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SEASON 2, EPISODE 2

Racism Exacts a Cost

Two weeks before the 2016 election, there was an immediacy and urgency when Dr. David Williams, professor of public health, African and African American studies, and sociology at Harvard University, shared his research on the clear connection between race, socioeconomic status and health at the Purpose Built Communities annual conference in Birmingham, Alabama. His work is even more relevant now in the face of public attacks from our leaders and those emboldened by racist rhetoric on communities of color and immigrants in our country.

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Guests

Dr. David Williams

Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health; Professor of African and African American Studies and Sociology

David R. Williams is a St Lucian and American social scientist who has specialized in the study of social influences on health. His research has enhanced our understanding of the complex ways in which race, socioeconomic status, racism, stress, health behaviors and religious involvement can affect physical and mental health. He has been invited to keynote scientific conferences in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, South America and across the United States.

Currently, he is the Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor of Public Health, and chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is also a Professor of African and African American Studies and of Sociology at Harvard University. His first 6 years as a faculty member were at Yale University where he held appointments in both Sociology and Public Health. The next 14 years were at the University of Michigan where he was the Harold Cruse Collegiate Professor of Sociology, a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute of Social Research and a Professor of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health.

Dr. Williams is the author of more than 450 scholarly papers in scientific journals and edited collections and his research has appeared in leading journals in sociology, psychology, medicine, public health and epidemiology. The Everyday Discrimination scale that he developed is currently one of the most widely used measures to assess perceived discrimination in health studies. He has served on the editorial board of 12 scientific journals and as a reviewer for over 70 journals. According to ISI Essential Science Indicators, he was one of the Top 10 Most Cited Researchers in the Social Sciences during the decade 1995 to 2005. The Journal of Black Issues in Higher Education ranked him as the Most Cited Black Scholar in the Social Sciences in 2008. And Thomson Reuters ranked him, in 2014, as one of the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds based on his scientific articles published between 2002 and 2012.

Narrator

Alexandra Wiggins

Community Development Associate, Purpose Built Communities

Alexandra Wiggins supports current Network Members and assists new prospects as a Community Development Advisor for Purpose Built Communities. Alex is a recent graduate of Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center where she received her Juris Doctor as well as a Graduate Diploma in Comparative Law.

This is Community is created in partnership with HL Strategy. Our executive producers are Eytan Davidson, Howard Lalli, and Sherry Crawley. Our producer, director, and editor is Brady Hummel. Mixing and mastering is by Matt Honkonen, and our music is from Pitchwire.

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