Black lives matter. Black mothers and our babies matter. Black breastfeeding—this definitely matters. That’s why MyBrownBaby is proud to support Black Breastfeeding Week, the inaugural celebration of black life and those who sustain it with the healthiest, most natural sustenance one could give a baby: breast milk.
Black Breastfeeding Week, celebrated August 26, 2013 to August 31, 2013, comes during Breastfeeding Awareness Month, when advocates nationwide educate and give support to breastfeeding mothers, even as they help to build a vital foundation for them to breastfeed successfully. Understanding the unique challenges that black mothers face on our breastfeeding journeys, a committee of nationally recognized breastfeeding advocates came together to address those challenges with a series of events designed specifically with black families in mind. The theme: #BlackLivesMatter.
Black Breastfeeding Week founding committee members are all friends to MyBrownBaby—incredible women who work hard on behalf of us moms and our babies. They are: author, journalist and breastfeeding advocate, Kimberly Seals Allers, founding director of the Detroit-based Black Mothers Breastfeeding Association; Kiddada Green, founder of the Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association (BMBFA), and; Anayah Sangodele-Ayoka, co-founder of the Free to Breastfeed project and MomsRising.org Fellow. The committee is working with the support of MyBrownBaby, MomsRising.org, BlackandMarriedWithKids, and the St. John Hospital and Medical Center.
In honor of the inaugural Black Breastfeeding Week and #BlackLivesMatter, the founding committee has put together a pretty awesome week of events, including:
Monday (August 26)
Celebrate on Facebook and Twitter by sharing a “round of applause,” “fist bump” or “I’m turned up for breastfeeding!” image with any black mom or dad of a breastfed baby. (Hit up MyBrownBaby’s Denene and her hubs, Nick, with a “They’re turned up for breastfeeding!” by tweeting this post, featuring a picture of us and our babies, Mari and Lila, who were breastfed for a year and 10 months, respectively.)
Tuesday (August 27)
BMBFA will host a #BlackLivesMatter community forum in Detroit in collaboration with the St. John Hospital and Medical Center National Breastfeeding Month Celebration, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. The forum will feature representatives from Daphane’s Dove Foundation, Wayne Children’s Healthcare Access Program, and Sacred Rose Birthing. RSVP with Ronda 313.343.6838.
Later, watch and chat in Black Breastfeeding Live: Dalvery Blackwell, an international board certified lactation consultant and co-founder of the African American Breastfeeding Network of Milwaukee leads a live webinar and informational chat on everything breastfeeding. Hosted by Kimberly Seals Allers. Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/BMBFAssociation, from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST.
Thursday (August 29)
Award-winning blogger and author, Denene Millner of MyBrownBaby.com (@mybrownbaby) leads a vibrant twitter chat for African American parents on #BlackLivesMatter. Guests include Dream Hampton and Lamar Tyler of the award-winning BlackandMarriedWithKids.com
Join the #BlackLivesMatter Black Breastfeeding Week movement at www.facebook.com/BlackBreastfeedingWeek for resources, support and an awesome celebration of black motherhood and breastfeeding.
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