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Fifth Annual Symposium on the Social Determinants of Health

Race, Racism, And Baltimore’s Future: A Focus On Structural And Institutional Racism

On April 25, 2016, over 700 people came together to attend the 5th annual Social Determinants of Health Symposium on Race, Racism, and Baltimore’s Future: A Focus on Structural and Institutional Racism. Attendees were a diverse group from the Baltimore area and beyond. Twenty-one invited speakers ranging from research and legal experts to leaders from non-profit community organizations spent the day in an intense discussion of race and racism in Baltimore. They participated in four panels, sharing poignant anecdotes about their personal experiences and presenting their research, all offering suggestions for ways forward. Speakers participated in four panels sharing expertise on:

  1. Overcoming structural racism;
  2. How racism affects health;
  3. How racism, racial segregation, and the education system are connected, and
  4. Racism and policing.  

​Resources

The report from the 2016 Symposium includes a summary of each panel and the small group discussions, plus an appendix on residential segregation. Each panel summary includes historical context and current status, along with lessons learned, challenges, components to address, and examples of successful Baltimore organizations. The report is broken into sections below for your convenience. 

Event Program

David R. Williams' PowerPoint presentation 

Executive Summary
Includes a summary of each panel and the small group discussions. Each panel summary includes lessons learned, challenges, components to address, and some of the Baltimore organizations addressing the topics.

Tools and Resources
Links to online (video/multimedia) and offline (books, reports, and articles) resources to continue learning about the Symposium topics.

Videos

About Social Determinants Of Health Conference

In collaboration with the Office of the Provost, the Social Determinants of Health Symposium is an annual, day-long event that brings together national experts, local community leaders, city residents, and faculty and students from Baltimore colleges and universities to examine a pressing topic related to the root causes of health disparities.