In April, Gov. Walz signed an executive order that allowed the MN Department of Health to share certain information about COVID-19 cases with the Department of Public Safety. The goal of this EO was to protect the health of first responders in emergency situations. In communities of color and immigrant communities, however, distrust of law enforcement, fear of police retaliation (especially in the wake of George Floyd's murder) and concern over health data privacy meant that a policy such as EO 20-34 could lead individuals to forgo COVID-19 testing. Abeer Syedah, a member of the Our Stories. Our Health., and Erin Murphy join Hayley to talk about the ways in which policies intended to help communities might actually cause more harm, and the ways we can craft policies to realize a more just and equitable society. 

This one is all about masks! Dr. Hannah Lichtsinn joins Hayley to talk about why we should all wear a mask, a six-year-old's thoughts on masks, and Hannah's and Hayley's favorite visual representation of the importance of masks. 

In this episode, Dr. Lichtsinn talks all about masks and why she thinks they should be mandated indoors in public places throughout the state. This episode was recorded on July 6, 2020. 

Amira Adawe, Executive Director of the Beautywell Project, is on a mission to end harmful skin-lightening practices. Amira spoke with Erin Murphy about her research, her organization and the power we have to change our communities. For more information on the Beautywell Project, check out their website: https://thebeautywell.org/. 

We are back with another update from Dr. Lichtsinnn. After the murder of George Floyd, Our Stories. Our Health. took a pause and focused our attention on the protests, the community and the non-profits doing boots on the ground work. In this episode, Hayley and Hannah talk about how to be safe and careful participating in large community events and protests, and as the state begins opening up. 

In this episode, Hannah recommends reading a New England Journal of Medicine article called Stolen Breaths. You can find it here: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2021072

This week, Dr. Lichtsinn shares her thoughts about the lifting of the Stay-a-Home order and how that might change the way the virus spreads throughout Minnesota. 

Before Our Stories. Our Health. started working from home, Hwa Jeong Kim told Erin Murphy a troubling story about a family in Texas. It turned into a longer conversation about the intersections of race and health and care. Hwa Jeong and Erin join the podcast to reflect on their earlier conversation and the ways in which systemic racism, bias, and access affect the healthcare of communities of color, both as we face this pandemic as well as in non-crisis times. This episode was recorded on April 17, 2020. 

In this episode, Hwa Jeong mentions the Minnesota Discrimination Helpline. If you experience or witness bias or discrimination, you can report those incidents to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights by calling 1-833-454-0148. You can also submit a report online. Visit https://mn.gov/mdhr/intake/discrimination-helpline.jsp to submit a report or for more information. 

This week, Dr. Lichtsinn shares updates on her expanding telemedicine appointments and how her clinic system is preparing for a surge, including placing doctors like Hannah in hospitals. She also tells us where she gets her COVID info, in case you are in the mood for some extra reading this weekend. This episode was recorded on May 8, 2020. 

This week, Hannah shares some of the uncertainty in her life and in the lives of her colleagues. This episode was recorded on Friday, May 1, 2020. 

When Bryce Maples's flight home to Minneapolis for spring break landed, he was flooded with text messages and emails. George Washington University, like so many colleges in the US, was shutting down for the rest of the year and Bryce would have to finish out his semester at home. Despite being the youngest member of the Our Stories. Our Health. Board of Directors, Bryce has a unique understanding of the healthcare system. Born with a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy called Charcot Marie Tooth, he has navigated the complicated web of healthcare throughout his life. That unique understanding has turned into a passion for health justice.