This edition of the magazine sets a foundation for how we should be looking at health. It explores what it looks like—and takes—to thrive, from a multilevel, systemic perspective. It takes as its premise that health equity is simply not enough; we need healing justice, which proposes that an absolutely essential component of healthcare is understanding and taking into account the historical and ongoing violence and harm done by systems of oppression outside of “healthcare,” so as to get to a deeper-level recognition of the connection between surface-level symptoms and generational, historical traumas.
And although there are very few resources offered for healing justice work, many groups are endeavoring to expand consciousness about how health intersects with justice—and change institutional practices. This edition lifts up some of the visionary leaders who are driving joyful, albeit complex and challenging, innovations in the health field and across social justice movements.
At the root of health injustice is the notion that some bodies are to be more cherished than others. All of the articles within, in one form or another, describe what we gain when all bodies are cherished. We offer this edition to all bodies, with our love.
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