The Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition is committed to addressing racial disparities in breastfeeding. With that goal in mind, the KBC strives to use an “equity lens” to inform and guide our external work and also an “equity mirror” to examine our internal structures, culture, and policies.
We invite you to join us on this journey. We have found the following resources to be helpful as we learn about racism at all its levels – systemic, institutional, and individual.
Want to discuss what you’re learning? Reach out to the KBC at info@ksbreastfeeding.org to connect with peers in Kansas who are eager to discuss and learn together.
KBC’s Activities to Support Diversity in the Lactation Field:
- Color-Filled Breastfeeding: Clinical Lactation Training Program – details here
- KBC Awards $4,000 in Funding for Lactation Education to People of Color in 2021 (funded by United Methodist Health Ministry Fund)
- KBC Awards $10,000 in Lactation Education Scholarship to People of Color in 2020 (funded by Kansas Health Foundation and Kansas Department of Health and Environment)
- KBC Statement in Solidarity with the Black Community
The intersection of Breastfeeding & Racial and Ethnic Equity:
- Disaggregation of Breastfeeding Initiation Rates by Race and Ethnicity — United States, 2020–2021
- Kansas Maternal & Child Health Data Dashboard
- “Racial Equity 101” (webinars, USBC):
- Racism and the Colonial Roots of Gendered Language in Public Health and Biomedicine (USBC, Dr. Aunchalee Palmquist)
- Advancing Black Community-level Leadership for Birth & Breastfeeding (BMBFA)
- Achieving Breastfeeding Equity and Justice in Black Communities: Past, Present, and Future (Asiodu, et.al.)
- First Food: Women of Color Removing Barriers to Breastfeeding – video (HealthConnect One)
- Saving the Lives of Moms & Babies: Addressing Racism and Socioeconomic Influencers of Health
- Voices of Black Mothers: The Baby-Friendly Experience Fact Report (Uzazi Village, Missouri)
- Overcoming Barriers to Inequity in Lactation (webinar, 8/2021) by Mahmee
- Health Equity 101: Meet the Lactation Consultants Working to Address Racial Disparities in Breastfeeding
- 2021 Equity in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Webinar Series (4 webinars)
- Great Lakes Breastfeeding Webinar Series (equity-focused breastfeeding education)
- “Progress in increasing breastfeeding and reducing racial/ethnic differences – United States, 2000-2008 Births”
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Webinar Recordings , U.S. Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) – webinars, reading list, blog posts, etc.
- “Removing Barriers to Breastfeeding: A Structural Race Analysis for First Food”, by the Center for Social Inclusion
- “Speak Up”, Comments from KBC 2018 Breastfeeding Conference presentation by Shannon McKenney Shubert
- “SPEAK UP for Black Women”, Debra Bingham, DrPH, RN, FAAN
- “The Right Decisions Need the Right Voices” – The Lancet, Dr. Monica McLemore & Dr. Elizabeth Choo
Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth online training FREE evidence-based implicit bias program for perinatal providers
Black Communities:
- Breastfeeding Promotion Strategies for Engaging African American Families (OWH, 2023)
- US Breastfeeding Committee webpage with tools and resources
- Advancing Black Community-level Leadership for Birth & Breastfeeding (BMBFA)
- Community Data into Action: An African American Breastfeeding Blueprint, Andrea Serano, Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE)
- Saving Tomorrow Today: An African American Breastfeeding Blueprint
- Black Women Do Breastfeed, Despite Intense Systemic Barriers in the U.S.
- The B.L.A.C.K. Course (education)
- Black Breastfeeding after a History of Trauma
- Black Breastfeeding: Making HERstory (photo album)
- Black Breastfeeding Week
- Breastfeeding Medicine June 2021 special issue “Special Issue on Breastfeeding and the Black/African American Experience: Cultural, Sociological, and Health Dimensions Through an Equity Lens—Part 2
- Breastfeeding Medicine, Feb. 2021 special issue:
- Breastfeeding and the Black/African American Experience: Cultural, Sociological, and Health Dimensions Through an Equity Lens
- Structural Racism and Barriers to Breastfeeding on Chicagoland’s South Side
- The Historical, Psychosocial, and Cultural Context of Breastfeeding in the African American Community
- Breastfeeding Communities for Fatherhood: Laying the Groundwork for the Black Fatherhood, Brotherhood, and Manhood Movement
- #EveryGenerationMatters: Intergenerational Perceptions of Infant Feeding Information and Communication Among African American Women
- Disparities in Breastfeeding Among U.S. Black Mothers: Identification of Mechanisms
- Racial Disparities in Sustaining Breastfeeding in a Baby-Friendly Designated Southeastern United States Hospital: An Opportunity to Investigate Systemic Racism
- African American Breastfeeding Peer Support: All Moms Empowered to Nurse
- Breastfeeding Sisters That Are Receiving Support: Community-Based Peer Support Program Created for and by Women of Color
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, U.S. Breastfeeding Committee
- Fact Sheets, Black Mothers Breastfeeding Alliance
- Chocolate Milk Documentary
- “Logic Model for the Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding for Black Families”, by Black Mothers Breastfeeding Association
- “Q & A with Sherry Payne: An Innovator In Lactation Equity” – comment section very important
- Racial disparities persist for breastfeeding moms. Here’s why. PBS Newshour
- “Top Five Reasons We Need A Black Breastfeeding Week”, by Kimberly Seals Allers
- Breastfeeding Myths and African Americans
Black Breastfeeding Organizations:
- Black Breastfeeding Week
- Black Mamas Matter Alliance
- Black Mothers Breastfeeding Association
- Black Women Do Breastfeed
- Breastfeeding Sisters That Are Receiving Support (BSTARS)
- Breastfeeding Support Group for Black Moms (Facebook)
- Mo/Kan Black Breastfeeding Coalition
- National Association of Peer & Professional Lactation Supporters of Color
- Reaching Our Sisters Everywhere (ROSE)
Breastfeeding Resources for African-American Families on the KBC website
Hispanic Communities:
- Lactation in Latino Communities: Identity and Traditions in Maternal Child Health (5/28/21) by Paulina Erices hosted by KS WIC
- Barriers to Breastfeeding for Hispanic Mothers
- “The State of Hispanic Health and Implications for the Future” and “Approaches to Hispanic Health Research” webinars
- “Reclaiming Latino/Hispanic birth and breastfeeding traditions” blog
Hispanic Breastfeeding Organizations:
Breastfeeding Resources for Hispanic Families
Indigenous Peoples:
- “Native American Women DO Breastfeed”, by Camie Jae Goldhammer
- “Generational trauma among Native American cultures affects infant feeding”, Our Milky Way blog post
- Historic Trauma is Affecting Tomorrow’s Children
- Building a Breastfeeding Support Program within the Ho-Chunk Nation Community, USBC webinar
Indigenous Peoples Breastfeeding Organizations:
- Potawatomi Tribe Breastfeeding Coalition
- Native American Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington
- Native Breastfeeding Coalition of Wisconsin
- Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council
- Oregon Inter-Tribal Breastfeeding Coalition
- Native Mothering
- Navajo Nation Breastfeeding Coalition
Breastfeeding Resources for Indigenous Peoples
Racial and Ethnic Equity:
Videos/Webinars:
- Advancing Racial Equity Webinar Series with Discussion Guide (APHA)
- Color Brave not Color Blind
- Community Engagement Matters (Now More Than Ever)
- Continuum on Becoming an Anti-Racist Multicultural Organization
- Cultural Humility and Pre-Health Professions Student
- Dawnland movie
- Divided States of Bias
- Dr. Robin DiAngelo discusses ‘White Fragility’
- If Racism Is a Public Health Crisis, What Does That Mean For My Work? (Webinar)
- If Racism Is a Public Health Crisis, What Does That Mean For My Work? (Slides)
- The Gardener’s Tale: An Allegory of Racism
- Race- the power of an illusion
- Race and Housing
- Reproductive Justice: 101 Webinar
- Seeing White
- TED Talks: Social Justice Playlist
- TED Talks: Difficult conversations
- TED Talks: Dissecting cultures of hate
- TED Talks: How do ideas travel
- This is why we ROOTT (Restoring Our Own Through Transformation), by Jessica Roach
Books:
- Between the World and Me
- Collections of Dr. King’s Writings and Speeches
- The New Jim Crow
- NYTimes Anti-Racist Reading List
- Racism Without Racists
- White Rage
- White Fragility
- Waking Up White
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race
Apps
The Irth App – A“Yelp-like” platform for the pregnancy and new motherhood journey, made by and for people of color.
Articles/Blog posts/Reports:
Maternal & Infant Mortality:
- Black paper – Setting the standard of care of and for black women, by Black Mamas Matter Alliance
- Health Equity“Why Naming ‘Race’ as the Factor Behind Black Women’s High Rates of Maternal Mortality is Counterproductive
- “How Racism May Cause Black “Mothers to Suffer the Death of their Infants”
- What is Reproductive Justice? Sister Song Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
- “Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis”
- “What is Killing America’s Black Babies?”
- “Boston. Racism. Image. Reality”
- “The Case for Reparations”
- “Chartbook: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in a Changing Kansas”
- “Cultural humility versus cultural competence: A critical distinction in defining physician training outcomes in multicultural education”
- Decentering Whiteness
- “Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys”
- Implicit Bias Resource Guide (NICHQ)
- “Kept Out: How Banks Block People of Color from Home Ownership”
- “Levels of Racism: A Theoretic Framework and a Gardener’s Tale”
- Microagressions
- “The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: Racialized Social Democracy and the “White” Problem in American Studies”
- “Poverty and Race through a Belongingness Lens”
- “Race v. Class”
- Racial Reconciliation
- “What is Health Equity: And How Does a Life-Course Approach Take Us Further Toward It?”
- White Fragility
- “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”
- Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism
- “Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People”
Podcasts/Radio:
Additional resource lists:
- Understanding and Dismantling Racism: A Booklist for White Readers
- Waking up White Recommended Resources
- How to actually deal with the mental health impacts of racism while talk of race and Black Lives Matter is everywhere
- Racial Trauma – Mental Health America
- Discrimination: What it is and how to cope
- Coping with discrimination guide