NBC News: Med students send message with plantation photo: We are our ancestors' wildest dreams

Freeman School student Russell Ledet (MD/MBA ’22) was interviewed by NBC News about the viral photo he organized showing black Tulane University medical students posing at Whitney Plantation in Edgard, Louisiana. Since it was posted by classmate Sydney Labat (M ’22) on Twitter, the photo has garnered more than 76,000 likes and 18,000 retweets. Ledet, who is enrolled in the accelerated MD/MBA program, which enables Tulane School of Medicine students to earn an MBA concurrently with their medical degree, told NBC that he organized the photo to inspire African American young people.

“There are babies, kids in school right now, and they don’t have these images in their classrooms. They don’t have the image of someone black in a white coat. The first thing they see is a white guy. These kids need somebody who looks like them in an image in their classroom. When that’s in their mind, that’s where their memories come from. They can be me."

To read the story in its entirety, visit nbcnews.com:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/med-students-send-message-plantation-photo-we-are-our-ancestors-n1104776