On the Brink: A Call to Action from the Congressional Black Caucus - Health Equity Summit 2025
This week I attended the CBC Health Equity Summit, and while the swag bags were nice and the speakers brilliant, what I walked away with was far more serious:
We are on the brink of a humanitarian crisis.
With looming cuts to Medicaid, and the gutting of federal agencies like Health and Human Services, and other essential resources, communities across this country—particularly Black, brown, rural, and low-income communities—are at risk of being left behind, unprotected, and unheard. If these cuts go through, the most vulnerable won’t just struggle—they will suffer. Many will die. That’s not drama. That’s data.
A physician on one of the panels said it plainly:
“Providers do not have the capacity to backfill the federal government.”
And it hit me: we’re being asked to do the impossible—again.
The Leaders Who Gave Me Hope
Despite the heavy reality, I left inspired by the resilient, transparent leadership of Congresswoman Robin Kelly (IL) and Congresswoman Terri Sewell (AL). They didn’t sugarcoat the moment we’re in. They spoke with courage, urgency, and care about how their districts—real people, real families—will be impacted by policy choices made behind closed doors.
They reminded me that this isn’t just about healthcare. It’s about human dignity.
So What Do We Do?
There’s no easy answer. And anyone pretending there is one isn’t doing the work.
But one thing became clear at the summit: we’re going to have to show up for each other like never before.
We will have to protect our children, our elders, our disabled siblings, our neighbors.
We will need community infrastructure, not just hashtags.
We will need to organize, educate, and stay awake.
We will need to understand the systems that fail us so we can build ones that won’t.
This is not just a moment for elected officials, or activists. This is a moment for all of us.
A Resource to Ground the Work
If you’re wondering where to start, I highly recommend the CBC Foundation’s Forward Together Playbook.
It’s a deeply thoughtful, strategic framework for building an equitable future—one that centers Black voices, policy solutions, and pathways for organizing.
Access the playbook here:
Forward Together: The Black Policy Playbook
Through my work with Thrive Frameworks, I believe that wellness is political.
Justice is sacred. And healing is a form of resistance.
So yes, we’re on the brink.
But we’re not without power.
We still have each other.
And that may be exactly what saves us.
