January 2022, Ujima, Inc., a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization continues to be a call to action for health equity for African Americans. COVID-19 has made the issue of health disparities a glaring reality. According to the CDC’s reporting, while African Americans comprise only 12% of the population, they comprise 14% of all COVID deaths. What that means is African Americans represent a percentage of deaths which is greater than our percentage of the American population. And at the same time, African Americans still have the highest rate of deaths from strokes, cancer and heart attacks. Further, they have the highest infant and maternal death rate.
What do we do with this information? What can we do with this information? What should we do with this information? If you look around, you’ll see highly educated, intellectually gifted, politically impassioned, socially connected and fiscally endowed African Americans. What do we do with such a resource rich pool of individuals? Ujima has the answer to that question. We combine our resources and begin to build a workforce of skilled, compassionate, culturally astute African American health care professionals who are clear-eyed, purposeful and committed to health equity. That is what Ujima, Inc. does.
Ujima, Inc. ascribes to the belief that, if African Americans are to survive, it is up to them. If African Americans are to thrive, it is also up to them. And they have the combined resources to identify, halt and reverse this downward trend created by health disparities. Ujima, Inc. endeavors to be the conduit through which these resources flow back to the community, to achieve health equity for African Americans.
To that end, we have established the Ujima Scholarship Fund, which currently supports African American health science students at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California; Keck Graduate Institute in Claremont, California and the University of California at Riverside School of Medicine. As a growing organization, Ujima, Inc. has assisted, to date, 32 Ujima Scholars, with a collective award of over $55,000. Of that number, 17 Ujima Scholars have now graduated and are specializing in Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Urology, Pharmacy, General Surgery, Podiatric Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Physical Therapy, Podiatry, Orthopedic Surgery and Addiction Medicine. These are the health science professionals who have committed to work toward health equity with their African American patients. As the scholarship fund grows, Ujima, Inc. plans to include other medical schools, first in the Inland Empire, then across the state of California and on to other medical schools across the country. To help you identify these compassionate, insightful and committed healers, we award them with a Ujima Scholar lapel pin, which they will wear throughout their career.
Ujima, Inc. is a growing organization, with big, attainable goals. We seek to establish an endowment fund, which will enable Ujima, Inc. to award African American health science students across the country. Ujima, Inc. seeks to ensure healthcare services, intended for African Americans, are accessible and provided with dignity and respect. Ujima, Inc. seeks to be a trusted messenger who will advocate for health equity. We seek to empower African Americans to continue to shape a future which is secure, strong, progressive and significant. Ujima, Inc. seeks to ensure African Americans remain visible, viable an impactful in the health sciences. Health is our most valuable asset. We must protect it, preserve it and endow it to the next generation.
I invite those who share this concern, to join our effort. Combine your time, talents, skills, expertise and resources with ours, to help Ujima, Inc. grow into a mighty force to champion the cause of health equity. We are seeking committed board members, honorary board members, volunteers, key champions and strategic partners, who will join forces with us. Our website has a description of these levels of involvement. And of course, we invite you to financially support the Ujima Scholarship Fund, with a tax-deductible gift in any amount. See our Donate Page.
This is your invitation to become a change agent; to contribute to something larger than yourselves; something which will change the future for millions of African Americans. According to the CDC, 20% of African Americans are in fair to poor health. We have the ability to shrink that number and to create a greatly improved quality of life for our loved ones. We invite you to become the change you want to see! We invite you to become the building blocks on which our Ujima Scholars may stand, as they change the trajectory of the health of African Americans.
Thank you for your support, well wishes and blessings!
Alexis Dotson, Founder and CEO
Ujima, Inc.