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“For he who has health has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.” - Owen arthur​

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​My biggest takeaway is that health equity depends on seeing the humanity in everyone - then fighting for systems reflecting that truth. Too often, we “other” anyone unlike ourselves, blinding policy makers to suffering in marginalized groups. I’ve grasped our shared dreams for care and compassion cut across all identities and ideologies. If I stand firm in solidarity while elevating disenfranchised voices, real change comes closer to reality.

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I still grapple with dispelling a sense of inevitability around social inequities that privilege some over others from birth. When unjust policies stretch back decades or centuries, it’s easy to resign oneself to this status quo. My optimism battles creeping cynicism making me wonder if entrenched disparities can truly get uprooted through activism. I must cling to history’s examples of courage overcoming.

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Questions:

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• How can I best serve as an ally, amplifying the voices of marginalized groups rather than speaking over them? Where is the line between elevating advocates from impacted communities, and co-opting their platforms?

• In public health policy debates full of good intentions, how can I distinguish real consensus from potentially unethical pressures to conform to dominant cultural norms?

• When working towards progress collides with my core ethical values, what are my lines in the sand for principled dissent?

• What does moral courage look like in practice when I confront situations threatening my ethical foundations? When is compromising values for practicality crossing the line into complicity?

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Far from straightforward policy debates, this class challenged me through fellow students’ lived experiences. I expected the textbook ethical quandaries. Navigating charged discussions on suffering born of identity proved harder - but so much more important. My biggest insights arose in gray areas resisting oversimplification. I’m grateful for the push past complacency such discomfort provides on the path ahead.