June 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 41

Dr. Wu: This on-the-ground work
also supports the idea that at
least through human history, out
of adversity has always come opportunity. And, we've always seen
through history the human spirit
being very resilient and flexible,
and essentially, as you say, " rising to the occasion. " And, maybe,
it's just that right now we fail to
be able to identify and focus on
what's happening at the micro
level. So, I can see where there's
good reason to be hopeful; you
just have to recognize it.
Norris: Right. One small piece that
I mentioned in the keynote talk is
that together with the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) and the CDC Foundation,
Well Being Trust crowdsourced
more than 100 organizations and
communities for a document,
called " Thriving Together, " that is
a springboard for equitable recovery and resilience in communities
across America (thriving.us). In
that document are more than 100
multisolver solutions, such as economic renewal, civic renewal and
the renewal of our own mental,
emotional and social well-being.
In addition, there are examples of
what is happening on the ground
in America's communities and
how these solutions can be scaled
and spread. To me, it is just a cornucopia of great things that are
happening that can be built on for
the future. This is Americans of
all walks of life - regardless of
their political point of view or who
they might have voted for - coming together to do real things on
the ground that transcend politics.
That gives me hope.
	

Philip Wu, M.D., is a retired pediatrician
from Kaiser Permanente and current
NRPA Board member.

Dr. Wu: That gives me tremendous hope, especially right now.
I think focusing on centering justice and equity is so important,
and every organization across
the country is starting to dive
deeply into this arena. From your
perspective, especially around
how we support mental health
and how we promote well-being,
what does centering justice and
equity actually look like?
Norris: It means de-centering
whiteness. And as a white person
who's privileged in every way as a
male, educated individual, I believe
that the centering of whiteness as
the norm for how to do work is
not something to be blamed; it
just needs to move. We could go
back and discuss all the problems
with it and that's fair enough, but
we need to de-center that point of
view. And having invested most
of my adult life trying to improve
community health and well-being
and talking about racial disparities
and social justice along the way,
we have failed as a nation to move
the needle. Whether we're talking
about infant mortality, child wellbeing, education outcomes, the
living wage, and wealth building
in Black, brown and immigrant
communities - for the most part,
there's a truth telling here. Not that
there hasn't been good effort, but...
what we have done has produced
the results we have. We cannot truly
move the needle until we create
a nation where Black and brown
people - those who are often
excluded or othered in our society
- are seen as part of our diverse

PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILIP WU, M.D.

are rising to the occasion and I am
buoyed by that.

nation; until we acknowledge that
half of the children born today are
Black and brown and that their
well-being is the well-being of the
country; and until we center a
BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, people
of color] agenda. Until then, we're
just going to tinker at the edges.
I was very moved early on
by the work of Angela Glover
Blackwell, [founder and CEO] of
PolicyLink, and the idea of a curb
cut. This goes right to the heart
of design for walking, biking,
strolling, etc. When you do curb

This is Americans of all walks of
life - regardless of their political
point of view or who they
might have voted for - coming
together to do real things on the
ground that transcend politics.

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Parks & Recreation

41
http://www.thriving.us
June 2021 - Parks & Recreation

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