Black Lives Matter

George Floyd. Breanna Taylor. Manuel Ellis. Ahmaud Abery. and many more black  lives taken too soon not just in the last 4 years, but over the last 400 years.

The Maternal Coalition stands in solidarity with our black brothers and sisters who have faced decades of abuse and death in the hands of systems of power.  

As a South Asian, I have reflected on my own personal experience with racism treatment when I started this organization and quickly realized that my experience is not at all similar to the hundreds of years of abuse the black community has faced in our country.  My family was able to immigrate to this country because of the Civil Rights movement and we profited off the sacrifices black people have made. 

We as a country need to recognize and acknowledge that this country was built on the backs of black enslavement, and the systemic oppressions, and continual abuse and death the Black community has faced has to change. Without a full force of recognition and support from all white and non-black POC communities, that won’t happen.

Today this is exasperated by both poor local and national leadership that fail to recognize inequities and directly drive policy that continues police brutality, anti-blackness, and the unlawful death of black people. 

Shalon Irving. Kira Johnson. Amber Rose Isaac. Lisa Swinton McLaughlin. These are black moms that died unnecessarily during or after childbirth. 

Black women are 4x more likely to die during childbirth due to systemic racism, clinician biases, lack of listening, and a healthcare system that was designed to fail them. As an organization, we commit to continually working within healthcare systems of oppression to be an advocate and strong voice  of change so black pregnant and parenting people stop dying unnecessarily. 

In solidarity,

Srilata Remala

Executive Director

The Maternal Coalition