Disrupting Whiteness

Mind The Disruption

Sume Ndumbe-Eyoh has been raising tough conversations about Whiteness, White Supremacy and racism for over ten years in a public health field that often insisted it wasn't ready. Listen to this episode to hear Sume’s story and then reflect on disrupting Whiteness in public health and the nursing field with public health nurses Mandy Walker and Hannah Klassen.

(00:00) Introduction

(02:22) Interview with Sume Ndumbe-Eyoh

(51:21) Interview with Hannah Klassen and Mandy Walker

Episode Guests: Sume Ndumbe-Eyoh is the Executive Director of the Black Health Education Collaborative and an Assistant Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She is a catalytic leader who mobilizes knowledge and activates networks to advance policy and practice on social and economic issues that impact health and wellbeing. She spent a decade with the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health, where she provided leadership to public health practice on health equity, the social determinants of health including racism, in partnership with institutions across Canada. She holds a Master of Health Sciences in Health Promotion and Global Health. Hailing from Cameroon, she is grateful to live, work and play in Turtle Island and is committed to working towards decolonial futures. Mandy Walker (she/her) is a Registered Nurse and Public Health Professional with most of her career having a pediatric and family-centered care focus. She has 10+ years of clinical healthcare experience within an emergency department, acute care, and community setting. Her frontline work experience ignited and continues to inspire her passion and dedication in working to advance health equity and social justice. Mandy is a Knowledge Translation Specialist at the NCCDH. Hannah Klassen is a White cis-gendered woman with European-Settler and Métis ancestry living on Treaty 7 land. Her passion for health equity and social justice developed working as a Registered Nurse in substance use and perinatal health. Hannah is a Knowledge Translation Specialist at the NCCDH. She completed her Master of Public Health and is grateful to work with the NCCDH.

Learn more:

Let’s Talk: Racism and health equity (NCCDH, 2018)

Let’s Talk: Whiteness and health equity (NCCDH, 2020)

Webinars on racism, anti-racism and racial equity (NCCDH, 2016-)

Black Nurses Task Force Report

Episode Credits: This episode is produced by Rebecca Cheff, Carolina Jimenez, and our host Bernice Yanful. Coordination of communications, webpage development and dissemination are led by Caralyn Vossen. Technical production and original music by Chris Perry. Artwork by comet art + design. Sound credits: “2020-06-12 blm protest goes by.flac” by tim.kahn is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. “Protest-Recording-4.wav” by _bliind is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Mind the Disruption is a podcast by the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health. The NCCDH is hosted by St. Francis Xavier University and funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of PHAC.