UCSF medical staff support Kaepernick

UCSF doctors and medical personnel in support of the Frisco 5 hunger strikers in May.

A group of more than 300 doctors, nurses, staff and medical students at the University of California San Francisco issued a statement in support of Colin Kaepernick on Aug. 31.

Calling themselves the Do No Harm Coalition, “who are organizing to address racism and police violence as the critical public health emergencies they are,” they declared: “Everyone needs to find the courage to get involved. Every single person in every layer of society. And when each person finds their voice and engages with the discomfort, grasping it with their own lived experience, they become a healer of the ailing social body.”

The open letter to Kaepernick, penned by Do No Harm member Rupa Marya, M.D., stated: “You are doing your part. And for this, we thank you and express our deepest respect. We welcome an opportunity to meet with you at UCSF in our coalition. We would like to welcome you into our ranks as a healer with a mission to end police violence and racism.”

Many of these same people were involved in White Coats for Black Lives last May to “ensure the people who went on hunger strike in SF to protest police killings — the Frisco5 — were safe and cared for during their peaceful manifestation of outrage and grief.”

The entire statement is available at ­tinyurl.com/DoNoHarmKaepernick.