6/04/2020

A Message of Solidarity

Adam Husney, MD, Chief Executive Officer

Editor’s Note: This is a message that our CEO, Adam Husney, shared internally at Healthwise this week. We wanted to make it available to our customers, partners, and all in our community.

Dear Healthwise,

I was planning to share some thoughts about the unrest in the world on Friday at our staff meeting but that is waiting too long. I am sorry I did not speak sooner.

We are confronted by a world that is broken right now. The same stories—most recently Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd—are repeated and then nothing changes. Although there is no way I can truly comprehend what daily life is like for a person of color in this country, these were people who were killed for doing things that most of us at Healthwise would not think twice about—sleeping in bed, jogging, or sitting outside a store. They were sons, daughters, parents, spouses, partners, sisters, brothers, friends, and coworkers. Imagine for a minute that your phone rings and the person on the other end of the line tells you that you have lost a loved one—a sister, a spouse, or the unimaginable, a child. Close your eyes and truly imagine it. Try to feel the weight of that grief—and then the anger you feel because it happened for no reason. Or imagine you are the person with a knee pressed on your neck, unable to breathe.

We need to be part of the solution and try to repair this broken world. This does not happen overnight, and it does not happen without conflict and discomfort. It will be through caring. It will be through understanding. It will be through forgiveness. It will be through empathy. It will be through each one of us exerting leadership. And it will be through holding our leaders accountable for change.

We will help amplify the voice of the African American community and other communities of color through the work we do, fortifying our commitment to diversity and by representing all the people we serve in our content. We need to look internally and ask ourselves who we are, what we believe, and how we can do more. I have been having conversations with people at Healthwise about specific actions we can take, and I am open to hearing more from you.

Reach out to each other, reach out to family, reach out to friends, and reach out to coworkers. Share support for those at Healthwise and in our community who are affected by racism or injustice.

I will close with the words of others who say it better than I do.

There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”—Howard Zinn

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.

Adam Husney, MD
Chief Executive Officer