Womanly Chats
SPECIAL ISSUE: HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
WORDS - Attia Taylor
ILLUSTRATION - Singha Hon

M’Balu Bangura is Baltimore City’s Equity Specialist. Her work ensures that the city develops equitable policies and programs that affect Baltimore City residents. She holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Criminal Justice and is currently working toward a doctorate in Public Administration with a focus on equity at the University of Baltimore.

Attia Taylor: Thank you for joining us to talk about hypertension and health in Baltimore! Can you tell us a little bit about your work?.

M’Balu Bangura: My job is to ensure that city agencies are using an equity lens when they're creating their policies and programs. I'm tasked with the rollout of an annual self-assessment, which serves as a baseline that allows agencies to evaluate themselves honestly and with the help of their staff. I use the results of the assessment to create Baltimore’s annual Equity Report.

Attia: That's incredible. Such an interesting line of work that’s so important and needed. What led you to pursue a career in equity and civil rights in Baltimore?

M’Balu: I previously worked as a risk analyst and investigator for the city of Tacoma in Washington state. It was my job to assess threats to equity in the community. Through this position I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to create the Commerce Tenant Relocation Assistance Law, which required the city and the landlord to provide reimbursement for moving costs if a tenant was displaced through no fault of their own. I loved working for the city of Tacoma, but I wanted to be back on the East Coast and in a city that had a more diverse population and was known for its continued fight against civil rights issues. I felt like that's where I would have the biggest impact. When the opportunity arose, I came to Baltimore and started off here doing employment investigations.

Attia: What are some of the biggest threats to equity in the Baltimore community right now?

M’Balu: I would say one of the biggest threats to equity right now is access. The mayor actually just announced that he is hiring a Director of Digital Equity to work out of the Mayor's Office, because one of the things that COVID shed light on is this lack of internet access. COVID itself also shed light on lack of access to other city services, such as proper health care and food distribution, which is why the city started having food distribution drop off spots across the city. Most of the elementary schools are giving out lunch, because people were like, you know, “My kids get fed by going to school.” These are just some of the issues that the current administration is working diligently to fix, or at least to start addressing. These aren't overnight fixes. They begin with conversations on how we can fix things, and an acknowledgement that there's something that needs to be fixed in the first place.

Attia: We met at an event you organized with health professionals across the maternal health field to discuss Black maternal mortality. How does your work intersect specifically with women's access to care, and health care access in Baltimore in general?

M’Balu: One of the biggest threats to equity for Black women in the community is that lack of access to health care and a lack of recognition when you seek out care. I really wanted to use this position and this office as a way to start that conversation. I wanted to bring that conversation to the forefront of government and say, “We know that this is what's going on.” That health care event was meant to be an annual or quarterly event, but then COVID happened. And that, along with the changes of administration in the city and of leadership within our own office, set us back significantly. Our hope is to keep shedding light on all issues that impact access. 

We have plans to work closely with the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD). We have an Accessibility and Compliance Officer within our office, Sharon Huffman, who works diligently to ensure access for all people who are seeking care. We support the fight to ensure equal access by investigating discrimination and denial of reasonable accommodations by employers. We work to make sure that employers know that women are to be heard and acknowledged, they are to be recognized and respected, and they are not to be treated any differently because of their health conditions. This is what we can do for the community: be a resource or a support system for them to come to if they feel like they need to go to the hospital. If they are being treated differently, they can come to us and say, “I was denied access, and I think it was because I am a Black woman, a Latinx woman, or I practice Islam.” We can help them fight to be served by the hospital and remedy the situation. 

Attia: Our work is really focused on preventive health, but we try to acknowledge that there are barriers. It’s helpful to know that in Baltimore there is somewhere for people to go to file a complaint or have someone stand in solidarity with them when they're experiencing denial or a lack of access. What are your hopes for expanding access and creating a more equitable Baltimore, especially for Black and Brown women?

M’Balu: My hope is that we can stop having this conversation about equitable health care and it'd be something that happens naturally, that we don't have to fight for access, access just happens. That’s why I'm trying to focus on addressing and enforcing equity within the system, because I do believe that's where it starts. It’s not just the government—we're talking about hospitals and private institutions that service people. We have to make sure that the people who are serving these communities understand them. That's equity. If you fix those internal structures that are broken, those internal structures that are not embedding equity into the way they work, that do not understand the purpose of diversity, equity, and inclusion, then I think that you have a better chance of impacting the general public. I think the best way to promote equity for marginalized people is to help make sure that our institutions really understand what the inequities are, that they acknowledge the roles they have played in perpetuating these inequities, and that they actively work towards reducing the barriers to equity prevailing in our communities. 

Attia: You work really hard and do such amazing work. What do you like to do when you're not working, and what do you do to de-stress and just take care of yourself?

M’Balu: I go to the gym every morning before work, or if for some reason I'm not able to, because I'm a dog mom, I go in the afternoon. I lift weights and take different classes like spin. But I mainly weight lift. I really take my stress and aggression out on the weights. 

Attia: Last question, if you had to choose one restaurant to eat in Baltimore, which would it be? 

M’Balu: It would have to be Next Phaze in downtown Baltimore. I love their catfish tacos. Their honey, barbecue, or sweet jerk wings. I love their mac’n cheese. I love their catfish fritters. Yeah, so I would say that they're my favorite. But then a close follow up would be Miss Carter's Kitchen. I really liked her pasta spreads. She does a pasta spread with alfredo and you can get it with lamb chops.