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a cce s s H ea l t h N ews . n e t M a rc h 2 0 2 6 Volume 11 | Issue No. 104 40 CHASM recognizes Historically Oppressed and Other Peoples Experiencing Inequities (HOPEIs) as people who were brought from Africa and enslaved in America, and Indigenous First Nations (including descendants of those groups who trace their genealogy back to Indigenous Mexicans, Aztecs, Mayans, Incas, etc.) whose land was colonized by Europeans. HOPEIs also include other populations experiencing inequities, such as women, Muslims, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and others. However, due to the imbalance caused by the transgenerational and systemic nature of racism, historically oppressed people are prioritized in this specific work. Addressing Racism as a Public Health Emergency There is no clear universal strategy to address and dismantle systemic racism, especially with regard to public health. The policy authored in part by Rabbani and Abdullah is one potential approach that recognizes the value of CHWs in helping communities heal in a culturally appropriate and responsive way. The policy, A Strategy to Address Systemic Racism and Violence as Public Health Priorities: Training and Supporting Community Health Workers to Advance Equity and Violence Prevention, addresses three main points. T hroughout history, community health workers (CHWs) have been integral to helping communities heal with regard to both physical well-being and healing from trauma as a result of oppression. To honor the first National Day of Racial Healing earlier this year, the National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW) held an inaugural annual webinar to highlight the newly endorsed American Public Health Association (APHA) policy recognizing CHWs' role as racial health advocates and the historical role of CHWs as healers. Though the policy itself is within the APHA's CHW section, Rumana Rabbani, MHA, CHW-VPP, and Abdul Bin Abdullah, CHW-VPP – the policy's principal authors who presented the webinar along with NACHW – are from Community Healing through Activism and Strategic Mobilization (CHASM). Rabbani is CHASM's director of strategic improvement and policy, and Abdullah serves as the director of programs and community mobilization. CHASM is a community-led organization of strategic learning that aims to build capacity for CHWs and community- based organizations (CBOs) within historically oppressed communities, neutralize systemic inequities, and enhance harmony within the social ecology. The organization recognizes the deep "chasm" between health care and social determinants of health interventions resulting in the perpetuation and inequities within systems. aH Community Health Workers Help Heal Communities firom Systemic Inequities Published in May 2023