The Black Frontline

SITA CHITAMBO – BUILDING THE BLACK FRONTLINE

Sita Chitambo’s nursing leadership journey has powerfully built the black frontline for her profession, and the community. Currently NHS’s Director for Nursing for Community Services, Chitambo is from Zimbabwe, and trained in Scotland. A manager and leader within the NHS for over 20 years, she first worked in district nursing as a team Leader, and is deeply passionate about local communities. The Black Frontline salutes Sita Chitambo.

GHANA REGISTERED NURSES & MIDWIVES ASSOCIATION – TRAILBLAZERS! Ghana Registered Nurses' & Midwives' Association - GRNMA

The Black Frontline celebrates GRNMA as TRAILBLAZERS fulfilling their mission to develop a professional nurse workforce equipped with the tools to face and overcome the profession’s contemporary challenges.

Founded in March 1960, after a merger of two professional nursing Associations; the Qualified Nurses Association headed by Mr. Mettle-Nunoo, and the State Registered Nurses Association led by Dr. Docial Kisseih, they went on to build a central organization serving the interests of Ghana’s nursing profession nationally and internationally.
GRNMA vision is to become leaders of frontline healthcare service provides, and formidable team players across the healthcare landscape.

The Black Frontline salutes the work, diligence, dedication and commitment of Ghana’s nurses working tirelessly during a pandemic to save lives, offer comfort, care and compassion at a time of so much fear, loss and uncertainty.

We’re at the final stages of story gathering for this historic project.
TBF is documenting stories of courage, sacrifice, devastating loss, racism, community connection, powerful healing & humanity from Black doctors & nurses working during COVID in Ghana, the UK & the

“Somethings’ going on where the anger and all the emotions are being targeted at Black and Asian nurses in a way that’s a pandemic.”
https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/workforce/bullied-and-disciplined-how-black-nurses-are-being-failed-02-12-2021/

Bullied and disciplined: How Black nurses are being failed The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked an increase in racism experienced by nursing staff, according ...

“Data Science Proved What Pittsburgh’s Black Leaders Knew: Racial Disparities Compound Covid Risk”
https://khn.org/news/article/data-science-proved-what-pittsburghs-black-leaders-knew-racial-disparities-compound-covid-risk/

Data Science Proved What Pittsburgh’s Black Leaders Knew: Racial Disparities Compound Covid Risk Inside the Black Equity Coalition’s novel effort to share community health intel and scrape government data to understand — and document — the life-threatening differences between white and Black P…

We’re at the final stages of story gathering for this historic project.
TBF is documenting stories of courage, sacrifice, devastating loss, racism, community connection, powerful healing & humanity from Black doctors & nurses working during COVID in Ghana, the UK & the US.

DR. AYOADE ALAKIJA – BUILDING THE BLACK FRONTLINE

Dr. Alakija issued a call to action, highlighted the urgent need for vaccine justice, called out the silence of Africa’s leaders, and the hypocrisy and racism of the West during an interview with BBC World News on the Omnicron variant.

Africa Union Africa Vaccine Delivery Alliance Co-Chair. Nexus Hub Founder. Published Researcher. Multi-country behavioural health survey leader. WomenLift Health Advisory Board Member. Dr. Alakija is building Africa’s frontline with insightful analysis and demonstrating courage and speaking truth to power in a climate of fear, loss, grief, death mixed with politics, power, profit and the historical playbook of profit over people. The Black Frontline salutes you, honors your voice and acknowledges your courage.

Annesha Archyangelio – TRAILBLAZER.

Nursing NHS England NHS Improvement NEY Regional Director. Service commissioner across Northeast England and Yorkshire. Jamaica=first home of her nursing career. Peace Hospice Care Trustee member. Imperial College London honorary research. University College London honorary lecturer. Published pieces in various articles including Nursing Times. NHS BAME Leadership organization creator. This trailblazer has travelled from islands to nations, created organizations, excelled in the world of academia, and scaled the heights of leadership in the NHS. The Black Frontline salutes you!

*The Black Frontline is the largest oral history project gathering stories from 300 Black nurses and doctors across three countries on three continents. One of them is the UK. Created by The Armah Institute of Emotional Justice with co-direction from COVID Black, the project centers the narratives of lived experience of 150 Black nurses. This project ampliefies, uplifts and supports Black nurses, Black nurse leaders and educators and their pivotal role in shaping healthcare.

Good Morning!

Welcome to a new week, as we close out November and enter the very last month of the year. The Black Frontline team is thinking about Black nurses and doctors in this moment where vaccine justice has become a huge issue with the current travel ban to parts of Southern Africa, despite the variant being found across Europe and in the UK.

This reminds us of the exclusionary unfair practices that politicize a health-crises when we should all be coming together. To all the Black nurses and doctors who come together daily to serve the health of nations, we appreciate you.

THE BLACK FRONTLINE TEAM

In the words of Elizabeth Anionwu, Emeritus Professor of Nursing at University of West London: ‘it is not a glass ceiling for black nurses but a brick wall’. - Esther Akinpelu, RN on SELF-CARE IN A TIME OF COVID
https://medium.com//self-care-in-a-time-of-covid-3ecaa8af37c9

SELF-CARE IN A TIME OF COVID A Black Nurse Breaks Her Silence

"The NHS has an ethnicity gradient in which the more senior the post the less likely we are to see BME staff.
It is not surprising that it is twice as likely that BME staff do not believe there are equal opportunities for promotion and career progression."
https://mdxminds.com/2021/11/22/racism-which-impacts-healthcare-staff-endangers-patient-care/

Racism which impacts healthcare staff endangers patient care As well as a moral issue, tackling racism that affects NHS staff is a crucial part of improving patient safety and care, argues MDX Research Fellow Roger Kline

GARY RICHBERG – BUILDING THE BLACK FRONTLINE

Johns Hopkins Senior Director of Surgery Center series. Kadlec Clinic’s Director of Ambulatory Surgery Centers. Pacific Rim Outpatient Surgery Center administrator in Bellingham for over 13 years. Registered Nurse. Mr. Richberg is building the black frontline through his journey at surgery centers focusing on orthopedic and multi specialities. The Black Frontline salutes you.

SARAH M. KILLIAN, DNP, RN - TRAILBLAZER

Georgia State University’s Doctor of Nursing Practice. Medial Surgical, Adult and Pediatrics Specialist. Former Clinical Assistant Professor. Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc. President. Founded by 12 nurses 90 years ago, this organisation addresses health disparities in the Black community. Dr. Killian blazes a trail through her love of nursing, and her diligence in taking care of her patients as central to all that she has achieved. The Black Frontline salutes, honors, uplifts and affirms you.

Good Morning!

Welcome to a new week from us all at The Black Frontline in the US, the UK and Ghana.

We give thanks for you, your work, your commitment and the health worker communities that are doing so much to keep us safe.

With appreciation and respect,

The Black Frontline Team.

The Black Frontline’s global team is gathering & hearing stories of courage, sacrifice, devastating loss, heartbreaking racism, community connection, powerful healing & humanity from Black doctors & nurses working during COVID across Ghana, the UK and the US.

"The stats are grim: Only 77 million people have been fully vaccinated against the new coronavirus in Africa – this is just 6% of its population. In comparison, over 70% of high-income countries have already vaccinated more than 40% of their people."
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/11/covid-19-response-in-africa-it-s-all-about-the-people-on-the-ground/

How Africa is tackling COVID-19 from the ground up High rates of COVID-19 infection are setting Africa back but young innovators across the continent are deploying a social entrepreneurship skillset to fight the pandemic from the grassroots.

"The rollout of COVID-19 shots for elementary-age children has exposed another blind spot in the nation’s efforts to address pandemic inequalities: Health systems have released little data on the racial breakdown of youth vaccinations, and community leaders fear that Black and Latino kids are falling behind."

https://www.yakimaherald.com/racial-disparities-in-kids-vaccinations-are-hard-to-track/article_e45a09af-1106-5cd9-b55d-4290e8b0154b.html

Racial disparities in kids' vaccinations are hard to track The rollout of COVID-19 shots for elementary-age children has exposed another blind spot in the nation’s efforts to address pandemic inequalities: Health systems have released little data on the racial

DR. BEVERLY MALONE – BUILDING THE BLACK FRONTLINE

Leading with passion. Advocating for nursing diversity & education. No. 5 in the Top 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. Former surgical staff nurse. Current Dean of North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University’s School of Nursing. Dr. Malone builds the black frontline through her myriad positions including US Dept of Health and Human Services Deputy Assistant under Bill Clinton. Her current mission? Decreasing the USA’s nursing shortage.

WELLINGTON MAKALA – TRAILBLAZER

The NHS’s First Black Male Chief Nurse. North East London Foundation Trust’s (NELFT) Executive Chief Nursing Officer & AHP. Studied Mental Health Nursing at South Bank University. NEFLT’s Quality, Safety and Patient Experience Agenda leader. Wellington Makala, nurse, leader, a man of firsts, who has blazed a trail as a black nurse. He Black Frontline salutes you.

Hello, hello!

We hope you got some rest and replenishment this weekend. Welcome to a new week. Wishing you all good things as we all continue to navigate this path of turbulent times.

Here at The Black Frontline, we are honored to continue to gather and hear stories of lived experience from global Black doctors and nurses across the UK, the US, and Ghana.

We continue to countdown to our magical number: 300 narratives from across the UK, the US and Ghana.

Thank you for your work, your diligence and your commitment. Lives are saved every day because of you. Be well!

THE BLACK FRONTLINE TEAM.

The Black Frontline’s global team is gathering and hearing stories of courage, sacrifice, devastating loss, heartbreaking racism, community connection, powerful healing and humanity from Black doctors and nurses working during COVID across Ghana, the UK and the US.

THE BLACK FRONTLINE is the largest oral history project of global Black doctors and nurses. It’s founded by The Armah Institute of Emotional Justice, and co-directed with Black

’Black nurses have shown that they are excellent leaders to deliver culturally competent health care, empower minority communities and are change agents, mentors, conciliators, culture experts, policymakers and facilitators.” Newsweek
https://www.newsweek.com/history-repeating-marginalization-black-nurses-opinion-1647620

History is repeating the marginalization of Black nurses | Opinion Black nurses are essential for the Black community and necessary to the health care of the country, as evidenced by their sacrifices throughout history.

I am a nurse and nursing professor with 38 years of experience. COVID has impacted me through my students & colleagues. In the doctorate program where I teach, I had a 10% drop of promising students due to personal loss related to COVID-19. Via
https://www.newsweek.com/history-repeating-marginalization-black-nurses-opinion-1647620

History is repeating the marginalization of Black nurses | Opinion Black nurses are essential for the Black community and necessary to the health care of the country, as evidenced by their sacrifices throughout history.

Hello, hello! Welcome to the beginning of the week.

The Black Frontline continues our countdown to collect 50 Black nurses narratives who have worked during the pandemic. Black nurses voices and experiences during COVID must not be silenced. The Black Frontline is hearing those stories from our global team in the US, the UK, Ghana. Black nurses voices should be the foundation to build back better from the toll, loss and devastation of COVID.

SHEILA ANTRUM – TRAILBLAZER
UCSF Health’s Senior Vice President & COO, two decades & counting. Former staff and intensive care nurse. Worked with University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins Hospital &Yale University. Blazing a trail as a nurse, who ascended into hospitals and up the corporate ladder, The Black Frontline salutes you.

MARY ELIZA MAHONEY – BUILDING THE BLACK FRONTLINE
The first African American registered nurse (RN). 15 years in a hospital from cook, to janitor, to unofficial nurse’s aid to finally becoming a Registered Nurse. One of only three nurses to make it through a 40-strong nursing program. Co-Founder of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses (NACGN) in 1908, a vital group as Black nurses were not allowed to join the American Nursing Association (ANA). Finally, in 1951 NACGN merged with the American Nursing Association. The Black Frontline salutes your journey, your diligence, your vision, your strategising and organising – Mary Mahoney – a foundational builder of the black frontline.

The most important stories the world needs to hear are those of the lived experiences of Black nurses on the frontline working during COVID-19. What are those stories? Only they have them, and only their voices should tell them. That’s what THE BLACK FRONTLINE is doing right now. Listening, honoring, amplifying Black nurses authentic voices through what is the largest oral history project of global Black nurses and doctors. Their stories must be documented and heard. We’re counting down to complete that storytelling. Are you a Black nurse in the UK or US, are you a nurse in Ghana – have you been working during COVID? Your story matters. We would like to hear it. We’re gathering them right now. From the US we have over 30 Black nurses, we have almost 30 from the UK, and we’re getting more and more from Ghana. The countdown is on. Call The Black Frontline via the following channels and make sure no-one silences your story..

US - Call +1 267-481-4688
UK - Call 07542441851
GH - WhatsApp - 020-680-0139

Black nurses have always been a go-between for their families, friends, communities when accessing health care. Often, we come from communities where atrocities have occurred. Monica Harmon, President, South Eastern Pennsylvania Black Nurses Association
https://medium.com//the-future-of-public-health-df740f71a58e

THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC HEALTH Why Care in the Community Must Be Our Guide

Health care institutions do not always have the best interests of vulnerable populations. For this reason, Black nurses need to honor their personal stories, which have likely led them to the profession. Monica Harmon, President, South Eastern Pennsylvania Black Nurses Association
https://medium.com//the-future-of-public-health-df740f71a58e

THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC HEALTH Why Care in the Community Must Be Our Guide