Posts Tagged: black parents
The Perils of Black Motherhood and Police Violence
“We are black people and we shouldn’t have to feel like this,” “We shouldn’t have to protest because you all are treating us wrong. We do this because we need to and have rights.” “Our fathers and mothers are killed and we can’t even see them anymore,” “It’s a shame that we have to go to the graveyard and bury them. And we have tears, and we shouldn’t have tears.” Zianna Oliphant, a young girl from Charlotte, NC spoke at a city council to bring awareness to the injustices black children are facing due to state-sanctioned violence against black bodies. Zianna is seven years old, and is already well aware of the inequalities she, and her friends, will face. When I see young black girls like Zianna, I feel a… Read more »
Black Lives Matter
Last February I attended Take Root, a reproductive conference that serves activists and allies from red states, over the course of three days on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. It was a brilliant and affirming experience. One panel stood out the most. On this panel, a pair of black midwives recounted experiences providing prenatal and delivery care to black women. One of the midwives talked about how cultural sensitivity is extremely important in her work. Apparently in the eighteen-odd months between Trayvon Martin’s murder and Zimmerman’s acquittal, she saw that the number of stress-induced complications drastically rose in black women’s pregnancies. Not only that, but several of the black women in her care had nervous breakdowns, panic attacks, and insomnia. The midwives discussed the absolute necessity of holistic… Read more »
