What are global movements?
"Global movements force us to reckon with the inhumanity of our existing power structures, the denial of basic human and civil rights, and demand the dignity and respect of all people," wrote The Ubuntu Center in its grounding document, The Ubuntu Approach. Examples of global movements range from "the decades-long fight to end apartheid in South Africa, to the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s in the United States, to the Black Women's movement in Brazil and other countries in Latin America."
Why is race important in public health?
"If public health is designed to prevent disease and prevent suffering, then you have to address racism to have the biggest impact," Dr. Sharrelle Barber, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Director of The Ubuntu Center, told Smithsonian.
Ubuntu Center researchers study structural racism's impact on public health issues such as mortality, healthcare, preterm birth rates, climate change, housing, and more.