A Letter to the Department from Dr. Allan Friedman

In the midst of a pandemic, our country is faced with another horror. The death of George Floyd, on the heels of the shootings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, is almost too much as a country to bear.
 
I know that you’ve heard from both Dean Mary Klotman and President Vincent Price on this subject, and I want to add my voice and the Department of Neurosurgery's voice with this earnest plea: let us work together to do our part to  change the climate of our nation. Let us affirm our commitment to diversity and inclusion, to trust and respect.
 
I have no doubt that the members of our African American community are feeling especially vulnerable at this time. We must work to ensure that the spaces that we work in are safe spaces, and that all of us feel and know that our values of inclusion and respect are real and part of the very fiber of our department.
 
It is heartbreaking how far we have to go as a country. Please join me in a commitment to fight prejudice and injustice here and everywhere.

My best wishes,

Allan Friendman Sig

Allan H. Friedman, M.D.
The Guy L. Odom Professor of Neurological Surgery
Neurosurgeon-in-Chief
Interim Chairman
Duke Department of Neurosurgery

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