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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Racism is a social determinant of health. In Kansas, 12% of the population is Hispanic and 6% is non-Hispanic Black.1 Race impacts children from infancy through high school and beyond. Infant mortality rates for Hispanic and Black babies are 1.5 times and 3 times that of White babies and while 86% of White students graduate from high school, only 80% of Hispanic and 75% of Black students do.

The Kansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes that racism threatens the safe and supportive environments children need to grow and thrive. Children learn by watching and what they are seeing is violence on TV as well as in their own neighborhoods. As leaders in our communities, we can’t just stand by.  It’s imperative that through both words and actions we advocate for policies and practices that improve the health and wellbeing of minority children because the opportunity to grow up happy and healthy should not be dependent on skin color.

KAAP Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee

KAAP created the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee that meets monthly and develops educational opportunities for leadership and members.

Committee Vision: For KAAP to lead the way and be a role model for pediatricians, patients and families and the community in diversity, equity, inclusion.

Committee Mission: Provide education and training to KAAP leadership, members and the community on topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion and develop partnerships with organizations and communities that represent the diverse populations that KAAP serves.

Committee Chair: Sarah Zuk, MD

To learn more or join the KAAP Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, contact Mel Hudelson at mel.hudelson@kansasaap.org

If you are wondering what else you can do, here are some of our suggestions:

Attend a seminar

NCE Seminars

Stay Informed with Resources Addressing Racism and Disparities:

AAP

Articles

Books

  • An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz 
  • Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper
  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Black Feminist by Patricia Hill Collins
  • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
  • Children of the Land: A Memoir by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo 
  • Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
  • The Deepest Well by Nadine Burke Harris
  • Dominicana by Angie Cruz
  • Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper 
  • Evicted by Matthew Desmond
  • The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
  • The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare
  • The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer 
  • Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
  • How to be an Anti-racist by Ibram X. Kendi
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  • An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz 
  • Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
  • Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
  • Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong 
  • The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
  • Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Women Reporting from the Arab World by Zahra Hankir 
  • Racism in Kansas City: A Short Story by G.S. Griffin
  • Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold
  • Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth by Dana-Ain Davis
  • Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
  • Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
  • Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
  • So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo 
  • Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi 
  • Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  • Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom
  • This Bridge is Called My Back by Cherrie Moraga
  • Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
  • The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
  • The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
  • White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson 
  • You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat

Movies

  • 13th (Netflix)
  • American Son (Netflix)
  • Becoming (Netflix)
  • Blindspotting (Hulu)
  • Dear White People (Netflix)
  • Fruitvale Station (HBO Max)
  • Hidden Figures (Amazon Prime)
  • If Beale Street Could Talk (Hulu)
  • Just Mercy (Amazon Prime)
  • King in the Wilderness (HBO Max)
  • A Secret Love (Netflix)
  • See You Yesterday (Netflix)
  • Selma (HBO Max)
  • The Hate U Give (HBO Max)
  • Sorry to Bother You (Hulu)

Podcasts

Social Media Channels

Ted Talks

Television

  • American Crime (Netflix)
  • Atlanta (Hulu)
  • Atypical (Netflix)
  • black-ish (Hulu)
  • Dear White People (Netflix)
  • Fences (Amazon Prime)
  • For Life (Hulu)
  • Fresh Off the Boat (Hulu)
  • Fruitvale Station (Amazon Prime)
  • The Hate U Give (HBO Max)
  • Homecoming (Netflix)
  • I May Destroy You (HBO Max)
  • If Beale Street Could Talk (Hulu)
  • Insecure (HBO Max)
  • Never Have I Ever (Netflix)
  • On My Block (Netflix)
  • One Day at a Time (Netflix)
  • Pose (Netflix)
  • Self Made (Netflix)
  • Selma (HBO Max)
  • Special (Netflix)
  • When They See Us (Netflix)

LGBTQ+ 

Books 

  • Boy Erased by Garrard Conley 
  • Fairest by Meredith Talusan 
  • Forcing the Spring by Jo Becker 
  • The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People 
  • A House Among the Trees by Julia Glass 
  • Movement in Black by Pat Parker 
  • Not Straight, Not White by Kevin Mumford 
  • A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski 
  • Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown 
  • Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde 
  • The Stonewall Reader collected by the New York Public Library 
  • Unbound by Arlene Stein 
  • Violence Against Queer People by Doug Meyer 

Movies 

  • Bessie (Amazon Prime) 
  • The Birdcage (Hulu) 
  • Carol (Netflix) 
  • Disclosure (Netflix) 
  • How to Survive a Plague (Amazon Prime) 
  • Milk (Netflix) 
  • Moonlight (Amazon Prime) 
  • Pariah (Amazon Prime) 
  • Strong Island (Netflix) 
  • Tangerine (Hulu) 
  • The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (Netflix) 
  • The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin (Netflix) 

Podcasts 

TV Shows 

  • Atypical (Netflix) 
  • The Fosters (Netflix) 
  • Pose (Netflix) 
  • Sex Education (Netflix) 
  • Special (Netflix) 
  • Tales of the City (Netflix) 

Websites 

Other 

Encourage families to engage with their children:

Encourage families and children to play:

  • Play is a buffer for toxic stress and is critical for children’s growth and development. Families can download a printable Play at Home Playbook that features games with little to no equipment.

Stay connected:

  • Review education and advocacy materials from the AAP and the KAAP
  • Send us your resource suggestions.

1       https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/KS,US/PST045219

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