We can’t talk our way to equity. We have to act. And not just acts of charity. Actions that will change unjust processes and systems.
For this quarter’s equity action, I’m asking that you give of yourself. Literally.
One out of every 365 African American babies born in the United States has sickle cell disease. Mikayla Sarai was just 6 months old when her parents learned she had it. Now 15, she’s been hospitalized more than 100 times in her young life. “Despite this disease, Mikayla Sarai is so positive and active,” says her mom Demitrea Kelley. “She loves to dance, run track, play volleyball. When we go to the ocean, she stays in it all day. You’d never know how much she’s suffering.”
There’s no cure for sickle cell disease. But blood transfusions help with the painful symptoms. And blood from Black donors has specific properties that make it a better match for Black people fighting sickle cell disease.
You see where I’m going with this. Bottom line, we need more Black people to donate blood.
Here’s another reason why.
Demitrea and her family have been searching for a blood donor match for Mikayla Sarai so she can have a bone marrow transplant. A transplant could radically improve her quality of life by eliminating her pain, the need to take medicine and many of the complications she faces every day.
If we can increase the number of African American blood donors, we increase the chances that matches for Mikayla Sarai, and others with sickle cell disease, will be found.
James Burroughs
Senior vice president, government and community relations, chief equity and inclusion officer
James Burroughs joined Children’s Minnesota as its first chief equity and inclusion officer in 2019. He is responsible for advancing equity and inclusion in all parts of the organization.
Follow James on LinkedIn.
