Viral Justice: Pandemics, Policing, and Public Bioethics
Viral Justice: Pandemics, Policing, and Public Bioethics
November 1, 2022 Ethics Grand Rounds on Incarceration and Health Justice
Title: Viral Justice: Pandemics, Policing, and Public Bioethics
Speaker: Ruha Benjamin, PhD
Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and Founding Director of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab
Moderator: Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, PhD
Chief of the Division of Ethics and Professor of Medical Humanities and Ethics, Columbia University, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Description: Dr. Ruha Benjamin examines the topic of incarceration, policing and health justice and specifically, how incarceration in the US must be understood in terms of health and equity. In this talk, Dr. Benjamin discusses the twin crises of COVID-19 and police violence, mapping the multiple vectors through which racism gets under the skin, into the blood stream, attacking our bodies and body politic. She offers a vision of change, viral justice – as a practical and principled approach to transmuting a hostile racial climate into one that is more habitable, hopeful, and just. Following her talk, Dr. Benjamin joined in conversation with the audience moderated by Dr. Sandra Soo-Jin Lee.
Resources: Click here for a list of resources mentioned during this session.