The month of August has been coined National Breastfeeding Awareness Month in the United States. The month is kicked off with World Breastfeeding Week, named by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action(WABA). The last has is known as Black Breastfeeding Week, celebrating Black nursing parents and bringing attention to health and access to resource disparities in our communities. It is also a time for Black parents to celebrate and say, “YES! We DO breastfeed our babies!”
Since we have the whole month, we want to also explore what motherhood means to the moms we know. We want to talk about our struggles, successes, lessons, fears and the villages that help us conquer them. We also want to highlight stories of some of the moms we don’t know, who have made tough decisions and were forced to deal with the consequences they face in a society that is set up against them. We also want to be inclusive and honor the space between and outside of the gender binary and discuss what equitable healthcare looks like for trans and non-binary birthing parents.
We hope that you will follow our posts here and on Facebook this month, following the stories of so many brave people willing to share their stories and talk about something that they hold closest to their hearts. Jenina and I are both a lot of things, but mothers foremost. We work here and in our circles to remember and honor the women we are outside of being “just mom”, but want to share a little bit of that part of ourselves with you too.
If you are a woman or NB person of color with things to say about your breastfeeding journey and parenthood, we’d be happy to hear what you have to say. Please visit our submission page here, while noting that for the month of August 2017, some of our guest writers will receive special gifts in lieu of monetary compensation.
We look forward to hearing from and sharing with you.
Brown Girls Out Loud 