Black Maternal Health Awareness Week is held annually on April 11-17 during National Minority Health Awareness Month to raise awareness about health disparities impacting racial and ethnic minorities and encourage action toward dismantling systems of oppression. 

 Researchers call the United States the most-dangerous developed country in which to give birth.  About 700 women die each year in the U.S. as a result of pregnancy or delivery complications.  One in three maternal deaths is preventable.  A National Institute of Health-funded study found that Black women are three times more likely to die than White women from a pregnancy-related cause.  Maternal death disparities were concentrated in postpartum cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease) and preeclampsia and eclampsia.  The mortality rate for Black women was five times higher than White women in postpartum cardiomyopathy and preeclampsia and eclampsia.   College-educated Black women have over five times higher pregnancy-related mortality than white women of similar education

Since 2018, over 21,000 infants have died each year in their first year of life.  Black infants are two to three times more likely to die than White infants in their first year of life.  The leading causes of infant mortality are birth defects, preterm birth, injuries, sudden infant death syndrome, and pregnancy complications.  The amount of infant deaths is much higher if miscarriages are factored in.  For known pregnancies, 11-16% of pregnancies end in a spontaneous loss of the pregnancy before the 20th week.  Most miscarriages occur because the fetus is not developing as anticipated.

With such high numbers of miscarriages, infant deaths, and maternal deaths one might assume that these issues are well known among women.  However, many women report an unawareness of the issues and the available resources for grieving families. 

Losing a baby or spouse due to pregnancy or delivery complications is tragic.  For Black families, the pain of losing a loved one can be exacerbated by systemic racism, prejudices, implicit bias, microaggressions, and other forms of oppression.  

EDITORS NOTE:  Given the current attack on women’s reproductive rights, authorities have said more deaths of both Black and White women will occur.  What an unconscionable, cruel state of affairs.

 ^{Tommorrow, June 15th, is World Elder Abuse Awareness day}

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) was launched on June 15, 2006 by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations.
 
The purpose of WEAAD is to provide an opportunity for communities around the world to promote a better understanding of abuse and neglect of older persons by raising awareness of the cultural, social, economic and demographic processes affecting elder abuse and neglect.
 
In addition, WEAAD is in support of the United Nations International Plan of Action acknowledging the significance of elder abuse as a public health and human rights issue. WEAAD serves as a call-to-action for individuals, organizations, and communities to raise awareness about elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

 

All people, regardless of age or disability, should be able to live independently and participate fully in their communities, and have the right to make choices and control the decisions in an about their lives.

Visit the WEAAD microsite to learn more

 

I'll just bet many of you and I have something in common.

That is we both believe that whoever wins the most popular votes should become President of the United States!

And we are both frustrated and angry about our Electoral College System.

It's time to fix the Electoral College by uniting with Common Cause members from across the country and bring pressure on Congress to pass the

National Popular Vote Compact!

For complete information on how you can do this, please go to:

commoncause.org/national-popular-vote

Passage of this bill could make a big difference in the future of our democracy!

 

Trans people aren't real people, right? 

By Lisa Demmi

That's the only reason that I can come up with to understand why so many people think we shouldn't treat them like people. I mean they certainly have done this to themselves, right? Because it makes sense that someone would choose a life in which they are setting themselves up for discrimination, hate, and abuse. Crystal clear, if you ask me.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic. What a surprise. When I heard about the legislation that is waiting for Desantis to sign into law, I was literally speechless. AND if you know me, you know I am never speechless.

First, we have the "Don't Say Gay" Bill. For details, read here. This has the potential to tick up the numbers of suicides among gay kids. Who wins and who loses here? What's the cost? Even one kid's life is too much.

Next, we're very clear that "gender affirming care' is not good but guns are. Hence, we have this bill passed that is attacking that kind of care. From an article in CNN Politics, "Gender-affirming care spans a range of evidence-based treatments and approaches that benefit transgender and nonbinary people. The types of care vary by the age and goals of the recipient, and are considered the standard of care by many mainstream medical associations." For the full article, click here. Why is the government making decisions about what anyone can do with his or her own body? I know...see "abortion."

Have you ever spoken with a trans person? Do you know what it's like to wake up day in and day out and hate your body? You can't get out of your own skin. Sometimes, you just want to die. Do you know how they feel about themselves prior to transitioning? And then talk to that same person after transitioning. It's like night and day. They are happy, they are productive, and they are less likely to turn to suicide. They are people like ALL other people.

I'm not sure what a trans person ever did to you but I'm confident it was nothing. I think people have made stories up in their heads about them just like they do with any other person, place or thing that they're unfamiliar with. Maybe its scary because it's unknown.

If you believe in a God or a great entity, do you think he or she makes so-called "mistakes?" What would be the purpose? Let's even back that up. Why do you think trans people are "mistakes" or wrong or unworthy or even inhuman?

While we're at it, why don't you have the same rage and disdain for those who actually do molest children like priests, school teachers, etc? Should we ban ALL priests and teachers? No, but we should treat them the same way as anyone committing a crime. Yet, we don't always do that.

What about guns? How many kids do they kill every year? According to ABC news, nearly 600 teens and children had been killed as of May 1st of this year. Let's make sure to leave that legislation as is. No need to ramp up protection there. To me that's 600 times we failed as humans.

There's an obvious disparity with how people who are different are treated. If i'm black, I'm scared to even drive a car or stand outside my own house for fear of being arrested or killed. If I'm Muslim or Asian, I'm afraid to show my face in public because ALL Muslims are terrorists and all Asians caused COVID. If I'm disfigured in a noticeable way, then I'm a monster. If I'm neurodivergent, I'm stupid or weird or wrong or crazy. If I'm Gay, then I'm immoral and a sinner and evil. Hell, all these groups of people and others are also evil.

When did we get so hateful and vicious? AND WHY are we so hateful and vicious?

I go go on and on for hours about this but let me try to boil it down to a sound bite.

We are ALL human. We are all more alike than a lot of us think. And we are ALL worthy.

Be better now.

Newsletter on LinkedIn  'SPEAK(ing) My Mind"

Author: Lisa Demmi     

Lisa Demmi Motivational Speaker | Author | Storyteller | Change Artist | Master Egg Poacher | Philanthropist | All Around Do Gooder

     

Harvard Radcliffe Institute held a major public conference January 26–27, 2023, to probe the complex and unpredictable ways that Roe v. Wade and its aftermath shaped the United States and the world beyond it for nearly half a century. The existential issue of abortion—and the galvanizing impact of Roe in particular—transformed the nation’s politics and public policy and its social movement energies, as well as the operations of the courtroom and the clinic. This opening session of the conference featured speakers with a range of perspectives from the front lines of debates about abortion, birth, and birth disparities. Each told stories from their work and talked about the work of stories in their own social movement and thought leadership.

Program, Thursday, January 26, 2023

Welcome Jane Kamensky, Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Director, Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Harvard Radcliffe Institute, and Jonathan Trumbull Professor of American History, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences 4:28 Framing Remarks Michele Bratcher Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and founding director, Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy, University of California, Irvine School of Law Presentations 20:32 Renee Bracey Sherman, founder and executive director, We Testify 36:36 Catherine Davis, founder and president, The Restoration Project 48:46 Getty Israel, founder and CEO, Sisters in Birth, Inc. 1:04:48 Moderated Conversation with Speakers Moderator: Michele Bratcher Goodwin Close of Program Jane Kamensky

For information about Harvard Radcliffe Institute and its many public programs, visit https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RadcliffeIns... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radcliffe.i... LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/radc... Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RadInstitute